Creative Mom Cafe

It is almost 2008. Are you making any crafty or creative resolutions for the new year? This could be a great time to make yourself take a step forward. Plan to do more projects, or just finally finsh any you’ve started and have laying around. Promise yourself to get inspired more this year, maybe learn a new craft, or finally open up your own Etsy shop. Maybe just add a few new craft and creative blogs to your feed reader for a daily dose of inspiration.

I’ve got several projects that I plan to really set down and finish. A pink-ish felted purse, a fuzzy scarf, and a couple pair of wool soakers for my youngest son on are the knitting pile. I am also planning on getting a good stock of jewelry made and ready and then perhaps opening an Etsy shop. It is a bit nerve racking. Will anyone buy my jewelry? Will anyone like it? Will anyone even care? On top of my other resolutions for the year it’s looking to be a busy time.

If you need some ideas of what to do here is a list of resolutions for knitters and crocheters. Lots of great ideas there for you to add to your own list. Or Head over to BlogHer and read this article on crafty resolutions for 2008. And if one of your resolutions is to start your own craft business in 2008 I have to recommend Craft Boom for tips, advice, and stories from those who have alrady done it themselves.

So what is on your plate for the coming year? Are you adding any creative resolutions to your list?

(photo credit: Shannon Robalino)

crafts, creative, 2008, New Year’s resolutions, resolutions

Are you going to be hosting a New Year’s Eve party for kids? It can be a lot of fun decorating and setting up fun things for kids to ring in the new year with. And it can be easy too!

Making a ruckus at midnight is what it’s all about. You can create some fun noise makers for kids of all ages to enjoy. For younger kids you can make a tambourine from a paper plate and some bells. Punch holes around the plate and tie bells to the holes. This can also be a fun craft project to do before midnight. Paint and decorate the plates then add ribbons for shaking fun. You can also use cardboard, craft foam, or anythign else to create unique tamborines.

For a midnight burst fill balloons with confetti and blow them up. Then at midnight pop pop pop them for a fun burst.

Making hats for everyone to wear can be fun too! You could use cardstock, cut it into a crown shape, and have your kids decorate with glitter, markers, and fake jewels. Use a hole punch to put a hole on each end and connect with a rubberband. You could also use construction paper, thin sheets of craft foam, or plain visors that you can decorate into hats.

And don’t forget the decorations! Streamers, ribbons, and sparkles are the basic supplies. But for something more here is intructions to make your own New Year’s Eve ball. Having one of these will really make your child’s party stand out, it works for a grown up party too. But not that kind of grown up party.

Is anyone else doing any fun New Year’s Eve crafts? I’d love to hear about them!

New Year’s Eve, party, fun

Now that the rush of Christmas is over it’s time to start thinking about sending thank you cards. Sending a great card with a heartfelt note of thanks is the perfect way to let someone know their gift was appriciated. Of course with kids you will probably be lucky to get a scribbled “thanks”. At least you can make the cards look great!

One of my favorite ideas is to make handmade cards using the wrapping paper from the gifts. You can use pieces of cardstock cut down and folded into a card or buy a box of blank cards that you can decorate yourself. If you are really organized you could decorate each card individually using the paper that that particular prson used. Though I doubt many people keep track of who sent what gift and used what paper.

This can be a fun project to do with your kids. Cutting and gluing and being creative always makes for ahppy kids, especially if you’re snowed in the house right now. You can be as creative as you want to be. Lay a piece of silver paper down as the background then use red and green paper to stencil out “Thank You”. Cut out images from the paper, presents or snowflakes or Santa Claus and glue them to the front. Or go for a montage of pieces of different paper glued on randomly. Glue on ribbons, add stickers, toss on the glitter. Whatever you and your kids want. It does not have to look perfect at all. This is one case where the thought really does count!

If you’ve already sent back thank you cards to friends and family this is a great idea to store away for future birthdays, baby showers, or any other celebrations.

Christmas cards, thank you cards, cards

We are down to the weekend before the big holiday. Are you ready? How about the cookies?

One of my favorite memories as a little girl was having cookies every year. I thikn that every older woman in my grandmother’s church would make piles of cookies to pass out to anyone. Every day there would be some sweet holiday treats coming my way. So you can tell I am feeling the holiday spirit when Home Ec 101 is sharing a cookie a day recipe. Especially these oh so yummy White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies. However I’m making these no bake oatmeal cookies instead. Mama don’t share her white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Never. If you have special dietary needs to consider here is a great recipes for Gluten Free and Casein Free Holiday Cookies that you can make instead. My trick: run to your local thrift shop and pick up cute holiday tins. You can usually find them for a dime a piece, sometimes less. Wrap the cookies up nice, place into the tins, and give as last minute gifts.

And just in case you are down to the wire but can’t bake they also have some simple last minute gift ideas you can crochet this weekend. You can also find a lot of easy knit patterns here for some last minute gift ideas. Like this 1 hour scarf.

No matter what you are doing, or not doing, this weekend before to take some time to relax and breath deep. Don’t let the stress of the holidays burn you out before the big day even gets here. Happy Holidays!

cookies, gifts, crochet, knitting

If you saw my picture yesterday then aleady know what I’m going to post about today. I found a huge bundel of felt shets from the local thrift shop and had to buy them. So when my oldest son last night began asking for something to cut and glue I knew just what to pull out.

It started with a basic sketch of a stocking on a small piece of paper. Using that I cut out several small stocking shapes from the red felt.

Once the stockings were cut we glued on small rectangles of white felt to the tops to create the perfect stocking look. Then red/green/gold cord and small pieces of felt of various colors was cut and glued on. I started off using regular white glue but switched to rubber cement to hold all the pieces on. Once they were dry I wrapped a piece of red pipe cleaner into a loop and glued it to the back. We made one for each grandparent and an aunt to hang up on their trees.

It was a really quick and simple craft to make. Felt pieces are very inexpensive to buy, even buying new sheets at the store. Cutting out the stocking shapes was probably the hardest part of the entire thing, and that only took a few minutes. This could be a cute and simple last minute craft to do with your kids.

felt, stockings, crafts, kids crafts, Christmas

wordless wednesday, crafts, Christmas, Christmas stockings, kid’s craft

When you are a crafty mom it’s hard for most of your projects not to be kid-focused. If I’m not making something for the kids then it’s something about them, such as my scrapbooking. My next project is going to be a version of these super cool bunting flags. I’m already making the plans in my head for both of my sons and my nieces and nephew to get one with their name. Of course it will most likely be a while off as I’m already up to my eyeballs in projects and I’m broke. Why does all of this crafty stuff have to cost so much money?

Being that I am broke most of the time I try to cut costs on my crafts without cutting quality. Of course the best way to cut the costs is to do it right the first time. You know the old saying “Measure twice, cut once”. Well it applies to knitting also. I began working on a scarf for myself, one of the rare selfish crafts, only to realise I was running low on yarn. Luckily it was fixable, I had to take it apart but making the scarf more narrow extended my yarn usage perfectly. Luckily I’m not the only one who has knitting issues. Take her advice, buy extra yarn just in case!

Oh, and a great tip for those of you who sell your crafts. Use Flickr to get noticed more. It’s definitely something to try out and see if it helps.

crafts, Flickr, yarn, knitting, sewing, projects

Everyone knows how to make fleece hats or knit wool hats, and making a fleece scarf or knitting one is just as simple. But what if your kids need gloves? Can you make simple gloves from warm fleece or knit a pair for your kids to use this winter?

There are several patterns out there for knitting gloves. Including thse adorable mini mittens that would make cute tree decorations. But for functional gloves you will need something bigger. These basic mittens are simple to make and perfect for keeping little hands warm. Here is another pattern for knitting some warm gloves and a matching hat. You can also make yourself some fingerless gloves to keep your hands warm without getting in the way of knitting.

If you would rather sew than knit making warm fleece gloves is no problem. These simple mittens are perfect for keeping hands warm and can be made in no time. And here is great step by step instructions for making a fleece hat and gloves. If you’re feeling really crafty you can try using your own gloves as a pattern to work with. Just be sure to add extra room around for the seams.

If you are wanting a great project that your kids can do this time of year to learn aobut giving this could b the perfect one. Making several fleece hats, scarves, and sets of mittens to donate to your local homeless shelter, church, or any charity that will give them to those in need this winter is a wonderful way to help your children really get into the giving parts of this season. You can reuse old fleece sweaters or blankets to make everything with as a great way to show how to recycle too!

gloves, knitting, fleece

There’s something warm and snuggly about a soft, fleece hat. They are perfect when you’re going out in the cold weather, especially if you are going to be out there a while playing. I mentioned the other day that with the latest cold front that has hit here I rumaged around and found enough fleece to make my nieces each a fleece hat to wear. They aren’t as creative as a dinosaur fleece hat, but they’ll keep warm still.

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I was clearing out my scrap fabric area today and found some large pieces of material left over from when my oldest was a baby. One is a very soft red flannel, the other a crisp red cotton with green frogs. The two reds go together so well that I knew I had to make something. But what?

I’ve been torn thinking about it all morning. A pillow? They are large pieces. I could easily make a double sides pillow he could carry around. Maybe a frog shaped softie? One side the soft flannel to snuggle against? I just don’t know. I think I’m leaning towards a bag that he can use to carry books to and from the library in. I wish I was as talented as my friend Sara and could make this too cute crayon and coloring book bag (scroll down just a bit). Isn’t it adorable? I know a lot of kids who would love to have one for Christmas. Of course I also know some little girls who wish they had quilts as cute as this one. Have you ever seen such a cute quilt?

Speaking of little girls, I’ve also found in my scrap fabric a couple pieces of fleece. One is purple with pink hearts and and the other is multi-shades of pink striped. I think there is just enough to make a warm fleece hat for this winter. Now the only questions is which niece will get it? The fleece is in the wash right now, hopefully tomorrow I’ll have photos.

Although I’m technically done with my gifts, I just wanted to tackle the scrap file of fabric before the new year began. I’m glad that I’m not the only one done with gift making this year. Anyone else?

sewing, crafts, ideas, frogs, red fabric, hats, fleece, gifts

Over on my homeschool blog I mentioned this great post with instructions on making a soda bottle bird feeder. It’s such a great idea to do this time of year when food may be scarce for your local birds. But some people may not want soda bottles hanging around in their yard. A great creative way to spruce them up is to print a design on transparency paper and attach it to the bottles. You can read more about about that idea here.

Making wooden bird feeders is a fun and creative thing to do with kids. You can make one to sit on top of a tall pole or one to hang from a tree. You can even make bird houses out of scrap wood to give your backyard birds a place to hide from the cold. If you’re not sure about making a birdhouse there is a great info sheet here that can help you with the details.

Roofs should be constructed with sufficient pitch to shed water. At least 3 inches of overhang should be allowed to protect the entrance from driving rain. Some water mav still seep into the house, therefore a few small holes should be drilled in the floor to allow drainage.

Builders should plan for several holes near the top of the box to provide ventilation in hot weather. The house should be constructed with screws for easy disassembly when cleaning.

Entrance holes should be near the top of the box and proportional to the size of the bird which will use the house. Houses should have the interior walls roughened or grooved to assist the young in climbing to the opening.

Of course your bird house doesn’t have to be plain. Decorated bird houses look very cute in your yard and can add some extra fun to making one. A little paint can make any bird house a work of art. And who knows, putting up bird houses and feeders now may result in some great bird spotting next spring. When the baby birds bgin coming out of their eggs. Who could resist cute, little baby birds?

Have a creative bird house that you or your kids have made? I’d love to see it! Share a link and let me know!

I love scrapbooking. It is probably my first creative mom craft love, something that I began before my first child was born in fact. I was around 7 or 8 months pregnant when I was given a scrapbook kit, one that I began putting together within days of my first son being born. Looking back on it it now I’m almost embarassed. It was very simple, very “insert photo here”, and had no room for me to let my own style come through. But over time I fell in love and found ways to express myself, and my children, on those pages. It doesn’t take much to let the feel of a moment come through in scrapbooking.

Some people even find scrapbooking to be therapeutic.

Designed to help kids in out of home care to integrate their pain and understand who they are, why they are in care and where they are going, it is a hands on practical course where participants are encouraged to make a scrap book page for themselves and ultimately a scrapbook album of a child or young person’s life story work.

With last month being National Adoption Month in the states this might have been a great way for some families to work through their adoptions, and great ways for kids to se their whole selves by working on the pieces page by page. Definitely an idea to tuck away for another moment. Like a last minute Christmas gift.

My scrapbooking comes and goes. I may not work on any pages for months and then in a flurry do several albums in a single night. But that doesn’t stop me from constantly drooling over scrapbooking goodies. Funky tags, interesting stickers, and of course handmade paper.

scrapbooking

There is no better time for mom to show off her creative side than the holiday season. Decorating, making gifts, and putting together a fun holiday get together really flexes that mental muscle. Michelle at Scribbit has the best creative idea I have seen yet for holiday decoration. This felt gingerbread house is the cutest thing, and it looks so easy to make. Every one should have one of these to set up each year!

I love to head over to Etsy and see what others have whipped up there for fun holiday decorating. This small sled would look perfect sitting on my counter filled with candies. And this set of 4 paintings (here, here, here, and here) would give a fun holiday mood to the room by hanging just above my couch. And I would love to snuggle up under this quilt featuring Santa.

If you’re like me and not putting up a big tree this year you can also decorate with smaller trees. Like these adorable Christmas trees that you can make from recycled materials. I love them! Any other moms getting creative this year? I’d love to hear how you’re decorating for the holidays.

Christmas, decorations, holidays

So many crafts, so little time and money. Seriously, who has time to do all this? I need to add an extra 5 hours to the day to do all the crafts I dream up, and then I ned to win the lottery to afford them all.

I wanted to show off my new favorite creation. I’ve been making good use out of my jewelry supplies and put together this necklace. The large pendant is lampwork glass in yellow and green, the small round beads are round lampwork glass, and in between are small Czech seed beads. They are all strung together on Tigertail .020″ wire. Originally I bought small, yellow beads to go where the lampwork beads are. Then I saw the round lampwork beads, only two packages left and marked down on clearence. So I grabbed them! I love the way it came together.

Here are close ups of the pendant and beads. Click on the images to see them larger, just excuse the poor photo quality.

I’ve been debating what to do with it. I absolutely love it and think it is gorgeous, but I don’t wear jewelry myself. I’ve been thinking about putting it up on Etsy and seeing if some one wants to buy it. It would make a gorgeous present to give this year, and if I could get $15 for it I could buy even more beading supplies. It’s a vicious cycle, one that I’m not ready to end yet.

jewelry, necklace

It’s officially December, are you pulling out the Christmas sweaters yet? You know, the tacky, bejeweled, sparkly sweaters. Usually covered in bells, ornaments, and glitter. Blech! I know that some people might like them, but I’m not one of those people. Give me a plain, simple sweater any day.

My friend Christine showed off her mad recon skills by turning a cute sweater into something more fab. I don’t have any sweaters in my closet that are ready to be converted into something cool, so I’m plotting a thrift shop run. There’s nothing like getting a bag of old sweaters for a few dollars to turn into fun. Earlier this year I got a gorgeous, nearly new wool sweater for pocket change and turned it into wool pants for my youngest son. Any moms that use cloth diapers know the joys of wool pants, or wool longies, during the winter months.

Though, if you’re looking for something much cooler to do with a sweater I’d suggest you head over to Threadbanger. Here’s an awesome video from them on turning a plain sweater into a cute shrug and matching skirt. I know some preteen girls who would LOVE this! Are you pulling out the sweaters yet? Or are you attempting to make one?

sweaters, reconstructed clothes