VALENTINE GUMBALL NECKLACES

How adorable are these gumball necklaces by One Charming Party? Such a perfect and special treat for Valentine's Day! They are so beautiful that I can hardly believe that they are made of gumballs. But they are - see, I'll prove it!


Here is a gumball being pierced with a skewer to create the necklace. Go here for the how-to!

For a similar look that will last a bit longer, check out these adorable designs from Stella & Dot. Each necklace arrives packaged in an adorable little tin for a lovely presentation and safe keeping. An adorable gift for a sweet little Valentine.

FABRIC SCRAP NECKLACES (AND GARLAND!)

Remember these fabric scrap necklaces that I did as a part of the art camp I held for my daughter and her friends? Well, since then I've been dreaming of making these en masse to use as a garland on my Christmas tree. This year, I'm finally taking this on and the time to start is now! I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

For a complete tutorial, go to Cakies and then gather up all those scraps. I have a feeling that once you start making these, you won't want to stop.

HALLOWEEN CRAFT: PAPER BAG CANDY BOWLS

Love these Paper Bag Candy Bowls from Alpha Mom. Classic papier mâché project made from items you already have on hand. Love that!

FABRIC SCRAP NECKLACE

I've been dreaming about holding a little arts and crafts camp this summer for Petunia and some of her friends. Nothing too formal, just a few afternoons over the course of the summer. Some ideas that I have for projects are bookbinding, printmaking (of course) and a little sewing project that I will share with you soon. When I saw this brilliant recycling project, I knew it was the perfect idea to round out our lineup. These adorable little necklaces are made from fabric scraps! Aren't they pretty? They remind me of those faded rope bracelets that I have always loved to wear (Petunia is sporting one right now, as a matter of fact!). Only these necklaces are much more fun and colorful.

For a complete tutorial, go to Cakies and then gather up all those scraps. I have a feeling that once we start making these, we won't want to stop.

ETA: As I hit publish, my brain just exploded with happy ideas. Picture these strung together as a garland on a white flocked christmas tree! Or strung and draped over a table as party garlands! I hope I have enough scraps...

DIY LOUBOUTINS!

{Tutorial found at Love, Maegan via The Blah, blah, blagh} 

Shut up! This is too fabulous for words.

*LOVE* THIS TEACHER APPRECIATION GIFT IDEA

RUN! (do not walk, there's no time) to Cute 2 Carry to see this fantastic lanyard tutorial and start sewing right away. It's Teacher Appreciation Week and this is the perfect teacher appreciation gift!

Have you noticed that most schools now require teachers and staff to wear ID badges? Have you also noticed that teachers and staff tend to wear these badges on lanyards? In our schools, this is a new requirement and most teachers (if not all) are still wearing the boring, school-issue lanyards that came with the badges. Whip up a few of these and your children's teachers will be the envy of the entire school - and they'll look really cute with their trendsetting new lanyards too!

Technically, I think that today is Teacher Appreciation Day, but our schools celebrate all week so I'm cutting myself a little slack with a deadline of Friday. I will graciously extend this deadline of completion to you as well. Off to find some fabric!

TISSUE POM INSTRUCTIONS

A request has been made for instructions on how to make the tissue poms seen in the previous post. I, of course, did not take photos as I made them as I was in party prep panic mode and am not the best at creating blog tutorials, but I did find some photos of the process on Martha's website (who else!). So, without further ado, a tissue pom tutorial brought to you with a little help from Martha.

1. Neatly stack approximately 15-18 sheets of tissue paper. I use the dimensions of the tissue paper as is, but you can trim it down beforehand to vary the size. Fold the stack of tissue accordian style, making 1 1/2 inch folds and creasing the tissue as well as possible with each fold.

2. Once the tissue is folded, cut a piece of floral wire and wrap it around the center of the folded tissue. Make a loop with the excess wire to attach the string, wire or ribbon that the pom will hang from. Now, trim the edges of the tissue into a scallop or point as shown above. Since the poms that I make have more layers of tissue than Martha's instructions (Martha uses 8 sheets of tissue), the trimming step will likely not look as neat as the photo above. If your scissors will not cut through the thickness of the folded tissue, just separate the layers into halves as best you can and cut. Any imperfections in the scallop or point that you make will not be apparent in the finished pom.

Note: I sometimes vary the size of the pom at this trimming step, cutting off more length on each end as I scallop.

3. Separate the tissue one sheet at a time to form the pom.  I tend to rotate the pom in front of me in a circular motion and separate the entire layer one at a time rather than separating one side first and then the other. The two sides of the pom blend better this way. (if this does not make sense to you now, it likely will once you get started) 

4. Tie ribbon, string or fishing line to the loop you made from floral wire at the center of the pom and hang. That's it, you have a finished pom!

{For more details on the room in this final photo, go here.}

SNOW-DAY EMERGENCY: VALENTINE CRAFTS

If you're looking down the barrel of a snow day (like me!), here are some fun Valentine crafts to keep the kids busy and make you feel oh-so-organized for getting a jump on Valentine's Day before February 1st! 

Love Birds from Mrs. D. Lightful

These cute little birdies are so clever. Made with just paper and paper clips! We're planning on making an entire flock.

Felt Heart Cookies from Chasing Cheerios

Felt food is all the rage and you likely have some felt scraps and a needle and thread lying around.   These would make the most adorable classroom Valentines; something to be cherished forever. Just attach a tag with your valentine message and your child will have the most heartfelt handout in the class! (sorry - I had to say it)

Valentine Hand Warmer from Sweet Tidings

This is just the best idea ever! So sweet and charming; the perfect little gift for teachers, grandmas, aunties. Head over to Sweet Tidings' beautiful blog for a template and complete tutorial. 

BY REQUEST! A HAIRCLIP TUTORIAL

When my vast readership speaks, I listen. How could I not? With all these people crowding around here trying to get a peek at what I have to say, there's liable to be a riot if I don't respond. So when one fifth of my readership (one person) requested a hairclip tutorial, I just had to oblige. Kat, this one's for you!

Since I have never written a tutorial before (and since my to-do list is 20 miles long), I decided to keep it simple and go out into the vast resource that is blogland and find a tutorial that uses the same technique that I use to create the hairclips. Why reinvent the wheel when your children need clean underwear and holiday card season is fast approaching? So basically, I'm cheating. But you still get the info, so we all win!

So before we head over to the borrowed tutorial, there are some instructions that I need to give here first. 

Supplies for one clip:

Alligator hair clip (these are the pinchy kind that you press the end and they open up)

Grosgrain ribbon (3/8" width)

Scissors

Glue gun and glue sticks (I have tried other glue trying to be fancy, but hot glue works best)

Felt in three coordinating colors

One Button

Embroidery thread in coordinating color

A square of wax or parchment paper (this is used to pinch between the clip so when you're gluing the glue doesn't stick the clip closed)

To create the felt flower, simply cut out three different flower shapes out of three coordinating colored felt. The largest should be about 2" in diameter, the middle 1 1/2" and the smallest about 1". Once they are cut out, stack them on top of each other, center a button on top of the stack and sew on the button in a contrasting piece of embroidery thread. Then you can embellish with the thread if you want to. It only takes a minute to make a few stitches and add a little detail. 

Now put the flower aside and head on over to The Green Wife for her ribbon covered hairclip tutorial but stop before she adds the ribbon bow. You won't need the ribbon bow, you have that adorable flower that you just created. 

Oh, and after you glue the first side (see above photo), insert the square of wax paper between the clip prongs so that you don't glue the clip shut. You'll thank me later. OK, then come back here!

Now your clip should look like this, only it should still have your little square of wax paper between the clips. Now all you have to do is glue on your felt flower, let that dry a minute, remove the wax paper and you're done!

Then your little angel can stuff a cupcake in her mouth like she hasn't eaten in weeks and she'll still look cute doing it! No one will even notice that she was so ravenous that she didn't even bother to remove the doggie cupcake pick. They'll be too busy oohing and aahing over the adorable felt hairclip. See - it's multi-purpose!

Thank you The Green Wife for creating a wonderful tutorial so that I didn't have to.♥