Crapty Cat Wreath

Our aunt loves cats.  

And I like making wreaths out of crap.

So it was a natural fit for me to whip up this cat wreath for her.  

Materials:
- cereal boxes  (<--crap)
- scissors
- craft paint
- paint brush
- glue/tape/some sort of adhesive
- thin Sharpie marker
- pencil

Directions:
This was super easy to make, so I'll just show some photos from my crapty night.

Happy crapting (and black Friday)!

A small favor

Hi everyone,

I had a small favor to ask.  Remember that cardboard reindeer head that I made awhile ago?

Well, I submitted my reindeer head to the Totally Green Crafts Contest.  I just found out that I'm one of the top twelve finalists.  Whoa!  I'm pretty excited and honored because there are so many awesome crapty projects in the running.

If you have a moment of  time, would you mind voting for my crapt?  (It's number 4. Reindeer Head)  You can click here to vote.  Polls will be open until  8pm Sunday November 25th.  Thanks so much for your support.

Crapty Fridays- DIY cardboard roll kaleidoscope

Last night I finally succeeded in crapting a cardboard roll kaleidoscope.  Yes!

Please excuse me while I do a happy dance.










My crapting dreams finally came true.  This was actually my fifth attempt at making a kaleidoscope. Yup, I tried four previous iterations and failed miserably.  So here's a big virtual thank you to Genuine Mudpie for her beautifully detailed and photographed set of directions.

Thank you!

Crapty Fridays- DIY cardboard animal trophy head (Holiday edition)

So I know that this week I already made a crapty egg carton wreath.

And I guess that technically should count as my weekly piece of crapt.  However, I just couldn't help it.  Our pile of recycled materials was growing larger and larger and the crapting bug hit me full force.

I had to give in.

So here's another crapty project:  a cardboard deer head trophy (that I glitzed up for Christmas)

Before we continue, let me give this Crapting Disclaimer:  If you attempt to try this project you will need the patience of a saint and some kick-a&& knife skills.  I didn't really have either, so it took me several days to finish everything up.  (I adapted this project from this set of original directions.  I'm not ashamed to say that their final results looked way more polished than mine.  I just used the crap that I had lying around the apartment.  If you want a more polished look, go look at their directions.  If you want a quirkier girly crapty look, try out mine!)

Still with me? Ok, let's begin.

Materials:
- deer head template
- scissors
- pen
- Mod-podge
- foam brush
- aluminum foil
- very sharp craft knife
- shoe polish
- sequins!!!
- skewer
- cardboard boxes <--crap!

Directions:
Step 1: Print and cut out your deer head template.  Trace the various pieces onto cardboard and then cut everything out using a sharp craft knife.  (Scissors really won't work.  Trust me.)

Note:  I simplified the design of the antlers because I'm just really not that patient.

Step 2:  Modpodge your aluminum foil (shiny side down) onto the fronts  and backs of the different pieces.  Let everything dry overnight.

Note:  See how my edges are still cardboard brown? Ick. I wasn't quite sure what to do with them, so I just covered each piece's front and the back.  Looking back, I probably could have covered one side with aluminum foil and then left a little bit extra so that I could cover the edges as well.  Then, I would have just covered the back of the piece and not had to worry.

Step 3:  I wasn't too pleased that my deer head looked like it was made of cardboard and aluminum foil.  So, I pulled out some shoe polish and tried antiquing everything  I wiped on the shoe polish and then used a paper towel to wipe some off. Now my aluminum pieces looked a little less shiny.

(Like this look?  I used a very similar technique to make my cute cat metal magnets)




Step 4:  I still wasn't too pleased by my results, so I went with the "more is more" approach.  I totally blinged this baby up and added sequins to the antlers and nose.  To do this, I painted on a bit of Mod-podge, and added each sequin one-by-one.  I have shaky and clumsy hands, so my fingers got really sticky after a couple of sequins.  The whole process went by much faster when I switched to using a skewer to glue the sequins down.

Warning:  Sequins are super shiny and will blind you.  

Step 5:  I waited for everything to dry and ta-dah!  My glitzed out animal trophy is complete.

So what do you think?  Is this piece quirky and girly? Or, is it just a deer-saster?  I actually kind of like it and it's definitely going on our walls during this holiday season.

Hope you have a great weekend andthanks for joining me on another crapting adventure!

DIY Egg carton wreath

Hi everyone.  Did you vote yesterday?  I took Baby Chuck into the voting booth.  He wasn't too sure about the candidates, but he was very excited about pushing the buttons.

As I sit here and watch the results coming out on tv, I thought I would post my adventures crapting this egg carton wreath.  Since this DIY involves crap (egg carton), it technically should be posted on Friday.  But, I was so happy with how it turned out that I just couldn't wait.  (I also took a bunch of photos of the flowers for my blog facelift.  Do you like it?)

I think this is my favorite crapt so far.  It's pretty, cheery, and colorful.  It's also super easy to make.

Materials:
- egg carton (<--crap)
- cereal box
- craft paint
- paintbrushes
- hot glue gun (or possibly any other strong glue)
- scissors

Directions:

Step 1:  Get yourself an egg carton.

Step 2:  Cut the lid up into leaves.

Step 3:  Cut the egg cups up into different flower shapes.

RIP Egg carton- This is all that's left

Step 4: Cut out a ring from a cereal box (I traced a bowl and plate to create the ring)

Step 5:  Paint and let everything dry (I also doodled "hello," cut it out, and painted it)

Step 6:  Glue everything onto the wreath (I glued the leaves first, then the "hello," then the big flowers, and then the small flowers)

Happy Wednesday!

 Let's keep in Contact!

Like kids crafts and activities?  Then you'll definitely want to check out this awesome craft ebook!  It contains 115 pages of unique crafts written by 18 kid craft loving moms!  And, it costs only $12.99!

   

And, you can always find  fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!  (Or subscribe to my email mailing list by filling out the pink bar at the top of your screen.)

Happy making, friends!

Crapty Fridays- Creating batik-style paper and a Jar of thanks

It's November! 

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I thought I'd try something new.  This month, I'm working hard at being thankful for things.  I don't know about you, but it's so easy for me to start wishing I had more or wishing I was someone else doing something else. 

I really don't like feeling this way.  So this month I'm figuring out ways to shoot those thoughts down (Katniss Everdeen style, of course).

So let's begin this journey with a crapt that will (hopefully) help me to be more thankful.   This week's crapt is a container which will hold our daily record of things we're thankful for.  Inspired by this awesome post, I made my own batik-style paper and used it to cover the container.  

Materials:
- empty and clean oatmeal container <-- crap!
- scissors
- exacto knife
- crayons
- paper bag (or any paper)
- craft paint (black and other)
- sponge brush
- paper towel
- Mod Podge (or any other glue)


 Directions: 
Step 1:  Cut out an opening on the top of your container. 

 Step 2:  Measure and cut out two sheets of paper.  One sheet will cover the top of your container.  The other will cover the container's sides.  (Note:  I just used a paper bag.  For the most part this worked just fine.  But you'll notice that my final colors just aren't that bright.  I think using white paper probably would have worked better.)

Step 3:  Draw your design with crayon.  Be sure to press hard and cover your entire sheet with crayon. This process will take a long time and your fingers and wrists may get sore.  (Ok, I admit. I've got weak wrists and had to take several breaks.) 

Here I drew the design and then had to go back and color in the background too

Step 4:  Mix your black craft paint with a bit of water. 

Step 5:  Crumple your entire drawing.  (The crumpled bits will allow your black paint to adhere in interesting ways.)

Step 6:  Cover your work area with scrap paper.  It's going to get messy.

Step 7:  Begin batiking!  Using your foam brush, brush black paint over your drawing.  Then, before the paint dries, use a paper towel to wipe the paint off.  Repeat this painting and wiping process until you've painted and wiped your entire drawing.

As you can see, crumpling the paper added lovely black lines.  Also, I forgot to color in parts of the paper, resulting in black areas near the paper towel. 

Now I probably don't need to tell you this... but try your best to not touch the paint. Otherwise you'll end up with lovely hands like mine...

Does this make me a real artist?

Step 7:  Let your paper dry.  (It won't take very long.)

Step 8:  Glue your paper onto your container.  I found my design to be rather dark, so I painted a green heart to lighten everything up.  

Step 9:  Create mini "I'm thankful" sheets.

I've placed the container, sheets of paper, and a pencil near our television.  Every day hubby and I are going to record at least one thing that we're thankful for and place it in the container.  Hopefully this act of recording daily blessings will help grow a spirit of thankfulness in us.

Do you have any nice ways for living a contented life? 

Crapty Friday- Faux metal magnets made with glue, aluminum, and cardboard

I can't believe it's Friday already.  Time is really whizzing by!  We're still doing some last minute Halloween preparations over here.  I just finished sewing Baby Chuck's super simple costume.  We're also planning on picking out and carving pumpkins this weekend.  Hopefully we aren't too late and there are still good pumpkins to be found.  Eek!   

This week I crapted two kitty magnets.  I was inspired to try out this crapt after seeing this awesome  post.  My kitty magnets were made out of aluminum foil, cereal boxes, and old magnets that I saved from  a magnetic notepad.  (After finishing the last page of the magnetic notepad, I saved the magnets and used them again.)  

Here are the materials that I used:
- magnets  <-- crap
- cereal boxes
- pencil
- Sharpie
- glue
- glue stick
- aluminum foil
- Q-tip
- paper towel
- scissors
- black craft paint (the original set of directions used shoe polish, but we didn't have any so I improvised)
- hot glue gun

Directions:
Step 1:  I cut out two rectangles from the cereal boxes.  These became the base of my magnets.  I doodled images on both and then traced my doodle with glue.  I let the glue dry overnight.  (Note:  I made very simple designs because glue lines are pretty thick.  Later I used a pencil to add details.)

Step 2:  I cut out two pieces of aluminum foil that were bigger than my rectangles.  I glued the aluminum foil onto each rectangle.  Then, I carefully rubbed the aluminum foil to reveal the raised cat shape underneath. (Note: I placed a paper towel between my fingers and the aluminum foil to make sure that I wouldn't rip or scratch the foil.)

Step 3:  I used a Q-tip to rub around the glue.  This made the raised glue bits further stand out.

Step 4:  I trimmed the aluminum foil and glued the excess bits onto the back.

Step 5:  I used a pencil to create texture by drawing different patterns and finer details.

 Step 6:  Using my Q-tip and paper towel, I dabbed craft paint onto small portions of the magnet.  Then I quickly wiped off some of the paint.  The black paint helped the patterns and raised bits to further stand out.  It also made the aluminum foil look less shiny. 

I repeated this dab and wipe off procedure until I got a look that I liked.  To further emphasize the details, I lightly traced portions of my design with the Sharpie marker. 

Step 7:  I glued the magnets onto the back of my cat images and voila, two finished magnets.

This was a pretty fun process.  I felt like I was making some counterfeit antique items.  Don't the finished products look a lot more substantial and expensive than they really are? 

Thanks for joining me on another crapting adventure.
Hope you have a great weekend! 

Crapty Fridays- Make a Halloween garland out of an egg carton

Before we talk about today's crapt, let me just begin with this short poem about crapting: 

Crap is destined for the garbage
and therefore it is free.
When I use crap to make my crafts,
a-crapting I will be.

Today's crapting project is a Halloween inspired one.  Our apartment desperately needs Halloween-y decorations.  (We currently only have a pair of Day of the Dead candle holders)  So, I whipped up a super easy Halloween garland out of an egg carton and string.      

Materials:
- egg carton
- string
- craft paint
- paint brushes
- craft knife
- scissors
- newspaper/scrap paper/paper bag
- Sharpie marker


Directions:
1. I cut out all the little egg holders in my egg carton.  (Is there a name for those things?)

2. I painted the little egg holders orange and green.  

This is probably as close as I'll ever get to growing pumpkins

3.   Once my paint dried, I drew faces on my tiny pumpkins.

Doesn't this look like a school photo?  Can you spot the naughty pumpkins in the back row?

4.  I cut two slits on the top of my pumpkins.  Then I strung my pumpkins together.

Right now they're just smiling and dangling away above our table. Seeing their cute faces when I eat cereal in the morning makes me happy.

Happy crapting!

Crapty Fridays- Day of the Dead candle holders out of baby food jars

Last year hubby, Baby Chuck, and I went to our first Day of the Dead Celebration (click here to see photos).  Feeling inspired by the colors and festive atmosphere of the holiday, I made two skull candle holders out of saved baby food jars.

Crapty Fridays- DIY mustache tie clip

Hubby has a thing for tie bars and I have a thing for mustaches.
So when he asked me to make him a mustache tie clip (like the one here), I rose to the *hairy* challenge!

But how to do it?  And for that matter, how could I do it cheaply?

After brainstorming for a bit, I decided to go with the ol' plastic lid route.
Yep.  You read right.  I'm talking about a disposable plastic lid from a take-out container. 

Materials:
- paper
- pencil
- scissors
- old tie clip that you don't want
- wrench
- plastic take out lid
- Sharpie marker
- nailpolish (I used silver and a clear top coat)
- glue gun
- sandpaper

Directions:

Step 1:  Get yourself a tie clip with a relatively flat face.  We had this old tie clip that we had lying around.  It came in a bag of random doodads at a thrift store.  Hubby and I found the tie clip funny, but totally inappropriate for him to wear to work.  (Hubby's name isn't Richard, silly!)

Step 2:  Use your wrench to pull off the unwanted adornment from your tie clip.  Hubby did this step because I have the arm strength of a four-year old.

Step 3:  Trace your tie clip on a piece of paper.  This will help you figure out how big to make your new mustache adornment!  Doodle different mustache shapes that you'd like to use.  (I had three choices and opted to use the middle not too full, not too skimpy mustache.)

Step 4:  Cut out your chosen mustache.

Step 5:  Use your sharpie to trace your mustache shape onto a plastic container lid.  Cut out your mustache shape.

Ooh.  That's one crapty mustache.

Now it's time to get your hands nice and dirty.

Step 6:  Sand the back of your mustache and the front of your tie clip.  Roughing up the two surfaces will hopefully help the hot glue to stick the two items together.  (I tried this at first without sanding and the mustache easily peeled off from the metal.)

Step 7:  Paint the front of your mustache with several coats of nail polish. 

Note:  Before going the nail polish route I tried spray painting my mustache silver. It totally did not work.  The spray paint peeled right off.

Step 8: Hot glue your mustache to your tie clip.  Then, voila!

Hubby wore this clip to work and got a ton of compliments.  Phew.  The mustache stayed put the whole day and now he can wear it again.  .  

Have you crapt lately?  If so, I'd love to hear about it.
Or, would you like to give me a crapting challenge?    I'd love to crapt with your crap!

Happy crapting! 

Crapty Fridays- Make a flower wreath out of plastic bags

When I woke up the morning of our trip to the Renaissance Faire, I realized that I hadn't planned out any costumes to wear.  Now that just would not do.  Unlike Maria, I wasn't able to quickly whip up three outfits using thick window drapes.  But, as a crapter I was able to quickly crapt two headpieces fit for a tiny king and a peasant girl.

Here's how I made the "floral" wreath:

Materials: 
- plastic bags (I used a thicker plastic bag, but I think thinner ones would have created more delicate flowers)
- scissors
- thin stretchy headband (although you could always make your own by cutting up a t-shirt)

Step 1:  Cut your plastic bag into long strips     (Baby Chuck- "Oh no!  Another crapt!")

Step 2:  Wrap the strip around your fingers.  (We're basically creating a plastic pom-pom.)

Step 3:  Slip your plastic loops off your fingers.  Tie a thin strip of plastic around the middle of your plastic loops. (Make sure that it is tightly tied so your flower petals stay put.)  Cut through the end of the loops and make rounded (or zig zag, or whatever shape you want) edges.

Step 4:  Starting on one side of the tie, pull each sheet of plastic up towards the middle.  Repeat for the other side. 

Step 5:  Tie your plastic flower onto a headband.  Make more flowers until you cover the headband.  (Note:  I ran out of time so I wasn't able to make a complete crown, but I think you get the point.)

Then I made a small crown for King Baby Chuck:

Materials:
- old cardboard cereal boxes
- tape
- aluminum foil
- stickers
- scissors
- pen
- ruler (optional)

Using a ruler I drew out one half crown.  Then, I cut it out and used it as a template to trace out another. 

I wrapped my cardboard  pieces in aluminum foil and then taped them together.  I made sure that the shiny side faced out.  I used stickers to decorate the crown.  To ensure that the crown stayed on Baby Chuck's head, I  taped a cardboard "x" inside.

Sometimes I'm so glad that Baby Chuck is only one and can't talk back.  He's pretty willing to go along with my crapty shenanigans and doesn't mind wearing trash.

Baby Chuck- "Oh mom, you're so trashy."  Me-  "Thanks!"

Tee hee hee.  I think he looked better in the crown than me.