DIY Clothespin Magnets

I don't know about your household but in mine we are always in the great magnet shortage.  We for some reason really love hanging things on the fridge, but never seem to have enough magnets...SO to solve this problem once and for all I made some out of things I already had!

I used an existing magnet we already had... you know those super cute Save the Date magnets...well I chopped one of those up (Sorry guys) and used that to magnetize the mini clothes pins I had.

Just cut a piece of a magnet sheet-yup that's a technical term :) (use all those Save the Dates...put those old ones to good use!)

...and hot glue it to the back of whatever you want to magnetize. I had some mini clothespins laying around and decided to make them into cute and functional magnets like so.

I also painted a few, just to add a little pop of color and some team spirit :)

Cute and functional!

XOXO,

Michelle's Musings: Thanksgiving Crafts for Children

Hi all, and Happy Thanksgiving!

There is nothing more precious than children's artwork to decorate a house, and what better way to remind ourselves to be thankful this Thanksgiving season than Thanksgiving children's crafts?! I am pretty excited about these....

So...I work full-time in a homeless shelter and part-time in a church preschool ministry, meaning, I get to interact with lots of kids! And it's cool because I just get to play with them and what-not, then send them back to their parents...kind of like a grandma!

Anyway, so as I was at work at the homeless shelter one day, I decided to make some Thanksgiving decorations with a preschooler to decorate the house. Here is what we came up with...

Leaf Garland

 Materials:
Leaf coloring page print-outs
hole punch
crayons/markers/colored pencils
twine (or rope or whatever you choose to use)
scissors

I printed off several copies of several different leaf coloring pages. (I Googled "leaf coloring pages," found three or four that I liked, and printed several copies of them) Then it was color time! I love to color...so, I sat down with this kid and the kid's mom, and we colored our leaves! Kid was not as enthused as I was, but that's ok.

After Kid scribbled and Kid's mom and I colored like big girls, I cut the leaves out and punched a hole in each. I then took some twine and measured how long I wanted the garland to be, leaving room for slouch (giving it "slack") and knots. I then made knots in it like this to separate each leaf and hold it in place:
[insert picture]

I kind of went bazerk on my knots and made them too close at first...just judge by how many leaves you have and how long you want your garland to be.

Then, I strung the leaves onto the string, and voila! Your kids might help you with the stringing part, but there was no way this little preschooler was about to do that...got better things to do!

I then double tied each end around the rails of the staircase (right above some kids' Noah's Ark drawings..can you tell I like kid artwork??) and had some fun Fall garland! My favorite leaves are the ones that are mostly white with a little scribble! (Most of the scribble made it onto the parts of the paper that got cut off..precious children!)

Thankful Turkey

Materials:
construction paper (I used white, orange, yellow, and red)
markers (Sharpie or a black skinny Crayola, and a yellow and red skinny Crayola)
brown crayon (for Kid to color)
scissors
stick glue


I like to call this little dude my Thankful Turkey. He was so simple to make! I used white construction paper (so that Kid could color it brown, making it more interactive..you see how much brown made it onto the paper...) and drew an almost circle and a full circle. I made two dots then drew a circle around each for eyes. That was easy!

After drawing a yellow nose and red google, I wrote Psalm 118:1 on his belly, which made what I wrote on the leaves make more sense. If you don't like that, you can put something like "We are thankful for..." or "Thanksgiving" or something cutesy that makes you smile. Or frown, if you so choose, but this is Thanksgiving!

I then cut simple feather-like shapes from red, yellow, and orange construction paper. With the size that I made them, I just used one full sheet of each color and had the number of feathers you see in the picture.

Then it was Kid interaction time again! I asked Kid and Kid's mom what we were thankful for, and you can see what we came up with (paper to color on...brilliant!)

I then placed each feather where I wanted it to be and stick-glued each one down. I added extra glue to the parts where the feathers overlap one another, so that it would not be as floppy (who wants a floppy turkey??!).

Turkey Man

Materials:
toilet paper roll (I actually used a paper towel roll and cut it..improvising!!)
craft sticks (I used ones already red, orange, and yellow..but you could use markers to color plain ones!)
hot glue gun/hot glue
markers (black, yellow, red)
black construction paper
Scotch tape
scissors

It's Turkey Man time! He literally makes me laugh. And would you know...I did him all by myself, no kid help (because Kid was busy with more important things!) We did not have a lot of resources on hand (it is a homeless shelter, after all, and art is not always our top priority), so I improvised, but I wanted it to be simple, something a child could do, and look like a kid did it (so that people would not make fun of me because it does look like a child did it!).

Anyway....so I started by cutting my paper towel roll into toilet paper size. Then I drew eyes and glasses (I was going for hipster..kind of turned out nerdy, but that's ok too! We accept all kinds of turkeys) and a nose and google.

Then it was hat time! This is where you are really going to laugh at me...
I cut a strip of black construction paper like this:

I pulled it around into a circle and sized it up to Turkey Man's head so his hat would fit. I then made another small strip, as you see here:


Then (here's the genius part!) I taped the smaller strip onto the rounded strip to make his hat stay on his head, like this:


Next the hat needed a bill. Or whatever it is called on a top hat. So..I drew a circle around the paper towel roll and a bigger circle around that one, onto the black construction paper. I was not being OCD at this particular moment, and my pen kept messing up, so my circle is pretty janky, but whatever.
[insert picture "turkey man 5"]

The cutting of this circle is important. I cut the inside of the inner circle, but I left a tab on each side so I could secure it onto the hat:
[insert picture "turkey man 6"]

I then used the tabs to tape the bill to the bottom of the hat. Done with Turkey Man's hat!

Now, Turkey Man needs feathers. I took the craft sticks, alternating colors, and held them a few at a time where I wanted them placed on his body, then secured them. To be honest, because we had no hot glue (homeless shelter!), I improvised with tape. Tape looks silly, just to let you know.

Then he is finished! Turkey Man! I feel like he should be in Avengers 2....or maybe just his name? Maybe not. Whatever.


So there you have it! Some fun, interactive, simple Thanksgiving kid-friendly (and budget-friendly, because craftiness can be expensive!) crafts to decorate the house!

Happy crafting, and Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! Eat lots of turkey! But not Turkey Man.....


Blessings,
Michelle

Michelle's Musings: Fingerprints of Nature on Canvas

This is the story of my newest creation - a tree made by fingerpainting!
I know, I am not 5 anymore, but sometimes reverting to childhood can be both fun and therapeutic! So here we go...


Materials:
white canvas (whatever size or type you like)
burlap
sticks from the yard
bark from a tree
hot glue/hot glue gun - with electrical outlet for power! :)
paints of your chosen colors
paper/styrofoam plate (or artist palette)
your fingers!


I started with a plain ol' blank white canvas (I really love canvas). I put something else I really love on it too - burlap.
Ok, technically mine is more like sackcloth (which I bought from a bolt, but you could probably reuse an old potato sack if you have one!)

I cut the burlap-sackcloth in a rectangle slightly smaller than my canvas so that some of the white would show around the edges. I then hot glued it down. Be sure to use plenty of hot glue to keep it on, but not so much that it weighs it down too much.

Once the burlap was glued down, I went a'huntin' outside. I first began looking only for sticks, but during my search I decided to use tree bark as the trunk of my tree (you know, since that's what God used and all). So I gathered bark and sticks.

After I selected my outdoor supplies, I placed them on top of the burlap to see how I wanted them arranged. Turns out, I placed them just like I wanted them on the first try! I placed my sticks where I wanted them to be for the branches of the tree (I had to break many of the sticks into smaller, more practically-sized pieces). I then glued all this down.
Now, you want to be careful on this step how much hot glue you use, because the bark and sticks can really weigh it down. So don't use too much glue (you don't really need a whole lot anyway).

After this was finished, it was time to get my hands dirty being a kid again!

I selected the colors that I wanted to use for my leaves.
I wanted a fall tree, you know the way things will look here in a few weeks when the leaves really get to changing, but still with lots of green. So I selected 2 shades of green, 2 shades of yellow/gold, 2 shades of red/maroon (although one bottle was veeery empty!), and orange.
[Insert pic]

I only purchased one of the green paints..I used what I already had for all the rest. Since my canvas is fairly small, it did not require a great deal of paint to accomplish my task.

I poured the greens out on my styrofoam plate and got to work! I dabbed each fingertip of my right hand into the paint, so that my leaves would be varying sizes. I only used my fingertips, but you could use your whole fingerprint if you like!
After I fingerpainted a good bit of green, I added in some other colors, like red and yellow.

Then I repeated the greens again, so that the green was the most prominent of all the colors (I wanted it to look like there were only traces of fall beginning).
I added the orange and other shades of yellow and red, then repeated again with my greens.

I continued this pattern (ok, it was more randomized than patterned) until I had very little burlap showing on the area where I wanted leaves. I let the leaves of the tree hang over the burlap and onto the canvas, one, because trees can become invasive, and two, because Nikki suggested it. :) Good teamwork!

I realized that the more "layers" I created by dabbing colors on top of other colors, the more full my tree appeared, which is what I really wanted.
I also put just a couple of leaves falling and a pile of leaves on the "ground" below my tree.

After awhile, my tree was complete! I was satisfied with its color and fullness.

I then signed Nikki's and my initials on the bottom right corner. I will admit my goof on this one...so, I like to sign my canvases in Sharpie, and this one was no different. I first tried signing directly onto the burlap, then quickly realized this was not legible. It kind of even looked bad. Oops! Luckily, I did it at the very bottom of the burlap, where there was no glue right on the edge. (Lucky me!)
So I took my scissors and cut off the very bottom of the burlap. This gave me a little more white space to sign our initials onto the canvas! Yay, it's finally complete!

Then of course, I let it dry.

Random tidbits & tips with this project:
-You can use paint for the trunk and branches if you don't like the use of nature but like the idea of the design. I first planned to do all paint then realized it would be cool to make it 3-dimensional and more fun..more like me!
-You can make your tree be in whatever season you desire. Or, you could make one for every season! They could be interchanged throughout the year or placed together in a broken rectangle on your wall - whatever you like!
-You can make your tree as full or as naked as you like. As I said, layering the colors gives it a more full effect (as does repeating the same colors after using others in between). If you want to make a winter tree that is naked, you can use a lot fewer fingerprints!
-This project can be really great for children, too! (You might want to help them with the hot glue gun, or use Mod Podge or some safer, colder adhesive.) Many kids would probably enjoy the nature hunt for sticks and bark, too!
-As you paint your leaves, be sure to get some paint on the sticks (branches) too. It adds a cool effect (who doesn't love polka-dotted sticks?!) and looks more realistic, because we all know leaves consume their branches!

Please share with us if you decide to make your own fingerpainting tree. We would love to see what you come up with!

Blessings and love,
Michelle

Potholder "Survival Kit"

                            So I saw this great pin on Pinterest and knew I had to make one of my own!

  I went on the hunt for the perfect potholder to make into a survival kit...and found one at Target for $7.  It has a cute print and I loved the colors.

I basically followed the tutorial here. BUT made a few changes that I will show you here to give you more options.



This is what I used:

1 Potholder
Sewing Machine and coordinating thread
10 Ziploc baggies
coordinating ribbon
Scissors
Button







The first step is to decide if you want to fold your potholder hotdog (tutorial style) or hot dog (my style).

I decided to fold it the thick (hamburger) way simply because I wanted it to fold up shorter to put in my bag, as well as give me deeper baggies.


So my first step was to place my baggies over lapping one at a time open part of baggie alternating sides each time.  You should have 5 baggies on each side.

Pin in place and sew straight down the middle, attaching the baggies to the potholder's center.

After that trim up the closed end of the baggies that are now useless.

I decided to add some ribbon down the center to give the baggies a more finished look.  So place the ribbon and sew one seam ( I zig-zagged) down the center once again.

After that I needed to cut off the loop of fabric on the potholder and attach it to the correct side.

I sewed it on making sure it was a little loose so as the fabric loop could fit around it. ( I even had left over thread on my needle and looped it around the thread that was attaching the button to the potholder, to stabilize it a bit.)

Finally it was finished!! Now came the fun part...FILLING IT!

Examples of what to keep in your Survival Kit:

Ibuprofen
Spare Key
Extras of meds or vitamins you forget to take
Pen and sticky notes
Tic-Tacs or mints/gum
wet-wipes from a restaurant
Chapstick/lipgloss
Change

Hope you liked my take on the Girl's Survival Kit! Cute for gifts and for your own purse! Every girl should have one, and SO easy to make!

Get your craft on!

Fall Wreath Knockoff Tutorial

So I was cruising around on Pinterest (my favorite) and low and behold saw the most beautiful Fall wreath I've ever seen. I mean this thing is stinking GORGEOUS. I must craft this!!!

So I did! But in my own way.  I definitely based my own creation on this one...Isn't that called inspiration? Or maybe plagiarism...I don't know ;). Either way this is what I did...

What I used...

• A vine wreath I already had
• About 1/8-1/4 yards burlap (4 colors) ( I had some left over from making my Mom a wreath so I figured, eh, why not!
• Hot Glue gun
• Wooden 'D' Cut Out
• Some paint for the D
• Fake Pearl Beads

First I painted my 'D' (for our last name).  I wanted it to have time to dry while I was assembling the other parts.

                     ( Call me ghetto if you want...but I've been painting with a paper towel for years :) )

In order to cut burlap in a straight line here is a great tutorial for that. Basically just pull one of the strings out and you have a cutting guide.

Then I started making different sizes of burlap rosettes with my strips of burlap. Here is the tutorial I used. Rosettes Tutorial

I followed it pretty closely but didn't use felt at the end to close it. I just folded the end of the burlap over itself and secured it with some hot glue.

Like so-

First you fold your strip in half and secure with a dab of hot glue.





                                                                     

Then start rolling. I'd say around 7-8 times or until you have a little roll like pictured.







After you twist and glue (watch the tutorial it's great!) Leave about an inch and put hot glue on the bottom of your rose.







Then press the burlap over the bottom of the flower. Be careful, burlap has holes, duh Nikki. But seriously the glue will seep through and burn like the dickens!






                                       After I made a BUNCH of rosettes (about 19)

I made some  burlap leaves to attach to a couple rosettes.

After that I decided which rosettes were worthy of having a pearl glued on them and applied the pearls with a dab of hot glue.

Excuse the ugly carpet...Welcome to  rentals

When I first started the project I hadn't planned on making the ruffles like in the original...BUT the ruffles grew on me. So this is how I made the ruffles-



Take about a 2 inch wide piece of burlap and fold in half and glue

Then glue the bottoms together to get a loop.








Then I started to assemble my wreath, using the one I found as a model for the placement of my rosettes (my wreath is bigger than the one shown and I had to kind of fudge it/make it my own).

After that I was ready to put on the D.  I decided instead of wrapping twine around my wreath I would hot glue a piece of burlap around it and place the D on top of it.

And there you have it folks...My take on the $58.00 wreath from Etsy. I used things I already had and put them together to make something better! I would say I spent about $5.00.

            $5 instead of $60!? And a comparable outcome with a little fall color!!? Ummm yes please!

                                 
                                                So go on...GET YOUR CRAFT ON!

                                                             -Nikki


                                      P.S if your rosettes are looking all frayed and what not

                                               Don't be afraid to give them a little haircut :)