Showing posts with label pattern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pattern. Show all posts

Thursday, March 6, 2014

4 Easy Kids' Crafts


Today Chuck's sick and we're stuck at home.  Boo!  I was going to skip posting today and instead just upload our everyday craft photos onto my Instagram account.  But the photos were so cute... so I gave in and I'm uploading a collage here too, just in case you're looking for some crafty inspiration.

4 Really Easy (Practically no prep) Kids' crafts



Keep reading to see how we made each craft:

Thursday, November 21, 2013

DIY Crapted Wrapping paper (Plastic Bag Printing and Cat Stencils) and DIY Washi Tape

Alright, this post's title is rather crazy.  In my defense, I just put everything up there because I couldn't figure out a better way to incorporate all the ideas into one slick title.

Hrmm... let's take a step back and start again.

*Breathes*

My sister's birthday is coming up next week.  I already bought her a gift and thought it would be nice to crapt the wrapping paper.  So, I cut up a paper bag (the kind that you get from a store when you buy stuff) and made these two crapty wrapping paper patterns:

The design on the left was made using this Plastic Bag printing method.  It was inspired by my sister's love of turtles.  (That's what the green blobs are.)

The design on the right is made using cereal box stencils.  It's a bit more modern.  (Psst- Can you tell that it's a bunch of golden cat faces?)

Would you like to see how I printed the patterns?  If so, read on!  If not, you can always eat some ice-cream. Yum.

How to make cat stenciled wrapping paper:
Materials:
  • Cereal box
  • Pen
  • Pencil
  • Exacto Knife
  • Scissors
  • Cutting mat
  • Paint
  • Sponge brush
  • Paper towel

Directions:

1.  Doodle your cat face on a piece of cereal box.  Cut the face out.

2.  To keep your design even, first use a pencil to lightly mark where you want your cat faces.  (I used my stencil as a guide.)  Then, stencil your design over your pencil marks.  When you're stenciling, don't load too much paint onto your sponge brush and keep your hand steady as you hold down the stencil so you don't smudge your design.  If you're worried, you can always do a couple of trial runs on a piece of scrap paper first.

3.  Let your design dry and you're done!  Meow!


How to make a plastic bag printed wrapping paper design:
Materials:
  • Sandwich bag
  • Paint
  • Paint brush
  • Q-tip
  • Paper Towel

Directions:

1.  "Ink" your plastic bag by painting over a portion of it.  (If you're a clutz like me, only paint in the middle of your bag.  This way your hands won't smear the paint when you flip the bag over.)
2.  Use a Q-tip (or the back of your paint brush) to remove bits of paint and create a design.
3.  Flip your bag around and press the painted side on top of your wrapping paper.  Rub your hand over the design to make sure it transfered.
4. Repeat this step to add other blocks of colors or designs.  (I used the same bag throughout and simply wiped off excess paint with a paper towel.)

You can also paint little shapes onto your bag and then use those to make prints too.


As you can see, I added some turtles and yellow flowers to complete the print.

And since I was already making the wrapping paper, I figured I might as well make fake washi tape out of masking tape.  I simply took pieces of masking tape, stuck them to parchment paper, and then doodled on them with Sharpie markers.  The ends of the tape don't completely adhere to the parchment paper, but that's ok because I used the tape up right away.



Did you make it this far?  Phew.  *High five.*  This was a long post.  Here's a photo of the final product.  (I chose the cat design because it looked cooler.  Plus, my sister really loves her cat.)
 



Here's a photo of the back.  Yurp.  I went crazy with my fake washi tape because the patterns were just too cute.

Happy Thursday!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Crapty cardboard cereal box giraffe

So this is the adorable cardboard giraffe that I fell in love with.  
Meet Chloe. (Isn't she darling?)


And here she is au naturale:
This time I used a tissue box to make her.


I can't take any credit for this template.  My talented momma friend Vanessa made it up and let me share it with you.  This little giraffe was super easy to make and fun to decorate too.  (Polka dots... oooh la la!)

Best part is that little elephant Ella now has someone to play with...
Beasty besties

Just download this free giraffe template to make your very own Chloe the giraffe.

Happy making, friends!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Crapty cardboard cereal box elephant

Dear Long-time reader,

I'm no longer only crapting on Fridays.  Now that I've unleashed my craptiness, I'm just going to upload crapts any time I feel like it.  Hope that's ok with you.

-Me

Ok, now that that's over with, let the crapt begin!

Last week, a mommy friend showed me Muji's super cute cardboard animals.  She made herself a little giraffe and I was inspired to try making something too.  I had a lot of fun making my cardboard animal trophy head awhile back.  This time I ventured into new territory because I had to make my own template from scratch.

Eek.

So after many tries and fails, I finally came up with an animal that stands and a pattern that other people can use (although please note that it's far from perfect!)

So please meet Ella, my little cereal box elephant.
Isn't she cute?  


And this is what little Ella looks like naked (aka sans paint):




If you'd like to try making your own elephant, you'll just need these few materials:
- free elephant template
- scissors
- pencil or pen
- cereal box
- paint or markers (optional)

Then, you simply
(1)  Cut the shapes out.

(2)  Trace the shapes onto a cereal box.

(3)  Cut those shapes out again.

(4)  Optional- Decorate the shapes
Note:  If you paint the shapes, be sure to save a bit of the paint to fix up the scratch marks that will appear after you assemble the pieces.  If you look carefully at Ella, you'll notice that there's a bit of white by her nose.  That's where my paint chipped off.  Or, maybe you could protect your paint by coating your pieces with modpodge?  Not sure...

(5) Assemble the pieces
Note:  I tried my best to make sure that the pattern works as is... however... it's not perfect.  So you'll probably have to adjust the lengths and widths of the slits and various pieces, especially if you painted them.

(6)  Fix up any little scratch marks that assembling

Thanks for reading this tutorial.  I hope this little elephant project provides you and your family a bit of cheap and creative fun.  If you try it out, I'd love to see your results. :)
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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Crapty DIY 2013 New Year's Glasses

Every year I keep meaning to get a pair of 20-whatever glasses, but I always forget.  This year, I combined my desire for glasses and crapting by making two pairs of 2013 glasses.  Hubby and I'll be wearing these as we ring in the new year.  (I tried making a tiny pair for Baby Chuck, but he ripped up my initial models.  Maybe next year?)


If you'd like to make your own pair of glasses, you can use the printable below.  I think this would be a fun activity for a party or crafty kids.  I cut the pieces out, traced them onto cereal boxes, cut the shapes out, decorated them, and then taped the pieces together.

2013 printable New Year's glasses pattern
And because Baby Chuck went to sleep early tonight, hubby and I had a bit of fun shooting some photos with the glasses.





Let me know if you try making these for yourself. :) I'd love to see photos.
Happy New Year!  See you in 2013.

Monday, December 24, 2012

DIY Felt Nativity Finger Puppets with Pattern

Last night I put the finishing touches on my felt Nativity finger puppets.  
They're now hiding under our tree.  
Hopefully Baby Chuck will like them.  


To create these little guys I just traced the different pattern pieces onto felt and used fabric shears to cut them out.  Then, I used hot glue to first glue the features onto the front of the puppet and then I glued the front and back pieces of the puppet together.   I was going to put googly eyes on them, but I had a feeling that Baby Chuck would just rip those suckers right off.  Maybe I can try drawing on them with permanent marker?  Hmm....

In case you want to make your own set, I've attached my pattern down below.  If you try making them I'd love to see your results.

Happy Christmas eve!

DIY Nativity Felt Finger Puppets Pattern