Think Crafts Blog - Craft Ideas and Projects - CreateForLess

Guest Blogger, Gillian, from the Blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

Nope, I kid you not, this project will take you less than a minute, and I guarantee you have everything you need in your house RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT. And since Father’s Day is almost upon us and the kids and I just finished wrapping a Father’s day gift, I thought this might be a good little sit-down-before-dinner-and-make-something kind of project.

I used to do this with my class, back in the days when I taught where school didn’t let out for summer till the second week of June so you get to make Father’s Day cards with your kids. It’s one of those projects that looks so cool and takes so little.

So, ready? Set your timers (but don’t start till you get your materials because that will take you, oh, at least another minute, maybe two)

First your supplies. You will need 1 sheet of white paper. Really this can be any size and any paper weight. Personally I prefer a half sheet of regular old card stock so the finished card will be a 4 ish by 5 ish, an easy size to find an envelope for. And it could be any color, but I think white looks best.

Also a scrap of some other paper, about 1 inch by three inches long. Bigger if you are making a bigger card. This could be wrapping paper, construction paper, part of a cereal box or even just white paper that your kids color. If you are a scrapbooker, here’s a great place to use up a little bit of left over patterned border or paper. Anything will do.

Tape or glue. Tape works best, but if your six year old has recently taken to making tape sculptures like mine, then you are always out, glue will do. Lastly, scissors.

That’s it. See I told you, you had everything you needed!

OK. Onto the card, go ahead, time yourself.

First: fold the paper in half and crease it firmly.

Second: With the folded side on top, estimate about a sixth of the way down the narrower side of the card, cut a slit one third of the way in, repeat on the other side.

Step 2

Third: Fold the little flaps you just made in at an angle as shown. Do you see it? Yep, it’s a shirt! Now all you need is the tie, which brings us to step.

Step 3

Four: From the scrap of colored paper cut a tie shape that will go almost, but not all the way, down to the edge of the card.

Step 4

Fifth: Slide a piece of tape in between the two parts of the tabs to hold down the “collar” and then use a little loop of tape to fasten the tie on. And your done!

Happy Father's Day!

Seriously, how friggin cute is that? Cute enough that even after seven Father’s days, my kids dad will still like it. And I’m sure yours will too (or your dad! I’ve sent them to mine, even daddy’s of grown up girls like homemade Father’s day cards! I promise!)

Are you making a Father’s day gift this year? Let us know what brilliant things you’ve created for the men in your life!

*Remember Father’s Day is this Sunday!*

For more of Gillian blog posts, read them here.

Email this post

Guest Blogger, Gillian, from the Blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

In two weeks my daughter Evelyn will be turning three. And unlike her last two birthday’s which consisted of a few family members and a cake, this time we are going for a full out party. And since my little girl thinks no day is complete without a tutu and a crown, we’re not just doing a party, we’re doing a fairy princess tea party, with all the glittery, poofy, ribbony details.

So for the past two weeks I’ve been plotting, planning, gluing and glittering things for the party. We’ve got princess crowns in the works, cupcake recipes to try (with white frosting so we don’t get stains on our pretty dresses) doilies and decorations for the table to plan and even the princess dress hanging in the closet.

Today’s project was the invitations. Now I may be crazy, but I just can’t do those mass produced, fill in the blank invite. There’s nothing wrong with them, and someday I’m sure I’ll find myself filling one out, but at this stage in my children’s lives, I like to go whole hog. We’ve had oragami box invitations, dinosaur bone invitations and hotwheel cars pulling birthday wishers banners. And for Flower Fairy Princess Tea Party invitiations I thought to myself, “What does every flower fairy princess need? A magic wand! That’s what!” So magic wands it was.

Starting with some unpainted flowers mounted on dowels (I thought about stars but I could just imagine the tales of siblings being poked in the eye with pointy stars) I painted the stems and the flower (pink! Of course!) added lots of ribbons for swishy magicy fun, and lettered the invitation information on some pretty die cut cards and topped it off with just enough to be pretty and not irritating glitter spray. So, how did they fair? Well my daughter shrieked with glee when she saw the bundle of them on the table and then spent the rest of the evening dancing around waving her wand (because I had to make one for her too!) and “ZING!ing” everyone she passed. So I guess they’re a hit.

Fairy Princess Tea Party Birthday Invitations

A Flower Fairy Tea Party in honor of Evelyn's 3rd Birthday

Now onto the crowns, and the cakes and the table decorations and….Well, check back here and you’ll get to see.

So what great party ideas do you have? Pass them on! Share the love! And the glitter!

Click here, to read more of Gillian’s blog posts.

Email this post

Returning Guest Blogger, Gillian, from the blog “Dried Figs & Wooden Spools”.

This weekend our town, in a fit of adorableness, will be holding it’s annual Mother-Son Prom in honor of Mother’s Day. Lest you fathers out there feel this is unfair, rest assured that we also have a Father-Daughter Dance every fall so everybody gets their turn. So this week I’ve been dusting off the one dressy dress I own (a full skirted little black and white polka dotted number right out of a fifties sitcom), ironing the three piece linen suit that was my husband’s when he was seven (no joke, it’s vintage seventies and my son looks ready to leap into Saturday Night Fever in it) and because I really want one and I can’t count on the boys in my family to think to get one, I’ve been making a wrist corsage.

Fabric Wrist Corsage

I’ve got a thing about wrist corsages. They are elegant and romantic and I love them the best of all the wearable flowers. But this project could be made into a pin for your dress, fastened to your waist, or worn in your hair. And it takes all of about twenty minutes to make.

Start with some sturdy but not stiff fabric (you could use paper as well but you would want to be careful with the folds so that it doesn’t end up totally flat, I choose corduroy because I happened to have it in red) and cut two large circles and four smaller ones out with pinking shears. I used the top and bottom of a short drinking glass to make my circles. You want the smaller ones to be about three quarters of the circumference of the bigger ones. If you don’t have pinking shears thats fine, they do add a nice texture but this could also be achieved by scalloping the edges of the circles.

Once your circles are cut, lay the two big ones on top of one another and then fold the four smaller ones in half, layering them over one another until you form a circle with these half circles. Center this on the bigger circle and put in a couple of stitches at the corners to hold everything in place. Now, with a contrasting (or not) color fabric, cover a button or a penny or something round and stitching this to the center. You could also use a pretty round pin if you have one laying around. Fluff the edges of the flower until you have the look you want and your done!

If you want a wrist corsage, stitch a coordinating ribbon to the center of the back, otherwise throw on a hair clip or pin. These would look great bunched up together and fastened to a purse, a belt or even on top of a gift. I also added two loops of green ribbon to the back for “leaves” but you could also use the leaves from a silk flower for more punch.

Although I didn’t do this project with kids, it would be an easy one for them to help out with so pay attention dads; this project might just save your bacon if you have forgotten to buy the all important Mother’s Day gift. And if your town happens to have a Mother-Son Prom and your son will condescend to wearing a boutonniere, you could make a smaller version of this flower for that as well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the one I made him will find itself pinned to his little white coat come tomorrow night.

Did you make something for your mom for Mother’s Day? What craft can you not wait to give your mom this year?

To read more of Gillian’s posts, Click here.

Email this post

Returning Guest Blogger, Gillian, from the blog “Dried Figs & Wooden Spools”.

Since my husband is a good Texas boy, we’ll be celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year even though it’s supposed to be pouring down rain and falls on a Tuesday. And because I’m sure part of that celebrating will come in the form of the outrageously good spicy queso that our local Mexican Restaurant makes and that we bring home on a regular basis, I thought I’d embark on a rainy weekend project with my son and make a Cinco de Mayo Chip bowl.

“What’s Cinco de Mayo?” He asked while I was gathering the Mod Podge, paint brushes and paper.

“Well, You’ve been taking Spanish, what is Cinco de Mayo?” Teachable moments, gotta love them.

“Cinco is five. But I don’t know what Mayo is.” He says, thinking aloud.

“Mayo is May” I tell him.

“Oh, you mean Mayo, your saying it wrong mom.” He’s probably right, given that he has, at 6, taken more Spanish than I have and has an uncanny knack for mimicking just the right accent.

I started to explain Cinco de Mayo to him, the bits of history that I remembered, the cultural tidbits I thought he would be interested in, but all he wanted to do was get his hands sticky with glue so away we went. There’s something about getting all gooey and sticky that just brings out the best in little boys, and this was no exception.

Using a recycled balloon, well past its prime, but still big enough for a bowl and strips of white paper that we cut and ripped we dipped (well, he dipped, I spread) the paper strips in the glue and then smoothed them onto the balloon in criss-crossing patterns, ripping pieces in half when we needed to fill in the smaller parts and dousing the whole thing in an extra generous layer of Mod Podge that Briton smoothed out till his hands were as goopy as humanly possible.

After a quick hand wash we let the first layers dry and set about cutting triangles out of green construction paper and then folded them like snowflakes so we could snip away diamonds and triangles and circles the way Briton reported they had done with tissue paper flags last week in art class. Our triangles ready, we pasted the decorations around the edges of the “bowl”, smoothing as we went.

In the morning I popped the balloon and peeled it away from the shell of a bowl we had created. Briton cut the edge in a scalloped pattern and we gave it a test run at lunch, which his little sister much appreciated as she hammed it up for the camera.

The whole project turned out to be an easy, fun and just the right time span for six year old concentration kind of activity. A good chance to pass on some cultural history and get nice and gooey in the process. And with its watermelon like appearance, we might just keep it around for summer dinners on the patio.

To read more of Gillian’s posts, Click here.

Email this post

National Scrapbooking Day is May 2, but we’re celebrating all month long at CreateForLess!  Join the celebration by entering our scrapbook layout contest.  From family and vacation pages to holidays and celebrations, send us any scrapbook theme you like.  Simply pick your favorite page, enter below and you could win one of these amazing prizes…

* 1st Place: $150 CreateForLess Shopping Spree

* 2nd Place: $100 CreateForLess Shopping Spree

* 3rd Place: $50 CreateForLess Shopping Spree

To enter to win, fill out the entry form here, attach a scanned image of your scrapbook page and include a brief description of your layout and what supplies you used in the Description box. 

Scrapbook layout idea by BoBunny

Limited to three entries per person.  Entries must be a scrapbook page of your own design.  Contest deadline is June 1, 2009.  The winners will be announced in an upcoming eNewsletter, contacted individually via email and posted on our web site.  After the contest ends, some of our favorite layouts submitted will be showcased on CreateForLess.com.  Submission of an entry into this contest grants CreateForLess permission to use the submitted content for promotional purposes.

Email this post