Classroom library project

What a whirlwind week! It's been a little crazy around here, getting ready for the holiday. And I'm still not feeling the best so I'm much slower at getting things done.

Thought I'd share what we are doing for "teacher gifts" this year. Some of you have heard me talk a little about this-I wish I would have taken pictures when I started.

Back in October my son's teacher put out a desperate plea for help, to organize their classroom library. She's the reading teacher for all of the fifth graders at the school, and this is her first year teaching this grade. She also had a baby just before school started so she didn't have much energy, during the summer, to get the room organized.

I, along with a father, decided to tackle the project. And as usual, I didn't want to just reshelve the books, but make it functional so that the kids could reshelve their own book (in the past a parent had to come in once a week and do it). I researched online to see what other teachers were doing and I found a great blog post on Scholastic about a teacher that had organized her library. Here's the link http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2009/10/classlibrary (though the video she posted doesn't seem to be working anymore).

Tweaking her method to fit our situation, we got to work. Twice a week I'd go into the classroom and start categorizing, labeling and sorting books. Most of them I even brought home on the weekends so I could look them up in the computer and level them and find their genre, so I could put a sticker on the back with this information. The secretaries at school thought I was pretty crazy as I carried boxes out each week. They'd ask, "Are you done yet?" FINALLY, this last weekend I carried out my last load. 

When I saw the condition of the book bins, and the "seating", I knew that something needed to be done. The plastic bins where half broken, many not labeled and nothing matched (pet peeve). The seating was so dirty-pillows without pillow cases, dirty seat cushions-no wonder the kids never sat in the corner to read, but stayed at their desks! And the one bean bag basically didn't have any beans left in it.

So I got to thinking as Christmas approached, wondering what to do for teacher gifts. I was getting a little tired of doing cookies and a gift card, and really wanted to do something with a little more thought and meaning. That's when the idea popped into my mind to redo the classroom library corner, and basically donate an item in honor of each teacher-as their gift.

I did shop a couple Black Friday sales to get seating, rugs and fabric. I learned how to sew an invisible zipper so I could make slipcovers for new floor pillows-it's really easy if you have the right foot for your machine!

Yesterday, I finished it all up, including new labels for the bins, and the boys helped me deliver it all. The teacher said a couple times, "I feel like I'm on one of those shows like Home Makeover"! I managed to snap a couple pictures (although the one of the entire corner was blurry and didn't turn out)-here's a litle glimpse....

Basket with three new floor pillows

New rugs and chairs (yes, I know the rugs are black and will show some dirt-but I was limited on budget and color scheme to matc the neon book bins!)

New book bins and labels. They are organized into "Fiction Chapter books", "Series Fiction Books", "nonfiction" and "Favorite Author". If you look real close in the second pink bin, "Science Fiction A-M", you can see a book that has a label on it. There's a white avery address label that tells the kids the genre and whether it's fiction or nonfiction-so they can match it to the bin label. And there is also a round sticker that has a number on it to designate grade level reading so they make sure to get a book that fits their reading level.

I finished the room off by tying everything in bows and putting gift tags that say "to the fifth grade", and for each "From", I put a teacher's name (My 5th grader has 4 teachers, plus a Special Ed teacher and aide while my 4th grader has 2 teachers, a Special Ed teacher and an aide-it adds up quickly!)

On Monday, the boys will take in small boxes of chocolate turtles (got on sale and coupons!!) for each teacher that will have this poem on it:

Gift cards and chocolates and bath salts galore,

Though thoughtful they are, we just had to do more.

For gifts in this season should be given in love,

A reminder to all of Our Savior above.

So we went to work labeling and a little updating,

A classroom library that needed some saving.

Now in your honor you'll find a donation,

A gift for the students , on this fitting occasion.

May you have peace and joy in this glorious season,

And a gift to Ms._______'s classroom so very pleasin.'      

A friend helped me write it as I'm not a poet by any means! And under the poem I'll have listed what item was donated in their name.

I'm REALLY hoping that come Monday morning, everyone will "get" my vision and understand the method behind my madness. Sometimes what seems so clear in my brain, is pure chaos in other's!

I found the whole project fun and satisfying. It means more to me than just giving out tons of cookies, and is one that I'll not likely forget for years to come. It was a TON of work, but well worth it.

Merry Christmas to the teachers and fifth grade students!!!

Christmas crafting

So glad the fall crafts are done and that I could get started on the Christmas ones!!! I just think Christmas and crafting go together, don't you?!?! Here's what I've been working on (PS-most of these came from Pinterest too-so many craft ideas-I'm going insane!!!)

Monogram Christmas Wreath

Easy, Easy-grab a wreath you have laying around-run to Hobby Lobby and purchase a large unpainted wooden letter ($2.99)-paint, add a ribbon, glue together and you're done-simple, inexpensive, cute!

Gift Topiary

This is part of my "interchangeable" decor. Remember the pumpkin topiaries from Fall? I pulled those off the pot, and replaced it with these boxes. Once I figured out the logistics of these, I got them put together faster than I expected.

They are made from three different sizes of cardboard boxes-6", 8" and 10". I already had the 6" and 8" (Walmart used to carry the 6, and Home Depot had 8" on clearance after the holidays a couple years ago) For the 10", I purchased a 12x12x10 from Walmart and cut to down to make a 10" square.

My crafting partner, Lucinda, made hers so that they could be stored inside each other-brilliant! I have a little more storage room so I didn't bother to do that. She is displaying hers outdoors so she used vinyl tableclothes to cover the boxes. We get such winds on our porch that mine will be indoors so I used fabric. You can use Christmas paper-it's whatever you like.

I first got my holes where I wanted them, for the pvc pipe that runs up through the middle, and then I covered them with fabric and added the ribbon. Once they were stacked, I added the bows.

If anyone is serious about making these, I can do step by step directions if you need them. The hardest part was making the connection in the vase-hardware and pouring cement. If you have a set of the small Christmas trees that sit in pots (on rebar), you could easily do this with rebar and use one of those pots, instead of displaying the Christmass tree in it.

Jingle All the Way Shadow box

This craft is SUPER EASY also!! (If you can find a shadow box!) I found my 8x8 shadow box at Walmart (not in every store-some are clearancing them)-FYI-Michaels does have a package of them-set of 3-use a coupon or wait till they are 40-50% off and they aren't bad.

The paper and ribbon are from Hobby Lobby, along with the bells. The shadow box only holds up to 3/4" deep items-so I had to clip the backs off my largest bells, and hammer them just a tad, to get them to fit. I have three different sizes of bells.

Cut a little vinyl, add to the glass-cut your paper and use double-sided tape to adhere to the back of frame. Add the bells, add a ribbon (adhere to top, sides and bottom with double-sided sticky tape), and you're done! We made these for craft night and everyone loved them!! If you want to make for next year, snag some bells when they go on clearance after the holiday!!!!

Jingle Subway Art and Glitter Trees

I know, who does turqoise for Christmas? Well, it seems like now days, anything goes-I even saw black ornaments this year!! I saw this on Pinterest and fell in love with it.

The graphic I downloaded and printed to fit a 16x20. The frame I've had stashed for years (it was oak), so I gave it a ton of paint. The trees are made from the styrofoam forms. I took some skewers and stuck them in the bottom of the forms so I'd have something to hold on to while I "painted" them with elmer's glue. Once they are coated in glue, I held them over a paper plate and poured the glitter on. (paper plate makes for easy clean up-and so you can reuse it) I stood them up in a vase to dry. Then I took some old glass candlesticks that I had from my wedding, and spray painted them white-let them dry, and then super-glued them to the bottom of the forms. Easy!!! The site on Pinterest gives step-by-step directions on these.

Christmas Countdown

I can hear it now, "Don't you already have on of these-you used to sell them!!" The answer is "kind of". Yes, I have a set, but it's not functional. My paper totally bubbled when I was making them, so I attempted to pull it off and redo it, and it ended up a big mess. So when these appeared on Pinterest again, I decided it was time to attempt them again.

I'll admit it-something that was bothering me about my old set was the rounded edges-I KNOW, I'm picky!! But they bugged me. Luckily, when we renovated our kitchen this year, I had some left over wood from the spindles, and it has 90 degree angles!! So I cut it down to size and decided that I like using the same wood for both the tops and the bottoms (no more 2x4s). I painted the wood with a wash, and added my paper.

Modge podging-this time, I actually read the directions on the bottle-I didn't use "Modge Podge" but a bottle of "Aileen's decoupage" that I had sitting around. It says that you spread a thin coat on the PAPER, adhere it to the wood, and then WHILE STILL WET, add a thin layer over the top-to get the bubbles out, you wet your fingers and smooth it out. So that's what I did. I coated my paper, applied it to the wood, brayered over the paper, added the top coat, and then took my wet fingers and worked out the bubbles. It WORKED!! I don't think I have any bubbles this time.

My decoupage still seems a little tacky-a week later, but I read you can use your Krylon spray to give it a coating to protect the paint and help get rid of the tackiness. I will be doing this as soon as the garage is warm enough to use the spray!!

Those are my Christmas crafts-I have two more than I am working on, and then I'll be done. What are you doing this year?!

Fall Crafts

It's been a little crazy here, trying to finish up these fall crafts. I mentioned to my mother that I was working on them and she said, "It's winter, don't you know. Are you that organized that you're working on them for next year?" I laughed and said, "Of course not, I'm that far behind-these were for this year." Oh well! But I REALLY wanted to get them done, and yes, I think it's still Fall, for a couple more days-even though my house is decorated in Christmas. So these items will make their debut next year, but that's ok!

Most of these ideas came from Pinterest:

Leaf Art

I recycled the frames that I have out for Halloween (with pics of my kids in costume)-I just left the pictures in the frames so I know where they are, and added this in front-a little brown cardstock, some burlap and a leaf from the tree outside.

This one is burlap and then a page out of a used book, and then a leaf.

Who would have thought that I would love Subway art, but it's my new obsession. This one I downloaded from a link on Pinterest, and printed to fit in the frame I got on clearance (for $5) at Michaels. The luminaries are also from Pinterest. The first two tall ones I used cheap glass vases and put rubber bands around them-then spray painted. Another gal said she used twine so I tried that on the shorter on on the right hand side. If you look close, you'll see that it's not "clean". All the hairs from the twine really showed up and ruined it when I painted it. So I'm hoping to soak this in the tub and get the paint off, and do it again with rubber bands. Then I'll spray all three with a clear varnish to help the paint from getting scratched. Check your Goodwill and pick up vases for $1 and white paint from Walmart for $0.97!! Cheap craft!!

Changed out the candy from Halloween-put little pine cones in the bottom (purchased on clearance for $1 at the Christmas Tree Shoppe), and then a couple candles from Hobby Lobby-add some twine and some fake leaves and you're set. I think my candles are a tad too tall, but they work. If I did it again, I'd go with a little shorter ones-or just not do the pine cones.

Scrap "Fall Tree" pillow. Gather up all your scraps and cut leaves out of them. Find some brown fabric and cut a trunk. Sew a basic pillow sleeve-mine buttons in the back so I can remove and wash. I just used a little wonder under to adhere the leaves on and then sewed about 1/4" in, around the shape.  Quick craft also and it uses your scraps-if you have any!!

Aunt Danene sent me a link to this craft. It uses 1 4x4 post, some tree branches, wire, twine and a little sign. I can give you more directions if you want to make this one. They will go by the front door, next year.

Last one: SUPER EASY fall pillows. I know, it looks like I can draw, and cut and sew beautifully. Actually, these are PLACEMATS that I got on clearance at Kmart. Yep, placemats. All I had to do was unpick about 4 inches along a bottom seam, stuff them with polyfil, and then sew them back up. Really, this was one of the easiest crafts I've done in awhile, and I think they are cute! (In the past Walmart has carried ones similar so check next year!)

That's all the fall crafting I'll be doing for the year!! Good thing because winter starts in less than 2 weeks!

Happy crafting!!

Christmas Planner

Am I the only one that hasn't made one of these yet? Well, until now. I don't know how I functioned without one before. I'm sure some of you are saying "Why do I need one?" Well, maybe YOU don't. But I do!! My memory seems to be about non-existent these days and there's no way that I remember things from year to year. Admit it, how many times have you asked your friends for their addresses or thought, "I know ***** said he wanted ***** for a gift, but I can't remember." Ok, maybe it hasn't happened to you, but Miss Scatterbrain here has this occur on a regular basis.

So I did a little looking around and found a site that I have fallen in love with... www.organizedchristmas.com . She has EVERYTHING-even the printable label for the spine of the binder. Anyone that has this, in my book, is organized!!

Of course, not all of her pages apply to me, but many of them are just perfect for our simple holiday to-do list. I love the page called "holiday values worksheet" where you get to talk about what went well last year, what stresses you faced, and what you'd do differently this year.

I also love the "Holiday budget" worksheet so I can see exactly where my Christmas budget is going, and where I might be overspending.

I did most of my shopping online this year, and I've had the receipts scattered about. Now, I have them all organized in a page protector in my binder, behind the "catalog/internet orders" worksheet. Love it!

Ok, I have to confess, I'm using the "Christmas card list" worksheet. It has this year, and the next three years listed, and then has boxes for you to mark for "sent" and for "received". I have to admit, this is a little pet peeve of mine. It's disheartening to send out so many cards and get so few in return. So I'm keeping a list and checking it twice! lol (Oh, and this binder is going to remind me next year NOT to order SQUARE cards. Who knew that it costs $0.20 more to send something square!?!?! Lesson learned!!)

Another issue I have around the holidays is "how much food do I cook" for the crowd we're having over? I also peel a bag of potatoes and say to myself "I'll look and see how many leftovers we have and make a mental note so I know about how many to peel next year". Of course, I NEVER remember so I end up with way too much food! (At least it's too much instead of not enough)

Anyways, just thought I'd share this website with you, incase you haven't made a binder, and desperately need one, like me! Happy Holidays!

Last Pinterest Idea for the week!

As you can tell, Pinterest can quickly become an obsession. Here is another craft that I did this last week thanks to Pinterest....pumpkin topiary

Last week my new crafting buddy, Lucinda, and I got together to figure out how to make these. All we had seen was a picture-no instructions. Our biggest issue was how to make them wind resistant (so they don't blow over) and interchangeable so we can do this for Christmas...

Now, ours won't be this big as we're crafting on a "budget", but I think it will still be cute. We're planning to make the gifts out of bottomless boxes so they will store inside each other and use outdoor fabric so they are weatherproof, and mount them on pvc pipe. I'll let you know how it goes.

For the pumpkins we went to Hobby Lobby and picked out our own vases (50% off) back in the floral department. The pumpkins we grabbed at Michael's (40% off). The moss and flowers we also got at HL 40% off.

We went to Lowes and asked the guy what would be the best thing to use. I didn't take pictures of it but in the plumbing department we got a threaded metal disk that a 6" metal nipple (yah, that's the only reason why I remember what it's called lol) goes on and then a pvc piece that will connect our 3/4" piping. We stood the metal piping up in the base of our vase, and I mixed up some cement and pour it in, leveled the pipe, and wait patiently overnight to dry (really, it was more like yelling at the kids to keep their hands off my pipe and cement while it dried-the boys thought they needed to check every hour to see if it was ok)

Then we popped off the stems to the bottom two pumpkins and I took a 1" wood bit (they are long) and drilled through the bottom pumpkin, all the way. The middle pumpkin I turned over and drilled through it, only part way.

We took our floral and glued the red springs on top of the green ones and glued them around the pumpkin, in odd numbers. The bottom pumpkin has 7 springs, and the middle one 5 sprigs.

I then took about 18"-24" of 3/4" pvc pipe and ran it up through the bottom pumpkin. Add some hot glue all over the base of the middle pumpkin and quickly thread it over the pvc pipe and push it down onto the bottom pumpkin, gluing it in place.

Then I covered the middle pumpkin with the 5 springs, and glued the top pumpkin in place.

Next, add some moss-sparingly! I went crazy the first time and I definitely think "Less is More".

To finish it off, I cut a couple grapevine pieces and glued them on.

Stick the pvc pipe into the fitting that's cemented in my pot and I have a beautiful topiary to grace my front porch!!

Cutest darn diaper cake you'll ever see....

So I've had a couple baby showers coming up. For my first friend, it's her third baby, but her first boy. She said that she had most everything that she needed but diapers and blankets she could use. When I saw my sister "pin" this idea, I knew that it was the perfect gift!

I learned how to make it by watching a couple videos on YouTube, and then just playing around with it a little. You can make a motorcycle or a tricycle...Here's how you do it....

What you'll need:

1 package diapers (I used size 2, 36 count)

2 blankets

2 bibs

1 pair socks

1 washcloth (more optional)

rubber bands

paper towel tube

toilet paper tube

baby bottle or sippy cup

ribbon (I used a 2", 3 yard roll)

Glue gun or double sided tape

NOTE: Most of the supplies like the blankets, bibs, washcloths and socks, came in a 4 pack. So I have enough to make 2 sets. The diapers I got really cheap at CVS, if you're a couponer! Except for the diapers, I got everything at Walmart. I was really impressed by their baby items-super cute!

Divide the diapers in 1/3rds and overlap as such

Roll the diapers around the toilet paper tube and secure with a rubber band. It really helps on this step if there are two people, but you can do it yourself.
Pull the tube out and do the same with and 1/3, making a 2nd wheel, and then do it again to make a 3rd wheel.

Then cut your ribbon and secure-the video I watched used double sided tape but it kept popping off. So I used my glue gun.

Take one washcloth and roll it around the paper towel tube, and secure each end with rubber bands

Insert one end of the paper towel tube into one diaper roll

Then put the tube through another tire to make the back wheels.

Ok, so I played around a little with covering my tubes. If you look in the picture before this one, you'll see the toilet paper tube in the front tire. I decided that I didn't want the tube to show so I covered it with a white washcloth and banded it. It makes it a little harder to get the blanket through, on the next step, but very manageable. So if you don't want your tubes to show, cover with extra washclothes.

Important: To make the tricycle you need to fold your receiving blanket on the diagonal. So lay it out facing you, like a diamond. Then fold each side up until you meet in the middle. Then do the other side.

After it's folded, secure each end with a rubber band.

Thread the folded blanket through the back tires and then through the front. I had mine meet close to the front tire. Then secure them together with a rubber band and push the tails into the front tire so you can't see the rubber band or ends.


Next, take your bibs and put one on the front and secure it under the ribbon on the front tire. Grab your bottle or sippy cup and lay it on top of the front bib. Then put a bib overthe back half of the sippy cup/bottle and secure it around it. (my bibs were velcro so they worked great)

Ok, I got lazy taking pictures because it seems pretty straight forward from here. Next fold your 2nd blanket, horizontally, and secure ends with rubber bands. Then thread it through the front tire. Wrap the blanket over the sippy cup and rubberband both ends together, with the rubber band just over the sippy cup. Tie a ribbon bow over the rubber band to cover it up.

Put a sock on the end of each of the tails of the second blanket. If you purchased socks in a 2 pack, stuff one sock in the end of each of the other socks.

I didn't take a picture of it, but I got a piece of cardboard, and covered it with black cardstock and then cut some small strips of yellow and glued them on to make a "road" pattern. Then I put the tricycle on the "road" and wrapped it all in cellophane and tied it with a bow!!

Felt Wreath

Here's another Pinterest craft that I loved-the Felt Wreath. I found the instructions on All Things Simple, at http://kimmccrary.blogspot.com/2011/01/pinked-felt-wreath.html

It's really simple to make, and inexpensive. All you'll need is felt, straight pins, a foam wreath (or make your own below) and some scissors.

SUPPLIES:
Styrofoam wreath
I used a 10" circle wreath so it would fit nicely on my mirror. Use an "extruded" form. It's more dense than the more hole-y styrofoam and the pins will stay in better.

If you to save some money, make your own wreath. Just jog down to the local Home Depot or Lowes and visit the plumbing department. They have pipe insulation (comes in boxes standing up). There are a variety of sizes. My sister used the smallest one. I chose the next size up. So it was $1.16 and I cut it in half to make two wreaths. Bend the piping in a circle and then have a friend use duct tape to adhere the ends together. At first I only used a small strip of tape and it ended up pulling apart from the tube. So wrap it a couple times, trying to overlap just a tad, as you'll have to be able to push pins through this.

One yard of 72" wide heavy-weight felt
Definitely use a heavier-weight felt. It's more expensive, but well worth it. I found mine at Joanne's for $6.99 a yard. (Use a 40% off coupon for an even cheaper craft!) The lightweight felt will require you to use more, which means you'll need to cut and cut and cut more circles. The heavyweight felt also gives the wreath a more quality look.

One yard of felt was enough for two 10" wreaths--one for you and another for a special someone. Or keep them both. I'm thinking ahead and making two of many projects I make this year so I have gifts for Christmas. If you plan to make only one, purchase about 2/3 yard because the last row of circles hits the center of a yard of fabric.

3" circle template
I cut a template from chipboard and used a black fine tip marker to trace my circles onto the felt. (The top of a 15 oz. can is also the right size. Use the type of can opener that doesn't leave a sharp edge.) Cut right inside the line of each circle so no ink shows. A 10" wreath takes about 120 circles. I added another 25 on the back so the reflection on the mirror doesn't show the wreath form. My second wreath is 8" and I love it just as much.

My friend Jen made the heart shape wreath and a ball to fit on top of a candle holder. She said it took almost the entire yard of felt.

dressmaker pins
I used general purpose sewing pins--Dritz Dressmaker Pins Size 17 or 1 1/18" size.

pinking shears (or regular fabric scissors for a more ruffle-y look.)

2" ribbon
I used white grosgrain for Valentine's and will swap it out at Christmas for some gorgeous green vintage satin ribbon my friend Maggie gave me. Thanks again, Maggie!

DIRECTIONS:
Step 1: Trace and cut three-inch circles from felt with pinking shears.

Step 2: Fold felt circle in half, then in half again.

Step 3: Pin through the bottom of the folded circle and push into the styrofoam wreath.

Tip: I've seen other wreaths and projects made with this technique. One thing I really like is when the circles go in all directions instead of just one way. So push a circle into the wreath and then place the one next to in facing the opposite direction. You'll end up with a more paisley-ish design instead of a stacked one. It also makes the wreath look fuller.

Step 4: Add a ribbon hanger by pinning a length of ribbon onto the back of the wreath and then pinning the ribbon again back on itself to give a nice finished edge

I loved the orange one because it pops right off that black door. So I made an orange one but it's not really popping on my red door. So I'm off to make a black one. I think black rosettes will be perfect for Halloween too! My son even sat with me one day and helped me push the pins in. He was so excited with how it turned out. Happy crafting!!

 



The crafting craze I've started!

Really, it's not my fault that Pinterest has such cute stuff! Seriously! No blaming me!! I'll end up on every husband's "hit list" after ya'll go shopping for supplies.

Since I keep getting emails, messages, and phone calls about these crafts, I thought I'd go ahead and explain everything here so I don't have to write a million emails.

Holiday Apothecary Jars

Aren't these stinking cute?!?! Ok, so I saw these two pictures and decided that I just had to make these. After a ton of looking, here are the supplies I found:

If you're going to make these, the first thing you need to decide is if you like the first set "BOO" with two candlesticks the same height, or if you like the 3 different heights as in the "JOY" set. Then, you will want to decide if you like the small base in the "BOO" picture or the large base in the "JOY", along with the extra wooden base under the glass jar, that "JOY" has. The picture above, with the unfinished wood, shows you the two different looks.

Ok, now that you've got that decided, here are options for buying the products:

GLASS JARS-They are at Hobby Lobby in the CRAFT SECTION-they come with a metal lid (see picture above) and have different sizes. I chose to use 3 medium ones-they are $3.99 each. I got mine 1/2 off when their "Glass products" came on sale.

WOODEN ROUNDS-If you want the small base, purchase 3-4" wooden rounds. You can find these at Hobby Lobby, Michaels or JoAnn's. HL was cheapest at 2 for $1-in the unfinished wooden craft section. If you like the second option, putting a larger base at the bottom and an additional wooden base under the glass, you'll need 3-4" and 3-5". The 5" were $0.99 at HL or $1.29 (I think) at JoAnn's. Let's just say I shopped every craft store in the Dayton area to get enough as Hobby Lobby didn't come through on ordering all I needed.

CANDLESTICKS-Ok, I looked everywhere for these and get a little frustrated. My Hobby Lobby carried one size only, a 6 3/4". Michaels carried a 7" and a 9" and they were tipped on their sides, stuffed in a bin, on the bottom shelf. I think the tallest was $3.99 there. I wanted 3 different heights so I chose to order from www.bayerwood.com. From there, I looked under "turned wood", and then "candlesticks" and ordered 1-11", 1-9", and 1-7". (DON'T ORDER A 3"-they aren't the right diameter!) They have a flat shipping of $6.25 or so, so you'll need to figure out which way is cheaper for you.

FINIALS-These are the wooden top pieces on the lid. If you like the really huge ones on the "BOO" or "JOY" jars, Hobby Lobby had them for $2.99 each! I didn't want to pay that much so I ordered mine from www.bayerwood.com -they have a ton of different ones. I ordered finial #15 and I think they were about $0.70 each (much better price for me).

LETTERS-If you want the wood letters, Hobby Lobby has them for $0.99 each. They are fragile and some are cut better than others so look carefully at them. I bought 1-"b", 1-"j", 1-"y" and 2-"o". This will let me do both "boo" and "joy". (you'll just need to decide what color you're painting them for both sets as the "boo" above is white and the "joy" is black-so take your pick)

RIBBON-Just look through your craft box-you'll have something!!

GLUE-I used WOOD Glue to glue the wooden rounds to my candlesticks. NOTE!! If you put a lot of glue on, the two pieces will probably slide, and if you're not watching, they will dry and your wood might be off center. So use sparingly or use a little scotch tape to hold the candlestick in place so it's not sliding around while drying-let's just say I ruined a few of these!! To glue the GLASS to the wood I used a tube from Loctite, found at Hobby Lobby. It dries clear and has no odor so it's safe for indoor use. It comes out white, but does dry clear. I used a large amount of this around the very outside of my wooden round (after it was painted), and let it sit for 24 hours to dry. The bottom of the glass is concave so only the very outer edge is going to touch your wooden 4" round. So only put glue around the very outer edge, and wipe off any excess!

CANDY HINT!!-I didn't want to spend a fortune filling my jars so I cheated.

Look closely and you'll see that I've taken one of my drinking tumblers and flipped it upside down and placed it in my jar. Then I filled it up with candy. In this picture I used malted milk balls. They were a little too large to do this with. Smaller candy like m&ms and candy corn works better. They will fill in the space between the two glasses and it only took me 1 bag per jar to fill it up.

So here's my final product. I decided that the metal lid looks better unpainted with my decor. If you want to paint the lid, I'd recommend putting a spray paint primer on it first. We had some ladies paint their lids and it was peeling a little off (they didn't prime). I haven't tried it but that's what I would do if I were painting mine.

COST: I did the three different height candlesticks, letters to do both "boo" and "joy" and got my glass jars 1/2 off, and paid full price for everything else. It came to around $28.50 plus tax to do the set of three (Ohio prices 2011) I know on the website I got this idea on she made them last year and it was around $20. So I'm not sure if prices have gone up that much or if Utah is cheaper.

Happy crafting!!

Darn you Pinterest!

Pinterest, why do you have to have such cute posts that I just can't resist the urge to pull out my glue gun and paints, and get to work? Do you not know that I have piles of laundry, on a floor that hasn't been swept in way too long...and my kitchen is still unfinished (which my husband frequently reminds me of)?!?! Seriously!!

No Pinterest account required!

I decided to check out Pinterest.com this evening and attempted to sign up-to have them tell me that there is a WAITING LIST! Seriously?!?! Since when does a website have a waiting list?

So I started copying and pasting all the cute crafts that I found into Word documents, for future reference, and then decided that I might as well share-even though I haven't made these yet. But it might just get me out of my craft funk (after I proclaimed, just a couple hours ago, to my hubby and son that I no longer craft) and get me back in my craft room.

Halloween Crafts

Boo Jars

This first one comes from www.cjaneblog.blogspot.com. She took these:

and made these:

Super cute!! I love that they are holiday decorations, but still classy!

Here's her list of supplies:

 

"candlesticks - Michaels, 2.99 each

round base - any craft store, .50

letters - Hobby Lobby, .99 each

Glass Jar - Hobby Lobby, 2.99 each

Finial - .99 each or knob - bag full for 2 dollars or so at any ol' craft store

ribbon - any craft store, about 2 dollars

paint - my paint bin, free

(about 20 dollars to make all three and just over a half hour. I didn't have any coupons or sales and was not patient enough to wait for them, you could do it for quite a bit less if you did.)

I used hot glue for all parts excepts to adhere the glass onto the

candle stick and then I used super glue GEL."

 

 

 

 

 

This next project is from Martha Stewart-I do love my Martha, sometimes!

 Witch's Broom Favors

 Martha Stewart Living, October 2007

Give witches-for-a-night a proper send-off with broomstick favors. You need two lunch-size paper bags for each broomstick. Unfold one bag, and push out its base while folding in the left and right sides. Using scissors, cut the bag into thin strips, stopping short of the base.

Cut thin strips into the top inch of the second bag. Open both bags, and place the second bag inside the shredded one; fill with candy. Insert a small branch 1 inch into the bag; cinch the tops of both bags, and secure with black twine.

I think they would make cute centerpieces, with some other Halloween crafts!

Mummy Pops

Aren't these just adorable?!?! And so easy to make!

If you really need step-by-step instructions for making the oreo pop, you can find it here:

http://www.howdoesshe.com/oreo-cookie-sucker-tutorial

You basically open the oreo up, dip the tip of your stick in melted chocolate and put it in the cookie. Then top with the other cookie and let it dry for a couple minutes. Then you'll dip the pop in melted chocolate and let it dry on wax paper. Add the eyes and drizzle more chocolate on top.

(If you don't have a cake decorator bag, just fill up a ziploc bag with melted chocolate and snip a corner off and use it, that's what I usually do so I can just toss it when I'm done, or microwave it a little if my chocolate gets too hard. Then I'm not trying to unclog small metal tips.)

Valentine's Crafts

Rosette Balls

I know it's nowhere near V-day, but I saw these and just couldn't wait! I think what I like best about them is what they are made of. See, in April the sisters got together and made these rosettes from fabric strips. So I naturally figured these were fabric. Nope-any guesses?!?! It's crate paper!! Love the fact that you don't have to cut it into strips and it's super cheap! You can get a roll for $.99. (Styrofoam is a little pricy so use a coupon!) And while rosettes really say "love" for V-day, you could make these for just about any occasion or holiday-just change the color of paper.

Have you seen anything cute!?!?!