Creative Mom Cafe

I am sorry to say that I am going to be stepping down as the writer here at Creative Mom Cafe. As much as I have loved writing here and sharing all the fun, creative, and crafty ideas with everyone I just am running out of time in my days. I realize that my posting here has become sporadic and sloppy lately, and I apologize for that.

I am certain that whomever takes over this blog will do an even better job and will make Creative Mom Cafe exactly what it deserves to be.  A blog that shares the creative side of moms, a place where moms can share their ideas and obsessions, and a place where arts and crafts isn’t just for the kid’s table.

I know my time here was short but I have had a wonderful time writing here. And though I am stepping down from here you can still find me yacking away for 451Press at Mom Is Teaching and The Attached Mother.  Thank you for making my blogging experience here fun. I hope to see you all elsewhere on the net!

I recently ordered a few things from an Etsy shop and with my order came a small thank you card. The card was made from homemade paper and had held within it a collection of flower seeds. The instructions printed on the back of the card was to plant it under a light layer of dirt, keep moist, and enjoy the blooms that sprouted up. I thought that was such a great idea I went looking online for something similar.

I found this great tutorial on Making Paper From The Garden that might be just what I am looking for. I hope to get my hands on some mixed flower seeds and try making a few sheets of paper. The directions are simple enough that even children can follow them.

I immediately knew this would be a great project to make for Mother’s Day. Make sheets of paper with flower seeds and fold them gently into cards. Make these seed paper cards to give to all of the mothers and grandmothers in your life. Of course if you do not want to try to make them yourself you can always buy some. Try this set of three with a beautiful leaf image in the center. Or check out this beautiful wedding invitation with seeds in the cake. This set of 10 cute mini note cards are also perfect for sending out to the moms you love this Mother’s day.

Go out and try this for yourself! I would love to see all the fun things you can do with some plantable paper.

Mother’s Day, flower seeds, plantable paper, flower seed paper

With Earth Day coming up I wanted to share some places on the web where you can find some creative inspiration. There are lots of fun ways to celebrate Earth Day for creative moms and kids. Here are some of my favorite ones.

•  Tin Can Herb Pots - Decorative and fun these little pots are made from empty tin cans, the kind that you can buy soups and vegetables in at the store. Decorate them up and grow some herbs. Not only can you use them for cooking but your kids can enjoy making something grow for Earth Day
• Recycled Tote - Use old plastic and weave it into a new tote bag that you can use to carry things in. Have some weaving fun and recycle at the same time.
• Earth Pendant - Make a fun necklace to wear that shows off your kids’ love of the earth.
• Make Your Own Recycled Paper - Use this to make your own Earth Day cards to give to everyone. It’s lots of fun to do and is a great way to show your kids about recycling.
• CD Jewel Case Birdhouse - Though it was meant to be a birdhouse this would make a great little greenhouse for starting seeds. Plus it looks beautiful and would make a fun decoration to have in your yard.
• Crafty Fridge Magnets - Recycle old candy packaging into fun magnets for your fridge. Instead of tossing those little boxes into the trash use a little glue and a small magnet to have some creative fun.

These are just a  few of the fun creative ideas you can use to celebrate Earth Day with your kids. Get creative and see what other things you can reuse, transform, and recreate into something fun and eco-friendly.

Earth Day, crafts, creative, recycle, recycled crafts

So, what great creative ideas have you found this week?

• Make your own hand/body cream - This luscious, rich hand and body cream looks like it is just dying to put on. And hey, moms deserve some pampering too! Here a great recipe to make your own cream and pamper yourself whenever you want.
• What I do with my scraps - Make something of course! Check out this total free form quilt pieced together with scraps of fabric. You don’t need to spend money buying enough fabric to make a fancy quilt, just create something funky with what you already have.
• Show your sketchbook! - Do you carry around a sketch book where you work out ideas before making them? If so Cyndi at Jewelry And Beading wants to see it! Share a photo of what you plan out your projects in.
• Bagsket Tutorial - A great tutorial on making a bag basket. This is another great project for using up your scraps, and this bagsket is incredibly useful too. Make several as you will need them this summer for everything from visiting your local farmer’s market to visiting the beach with your kids.

Know a guy who is into the latest fashion of the brimmed beanie? ThreadBanger has a great tutorial video on turning an old sweater into a stylish hat that any guy would love to wear. There are always lots of great videos there for you to browse through, definitely one to check out.

crafts, creative

Over at Craftzine you can get a sneak peek into the latest Craft magazine issue. One of the tidbits they shared online is this fun idea for making little monsters. I instantly fell in love, and not just because I refer to my boys as “little monsters” from time to time. Though they don’t share the entire article, of course, I still wanted to try and make one. I was not about to try hand-sewing the entire thing like the writer does, but I was sure I could still make a cute little guy for my boys to play with. Here’s my little experiment with making a monster toy. This is definitely something for everyone to try. Come on moms, what kind of monster can you make?

I started with a basic shape. I did not want to try anything too extreme for my first monster so I stayed simple. After finally drawing what I wanted I cut it out of paper to use as a pattern. I also cut out some felt pieces for eyes, claws, and a tummy to rub. I wanted a happy little monster with some personality of his own.

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If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet the Make It From Scratch carnival is up today over at Life Lessons of a Military Mom. There are a lot of great ideas being shared by some very creative moms. Go see what you can inspired to make.

The Carnival of Etsybloggers is up as well over at TuLips Talking.  If you want to get April Fooled in a creative way this is the carnival for you.

It’s not up yet, but the Carnival of All Things Crafty is scheduled to be up today over at Creatively Me!  Check back later to see if the carnival is up.

blogging, blog carnivals, crafts, creative

A young girl standing in line in front of me Saturday was wearing the cutest tank top. It was a simple boxy top, almost nothing more than a flowing rectangle with straps. It had a very 60s feel to it that I loved and the looseness of it looked like it would be perfect on hot summer days.

I looked for a pattern online to use but the closest I could find was one from Simplicity #3882. Look at the third top on the top row. Unfortunately I never found a good free pattern. Still, I was determined to make a tank top like this so I improvised a little.

First I measured around my bust. I wanted a straight, flowing top coming down so I decided to make it as wide as the widest part. Then I measured from my chest down to the top of my hip for length. I added a few inches for seam allowance and cut two rectangles by those detentions for the front and back. For the top panel and straps I used a different material rather than all one style. I cut two long pieces as wide as the front and back panels and 5 inches wide. Each was folded in half to create a 2 1/5 inch double panel around the top. For the straps I measured from across my shoulders for length and from shoulder to shoulder to determine how far apart to put the straps.

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