DIY Mason Jar Photo Holder

It's not too late to craft some last minute gifts this Christmas. These Ball jar photo holders come together quick. Seriously, you make four of these in an hour or two. That, and they're cute and can be personalized with photos and gift cards. Win, win, win.

Supplies needed: 4oz mason jar, craft snow, small bottlebrush trees, wire (I used 18 gauge). You'll also need a small nail, hammer, wire cutter, pliers, and hot glue. It'll be helpful to find something round to wind your wire around to help it take shape - I used a thread spool.

(I found the 4oz Ball jars at Walmart and Kroger. They come in a 4-pack.)

Start by creating the photo holder in the lid of the mason jar. Using a small nail, hammer a hole in the center just large enough for the wire to slip through. Create two loops with the wire (twisting around a round object makes this easier). Create a long tail at the end of the wire loop. Thread this through the hole in the lid and then bend a 90-degree angle on the underside of the lid. Use hot glue or similar to secure the wire underneath.

Once your lid is finished, create your winter scene inside the mason jar. Use hot glue to adhere the bottle brush trees and then sprinkle in the craft snow. 

Screw the lid back on and add your photos or cards and you're done! Easy, cute, and personalized!

What last minute crafts are you making?

Happy holiday crafting, DIY'ers!

~julee~

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Candy Filled Paper Mache Eggs

What’s your favorite Easter treat?  I have a firm belief that all Easter eggs should be filled with chocolate.  These cute paper mache Easter eggs can be filled with small chocolates, jelly beans and fun trinkets.
Due the drying time on these, you’ll need to plan accordingly.  However, they have a good getting-your-hands-gooey vibe that kids love.  Plus, you have to rip them open to get to the goods inside.



Supplies Needed:  Water balloons, liquid starch, tissue paper.  Also, candy or trinkets to place inside.
Start by cutting your colored tissue paper into 1 or 2-inch squares.  If you’d like to add polka dots to your eggs, use several sheets of paper at once through a paper punch.



Inflate a balloon to your desired size.  Brush on liquid starch.  Leaving the balloon’s tie uncovered, wrap a solid sheet of tissue paper cut to size around the balloon to give it a solid base.  Brush on the liquid starch as needed to keep the paper on the balloon.  Then, add the squares of paper one by one around the balloon, again, brushing on the starch as needed to keep the paper down.  Do not brush hard or the paper will rip.  You’ll only need enough starch to affix the paper.  The more starch you use, the longer it will take to dry.



Once the paper is fully dry, use a pin to poke the balloon, holding on to the tie as it deflates.  The balloon should pull out easily.  From the hole in the top, cut a small slit in the balloon just large enough to place your treats.  Cover the slit with a small piece of tissue paper, and affix it with the liquid starch. 



To remove the treats inside, the paper on the egg must be torn.  Fun!



Happy Easter crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

Watch the video as I demo how to make paper mache eggs on WDRB in the Morning:

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Egg Carton Easter Chick

A little egg carton chick to hide some chocolate Easter eggs = Cuteness overload.  Seriously.  And while these egg carton Easter chicks are perfect for kids to put together, adults will have just as much fun helping – at least I did.  And the best part of all is that you probably already have all of the supplies needed for this one.




Supplies Needed:  Paper egg carton, yellow paint, tape, colored paper, feathers (optional), black marker.
1) Cut two egg holder pieces (do these have a technical name?) from the carton.  2) Paint.  3)  Attach the two pieces together with a piece of tape to create a hinge.  4)  Use colored paper to make the beak, feet, and wings (or use feathers for wings, as shown).  5)  Draw on a pair of eyes. 6)  Fill with candy and give to your best peep.



Happy Easter crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

Watch the video as I demo how to make recycled egg carton chicks on WDRB in the Morning:

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DIY Valentine Bunting

Creating a sweet Valentine bunting is easy and you’ll only need a few supplies to create your own lovely pennant.  Doilies are the perfect accessory to add romance to your Valentine’s Day décor, but instead of using them directly on the bunting, I’m using the pattern in the doily to create a stencil effect on the paper.  So much more fun to use paint!

Supply list: Cardstock, craft paint, brush/sponge, doily, hole punch, string, embellishments, and glue (optional). 

To make: Cut the cardstock to your preferred size.  Use the doily as a stencil and dab the paint on to the cardstock.  To get clean lines, make sure to dab up and down instead of painting in strokes.  Once the paint dries, affix your embellishments.  My letters had an adhesive backing and were easy to attach.  Make holes in the corners of each flag, and thread your string through.  Next, hang and enjoy!

Happy Valentine crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee

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DIY Matchbox Valentine

I am so very in love with these little matchbox Valentine boxes.  With so many ways to embellish them, I think I could sit and make them all day.  Addicting little guys, and so easy to put together.  Perfect for a sweet treat or tiny love note to your sweetheart. 

To make your own, you’ll need a box of strike anywhere matches, and paper to cover the top of the box.  Then, gather some lovely embellishments.  For these, I used Valentine ribbon and heart decals. 

Cut a strip of decorative paper the same size as the top of your box.  Mine was 2x4.  You don’t have to take the top of the box apart to adhere your decorative paper, but I found that doing so gave a tighter and cleaner fit.  Use a glue stick to adhere your paper to the box top and use the folds in the original box to refold and reglue the box together.  If kids are making these, you can definitely let them make these the easy way and just wrap the paper around the box and glue.  Once that’s done, go crazy with the embellishments.

And I prefer my Valentine’s to come with chocolate.  Who’s with me?

So this is my version of matchbox Valentine’s.  How would you decorate your matchboxes?  If you’re in the Louisville area, you can join the D.I.Y. Louisville group on Sunday, February 2nd where we’ll be decorating these little cuties.  See our Facebook event for more details, pricing, and to RSVP.

Happy Valentine making, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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Easy Kids’ Thanksgiving Table

   

This week on WDRB in the Morning, Craft E Magee and I collaborated to create an easy kids’ Thanksgiving table.  The idea was to create something fuss-free, entertaining for kids, and easy for adults to clean up.

Instead of a traditional tablecloth, Liz used brown kraft paper and set out adorable branch colored pencils so kids could easily draw on the table as they waited for food to be brought out.  At each place setting, she set out mini pumpkin pies, flanked by  a feather name card.  To create the names on the feathers, she used kraft and letter stickers found at Target dollar-spot.  Simple and super cute!

Keeping with the kraft paper theme, we filled small paper bags with Thanksgiving trail mix made by mixing popcorn and candy corn.  We used stamps and bakers twine to decorate ours, but you can also use these as name/place settings.

Finally, we used my Thankful Tree as the table’s centerpiece.  Set out leaves at each place setting for kids to write (or help them write) what they are thankful for this year.  Be sure to add a date on these to keep as mementos each year.

After dinner, you can roll up the kraft paper tablecloth and recycle.  Easy!

You can find more details and photos at craftemagee.com.

Do you create a special table for the kids at your Thanksgiving dinner?  Any additional tips for keeping kids busy while they patiently wait for dinner to be served?

Happy Thanksgiving, DIY’ers!

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DIY Thankful Tree

I have seen many, many versions of thankful trees online lately, and I love them all.  Finding a few bare branches in your yard and placing them in a pretty vase or jar is all it takes to create this personalized décor for your own home.  I used a circular paper punch to create leaves for my tree, but you can also cut leaf shapes from cardstock, or even use silk leaves if you prefer.

This will be perfect as a Thanksgiving table centerpiece and you can have all of your guests add their thanks to the tree.  I especially love to see what kids are thankful for.  My daughter’s thankful list this year included books, light to see, and a bed to sleep in.  Simple gratitudes that we often forget to acknowledge.

What are you thankful for this year?

Happy Thanksgiving, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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Halloween Cheesecloth Ghost Video

Last week I was invited to WDRB in the Morning to demonstrate the Halloween Floating Ghost DIY.  Take a look at the video to see how easy and fun it is to create this friendly ghost for your home. 

First, you need to create a ghost form from a soda bottle, Styrofoam ball, and wire.  Then you’ll need to drape the form with cheesecloth leaving lots of extra fabric on the front and back so that the ghost will stand once it has dried.  Next, generously spray the ghost with liquid starch.  Once it has dried, remove the ghost from the form and create a ghost face from black felt.  Display on any table or hang from the corners of your room.  So simple, and spookily adorable!

Happy Halloween!

~julee~

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DIY Floating Ghost

I saw this DIY Floating Ghost on Pinterest and knew that I immediately needed to make a few to decorate my home.  Even though I had seen several versions of this project on Pinterest, I was still a little skeptical that it would turn out and that the ghost would stand on its own.  Well guess what?  It totally does work and it gives a really cool illusion of a floating ghost!

And now I’m pretty much convinced that all homes need a floating ghost or two as decoration this year – especially if you have kids.  This is an easy project for them to help with, plus the cool factor is off the charts on this one.

To get started you’ll need the following:  Cheese cloth, liquid starch, a spray bottle, black felt, soda bottle, Styrofoam ball, wire.  And a hairdryer if you’re impatient like me.  Everything but the liquid starch and soda bottle can be found at the craft store.  I found the liquid starch at a big box store that wasn’t Target.

I used a 2-liter soda bottle and a large Styrofoam ball for a larger ghost, but you may opt to use a smaller bottle and ball for a small floating ghost.  I filled my bottle with water to keep it weighted.  Remove the bottle label so the ink doesn’t bleed through.  Then, with the cap off, smoosh the Styrofoam ball onto the neck (lip?) of the bottle.  Stick wire pieces into the Styrofoam to create arms.  (Wings?   Floaty apparatuses…?)

Drape the cheesecloth over the form you just created and leave enough excess on the front and back to create a balancing stand for the ghost once you remove it.

If your liquid starch is concentrated, mix it 50/50 with water.  Now cover your work surface, and spray the ghost down.  You might want to sing the Ghostbuster theme song.  Just sayin’.

The more starch you use, the stiffer the ghost.  Use your best judgment, but I got mine pretty saturated.  Don’t forget to spray the excess cheesecloth at the bottom.  While the starch is still wet, you may want to pull out the shape and rework the cheesecloth to get the look you want.  Now, you can either leave it be to dry overnight, or you can use a hairdryer to help speed up the drying process.

Once the ghost is completely dry, remove it from the form.  He should now stand on his own.  But if he doesn’t, place him back on the form, and add a little more starch to the base and let it dry.  Create eyes or face pieces out of black felt and glue them on.

That’s it!  Now your DIY Floating Ghost is ready to haunt your abode.

Happy ghost making, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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DIY Back to School Organizer Video

Remember the cardboard drink holder turned DIY homework caddy tutorial I showed yesterday?  Well, that also happened to be my demonstration project for my WDRB in the Morning segment this week.

Take a look at the video to see how easy this project  is to make.  All you need is a drink holder and chalkboard paint and you’ve got a versatile school supply caddy for your kids to carry to their homework station.  Kids love to paint, so allow them to paint on the chalkboard paint and decorate the carrier themselves.  Doodling on the sides of the carrier will probably distract them from wanting to actually do their homework, but who can blame them?

Craft E Magee and I are the recurring crafting specialists on WDRB in the Morning.  We demonstrate simple and affordable crafts that everyone watching at home can complete.  Our next segment airs on Wednesday, September 11 at 7:45am & 8:15am.  We would love to have you tune in!  If you’re not in the local viewing area, you can catch all of my craft videos on YouTube here, and Craft E Magee’s videos here.

Happy crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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Easy DIY Homework Caddy

One of the most dreaded necessary-evils of going back to school is knowing that homework is now an evening occurrence.  I don’t know how things are in your house, but in my house, homework is almost always a fight.  My kid hates homework.  I hate homework.  And the battle that surrounds homework is just plain ugly.  Every new school year I make changes to help this portion of our day go as smoothly as possible. 

This year, my daughter and I made this easy DIY homework caddy to help her keep all of her homework necessities in one easy to find place.  We do homework at our kitchen table, so I needed something that was easy to transport from its storage spot to our homework spot and back again so that cleanup is fast and easy before dinner.  The handles on this caddy makes that transport easy.  Additionally, we painted the caddy with chalkboard paint so that she could make note of weekly reminders.

Making a DIY homework caddy is inexpensive and easy – all you need is a recycled drink holder.  Mine happens to be made from bottled sodas, but you can also use a drink holder from a carryout eatery as well. 

Here are the easy steps to follow to make your own chalkboard homework caddy:

Supplies needed:  Recycled drink holder, primer (optional), masking or painters tape (if your container has gaps on the bottom), chalkboard paint, brush or sponge.

1)  If your holder has gaps on the bottom, use masking or painters tape to tape it off.  This prohibits your pencils and small items from slipping out.  2)  If you choose, use a primer to cover your holder.  3)  Use your brush or sponge to paint on the chalkboard paint.  If you don’t use a primer, be prepared to paint on extra coats of the chalkboard paint if your holder has a logo or writing.  4)  Let dry.  That’s it!

After your chalkboard paint is dry, you’re ready to write memos and fill your homework caddy with school supplies.  This would also make an awesome art supply caddy!  If you don’t have chalkboard paint on hand, you can always use acrylic paint or spray paint in a fun color and let your kids decorate with stickers or other embellishments.

What is your biggest challenge for getting homework completed at your house, and how do you solve it?  Please share your homework tips in the comments – I would love to know what works for your family!

Happy back-to-school organizing, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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