How to make a Lalaloopsy Necklace and Bracelet

    I made these necklaces for my daughters Lalaloopsy themed birthday party. Each little girl got one necklace and one bracelet in their goody bag.

 Here is how I made them:     WHAT YOU NEED and how to make them:  You will need a set of pencil toppers. I bought my set off ebay. They weren't too expensive. I think I bought them from the Toys R US ebay shop. Pair your head and pet's up, and set to the side.

I bought these eyelets at Michaels Craft store in the jewelry section.

-next start a small hole in the top of the head of your topper with a small thin nail. Put your eyelet in and screw into place. 

Next dab a little glue right where the eyelet and head meet. Just to re-enforce the eyelet. 

Other Purchases:

** heavy duty elastic for the string.

** Colorful wooden beads in various sizes and shapes

** Regular Colorful beads in various sizes and shapes

** any color ribbon

(I got all of this at Michaels craft store as well)

  Start stringing your beads to the middle and add your head then do the other side. Tie the string together. Next cut a small piece of your ribbon and tie it in 2 to 3 spots on your necklace.    Then your Done! Perfect for a Lalaloopsy fanatic. :)   You can see the whole lalaloopsy party here.... http://creativelyquirkyathome.blogspot.com/2012/06/emelias-6th-birthday-lalaloopsy-pet.html

 

 

Chalk Valentines ... no candy option.

 

 Front and Back View

This year for class Valentines we decided to hand out Side Walk Chalk. I purchased these at Party City. It came with 18 Boxes. We created a chalk backdrop and took pictures. I then created the rest in photoshop.

 On the side

 Whole Box Wrap

Click the link below for a free Printable of the wrap. You just need to add your own photo. If you don't have photoshop. Just print your photo out and glue on top. The size of the photo is 3 3/4"x 3"
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1cfufbcuj8x2xsp/VALENTINES2013printable.pdf

 

Teacher Appreciation Week

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. I had fun making the week special for my daughter's kindergarten teacher. The theme was out of this world teacher’s.

MONDAY:  Door poster. 

All the kids got a kick out of finding their alien.

 

Tuesday: Bring flowers for your teacher

Wednesday: Bring a dessert from the Kindergarten Class.

One of our other room moms brought a dessert for the teacher luncheon 

Thursday: Bring a note for your teacher

My daughter wanted to draw her and Ms. Brittle at the beach

 

Friday: Class Gift... Thumb Print Plate

"You made an impression on us this school year!"

 

Our class gift:

Using Crayola Air-Dry Clay I made a plate. I purchased the clay at Michaels craft store. I think I paid roughly $8.00 after using a 20% coupon. It is super easy to use and had a great texture after it dried.

The best way to make this plate is. 

• I took plastic wrap and covered a large plate. This is to protect the plate and it is also easier to take off the plate once it has dried. (I used one of my decorative chargers, because i wanted it to be a bit larger than a normal size dinner plate) 
• I took out the clay and pressed it into the top of the plate trying to keep it at least 1/4" thick throughout so I had a nice solid plate. Using the plate below will allow you to get the natural shape of a plate. I used a little bit of water to get the plate smooth. You want to make sure your center is thick enough for the kids to press their thumb prints into the plate and it doesn't break through to the other side or leave it too thin in that spot. Remember this is handmade and will not be perfect. You will have various imperfections. 
• Once i had my plate shaped I used a tooth pick to carve into it. My daughters teacher loves the beach so I drew some seashells on it as well and wrote out the year and grade. If you make a mistake no worries. just wet your fingers a bit and rub over your design and then re-do it.
• Next i took a few paper towels and wet them and rung them out. Then i opened them up and laid them on top of the plate and then wrapped the whole plate in plastic wrap, stuck it in a shallow box and took it with me to school the next day. 
• At recess I had each child press their thumb print into the center of the plate. I then took the plate home. I put it on the counter took off the plastic wrap and let the plate dry for a full 3 days. 
• Once I felt that it was completely dry I took it off the decorative charger. 
• Then I painted it the teachers favorite color. I bought some acrylic paint as well as some acrylic high gloss glaze. Once that dried i added a very light brown wash and then wiped it down so it was only left in some spots. Then I let that dry. Next I glazed it with the gloss glaze. Let that dry completely on both sides before the next step.
• I also purchased a thin black paint pen. I wrote along the Edge of the plate "Thank you... You have made an impression on us this school year! Kindergarten Then in the center i wrote all the kids names. 

The Teacher absolutely LOVED this gift. As well as the kids. They were sooo excited to see the final product!
(if you make this remember to tell the teacher it is for decorative use only) :)

my pin-spiration for this plate came from...
 http://www.rentstorkmemphis.com/jr-kindergarten-fingerprint.html

Thanks for Reading!

Be Creative!

Amy

Silhouette Gifts

What you need: 

• A digital photo of a persons profile
• A computer with a photo program (in my case I used adobe photoshop)
  
• a picture frame

 Bring up your photo in photoshop, and delete your background like below.

Then use your paintbrush tool and paint in the photo. I painted in a bow on my daughters head

Next print out your image and then frame it for a more classic silhouette.

For a more modern twist you can add their name, and place it on a colored background

Growing tree Flower collage

My daughter started Kindergarten this year and me being so nice (snicker) volunteered to be room mom. This is the classroom gift that we created for my daughters teacher.

I decided to have all the kids in the class draw and color pictures of flowers in various sizes on a plain white piece of paper.

Then I cut them all out. 

 Next I drew a tree branch on the canvas, and stuck sticker letters on the branch. 

Paint your background then the branch. Once your branch is dry, peel the letters off and go over the letters lightly so you can still see the word Grow

 Next place all your flowers on the branch and paste them down with mod podge. Once that dries go over the whole canvas with modge podge... and your done.

Perfect gift for a teacher, grandparent or mothers day gift!

On the back around the canvas I wrote: 

Thank you for showing us how to grow, and then wrote all the kids names. Kindergarten 2011 

Supplies Needed:

• Flowers drawn and colored in different sizes and styles.
• Modge Podge
• Canvas 16x20 
• acrylic paint
• sticker letters
• black sharpie marker

Popsicle Stick Flowers and Flower Box

For mothers day we decided to make my mom "Nana" to our kids a crafty gift.

Materials Needed:

• Popsicle sticks (roughly about 50ea depending on the size,  I just got out my big box) 
• Liquid Water Color. (you can also use food coloring and water or just watered down paint)
• A photo
• Card board
• Decorations Optional (buttons, gems, glitter glue, card stock letters)
• Hot Glue
• Styrofoam Block
• Cups for your liquid water color 
• Glue (we used hot glue because we needed to have these dry quick)

Ok lets get started: 

First prep your materials, give your kids the Popsicle sticks to dip them in the cups be sure to have them dip both ends. They can also paint these with a paint brush or even Q-Tips.

While they are doing that cut a circle into the card board and your photo as well. Glue them together.

 Let your Popsicle sticks dry... I'm loving how some look tie dye.

Once they are dry cut them in half. (Be sure to leave a few sticks whole, you will need it for the stem of your flower and two for the front and back of your flower box.  Line a few up across the front of your Styrofoam I cut my block so that it would be the length of a full Popsicle stick. I glued the full stick down across all the smaller ones, then glued that to the Styrofoam. Do that on all the sides. I also then added my Card stock letters to the front.
(See photo below)

Your next step is to glue your stem on to the back of your card board circle.

 

I did two sets of petals. First I glued down the half sticks.

Then I cut about a 1/4" off of the remaining sticks and glued those in between to fill in the gaps. 

Then we decorated them with buttons. 

 

All done for a Crafty gift for someone you LOVE! :)

Gift for someone you LOVE!

Photo Collage Love Note!

My sweet husbands Birthday is right around the corner so I thought I would share with you what my kids made for him two years ago. It is a super simple piece or artwork for any age.

Materials Needed:

• Canvas any size. (I like to use gallery wrapped canvas' so they can be hung right on the wall without framing them)
• Acrylic paint (any colors) or any other non-toxic paint depending on the age.
  
• Brushes or Fingers
  
• A Printed photo. Print size depends on the canvas size. When photo is place in the center you want at least a two to three inch border around.
  
• Fine tip sharpie marker
• Sponge Brush
  
• Mod Podge (matte or glossy)

Let's Begin!

• Squirt out some paint and let your child get creative. Let them be abstract with colors. Have some music playing so they can move their arms to the beat.

• Let it dry. Typically 2-3 hours. If the paint is really thick it may take a day to dry. If you want to speed up the process. Use a hair dryer on Low.
  

• Once your canvas is dry. Take a little bit of Mod Podge and paint a thin layer all over your canvas. Don't worry the mod podge is white but will dry clear. Place the photo in the center of your canvas. Paint another layer over the whole canvas as well as the photo. Let that dry completely. Give it at least 2 hours or use a hair dryer to speed up the process.
  

• So your Canvas is completely Dry. Let's write down why you love the person you are giving this to. Ask your Child: Why they love____? or What do you like to do with ____?and basically you write what they say along the outside of the photo. The best part is to write what they say. Sometimes you can get some really cute and memorable responses. (Don't forget to sign it with the year)

Emelia's canvas says:
" I love my daddy, because he plays with me and is a lot of fun! My favorite time with him is when he comes home from work."
Jude's canvas says: Jude was only 18 months old at the time so I helped out a bit. :)
"I love my daddy, because he makes me laugh and smile. My favorite time with him is when it is just the boys" 

 Here is one I made for my husband on fathers day. 

Canvas made with hand made papers.... tutorial here:
 http://creativelyquirkyathome.blogspot.com/2013/02/get-creative-how-to-abstract-florals.html

http://www.tipjunkie.com/homemade-projects-add-yours-8/