Birthday Card

 

Another week already!

This week I made a Birthday card for a friend so I thought that I would share it with you.

As Summer wraps up, I thought I would go with a bright and fun card.

I used the regular size that we do for cards, 6 ¾ x4 ¾. I picked a bright green as my base and then layered a 6 ¼ x 4 ¼ bright pink layer on top.

Before doing that I stamped the pink layer with beige ink and then used white embossing powder over it to make for bright white words. I left some space under the words, an inch or so. Then I flattened this layer.

                                   

I punched some bright green hearts, three to be exact. Then when the layer was flat, I glued the three hearts under the words.

                                                       

Then finally I glued the layer onto the card and then a bright cheery Birthday card was created!  

                                                       

Sand Castle - Sand Crafts for All Ages

Happy first day of August! This week our shade is called “Sand Castle” and it’s a bronzy metallic one.

We of course are going to go with this sand castle theme and we are going to share with you how to create some sand castles in the comfort of your own home.

Take a look at some of the cool ideas that we found and revamped a bit...

1. The first idea we saw was really simple and so easy to create. All you need is a simple picture of a sand castle (you can find a colouring sheet online or you can draw a simple sand castle). Grab some dry sand and then put glue along the outline of the sand castle. Cover the glue with sand. Gently remove the excess sand.  If there are some other little objects on the sheet you can colour them or attach 3D pieces to it.

2. Another idea we saw was making a sand castle scene with sand paper. For this you would get a good sized piece of cardstock. Light blue might be good for the sky. Then you would cut out a sand castle from some light coloured sand paper. You can freehand the sand castle or find a design to trace online. The sand castle would be in a few pieces once cut out.

Now find some slightly darker sand paper and cut out a design that looks like sand on the beach for the bottom level of the paper.

Attach your sand castle decorated as you like. It’s ok if it’s sticking off your paper.

Now add whatever else you’d like (you can create these with punches, foam bits, or whatever else might be able to find and create with). Add whatever details you’d like as well. This one had a bucket, sea shells, shovel, sun but you can choose what you want. Also, you can decorate the background too by drawing on some clouds, birds, and some waves for the ocean.

3. This next one is simple for the young ones to make. Grab some tan paper. Cut out a bunch of shapes (rectangles, squares, and triangles are best to make more of) you can get the younger kids to safely try cutting out some shapes too.

Prepare on your own or with the help of your youngster a larger piece of tan cardstock (big enough for your shapes to fit on) and cover the top half with blue tissue paper. Lay out the sand castle and then glue it all down and display.

4. If you’re looking for a little bit more adventurous you can give this one a try. It’s more for an adult to create. It would be a perfect display to have at a party or even a wedding!

You’ll want to find some boxes. Think different shapes and sizes to make it look like a tiered wedding cake. Connect them all with masking tape.

Then connect tin cans (you might want two pairs of matching ones and a smaller one for the top) to the corner of the tiers with tape and on top of them attach a upside down single cup of an egg carton.

Now grab some Mod Podge and sponge it all over the “sand castle” and cover with sand. After putting on one layer tip off the excess and let it dry and then add on another layer to cover any gaps. Let it dry completely.

To decorate the sand castle, you can go and collect shells from the beach or create your own beach dollars or shells. You can also add rocks, glass, and other classic beach adornments to it as well.

5. The last sandy craft we found was a messy one but fun for kids. Get some white construction paper and on two separate sheets draw two separate sand castles. They don’t have to be the same. Then cut them out.

Take these outside and cover them with white glue. Then cover with sand. Place it in the sun so it can dry up.

Connect the ends together with a stapler so that you have a sand castle “pen” that you can play in or just look at, up to you!

Links:

http://makingmamamagic.blogspot.com/2014/07/sandcastle-sand-art.html

https://www.shoregirlscreations.com/2009/07/sandcastle.html

https://iheartcraftythings.com/sand-paper-sand-castle-craft.html

http://www.michellepaigeblogs.com/2012/08/make-sand-castle-centerpiece.html

https://buggyandbuddy.com/sandcastle-craft/

DIY Key Chains for Dad

It’s the end of May already! Thinking ahead to Father’s Day, we are going to do a couple of posts all for dad, and this week we are going to show you how to make some key chains. We made these with dad in mind but you can make them for anyone at any time!

The first type was painted. We found some wooden cubes.  The ones we chose had holes already in them which was perfect for the last step of our project. You can pick other shapes as well and then drill holes in them before you paint them.

We painted the cubes. Now we decided to do three for each chain but you can do more. The more you do, the bigger the chain so I’d probably stick to 3-5. We chose some nice colour combos for the three chains that we made. Then we painted.

You probably want to do a couple of coats and then let them completely dry overnight.

Next we wrote on the cubes. I always like to lightly sketch the letter/design with a pencil first before I commit to a final design.

We used a Sharpie, but you can use paint with a really fine tip paint brush, and we traced over our pencil.

Write on all the sides or on just one, two, or three. Do whatever you like. We did a mix.

Since it’s for Father’s Day, we did a couple that say dad and one that says “I ♥ U”.

Lastly we attached some twine to the actual key ring, then the cubes together with the twine.

We connected a couple by knotting the twine between the cubes and then the other one we just put them all on a strand and knotted the ends so they didn’t fall off.

For the second key ring that we did we used hot glue!

First of all you’ll need to pick the paper that you want for the two sides. We decided on a pattern piece along with a solid piece that matched the pattern. Pick whatever you like. You’ll also want to decide on a shape and cut that out with scissors, a punch, or a cutting machine. Make sure the shape is slightly larger than the key ring you are going to use. You’ll need two no matter what size and what type of paper you use.

Lay out some parchment paper to glue on so that the glued piece is easy to remove.

Hot glue over the entire shape being careful not to go off the edges, and do that for both of the matching shapes.

Let it dry completely. Ours warped a bit so we flattened them under heavy books.

We then took some floral wire that we had left over from another project and twisted it into a loop with a “tail.” You can use a different easily bendable wire that you have or you can buy pre-made eye hooks.

Once the two sides are flat and you have your wire/hook ready, then put hot glue on the straight part of the wire/”tail” and stick it down on the inside of one of the sides.

Take the second side and put a thin layer of hot glue and stick them together.

Attach the key ring to the hook.

The finished products...

DIY Serving Tray

Last week’s cool beverage suggestion at the end of our blog got us thinking about the next few weeks of May. Usually they are sunny and bright. There’s a holiday weekend coming up and May is the start of the season for BBQ’s, bridal showers, and backyard get togethers. We’ve decided to do a post of drinks to serve at these gatherings but first a fun and decorative way to serve them. Today we are going to show you how to decorate a tray to serve your refreshing and cool drinks on.

This is a fun and affordable way to spruce up your table and trays for your parties or get togethers. If you have an old tray that needs some TLC then use that but if you don’t, then you can pick up a plastic one (like we did) or a wooden one or even a metal one. We found our plastic one at the dollar store.

There are many different ways to decorate something like a tray but we have decided to go with Mod Podge. Our design is rather simple. We found a white plastic tray and decided to use some sparkly tissue paper and some polka dotted napkins to decorate. You can really use any colours or design; this is what we liked and thought would look nice for a Spring time serving tray.

Once you’ve picked your tray and tissue etc. you can start. Just make sure you have some Mod Podge and a paint brush or sponge brush.

So we’ve decided to put sparkly tissue up the sides of the tray and a blue polka dotted napkin on the inside of the tray.

First we measured out and cut tissue for all four sides. You’ll need two pieces per side. We left some extra length at the ends which will fold over.

Next we cut the napkins to fit. We cut the bumpy boarder off first though.

Now it’s time to Mod Podge. We started with the short sides that have the handles. We put some Mod Podge down and then laid the tissue down on and covered with more Mod Podge. You can gently brush it on so that you don’t get wrinkles, but if you do get some wrinkles, don’t worry, it adds character! It doesn’t need to be perfect. A little helpful hint...we found an old Becel container (any old smaller container or box will work) to rest the tray on. We found out that putting it down on the newspaper caused sticking and a bit of ripping.

Once you get three sides done, then allow it to dry before doing the last side. Some of the extra length tissue tore as we Mod Podged so we just ripped it off. You won’t see this as the napkins will cover the tops and you can’t see the bottom.

Repeat what you just did with another layer of tissue.

Now you have to Mod Podge the napkin. This was harder than imagined because the napkin is two layers thick and it began to tear as we applied the Mod Podge. Our plan to use a knife to cut the extra bits didn’t work so well so we ended up cutting the edges with scissors and will add a decorative ribbon piece to cover up any imperfections. We also hsve to cut out the handles holes once it's all dried too. 

The tray is all covered and will take some time to dry completely so be sure to take a look at next week’s blog where we’ll have the finished tray along with some drink recipes and drinks to serve it on it!