DIY Round Up: Hello Baby!

With having a three year old and a new baby there isn’t really much time in my life to craft. That makes me kind of sad because I really do love to make new things. I love searching around and finding tutorials I’d love to try, they tend to just stack up in my favorites tab and I never actually get to work on them.

I’m going to try and live vicariously through you! I created a list of some of the tutorials I’m dying to try but just don’t have the time right now. If you do make any of these lovelies I definitely want to know what it!

{Pamplemousse1983} Maryam always has really cute and super easy tutorials. I’d love to make a little headband for Carolina.

{The Doe or the Deer} Okay, so this one really isn’t really for “baby” but I think it would be a super cute nursery décor idea!

{Janae Hardy via A Beautiful Mess} Hm, yeah these little shoes are just way to adorable and perfect for Arizona weather.

{Janae Hardy via A Beautiful Mess} I had to put another one of her tutorials on this list because this dress looks so easy to make and it so cute. We all know my challenges with the sewing machine!

{Create Loves} I love the musical modile we have now but I adore the look and feel of a DIY modile.

I really hope I get to try these out soon. Please, do share if you make any!

Lots of love!

blogsitting.

Just so you know I did a guest post for Maryam at Pamplemousse 1983!


My teeny tutorial. Fun and easy collage!

I was very excited to work out this little tutorial for her. She is busy taking care of her super adorbale new little girl. It makes me very excited and terrified for our new bundle on its way.
Enjoy!

Crafting with a Kid: Paper Bag Puppets.

I love the fact that the simplest project can entertain my daughter for hours. The other day I took out some paper bags, markers, crayons, and crafty supplies and we made some little friends. She just enjoyed scribbling on the bags and sticking stuff to them. Aurora did her best to create characters on her bags, she was a little afraid of mine at first. We played with them for several hours after we made them. We pretended they went to the park, McDonald’s, and we even gave them a nap. I love watching her imagination grow. Heck, I had fun too!



What creative things have you been up to lately?

Adventures in Craftiness: Mother's Day Floral Mug Arrangment DIY

I’m so excited to share this tutorial with you. This projected did double duty for me. Not only was I able to create a really fun and easy Mother’s Day DIY but I knocked out one of my class assignments as well! I realized that I might not be the best photographer in the world and maybe it’s not my “calling” but I feel like I do a pretty good job of depicting steps, like these. I don’t know you tell me.

How to create a Mother’s Day Floral Mug Arrangement.

Materials.-Faux flowers of your picking.-A pretty mug.-Floral foam, or stuffing and tissue paper.-Scissors or wire cutters. (I highly recommend wire cutters, trust me, I know from experience.)


Step One.Fill your mug with stuffing (or floral foam.) Make sure that it is pushed in very tight and compact.


If you are using stuffing over it with one or two layers of tissue paper. The tissue paper will help keep the flowers in place.


Step Two.Cut a flower steam to the appropriate length. Use your mug as a guide.*NOTE: It is best to cut your flower steam long at first and test it in the mug o make sure you get the proper position for your flowers.


Step Three.Use your first cut flower as a guide to create the length of your other flower steams.


Step Four.Arrange your flowers in your mug to your liking. Push them through the tissue paper and make sure they are in a secure location. Make sure they are packed tightly together so that they don’t move.


Step Five.Use small filler flowers and some leaves or greens to fill out and complete your piece.


Your done! Take it to mom and let her enjoy!


I hope you enjoyed this really easy tutorial. There is no real right or wrong way for creating this piece. Your mom will love it knowing that you put the time and effort into creating it yourself. I think the best gifts are handmade. Don’t you agree?

If you make one of these little darlings, I’d love to see your creation. Please share!

Adventures in Craftiness: Spring DIY Round Up

Well, hello all! For the next few days I may not be around as much. I’m super excited about one of our good friends from Pittsburgh coming into town to visit us! Being able to hang out and talk to someone who is over the age of three years old all day is going to be great! Not to mention I missed her ^_^. So we will more than likely be gallivanting around the Phoenix area, due to this I probably won’t be posting all weekend, oops. I’m hoping to at least get my homework done (I probably should have done all of this in advance but I’m a slacker.) So, to keep you entertained while I’m gone I comprised a list of some spring type DIY tutorials from some of my favorite blogs. I’ve wanted to make these for quite some time but haven’t gotten the chance. If you get a chance to make any of these lovelies I’d love to see your creations! Hopefully that will give me some inspiration to make them myself.

First, lets start with the lovely Samantha at Argyle Owl.

I love this picture clothes line tutorial, it's adorable!


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Someone (and I can't for the life of me remember who) posted this DIY link on twitter and it's so cute!

You can make your very own cloud modile at Crafted Love! I want to make one for Aurora's room, I think she's love it!

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Since I'm in baby mode I love Maryam's cheap screenprinting tutorial at Pamplemousse!.

If I don't end up making one, I might just have to buy one from her lovely etsy shop.

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When talking about great blogs, with great tutorials I have to bring up A Beautiful Mess. Viviana did a great blog tutorial that I've been wanting to make for months!

I think someone with even my poor sewing skills could handle this one and I've wanted to make a little plush dool! How cute are those owls?

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Over at She Breathes Deeply, Elycia did a cute little fabric hair piece.

She has such darling designs at her Etsy Shop. It was so nice of her to share this one.

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I love seeing quest blog posts, and I hope I get the chance to do it one day. Sunshine and Carousels featured Veronica of Crack the sky for a little Valentine's Day head band tutorial.

You can also check out some of Veronica's lovely head bands at her Etsy Shop!

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One of the first blogs I ever stummbled across was Sweet Fancy by Fallon, the creator of Olive on Etsy. I just recently redicovered her DIY Wrapping Paper Wall Art that I have to give a try!

I love coming across things that you forgot about, it's like a whole new treasure!

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If you are looking for a great blog with great tutorials you need to stop by Art as Usual. Everytime I turn around she has something new and creative to try. One of the first DIYs I saw on the blog was the Collaged Wire Bird Cage.

This little guys says spring to me for sure.

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Well, that's all for now. If you have a spring inspired DIY you want to share let me know! I might just be doing a round two version. Have a great weekend everyone!

lots of love!

adventures in craftiness: spring flower pin or hair clip

I should probably be working on homework, but I’m brain doesn’t seem to function of that level in the morning, so instead I decided to work on a little tutorial. You’ve all probably seen the little flower pieces that I make, today I’m going to show you how to make a fun spring brooch. The techniques I’m using can also be translated into a hair clip or comb. It’s very simple; you probably won’t even need the steps to figure it out, but just for fun:

Supplies:An artificial flowerbuttonScrapbooking BradsScrap fabricStrong glue (E600 or a glue gun)Pin back or hair clip


Step one
Carefully take apart each piece of your flower


Step two
Take your button and push your scrapbooking brad through the two holes.



Step three
Slowly reorganize your flower slipping the pieces over the scrapbooking brad. I didn’t put the plastic pieces back into my flower this time. I felt that this flower was full enough, if you would like it to have a fuller look, put the plastic pieces back in. After your done, flatten the points to the brad.




Step four
With the flower facing down place a small amount of glue in the center. This is to add some leaves to the back for an interesting effect. You can skip this step if you’d like. You could also add ribbons or feathers at this point. Be creative and have fun with it.


Step five
Place a line of glue on the back on your flower and press your pin back onto it. Make sure the clasp is open. You would use the same idea for the hair clip, but make sure the clip stays open so you don’t glue the clip together.


Step six
Cut a small circle out of a piece of scrap fabric and press it over the back of the pin to give it a more finished look. You can do this also with the hair clip. Just insert the piece of fabric into the open clip and then place it onto the glue on the flower, this way you will keep the pieces from being glued together.


Finished!
You can pin this new beauty onto a spring jacket or your favorite bag! I decided to make my camera bag a little more girly.


If you decided to make one I’d love to see it, Please share!! Don't forget to be creative, use any size, shape, color flower, and accessories you want. Happy Crafting! ^_^

crafting with a kid: drink thermos

If there is one thing I really love doing with Aurora its crafting. Something that has helped us continue to create new things on a regular basis is the dollar store! I love the dollar store. I can walk into a dollar store with just a few ones in my pocket and I know that I will always find things to keep us entertained for hours! This last trip we scored! We got a fishing set, a cooking set to go with her tea set, bubbles, stamps, and two create your own thermoses.

I thought that it would be fun for Aurora and I to each make one for each other. It didn’t take up that much time or resources, just a few stickers, some crayons, and love.

They aren't very large cups, just perfect for a little girl

Just trace the inside sleeve. They even have little characters you can use to decorate with

My little artist.

She's very into drawing circles right now.

Aurora's before it went into the thermos.

My attempt at a wood pattern.

As always, the place is a wreck after we craft.

Finished Products. We're pretty proud. I had to chase Aurora down with hers so I could take a picture of it! ^_^


It’s the little things really. What have you been busy making?

Etsy Treasury Tutorial

Making a treasury is super easy, a lot of fun, and a great way to get your name out there! Here are some easy steps to get you on your way (click on any of the images to make them larger.)

Step one:
On the Etsy main page under the “Ways to Shop” section, click on Treasury.


Step two:
Once you’ve reached the Treasury page, under Curator Tools, click on Create a List.


Step three:
Start creating your list! Enter your title, description, and tags. Don’t forget the tags, they are just as important for searching Treasuries as listings. Also on this page you will see grey squares with a small box underneath. It will say “Listing URL.”


Step four:
Open a new window and go to the page of the item you would like to use. Scroll down and on the right have side of the page you’ll see the Listed Date, Listing # and number of views. Copy the listing #, only copy the numbers!
Listing from xhochixx

Step five:
Paste the listing number into the rectangle box under the grey square and click, “OK” and your image should appear. After you fill your boxes you can do some rearranging, but watch out it can get a little tricky.


Step six:
Save and Share! Make sure all your items are where you want them placed. Complete your title, description, and tags like I mentioned above and just click Save! You’re done with your lovely new treasury!



I've made a bunch of treasuries. For a while I was going crazy over it. I got one of the front page of Etsy and I just had to try for another! If you want to see more I made you can see more examples here. Feel free to ask me any questions you need. I'm happy to help with any problems that I can with this. It's pretty simple but it's also creative and fun. Go try it! I'd love to see what you come up with! ^_^