We picked up H.W. Janson’s History of Art up at our local library for $10 (this seems to be the latest version), and I decided it was going to be the base for our art curriculum for the year. True and Brave are studying modern times for history, so we are in the modern art section of the book. This week’s study called for a bit of architecture and the Legos True received for Christmas came in handy (she got this architecture set from my parents).
You can imagine their excitement as the girls studied the buildings and brought it to life with Legos… oh the joys of homeschooling! There are many hard things about homeschooling, but a lesson like this is one of the perks. I think my girls would definitely agree. Plus, art is everyone’s favorite subject here; we are all happy when we are doing art.
For the past few months, I have been addicted to seed bead stitching. It reminds me a lot of hand-sewing, weaving, and macrame all rolled into one (sort of), but on a much tinier scale. When I got the itch to try it out, I remembered I kept this large pack of vintage seed beads that was once Ben’s when he was a kid. It took me awhile to figure out what to do because I couldn’t find any really good seed bead tutorials, so there was a lot of trial and error. So far, I’ve just made earrings. I’ve made plenty for myself, but also many more for gifts too. I have always admired traditional Native American beadwork (this book is good) and recently discovered Salihah Moore’s creations. I love how you can give this traditional craft a modern feel, so I’m definitely addicted.
My home can only have so many weavings and macrame pieces hanging on the walls, so it’s been really fun to make lots of earrings. My ears could use a different pair for each day of the week. My sister wanted a choker made from seed beads, so that’s next on my agenda.
I love learning new crafting skills and seed bead stitching has become a quick favorite. Have you learned any new crafts lately?
If you aren’t a maker and would rather buy a pair, check out these and these.
Directions:
1. Draw your horse head and cut out the two horse head pieces. Paint the nose, eyes, and ears on one side of each head. Allow paint to dry completely.
2. Cut out 10″ – 12″ strips of duct tape, fold over, leaving about 3″ of tape expose to attach the inside of each horse head. Continue until the amount of hair desired is attached onto the inside of both horse heads. Add additional duct tape on the inside to secure. Then, cut 1/4″ slits lengthwise on each duct tape piece to get the hair effect.
3. Tape the top 5″ of the dowel to the bottom center of the inner horse head cardboard piece. Place one strip of 6″ tape attaching the dowel to one head piece, and then attach another piece of duct tape attaching the dowel to the opposite horse head. Press the tape firmly in place.
Punch holes on the bottom front and back of the horse head. Attach the yarn through the front holes of the head, and knot together tightly to secure. Bring the yarn to the holes in the back of the horse head and knot again as taut as possible. Knot the ends of the hanging strand of yarn together, and add a bell.
We’ve had a couple days of play with it, and the head has stayed securely on, though it may need a new piece of tape eventually. We’ve had lots of indoor play lately with all the rain we’ve been getting, so this little horsey has come in handy. Plus, it’s great to be able to recycle and make something together.
Glow is such a little ham and you can see a little bit of that silliness in her winking picture. She kept saying, “Mommy! Get me winking! Get me winking!” So we got it, and she giddy-up-ed away.
I made this digital collage as part of the grandparents’ Christmas gifts (they always love receiving framed pictures of their grandchildren). I made my first digital collage here, and then made one for my sister’s birthday card (see here). I think it would be fun to do a playful Star Wars inspired one for one of the girls’ rooms.
If you have some Photoshop know-how, all you need to do is erase backgrounds and layer to put something like this together.
My sister-in-law turned 40 about a month ago, and since we couldn’t be there to celebrate (she lives in Texas), we sent a special present over to her. I contacted her friends and other family members, and everyone wrote a few reasons why they loved Suzi so much. I gathered all the handwritten notes that totaled 40, it was her fortieth birthday after all, and then the girls and I wrapped each one into the surprise ball. We all facetimed together as she opened her gift and she was so surprised, especially since I was able to gather some notes from her friends, whom I have never met before, but that’s one of the blessings of technology (thank you facebook!).
Surprise balls are such fun gifts to make and give. I’ve made Easter egg ones in the past for the girls, a Valentine’s Day one for Ben with love notes and trinkets, and an orange one for Ben’s birthday a couple years ago. Actually, he still hasn’t unraveled that one because he doesn’t want to ruin it, so we said we will unravel it later (Lord willing) when the girls are older. I think it will be sweet to see what their kid writing looked like and read the messages they wrote for Ben as little girls. I’ve always wanted to make a bunch as a party favor (though I’m not into throwing parties) or maybe we will do it again for the girls, but Star Wars themed. Oh, they would so flip over that!
If you ever want a thoughtful, little gift that has a big impact, bookmark this idea for later. I guarantee the gift recipient will have a blast unraveling the gift to see all the messages/treats.
When I see something I like, I think to myself, “Do I buy it, make it, or can I thrift it?” I had been eyeing this macrame runner from Anthropologie for awhile now, but didn’t know if I really wanted to spend that many pennies on it. Plus, it’s kind of long (not really the size I needed), so didn’t know if it was worth the investment. Eventually, I decided to make it. I picked up a couple rolls of 3mm cotton macrame cording from Michaels (if you’re patient, buy them one at a time with your 50% off coupon, which helps cut the cost of your runner). It’s also available here with some other color/texture options. I cut 20 strands at about 18 feet long (I think), hung my dowel off of a clothing rack, and I lark’s head knotted each strand onto the dowel. From there, I proceeded to make my runner using simple square and coil knots.
I went with a design that was simple and fast and it took a full afternoon to complete it. I like the bit of texture it gives to our coffee table, and especially like that I got to save some pennies making my own. It would be fun to make another with more intricate knots and then dye the whole thing in indigo, and maybe even add some big tassels on each end.
I have a large growing pile of fabric scraps. I refuse to throw them away because I am sure they can be used for something. I have been seeing different types of interesting necklaces made of buttons, beads, and fabric. Then, I figured why not make one out of my scraps...
I think it made my white shirt a little less boring. This was so quick and easy to make.
How to make a recycled scraps necklace (which is very similar to the straps on my braided tablecloth bag):
1. Take your scrap fabric, I cut a .5''-1'' snip and tear the rest of the fabric down for a nice frayed edge. Used 3 different fabrics for each strand.
2. Take 3 of the torn pieces and tie the ends together with a rubber band.
3. Braid the 3 pieces together and tie ends together with rubber band when done.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for more strands. Remember you can make the strands any length you want, if run out of fabric, just weave more into the braid.
5. Once all the strands you want are braided, gather one end of each strand together and straight stitch together with sewing machine. Repeat for the other ends of the strands. Snip off any excess.
6. Gather ends of the necklace and sew together (snip excess) or a ribbon can be sewn at the ends to be able to tie the necklace closed, but I just sewed both ends together.
7. Voila! A nice way to make use of all your lovely scraps.
Sorry if the directions get you a little lost, but it really is easy. I promise. Maybe I should put some in the shop. Please share any other good ideas you may have of things that can be made with scraps. I would love to hear (read) them!
We picked up H.W. Janson’s History of Art up at our local library for $10 (this seems to be the latest version), and I decided it was going to be the base for our art curriculum for the year. True and Brave are studying modern times for history, so we are in the modern art section of the book. This week’s study called for a bit of architecture and the Legos True received for Christmas came in handy (she got this architecture set from my parents).
