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/