Written By Mama

Archive for the ‘DIY & Crafts’ Category

Holy crud y’all, 2 posts in 1 day! I am on a roll with this canning challenge
This one is a DIY Tin Can Night Light. It was super easy to make and technically free. Everything I used I already had on hand, so for me it’s free – if you go out of your way to make this, it’ll be about $5.
I decided to try this one because Landon is scared of the dark and my DIY Glitter Lantern only last 1 night. I needed something that would last something longer than 1 night and this is it!
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Yesterday I was contacted by a PR rep that I love working with. She asked me about a couple DIY Beauty Recipes and if I’d be willing to post them. Um, yeah! lol I know how much y’all love these DIY posts. I have 3 awesome sounding “recipes” and even though I haven’t tried them yet, I’m totally going to after I go buy some bananas. Yeah, bananas. These recipes use things that most people have already in their kitchen!

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With Landon potty training, I’ve found myself searching, and asking for advice from other moms, on what to do to keep him interested in going…on the pot.
After a surprise potty prize box from my Mother-In-Law I decided to make a super awesome box that would make him excited every time he saw it. Something that’s so awesome, he would want to do anything possible to see what’s inside the box.
I purchased almost everything from Hobby Lobby, but you can shop from Walmart or anywhere else. I spent less than $35 total – most of you will probably have most of this stuff on hand, if you’re a crafter. You don’t have to use the colors I chose, you can pick any colors you want for your potty prize box – maybe your toddler’s favorite colors?
This project take a total of 2 days. You really want to make sure the paint is dry and you might want to use more layers than I did.

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Okay, so this craft isn’t totally DIY, I used a store bought bag…I just don’t know how to make a gift bag. Hm…I bet Pinterest does! I’ll have to check that out later.

Anyways, so for Valentine’s Day I’m bringing in Boogie Wipes Valentines for Landon’s daycare. I also need a bag for some cookies & brownies I’m making for a friend for V-Day. When I was at Walmart, my creative juices started flowing. What I love about this craft, is it can be changed a bit depending on the holiday! Instead of hearts, you can use flowers or stars for a birthday bag. You can use bats or ghosts for Halloween. Etc…

What You Need:

• Solid-colored gift bag – you can use any color depending on the holiday.
• Glue stick
• Construction paper – red, pink, purple & white
• Heart shaped cookie cutters in different sizes
• Heart shaped accent gems with sticky backs
• Scissors
• 3D Foam Squares
• Paper Cutting Board *optional*

What You Do:

•  Cut strips of paper to fit across the bottom of the bag. My largest strip (the red one) was 10″ X 3″ (LxW) and my smallest strip (the pink one) was 10″ X  1″ (LxW). I used my cutting board for this, but you can always just use scissors! I used red and pink for my strips, but you can use any 2 different colors. 
• Glue the smallest paper strip to the center of the larger strip of paper, like I did. Then glue the large strip onto your bag.



• Trace the cookie cutters onto the other 2 pieces of paper. Alternate each color with each size so each layer is a different color and cut them out.





When you cut these out, try cutting inside the line that way you don’t see the crayon/pencil etc…

• Using the 3D Foam Squares, put down 3 squares (in a triangle shape, like I did) on your paper strips, to mount the larger heart. Then using 1 3D Foam Square, mount the next size in the center of the larger heart. Repeat this step until all your hearts are mounted.







• Pick your heart shaped accent gem and attach then gem to the top heart of your stack of hearts.

Once your bag is assembled, you can fill it with your goodies! This one is going to Landon’s daycare center.

If you make these, feel free to post them on my Facebook page or Tweet them to me!

I’m on a roll this week with crafts…okay this is only my second craft, but it’s a big deal LOL.

This is a tutorial on how to make mini yarn wreaths. They can be ornaments for your Christmas Tree, gift tags or decorations for around the house (like hanging from the mantle!). This craft was really cheap, I spend less than $10 and you can probably get it cheaper, depending on the yarn. The great thing about these is you can make them any color you want to match your decor! I know pink trees are all the rage this year

What you need:

• Yarn – you will need about 4-5ft of yarn for each wreath.
• Shower Curtain Rings – make sure they’re the ones that can open and close.
• Scissors
• Embellishments - I used little presents but you can use anything that the Dollar Tree carries (they also had mini drums). You can use ribbon to make bows or anything else really. *optional*
• Glue gun & glue *optional*

Directions:

• Open the shower curtain rings and hook the presents on the clasp area. If you’re using something that isn’t able to be threaded on, you will need to glue it on at the end – I’ll provide an optional step for that.

• Start wrapping the shower curtain rings with the yarn. You will want to wrap it tight and make sure the rings are covered completely.

• When you’re totally done wrapping the yarn around the shower curtain rings, make sure there is some extra yarn at the end to make loops to hang them. Tie the end of the yarn to the yarn-covered ring so it makes a loop. 
• *Optional Setp* if you can’t attach the embellishments on your shower curtain rings with string, you will need to glue them on the finished product. Pick a spot that you want your decorations and glue it! Make sure you press firmly and let it dry on a flat surface, completely, before hanging it.

Without any embellishments

With an embellishment

That’s it! Hang them on your tree or anywhere you want. If you make these, feel free to post them on my Facebook Wall or Tweet the pictures to me! I would love to see them and share them!

Found this posted on The Learning Tower’s Blog as part of their ’25 Days Of December’
And because I not only want to win something from them, I also want to start doing more crafts with Landon. He’s at that age where he enjoys doing stuff. So I took a chance and we actually had fun!

Ingredients:

- 1c. Apple Sauce
- 3/4c. Ground Cinnamon**
- Wax Paper
- Medium Sized Bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie Cutters
- Straw
- Ribbon
- Cookie Sheet
- Parchment Paper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 250* Mix together applesauce & cinnamon in the bowl until it’s a dough like consistency. You know it’s there when it’s similar to Roll Out Cookie Dough.
2. Place dough on wax paper & roll with rolling pin. Roll dough to 1/4-1/2in thick.

3. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Then, using the straw, punch out a little hole at the top of each cut-out. This will be so you can string the ribbon.

4. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. Then place the cut-outs on the tray. Put on middle rack of oven for about 1 hour, flipping every 15-20 minutes. They’re done when you lightly press the middle, and they’re not soft anymore.

5. Let cool completely, then thread with ribbon.

Tips:

- The original recipe called for equal amounts of applesauce and ground cinnamon. I however didn’t use as much cinnamon. I recommend starting out with probably a half a cup, then adding more as you need, until the dough is just right.
- I flipped the ornaments so they cooked evenly on both sides.
- You can make these for any holiday or event. So use any cookie cutter you have!

Alternate Drying Method:

Instead of putting them in the oven, you can leave them out on parchment paper for 2-3 days. I recommend flipping every 12 hours or so, that way they can evenly dry out on each side.

Everyone’s final product will look different, so play around with it until you’re happy with the final outcome! Feel free to share pictures of your finished ornaments on my Facebook page!