Homemade Quiver

You would think my son was the one reading the Hunger Games trilogy last year based on his obsession with archery.  The kid loves bows and arrows and attempting to use them in the backyard.  He was out there practicing one day and was trying to explain to me that he needs a thing to hold his arrows, you know mom, like a thing that can hang off my back, like Link has on Legend of Zelda.  Oh, a quiver!  He had never heard that word before, but he quickly embraced it and helped me figure out how to make one with materials we had on hand.

We cut up a couple old 7Up bottles and stacked them together (finally my 7Up addiction is good for something), then wrapped it in some old red material I had left over from a Christmas project.  Then we used hot glue to attach a ribbon to carry it with. 

Arrows inserted, dogs safely locked in the house...steer clear of my backyard when you see this little cupid running about in the Summer.

-Andrea

Sure, I Can Make A Beard

Last year my son was in second grade and got to participate in the wax museum project at school.  He chose Abraham Lincoln as his character to research and dress up as.  We sat down and looked at photos of old Abe and he knew he had to have the hat.  No big deal, I can make a paper hat.  All it took was a black poster sized paper and some packaging tape.  Then he decided he needed a bow tie, again easy peasy, some ribbon and elastic. 

However, when it came to the beard I wasn't sure how I would pull that off.  I knew it couldn't be hair or anything scratchy because my son has a serious aversion to anything itchy or uncomfortable.  After some trial and error I came up with felt and elastic.  I drew and cut it out of brown felt and sewed on a piece of elastic to hold it onto his head.  Voila!  One beard that doesn't itch!

He doesn't look all that thrilled here because they were supposed to stand still like statues, but he did like being Mr. Lincoln and he seemed impressed with my impromptu costume making skills.  I thought he was adorable!

-Andrea

Summer Fun From Pinterest

Last Summer I decided that we would try out a bunch of things I had pinned on Pinterest under Kid Fun.  My son and I had a blast trying to new crafts and activities and making them our own.

Here we are making our own sidewalk paint and decorating our driveway.

The paint was easy to make, click here for the Pin, and the colors were vibrant and it stayed on the driveway a long time, a lot longer than chalk.  Plus my quirky son does not like to touch chalk, it feels funny on his hands, so he never wants to draw with me.  This was something we both enjoyed and no one's hands had to feel icky.

-Andrea

Crafty Decor For My Craft Room

Last year I decided it was time to spruce up my craft room.  I am beyond lucky to have this little space in our basement.  A whole room with a door.  It is my own little hide out.  When I first decided it would be my craft room I had my husband paint it purple, he calls it plum crazy purple, but I still like the color 7 years later.  It has an old desk I rescued from a neighbors curb, an old cabinet we had in our kitchen at our last house and a hodge podge of other storage units.  It's not exactly Pottery Barn in there, but it works for me.

I took down all the preschool coloring pages and crafts my son had made and taped to my walls and created a few things to hang.

First up were these little gems made with scrapbook paper, free printables from online, ribbon, twine, buttons and a paper flower.  I used that blue tacky poster hanging stuff to stick them to the wall, they are just light enough to be held up by it.

Next was this little sign made with scrapbook paper, letters cut on the Cricut, another clear acrylic frame and some thick black satin ribbon.  I love that "Keep Calm And Carry On" saying and variations of it.  I knew I wanted to use it for my craft room and this was perfect.

These items flank the peg board my husband installed above my desk last year.  It feels so much more like "me" in there with just these few simple items.

-Andrea

Corner Bookmarks Craft

There have been a lot of crafts since Christmas, but here is an easy one I would like to share.  These corner bookmarks are really easy to make and embellish.

I made one for my son and a couple for friends.  Of course there had to be one for me, the I Love Summer one.  That one is neat because I stamped the bike in Versa Mark ink and then used clear embossing powder.  I love that I was able to fit the bike and the text on that tiny space using that technique.

I created a quick little template for making these by tracing a 2.5" square three times and cutting off two triangles.  I couldn't find a printable template anywhere on Pinterest, so I just created my own.  I did see some people calling them envelope bookmarks and literally making them from the corner of an envelope.  That would be an even easier way to do it if you don't mind the paper the envelope is made from.

My son has been using his on his Scooby Doo book he is reading for homework each night.  It's just too cute to see him put my crafts to use!

-Andrea