DIY Projects

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1 attendee $15.00 USD

2 attendees $30.00 USD

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DIY Kids Project: Sweet N' Sour Candy Tart Valentine Pixie Stick Treat

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I thought I would post a quick idea for a fun Valentines Treat. Last year we made homemade Pixie Sweet N' Sour Sticks with natural fruit. This was so much fun for the kiddos. It was a pretty healthy treat compared to alot of the valentines recipes out there too. Dried fruit from Trader Joe's add some sugar if you like and some citric acid and VOILA! Fun, easy and super tasty! Enjoy!

Ingredients for the yumminess:
1 C Sugar
1 t. citric acid (I used more as we liked our zippy - so taste test with the kids - this is a super fun photo op for funny face photos)
1/2 C. freeze-dried fruits of your choice (we used a mix of raspberry, strawberry and blueberry)

Tools you may want on hand:

• spice grinder, coffee grinder or small food processor
• straws
• sheet of paper
• needle nose pliers
• fun cut out printed paper designs, one per straw or have you kiddos design their own creations by hand ( I designed mine but purchased the digital owl on etsy - used a scallop paper punch to get the nifty shape) 
• hot glue gun

This was such an easy-peasy treat. Once we had everything all printed up and cut out it was time to make our sweet tart recipe. We ground the dried fruit in our burr coffee grinder. After all what does a little caffeine hurt, with all this sugar right? 

Then you simply mix up the sugar, citric acid and ground fruit in a bowl. We used a clean, blank sheet of paper to make homemade funnels. Then you simply double fold (two folds) tightly one end of your paper straws  - add a tiny dot of hot glue if you would like to hold it in place. Place funnel in end of straw (over bowl in case of spillage) and kiddos begin pouring. You may want to use a 1/4 Cup measuring cup as a vessel to transport from bowl to funnel for the wee little kiddos attempting this. Fill straw with about a 1" - 1.5" space left at top of straw. Fold top of straw 2 times. We pinched the ends of our straws with a flat needle nose pliers to make sure they were tight folds. 

Once you have all of your straws filled and folded it is time to hot glue on the Paper Decor you created. You can tie on ribbons, add glitter, rhinestones, raffia. The options are endless. Just let the kids have fun with this one.

Hope you enjoy!

DIY Tutorial: Monogrammed Burlap Runner & Sack Cloth Kitchen Towels

{Source: HGTV}

BURLAP

It is showing up everywhere, isn't it? I think it is because of the great texture and inexpensive price. There is also something rustically chic about it too. 

Before the holidays I was looking for some quick, fun, unique and inexpensive craft projects I could make into gifts for friends and family that would also be considered useful.To be honest the more time I spend in Africa the harder it is for me to get excited about making something just to look at. Somehow it tugs on my heart as wasteful. Still, I really like to be creative, I love to do arts and crafts projects. So my search began for something fun, practical and creative. Pinterest is frequently a starting point for me and in my search I was seeing a lot of burlap. I had also been looking to no avail for towels with some charm for my kitchen.

When I stumbled upon many Burlap Table Runner projects they stirred my creative juices and I decided to create another product as well. Personalized Kitchen Sack Cloth Towels. If you have been following my blog you are having an aha moment right about now. Yes, indeed this is the follow up tutorial I promised you all from the Scribbles & Dots: Kids DIY Family Art Project for Gifts post. Here we go...

Lets start with the runner first.

 Monogrammed Burlap Table Runner Project.

Materials you will need:

-Burlap Table Runner Material 
 Burlap table runner as seen below (avail at craft stores or online) It comes in a variety of colors and     widths. So you can pick whichever width / color of burlap you prefer.
-Heat Transfer Iron-on Sheets - available at office supply stores, Walmart. They come in light or dark background - for the burlap table runner and my other DIY project I was planning I chose the light background.
-Iron (no STEAM setting only)
-Scissors
-Computer w/ design program
-Ink Jet Printer

Step 1.  Cut your burlap runner to the length you desire for your table. If you would like to sew under the ends you can - or I frayed the edges by sewing in about 1" from the edge then pulling 5 or 6 burlap strings out leaving the fringe look.

Next I needed to create my designs. I use CorelDraw to design - simply because I grew up in an industry using it over 25 years ago. There are several options for designing - photoshop or whatever you usually use to design with. I also found this amazing FREE Monogram Making site where you can design your own image and colors for FREE. Wedding Chicks has some really cool monogram designs that would be great for Weddings, stationery or home decorating projects.

I decided to create my monograms and my future project, towel designs, at the same time to avoid wasting material. The "N" you see on the right was designed on the Wedding Chicks site.

So once you have your designs ready to go it is time to set up the print page. Make sure you mirror your image either on the screen or within your print instructions. (In other words it will look backwards until you iron it on.)

Finally you are ready to print away. Once printed you will want to trim your image to within a 1/4" of the printed area. Once you design is all trimmed it is time to place it on the desired area and iron it on. (Follow transfer paper directions closely) no matter what brand you have purchased you never want to use steam setting. So make sure your iron is bone dry. 

Let cool briefly and peel. (Again follow directions on transfer paper instructions)

I LOVE the way this one turned out. It was SO EASY and inexpensive. 

I made this table runner a bit long because I knew we would be putting in a leaf for entertaining. 

 I think I have about $10 total in this table runner. Now that is cheap and super fun! Now to place the table decor on top of it! 

Personalized Sack Cloth Kitchen Towel Tutorial

The process is pretty much identical for the Kitchen Flour Sack Dish Towel Project as it was for the Burlap Runner.One of the main differences is you will want to make sure to wash and dry your towels prior to applying your iron-on transfer image. 

You print out your designs onto the heat transfer sheets just as mentioned in the Burlap Runner instructions. Then you want to trim it to the same 1/4" border.

Iron towel to remove wrinkles. Place graphic printed iron-on in place on towel and iron as directed in instructions. Do not slide around.

Cool and peel.

VOILA...

These ended up so cute. I wish I would have had a finished photo for you of the final presentation. My daughter had crocheted colorful cotton dish rags and we wrapped the folded towels, dish rag and a wooden spoon with natural twine for our gift giving presentations. They were charming. 

I wish I would have stumbled on this site before by Blissfully domestic. They have a fabulous post on the many ways to use a sack cloth towel. It would be a fabulous idea to attach a "Ways to use" instruction tag that is cleverly dressed. 

I hope this not only gives you a simple step by step tutorial to follow but that it also inspires you to create a new project of your own. There are so many opportunities to monogram, personalize and BEAUTIFY! 

-Simply Sublime

Mason Jar #1

SNOW GLOBE-aciousness. 

materials needed:

• mason jar & lid
• small artificial tree
• hot glue
• fake snow

This was one easy-peasy craft project. You simply hot glue the base of the tree onto the inside of the canning lid - pour a little fake snow into the glass jar. Place glued tree lid on jar and screw the ring on. VOILA - complete & 

SO STINKING CUTE!

How to Make a FLINTSTONE Cave for 
Trunk or Treat

http://sublime-living.blogspot.com/2012/11/
our-trunk-your-treat-flintstones-style.html#.UJJQfMWHKSo

How to make an

Upcycled Scrabble Pendant

What you will need:

Old Scrabble Game Piece

Paper / Fabric

Acrylic Lacquer (Diamond Glaze or another brand)

Glue-on Bail

E6000 glue

scissors

Items you will need

I also am using a small bead to embellish - see photo below

Trace scrabble size onto desired location of paper.
Pay attention to what you want the pattern to be
on your pendant. 

Trim the paper to just a hair smaller than your scrabble piece.

Notice I am working over a plastic work area - this becomes important during the glazing phase.

Add a line of the glaze on the plain side of the scrabble
piece

Use your trimmed paper to smooth the glaze into a thin, even coating on your scrabble piece. Then place the paper on top. Gently smooth the surface of your paper with your fingers to make sure all bubbles are removed under the paper. If some glaze oozes out the sides simply wipe off. 

Now it is time to add a coat of glaze over the top of  your paper.

Make sure not to have any bubbles. Don't shake the bottle of glaze.

The glaze in now applied.

This is where I like to add an embellishment of some kind. It could be a small pearl, bead, crystal.

I was impatient so I placed the bail under it for this photo - but usually you would wait until the glaze has completely dried to apply your bail. The milky appearance of the glaze will disappear when it is dry...it will be clear.

This is the glue you will want to use to affix the bail to the back of the scrabble piece. It takes about a pea size drop or smaller, depending on the size of your bail.