Sarchix Finds

I have been trying to think of something my youngest (age 4) can do for his class in pre-school for Valentine’s Day.  When I saw this over at Chica and Jo (an amazing crafting site) I knew I had found it. They include both the recipe and the template for the bag!

Jo posts her take on V-day Kettel corn for the kiddies and it really seems simple.  It took a bit to track down  a place that sells a “wirlly pop” in the area since I really don’t want to have to wait for delivery (Target sells it online only) but alas, I did have to resort to mail order.  I can still remember the days of my parents making popcorn in my Mom’s old stainless steel pot and then the air popper.  The idea of going back to the stove top to make popcorn is refreshing and brings me back to childhood while taking the Microwave out of the equasion.  At least its better than movie theater popcorn, right?

Chica and Jo – Valentine Popcorn Treat

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I love fabric, almost as much as paper.  Fat quarters are just the best invention ever.  I can have all the colors of the world but just in fat quarter portions (depending on the size pot you choose).
Lavender and Lime has come up with another great (and easy) project that could be modified by your mood, the season or the holiday (or sale at the fabric store).

Five simple items to make this adorable flower pot.  That’s all it takes.  Just don’t leave them outside because the mod podge is water soluble and will um… melt away.  I could see me redecoration the “wall of death” as my husband calls it with my plants that I can barely keep alive (will post pics to prove later).

Enjoy!

Lavender and Limes – Fabric Flower Pots

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I’m sure that everyone has seen the home made coffee cozies all over the place.  I’ve seen them knitted, sewn and crocheted.  Felt, cloth, quilted, wool.  They are everywhere!  Having your own coffee (or tea or coco – don’t want to discriminate) cozy is a great thing because it does keep the waste down but still protects your fingers.  Its a hard habit to break but it really is worth it.

I have my own issues with the commercialization of the holidays but, I really do feel if you craft it, there is more thought and meaning to the gift or the personal accessory.  So it’s okay in my book.

Lavender and Limes has a great little tutorial to make your own coffee cozy that is super easy to make.  She adds a few hand sews a few hearts on it and voila, and seasonal cozy.  Can you see where I’m going with this?  Shamrocks at St Patrick’s Day, eggs and bunnies (ooh, peeps) for Easter, flags for Memorial Day and the 4th of July, Flip Flops for summer… I could keep going on with these.

Lavender and Limes – Coffee Cozy

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Holiday Gift giving can be a challenge especially for the big dilemma of what to get the teachers.  For the most part, it hasn’t been too difficult for me because most of my children’s teachers have been women.  This year, my daughter has a guy teacher (who is awesome) so I find it difficult to find something for him without it being too frilly or girly.  And I can’t repeat anything since my older son has already had him too.

I love this idea of repurposing soda bottles and their holder into a cute gift.  This would work for either male or female teachers, it just depends on the paper and ribbon used.  I found this at Nap Time Journal and it really seems easy to complete.

She uses cream soda bottles since they are clear and you can see the goodies inside them and it is very important to clean the bottles very well.  Nap Time Journal also reuses the bottle caps to cap it.  I may not do that because 1) I always mangle the bottle caps when I open them and 2) I happen to have a bottle capper just “lying around” and hundreds of unused bottle caps.

Such a fun idea!

Nap Time Journal - Soda Bottle Treats

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Who doesn’t love marshmallows?

Meaghan over at The Decorated Cookie shows us how to decorate these lovely little houses for your ghomes or fairies, depending on the creatures that happen to inhabit your homes.

I know my daughter will love to setting up these “fairy” homes but I’m not sure if they will survive the day due to her brothers and the fact that they are made completely out of marshmallows and fondant.  All I need is a set or two of some fine tipped edible pen/markers to do this.  I can’t wait to see what the kiddies come up with.  But the real question is, how many houses will be completed and how many will be eaten as “mistakes”?

If you have the pens that are food safe, this would make a spectacular rainy day project.  If you don’t have fondant just hanging around, could I suggest maybe a roof made of construction or left over scrap booking paper and tape.

Leaving this around too long could be a “bad” thing since marshmallows are mostly sugar but this could make a very cute cake or cupcake decoration or a decoration for a table-scape.   How cute would this be for a baby shower?!?!

If you do this, I’d love to see the pics!!!!!!!

The Decorated Cookie – Marshmallow Village

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As a mother of two boys who both LOVE Star Wars, it wouldn’t surprise anyone that we have a few lightsabers just “lying around”.  But they are plastic and well… I’d like to keep my house in one piece.

Kitten Muffin over at Filth Wizardry has taken a balloon lightsaber (as discussed here) and stepped it up at notch by adding a small LED flashlight to it.

Check out her site for some awesome pictures over time delay using these LED lightsabers.

Filth Wizardry - LED Lightsabers

Zakka Life – Balloon Lightsabers

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Yesterday I posted links for the “Bunny Tails” and “Easter Egg Seeds”. Well, while I was dying Easter eggs last night for my youngest’s Pre-School party, I literally whipped them both up.

I had everything on hand, marshmallows, heavy weight paper, stapler, double stick tape, clear plastic bags AND ink for my printer.  I also had on hand my paper cutter which made cutting straight lines a breeze.  I made 15 of the bunny tails and 3 of the  seeds because that’s all I needed.    The bunny tails template has 4 per page and the seeds have at least 12, probably more.   I was done both crafts (including printing time) in less than 30 minutes.  Granted if my kids had “helped” it would have taken longer but they were already tucked into their beds before I got started.

Here are some pics that I took.

My bags were a bit smaller than what Can’t Stop Making Things used so I trimmed down the paper just a bit.  My bags (2 oz. sized) held about half a cup of marshmallows perfectly.

If you are looking to occupy the kiddies for a bit before company arrives or when they are waiting for the big feast on Sunday, this is a GREAT way to occupy them!

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With Easter right around the corner and now that the birthdays are over (for now), I thought it would be good to post a quick and easy crafts for Easter.    I found two great ones over at Can’t Stop Making Things.

First one up is “Bunny Tails“  My kiddies love marshmallows and this is a cute one.  If you are having many little folk over for Easter, this would be a cute one to put at their place settings.  Chances are they will not last though the meal but its still very cute.  Even the kids can help make these up.

Now, the next one is also cute and easy for the kiddies to also help make up.  Re-labeling a box of tick tac’s as Easter Egg Seeds would be great if there are some older kiddies attending or for the kids to make for the adults.  This would even make a cute little teacher’s gift.  If you felt really crafty and had some of those food safe markers, you could even decorate them a bit to make them a bit more colorful or mix in some other flavors.

Hope you have fun with these two Easter crafts!

Can’t Stop Making Things – Bunny Tails and Easter Egg Seeds

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I am soooo ready for Spring.  Winter is over but here in NJ, Spring didn’t seem to get the memo quite yet.  The flowers are all about to or just starting to bloom which makes me very happy.  The Daffodils are just starting to explode and I have a ton of them.  My Mom’s Cherry Blossoms have already started, but it is that time of the year for all cherry blossoms to bloom.

For those that are not lucky enough to have Cherry Blossoms or those who just wish to keep them around all year, I have found a great tutorial to make your own out of small bits of fabric.  After reading the steps over this seems like a perfect project to do in front of the tv or at a T-Ball game.

Kayka Lou Patterns provides a great tutorial with detailed pictures on how to make these adorable blooms that can go on anything… a cute purse, a headband, a little sundress… the options are endless.  My daughter would love to see them in purple too (she likes to think outside the box sometimes).

Hopefully these will help tie things over until Spring decides to show its face.

Kayka Lou Patterns – How to make Cherry Blossoms.

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I love flowers!  It doesn’t matter if they are real or not but I still love them.  I also love parties and party favors.  Martha Stewart’s folks have come up with the perfect mix.  This favor would work for a shower, either baby or bridal, Easter, Christening or a girlly girl flower party of any occasion.  Heck this is a great way to wrap candy period!

A little tissue paper, scissors and a few seconds and you have yourself an adorable little favor with the best little gift in my eyes, candy!

Martha says to use a strip of acetate to make a cylinder but why not re-use a paper towel (or TP) roll?  Plus you can get more candy in it.  More candy is always a “Good Thing” in my book!

Martha Stewart – Flower Wrapped Favor

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