candy corn and scarecrows [a craft how-to]

grandma r. came to town this weekend with our nieces and brought two fall crafts for the kids:  candy corn pots and can scarecrows (edited: source here)!  and they are so easy to make, too!  the kids loved it!

the candy corn pots don't really need a tutorial.  paint, fill with candy, adorn with a handmade pick (if you want).  


but here are a few tips:

1. wrap a rubber band around the pot between the bottom (white) and the middle (orange) sections.
2. use the lip of the pot for the line between the middle and the top (yellow) section.
3. paint the top (yellow) and the bottom (white) sections first.  let them dry. 
4. carefully fold down the rubber band over the top edge of the bottom (white) section to create the guide for your orange paint.

i made the picks from free basic clip art loaded into my silhouette sd.  and just hot glued them onto toothpicks.

for the scarecrows, start with an empty, clean LARGE (family size) can.  these were bush's baked beans cans. 

• cover sides of can with light brown felt. secure with tacky glue.
• glue on buttons for eyes, felt nose, and string mouth.

• glue on raffia for hair (with hot glue). we used another unopened can to hold the hair in place while the glue dried.  you could use hot glue and skip the dry time. 

• decorate straw hat (found in the doll section of hobby lobby) with flowers or a strip of fabric for the boys (with hot glue). 

• glue hat on (with hot glue).

these two crafts put me in the mood for fall...i can't wait for the crisp air and apple-picking!

i'm taking the challenge...the photo challenge, that is

while blog-hopping the other night, i came across a blog called A Step in the Journey written by laura beth.  she was inspired to start a photography challenge on her own on her blog.  and i'm in. (AND she has a Nikon - gotta love that!) 

each week, there is a photo assignment.  once you complete your homework and pick your best shot, you link it up to laura beth's blog.  simple, huh?  they just finished week 4: "dinner" and they are on to week 5's assignment "from a high angle"...jump in at any time.

sheesh.  i make it sound so easy.  i hope i'm not sounding to used car salesman-y.  no offense to all the car sales people out there.  i just can't let an effective reference die.   

anyway, back to the challenge.  i'm doing it.  for real.  no, seriously, i will do it.  every week.  why are you laughing?    (have i shared my favorite pin i found on pinterest?) 

don't tell the NFL...

there aren't many things that will excite an 8 year old boy.  star wars. pokemon. sports. food. video games. dirt.  okay, so there are a few things.   

here's another to add to the list:  a personalized water bottle!    

he asked for his name and a football.  so in typical overachiever form, this is what i produced.  (wink)

due to 8 years of brainwashing by his father, he is a devout minnesota vikings fan, so this was perfect.  it only would have been better if i added a green bay packer logo with a huge line through it.  (my apologies to the readers who are packer fans -- i love brett favre, if it's any consolation).

the font is supposed to look like star wars.  i got it on one of the free font websites.  i think the font is called "star jedi".  there is also one called "jedi" that is similar.  both would be perfect for any star wars themed anything...and perfect for the budget as well! 

so, $3.99 for the water bottle from target (purple, of course), a scrap piece of vinyl, and my trusted silhouette sd, i successfully impressed an 8 year old!

yellow chevron in opposite colorway...your opinion?

for those of you who remember the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day, you'll recall the yellow chevron wristlet made from noodlehead's pattern.   


i have always been a *huge* fan of gray and it makes me happy that it seems to be the 'in' color right now.  (i'm finally fashionable!...not!).


it's been super-popular and definitely a best-seller in my tiny shop.  

then last week, i received a custom order request for two yellow chevron wristlets AND one in the opposite colorway.  i am happy to do custom requests because i get to see your vision in a tangible form.  drumroll............................

what do you think?  i must say i don't love it as much as the original, but you can't go wrong with this color combo.  oh, and the inside is another yellow and gray print.  

thoughts?  i hope she loves them.  she's giving them as teacher gifts for back to school.  which just makes me feel terrible for not thinking of that myself.  :(

slacker...total slacker

i have been a complete slacker.  no posts in 2 weeks?  my apologies.  our district goes back to school today and we've been busy getting back into a routine.  


i've been *reading* a lot of blogs...just not *writing* any.  and i've come across some super awesome stuff that i'll share (b/c i have been so un-creative lately):

______________

______________

dana at MADE is revealing the winner of her "design my header contest".  she has a lot of awesome readers who submitted entries on flickr.  she's narrowed it down to 7 and will make her pick today!

______________
______________


upcycling is the new recycling...it has been happening in the craft and creating world forever, but now it's been getting a lot of long overdue attention.  check out this series of upcycled projects on we upcycle.com which began as 30 days 30 things and is now on day 122!  they added a day for every guest post with a new upcycled project.  i love this quick waterproof cosmetics case:

 

______________

______________

crafts 'n coffee has quick and easy wall decor made from scrapbook paper.  keep it 12 x 12 and you don't have to do any cutting!  i love the black and white one.  

you can always head over to my pinterest to see what else i think is spectacularly creative and clever!

a simple skirt for maeve and the cousins

i get so much inspiration from the sewing blogs in blogland.  i especially love MADE.  dana has a ton of amazing tutorials.  i have read them all.  hadn't actually done any.  until now.


the simple skirt.  i like tutorials that contain the word *simple*.  off to a great start!

it really was simple!  she even gives you instructions for a double layered skirt for those of you who are daring.


it worked!  i made the simple skirt for my 5-year-old daughter maeve with a an adorable remnant i found at my local jo-ann's.  it was already cut at the perfect size; i straightened the edges and started sewing.  not too girly, light and airy, with kind of a slub texture.


i was so happy with how it turned out, i made three more so the cousins could match (luckily jo-ann's had more on the bolt).  only down side...my poor ethan, no skirt for him.  :(


i used store-bought double fold bias tape for the bottom hem in a dark gray, pink, and orange.  

the girl cousins in their matching skirts

she walked out on the dock with her hands behind her back like that...so cute!

my nieces...they loved their skirts (whew!)

a closer look at greta's tiny skirt

you might have noticed their matching shirts...more on those soon!