Recycling crafts – Page 5 – Our Beautifully Messy House

DIY Heart Wreath

January 14, 2015January 12, 2016 Porter Leave a comment

I’m so glad I dreamt this HEART WREATH up last night…it’s that time of year when your Christmas wreath needs to come down off the front door, but it’s not quite time for your Spring wreath to go up. This HEART WREATH is cute, simple, sweet and perfect to get us through the months of January and February!

Materials needed:

wire coat hanger
fabric scraps
scissors
pliers
ribbon

First, untwist the coat hanger apart. It’s easiest to do this part with your hands, holding the top of the hanger in one hand and untwisting it from below with the other.

Once the hanger comes apart, try to smooth out some of the bends. Gently fold the hanger in half as well.

Next, bend the hanger into a heart shape, looping the ends together with the pliers. It’s okay if your heart isn’t perfect…the fabric scraps will hide any blemishes.

Once you are satisfied with your wire heart, it’s time to cut some fabric strips. Each strip should be about 1-1.5 inches wide and 5-7 inches long. They do not all have to be the exact same length!

Now to assemble your wreath…simply knot the fabric strips around the wire. Pull each knot taut and, every once in a while, push the knots down so you can squeeze on as many fabric strips as possible.

If the fabric you’re using is blank on the underside, simply fold it in half before knotting.

Once your heart wreath is made, use a ribbon to hang it on your front door! So sweet!!!

This wreath would also be beautiful hanging inside in a kitchen window or on a wall! Enjoy!!! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Winter Shelter for Strays

January 12, 2015September 27, 2015 Porter 3 Comments

Though we don’t own any furry pets ourselves, our neighborhood seems to have its own little cat community. On any given day we may have up to 5 or 6 cats playing in our yard, hiding under our front porch or napping beneath our Little Free Library. Some of the cats have collars and tags, though quite a few do not. With the temperatures dropping well below freezing, L and I decided to make a warm place for our kitty friends to rest.

Materials needed:

styrofoam cooler (found at your local grocery store)
knife
paints (optional)
old towels or bedding
tape

First, remove the lid and turn the cooler over. Using a knife, cut a small doorway for the cats to go in and out. Next, paint the cooler whatever snazzy way you like!

Once the paint is dry, fold up some old towels or bedding (we cut up an old mattress pad) and place it inside the lid.

Put the cooler on top of the lid and tape it in place.

(My friend Helen takes this project a step further…she places the styrofoam cooler inside a plastic rubbermaid-like box with a hole cut out and layers hay in between! Extra warm and cozy!)

Now for the final step, find a safe place near your home to put your WINTER SHELTER FOR STRAYS, preferably up against a building and out of the wind.

We put our Winter Shelter in our backyard where we often see cats passing through and, an extra bonus, we can see the shelter from our kitchen window. I know L will be watching for her feline friends first thing every morning! She was so proud today knowing she was helping others!

Sock Puppets

January 4, 2015September 27, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

This craft is as old and simple as they come, but so much fun!!! We often forget about SOCK PUPPETS, though I’m sure most of us played with them as kids! L and I made these sock puppets last week to give away as party favors at our girls’ birthday party. We made two for each kid and they were a big hit!

Materials:

socks
buttons, googlie eyes, sequins, felt, pompoms, bells…
hot glue gun and glue

First, empty your sock drawer! Your kids will love this step, digging and swimming through your socks. Pick out a few pairs that you don’t wear…it’s definitely a bonus if they’re bright and colorful, but plain ol’ white socks work just as well.

Next, decorate! We made unicorns, dogs and million-eyed monsters this time around! Get creative and have fun! It’s nearly impossible to mess this one up!

A fun craft to follow this one, especially with older kids, is decorating some cardboard for a backdrop and putting on a sock puppet play! So much fun!!!

Shimmery Snowflakes

December 12, 2014December 3, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

Another fun winter craft for you and your lil ones…SHIMMERY SNOWFLAKES! I love “winter” crafts because they can stay up to decorate our house a couple months longer than the “Christmas” ones. Plus, it’s nice to share ideas that everyone can do this time of year, not just families that celebrate Christmas.

I first saw similar snowflakes in the Parents magazine a year or two ago…I knew one day, when L was a bit older, we’d have to make them! So glad that day finally came…these snowflakes sparkle and twirl in our kitchen window when the sun shines in on them. So sweet!

Materials needed:

wagon wheel pasta
hot glue gun and glue
white paint
Elmer’s glue
glitter
ribbon

First, brainstorm a little bit by playing with the wagon wheel pasta. Arrange it into snowflake shapes until you find something you like.

Next, using the hot glue gun, assemble your snowflakes. You could use Elmer’s glue for this step, but I just love how quick and easy the hot glue gun is!

After the snowflakes have been glued together, time to paint! Paint both sides of the snowflakes. If the holes get filled in just blow the paint out or use a tooth pick to poke the paint through.

Acrylic paint dries pretty quickly. Once you and the kids are done painting the last snowflake, the first one will probably be dry enough to add the glitter. First, paint a thin, messy layer of Elmer’s glue on the snowflake. Then, sprinkle with glitter! Allow to dry for an hour or so.

Thread some pretty ribbon through the one of the snowflake holes and hang the SHIMMERY PASTA SNOWFLAKES up in a place where all can enjoy! Happy crafting!

DIY Soap Crayons

December 9, 2014October 22, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

Here’s another fun craft for your kids to help make and to play with…L had a ball with her DIY SOAP CRAYONS! They’re a little different than the bath crayons you’ll find at the store…these ones wash off the bath and shower walls easily with water. L likes to color with these ones in the shower before I turn the water on, then she makes a nice soapy, colorful mess once the water is on. They’re fun for coloring on your skin too…just add warm water and it washes right off!

Materials needed:

bar of white soap
cheese grater
food coloring
2 to 4 tablespoons hot water
fork and spoon
ice cube tray, muffin tin, paper cups or candy mold

First, grate the bar of soap into a large bowl. Grate the entire bar, making about 2 cups of soap shavings.

Add 2-4 tablespoons of hot tap water to the soap and mix-mash with a fork or spoon. Continue mixing until the soap has formed a semi-liquid consistency without any big lumps.

Spoon the soap into your molds. Add about 5 drops of food coloring to each one and mix carefully with a spoon. We found that a baby spoon worked great for this step!

Once your soap crayons are all mixed and colorful, carefully push the soap down evenly into the molds. Set them aside to dry for a full week.

After a week has passed and the crayons have hardened, carefully turn the molds over and pop the crayons out. If their underside is still a little soft, let them finish drying for a few more hours.

(We saved all the little colorful crumbs too…added to a bubble bath or some shaving cream, they will make a beautiful rainbow mess!)

Now for the fun part…time to color and play with your own homemade soap crayons!!! Enjoy!!!

DIY Vintage Postcard Christmas Garland

December 1, 2014September 28, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

Anybody that’s been to our house knows that I love garlands and the Christmas season is just another excuse for me to make and display more! Our POSTCARD CHRISTMAS GARLANDS are some of the quickest and easiest to make, plus they add a lot of character to the room. We have two postcard garlands in our house…one hangs across a wide doorway and the other under a mantel…both are made a little differently.

The first VINTAGE POSTCARD GARLAND is one that I made new this year. I found a huge collection of postcards at a local antique store a couple weeks ago and knew that I had to do something with them. I carefully went through the postcards, all from the early 1900s, and picked out some of my favorites…some I chose because of the bright and colorful picture on the front and others because of the endearing (or humorous) message written on the back.

Since these postcards were old I didn’t want to damage them in any way, so I decided to clip them to a vintage-looking string with mini-clothespins. It was that easy. You can add an old ornament or a prism, as we did, in the middle as well. I just love ours!

The second POSTCARD GARLAND is one that I made a few years ago out of new, but old looking postcards. Have you ever read any of the “Flower Fairy” books by Cicely Mary Barker? The illustrations are just beautiful!

I once found these postcards with the “Flower Fairies” depicted on them and knew it’d be perfect for a garland. No, these fairies aren’t necessarily Christmassy, but I like things a little different, a little unpredictable. This garland celebrates all things magical about the Christmas season. To make this garland, I punched holes in the tops of the postcards and strung them up. On the ends I tied a few strips of fabric, just some scraps out of my scrap pile. And that’s it! Simple, but definitely cute and fun!

Enjoy!

3 Secrets for Decorating Your Christmas Tree

November 30, 2014November 18, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

I always feel like our Christmas tree is a miniature version of the one I grew up with…I’m sure as our ornament collection grows over the years, so will our tree. Many of our ornaments are ones that hung on my family’s tree when I was a kid and hold such special memories to me. Isn’t that one of the best, yet bittersweet parts of Christmas…all those memories? The exciting thing is that now we have the chance to make memories with our own children…some new and some borrowed from our own childhoods. I feel like our Christmas tree is just that!

Popcorn Garland

My parents’ Christmas tree still dons the garland my brothers, sisters and I made when we were kids some 20-30 years ago. If you make it right and store it well, it will obviously last a very long time.

One of the most important tips is using plain popcorn, popped in a hot air popcorn machine. Also, if you plan ahead and have the time, letting your popcorn sit overnight and become slightly stale helps in stringing it…it won’t break as easily. To string the popcorn just use a piece of thread (or dental floss) and a sewing needle. You don’t have to make one super long string at once, make 4 or 5 foot long ones and tie them together.

When storing the popcorn, first start by adding a bright ribbon to both ends of your garland. That will make finding the end easier next year. Find a medium-large container and coil it around inside the container, much like you do a garden hose. We use a plastic tupperware-like container, but a large popcorn tin works very well too.

Tree Skirt

If you’re like me and like a homey, vintage looking tree skirt you don’t have to look far. I bought this cheap Christmas blanket one year at a thrift store and we wrap and fold it around the bottom of our tree. I do wish it was actually a quilt and not a look-alike-quilt, but nobody would ever know the difference and it achieves the look I’m going for. You could do the same with a table cloth or any large piece of fabric.

Tree Topper

Don’t be afraid to use a non-traditional tree topper. I love decorating for Christmas, but even more I love adding magical little twists to our decorations…keeping things unpredictable and slightly quirky. I found this glittery butterfly clip at a local floral shop years ago and attached some florist wire to the back to help secure it to the tree. So much fun!

Happy decorating everyone!

DIY No-Sew Rag Garland

November 24, 2014November 23, 2015 Porter 3 Comments

Out of all the garlands I’ve made over the years, the RAG GARLAND has always been my favorite! It’s bright, colorful, super-easy to make and it looks fantastic inside or outside, day and night!

The RAG GARLAND is fun for the holidays, but can be made and used for any time of the year. I put ours up for Christmas, but I didn’t make the color scheme ultra-Christmassy…I love color and can’t seem to limit myself to just red and green! The best place to find cheap and funky fabric is at antique stores, thrift stores or flea markets…any leftovers can be used to make lil rag tag skirts or tutus for your little ones.

Materials needed:

fabric
scissors
string of lights

First, cut your fabric into strips about 2 inches wide and about 12 inches long.

Next, tie each fabric strip around the string of lights with a single, basic knot. If the fabric is blank on the underside, just fold the fabric over before knotting it. Repeat until the string of lights is covered.

This is a garland we made for Steamys, a local coffee shop/book store/gift shop in town. We used vintage fabrics to make it extra funky!

Happy garland making!!!

Sensory Bottles for Baby

November 19, 2014September 28, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

I’ve made sensory bottles for L before, filled with colored water, glue and glitter or colored water and oil, but I don’t know why we never made SENSORY BOTTLES FOR BABIES until now. Babies and toddlers both love them!

The water-filled bottles are fun to look at, but too heavy for WB to really handle safely. Making these SENSORY BOTTLES FOR BABIES was a terrific tactile activity for L, and WB seems to love shaking and playing with the bottles. Not only are they fun to play with around the house and in the car, but sensory bottles make great bath toys too!

Materials needed:

small, plastic bottles with lids
any of the following: pom-poms, feathers, sequins, straws, ribbon, cereal, dyed rice, etc.
glue

Making the bottles is pretty self-explanatory… Remove the label from the bottle. Fill with small, colorful items. Glue the lid shut.

As always, never leave infants unattended with toys, especially if it includes small items. You can never be too safe! Enjoy!!!

Have you seen our DIY Baby Play Area yet??? These bottles would be a great addition!

Gnome Village Advent Calendar

November 17, 2014September 28, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

I’m so super-excited about our GNOME VILLAGE ADVENT CALENDAR this year! Starting on the 1st of December the kids will lift up a gnome home each day…the house numbers will correspond with the day. Underneath each house will be a little surprise: a hershey kiss, a candy cane, a miniature ornament for the tree, or a special message. The “special messages” may include,

“Make cookies for a neighbor.”
“Make Christmas cards for friends and family.”
“Leave little notes written in chalk around the neighborhood.”
“Make a Gingerbread House today!”

Making the GNOME VILLAGE was a little time consuming, but very easy to make. You could always make your gnome houses very simply with a standard door, windows and house number and they’d look just as cute! Just mix up the colors for some variations!

Materials needed:

mulit-colored card stock (or you could use toilet paper rolls)
doilies
markers and/or paint
glitter
Elmer’s glue
hot glue gun
sequins, stickers, etc (optional)

First, cut the card stock in half horizontally, then take about 3 inches off the end. I like using card stock instead of regular construction paper because it doesn’t fade as easily and it’s sturdier. I’m hoping to use our GNOME VILLAGE year after year!

After your paper is cut, it’s time to decorate! We decorated some of our gnome houses with markers, some with paint and embellished them with sequins, jewels and glitter. Have fun and be creative! They certainly don’t all have to be Christmas-y, just colorful!

Once the houses have been colored and painted, shape the paper into little tubes and use a hot glue gun to secure them in place.

To make the gnome house roofs, make a cut to the center of a doily. (I actually used two doilies stacked for a sturdier roof.) Overlap the ends and glue into place…should make a little rooftop-cone.

To add snow to the roofs, very gently roll each roof in Elmer’s glue and then sprinkle with glitter. This was definitely L’s favorite part!

Using the hot glue gun again, attach each rooftop to a house. All done! Pretty easy, huh?

We plan to display our GNOME VILLAGE ADVENT CALENDAR on one of our mantels this year…with a little snow, mini-pine trees, and a few gnomes it will surely become one of our favorite Christmas decorations for years to come! So. Much. Fun! Enjoy!