Creative Mom Cafe

Happy Halloween everyone!

Are you ready for the big night? Or have you alreday had it like we did? Our town nevr celebrates Halloween on a Wednesday night, so our Trick or Treat was Tuesday night. It was fun, the night was warm, and the candy was flowing.

My sons’ costumes were a mixture of creative and not. My youngest was most certainly the least creative, yet it fit him well. He has this thing where he loves walking around growling. Constantly. So red fottie jammies, some devil horns, and a pitchfork and was good to go. He even had a couple tantrums along the way to really show off his devilish side.

My oldest son’s costume was a mixture of creative and frugal. Black pants and a white shirt from the thrift shop, shredded for a fun “lost at sea” effect. A felt hat, toy sword, and cheap eye patch finished the job. Oh, and don’t forget an old red bandana. There were a few dozen pirates out last night, but he was the only one not in the same store bought costume we saw over and over again. And for that we got tons of compliments.

Is anyone else getting creative with costumes this year? I’d love to see what you are pulling together! Leave me a comment and let me know.

~Don’t forget to stop by my give away and enter to win some fun craft books! And come back tomorrow to see what I’m sharing in November for 30 Gifts in 30 Days!~

Halloween, costumes, fun, frugal, creative

If you have ever looked over at my sidebar you probably noticed the fun pink box for Swanky Moms. I have to tell you it is the funnest group of creative women I have ever met. If you are crafty or creative you have to go over thre and see what they are showing off. It is set up as a group on Ning, but there is also a blog that you can check out. And if you sell your crafty creations on Etsy you are in luck!

Another Ning I’ve joined is for NaBloPoMo. If you don’t know what I am talking about it is a fun challenge that some people try to do each year in November. Those who join challenge themselves to write a blog post every day for the entire month of November. Since I am already planning on doing that for my 30 Gifts in 30 Days I decided to join up. It is a spin off of thehugely popular NaNoWriMo that happens every year where people challenge themselves to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Think you can do it? I’ve tried, and failed, twice so far. That is why this year I am skipping it.

Writing is a creative art that many moms do, often without realizing just how creative they are being. Whether they are writing novels, writing blogs, or just writing in private it certainly takes a lot of creativity.

~Don’t forget to stop by my give away and enter to win some fun craft books!~

Swanky Moms, NaBloPoMo, NaNoWriMo, writing

It’s Fall, Y’all! So says Shannon from Rocks In My Dryer. And to celebrate the autumn goodness she’s hosting a super give away. Bloggers from all over the web are signing up to give away free goodies to lucky commenters. I’m not one to pass up peer pressure so I had to join! I’ve got 2 fun creative books up for grabs. These are absolute treasures that I found collecting dust in my local thrift shop. But I am sure that with a little love they could become favorites for any creative and crafty mom.

• The Complete Soapmaker by Norma Coney, and
• The Complete Candlemaker by Norma Coney

Wouldn’t these make great additions to any craft lover’s bookshelf? Well I’m giving them away to one lucky person! All you have to do is leave a comment sharing your favorite creative online resourse. What site do you have to visit, what blog gets your inspired, what forum always has the best tips? I want to know where you go online to get creative! Leave me a comment letting me know from October 29th until November 1st. On November 2nd I will choose a random person to win both of these great books! I will also share a list of all the great online resources everyone shared. It’s a win-win!

Also if you are a homeschooling mom or are thinking about it check out my book give away at Mom Is Teaching.

Fall, Y’all! Giveaway, giveaway, contest, books, crafts, soap, candles

Every Wednesday is “Half Price Day” at my local thrift shop. And every time I go in I find something I want. The last time I walked out with 2 large rolls of material. It’s polyester, horribly retro, and I love it! Last night I finally rolled it out and found more than enough to make a funky shirt from. There is probably enough to make two or three but I’m giving the rest to another crafty friend of mine to see what she can do with it. I can’t wait to compare what we got from the same material.

Because of how retro the material was I wanted to go back in time with it. It’s not exactly what some would think of when they hear the word retro. Think more along the lines of 1981. That’s right, I went to the 80’s. Big hair, fun fashion, Madonna was still in her prime. I just can’t help myself!

I’m finally (mostly) finished with my pumpkin. I would like to add “Happy Halloween” to it but right now I don’t have what I want, and I’m not interested in hand stitching the letters on. I’d like to do them in fabric paint, but that will have to wait. And yes, the eyes are crooked. That’s what happens when I am trying to sew and keep kids out of things at the same time. Oh well, it makes it look “quaint”. That’s what I’m telling myself at least.

Now that I’ve gotten the Halloween flag out of the way I will hopefully have time to finish knitting the hat and scarf I have been making for my youngest son. He has outgrown his winter set from last year so it’s time to get him something new. I decided that instead of buying him one this year I’m knitting him one myself. (You can see the beginnings of it here) In fact my plan this year is to make as many gifts myself as I can instead of buying them new.

Which is the perfect tie-in for something I want to promote. This holiday season TreeHugger is asking people to pledge to give handmade gifts this year. I think it’s a great idea! You can join the pledge by going over to buyhandmade.org and signing up. It’s a great justification for hunting through thrift shops and getting crafty this holiday season. If you are not sure what to make for everyone on your list subscribe for my 30 Gifts in 30 Days all through November.

handmade, gifts, crafts, TreeHugger

I finally put the finishing touches on my oldest son’s costume. He wanted to be a pirate this year, which I love. However, I didn’t want to go the boring mass produced costume route. How creative would that be? But I also haven’t had much luck being historically accurate with a pirate look.

So here’s what I put together from thrift store finds and back of the closet treasures: a white, over sized shirt. Shredded at the bottom and sleeves. Loose black slacks, also shredded. A red bandana. A patch. A sword. And a felt pirate hat. I’m calling it “pirate lost at seas for too long”. Hey, thre is nothing wrong with taking creative license with Halloween costumes.

Spaking of fun Halloween costumes. Tomorrow (the 26th) is the last day to have your creative costume up on Etsy for the contest. A search through the costumes already entered shows you just how much fun people have ben having with this contst. And who can blame them?

A. it’s Halloween for crying out loud, and
B. the prizes are pretty sweet

My favorite, and what I tried for months to talk my oldst son into being this year, is Max from Where The Wild Things Are. That is a favorite book around here, one that I have loved since I was a little girl. Too bad this costume is too small and too expensive. But it does give me some ideas for next year. Maybe my youngest will be more willing.

What is everyone else whipping up this year? Anyone else going to make their own costumes?

Halloween, costumes, etsy, contest

For many people baking and cooking is their art. Don’t believe me? Check out the food entwork on tv sometime and see how many creative types there are. Painting with spices, sculpting with dough, and creating poetry with fire and a pan. I’m hungry just thinking about it.

One of my good friends has put together what she calls wheat bread for complete morons. It’s a homemade bred recipe so simple even morons can make it, which works perfectly for me. I love homemade bread. I love the smell of it, the feel of it warm in my hands, the taste. It’s one of the perfect foods out there.

I made two loaves the other day. For me getting in there with the flour and kneading the dough by hand is relaxing and energizing. There is just somethign about it that gets me smiling and laughing and ready to dance through the house as the bread bakes. A little yeast, a little honey, a little time, and a lot of excitement.

It is also fun to experiment when baking, get creative and let out your inner chef. I love to throw together a few things that I have and see how they taste. Especially when I have a big audience to try them out. Like at Thanksgiving dinner. Sally at Living Without Meat has one of my favorite recipes up that I made last Thanksgiving. It sounds unusual, I know. But it was a huge hit. Even with the “I don’t eat vegetables” people in my family. They know who they are.

Anyone else get creative in the kitchen? I would love to hear how some others like to spill their artistic thoughts into the oven.

bread, homemade bread, baking

Jummy of Getting Crafty has some fun challenges going on. You are challenged to make your own cards for the holidays. I wasn’t able to get in the Christmas card challenge, but there is a birthday card challenge coming up that I hope everyone will be a part of.

Funky handmade cards are always so much fun to give and receive. You can get creative and let your imagination flow. And who doesn’t love getting a one of a kind card made jsut for them rather than the same old cards everyone else bought at the store. Just ask Mommy Zabs, who saw such a graet idea that she put together Card My Christmas, a fun christmas card shop that uses your own photos to make great one of a kind cards.

Handmade cards are also a huge hit on Etsy. So many creative types are cutting, gluing, and sewing up unique cards. Any reason you might have to give a card you can find a great one to give. And maybe even some inspiration to make your own.

Since I didn’t get to enter the Christmas card challenge I thought I could at least share my idea. Feel free to take it and make it your own.
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Aren’t these dreamy? I found them in the clearance section while making a quick run for cat food. Normally I just like to get in and out but today the clearance rack called to me. With good reason. If only I had more time. There was a roll of beautiful redish-brown leafy print and some soft powder blue material that I was comparing also. If I’m lucky they will still be there when I get a chance to go back.

Of course the next question is “What to do with them?”

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Sure you put your time, energy, and money into it; but is knitting that sweater really an artform? That’s a great question pondered over at Artist’s Passion. I know that as a crafter I’m a bit biased. I do think that crafting is art. It may not bring in the money and fame that painting or sculpting do, but it requires the same blood, sweat, and tears that any other art takes. And if you have ever seen me trying to handstitch something you will know all about the blood, sweat, and tears involved.

So, why is it people view artists who work in traditional artsy mediums artists and people who work in crafty mediums hobbyists? I think it has something to do with the artist mystique. Artists are somehow more than regular folk. They’re more tormented. They’re more creative. They’re more in-the-know.

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It’s the final countdown to Christmas, are you nervous yet? I know many people are running around trying to figure out what they are going to give to everyone on their lists. Choosing the perfect gift can be stressful, time consuming, and eat up a budget. But crafty moms have an advantage over all the holiday fuss! If you can sew, paint, knit, cook, or even just glue you can create special one of a kind gifts that are sure to be huge hits. No really, I promise!

Of course there is still the problem of finding great crafty gift ideas to make. I’ve decided that I’m going to try to help with that. All during the month of November I will post a different gift idea. Every day there will be a new creative gift that you can make yourself. From beginners to the experienced I will have ideas for everyone. You can stop back in here all during the month of Novembr to see what I’m sharing each day. You can also look in the 30 Gifts category to see just the daily posts with gift ideas.

If you would like to share the word you can use the cute little button below. Just copy and paste the code to stick it on your own blog.

I can’t wait to pull out the ton of creative gifts ideas I’ve got saved away in books and on the computer. And I’m sure I’m not the only one. If you have a great gift idea for creative moms I hope you’ll share it. If you write about gift ideas in your own blog let me know and I will put up a link to it. I hop everyone gets into the holiday spirit with this and shares some great ideas. No matter how big or small, complicated or easy, detailed or plain there is sure to be a great gift idea that anyone can make. And that will help check off another name on the gift list this year.

gifts, holidays, Christmas, homemade, handmade

I have been staring at this small square of material for weeks. It is light and dark orange with tiny black dots. I’ve been wanting to do something with it but wasn’t sure what. The color reminded me so much of Halloween, but I didn’t have any great ideas in mind. Then yesterday afternoon I came across a perfect craft idea. A pumpkin garden flag! I picked out a great white and black pocka dot background and some green material to make a stem.

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Autumn is the perfect time for knitting. Especially if you are already getting a bit of snow. There is just nothing better than curling up with a few skeins of wool and creating something warm and wonderful. From blankets to sweaters to scarves knitting is making a huge come back, and moms are loving it. Head over to Etsy and do a search for wool yarn. You will see hundreds of different hand dyed skeins just ripe for picking. Any color pattern you could hope for. You will also find a lot of moms knitting away and selling their knit wares on Etsy.

Knitting is also fun to do with kids. Even young children can learn to knit. Some schools of thought, such as Waldorf, believe that handiwork like finger knitting is great for kids to do. And it’s pretty easy for less crafty moms to do too.

I’m still a beginner knitter, but once I get the hang of it I hope to work my way up to more crative tasks. Like these awesome dragon scarves. I already know my sons are looking forward to having these. But until there, here’s an easy scarf pattern that any mom can do.

Hello everyone!

I’m super excited to be taking over Creative Mom Cafe. For those who do not know me I’m Summer, mom os two little boys, and the writer of Mom Is Teaching. I love being creative and crafty, and even more when I do things I can share with my sons. I am also a huge fan of WAHMs and love to see what fun new things moms are creating in their own homes. Hopefully I can blend the two and make this a funky, creative, exciting blog to visit.
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