More Paper Bead Fun

 

It is Sunday again and time to share some of the crafts I have been doing. I am still focusing on paper beads like last week. This week I made some necklaces and experimented with the shape of beads as well as paper I am using. First I will share the necklaces from the beads I made last week.

Even More Paper Bead Fun -- Crafty Sundays

 

Now for the third week I have been experimenting with paper beads. This week I experimented with using brown paper as in paper bags and brown paper wrap. It began when I was at the Cape house and my sister had covered a counter with brown paper to protect it while contractors were there doing work. I was in charge of removing it. I went to throw it away and realized it might work for beads that I could paint. To start though let me share some finished products from beads I made last week. Here is the bracelet I made from the map beads. 

Experimenting with Making Paper Beads -- Crafty Sunday

 

This weekend begins my spring break. I finally get to rest for a couple of weeks. We really don't have much planned as Hazel still has dance classes and her college classes this week. I just know I need down time desperately. As I have been trying to give myself time to craft more since it relaxes me, I have been doing a bit of paper quilling. Paper beads have a similar technique as paper quilling. I made paper beads a few years ago out of wrapping paper. 

Mother's Day Gift & Crafts with Amazing Gift Wrapping Paper

 

Disclosure: I was sent this gift wrapping paper in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It is hard to believe that Mother's Day is tomorrow!! I have not seen my mother since November since someone is always sick for every holiday this year. We are finally able to go see her!! I wanted to bring her a small gift for Mother's Day. What better than some jewelry made with my paper beads! This week I am sharing three packages of amazing gift wrapping papers that make beautiful paper beads as well as wrapping beautiful gifts. We will start with the one I have used the most. It is Marbled Patterns Gift Wrapping Papers - 12 Sheets from Tuttle Studio. 

Last Minute Gift Ideas for Paper Lovers and Crafters

 

Disclosure: I was sent these products in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

The last few weeks have been a bit crazy at school. We finished our first semester on Friday. I finally have some time to craft more, but Hazel is also home for break, so a lot of my evening time at least is spent with her. I have four amazing products to share with you that are perfect for paper lovers and paper crafters. They make amazing gifts as themselves or for you to make gifts for others! We will begin with a book that literally is called Book for Paper Lovers: Color Your World by the Editors of Flow Magazine. There is no suggested age on these products today due to them being for adults however this one definitely works for kids who can write and create!

Catalog Paper Beads -- Recycling Catalogs -- Tween & Teen Craft for Earth Day

 

This week I started thinking about paper beads with something different. I had an Oriental Catalog sitting around and decided to try making beads from it. I was thinking this would be a fun Earth Day craft for tweens and teens. I tried different shapes and methods which I will share with you here. Most of the paper beads I have made have been recycling paper, but most of them were with special paper that I had. I wanted to find something that people would have in their homes to recycle. I came up with catalogs. I started with the Oriental Trading catalog that came in the mail recently. I still have pages of it even with all the beads I made.

All Points Patchwork -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Reminder this link party is for all types of crafts, craft tutorials and craft product reviews!

 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.

As a quilter I have done some paper piecing, but have not tried English paper piecing, so I was excited to receive All Points Patchwork: English Paper Pieceing Beyond the Hexagon for Quilts & Small Projects by Diane Gilleland. 

Guide to Decorate Fun Easter Eggs

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Can you believe Sunday is Easter? It creeped up on me this year. Hazel is beyond the age of decorating eggs with me. I however love decorating eggs even though we don't do it very often. I had a supply of wooden eggs and paper mâché eggs that open and decided to try some of the ideas in Show-How Guides: Egg Decorating by Renee Kurilla and illustrated by Keith Zoo, plus I came up with some of my own.

Cattitude -- Book Review & Giveaway with Cat Craft Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review to bring you this post and giveaway. All opinions are my own. 

Just like people animals have their own personalities. People often say cats are aloof and want to be the boss of the house. As the owner of three cats currently, I can honestly say every cat has a different personality. I have and have had cats that love to be with people and others that are shy when we have "strangers" in the house. Today we are sharing a book about a cat and her attitude. The book is Cattitude written by Bianca Schulze and illustrated by Samara Hard. Besides my review I am sharing a round-up of cat crafts and there is a giveaway as well!

Metamorphosis: Caterpillar - Chysalis - Butterfly Cycle & some crafts and activities

Congratulations to Tracey over at We Made That for winning our Sewing School 2 giveaway!

For awhile I have been eying the butterfly nurseries at Lakeshore Learning. I have seen so many wonderful posts about people watching the amazing metamorphosis of the butterfly with their children and really wanted to do it with Hazel. Then they went on sale and I couldn't resist. I bought one in May, but I told Hazel we could not send away for the caterpillars until after our trip to Florida so we would be home to watch everything and take care of them. She was so excited and could not wait to do it. When we returned home
we sent the coupon in to get the caterpillars. 

The caterpillars arrived on June 19th. They come in a jar with food in it. The instructions were not to open

the jar until all the caterpillars were in chrysalis. The caterpillars traveled to Cape Cod with us that weekend so Hazel would not have to miss a thing. We watched them grow, but apparently I did not bother to take pictures of them growing. One did not grow and we realized it had not made it so we were down to four. On June 29th all the caterpillars were in chrysalis, so we opened the jar after preparing the butterfly nursery and hung them on the hook. Then we watched. 

On July 5th, the first butterfly came out of its chrysalis. We were so excited! Soon two more came out. The fourth did not make it. Hazel had knocked over the nursery by mistake and one had fallen. Although we gently made sure it was on the bottom of the nursery (and not under the paper), it did not recover from the fall. So we had three beautiful monarch butterflies. We prepared by reading Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons. We fed them sugar water as the instructions said, and then on July 13th, we let them go. Hazel was very sad to let them go, but she understood why we did. I told her every time she sees a butterfly she can pretend it is one of ours.

It was truly amazing to watch!! I think I may have been more excited about it all than Hazel. I definitely checked the chrysalises more often than she did.

We also did some butterfly crafts and activities. I made Hazel a butterfly barrette, using this pattern from Bugs and Fishes. I love the mobile she had the pattern for, but we did not get around to making one.

Next we took some ideas from Making Learning Fun. First a butterfly life cycle bracelet. Each bead or group of beads represents one of the four phases of metamorphosis. The white bead represents the egg. The red and green represent the caterpillar (we used more green ones than suggested since we used flat green ones) and then the clear bead is the chrysalis and finally a butterfly shaped bead. I made it the perfect size for Hazel to wear and I think we will make some of these at Hazel's butterfly party for which we still need to pick a date. (This summer is flying by!!)

Then the next activities also came from Making Learning Fun. I happened to be looking for some Roll-a- activities because Hazel loved it when she tried it at the new school she will be attending this fall. The day we took a tour the Pre-K class was doing a Roll-a-Frog activity and the teachers had Hazel try it. I bought her some dice today and put them in the little containers I had bought ages ago for it. Then I went looking for some pages. I changed it a bit in I did not have her draw them like the directions from Making Learning Fun said. I knew she was not ready for this with her drawing ability. Also the school one was putting pictures together from paper, so I cut them out of construction paper. While searching for the activities I found Roll-a-Caterpillar and Roll-a-Butterfly.

I printed off and made several other ones as well, but I won't share those right now. So that is one thing I really wanted to do with Hazel that we got done this summer! And we loved it! For more butterfly activities and crafts, check out my Pinterest Butterfly Board!

Dollar Tree Christmas Crafts including Cheap Doll Finds -- a Crafty Weekends Post and Link Party

Disclosure: I am receiving a small stipend for writing this post and will receive a small percentage from any purchases made from the Dollar Tree links. All opinions are my own!

I know Halloween is coming fast and once it has come the holiday season has begun. I love to focus on Christmas since it is one of my favorite holidays. So yes, I am sharing some Christmas crafts and items. The best part is the supplies are from Dollar Tree where everything is $1!!  And like most stores, they already have Christmas items out!!

You've Got Mail

 I am almost finished with Hazel's mailboxes and envelopes. I used an old diaper box for the Post Office Box with lots of blue construction paper. To make the mail door, I cut a flap off and attached it with yarn. I took my engineer husband's advice and attached it to the top so it opens up instead of the way the real ones do. I also searched for the USPS logo on line. Not very easy to get a clean copy of it, but I printed it on clear sticker pages and attached them. So far Hazel has mailed her books.

Side View of Post Office Mailbox

Post Office Mailbox

 From a shoe box, I made her a mailbox. I added her name and our house number. I still need to make a flag for it which I will attach with a brad so it can rotate and I need to attach something to keep the box closed. I am thinking I will use either a button or bead and an elastic. (I will probably do the same thing for the post office box back where I left an opening to get things out.

Hazel's mailbox

Her envelopes

I searched for images of envelope templates. Here are a few I found: A2 envelope, Custom square card envelope,card envelope. Then I added stamp images to them and some with post marks. Here are some: Forever Stamp Liberty bell, Statue of Liberty First Class, Cat in the Hat, Sleeping Beauty. Postmarks: Washington DC, Saugus, MA (our hometown). Then I printed them out on different colored paper. Some of them I used legal size and changed the size of the envelopes. Then I covered the paper with clear contact paper and cut them out. I glued the envelopes together without closing the flap. I still have many more to make her and I also bought some postcards which I will put the contact paper on. Today I bought her a set of 4 overhead pens. If she uses these on the clear contact paper, it washes off. So she can "address" her envelopes however she wants and we can erase it later and re do it. I love the idea! As you can see she does as well since she already drew on all of the envelopes I finished. I made the envelopes so she can put papers in them if she wants. I think this should provide hours of fun for her.

Enjoy!

Needles the Forgotten Christmas Tree

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Foreword Publicity and will receive a small stipend for this post. 

What kind of Christmas tree do you have? Is it real or fake? How big is it? Christmas trees are something I have been discussing this year with my sisters since we spend the holidays at our house on Cape Cod and none of us actually live there. My sister decided to get and decorate a tree there again this year since she plans to spend New Year's there as well. To learn more about the history of Christmas trees be sure to check out this post and to learn about our tree traditions read here. Today I am going to share a wonderful picture book about the small Christmas tree that feels forgotten. The book is Needles, the Forgotten Christmas Tree by Richard Wagner and illustrated by Sydni Kruger. This book is being released in March of 2023 so it will be for next Christmas! I am including a round-up of Christmas tree crafts and there is a giveaway at the end!

Book Nooks & Miniatures -- Crafty Sunday

 

In our chaotic world I have found that I need to craft. In some shape or form crafting relaxes me and helps me feel grounded. For two weeks each February our high school stops all regular classes to teach mini courses. This year one of my coworkers suggested a mini course of designing book nooks. Now I have built dollhouses from kits and made miniatures, but I hadn't explored book nooks yet. I wanted to coteach the course! I bought a kit as well as a blank book nook to play around before the course. I didn't have much time for either of course. But the class got me hooked on book nooks!

Snow and Winter Fairies

Today it snowed...well not outside, but in my kitchen. We have been reading many books about snow lately and Hazel has been asking to make a snowman, a snow fort and tracks in the snow like the characters in her books. So this morning we took the idea from Rachel over at I HEART CRAFTY THINGS and used the recipe (and mix technique) from The Magic Onions. So while Hazel mixed the dry ingredients it snowed. (And trust me, it snowed in our kitchen--I needed the broom to clean it up.)

Then I added the oil and hot water and mixed. Then as it cooled I put a small amount in a different bowl for Hazel to knead and I kneaded the rest. We added white glitter as we kneaded to make it sparkle like snow.

Then I rolled it out for her and we used her toys to make tracks. We used a Barbie doll for footsteps, her various animals for animal tracks, a car and tractor for different tracks and then we pulled out her various texture tools for play dough. Then she wanted to make footprints in it so we re-rolled it and she stepped on it. Then we flipped it over and she made handprints. Then we took some of the rest and made snowmen. It took some creativity to dress them. My idea of paper hats, didn't work well. I went to look for new ideas and came up with beads. Luckily we had orange ones that somewhat looked like carrots for the noses. I used a pink baby sock with the toe cut off for Hazel's hat and some ribbon for scarves. You can see some of the sparkle in the picture of Hazel's.

Hazel's Snowman

My Snowman

My plan for today's post was to show you the toddler form of bendy dolls we came up with. Hazel had trouble wrapping the pipe cleaners well so I wanted to find something easier for her. We decided to make poinsettia fairies.

These are pretty easy. You need a pipe cleaner, medium to large wooden beads (2), small wooden beads, a fake poinsettia, embroidery floss (yellow), and tulle for the wings.

Cut the pipe cleaner into two pieces--one should be 1/3 of the entire and will be the arms.

Take the longer piece and fold in half. Stick both ends into your head bead (medium or large).

Wrap the floss around your and many times and then cut. Stick the entire looped floss into the loop of the pipe cleaner on top of the bead and pull the pipe cleaner tightly through the bead to hold the floss in place.

Take smaller pipe cleaner and twist under the head to make the arms and hold everything in place.

Next add a poinsettia flower (take the flower apart and use just the petals). Then the second medium or large bead. Put small beads on the legs and arms for more stability.

I used a slightly larger bead at the feet for the feet or shoes. I folded the ends up, but also used a little glue on it since my ends were not really long enough.

Then cut loops out of the hair so it is stringy. Take a piece of tulle and gather in the center. (I folded the ends in to the center so there would not be rough edges.) I used yarn to gather and on one I left the ends and tied it on and found this works best. On the other I used glue after cutting the ends.

I used some leaves for wings in this one.

I also made a few other winter fairies which I stuck in her advent calendar since I'm behind in my needle felting of nativity figures.

Mistletoe and Holly Berry Fairies

Snow Princess and Pine cone Fairy

Hope you are having a wonderful evening! Tonight I'm planning on needle felting a St. Nicholas for Hazel's advent calendar since tomorrow is St. Nicholas Feast Day. I have many stories and crafts to do with her in celebration.

What Can a Mess Make? -- Picture Book Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Did you ever hear the story about the time milk spilled on the floor and instead of getting upset the mother sat with the child on the floor and they made pictures with the spilled milk? I believe the child becomes an artist, but I don't remember whose story it is. Our lives, homes, rooms, desks, etc. are filled with little messes, but with some creativity they can become a masterpiece just liked the spilled milk. Today I am sharing a book that is being released today. It is What Can a Mess Make? by Bee Johnson. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Picture Books that Share Japanese Culture for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Today I am sharing a couple of books that share fun pieces of Japanese culture. The first book is The Mochi Makers by Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson. It is recommended for ages baby through 8. 

Cheap Finds: Doll Accessories to Buy or Make

After our big adventure to the very expensive American Doll Store I wanted to find or make some of the things Hazel wants for her dolls at a better price. One of the things she really liked at the store were the doll binoculars that came with the Trail Accessories. Since she really only cared about the binoculars I could not see spending the money on the whole set. I then googled doll binoculars and discovered there really are not many out there besides American Girl ones. We decided to check Target and Michaels just in case, but no luck. Then we hit the Dollar Tree and I saw these.

We thought they would make perfect binoculars similar to the ones at the store. (I had many ideas to make them, but Hazel wanted them small like the stores.) So here is what we did. We used two matching pencil grips, the same color lacing (also bought at Dollar Tree in a package of six colors), two star shaped (but any larger bead will work) beads, two clear faceted beads that will fit in the holes of the pencil gripper and two pony beads. The tools we needed were a kitchen skewer, a large-eyed needle (the lacing needs to fit in it), and craft glue. The first step is to use the skewer to poke through both grips. Then thread the needle with the lacing and pass it through one grip, a star bead and the other grip. Pull the lacing through and give yourself a good amount so you will be able to tie it to go over the doll's head. Then I glued the bead into place. Then glue the second bead toward the other end of the grips for stability.

I put the clear beads in the end away from the strap and the pony beads in the ends where the eyes go. I found putting the grips between two heavy items help the glue set correctly. Then cut the lacing to the length you want and tie the end so it will fit on the doll. Once the glue dries your binoculars are ready to use!

Now the Trail Accessories also included a trail mix package. I have something similar to print out and make from Paper Minis. Ann Vanture of Paper Minis offers a complimentary project with each month's newsletter. She often offers them in different scales: 1/12 (dollhouse), 1/6 (Barbie doll) and 1/3 (18-inch doll size). To sign up for her newsletter and have access to all of her complimentary projects e-mail her at:  ann-vanture@paperminis.com . Many of the projects include packages of food, so check them out. It is free!! And she has even more amazing projects to buy at her store.

On our shopping adventure we found some great things to use with the dolls. We found the notepads pictured above at Michaels. They came in a package of 18 and were on clearance for 60% off making them around $1.20. At the Dollar Tree we found a lantern. The original one we bought had a palm leaf top which was removable, so we took it off. It is larger than the one American Girl has with the tent, but it will work.

 
If you put batteries in, it will really work. Next I need to make Hazel a tent for her dolls.

We also found a tea set at the Dollar Tree. Hazel loved the fact that it came with spoons for the dolls, so I spent the $1.

Then I found a package of green apples and one of red apples that were doll sized.

In this picture you can see how the sizes compare to the dolls. Aren't they perfect?


We have a few more crafts to make and will be sharing them as we make them. Stay tuned!!


For more doll ideas check out:

• DIY Doll Sandals
• DIY Doll Pencil 
• Doll Mermaid Tail (Tutorial Coming Soon)
• Leather Doll Clothes
• Easy Doll Clothes to Sew New or From Baby Clothes
• Baby Doll Clothes and Changing Area
• Making a Waldorf Doll
• My Doll Clothes and Craft Pinterest Board