Upcycled Hair Bows!

Do you ever find yourself wondering "What should I do with all these plastic grocery bags?".  The answer, of course, is: Make Hair Bows!!! 

I am so glad I found this craft at http://www.freekidscrafts.com/plastic_bag_hair_rosettes-e418.html.  Over the years I have collected umpteen plastic bags and I hate to throw them out.  This craft is the perfect solution.

Materials Needed:
Plastic Bags
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun
Buttons
Hair Barrette

The first bow took me around 15 minutes, but after I got the hang of it the next few only took about 10 minutes.  Freekidscrafts.com has a wonder step-by-step tuturioal for these bows. Another use for plastic rosettes could be budget-friendly party decorations! 

Love how it turned out!  Have you made these or have a clever way of upcycling plastic bags?  I would love to see your ideas!!

Happy Crafting! 

Join me over at Coastal Charm! 

April Weddings - Simply Happy!

First thing that comes to mind when I think about April weddings is daisy's and the color yellow!  I'm not entirely certain why I always associate these two with spring - could be because both the color yellow and daisy's are very happy looking.  The perfect combination for a spring wedding - thus making our theme this month Simply Happy!!

In the language of flowers, daisy's represent purity, innocence and a new beginning. This flower is just screaming wedding and marriage!  The age old saying "fresh as a daisy" can be seen as a bride's desire to express the youthful and joyful side of love. 

When selecting the daisy as the main flower, the rest of the wedding attire and decor should remain simple to carry the symbolism throughout. Definitely follow the saying "less is more"!  These lovely flowers are also very friendly on the budget and have been called the "new rose".  A wedding flower budget can be stretched much further by selecting daisy's and gerbera daisy's rather than roses and lily's - and the end result can be just as breath-taking!

Daisy's are also quite versatile and can be designed to be modern or old fashioned.  While I was shopping for flowers to make this month's bouquet, I came across a beautiful assortment of silk daisy's and spring flowers at JoAnn's.  I wasn't certain how I exactly wanted the bouquet to look, so I let the flowers do the talking and let it take shape.  If I had thought of these colors 10 years ago - I definitely would have made this my wedding theme!!

When choosing bridesmaid dresses, I found the perfect solution at Catan Fashions! Both of these dresses would look fabulous with daisy's, especially the color combination. Simple, happy and elegant at the same time.  :)


Enjoy your day and happy crafting!!

April Crafting Goals

Well there is not much left to April, but I plan on getting some crafting done with the time that is remaining!! 
I was having such a blast with the March crafting goals that it took more time than expected ( not to mention getting sick! )

Since Earth Day is this month, I really want to do a craft involving recycled / upcycled materials.  While crusing through the internet, I came across a cute tutorial for creating hair bows using plastic grocery bags.  What a great way to upcycle all those grocery bags!!  I cannot wait to try this one out!
http://www.freekidscrafts.com/plastic_bag_hair_rosettes-e418.html

The other project on the to-do list for this month is a silk flower collage that I found on the JoAnns website.  It looks like a super easy way to create beautiful wall art in a weekend! 
http://www.joann.com/floral-collage-wall-decor/xprd1006706/


For now - I will leave my crafting goals at just 2 projects!

What are your crafting goals this month?

Sewn Fabric Baskets

I'm back!  The past three weeks have been a blur of sickness and crazy work schedules.  I'm glad to be back today and featuring some crafts by my mom!!

Last fall my mom took a class at our local JoAnn Fabrics and learned how to sew these incredible baskets.  She has been a busy beaver creating the most adorable machine crafted baskets you will ever see!!  I looked all over JoAnn's website trying to find a link to this project, and was unable to.  If your local JoAnn's store ever offers a class for machine sewn baskets - I reccomend taking it...you will not be disappointed!

Here's my mom, sewing away!  Depending on the size of the basket, each one takes approximately 1 hour to complete.

This project doesn't involve too many materials, but it does require patience!

Clothes Line
1 yard Fabric of your choice!
Pellon two-sided fusible firm stablizer (forms bottom of basket)
Scissors
Heavy duty sewing machine

She made some great baskets for Easter!

Happy Crafting everyone! 

Yarn Wrapped Eggs

Easter is one of my favorite times of the year; it signals new growth, flowers and warmer weather! I tend to get more inspiration in the spring than any other time of the year.  I made these eggs a few years ago for Easter; I got them out for decorations this year and got inspired for a newer version of them.  Stay tuned for that!
This was such an easy project to make, it would be another perfect one for older kids.  I made these eggs while sitting on the couch watching a movie!

Materials Needed:

• Styrofoam eggs (various sizes)
• Yarn (various colors and styles)
• Elmer's Glue
• Straight Pin
• Scissors

I began by pinning yarn to the top of an egg; then spread glue around the egg.  Carefully, I spun the yarn around the egg to cover the entire Styrofoam with yarn.  The trickiest part was completing the wrap on the bottom of the egg.  Since the bottom of the eggs was wider, the yarn was having a difficult time staying put.  I found that by using tons of glue and wrapping slowly at the bottom I would get the best results. 

My favorite yarn to use on this project was the multi-color cotton yarn I had left over from another project.  The 'fuzzier' yarn, like the Homespun, did not look as good as I anticipated.  This was a very fun project and would work really well for fall and winter projects as well! 

Happy Crafting!