Paper Flowers -- a Crafty Weekends Review and Link Party

Disclosure: Leisure Arts sent me a copy of this book in return for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. The links are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

Spring is my favorite time of the year. I love seeing the flowers blooming and life coming back to the world after the cold winter.  I shared the view we have had this past week when pulling into our driveway on my Instagram account (do you follow me?). However the irises are already starting to die off. So today I am sharing a great book to make your own paper flowers that won't die on you. The book is Paper Flowers by Jennifer Maker.  

Hawaii Dreaming in our Winter Wonderland a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This winter we have had unbelievable cold weather and lately several snow storms. It has been a bit of a winter wonderland. Once we got rid of the first snow, it snowed again.

Kid's Bunny Diorama -- a Crafty Weekends Post & Link Party

This week our craft is actually one Hazel made. She made it at a workshop at Paper Source this week. I happened to be the teacher of the workshop though. She picked to make a bunny themed diorama. We used the small vanilla (white) shirt box for the diorama. For the person and her clothes came from the Paper Doll Kit.  The bunny ears and bunnies were cut on a Cameo Silhouette. The flowers and leaves were from punches.

The Art of Paper Flowers -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Quarto Books USA. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Tonight I get the pleasure of sharing with you a new book full of tutorials and patterns to create beautiful paper flowers. The book is The Art of Paper Flowers by Bobby Pearce. The flowers created in this book and with the instructions remind of the flower kits sold at Paper Source. The book allows you to design your own colors and various types of flowers.

Summertime Fun Ideas from Oriental Trading

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to the products for your convenience but do not receive anything if you buy from them.

So one of the things that got me going on our Summertime Fun Series is this amazing review for Oriental Trading. We picked out a variety of things to review to bring different summertime activities to you. Hope you will try some of them out.

The Curious Nature Guide -- Summertime Fun Review

Be sure to check out my on-line Thirty-One Review & Party!! Get all your summer organizing essentials!!

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Storey Publishing. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links  for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase from  them.

This summer I feel like all I want to do is spend time with Hazel. Perhaps it is the fact that she just completed her first year of full time school and I missed my time with her. It also helps that we have had beautiful weather so we have been getting outdoors a lot. Or perhaps it is the combination of those two things and this great book as our guide. The book is The Curious Nature Guide by Clare Walker Leslie. 

Audio Books for Crafters & DIY Teacher Gifts -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Have you entered my current giveaway for a custom canvas print?

Disclosure: I was given audio versions of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

What do you do when you craft? Do you craft in silence? Or are you like me and watch television (or at least listen to television) while you craft? With the summer reruns season starting I am finding television pretty boring. Penguin Random House Audio Publishing came to my rescue. They have a page dedicated to crafters with recommendations as well as free knitting patterns!! On this page there are links to articles, free coloring pages and patterns as well as some book suggestions. There is even a place to say how long you want to craft for book recommendations. All of the books have sample clips so you can get a taste for the story and the telling of it. I was lucky enough to be sent four audio books to check out. I will admit since I have not been crafting very much lately that I have not listened to them yet.

Bloomsy Box -- Monthly Flowers by Subscription -- Product Review

Disclosure: I was sent this product free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

In New England this has been a bit of a nasty spring. We have had a couple of snowfalls in April and lots of cloudy and cold days. I keep waiting for spring to really be here and crave some sunshine. Luckily BloomsyBox entered my life. BloomsyBox offers three choices of monthly subscriptions to have beautiful handpicked flowers delivered to your door. They even have weekly and bi-weekly subscriptions. Perfect for businesses or families who always need/want beautiful flowers displayed. 

Adult Coloring Book Review & Craft -- Crafty Weekends Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge from Barron's Educational Services. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase from them.

I have to admit I have jumped on the adult coloring book bandwagon. i love them!! They are so relaxing and fun. Today I am going to share with you three adult coloring books from Barron's Publishing and a craft you can do with your finished pages or wrapping paper, scrapbook paper or other things. We will start with Christmas Magic illustrated by ArsEdition. 

All three of the books have pages that have white or black backgrounds. This is no different. The pages in this book have a Christmas theme but also a winter theme. There are many pages with snowflake motifs and just designs. The colors will make it feel Christmasy or wintery. Here are some pages I colored or began to color. I found some of the small snowflakes a bit hard to color because the spaces were so small.

Indian Crafts

Disclosure: This post contains Affiliate links where I will receive a nominal fee if you purchase through it.

Since it is the last day of the month, we are finishing our exploration of India with Global Learning for Kids and preparing to move on to Lebanon in July. To finish India we made some crafts of things we had read about. Two of the craft ideas came from Super Simple Indian Art by Alex Kuskowski. This book has several great ideas that use things most kids have in their craft supplies.

Sharing Saturday 15-22

What a week it has been!! I have had one of those weeks where life got inthe way of blogging. I guess I took a bit of a break to catch up with the busy spring. Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! This week there were less posts shared, but the ones that were are amazing!! I picked some crafts and teaching posts as features. These are only a sampling of what was shared. Be sure to go back to last week's party to see even more great ideas.

Nature Anatomy Book Review to Celebrate the Earth

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Storey Publishing. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Here is a perfect book for Earth Day although I'm a little late. This amazing book was one of the prizes in our Earth Day Giveaway. When I saw it I thought it looked like a book Hazel would love. I was right. Not only does Hazel love it, Steve and I love it and my father was looking very interested in it (and he really doesn't do books). The book is Nature Anatomy by Julia Rothman with help from John Niekrasz.

Spring Crafts

With the record breaking amount of snow this year in Boston, we are very ready for spring and to see our grass and flowers again. I think I have seen enough snow this year for the next few. Since we have a bit of spring fever we have been working on some spring crafts. Hazel started by making a vase of flowers.

American Girl or 18-inch Doll Accessories from a Party Store Product Review

 Disclosure: I was sent these products to review free of charge from Shindigz Party Supplies. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I added links to the particular products for your convenience, but not for any compensation. 

Yesterday I received an email from Shindigz informing me that my DIY American Girl Themed Party had won an award (you can see the award badge on the post). I responded what a coincidence since I was about to write a review of Shindigz products to use with an 18-inch doll. So yes, here are some ideas of party supplies that work with 18-inch dolls like American Girl dolls. We are getting ready for a Valentine themed Doll Play Date later this week. Hazel invited a few of her friends and their dolls over. We are planning on having a tea party with the dolls. First of course all the dolls need tiaras. These mini tiara combs are the perfect size for the dolls.

Sharing Saturday 14-20

What a busy and beautiful week it has been here! Last week's Sharing Saturday had so many wonderful ideas!! If you have not had a chance to check them out yet, you should!! They are so inspiring!! Thank you to everyone who shared and to all who visited and left comments!! We had a two-way tie for most clicked. I am not sure what to think since one was clearly a spring craft and the other was a summer round-up. For the other features I chose some of my favorites and broke them into two displays so the pictures will be bigger.

Sharing Saturday 14-19

Wow, what great ideas were shared last week!! If you have not checked them all out, you should!! There was not one most clicked, so I picked a few favorites in two categories for you. The first being spring and Mother's Day themed and the second being painting.

1) From Tot Schooling: Easy Mother's Day Pop-Up Card
2) From JDaniel4's Mom: Mother's Day Pictures for Homemade Cards
3) From Toddling in the Fast Lane: Magazine Flowers
4) From Sparkling Buds: Making Yarn Flowers Using Building Blocks
5) From Sparkling Buds: Easy Paper Flower
6) From Crystal's Tiny Treasures: Paper Plate Sunshine Craft

1) From Parenting Chaos: Paint With Flowers
2) From Mini Monets and Mommies: Kids' Nature Art Activity: Painting with Plants!
3) From Where Imagination Grows: Train Painting
4) From My Nearest and Dearest: 13 Fun Ways to Play and Create with Paint

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

Featured Button Code:

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From Your Hostess: This week we shared our easy Minnie Mouse napkin rings for a birthday party, Hazel's garden/meadow to go with On Meadowview Street, our outdoor play and explorations, our needle felted acorn capped strawberry craft, and an easy pressed flower vases for gifts for teachers or moms made with a recycled jar.

Now for This Week's Party  
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the Sharing Saturday button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

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5) If you do not have a blog, but want to share an idea you can leave it in the comments or e-mail it to me with a picture (if possible).

 

 Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest.

Homemade Pressed Flower Vase/Pencil Holder Gift for Teacher or Mom

Since we are in the middle of Teacher Appreciation Week and Mother's Day is this Sunday in the United States, I thought I would share with you a simple craft Hazel made for her teachers. To make these pressed flower vases (or pencil holders) you need to press flowers. I have a simple DIY flower press tutorial here. For some of the flowers we did not wait for them to dry out and they actually were a bit easier to handle on this project. We picked some of the spring flowers in our yard and pressed them. Then we used almond butter jars that were completely washed out. The only other things you need are Mod Podge glue and ribbon and craft glue (though you could use the Mod Podge) for the ribbon.

Spring Fever: Planting Hazel's Meadow/Garden

Spring has finally hit our area. It is hard to believe it is already May and the temperatures are just getting to be springlike. After school and gymnastics class, Hazel wanted to come home and get outside. I didn't blame her. She asked if she could plant some flowers in her garden. A few weeks ago we read Henry Cole's On Meadowview Street and Hazel wanted to do what Caroline did in the book.

In this book, a young girl named Caroline moves into a new house on Meadowview Street. While her family is settling in she decides to see if there is a meadow on Meadowview Street. On her way to see, she sees one lone flower growing in the middle of the lawn. She wants to save the flower and finds some sticks and string to rope it off. As the flower grows more flowers come up and she expands her meadow. Birds and bugs come to visit and soon she wants a tree. Eventually her whole yard is a meadow and some of the neighbors follow suit. 

Since we don't have a random flower in the middle of our yard, Hazel decided she would do it in her garden. Last year Steve dug me a new garden with better sunlight, so my old garden became Hazel's. It has my oregano and our raspberry bushes in it, but otherwise is hers to play and/or plant. Since she wanted a meadow, I bought her some butterfly and hummingbird flower seeds. We also found all the flower seeds from the past couple years that hadn't been finished. We figured we can see what will grow. The first thing we had to do was get rid of the weeds. Hazel took out her hoe, but I didn't get any pictures of it. Steve dug up some of the oregano (which has taken over this garden the past few years) and then our landscaper came and he wanted some to take home so he dug up the rest of what I didn't want. Once the weeds were up, Hazel began planting the seeds. I planted some of the milkweed seeds we found in the beginning of April. Then I explained to Steve that she wanted to rope it off like the girl in the book. He pulled out some of my stakes and I gave them some string. 

We also released her ladybugs today. They did not seem to want to leave their plastic home, so we put it in the garden.

Hazel had so much fun, digging, planning and planting. I hope some of it grows for her, but I figured we can always buy some annuals if they don't. For now the fun is just the hope and getting out there. Plus we let her do what she wanted with all the seeds. She asked for help with pouring them into her cup.

She and I discussed where to plant the sunflowers. This year I bought her pink sunflowers (Ms. Mars from Burpee). I hope they grow since she is so excited for them. I also found an old pack of yellow sunflowers and we mixed them up for her. 

Steve asked if she wanted a scarecrow for her garden and put it in for her. Then he helped her rope it off (while I took a nap). 

When Hazel came in, I ran out to get a picture of the final product. They added some more things like a "Welcome to my garden" sign and fences. Hazel also wants to put her wooden bird feeder and bird bath that she and Steve put together. That may be tomorrow's adventure.

Hopefully later in the year, we will have a butterfly and hummingbird paradise. I'll let you know!

For more of our gardening posts check out:

• Gardening Blog Hop
• The Garden Classroom Book Review
• Spring Flowers and Wildlife
• Fairy Garden 2012 
• Starting Seeds and Other Gardening Projects
• Earth Day 2014
• My Gardening Pinterest Board

Simple Spring Needle Felted Projects

Today I have a quick post for you. I made these crafts about a month ago and was inspired by the beautiful needle felted bunnies shared at Sharing Saturday by ZingZing Tree: Needle Felt Easter Bunny (Cookie Cutter). But before I get into my crafts a few quick May Announcements!! First Happy Belated May Day!!

Virtual Book Club for Kids

The author for Virtual Book Club for Kids this month is Mem Fox!! Join us starting May 12th for posts about her books!

Around the World in 12 Dishes

This month we are stopping in Croatia. Join us starting May 19th for exploring Croatia and the fun dishes we all make.

Now for my needle felting. I used some Easter cookie cutters to make these shapes. I did not have as cute of a bunny cookie cutter as ZingZing Tree, but I did have a tulip and a jumping bunny.

The bunny is very easy. You put your roving into the cookie cutter and then felt it trying to make sure the entire shape is filled in. You also will want to flip your shape (and cutter) to felt both sides. I am thinking of adding an eye, but haven't done it yet.

The tulip I made three dimensional. I needle felted two tulips from our cookie cutter and then cut one in half and needle felted it to the middle line of the first one. Then I added a green stem. I used a pipe cleaner in the stem to make it more steady, but it still bends. Of course many tulip stems bend too, so I like it.

Today feels like the first day of spring. It is actually suppose to finally warm up a bit. Hopefully the warm will stay this time!! I am not liking this cold spring. Everything around here is behind as a result. Happy May!!

For some more flower crafts and spring crafts check out:

• Spring Fairies 
• Tulip and Daffodil Peg Dolls 
•  Daffodil Fairy and Other Flower Fairies 
•  Flower Fairies and Love Bugs
• Sister Spring and Crocus Fairy (with other flower fairies) 
• Paper Lillies and Daffodils 
• Decorated Spring Buckets 
• Ava's Poppy with Paper Poppy Craft 
• Flower and Water Play and Science 
• Spring Flower Match Game
• Sunflower Picture Frame Magnets with Personalized Poem/Song You Are My Sunshine
• Spring Pinterest Board
  

Welcome, Spring!! Spring Craft Round-Up

What comes to mind when you think spring? There are so many wonderful parts to spring. The weather gets warmer; the flowers bloom; the world seems to wake up and then there are all the animals that return. Since spring officially began today at 12:57 p.m., I thought we would do a round-up of my spring crafts, activities and books so far on Crafty Moms Share. I will do an Easter round up another time and I did a Lent round up a couple of weeks ago.