Feels Like Home Blog™ » Crafts

A Printable Valentine Card

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:37:11 +0000

Grace had the opportunity to participate with her cyber school classmates in a Valentine card exchange.

The idea is simple. Each kid sends a Valentine through the mail to the other kids on the list.

In my opinion, it’s even better than a traditional classroom Valentine exchange. Who doesn’t like to get real mail in the real mailbox?

I considered printing a Valentine that someone else had made, but in the end, decided to make my own. After I cut them all out, Grace helped me to glue them onto little heart-shaped doilies.

And then Grace gave the girls silver smiles. They are her Valentines, after all.

I made our Valentines into a printable that you can use, too. I left enough space at the bottom for writing your name or a special message.

You’ll probably want to print them out on cardstock. That’s what I did.

Download your own printable Valentine cards

My Favorite Crafty Projects featuring the Home Made Simple Marketplace

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:27:33 +0000

At my house, we do a lot of crafty projects.

Sometimes, the crafty projects are kid projects, like our dyed rice mosaic:

and Grace’s sparkly ornament:

Other times, the projects are things I’ve made for the kids, like my princess castle cake:

or Grace’s no-sew tutu:

or her Winnie the Pooh cape:

or her purple geoboard:

And sometimes, they are projects just for me, like my special photo napkin rings:

and my spring flower garland:

and Joe’s favorite project, his raised garden beds:

No matter who made it or who it’s for, I love handmade projects. I find a lot of pride in having something that I made myself, with my own two hands.

I also buy homemade most of the time, preferring sites like Etsy and the new Home Made Simple Marketplace.

The new Home Made Simple Marketplace is a new way to sell, shop and idea swap. Housed within Facebook Marketplace, the Home Made Simple Marketplace is powered by Oodle, the marketplace service provider that makes it possible for anyone to shop and sell on Facebook.

Because the Home Made Simple Marketplace lives exclusively within Facebook, items posted for sale can flourish in a space where they’re appreciated and shared—meaning you connect with friends, family and others with similar interests as you shop and sell.

Win a copy of Home Made Simple!

Feels Like Home admires your creativity! Share your favorite handmade creation and be entered to win a 300-page hardcover copy of the book, Home Made Simple: Fresh Ideas to Make Your Own.

Three Ways to Enter:

Each entry requires a separate comment:

Tell us about your favorite handmade creation. Attach a photo if you have one!
Join the Home Made Simple Marketplace on Facebook, explore the fabulous finds and handmade items, then come back to share your favorites.
Have handmade items or fabulous finds to sell? Post them for sale with Home Made Simple Marketplace via Oodle and tell us about it.

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This is a sponsored conversation on behalf of Home Made Simple. All opinions are my own.

How to Make a Mosaic Rainbow Using Dyed Rice

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:44:03 +0000

This is an awesome project because it didn’t cost a single cent. I used leftovers and odds and ends that we had lying around to dye some old, stale rice and to make the finished rainbow.

This project was really fun for me, but Grace (who recently turned 4) thought it was boring. I think an older kid, maybe 7 or 8, would think it was a fun project from start to finish.

How to Dye the Rice

After dying Easter eggs, we had six bowls full of dye sitting on our dining room table.

To make the dye, I had followed the directions on the food color box. I poured a couple of tablespoons of cider vinegar into a glass bowl, added 20-30 drops of food coloring, and then some almost boiling water. By the time we put the rice into the dye, it had cooled to room temperature.

Throwing it out seemed like a huge waste, so I came up with a crafty idea – use it to dye something. We dyed pasta last summer and still have some sitting around, so I didn’t want to dye any more, but rice!

My friend Heather suggested rice, and it seemed like a great idea.

My husband mentioned that we had some (very old) brown rice in the pantry cupboard, so we poured that into the dye. When he was looking for the brown rice, he also found a bit of jasmine rice leftover from… something. We poured that in, too.

Then we went to an Easter egg hunt. And to the mall. I have no idea how long the rice was in the dye.

Definitely hours. It was the biggest part of the day.

On my way to bed, I remembered the rice and dumped it, one color at a time, into a strainer.

I lined a stoneware pan with paper towels (because stoneware would absorb the water and make the rice dry quicker and paper towels would prevent the stone from getting stained by dye) and poured the rice from the strainer onto the paper towels to dry.

Can you see the difference between the brown rice and the jasmine rice? The jasmine rice absorbed the dye very nicely, becoming bright and colorful. The brown rice didn’t absorb as much dye and stayed darker overall.

If I were dying rice again, I would use only white or jasmine rice.

After the rice was sufficiently dry, I put it into a zip-top bag.

I poured all of the rice into one bag, but I wish I had kept it separated by color. That would have made the project below go so much more smoothly.

Making a Dyed Rice Mosaic

We dyed the rice way back in April. A couple of weeks ago, we used it to make a project.

For our rainbow mosaic, we used the dyed rice, construction paper, markers, and some craft glue. That’s it!

The first step is to draw your design. Grace wanted to make a puppy, but I talked her into a rainbow since my artistic skills are sorely lacking. You could also print out a coloring page from the internet and fill that in with dyed rice.

The next step is to fill a small section of your design with glue and then cover the glue with dry dyed rice.

After about ten minutes, Grace pronounced my mosaic project to be boring, a pronunciation that saddened me greatly. I had to finish the rainbow by myself.

I got a chunk of the rainbow finished before Grace needed my attention.

Don’t tell anyone, but my husband really enjoys crafty projects like this. He offered to help me finish the mosaic. The only problem? He’s colorblind and in denial. If you look closely at the almost finished rainbow below, you may notice that 2/3 of one stripe of the rainbow is the wrong color.

Keep that to yourself, okay?

The last step was to fill in the clouds with something fluffy and white. If you wanted to keep the mosaic idea going, you could use plain white rice to fill in the clouds. I wanted puffy-looking clouds, so I glued on some cotton balls that I’d pulled apart.

That’s it! The mosaic is finished.

Have you ever made a project with dyed rice?

Homemade Valentine’s Day – Valentine Games and Other Printables

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:40:43 +0000

This is my very last crafty Valentine’s Day post. I’m a wee bit sad about that.

I’ve really enjoyed scouring the internet for awesome Valentine’s Day crafts and printables. It’s been fun, and I’ve found all kinds of blogs that I never knew existed.

In case you missed any of them, this series has contained all of the following:

Games and Other Printables

Printable knock-knock jokes - These are awesome for the knock-knock joke crowd. I printed them for Grace, and she’s already memorized them. If your Valentine is able to read, you could cut these out and tuck them inside a mitten or lunchbox or coat for a pick me up.
Antique Valentines - Wouldn’t it be nice to make this for an older friend or relative? The site has antique Valentines that you can download and use however you like.
Toad-ally awesome tic tac toe - This set includes a bunch of different pieces that you can use for a school class. My favorite piece is the tic-tac-toe board.
Heart to heart memory game – Every kid I know likes to play memory, so why not do it with hearts?
A Valentine Treasure Box - This is a craft kit. A bag of chocolates and a CD tin plus this kit equals an awesome treasure!
Valentine Coupons (where you fill in the prize) – The thing I don’t like about most printable coupons is that they are pre-filled. A night by the fireplace is useless around here, for example. The only fire place in our house is in a book.
This particular set is blank, so you could use it to make coupons for your spouse and print it again to make coupons for your kids.
Or the dog.
Or whomever.

Homemade Valentine’s Day – 10 Valentine Cards to Print

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:39:59 +0000

I love all of these cards!

The great thing about printable cards is that you can print as many as you want, and they’re practically free. No boxed cards here!

Cards to Print

I love you even when you’re grumpy – This is my favorite among all of the Valentines I found. Grace asks me every single day,
Do you still love me?
When I throw a fit, do you still love me?
If I hit the baby, do you still love me?
Do you love me even when I’m bad?
I will always love her, no matter what, and I tell her that all the time.
And I’m totally giving her this on Valentine’s Day.
Love birds – This one is available in two different versions. This is the kids’ version, and I think it would be awesome if the giver wrote his Valentine’s name in the space at the bottom.
The birds are intended to be cut out in the adult version, allowing you to insert pretty fabric or paper.
How do I love thee? - If I find loads of extra time this week, I’ll print a set of these and write on them for my husband.
Goofy kid quotes Valentine cards – Is there a person on this planet who doesn’t love the quirky comments that kids make? Each of these cards has a different saying by a real kid.
Or an adult who writes funny things that sound like a real kid said them.
Does it really matter?
Heart breaker candy bags – Whoever thought this up was a genius. When you make them, you put some candy into each heart. The recipient breaks the heart to get to the goodies. Easy and fun! I’d rather get this than a plain old card any day.
iPhone valentine cards - These are so clever! The card wraps around a box of candy to look like an iPhone. I was completely fooled, thinking (for longer than I’d like to admit) that the blog was selling a new wall paper for iPhones. Only after I began to read the post did I figure out that it was actually a printable.
Zebra valentines - Zebras are the universal sign of love, right?
They’re not?
They’re still cute, and so are these cards.
Love stinks - I love this one, too. It’s my second favorite, after the grumpy card in #1. This printable comes with an envelope, and it folds to make a real card (rather than a single 1/4 sheet). I might make this one for Grace, too.
Or maybe I can talk one of my sisters into making it for her.
I know she’ll get a kick out of it.
Conversation heart valentines – As you might have guessed, this card is attached to a box of conversation hearts.
10 things I like about you – So this isn’t really a card, but it’s really great. This is a full-page love letter that you print and color and write on. I was so smitten with the idea that I went to the blogger’s Etsy shop and bought the whole 14-page journal to print and color.
I’m making one for Gracie. I’ve been working on it for a couple of weeks, and I’m hoping to get it all done before Valentine’s Day.
That will only happen if I shut the computer and do some coloring, but it’s possible.

Are you printing one of these or something else?

Homemade Valentine’s Day – Valentines to Print and Frame

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 00:11:57 +0000

There are dozens and dozens of Valentine’s Day printables online. I scoured my favorite craft blogs and found so many that I broke them up into 3 groups – things to print and frame (below), cards, and other printables.

Make sure your printer has ink and print away!

Things to Print and Frame

The Creative Crate – I can see printing this and giving it to your sweetheart in a pretty frame. Or printed and hung in a bedroom. Or given as a gift to a couple getting married.
So many uses!
The Hands-On Housewife – This is a take on Keep Calm and Carry On, the graphic poster created in Britain during World War II.
It is what it is - Subway art is hugely popular these days. Wouldn’t this print be cute as part of your Valentine’s Day decorations?
LOVE tiles – This is a series of 4 prints, spelling out the word L-O-V-E. The heart, of course, is the letter O, and they are all as pretty as it is.
I (heart) you - I’m very tempted to print this and frame it for both of my girls. Isn’t it great?
Love painting – I think this one is just fabulous. The original artist has given carte blache for its use, even for profit.

Homemade Valentine’s Day – Gifts a Preschooler Can Make for Other Kids

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 04:54:41 +0000

Gifts Your Preschooler Can Make for Kids

Pretend Mailbox- This has to be one of our most successful crafty projects. We made it from a square cardboard box, and we covered it with craft paper. Grace has played with this mailbox all the time since we made it, at least several times every single week.
If you decorated this mailbox, it would be an awesome gift for another kid. Don’t forget to include some letters inside!
Heart crayons – I’ve seen these recycled crayons all over the internet, but I chose this one to feature because the post includes a printable card that is really cute.
Shrinky Dinks zipper pulls – You know how I love Shrinky Dinks. Cindy at Skip to My Lou posted 25 suggestions for pictures or phrases to put on Shrinky Dinks. Fun!
Valentine pony tail holder – The method here is identical to the method used to make my tutus. It is as simple as looping ribbons around an elastic band. If you show a small child how to thread the ends of the ribbon through the center, I am certain that most would be able to make these cute ponytail holders.
Lovesicles – Okay, so you won’t be making these and putting them in boxes, but what kid (or grown up) wouldn’t love a huge icy heart?
I love love love these. Gracie and I will have to make some for Joe on Valentine’s Day. They’re super easy and inexpensive.

This list was pretty short, so let’s hear some ideas!

What will your kids make their friends for Valentine’s Day?

Homemade Valentine’s Day – Gifts a Preschooler Can Make for Adults

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:11:13 +0000

I love this series! Homemade gifts speak volumes about your friends and family.

More than jewelry.

Well. Maybe not more than jewelry, but more than a lot of stuff.

The homemade Valentine’s Day gift suggestions I’ve posted so far have been:

I hope you like the series, too.

Now that we’re finding a routine and life is feeling normal, Grace and I are thinking about crafty projects.

We are planning on making more than one of the gifts below, but the recipients read my blog, so I can’t tell you which ones.

What are you going to make?

Gifts Your Preschooler Can Make for Adults

*The name of each project is linked to the tutorial.

Plantable Valentines – Garden season is approaching faster than you might believe. My dad has already ordered his seeds for this summer’s garden, so I know he would like these plantable Valentines.
Heart-shaped magnets – We made these last year. They were perfect for a 2-year-old, quick and easy. Basically, they were stickers stuck to stickers stuck to a magnet.
And they’re still hanging on everyone’s refrigerator (even the one that got chewed on by a dog is still hanging, teeth marks and all), so I believe they were a success.
Bouquet of hearts – I think this one is sweet. While everyone you know might not love a bouquet of pipe cleaners and paper hearts, I think a parent or grandparent would love them.
I think Old Grandma would probably put this bouquet in a vase.
And leave it there for years.
Paint a picture frame – I’m pretty sure this project cost me almost nothing. Our local Michael’s craft store was having a kids’ craft workshop when Grace and I happened to stop by last year. I had to buy the wooden frame (for 99 cents, if I remember correctly), and the store provided the paint, glitter, and glue in a classroom space. Grace was ecstatic to paint this picture frame for her father.
He was ecstatic too, taking it to work to sit on his desk.
Hand print canvas – I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for hand print crafts. I wanted to make this one at Christmastime, but we didn’t get to it. I love the one below just as much.
Heart soaps – I’ve never tried to make soaps, but it looks easy enough. Small people can help with mixing, measuring, and pouring. They can help decide colors and scents.
And, of course, children can help wrap and decorate the soaps. I think it would be a fun project.
Glitter Hearts - Grace loves to pour glitter all over projects. It’s an obsession, really.
She also loves to smear glue all over things.
This would be the perfect project for her, now that I really think about it.
Photo wreath – If you wanted to make this a longer lasting project, you could use craft foam or even a thin wood back the photos (instead of construction paper). What grandparent wouldn’t be delighted by a wreath with your kiddos’ face all over it?
The kids would probably like having one of their own, too.

Happily submitted to Things I Love Thursday

Homemade Valentine’s Day – Other Crafty Gifts

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:15:32 +0000

This week, I’ve shared ideas for gifts you can make and give for Valentine’s Day.

This list is a hodge podge of ideas that didn’t seem to fit anywhere else – CDs, a love bird mobile, hand warmers. Fun times.

Other Crafty Gifts

*The name of each project is linked to the tutorial.

Love birds mobile – This made me think of a friend whose nursery has a bird theme. It’s just pretty.
And since it’s made from paper, string, and feathers, it’s inexpensive and easy to put together.
Homemade hand warmer – Mitten warmer, sock warmer, bed warmer… is there anything this little heart can’t do? Anyone who spends time outside or has perennially cold hands would appreciate one of these little bags.
Photo wreath – I featured something very similar to this for Christmas, too. Change the colors and you could make it appropriate for any holiday. I love this idea!
Felt hearts pins - These pins are really simple. All you have to do is cut the hearts out of felt, sew the edges together, and stuff with a bit of batting. Depending on the colors of felt and thread you use, you could get very different looks.
Make a CD - Do people still make CDs for each other? I make them for Gracie, and she loves her personalized CDs. The labels and gift tags on this website match for a coordinated look.
Heart bookmarks - Does everyone lose their bookmarks with the frequency that I do? I can never find one when I need it, even though I know I have a dozen if I have one.
This project requires only a scrap of fabric and a piece of cardstock, so it’s super easy and the results are so pretty.
Sequin bookmark – As I said above, I can never find a bookmark when I need one. This bookmark is so simple and so pretty! I would love to receive one, and I bet you know a reader who would love one, too.
Valentine fortunes – Aren’t these are fun?! We are big Chinese food lovers, so I know quite a few people who’d love to get some Valentine’s Day fortunes. I might throw a few in a takeout-style box with a handful of chocolate. So easy!
52 things I like about you – This is one of those things I might have done when I was dating Joe, but wouldn’t think of doing now. Why not? Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to do something silly that you haven’t done in years.
Button heart card - This is adorable! If you don’t have a store where you can buy buttons by the pound, you are missing out!
Seriously, most craft and fabric stores sell large bags of assorted buttons. Or you could go the less frugal route and get small bags of color-coordinated buttons.

Are you inspired yet?

Homemade Valentine’s Day – Gifts for Children

Feels Like Home Blog™ — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:19:16 +0000

This week, I’ve shared ideas for gifts you can make and give for Valentine’s Day.

Sharing Valentine’s Day with children is my favorite part of the holiday. Last year, I made 14 love notes (complete with fancy envelopes!) and put them in a mailbox for her each morning.

I most certainly will not be doing that again this year, even though it would probably mean more to her this year than it did last year.

I’ll think of something else, maybe one of the ideas below.

Gifts for Children

*The name of each project is linked to the tutorial.

Countdown to Valentine’s Day – This blogger wrote something she loves about her daughter and put one in each pocket. I think it would also be fun to put activities in the pockets, in the same way we did our Christmas countdown chain
Mail Pouch – I love these! I tried to make one last year for Easter, but it was hideous and I threw it away. This tutorial makes it look easy enough that I am inspired to try again.
Valentine Envelopes - This is the same idea as above, taken from the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. This one isn’t sewn; it’s hot glued. It looks really simple to put together, and it hangs by a long handle instead of being a backpack-style bag to attach to a chair.
Love birds – How cute is this? It’s a simple sewing project, and the wings make a little pouch that you can stuff with love notes.
Sleepover pillowcase – I think this is a fabulous idea! I might make one for Gracie, since she sleeps over at my mom’s house at every available opportunity. At least once a week (but often more), Grace says, “Can I have a sleepover at my Manda’s house?” or “Can I have a sleepover with Grandma?” A sleepover pillowcase would be awesome.
Felt bracelet – All little girls love jewelry, right? This simple cuff is made from felt and ribbon, so it goes together quickly and would delight any little (or big) girl.
Pencil and Notebook folder – These never go out of style, do they? This particular tutorial has space for a notebook and a set of pencils, skinny markers, or twistable crayons. I love these!
Felt heart barrettes – I love these, too. I have been making all sorts of felt hair things lately for both of my girls. Gracie takes them out of her hair after about ten seconds, and Allie doesn’t have enough hair yet. But that hasn’t stopped me from making them anyway.
Bath bombs – These are just plain fun. I never heard of them before I found this tutorial, but I love the idea! Grace is definitely getting one or two of these for Valentine’s Day!
A puppet theater – These instructions are written for children who’ve just learned to sew, so rest assured that almost anyone could follow them.
I think a puppet theater is an awesome idea for any kiddo. I know Grace would love one.