For Mother’s Day, the children and I made a framed canvas for my mom and Marshall’s mom.
Since I didn’t want to do four paintings per grandmother, we did some fingerprint art.
I used some black contact paper I had left over from another project and cut out simple shapes.
(You most certainly don’t have to use black.  The color doesn’t matter.)
Then I covered the entire canvas with the contact paper, essentially creating a stencil.

Each child picked a paint color and dotted all over.
(For the heart, we used the provided colors.  For the birdie, we used some paint I already had.)

At the very bottom, I cut off some of the contact paper and let each child put one print at the bottom.
Later, I labelled each print so the grandmothers would know which color belonged to which child.
After we’d finished ‘polka-dotting’ (as Lydia called it), I let it dry completely.
Then I slipped it back into the frame and let them record a message.

Done!  Super easy!  And adorable!  And the sweetest sounding little voices ever.

For less than $15 you can give a really great keepsake that will bring back memories for years to come.
(There’s a lock button behind a screwed on panel so that you can’t accidentally erase the message.)

For those of you who live close to me and don’t have time to make it to the Hallmark Gold Crown store,
I did see several of these still at Walgreen’s.  :-)

Want to hear more on how it works?

I had the pleasure of working with Hallmark again to bring you this review.  But I know that you know that the opinions stated above are 100% Bridget.  I absolutely love the fun products that Hallmark has and hope that you do, too.  

I knew I wanted to have a wreath on the front door and I thought surely you can make a wreath from diapers.
Last week I posted this picture on Instagram and Greis wanted a how-to!

So to make this, I used one 12″ foam floral wreath, 21 size 2 diapers, 22 rubberbands, two 8″ boas (one pink, one black), and 3 hairbows.  (Although next time I’ll get more boas and less hairbows.)

Because I’d already assembled it when I decided to do a tutorial, I did a few pictures using the handle of a basket instead of the wreath form.

First you’ll open up a diaper and put it on the wreath form just like you would a  baby but without opening up the flaps.

Then put a rubber band around the diaper and pull it down close to the wreath form.
Squeeze the butt of the diaper so that it’s a little compressed.
That’ll make sure you have room for all of the diapers and give the wreath a little dimension.

Once all of the diapers are attached, I used the black boa and weaved it over – under – over the diapers all the way around to cover up half of the rubberbands.  Then I did the opposite with the pink boa.  I tied the loose ends together in the back.

Then I used the remaining rubber band to attach the hairbows.  I wrapped around and tied it in the back and then was able to attach the hairbows to the part in the front.  BUT if I make another one, I’ll probably just get more feather boas and make a bow with them.

This really is easy and it looks adorable!

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Linked up to Tip Junkie’s Tip Me Tuesday.

But I was thinking about inexpensive but still lovely ways to display all these pictures that  take.  I am terrible, horrible about printing out images but I want to do better.  My biggest wish was to be able to easily change the picture displayed.   I’m probably going to do another wall gallery similar to the one in Carter and Lydia’s room, but I’m not quite ready to commit to a big project right now.  I do, however, have a few more Christmas gifts to finish up!  Including drying time, these took me less than an hour to make!  And aren’t the cute, cute, cute?

This is what it looks like “nekkid”.  It’d also make a lovely note pad holder, eh?

You’ll need:  a piece of wood (the ones you see here are 4x4ish and 5x6ish), some paint (I used spray paint), some scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, foam brush, a piece of sandpaper and these little round top magnetic clips*

First you’ll want to sand down your wood piece and make sure it is dust free.
Mine is scrap wood, so it’s not a straight cut.  I could have straightened it, but I kinda liked it.

Then you’ll want to lay down the front of your wood block onto the back of your scrapbook paper and trace the edges.

Spray paint your wood block and let it dry.

Spread a layer of Mod Podge on your wood block and put your paper on top.
Smooth it out and then spread on a layer of Mod Podge on top of the scrapbook paper.
Make sure you get out any air bubbles now.
Let it dry for 15ish minutes and repeat.

Once it is completely dry, take the clip and hot glue it onto the top (or side) of the block.
That’s it!

For the “K” one, I used my SilhouetteHD to cut out the K and then put the clip on the side instead of center.

For the black one, I used my SilhouetteHD to cut out the pattern from black paper and then finished as shown above.

Whew!  I finished all 12 Crafts of Christmas.

I’ll start looking for new crafts for 2012 on January 1!
Let me know if you think of something fabulous!

Merry Christmas, y’all!

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12 Crafts of Christmas 2011
1. Personalized Necklaces
2. Button and Lego Wall Art
3. Personalized ClipBoards
4. Fabric Covered Wire(Wall Art) 
5. Stationary
6. You & Me Books
7. Personalized Welcome Mat
8. Personalized Dessert Carrier
9. Kid’s Artwork Cup
10. Ornaments
11. Sewing Tutorials

12. Photo Display Block

*Yep, that’s an affiliate link.  If you click it and buy them, I’ll make one one-hundredth of a penny.

Ruffle Scarf from Vermillion Rules

Super Cool Wallet from CraftBits
(Lydia has – just today – added this to her Christmas wish list, so I’ll try to get it made in time!)

Fancy Tee (Garnet Hill Knock Off) from Blue Cricket Design
The one on the left is from the tutorial linked above.
The shirt on the right is one that I made using this tutorial.
(For people with large chests it seemed to work better focusing on the neckline.)

*******
12 Crafts of Christmas 2011
1. Personalized Necklaces
2. Button and Lego Wall Art
3. Personalized ClipBoards
4. Fabric Covered Wire(Wall Art) 
5. Stationary
6. You & Me Books
7. Personalized Welcome Mat
8. Personalized Dessert Carrier
9. Kid’s Artwork Cup
10. Ornaments
11. Sewing Tutorials
12. Photo Display Block

So I rolled up a ball of Sculpey and rolled it out flat with a rolling pin.
(I have a ‘junk pan’ – aka an old cookie sheet that’s seen better days – that I use to bake my craft stuff on.
I rolled it out on there so I wouldn’t have to transfer it from one surface to another before it was heat set.)

I squished Anna Alden’s hand into it and the little stinker reeeeeally dug her fingers in.
So I rolled it back up and tried again.
Success!

I used a drinking straw to make a hole in the top.

And while I was making that, I decided to try using stamps.
(I also tried writing with a toothpick.  It’s possible, but not easy.)

When you bake them, they stay the same color.
But I wanted some sparkle.
(Really…who doesn’t?)
So I grabbed some Metallic Krylon Spray paint, painted the back, let it dry, turn it over, paint front, dry.
Finito!

Another super cute idea?  Polaroid Ornaments!

For only $5, you can get enough materials to make 2.
For $10, you can get a kit to make 5.

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12 Crafts of Christmas 2011
1. Personalized Necklaces
2. Button and Lego Wall Art
3. Personalized ClipBoards
4. Fabric Covered Wire(Wall Art) 
5. Stationary
6. You & Me Books
7. Personalized Welcome Mat
8. Personalized Dessert Carrier
9. Kid’s Artwork Cup
10. Ornaments
11. Sewing Tutorials
12. Photo Display Block

Have your child draw a simple line artpicture. Take a picture of that picture and upload it into your Silhouette software’s library.

Once you have the image opened up in Silhouette Studio, you’ll want to go into Trace and “Select Trace Area” and put a box around the part you want to use.  I didn’t want my thumb to show, so I was careful to not include it in the square area. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Once you have your ‘trace’ area selected, you’ll want to click on High Pass Filter and pull it up as high as it will go to make the lines as completely yellow as possible.

Next you will choose “Trace” as your trace method. Then click on the original background image you imported and pull it out of the way. (I usually just delete it, but I left it here so that you can see it.)

Now there are a couple of extraneous little dots that I don’t want in my picture, so I zoom in, click on them and delete them. To do that, you’ll need to click on a point (which will get you into Point Editing) and then use the Delete Point option until all that you want to remove is gone.  (Do not use the delete button on your keyboard.  That won’t work!)

Now you’ll want to resize your image to fit the side of your cup, send it through the Silhouette as a vinyl cut and apply as normal.

Aaaaaand you’re done!

This is one that I made for me!  (Drawing and writing by Lydia!)

*Don’t have a Silhouette machine, but still want a decal of your child’s artwork? I can make you one for only $15! Email me at IveyLeagueMama(at)gmail(dot)com for details.

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12 Crafts of Christmas 2011
1. Personalized Necklaces
2. Button and Lego Wall Art
3. Personalized ClipBoards
4. Fabric Covered Wire(Wall Art) 
5. Stationary
6. You & Me Books
7. Personalized Welcome Mat
8. Personalized Dessert Carrier
9. Kid’s Artwork Cup
10. Ornaments
11. Sewing Tutorials
12. Photo Display Block

A few weeks ago, I found this pie container at my local Walmart.
(If I’m not mistaken, it was a little cheaper at the store.)
It’s perfect because it has these little trays that come with it that hold deviled eggs or cupcakes.

But I’m constantly taking food places and leaving my dish behind.
(And just by looking at the lost-and-found table at church, I’m not the only one.)

So one of these with my name on it?  Perfect!
I used my Silhouette to cut out the vinyl letters, but you could easily use a paint pen on this kind of surface.

I didn’t want just a name, so I decided to add a little something to the side.  (I amuse me.)

 If you plan on giving it as a gift, you could add goodies like this or this!
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12 Crafts of Christmas 2011
1. Personalized Necklaces
2. Button and Lego Wall Art
3. Personalized ClipBoards
4. Fabric Covered Wire(Wall Art) 
5. Stationary
6. You & Me Books
7. Personalized Welcome Mat
8. Personalized Dessert Carrier
9. Kid’s Artwork Cup
10. Ornaments
11. Sewing Tutorials
12. Photo Display Block

And the craziest thing is that this took me approximately 10 minutes from start to finish.
Marshall can verify that this is the fastest craft I’ve ever done.

Start out by designing and cutting out your stencil.
(I have a Silhouette machine and lots of vinyl, which certainly makes this easier;
but last year I didn’t have a cutting machine and I hand cut stencils out of contact paper.
This doesn’t make it harder, it just makes it take longer to do.)

Once my stencil was cut out, I stuck it onto the mat and smooooooshed it around until it was stuck on well.

Then I covered the rest of the area with painter’s tape.
(I tend to get a little over-zealous with spray paint.)

While I was shaking the paint can, I danced barefoot on top of the rug.
This is an essential step!
(No, really!  It is!  The stencil wasn’t very well stuck until I did that.)

And then spray painted…

After wating about 5 minutes, I pulled off the stencil.
I love the way this turned out!!

Now, admittedly, I bought the cheapest mat I could find and it may not last long,
but I wanted to try it on something inexpensive before I invested anything.
But if I were doing it again (and I will!), I’d get a higher quality mat.
Which, ya know, would increase my overhead a little.
But still…not to $150!

(Also?  I’m thinking my next one may have a little something like this on it.)
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12 Crafts of Christmas 2011
1. Personalized Necklaces
2. Button and Lego Wall Art
3. Personalized ClipBoards
4. Fabric Covered Wire(Wall Art) 
5. Stationary
6. You & Me Books
7. Personalized Welcome Mat
8. Personalized Dessert Carrier
9. Kid’s Artwork Cup
10. Ornaments
11. Sewing Tutorials
12. Photo Display Block

I’ll (hopefully) be updating this post with Tello’s pictures.

Last night(Dec 1) he brought the tree in, set it up, and got it ready for us to decorate.
There was lots of whistling, as I recall.  (Tello is a master whistler, in case you didn’t know.)

Takin’ on the angels and snowmen in Georgia’s smallest snowball fight.

Clean up, clean up!  Everybody everywhere!

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!

Zoom!  Zoom!  Zoom!
Around the room!  room!  room!

Character reading of “Aliens in Underpants”!

Tello is one cold fellow!

Sugar Crash

Missing home

CANDYLAND!!!!

Gone Fishin’

Scrooge

Dropping by Bethlehem

Just Hangin’ Out

]]> http://theiveyleague.com/2011/12/02/hello-tello/feed/ 2 http://theiveyleague.com/2011/12/01/craft-with-bridget/ http://theiveyleague.com/2011/12/01/craft-with-bridget/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:14:48 +0000 Bridget http://theiveyleague.com/?p=6500 You asked, I answered!

I’ll be having a craft day at my house on Sunday, December 11 from 1pm until we get done!
I’ll have materials available to make some of my Crafts of Christmas(even ones I haven’t posted yet!)
Or you can bring your own crafts to work on.
I’ll have my Silhouette machine available for use, metal stamp set,washers, ribbon, blank stationary, wire & fabric scraps.
If you know there is one specific thing you want to make, please let me know so I am sure to have everything you need.

I’ll also have lunch available for those who want lunch.
(It’ll be good, I promise!)

If you’d like to register for Craft with Bridget, you can do it here (through PayPal) or drop off a check at my house.
There are three options to choose from below.
If you want to eat the lunch and use my craft supplies, you’ll choose the $20 option.
If you want to eat lunch and use your own craft supplies, you’ll choose Lunch only option for $10.
If you don’t want to eat lunch but do want to use my craft supplies, you’ll choose Craft only option for $10.

When you check out through PayPal, it will let you leave a note to the seller.
Click on that and let me know the following:
If you plan on eating, please let me know of any dietary restrictions.
If you plan on doing one of my crafts, please let me know if there is one that you have your heart set on doing and I’ll make sure I have those supplies.

Craft with Bridget

Lunch only $10.00 USD Craft only $10.00 USD Lunch & Craft $20.00 USD