Wedding Flowers

I put together the flowers for my son's wedding on St. Patrick's Day

Colors were green and purple.

 

I purchased flowers at the Family Dollar store

in various shades of purple and green.

Instead of a store bought bouquet base...

I cut a round circle out of the side of a plastic

kitty litter container and made holes all over the circle.

I poked the flowers down in the holes to keep them spread out.



Then I pulled all the stems together and duck taped them.

Next I wrapped the base with ribbon.



I added a butterfly and pansy to the bouquet

for the bride and for my mom who is Pansy.



 I ended up making 10 boutonnieres and
10 corsages, plus the bouquet for the attendant.
This is just a the beginning of them... 

 

 Austin

 Blake

 Chase

 Granny of the Groom

 Mother of the Bride

 Mother of the Groom

 Sister of the Groom

 Aunt of the Groom

 Sister of the Bride

 Sister of the Bride

Tim the Minister...he did an awesome ceremony!

Sidewalk Chalk

Sidewalk chalk is the best entertainment value out there for children and adults! I purchased this 20 piece container of sidewalk chalk for 97 cents plus tax. I think as adults, we forget some of the simple things we can to to entertain our children or grandchildren. Sidewalk chalk lets kids use their imaginations and be creative. It washes off easily, so it is not messy. Sidewalk chalk is one of Granny's Love aka my Grandson's favorite things to play with at my house.

This is a sidewalk chalk message for my blog readers!

Ice Cream Tub Easter Basket - rerun from 2011

Recycle that ice cream bucket you have been saving into a personalized Easter basket!

All you need is some dollar store foam sheets, sharpie markers, glue and Easter grass.

I just cut a couple pieces of green foam with a jagged edge to be "grass" along the bottom.

Next I cut some "egg" shaped pieces and marked on them with sharpie markers.

I used Elmers All Purpose glue to put the "grass" and "eggs" around the bucket.

Put a little Easter grass inside and you have a personalized Easter basket!

This was a 5 quart ice cream bucket so it was the perfect size to make a Easter basket.

Money Saving Easter Baskets

My Mom has a Easter Egg hunt for all the Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren, friends and neighbors. She has a huge front yard that the children have a blast running and searching for the eggs. This is a photo of her front yard I took last fall. The toddlers get to hunt on the space between the house and the rock wall of the flower bed. The older ones search up on the top part of the yard. The teens get to hide the eggs for the younger ones and everyone has a great time.

Since my Great Granddaughter and my son's three stepchildren (add to my three grandsons and it brings me to a total of six grandsons and one granddaughter)  will be there for the hunt this year I decided to make personalized Easter Baskets for them. That many could get expensive, so I went to the local thrift store and picked up eight bucket/baskets and three bags of green Easter grass for $4.93! Having their names on the bucket/baskets will save any confusion over eggs or baskets. Instead of lots of candy that they don't really need Mom stuffs some of  the eggs with quarters or dollars and the children just love it.

Check out Miss Lizzie Tu...she wants in every photo of everything!

These are the bucket/baskets I picked up.

I will wash and spray with bleach to make sure they are clean before adding the names.

I also will add some extra color to the purple bunny bucket.

I will color with permanent marker to highlight the carrot, eyes, etc.

Callie Ann sees that Lizzie Tu is getting in the photo...

These darn cats are just like kids...monkey see monkey do.

Some days they even fight like my girls did when they were younger.

Remember to shop the after EASTER sales! Look for Easter basket grass that is in neutral colors...clear sparkle, yellow, white, etc.... that can be used in gift baskets all year long. Look for Easter baskets that do not really look like a Easter Egg Hunt baskets to also use for wedding, baby shower, house warming, birthday, etc. gift baskets. Look for bows, solid color cups, plates, napkins, tablecloths for other parties during the year.

Everyone knows a year in advance when they will be doing birthday parties and it is less expensive to have the "basics" on hand and then just add "theme" items at the last minute. Example: yellow and red table cloths go with nearly every "boy" action figure type theme. Buy them for half price or less and add the theme with other decor.

Sweet Valentine Roses

It is time to start thinking about Valentines Day All Free Holiday Crafts featured this neat craft project by Craft Test Dummies and if you are not signed up on both of these sites I would recommend them.

Supply List:

• Red Tissue Paper, cut in squares. You need 2 squares per rose.
• Wire floral stems (green)
• Wired Leaves (2 per flower)
• Glue Dots
• Floral tape
• 2 chocolate kisses per flower

Start off by taking one of the floral wires and roughly bending it in half over the bottom of a candy kiss. Hold the wires in your fingers and twist the ends loosely. Put a glue dot over the wire.

Place another candy, bottom side down, on the glue dot.

Take your tissue paper squares and center them over the pointy end of the candy. Pull the sides of the tissue out straight and crease.

Wrap tissue clockwise around candy, forming petals. Keep twisting all the way to the base of the candies. Secure with a bit of tape if needed.

Holding one end of the floral tape against the bottom third of the candy portion, start pulling the tape gently and wrapping it around to form a stem. (Pulling the tape activates a mild wax that will make the tape stick to itself.)

Once you get past the bulky portion at the end of the tissue paper, add two leaves and continue wrapping down the wire to the end. Just rip off the tape and smooth it down to finish.

http://www.crafttestdummies.com/

Pine Cone Angel

Pine cones and spray paint! Two of my favorite things. Simple child friendly crafts can be made from a painted pine cone and a couple other items. My grandson loves to make things, and he loves it when I make up something new for him to do. First I make a "pattern" project for him to look at and then I put all the things he will need to make his own in a zip lock bag. He thinks it is awesome to have his "kit" to take home, for him and his mother to do the craft. Makes me laugh...his mother is not my artsy crafty child!

This Angel is made from one pine cone spray painted white. One cotton ball for the head, one pipe cleaner cut in two pieces to make the halo and hands, four feathers for the wings and some Elmer's glue. How simple is that?

Just glue the cotton ball on top of the pine cone, glue the pipe cleaner circle on top of the cotton ball for the halo, twist the other part of the pipe cleaner around the body and fold the ends to make "hands," glue the feathers down in the back of the pine cone to make the angel's wings.

Besides entertaining me...with the thought of my daughter helping my grandson make this pine cone angel....these angels can be used for place card holders at a dinner party. I just know Sandra Lee, from Semi-Homemade on the Food Network, would make an entire table scape with an angel theme, if she had this angel! You could also attach a hanger and hang them from the Christmas tree, or place next to a cute little Christmas decoration, or make several and attach them to a wreath.

The main thing is to lighten up and have fun doing something inexpensive.  Not all Christmas decorations need to be from the expensive designer section!

Christmas Tree Craft

Today is my birthday. For as long as I can remember my Mother always put our family Christmas tree up the weekend around my birthday. There were a couple of times she changed the schedule a bit. The year my brother was born we put up the tree a little early. He was born on December 15. Another time was when my sister was going through chemo and Mom decided to put her tree up while I was home....it was October! None of this has anything to do with this Christmas tree craft project of today. It is just that Christmas trees evoke memories and thoughts about them.

Today's Christmas tree is tiny enough you can sit it on the corner of your desk or other small place that needs a little Christmas decoration. It is a tree that children can have fun decorating on their own. First just spray paint a large size pine cone green. The green spray paint I had on hand was not exactly Christmas tree green, but it was ok. After the pine cone has been painted and the paint is dry. Glue on beads or other tiny decorations to make the tree festive. You can even carefully spray with the artificial snow or use building caulk to dab a bit of "snow" on the tree. I used a larger bead for the topper.

I could not decide which side of the tree looked best. I took a photo of both sides of the tree.

You can also sit the tree on some fluffed up cotton balls or on top of a pop bottle cap for a base. A pine cone tree can also be a craft project for children to give their parents. It can be a Christmas party place card holder or tiny table decorations. Mostly it is just a fun project.

Legend of the Silver Pine Cone

I have posted this before but I love to share the legend...Go find some pine cones and spray paint them silver and attach a copy of the Legend of the Silver Pine Cone to give as gifts or tie on top of a gift you are giving. We have also made these to give out in the classroom at Christmas. Silver Pinecones are suppose to be very lucky. We all need a little extra luck these days.

(these look gold in this photo but they are silver!) 

(check this out...same pine cones...different color fabric made them the silver color)

THE LEGEND OF THE SILVER PINE CONE

There once lived a poor family without enough food to eat or enough wood for their fire. The mother decided to go into the forest to search for pine cones. She was planning to use the pine cones to build a fire for her family, and she was also hoping she could sell some of them to get money to buy food.

After walking for hours, the mother finally reached the forest and started gathering pine cones into her basket. Suddenly, she heard a voice say, "Why are you stealing my pine cones?" with that, an elf appeared beside her. She explained her sad story to the elf. With a crooked smile, the elf said, "Go into the next forest. The pine cones there are much better."

Hesitantly, the mother set off to the next forest, which was even farther away. When she reached it, she was very tired. She leaned against a tree and sat her basket on the ground. No sooner had she set down her basket, and dozens of pine cones started falling to the  ground.

Filled with renewed energy, she gathered all the pine cones into her basket and returned home. Exhausted, she set the basket on her doorstep. When she looked down at the basket of pine cones, they had all turned to silver!! The family would never be poor again.

(these are silver too! how crazy...it is the green fabric I put them on for the photo)

(photo using flash and they look almost white)

According to legend, it is customary to keep one on your dresser and desk. And a basket of them on the mantle of the fireplace.

Holiday Projects at Suzy's blog

If you want to get patterns to make amazing holiday projects you need to so to Suzy's Artsy-Craftsy Sitcom blog site. Suzy is the most talented blogger ever...she can create such beautiful things out of inexpensive items. Now is the time to get your Christmas gifts made and with Suzy's ideas and patterns you can do it!!!

 

http://suzyssitcom.com/2013/11/12-most-popular-holiday-projects-from-the-sitcom.html

 

 

Below are just some of the neat ideas Suzy has for gift giving.

You will have to check out the rest on her blog!

 

 



Thanksgiving Table Decoration

 

Need a last minute decoration or place card holder for your Thanksgiving table?

Grab some pinecones, pipe cleaners, feathers and glue to make these turkeys.

To use for place card holders just cut a piece of card stock and stick in the top.

 

Antique Crafts to Make Now

I looked up on the cabinet above the clothes dryer today, and hanging there was a pretty ugly "craft" that my Grandmother "Mama Gen" had made probably 40 years ago. No telling how many years I have had it hanging there! It is the second photo. It made me think of sharing with you some of the "antique" crafts hanging out at my house. My kids would have tossed these things long ago, but they make me smile.

 Below in the first photo you will see on the left a YARN WEATHER FORECASTER. If you knit this might be a fun little thing to make. I do not knit so no telling where I picked up this crafty item. The old yellowing paper attached to it says,

 "You are the proud owner of an "Okie" weather forecaster.

 For best results, hang on a nail outside your window.

If it's moving, it's windy.

If it's wet, it's raining.

If its stiff, it's freezing.

If it's white, it's snowing.

If it's gone, it's been ripped off!

The middle "GRAPE CLUSTER" reminds me of my Granny. As long as I can remember she had a couple of these hanging on her wall. I wish I had one of hers, but this one I picked up at an auction or garage sale. It is beautiful craft work. The grapes are made by crocheting over/around pop bottle lids. The grape leaves and hanging loop also display excellent crocheting skills.

The third item on the right in the top photo is a BOOK MARK. It is made by weaving yarn in and out of that plastic mesh stuff that was so popular years ago.

This second photo is the craft my Mama Gen made. It has a message that goes with it too.

Put your THIMBLE in my pocket...

Stick your NEEDLES in my knees...

Put your THREAD down my neck...

and Hang me where you please!!

She gave these to lots of people and I even remember the fabric of some of the others being much prettier than this one. She was always sewing something, so I rarely saw her without her thimble on her finger. She made quilts all the time and loved to mend things for people.

This old craft, in this third photo, is made from two dish cloths and some yarn. It's attached verse is...

Don't be misguided.

Don't be misled.

These aren't for you, but for your dishes instead.

Take out the bows.

Take out the stitches.

You've got two dishcloths, but you've lost your britches!

Hope you have enjoyed my "antique craft" show! Or at the very least it made you smile. I know I have plenty more hidden away.  Look around at your house or your parents house and I bet you can find a few "antique crafts".

 

Note: This was one of the first posts I did when I started my blog and I wanted to share it again, because I love these funny craft ideas.

Halloween Crafts

Spider from clay pot, pipe cleaners and acrylic paint.

Spider from pipe cleaners, sucker and pearl eyes.

 Bats and Spiders from craft foam and eyes.

Hang on wall or hang from string.