Cute Crafts

I'm so blessed to have a really creative friend!  Actually, I have LOTS of creative friends, but my friend Amanda is especially creative with paper/cards/scrapbooking type stuff.  The other day my mom asked me if I wanted to make some little gifty things for some volunteers at her school and I immediately called Amanda, because she is the queen of all things gifty and crafty.  Here's what she came up with!  We had so much fun making these!

 We took tiny paper sacks and glued a half circle on each side and then strips of paper for handles.  To make a large circle pattern just trace around a large bowl in your kitchen.  Jazz them up with ribbon and buttons.

 The local plant shop didn't have small flowers in bloom so we filled them with chocolate candies.  But you could put a petunia or pansy or anything in them for a mother's day gift or make them for May Day baskets to  leave on your neighbor's doorsteps.

Amanda also makes gorgeous cards, which she sells at craft fairs and things.  When I'm looking for extra-special cards I go to her, because they are so much prettier than what I can find in the store, and cheaper too!

Car Organizers

I found this excellent tutorial here, which inspired me in making these. But because I didn't have sturdy fabric around, I decided to use two old garments that were on their way to the rag bag. The cool thing is that I still get to enjoy my hubby's western shirt and my favorite courderoy skirt that I wore nearly everyday for the last few years on end.I forgot to take a pic of the finished skirt one,

but it's just very basic with about 5 square pockets on it and less frills than the denim one.I forgot to take a pic of the western shirt before chopping it up, but you can probably imagine it.The little hook on the back of the shirt becomes a great place to put a carabiner, where you can stash ponytail holders, keys, or pacifiers.

I even re-used the tag, figuring it would hold pens.

My pics of it in the car didn't turn out so well, so here is my daughter holding it up to give you an idea of how it works. The elastic at the bottom goes around the seat of the car to help hold it tight against the car seat.

Since I sit in the back with the kids on long car trips, these organizers really bless me! The brown, plain one went behind Justus's carseat on the front passenger seat. (He still rides rear-facing). I mainly stashed extra diapers and wipes and winter hats there since it wasn't as accessible as the one directly in front of my seat. In this one, I stashed dark chocolate, lotion, diapers, wipes, coloring book, mp3 player, keys, pacifiers, kleenex, sippy, etc.

Super Gift!

Everyone has to have one friend that's a Martha Stewart Clone, right? Well, my friend Lora, happens to be that friend and makes very fabulous homemade gifts! Last year, I blogged about what she brought me, and this year the goodie basket was even bigger! It was such a pretty gift I wanted to share the pics with you all here! There were also some Cherry Revel bars in the basket which I didn't get a picture of. Snack Cookies
Fruit Dip Mix

Cute, old-fashioned-looking ornament



Squash tea bread

Soup mix in a jar

Raspberry Jam--A wonderful treat our family will devour quickly!

Thank you Lora! You inspire me with your beautiful home decorating, your excellent parties, and your tasty treats and recipes!

What Lindsey is Making This Week....

I bought a shoe-organizer this summer and rigged up a rough version of this for our last trip to MN, but because it was that thin, mesh-type stuff it ripped shortly after we returned from the trip. I'm gearing up to make some nice ones from sturdy fabric this week for our upcoming trip. So excited to have found this simple tutorial!

Uses for Artwork

Much of the kids' artwork

will end up

as wrapping paper this year.

But it's also just the right size for placemats.

Keep Your Eyes Peeled for Christmas Stuff at Yard Sales

I found these little crafts at a yard sale this summer.They were at most $1 for about 20 of them, brand new, still in the packages.

Ali enjoyed making these for some relatives.

Messy, but fun!

Bead Socks

Heather at www.blessyourfamily.net is letting me guest post today on how to make bead socks. They are simple and fun and make cute gifts! So go visit this post to figure them out!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Sarah asked for my laundry detergent recipes. Here they are!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2 C Water (boiling)

1 Bar soap (grated with a knife or cheese grater)

1 C Borax

1 Cup Washing Soda

Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low-med heat until soap is melted.
Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.
Add 1 gallon of hot tap water. Stir until well mixed.
Using a measure pitcher or cup, dump the soap into old ice cream tubs and top with lids. Or use 2 old detergent containers, but don’t fill to the top as you want to leave a little room to shake the detergent as it will gel into a thick slime. If using detergent bottles, shake up before each use and add a little water if it‘s too thick to come out. Use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry.
From Tipnut.com
Article: 10 Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipes

I averaged out the price of this when I made it. Because I had gotten Ivory soap bars on a super good sale for 15 cents each, this laundry soap costs me 1 and a half cents per load! Even when I buy the cheapest laundry soap I can buy WITH a $1.00 off coupon, it’s still around 8 cents a load. So homemade is a really good deal, especially if you do a lot of laundry/cloth diapers, etc. This is a natural, phosphate free, environmentally friendly soap that is good for newborns and children and is comparable to the Free and Clear soaps. And it works great! It’s made from most of the same ingredients store-bought soaps are made from. If you
want you can add some essential oils for scents. Note: This soap doesn’t suds up when you add it to water but that’s okay since it’s not the suds that do the cleaning anyway!
It took me about half an hour to make a batch and that batch should last for nearly 2 months!!! I really like the results and the way this soap cleans!

Powdered Detergent

2 Bars of Ivory Soap
2 C. washing soda
2 C. Borax

Grate the soap by hand on a cheese grater. Mix all ingredients and put in a container with a tight lid. Use 2-3 T. per load. This one takes about 5 minutes to make and works just as well for me as the liquid homemade detergent!

Simmering Jars

These simmering jars will no doubt be one of my favorite gifts to make for folks for years to come. They are unique, creative, natural, very frugal, quick and simple to make, and very pretty. And they also won't cause your friends to gain 5# like all of that fudge people are always giving this time of year!

My mom asked me the other day if I would be interested in being hired to make cookie platters for her co-workers. She never has the time to make crafty things anymore. I suggested that we do simmering jars instead, since I was already planning to make them for my friends. She agreed to buy all the ingredients and I offered to do them just for the cost of the ingredients, meaning she has 7 jars, and I have 7 jars, and I got to make all of mine for free! The lemons, limes, and oranges were on sale in our town, which helped keep the cost down.

14 Gifts made in one hour!!! If you are short on time, this is the gift for you! Yard Sale Goods put to use: 12 new, canning jars for $3, a roll of Christmas ribbon for 10 cents, and pretty tissue wrapping paper for pennies. I used a couple of old spaghetti sauce and mayo jars for the remaining two jars.

I printed the instructions and Label on one page of address labels.


Each jar contains about 1/2 a lime, 1/2 a lemon, 1/3 of an orange, 1 long cinnamon stick broke in half, 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, 1 t. whole cloves, and water. As I made these jars, I simmered the ingredients on my stove and it smelled wonderful! You simmer the contents in a small saucepan on the stove, being careful to always keep plenty of water in the pan. Then you are supposed to put the contents back into the jar, cover with more water, and refrigerate and use again and again. How many "agains" I do not know!

Laura, at http://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/ linked to this post by Donna, talking about making simmering jars. I thought it was a wonderful idea! I love pretty scents but don't like the artificial-smells in cheap candles or air fresheners. This is an adorable gift for a lady in your life, whether a friend, your child's Sunday School teacher, or an aunt or Grandma. Just don't give it to a guy. My husband assures me that a guy would never find these gifts cute and would promptly re-gift them. I assured him that women love them even if a guy wouldn't, and that it's probably the bachelors who need them the most!

An Added Tip: If you buy your cloves and cinnamon sticks in the spice section you will pay WAY TOO MUCH! Some jars I saw ran as high as $12 for a tiny thing of cloves. I got my cloves and sticks in the Latino section, by all the beans and salsa, where I buy dried peppers for making homemade enchiladas. These run you about 50 cents to a $1 per package.

NOTE: Meredith asked if you are supposed to simmer the ingredients before putting them into the jar for the first time. Nope! Just throw it all in a jar, top with tap water, and put the lid on! Good question, thanks for asking!

A Cute Wreath Project

Ali made this wreath in preschool. Miss Jenny, her teacher, is about the craftiest person alive and they are always bringing home adorable projects. They traced the child's handprint on green paper to make the leaves, and glued them to a paper plate. Add some ribbons, a couple of little jingle bells, and a few holly berries and the child's picture, and you have a cute gift for the Grandparents!

Craft for Kids--Dragonfly magnets

My mom made these dragonfly magnets with the kids a couple of weeks ago. They are simple, but cute and the kids love them! All you need is a couple of pipe-cleaners, some little eyes and strong glue (hot glue or craft glue), saran wrap for the wings, and a thin magnet to glue on the back!

Leather Shoes

Most of these pairs were ordered by friends in MN (or friends of friends).

I haven't made leather shoes in a few months, but I have been meaning to post pics of the latest pairs I made and kept forgetting. Heather's post today reminded me to post my pics. Heather is the reason I got started on sewing leather shoes in the first place! Maybe in a few months I will be whipping out a pair for little Justus! I miss sewing but it's not something I have tons of energy for right now.

Wooden Names Project

I mentioned before that I finally found wooden letters for Jer's name at a craft store in Billings and wanted to get them done before the new baby comes. So, last week I got busy painting while we watched a weekend movie and found it to be a fun, easy, and adorable project. When Ali was a baby, I found letters at the local dollar store for her (they only had letters for her nickname, Ali Joy, and not her full name) but I was tired of the sick, pasty pink color that really doesn't fit well with her vibrant personality so I painted them a bright pink with green circles.
You may recognize one of my yard sale finds put to use! this little dress frame was only 50 cents brand new and I put the cutest current pic of Ali in it as an added decoration for her side of the room.
To get the wild green circles, I dipped one of Ali's pony-tail holders in green paint and sponged the circles onto the letters.
Since Jer's letters don't have little loops or holes for hanging them, I used a flat metal tack to tack a ribbon to the back of them (they are very thick) and then used push-pins to hang the ribbon tabs on the wall.
The name/footprint cross-stitch was a baby gift from my friend Hannah. I painted a cheap 5X7 frame we had around the house with the same calypso blue I used on the letters to frame it.

The paint cost 50 cents-$1 per tube and Jer's letters were only $1.50 each. This makes for a very economical way to decorate considering that buying painted letters from many catalogs will run you at least $50 and sometimes more if the name is long!

Ribbon Hair Bows

Packs of 12 clips are really inexpensive at a discount store!

A pretty ribbon tacked to the wall is a great way to store fancy hairclips!

Buttons, flowers, and all kinds of ribbon! There are endless possibilities!

My friend Heather made the pink feather boa clip for Alathia. The only feather boa I could find in our area has really big feathers so it is less airy looking and more flouncy and dramatic. We always get comments on these clips wherever we go!

Thanks to inspiration from http://www.thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/ and also thanks to being totally frustrated with the way my daughter's hair constantly looks wild and unkempt, I decided to make up some ribbon hair clips for her and for gifts. It's so cute to see little girls in bows (Meredith of http://www.likemerchantships.blogspot.com/ always has her daughter dolled up in cute dresses and bows!) and they are super easy to make. You just take some clips, which can be purchased at most Wal-Marts or Ben Franklin stores, and hot glue a bow or snip of feather boa onto the clip. Thanks to my friend Heather for these clips, which she sent me when I couldn't find them in my own town! She also taught me, through e-mail, how to make the feather boa clips!

With the ribbon scraps I had on hand, I whipped these up today. You can get fancy and put a strip of velvet ribbon on the inner part of the metal clip to help hold very fine hair, but I didn't have any and they don't sell any in our town, so I skipped this step.



Parenting tip: If you, like me, have a wild little girl who is prone to taking her hair clips out at inopportune times and looking her worst just when you had hoped she would look her best, then perhaps you could benefit from this: I plan to plant a few of these little bows in my car, purse, and diaper bag, along with a tiny comb so that just before we go into a store, or church, or to the library, we have a back-up plan to fix those ragamuffin hair-dos!