This winter has felt exceptionally long and I’ve been in a funk lately (missing the warm breeze and SUN!). Whenever I feel this way I always turn to words. Writing, reading, quotes, poetry… you name it. If you follow me on Pinterest, you probably noticed my quotes board has exploded the last few weeks.

While I was wondering around Michaels doing some happy shopping (hehe!) I came across the display of words for jewelry and got inspired to create. The hard part was deciding how to arrange the straps and getting them to stay in place while I tied the ends up! I think it turned out pretty well. In hindsight I would have added another braided or some single smaller straps below the word to balance out the one on top, but I think it’s not too shabby for my first leather bracelet. I’m hoping it doesn’t fall apart on me!

Little Peanut spent a lot of time in the kitchen at our old house (due to lack of play space) and we invested in quite a few magnetic toys to keep her entertained. The new basement playroom has plenty of room but no magnetic surfaces. Inspired by this popular Pinterest pin I set out to find something similar and came up with this:

With little luck finding the right oil pan I stopped by Home Depot and asked for metal sheets. For some reason I kept thinking they came as large as plywood and wasn’t sure how I’d cut it down (much less bring it home!), but sure enough they come in nice manageable sizes in the plumbing section. I got the largest one I saw – 24×36 inches for $10.

Once home I realized we’d have to cover the edges to prevent little fingers from getting cut. First I thought about duct taping around the edges and then covering with fabric but that idea was scratched when wasn’t sure how to make the fabric taut. Then one day (about a month later!) while browsing Michaels I saw their large poster frames and it hit me- duh, frame it! Of course I had to make an additional trip since I didn’t know the exact dimensions of the metal sheet. There are quite a few styles to choose from but I went with the basic Michaels frame – $15 on sale!

I brought it home and took out the glass. If you’re careful you can remove it with out breaking it. There is a little double sided tape on all 4 sides to hold the glass on. You guessed it, I was not careful, it broke all over and startled both kids and hubby! I had no plans for the glass but it would have been nice to keep for later. The metal sheet turned out to be a wee too big for the frame but a pair of decent scissors fixed that problem. Less then 1/4 inch was cut off the width and height. It is easy to cut, just don’t use the good scissors!

It still needs to be hung but I’m thinking it might survive propped up as long as they don’t get too rough with it. It was also intended for the Little Peanut but the Little Guy seems to be enjoying it more (I guess he is the right age for the toys we have. Oh and don’t mind the little scar on his nose. He’s been feverishly trying to crawl, got a little rambunctious and bumped his nose on the ground. Good news is he is now crawling, bad news is he is now crawling. Hah! )

Hours of fun for under $25!

One more DIY playroom accessory crossed of the list. Infinite amount more to go.

Every time I go to the store (Target, Marshalls, Bed Bath and Beyond, Ikea etc) I look at the plethora of storage boxes. Canvas, leather, paper, wicker, plastic… the options are endless. The problem? None of them fit the spaces I want to put them in (10×10 and 10×14) or were the wrong color. Then a few months ago I discovered Make It and Love It and her tutorial on making storage boxes from recycled cardboard.

I immediately started saving diaper boxes so that I could make my own. It was slow going because I only got two pieces from each box (5 are needed for one box) but just last week we upgraded the Little Peanut from her portable crib to a full size. When I saw the box it came in- storage boxes started popping up in my head! I finally would have some more storage that I so desired (so I could cram even more crafting materials into the house!)

Ta da!

The first box (above) was slow going but turned out pretty nice. I used a box cutter and got some crooked edges. For the rest of the boxes I got a little smarter and used a small hand saw that we have. It worked so much better- the crooked edges were gone!

Instead of using fabric for the fronts I used scrapbook paper. The paper tore a little around the handle area so what better way to cover up the tears then with some bias tape? I did a mitered corner to give it a more finished look. It was just Mod Podged on so there are a few gaps where the tape meets up at the corners.

Next time I would sew the tape up into the square first before attaching it to the box and also use less Mod Podge because it made it pretty stiff. I would have liked a softer handle. The sides, inside and bottom were left raw. The second and third boxes I was able to get the paper around the handle without tearing so I skipped the bias tape.

Currently I’ve got three boxes but have plans for more once my arms are done being sore. The dilemma now has become where do I put them?! They look pretty nice lined up in the closet (second pic), but then I could use them in the bookshelf in the living room (first pic) for toys. One works well under the sink for storing toilet paper too (third pic).

Eventually I would love to make some with covers (and a tie ribbon) for our media stand to house our Wii accessories and games. The ribbon would be to keep the Little Peanut out of the box because she loves to dig through stuff!

Last weekend my family enjoyed two great milestones in our kids’ lives; my baby girl (who is exactly three months old today!) got baptized and my boy turned 2! It was a very special weekend shared with family and friends.

Unfortunately, my family back in Texas was not able to partake, but we definitely felt their love, thoughts and prayers. One of my sisters sent each of them cards – handmade cards too! They were just so cute, I had to share (I believe I mentioned on more than one occasion that I come from a quite crafty and talented family, right?!).

The handmade touch definitely made the sentiments even more meaningful. I will make sure to save these as keepsakes (I see lots of scrapbooks in their future!).

Here is my birthday boy and newly baptized baby girl!

Our items make the perfect gift for babies and we want to make it even easier for you to give that special gift. How so? We’ve just added the “send as gift” option to our store!

If you choose to send as a gift, we will send the item directly to the recipient with a handmade card with a message from you enclosed. Your gift will be wrapped in tissue paper, tied with a ribbon and mailed in a bubble mailer. No pricing information will be disclosed. We will send you two photos – one of the finished item itself and one after it has been wrapped.

The small tag on the ribbon reads:
“A gift for your little one from [your name].”

The card is neatly tucked inside the ribbon and includes your personalized message. Card size will vary by the length of your message.

**Ribbon, tissue paper and card colors will vary.

Last week we launched our spring catalog…which was the same time that my daughter made her entrance into the world (her timing is impeccable!). Up until this point, most of my creative inspiration has come from my son who is a rambunctious 21-month old and is now trying to adjust to life as an older brother.

Having a daughter is so different. Pink is everywhere, her cry is girly and she already has her daddy wrapped around her little fingers! These new experiences will definitely inspire me creatively (I have at least five new ideas that I’d like to try out ).

With that, I’d like to introduce my brand new daughter Sophia! (She inspired the creation of our cushy wall letters!)

Wishing all our readers a wonderful 2010! Keep track of the days with our free calendar download.

This small (about post-it sized) calendar is great for your desk or to hang on your fridge. After cutting out the months use rubber cement glue to bind the tops together to create a tear-off calendar. Punch a hole at the top to hang.

Download our free 2010 calendar!

When I was young, my sister and I would leave out cookies and milk for Santa. We would also write him a little thank you note or some years leave a “Don’t eat these Dad, they’re for Santa!” sign. Making these reminded me of those younger years and of the older ones where we would remind each other to eat the cookies before our younger brother woke up!

Download embes Santa note template.

A few weeks ago I posted about some party theme ideas I found. In the end I decided to go with a color theme of pink and green and to save the more specific themes until our little one was older.

The color theme came about when I was making the invitations. I turned to scrapblog.com to create it because I knew it would give me the stickers I needed and the freedom to create the invitation I envisioned. Scrapblog offers printing but I had some cardstock already and decided to print the invitations at home.

After that it all came together….

From top to bottom:

The “happy 1st birthday” banner was  home-made using scrapbook paper, cardstock, and paper string. Look for a tutorial in our craft tip of the week soon!

The scrapbook pages were displayed on a wall and featured a lot of our baby’s firsts and milestones.

I wanted to share with our guests the monthly photos I took so that they could see how much she had changed. Each month had two photos tied together with ribbon and pinned up with a clothespin decorated with flower punch-outs.

No party is complete without a birthday hat! There will also be a tutorial for this in the craft tip of the week soon as well.

We started the party in the birthday shirt and tutu, which were a huge hit. The front is our little one’s first initial with a little crown – for being the little princess! The back of the shirt says, “I’m one!” with a large one underneath. The onesie was made using photoshop and iron-on sheets. The tutu was bought from Trinity’s Tutus on Etsy.

It was a lot of fun making many of the decorations and celebrating our little one’s first birthday with family and friends. I think she really enjoyed it too!

When you’re in need of an activity for the little ones (or big ones) pull out those twist ties and exercise your imagination by making people, animals, buildings – anything! Not to sound cliche, but the possibilities are endless and you’re only limited by your imagination.

I discovered this art when I was setting up a computer at my old job. While waiting for software to install I started twisting them around my finger and thought, “Hmm, this looks a little like a person” and the man twist tie was born (on the right).

Always looking for a challenge, after making people I thought why not try an animal. Silhouettes were a little challenging for me so I ventured into 3-d and ta-da – little puppies!

This one is my favorite though. I like the simplicity of the curves and how they form a flower. This was formed purely by accident. I just started twirling the twist tie around my finger and then pulled the long end out. Instantly I thought it looked like a flower and did the same to the other end.

And just in time for the holidays I found this Twistie-tie Pompom Gift Toppers tutorial (from Nice Package blog) for those of you who need a job for the little helpers in your house. It’s a great way for them to feel involved with the gift wrapping while staying (a little bit) out of your hair!