Thrifty Craft Ideas

No Sew Spring Jacket DIY Idea

05/23/2012 3:00 pm · 3 comments

My daughter has had this white turtle neck hanging in her closet for 2 years now… and she has worn it once for about 20 minutes.  Before she yanked it off and declared it was strangling her.  It was obvious she did NOT like turtle necks, but I could not bring myself to  get rid a a brand new shirt that still fit her.

Weather is a bit crazy here in Idaho, cold one day and hot the next.  We were getting ready for church last week and my daughters spring dress was not enough to keep her warm in the cool spring breeze.  But the only jackets we had were more for play and looked silly with her formal dress. In a last minute desperate move I ran up to her closet, grabbed her turtle neck and a pair of scissors.  With my kids watching as if I had gone totally mad… they watched me cut a brand new shirt right in two.  I had no idea if it would work or not…. but I have to say it looked really nice. The stretchy fabric did not fray either, even after I washed it.

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Make your own lace headband

05/21/2012 11:05 am · 3 comments

Thanks to Living life and loving every second  for this money saving tip on how to make your own lace head band.  Cute, trendy, useful and budget friendly… love it!

If you would like to be a featured guest post on Look What I Made,watch for our weekly post each Tuesday called A Thrifty online craft fair, link up and you may be selected for our weekly feature post.

You will need:

  • Lace (mine was not stretch
  • Jersey Knit
  • Sewing Machine
  • Scissors
  • Elastic

First cut your jersey fabric into a strip about 6 inches wide then fold in half hot dog style and measure around your head then subtract an inch and cut. Sew along the raw edges from end to end and when your finished pull the tube right side out and slide that seam to the middle so it is not visible and flat on one side. Pin and sew the lace on. Final step you will now measure what you have around your head again and figure out the length of elastic you need cut it and tuck it into the opening on both ends and sew shut. VOILA YOUR DONE!

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DIY Flower Pencil ~ Money Saving Craft for kids

05/15/2012 1:00 pm · 0 comments

DIY Pencil Flowers ~ by Tiffany
Here’s an inexpensive craft that you can do with your kiddos. I bought everything you need to make these pencils at the dollar store. I saw sunflower pencils at a craft fair a few years ago. Very simple, with a sunflower and green stem wrapped around the pencil. They looked easy enough and it gave me an idea back then. I wanted to make flower pencils with some spunkiness by adding lots of colors. Who says a flower has to have a green stem, right? Or who says you can’t mix different color petals together for the fun of it?! That’s what makes these fun. Kids aren’t afraid of bright colors, my kids bring out the ”Rainbow Brite” in me when it comes to crafts. If you need a little inspiration with color, call the kiddos, they’ll know just what to do. :)   Wouldn’t these make a cute party favor? I was thinking about tying one with ribbon around a diary for a young girl as a gift. Or you could surprise your little girl by putting one in her back pack with a special note tied to it. For the adults in your life you could switch out the pencil for a pen. I love mine. I feel all cutesy when I write with it. I’m all “Girly girl” what can I say. :)

Flower Pencil DIY1Supplies needed:

  • Pencils or pens (try and find colored or printed ones for a spunkier flower)
  • beads (variety of colors)
  • flowers (your choice and your color)
  • pipe cleaners, variety of colors
Flower Pencil DIY2Directions, Remove the middle of the flower, separate petals.
Flower Pencil DIY4Stack desired colored petals on top of each other (about 4-5).
Flower Pencil DIY5String the colored bead of your choice onto one of the pipe cleaners.Flower Pencil DIY6
Then push the pipe cleaner through the middle part of the flower.
Flower Pencil DIY7 Wind the shorter end of the pipe cleaner around the longer end to secure.
Flower Pencil DIY8Next, wind the rest of the pipe cleaner down around your pencil or pen.Flower Pencil DIY9

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Finger Print Flower and Poem ~ DIY Mother’s Day Card

05/11/2012 10:00 am · 1 comment

I was looking at some old Mother’s Day cards my kids have given me over the years and I came across this finger print flower poem.  I loved it then, and still love it now.  So my girls made a few of them yesterday for a fun after school project.

The poem reads…

I made you a flower

With my finger and my thumb

So you will have these memories

For all the years to come

Happy Mother’s Day 2012

To make these all you need is a white price of card stock cut into a strip, colored paper to make the card, green marker to draw a stem, paints and some cute little fingers.

Have your child dip their finger in green paint to create the leaves.  Then dip their pointer finger in paint to create the flower petals.  I found it was easier for them to follow a circle drawn with pencil.  Attach the poem and you are done!

More Mothers Day Ideas:

DIY Paper Flowers for Mother’s Day

Simple Ideas to make Mother’s Day one she will never forget

Childrens Hand Print Flower Mother’s Day  DIY Card

Simple Mothers Day Card, for all ages

Corner Book Marks ~ Kids Craft for Mother’s Day

Heart Bloom Card DIY

Pot of plants from starts from your yard

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Another way to give flowers for Mothers Day

05/10/2012 2:00 pm · 1 comment

My Mom dropped by yesterday with an early Mothers Day gift for me.  Yes she is sweet and even though she is my Mom, she gives me a gift every year for Mothers Day.  But being that this apple has not fallen to far from the tree… most my Mom’s gifts are frugal, and homemade.  She has been working out in her yard, she had planted Hens and Chicks (a plant that sends lots of new starts each year) when I was just a little girl.  She got them from her own Mother’s yard.  Now 20+ years later she wanted to share some of Grandma’s plants with me.  She potted them up in a little bucket, rocks from one of their trips to the mountains and a bird house she painted.

I loved this personalized gift, make me feel like I have a little piece of my parents yard on my front step.  And did I mention it is SUPER cute and I love it more than any pre-made flower bouquet!  Thanks Mommy I love it!

More Mothers Day Ideas:

DIY Paper Flowers for Mother’s Day

Simple Ideas to make Mother’s Day one she will never forget

Childrens Hand Print Flower Mother’s Day  DIY Card

Simple Mothers Day Card, for all ages

Corner Book Marks ~ Kids Craft for Mother’s Day

Heart Bloom Card DIY

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Simple Mother’s Day Card DIY ~ Heart Bloom Card

05/09/2012 6:00 pm · 0 comments

Once again with our Simple and Frugal Mothers Day ideas… today I am going to show you how to make this ” Heart Bloom Card”.  All you need is 4 colors of pattern paper, scissors, glue and blue and white card stock.

Mothers Day card

First fold and cut your card stock to the size of card you want.  Next cut the blue card stock just smaller than the card front and glue it to the front. Next cut out 8 hearts the exact same size ( 2 of each color).  Fold one of each color in half and glue the fold to the other heart.  Once that has dried glue them onto the card… easy as that you have your very own Heart Bloom card, ready to give to Mom for her special day.

More Mothers Day Ideas:

DIY Paper Flowers for Mother’s Day

Simple Ideas to make Mother’s Day one she will never forget

Childrens Hand Print Flower Mother’s Day  DIY Card

Simple Mothers Day Card, for all ages

Corner Book Marks ~ Kids Craft for Mother’s Day

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Mother’s Day DIY Flowers ~ Kids Craft Ideas

04/29/2012 2:00 pm · 9 comments

With Mother’s Day right around the corner I wanted to share this paper flower craft.  I made these with my little girls and they loved them!

You will need

  • Patterned scrapbook paper (double sided is best)  for 5 circles and a base
  • Glue
  •  Button
  • straw or chop stick ( to use as your flower stem)
  • Circle punch ( I used the 1 1/4 in circle punch) or something round to trace so you can out out circles

You will need to punch out 5 circles out of patterned paper and one larger circle to glue the petals too.  The fun thing about these flowers is you can make them all sizes, big or small.. they are cute all sizes!

Fold you circle in half, then open it back up.

Bring the edge of the circle to the middle line and fold again… do this on both sides.

 Do this to all 5 petals… you may find that you have to fold one a little wider at the end  so the petals all fit in a nice tight circle.

Glue the 5 petals to the larger circle (or square)

 Glue a button or gem into the middle, then tape a straw or chop stick to the back of the flower to create a stem.

This is a thrifty, money saving gift idea that is both fun to make and to give!

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DIY Flower Hair Clips for Under $1 ~ Money Saving Fashion Idea

04/19/2012 10:00 am · 5 comments

DIY Flower hair Clips for under a dollar

Have you seen these cute flower clips and head bands at boutiques and esty pages.  They are cute but rather pricey! So today I am going to show you how to make your very own for under $1.00.  At my daughters 7th birthday party we let the girls make these and take them home.  They had a blast, it as a stylish and “thrifty” party favor!

DIY Flower hair Clips for under a dollar1

(If you are not able to view the video click here)

To make these you will need ( got most the supplies at my local dollar store)

  • Hair clips (came 15 in a package for $1)
  • Stretchy Head Bands (came 6 in a package for $1)
  • Flowers on the stem, but pull them off ( each stem was $1 and gave me 10-30 flower pieces depending on the stem) Make sure you buy a few different sizes and colors.
  • Brads or paper fasteners ( get them at a craft store or office supple store… a few cents each)

DIY Flower hair Clips for under a dollar2

Start off by taking your flowers off the stem, then taking the green packing off and pulling the plastic flower middle out.

Now layer the flowers as you like… you can add as many as you want.  I like to add 5-7 on each, start with the biggest and work you way down to the smallest.

DIY Flower hair Clips for under a dollar4

Take your brad and poke it into the hole in each of the flowers.

DIY Flower hair Clips for under a dollar5

Once you get it threw all the flowers, attach it to the flower clip by spreading the legs apart ( as seen in photo).

DIY Flower hair Clips for under a dollar6

You can now wear it as a clip, or attach it to a stretchy head band.

DIY Flower hair Clips for under a dollar7

You can also take these apart and mix and match them as needed to match your different outfits!

Hope you enjoy these… share this with all your thrifty friends!

They make great gifts for friends or nieces!

DIY Flower hair Clips for under a dollar8

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DIY – Easy Bird Feeders

04/17/2012 3:00 pm · 2 comments

DIY Bird feeder

DIY Bird Feeder by Tiffany – When I was little and in school we made these easy DIY bird feeders. I thought my kiddos ages 3 and 6 were old enough to make them, so we gave it a go. They did a fantastic job and had so much fun making them. After we hung our bird feeders, we sat patiently and watched to see if the birdies would come, and they did! My three year old daughter thought this was the best project EVER! She was even nice enough to bring more empty rolls of toilet paper, wasn’t that sweet?! Yes, she unrolled several rolls before I knew what she was doing. Little stinker! :)

Easy DIY Bird feeder

Supplies Needed:

  • Bird Seed
  • Creamy Peanut Butter (challenge yourself with the crunchy :) ..)
  • Empty Toilet Paper Rolls
  • String, Ribbon or Twine
  • Scissors, for cutting ribbon
How to make a peanut butter bird feeder
1. Put the ribbon through the toilet paper tube and make a knot at the top. (This can be done before or after rolling in peanut butter & bird seed. We’ve done it both ways.)
DIY peanu butter bird feeder
2. Spread peanut butter all over toilet paper tube.How to make a bird feeder

3. Roll peanut butter covered tube in bird seed.
4. Hang in your favorite tree & watch the birdies come. :)

How to make a bird feeder

Thanks Tiffany – hope your lil cutie pie has fun hanging those!

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Shaving Cream Painted Easter Eggs ~ Easy Art Project for Kids

04/07/2012 8:00 am · 1 comment

Matts Mom came to visit this weekend, and she always brings a fun bag of projects to do with my kids.  Yesterdays she told me they were going to make Shaving Cream Art… I could not wrap my head around the project at first.  But it turned out really pretty and my girls loved every second of it.

shaving cream pictures.jpg

Supplies needed

  • Shaving Cream
  • Acrylic paint ( from the craft store)
  • Card stock or other stiff paper cut into an egg shape
  • Window squeegee
  • Shallow pan or plate to put the the shaving cream on
  • Paper towels or wet rag to clean the squeegee after each paper

shaving cream pictures.jpg

 Start by spraying a layer of shaving cream in the bottom of a shallow pan or plate.  Then squirt or drip the paint on top of the shaving cream, place a piece of paper on top and gently rub it to make sure it makes contact with the whole surface.

 Slowly pull it up, it will look like a smeared mess…. but then use a window squeegee to take the shaving cream off.  Underneath you will find a brightly colored fun painted egg.

shaving cream pictures.jpg

This project can be a little messy so make sure you wear your painting clothes!  Have fun !

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