Roseville / Sacramento Local Holiday Craft Event

Local Santa's Boutique to shop for handmade Holiday gifts. 

Thursday Dec. 6th 2012

1347 Jorgenson Dr. Lincoln, CA 95648

6pm - 9pm

Cute gifts for family and friends from several local crafters and vendors. Featuring hand painted Wooden Signs and frames by Gretchen Jolynn Crafts. 

Gretchen will be having sales and great deals! Tell her Laura from Frugal Family Tree sent you :)

Homemade Advent Calendar

Made on a mini muffin tin with treats inside!!

I have never had an advent calendar, the boys LOVE IT!! and so do I ;)

Last minute Apple Stamp Paint Project with the Kids

Before November is over and we pack up all things fall-like and gear up for Christmas I wanted to get in one more craft with the boys. They love paint and stamps so what better way to combine the two than with turning some aging apples into stamps!! We had all of the supplies already in our home so away we went. Here is the steps we took to make apple stamped collages:

The Supplies: Apples, knife, paper plates, paint and paper

Cut the apples in half and remove the seeds. I suggest you leave the stem because it looked really cool when it was painted as well! Side note: As you can see these apples were getting past their prime so I thought they would make a great "stamps" for this project.

Squeeze the paint onto the paper plates.

I chose fall colors such as yellow, orange and red. I set it all up and called the boys to the table.

They stamped away!!

Love the Red!!

More stamping!

Liam got really into it and it was starting to get messy haha

In the end the colors were messy and mixed up but I didn't mind because this project was just for entertainment purpose. They loved stamping and painting with no rules really. FUN!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Halloween Prep at our house!

Stuffed Pumpkin Project

Halloween is in just a couple of days and I wanted to get in one more Halloween craft in with the boys before we start making their class treats and snacks. I wanted it to be simple and easy, something they both could do and enjoy. Along with that I wanted to use items we already had around the house, a cost free fun project. So we came up with "Stuffed Pumpkins" and they were a hit!

Our supplies: Brown roll of packing paper, newspaper, orange paint, scissors, paintbrushes and a stapler.

First I cut out a big piece of brown packing paper long enough so I could fold it in half to make a front and a back side to staple together once we started to stuff them. Then "free handed" a giant pumpkin. It doesn't have to be perfect, pumpkins are never perfectly round anyways right?

Next I let the boys paint their pumpkin, it didn't matter if they went out of the lines, we were going to cut them out anyway.

Then I helped/let them draw a pumpkin face. My 5 year old wanted a scary mouth with nice eyes and mean eyebrows.

After the paint dried we cut the pumpkin out which ends up being two pieces of paper back to back the same size (see the two pieces he is stapling here). Not perfectly cut because he still needed to be stapled and stuffed. We stapled around over half the pumpkin before we even started to stuff him so that the newspaper wouldn't fall out. I let my 5 year old use the kids style stapler, he was really cautious and loved being able to staple to his hearts desire.

Last they stuffed their pumpkins with the crumpled newspaper!! As they got fuller and fuller we stapled more and more around the edges to close them up. Then when they were stuffed and stapled I trimmed the edges off with scissors to give them a cleaner look.

Here they are with their finished Stuffed Pumpkins!!! One for each of them and the little one for their baby sister, so sweet.

Crafting with Martha!

~ By Sam ~
                 
I love crafts, with or without the kids. It is fun to do them with the kids, but sometimes I need a grown up craft to make me feel "crafty." When I am looking for crafting ideas I like to turn to Martha Stewart. My Mom adores Martha and says she knew her way back when. Because my Mom has so much admiration for Martha Stewart, I do too. Her projects are relatively simple and always classic. I found this Bat Mobile from the Indoor Halloween Decorations page and knew it was the one for me to make this season. I love simple, black and I love things I can find for free, like the tree branch that the bats are dangling from.

Here is the original from Martha's site. 

                                  

And here is my attempt at making the "Bat Mobile"-

 I found a stick off of one of our trees outside and sprayed it with black spray paint.

While the spray paint dried, I printed out the bat template provided and got some black post board out. Card stock can be expensive so I just got a piece of black poster board at 2 for a $1.00 and cut it into pieces. 

Then I cut out the template, traced them by folding the paper in half. She gives you half of the bat so that you can trace it and both sides be equal. 

Last I got my dry branch, fishing string, and hole punch. I didn't punch it all the way through the paper, just punctured it a bit so I could slide the fishing string in. I hung the bats up randomly and at different lengths.

Here is my finished product! I hung it high enough over the sliding glass door to the deck so that the children couldn't reach it. It was late by the end of the day when I got it finished so there is a shadow from the light. But I think that makes it look a little spooky!

Making A Mother's Day Craft Project with Painters Paint Markers

My grandson and I decided to make a Mother's Day gift for his Mom (my daughter Samantha). We have done projects together before, and they are always fun. He knew he wanted to give her flowers, so it was my job to come up with a craft idea that would go along with them.

I had heard about Painters Paint Markers from Elmer's, and that they will work on almost any surface. So I went to Walmart to buy some. I found them in the craft section.

They have a good selection, with packs of the paint markers in bright colors. They even have a pack of pastel colors, which are on sale for $7.

I decided to get the individual markers, they are a great price at $1.97, and you can buy only the colors you need. It says they work on any surface, and I'm pretty excited to try them out.

I have decided that my grandson and I will decorate a vase to hold the flowers that he wants to give his Mom.

I selected the colors yellow, blue, red and green to decorate the vase.

My grandson asked me to write "Mom" on the vase because he was giving it to her on Mother's Day. The word actually gave us something to work around, and made a great focal point. He loves using the Elmer's markers, and I can see more projects for us in the future. I thought they might be a little hard for him to handle, but they weren't at all.

We worked on it together and it was a lot of fun. We drew on hearts, flowers, and big dots. The paint markers were so easy to use, and were very fast drying so there were no paint smudges.

I really do love doing crafts and I can see that the Elmer's Painters Paint Markers can make any painting project much easier. Our vase project is coming along nicely, and we are almost finished.

Here is our finished project. I just love it, and so does my grandson. He is very proud of it, and the flowers he bought with his own money. We had a great time together making this very special project, and he can't wait to give it to his Mom on Mother's Day. #ExpressYourself

*I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™.

All opinions expressed in this shop are my own and your experience may vary. #SocialFabric #Cbias #ExpressYourself

Knitting For Peace

When I say I am knitting for peace, I wish I were doing one of those noble deeds like making hats for new born preemies in the hospital. That is such a worthy and beautiful thing to do.

But the truth is, I knit for my own peace of mind. There is something so soothing in the repetition of knitting row after row of the same stitch. And to be really honest, I only know how to knit scarves. I think I have knitted about 50 scarves in the last few years. I have given them to all my family members but I think they have enough scarves to last several lifetimes.

But I can't stop knitting when I have things I need to work out in my head. So in the interest of my family, I have decided to learn how to knit other thinks like sock caps. Up here in the Great Northwest, one can always use a good sock cap in the winter.

I have taken out several library books with the intention of teaching myself how to knit better. Wish me luck

Elmer's Holiday DIY Christmas Ornaments and Decor #GlueNGlitter #CBias

All the items I purchased for my project.

This Holiday Season I told myself I wanted to be more crafty. There is something special about hand made Christmas items that you can remember the good time you had while making them. A few years ago my Mom sent me an ornament that I made when I was in Kindergarten. I love the ornament. Its one that I cherish. This year I wanted to make one like it for my son. I went to Walmart to shop for Elmer's CraftBond and X-ACTO products to create DIY Holiday decor for my tree. My plan was to make an ornament like the one I made as a kid and a few other ones that I could put on the lower half of my tree. (My tree is somewhat bare on the bottom since my son has pulled them all off and broken a few!)

My inspiration item that I made as a kid.

The Elmer's CraftBond and X-ACTO aisle in Walmart

For my #ElmersHoliday project DIY Ornaments I purchased:

Elmer's CraftBond ScrapBooking Double Sided Tape

Elmer's CraftBond Foam Mounting Tape

Elmer's Mini Bi-Fold Foam Board 

X-ACTO Decorative Edge Scissors Zig Zag and Scallop 

X-ACTO Corner Rounder Punch

Additional items:

Felt Sheets Multiple colors

Fuzzy Sticks

Wiggly Eyes

Red Ribbon

Plain Glass Ornament Bulbs

My first item to make is the Look A Like Reindeer Ornament. First I used the ribbon spool as a template for a circle for my ornament. I did the same with the Red Felt sheet and Black Felt sheet. I used the Elmer's CraftBond Glue Pen to glue the felt to the foam board.Then I used the Foam Mounting tape to set the brown felt to make the reindeer face. I used the Foam Mounting tape so the reindeer face would be 3-D like and have room behind it for the antlers. Next I cut the Fuzzy Stick to make the antlers, added the wiggly eyes, balled up some red felt for a nose and made a small reindeer smile with a tiny black felt triangle. After I let the face part dry with the Glue Pen I then glued red ribbon around the ornament to cover the edges and create a loop to hang the ornament with.

The next craft we created using the Elmer's and X-ACTO Products was a few simple but sweet ornaments for the lower half of our tree. Since my son loves to take the ornaments off and on like he is decorating I wanted to make cute but light weight and non breakable ones. The first one I made was a cute handprint ornament of my son's hand. I could not decide on what shade of green to use and after the first try I did not like either of them. Since it was water based paint and the Foam Board has a slightly wipe-able surface I was able to use a damp paper towel to redo my son handprint in red. Next we made a few simple Greeting Card ornaments using the X-ACTO Decorative Edge Scissors. I cut the edges of greeting cards that we have used over the years and had extras of. After beautifying the edges I then used a piece of fuzzy stick as the hanger part of the ornament. A simple way to add some charm and color to our tree.

Next I wanted to make a door hanger for the front door that we could put outside for Santa. We do not have a chimney so I wanted to make a Santa sign for the front door. So that way Santa would know to stop at our house too! This one I made when my son was taking a nap and the look on his face when he woke up and saw it was priceless. He yelled Oh Wow Mama! It was beyond sweet. Glad he appreciates my crafty skills. I used the Foam Board then glued white felt to the front and then another Christmas card I had onto the felt. Then I wrapped some of the red ribbon around the edges using the double stick tape that way I could easily place the back felt on top of the ribbon and ribbon loop keeping it all together. I used the Corner Round Punch on the edges of the card even after it had been glued on. (My plan was to do it before hand but I forgot!) Thankfully I was able to round the edges of the card, it gave it the extra touch it needed. I cannot wait to round the corners on all the holiday cards I will be mailing. To me things just look fancier with round edges.

I used the Double Side Tape for the top card so it would be easy to press onto the felt.

On Christmas Eve I will hang this on the front door so Santa will know to stop at our house :)

The final DIY #ElmersHoliday Project I made was a Christmas Tree Bulb Ornament. I was also planning to make some hand print snowman on a bulb using my son's handprint but after the first handprint item I made he was not letting me put paint on his hand again. He said No Way so I had to not make that one this time. Hopefully in a few days he will let me. Hes 2 and very opinionated lol. For the Bulb Ornament I wanted to make it look like a mini round tree. First I cut out some brown felt to make a tree trunk and used the Foam Mounting tape to fix the stump onto the bottom of the bulb. Next I used the red felt to make a tree skirt for my ornament and white craft paper cut with the Decorative Edge Scallop scissors to make it look lacy like. I used the Double Sided tape to put the tree skirt on the bulb and the lace like paper onto the skirt. I love how versatile and sticky the double side tape is! I added a fuzzy stick piece to the top and then hung it on the tree. I think its super cute! 

My husband said something about a green fat Santa when I showed him this but my son said Christmas Tree so I am thinking it looks awesome!

After I was done making my DIY Christmas Ornaments and Decor #ElmersHoliday #GlueNGlitter Craft Project I was happy with my creations and my son was excited there was stuff on the tree he could mess with. We hung the ornaments and to his delight I let him help hang one too. I had a fun time creating crafts and making memories! 

You can find more great Crafting Ideas from Elmer's and X-ACTO on the website and social media pages.

www.elmers.com
www.facebook.com/elmers
http://twitter.com/elmers
www.facebook.com/xacto

 
Click Below to enter a great Elmer's CraftBond Giveaway. Prize value of $250!

You can see my fun shopping trip at 
Walmart on my Google+ Story 

*This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.   
#collectivebias #CBias #ElmersHoliday #GlueNGlitter
All opinions expressed in this shop are my own and your experience may vary