Smoothfoam(TM) Valentine's Day Hedgehog

Here's a quick and easy

Valentine's Day project ... this

would make a great centerpiece for the

classroom or the teacher's lounge!

Supplies: 8" Smoothfoam(TM) Half Ball

Acrylic Paints: Red, White, Black, Brown

Sharpie Marker, Ruler, Stylus

Tracing paper & Transfer paper

(to transfer face to body)

 Base coat the Smoothfoam(TM) Half Ball

with two coats of Red paint.

Once the paint has dried, transfer the

hedgehog's face to the body

using transfer paper and a stylus

(or the handle of a paintbrush).

 Mix the red and white paint together 1:1

and paint the hedgehog's face pink.

Use brown paint for the inside of

the ears, the nose, and the patch of hair.

 The eyes are dip dots of black paint.

Use the ruler and measure out

1.5" from the head in the center of the

half ball ... use the stylus to poke a hole

every 1.5" along the hedgehog's back.

Repeat this until you have enough holes

 for the number of suckers you need.

(I only needed twelve, but there's plenty of

room for more if necessary!)

Paint a small heart onto each hole.

Once paint has dried, use Sharpie marker

to outline all the details.  Insert

a sucker into each hole.

~ Peace and Happy Valentine's Day! ~

Personalized Family Ornament

I love making personalized ornaments!

 

 My favorite Christmastime activity

is going through my boxes of ornaments -

 

aw, who am I kidding?

 

My favorite activity is sitting in

front of the fireplace with a hot toddy

and the glow from a fully decorated,

lit Christmas tree in the background,

and the knowledge that all the empty boxes

have been stored away neatly.

 

 

Anyway!!  I love making personalized

ornaments and using them as gift tags on

wrapped packages.  For a change,

this ornament is specifically for hanging.

Well.  I guess you could still use

it as a gift tag ...

 

To make one hearth, you'll need a

3"x4" wood square and one jumbo craft stick.

 

 

I used three pre-cut wood stocking shapes

(you could probably fit five stockings

on the mantle if you don't mind them

hanging off the edges a bit).

 

 

And one Woodsies skinny stick,

rounded ends trimmed and cut into three

cuff lengths (I trim all my wood shapes

with Easy Cutter Ultimate from

Midwest Products).

 

Acrylic Paints:

 

 

These are the colors I used:

Hauser Light Green, Napa Red, Slate Gray,

Lamp Black, White, and Multi-Purpose sealer.

You'll also want a sanding block.

A permanent marking pen.

And a 6" length of ribbon for hanging.

 

Trim one rounded end off the jumbo

craft stick, and then cut a 4 1/2" length.

 

 

 

 Paint the jumbo craft stick and

the rectangle gray.

Paint the stockings green.

 

Allow paint to dry thoroughly,

then sand the edges lightly

with the sanding block.

 I used a regular craft stick to measure

out straight lines, because crooked

lines really bug me.

:D

Then I blocked out a 2" square in the center

of the rectangle for the fireplace

opening.  I made a border around the

opening the same width as the craft stick.

 

 

Paint the square opening black,

and paint the bricks red.

(You don't have to be that neat ...

just get the basic brick shapes

in and leave a perimeter

of gray "mortar"):

 

 

Allow the paint to dry thoroughly,

then sand lightly with the sanding block.

Use a liner brush and white

paint to add details to the stockings.

 

 

Here's where I notice that not all my pics

uploaded from my phone to my

web album.  Actually, I noticed earlier,

when I wanted to post the pic I took

of all the wood pieces together.

 

Anyway, imagine you see the trimmed

skinny sticks painted white and sanded

lightly ... and then imagine you see

the pic I took of the cuffs actually

glued to the stockings.

 

 

 Seal each piece with Multi-Purpose sealer,

and allow to dry thoroughly.

Then use your pen to outline the

details, and write a name on each of

your stockings.

 

I used a thin red ribbon for

hanging ... I attached the ribbon by

putting a line of hot glue lengthwise

across the top of the rectangle where

the mantle will be, then secured

the ribbon by pressing the mantle in

place.  Sort of a ribbon sandwich,

if you will.  I used hot glue

to attach the stockings to the mantle.

 

 

 

From this ^

 

to this:

 

 

With just three or four photos

lost somewhere in cyberspace.

Hmm.

 

~Peace & Personalized Christmas Ornaments~

Hair Bow Holder

I'm not sure this really qualifies as a "craft"
but we did modify something we
purchased, and I did happen to take some pics,
so I'll post it anyway.  :D

 It all started when I told Doc that I wanted
a dressmaker-form cut from plywood,
and how soon could he do that for me?


Then we happen to be at Hobby together
(which is unusual, because I LOVE Hobby but
he does NOT love Hobby, so he
would ordinarily find somewhere, anywhere,
else to be while I'm inside the store)
and he picks up this item:

 And, assuming we are on the same page,
I say, "yes! Can you cut me one of those from
plywood?"  And he says, "This thing is half-off today.
We're buying it!" and all my dreams of
wearing safety goggles and smelling
fresh cut sawdust fade.


But I can be flexible.

So my Saturday night project involved
pilfering through my ribbon stash and hunting
down a pair of scissors and a needle and thread.
(Easy to do in my studio, not so much at home).

The alternative to making a Hair Bow Holder
was to find a Hair Bow Holder ...

which she did.

A pretty cheerful hair bow holder, too,
all things considered.  What goofs!!

I wanted the ribbons to be really long,
so we wouldn't have to make
another one of these things for a while.

I cut random LONG lengths of ribbon.
I folded one end over 1/8" and pressed with
my iron.  Then I wrapped it around
the wire frame and stitched it closed.

I repeated this until I had a ribbon
(or ribbons) on each of the
bottom sections of the wire form.

 After the silly floral-headed children
were finished modeling
the plethora of bows, flowers, and
feathers ...

We hung our new Hair Bow Holder
on the wall.  She loves it!  And I
love that I can finally fit my own comb
into my own bathroom drawer,
because it's no longer over-flowing with
flowers and fluff.  ;)


~Peace and Goofy Children~

 

Halloween (or not!) Skull Magnets

Who says skeletons are just for Halloween??
I keep this in front of the boys'
bedroom all year 'round:

You can turn a wooden circle cutout

into a spooky skull magnet!!
And, you can keep it around for the
rest of the year.  Especially if
you're a teenage boy.
Or a pre-teenage boy.
Of which I have a few.
Just sayin'.

I have a house full of boys.

The boys have lockers at school.

These school lockers need

groovy magnets to hold up class

schedules, phone numbers, and

other important information.

(Sometimes I employ the "don't ask,
don't tell" tactic.  This may
or may not be one of those times).

I thought it would be fun

to make some "Halloween" magnets

for their lockers ... and the

Jolly Roger seemed just right

for boys.

For each magnet, you will need

a Woodsies(TM) Jumbo circle

cutout, a large (1/2") circle magnet,

acrylic paints in black, white, gel stain,

One Step Crackle finish, and

clear gloss varnish.

You will also want two sizes of

paint brush (a large flat or wash

brush to base coat and seal, and a fine

detail brush for the skull and bones),

a sanding block, a clean rag, some

crafting glue, and

one tiny acrylic stone.

Base coat the front, back, and sides

of each circle with black paint.

Here's a tip:

Use a sanding block to remove the

paint from the edges of the circle.

 Apply main pattern lines with

light colored transfer paper and a stylus.

Paint the skull and the bones
with white (or cream) paint.

I couldn't decide whether to

go with a white or a cream color

paint for the Jolly Roger.  I know which I like

better now that I'm finished ...

let me know what you think!

Once the paint was dry,

I used a white eraser to remove

all transfer paper lines.

 I brushed on a thick coat of

One Step Crackle paint and allowed

the pieces to dry thoroughly.

Next, I wiped a small amount

of Gel Stain onto the front of each

circle with a corner of my rag.  Then I wiped off

the Gel Stain with a (different)
cornerof my rag.

Finally, I brushed on a coat of

Multi-Purpose Sealer.

I (photographed my child using)
a hot glue gun to apply

the magnets to the back 

of each wood circle.

Mainly because she begged,
but also because it's really
difficult (read: impossible) to
hold the glue gun, the wood piece,
and the camera all at once.
Unless I somehow wedge the camera
under my chin.  But then I
can't see nor can I press the button.
So it just made sense
to let her glue for me.  I love helpers!!

 and I attached

the tiny acrylic stone with

Aleene's Tacky Glue
and a toothpick.

I think the stone makes it awesome!
The glue dries clear, btw.
I hadn't made enough of these
initially and had to dash
back out to the studio after dinner and whip
up a few more.  Somehow I didn't
get a final pic of the magnet.

Good mom that I am,
I have already texted each boy
and requested they take a photo of
their magnets for me.
I figured, even if they don't get the
texts during the school day,
surely (at least one of them)
will be checking his phone immediately
after school, leaving him
enough time to dash back to his
locker and take a picture.
For me.
Mom.
Because I forgot.
Because that's just how I roll.
Remember??

~ Peace and Jolly Roger Magnets ~

A Teacher's Survival Kit

 It's that time again!

School starts tomorrow for us ...

I've made up a goody for each

of our teachers and I wanted

to share my idea with you.

(If school has already started,

you could still whip these up ...

better late than never!)

Bandages,

Aspirin,

Emergency Chocolate...

Those are the most important

items in this Teacher's Survival Kit!!

In addition to the jar,

you'll need spray paint for the

jar lids and rims, scrap paper in fun colors

or patterns, a hole punch, and

colored raffia or string.

Oh, and double stick tape and a

permanent marker.

Also gather the things you want to put inside

each jar.  I'm a last minute kind of girl,

so this morning I asked myself:

Self? What did you wish you had handy

when you were faced with a room

full of second graders?!

I'm sure there are

more clever items that I didn't think of!

Feel free to add or substitute.

These were my thoughts:

 

Soda (I couldn't fit a soda in the jar,

so I added several quarters for the soda

machine), Pain Reliever (ha!),

Minty Gum, Tums, Chapstick,

Chocolate, Almonds (for energy),

Cookies (for fun), Assorted Binder Clips

and Paper Clips (to help keep it together!),

Post It Notes, Bandages, and Hard Candies.

 I used spray paint to coat the jar rims and lids.

Once the first coat was dry, I sprayed

a coat of clear spray sealer over each piece.

Cut a large circle from patterned scrap paper

and attach to each lid with glue

or double sided sticky tape.

 

I created a tag for each jar:

I cut 2" squares from dark blue paper,

1.5" squares from gold paper,

and I used a permanent marker to

write: Teacher's Survival Kit on each gold square.

You could also print these and

then cut them out.  Whichever!!

I attached the squares to a pre-cut manila

tag, and wrote the teacher's name

across the bottom of the tag.  I used my

laminating machine to laminate each of these

tags, but I have also used clear contact

paper to laminate.  (Just cut two pieces of clear 

contact paper a smidgeon larger than your paper tag.

Seal the tag between the two sheets

of contact paper.  Trim edges as desired).

I tied a tag to each jar

and added a raffia bow to the neck.

Super cute!!!

I can't wait for school tomorrow!

 Peace and Emergency Chocolate ;) 

Also ... here is a quick idea for personalizing

school supplies: you know, I love using a Sharpie marker,

but by the time each of my four children has a list

twenty or more items long ... ... ...

not so much.

 

 I also use tinyprints.com for personalized

Valentine's Day cards; and for my

oldest, I ordered a red sticker with

"From Brady" printed on it

and I will stick them to a zipper lock

baggie full of yummy treats.

So.  Simple. 

:)