December 18, 2013

Crafting with Kids - Nightlight Glitter Bulb Ornaments



Here is my version of the night light bulb ornament inspired by this pin from Justine at Sew Country Chick. I thought it was simply adorable how she took nightlight bulbs, covered them in glitter and turned them into Christmas tree ornaments. Inspired by her idea, and the fact that I had just burned out two Scentsy bulbs, my three year old daughter and I set out to replicate her project.

Her tutorial is pretty straight forward - bulb, mod podge mixed with glitter, and then more glitter - but here are a few logistical tips for crafting this project with small preschool age children. First off, use an empty egg carton to hold the bulb upright during both the glueing and drying stage.

Secondly, if your little artist has a heavy hand with the mod podge / glue application, be sure to wipe away any excess at the base of the bulb so your bulb doesn't become glued to your egg carton. (Hindsight is 20/20 :-)

Merry Christmas!

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December 15, 2013

Christmas Cards! {Make Your Own 4x8 Template with PicMonkey}

When it comes to Christmas Cards, I'm a bit particular. This year, I was looking for a template that met three qualifications. I wanted a card that said Merry Christmas - not happy holidays or seasons greetings. I wanted at least one small family photo. And since I no longer use facebook, I also wanted a year in review style card to share a few of our family highlights from 2013.

I found it hard to find a template that met all of my specifications, so this year I decided to use the free online photo editing website, PicMonkey, to design my own Christmas Card template.

The internet already has tons of great tutorials to help you get started with PicMonkey, so rather than reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd simply share my design to show that if you can't find a pre-made template that suits your fancy, you can always design your own. And FYI, everything about my card was made with the free PicMonkey version, not the upgraded one.


A basic rundown of my design process.

  • Use the custom canvas option and select dimensions. I used 5000 x 2500 which equals a 4x8 sized card with good resolution.
  • Overlays - Add your own - the small family photo in the corner.
  • Overlays- General - Geometric- Rectangle and pentagon layered to create Family Highlight flag.
  • Themes - Winterland and Santa Land for the snowflake and other graphics.
  • Basic Edits - Resize to confirm 5000 x 2500 pixel size.
  • Save to desktop
Printing
Many photo printing labs force you to use one of their pre-designed templates, but I did find a few places that would allow me to upload and print my complete design. 

The first was Vista Print. Under Holiday tab, click browse all holiday cards. Look for the design your own and click upload your own design. A word of warning though, this site uses a larger margin then one might expect. Because much of my text was located near the borders, some of the words were cropped off. Thankfully, I noticed this before printing, but I share this info with you so that you plan to use this printing service you can design your card appropriately.

Walmart also offers a printing option that will work with custom made templates. It's a little trickier to find, but if you browse 4x8 flat photo cards, the left hand column listing all the themes has a custom collage card option. Click on it and choose one image and no message. It does force you to place a thin border and your uploaded image but I didn't mind. Here is what it looks like after printing.


December 12, 2013

Create a Snowscape with Shaving Cream and Plastic Princessess



A few weeks ago I shared a round-up of the best free printables for advent calendar activity cards. There were so many great Christmas activities that I had trouble choosing just one printable to use, so I ended combining my favorite activities from various sources.
(If you'd like to view the round-up,  here's a link: The Top 10 Free Advent Activity Card Printables.)

One of my favorite activity cards thus far was an idea from Wendolonia's adorable printables reading, "Create a snowscape with shaving cream and action figures." We modified the card for our daughter replacing princesses for action figures.

All I can say is WOW! What a fun (and cheap) family activity.

Supplies needed:
Shaving cream - I used the $1 generic brand
Lid from a large storage container to protect your table
Small plastic toys

Have fun!
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December 7, 2013

A New Twist on Wearing Pearls


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My new favorite way to wear pearls is with ribbon and a twist. This little trick transforms your look from traditional to contemporary with just a simple twist of the wrist and a piece of ribbon. And the best part? No damage to your pearls!  Let me show you how.


To get this look, you will need either one very long strand of pearls or two medium length strands. My necklace happens to be the 90" necklace called Opening Night from Premier Designs, but any long stranded necklace will work. (I've also successfully tried this technique with my daughter's mardi gras style dress-up beads.)



To Summarize.....

  • Hold the necklace as shown in image 1 and begin to twist both sides simultaneously.
  • Keep twisting until the desired look is achieved.
  • Tie together with a piece of ribbon and a prepare to look fabulous :-)
  • Wear the bow behind your neck, or stylishly in front. Be sure to tie a double knot.





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And there you have it. A fresh way to wear your classic pearls. I just love the ribbon and pearl combo, don't you?

(Just for grins, here's a pic of my growing baby bump :-)