Stuffed felt owls

OMG! These were so fun to make. Now that my little monkey is 10 years old. I feel comfortable give her a grown up needle. Yay! I looked through a few craft magazines to get a few ideas. I have felt fabric coming out of my ears, so I decided to get crafty. I freehand cut all the pieces for the face. Then hand stitched the face pieces first on one of the felt panels. Then I stitched around the perimeter leaving the base open to stuff with Poly -fil. Once stuffed sew the closing. I watched TV as I did this. I think I will use them as props for fun children's photos.  Too cute!

Craft Ideas for the monkeys

Don't you have days where you can't think of things for the monkeys to do? I know I do. Here are a few quick easy project for those days the kids are bored, and are begging you to give them  something fun to do. Most of these are things we have around the house stashed in some old box, and need little set up effort from you. I'll be having my little monkey test some of these projects out today.

Hair accessories from Hula Leis

School is getting ready to start, so I decided to make hair accessories that match my little monkey's new school clothes. I went to our local dollar store, and purchased two leis. I dismantled them, and rearranged the petals. I added a button on the top, and a square felt piece to the back, and hand stitched together. Then I added a hair clip to the felt backing. You can hot glue or hand stitch. This project was fast, and I saved $$$ by hand making them. So cute!!!

Glitter butterfly art

I just finished painting my daughter's room again...so I had to make some new art prints to match her new colored walls. I decided not to paint the canvas first since I wanted them to pop off the wall better. I just glue decorative scrapbook paper onto the canvas, and add glitter foam butterflies as the centerpiece. I used two butterflies for each canvas. Folding the top butterfly in half, and sewing a straight stitch to hold the wings at an angle. Then I hot glue to the second butterfly, and again on to the canvas. I don't think the photo does this project justice. It's really awesome in person. 3D effect. Easy project.

Fabric Flower Lamp

I've had this plain lamp shade sitting around my craft room for a year now. After making those beautiful fabric flowers. I couldn't wait to accessories something else with them. This dull lamp shade was the perfect idea. I was so happy with the results. I repainted my little monkey's room so that this lamp would stand out. Crazy huh??? I hot glued everything on the lamp, and changed out the light bulb to a low wattage. So pretty.

Foam Easter baskets

These baskets were really fun to made. We didn't want to stop. I think next year we will definitely do this project again, and pass them out to our neighbor friends. Thanks Martha!

Homemade Towel Hoodies

I originally saw this on the Unnecessary Necessities blog. Amber has such good ideas. I enjoy trying out many of them! I've had this project on the back of my mind for a while, but when I was in Target the other day. Many of there summer items are now on sale, so I pick up beach towels at a great price. I decided to use hand towels for the hood since my monkeys are a little bigger. This was a fun project, and as usual easy!

Supplies: Towel, hand towel, straight pins, sewing machine, thread, and I embellished the hand towel with ribbon.

Fold hand towel in half. Pin hood shape, or you can pin one side along edge. Make sure if you are using a decorative towel like I did. The decorative side is folded inward, so after sewing the towel you can turn the hood outside right. (Hope that not confusing?) Sew hood on machine. I found it difficult to sew just with the machine, so I also hand stitched where needed. At this point, turn hood inside right, and cut off extra fabric. I ironed on stitch witchery to the ribbon then used the sewing machine to secure ribbon. Pin hood to towel(see picture below) then sew. Finally I hand stitched where needed.









Remy was too shy to pose, so cousin Jess stepped in to model.

Kaya's Creation

Kaya brought home this gigantic picture she made of her family. Oh I love it! Since my walls are blank in our craft room I thought it would be nice to create a border, and get this beauty up on the wall. Thank you Kaya!

Solar Smores Maker

I saw this article in a Family Fun Magazine about how to make your own solar smores maker. I knew I had to try this out for the monkeys! It's a project that Sage helped me create. I was at Sam's Club one day, and I asked for an unused pizza box. We took it home, and we assembled everything. The only problem was all the smore ingredients kept turning up empty. First the marshmallows went missing than the graham crackers. I was lucky enough to finally get enough of everything to try to do this project! The kids thought this was a fun thing to do on a boring, hot, afternoon. One change I would make in assembling ingredients is I would melt the marshmallow first than placed the chocolate on last. The chocolate melted really fast, and caused a lot of mess. I can see us using this for camp outs, and the monkeys can use this independently without any help from their old, and tired parents.
Supplies: Pizza box, foil, black construction paper, hot glue, clear plastic, tape, stick, and x- acto knife.
Ingredients: graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows.

Cut out a "U" shape on top of pizza box using an x-acto knife. Fold uncut edge away from from box. Cover opening with clear plastic wrap. Use tape,or hot glue to secure. On inside of pizza box. Line with foil, and glue down. Place black construction paper on top of foil. Then on the top of pizza box which has been bent back. Cover this area with foil, and glue down. Secure all box edges with tape. Take outside on wind free day. Place on ground. Place graham crackers on construction paper. Then place marshmallows on top. Cover with plastic pizza top. Use stick to hold foil lid to angle sunlight on to smores. Once marshmallow have almost done. Add chocolate. The chocolate melts fast. Take out, and enjoy!

Mircowave Play Dough

I've been making play dough ever since I joined my first Mom's Club in Phoenix. I've seen many recipes that involve cooking the dough, but I think it's really messy. My version is quicker, and fairly mess free. You can also substitute the food coloring for kool aid. It gives it color, and your dough will smell good. Make some for your little monkeys.

Play dough ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon cream of tartar
liquid food coloring

Alum Play dough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoon alum
1 cup water
2 tablespoon oil
liquid food coloring

Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Add liquid ingredients in measuring cup. Microwave liquid for 2 minutes. Add liquid to dry and mix. I use a spatula to stir. The dough will be hot. Once the dough becomes warm knead with your hand. If the dough is too sticky. Microwave dough in bowl for 15 seconds at a time then knead again. Repeat this process until the dough reaches the consistency of play dough.

Decorative Containers

Once again I needed some help keeping the kids things off the floor. This time it was Kaya's drawing supplies like crayons, markers, and colored pencils. Kaya likes to draw and cut a lot, so I recently put a table and chairs in her room. It was a good idea until I found all her drawing stuff all over the floor! I decided to make her these decorative containers to match the colors in her room. They were fun to make. I used empty oatmeal containers, butter containers, and large cereal boxes. I didn't want to use old cans since some of the edges are sharp, but you can if you like. Here's how.

Supplies: empty container, decorative scrapbook paper, ribbons, button, paper cutter, glue stick, and glue gun.

I cut decorative paper to size of container. Sometimes the paper won't cover entire container, so just add an extra piece to fill in. I hot glued paper on. I embellished with ribbon and a button. How easy is that! Only a few minutes to assemble. Now Kaya has a place to put all her drawing supplies, and I get to have a clean floor. I love the simple things.