Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Snowshoes for Toddlers?


My husband and I both have snowshoes and we enjoy them!  We thought we would get our little 4-year grand daughter involved as a nice, winter activity.  I wasn't sure if they made snowshoes in such a small size, but to my surprise, the Big Foot Snowshoe Company makes a 15" snowshoe for toddlers, with a capacity of 20 - 60 lbs.  The company even gave us a free carry bag!  Who can resist something free!!

Looking forward to trying these on the weekend!  It'll be fun to see how our grand daughter does on these...

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Make Your Own Pressed Flowers in the Microwave

 


I just discovered "Microfleur."  This wonderful little press permits you to make gorgeous pressed flowers in your microwave... 

What can you make with press flowers? Here are a few handy books to help you along:




One thing I love to do with pressed flowers are cards.  All you need is a blank card to begin your journey.  I found a great deal for 50 blank cards with envelopes.  

In my opinion, there is nothing like receiving a handmade card!!

Another simple and yet awesome idea is making bookmarks and offering them as little gifts on their own or add them to a larger gift.  Either way, the recipient will be thrilled!  Here is where you can find your blank bookmarks:  White Bookmarks with Hole, If you want tassels for the finishing touch, you'll find a great deal for 100 Tassels in twenty three rich colors.




Monday, December 14, 2015

Apply Blackboard Vinyl Anywhere You Like!


 

My little grand daughter spends a lot of time at our house and she loves to be with me in the kitchen.  In order to keep her busy while I prepare meals, I added this awesome, vinyl blackboard to my wall.  It’s perfect and so easy to install!! 
We wet a micro fiber rag and it wipes everything clean.  
The vinyl black board comes in a roll just like wall paper and it applies to the wall the same way you would apply Mactac.  Make sure to clean the surface of the wall with soapy water (to ensure the vinyl will adhere properly). 
The trick to applying this properly, is to peel off a small area and applying it little by little while gently peeling off the paper underneath the vinyl.  As you progress, keep smoothing the vinyl with sticky backing to the wall, once it’s smoothed, continue peeling another small section repeating the same steps (some find it easier to be two people).

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Handmade Activity Book in Progress


A few weeks ago, I came upon a video a cute little video on Facebook: a handmade activity book made out of fabrics, Velcro and evidently lots of love.

I love educational toys and books for kids!

This video inspired me to make one for my grand daughter. I started out by making a rough (extremely rough) sketch of each page - you see the little green book in the photo.  Eighteen pages of this little book represents the "Activity Book."

I dug out of the cupboard some pieces of scrap fabric, interfacing, buttons, felt, bristle board, zippers, lace, and whatever else might be useful in this project.

The photo above, is the beginning steps of the book. Keep checking, because I will be posting my progress.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Have Fun with Polymer Clay!

Get Your E-Catalog Here-

Thursday, October 8, 2015

My Experiment with Glass Paint, Pebeo Vitrail





I work with warm glass and I just love to recycle old glass in order to breath life into a totally new object.  Here is an example of one of my recycled glass creations.  This is a "Fall Wreath" with glass leaves.

In order to achieve the desired look of the vibrant, orange and golden-yellow fall leaves, I decided to experience with Pebeo Vitrail Paints.  This type of paint is usually used to achieve a beautiful stained glass effect on canvas, glass or something similar.  I was very excited to try out this type of paint on my glass, and couldn't wait to see what would happen!

I had never used Pebeo paints before.  After getting a few pointers from an experienced painter, I sort of just plunged in...  I am very pleased with the results, to say the least!!

My glass leaves are made of clear glass and so this was a perfect canvas for my experiment.   I used three colors: Clementine, Prisme, Antique Gold and Sun Yellow. 

Notice in the picture, I also experimented on the dark green glass leaves to see if I could achieve the look a a green leaf gradually turning colors.  The result was not as I expected.  I think I would need to play a bit more with this.

I feel like someone just opened a door and introduced me to a whole new world of creative opportunities!!  Wow!!  I have sooo many new ideas!!

Please note that there are different types of Pebeo Paints.  Here is a list of the different ones I have recently learned about:

1.  Pebeo Vitrail (imitates stained glass and you can use this thicker paint as an outliner - this will imitate the lead lines in between your painted pieces. The outliner comes in many different colors).
Note that you can also use this to create stained glass effects on an opaque surface such as a canvas.

2.  Pebeo Vitrea Paints (you can paint dishes and glasses with this type of paint.  In order for it to last daily use and washing, it needs to be baked in the over at 325 degrees F for 40 minutes.  Once you've baked it, according to some, it is extremely durable and may also be added to the dishwasher- I personally have not tried it yet).

3.  Pebeo Setacolor Fabric Paints (according to users, this is the only paint they've tried that dries soft to the touch and that has a beautiful water color effect on fabric).

**Be careful when choosing your paints:  be sure to notice if the paint is Opaque (more like a solid color), or Translucent (you can see through).

I found this wonderful Stained Glass Painting Book with 25 awesome projects-