{un}crafty - coffee filter flowers.

we got to host our moms here for mother's day! {read more about it on our family blog here}  

it was a great day to spoil them with a lovely lunch after a pretty amazing church service.  i feel like now that my "baby" is 14 months old, i am finally getting my wits about me again - it was fun to plan and craft!  i tried to make the day special for our moms, so i started planning {and crafting} early.  i wanted to help the kids make something for their nana & baggie, so we went with the flower theme and made some super easy coffee filter flowers and painted glass vases for them to take home with them on mother's day.

{our flower themed mother's day lunch}

supplies you need:

coffee filters

markers

spray bottle with water

straws {or pipe cleaners}

empty and cleaned glass jar

craft paint

 i'm certain we have all seen the method of pour paint into a clean glass jar and swirling it around inside until it is covered...that's what i did here.  i just used some paint left over from other projects.

 then i used some metallic pearl white and gold paint on the end of a pencil eraser to make some random dots around the outside of the jar.  it was easy.  i did the jars while the kids were coloring their coffee filters.  {but kids could totally do the paint in a jar thing - easy and fun!}

just scribble around on the coffee filter until its pretty much covered.  it doesn't have to be all colored in {although my very thorough 5 year old made sure to cover every inch} because when you spray with water, the colors with bleed.

once the coffee filters are colored in, spray with water and let them sit to dry {i set our on paper towels in the kitchen while the dried}.  then to add stems, fold your filter in quarters and either glue the tip into a straw {striped paper straws would be so cute!} or wrap with a pipe cleaner.

 this is such a quick and easy project! {and no mess!}  the flowers are so fun because each is so unique.  i think this would make a cute teacher gift too {maybe add a little gift card to their favorite lunch or coffee spot}.

happy {un}crafting!

{un}crafty - no sew fabric strip garland.

here we go: another super easy, no skill required, fun little craft for you!

i made this fabric garland to hang in our toy room 

{this is a live action shot from a sick day at our house - "Dolphin Tale" anyone?}

its fun, festive, and so easy to make.

supplies you need:

rotary cutter & cutting mat {or just a plain old scissors!}

ruler

fabric scraps {anything will do}

ribbon

i had some cloth napkins in bright colors that were screaming for a re-purpose, so i finally decided to do this craft.  i followed some advice from Joy's Hope blog to get me started.

i started by ironing out the napkins.  then i used a rotary cutter and mat to measure and cut.  i measured 1x18 inch strips and cut accordingly.  it was a lot of cutting!  i think the strips could be longer if your fabric allows - my tassels ended up being pretty short once they were tied on.

i lined up all the fabric strips and got out my ribbon.  

i followed a pattern, but random would be really cute, too!

to tie the strips onto/around your ribbon, i followed the steps shown above.  

kind-of a loop, more than a traditional tie.

i just kept going until i had a length long enough for the wall i intended the garland to hang on.  i used command strips to hold the banner up and we like it!

i'm thinking of making another for my living room using an old tablecloth, some burlap, and ribbon...

happy {un}crafting!

{un}crafty - faux metal letters.

of course we have all seen anthropolgie's metal letters that are awesome.  but i was looking for a cheaper way to make metal letters in my boys' room.  i had previously covered letters in scrapbook paper for my oldest son's room in our other house.  but i wanted something more modern and more boyish for this room.  so, i set out to fine a way...

forgive me, but i found this idea somewhere online.  i have no idea where.  if you google "faux metal painted letters" you will find a million tutorials.

just a reminder: the crafts you find here don't require any artistic skill or crazy tools to complete.  just a little patience and some post-bedtime minutes {and a glass of wine...ok that's up to you}.

supplies you need:

paper mache/cardboard letters {joann's has sales or use a coupon}

black craft paint

silver craft paint

foam brush

 paint your letters black and let them dry.

then brush silver over the black running your foam brush in all directions.  you can't even mess it up, just brush like crazy with the silver paint until you have covered all the black.

this whole project took only a part of one evening for me.  i had 12 letters to paint and it was super quick.  one coat of black, then by the time i was done with all 12 letters, the first were ready for a crazy coat of silver.  i hung them up using 3M command velcro strips - easy!

your letters will look like galvanized steel.  voila.

happy {un}crafting!

{un}crafty - fabric flower pom poms.

every craft you see her is do-able by everybody.  no skill or special tool needed {just patience and a little me-time}.  this is the tutorial i followed to make the pom poms in my sweet little daughter's room.

i call it a nursery, but i hope she loves the room for a long time!  after my best friend, mollie, and i completed these poms poms {long hours and late nights pre-baby!}, i joked that eden has to have these somewhere at her wedding.  kidding-not-kidding.

supplies you need:

paper lanterns, styrofoam balls, or anything else that you want to use for your pom pom {consider size and shape when you choose your object}

fabric {iron our your fabric - doesn't have to be perfect}

scissors

circle pattern {trace a circle on a cereal box or piece of cardstock}

pencil

hot glue gun 

iron

use your circle pattern, trace with a pencil, cut out with a scissors...just keep going.

then glue those circle to the lantern over and over again until you get the finished product!

mine were originally paper lanterns with a wire in the top, so i tied ribbons on and hung them from hooks in the ceiling.

happy {un}crafting!

*photo credits: mollybaileyphotography.com

(Un)Crafty - T-Shirt Scarf

I am not a Black Friday shopper, so on the day after Thanksgiving, my sister and I decided to do a few projects.  She was more ambitious than me and made some cute glittered votives, but I just came away with this super easy to make t-shirt scarf.  

We bought XL size cotton t-shirts and used my mom's rotary cutter and mat. 

 Step 1: Cut off the bottom hem.

 Step 2: cut off the top of the shirt from right under the sleeves.  Then you are left with a tube.

 Step 3: Measure and cut into strips.  I did about 1-inch strips.

 Leave about one inch (or more) of the tube uncut at the top - this will be how your loops stay connected.

 Step 4: Stretch our each loop - this will cause the cotton to curl.

Voila!  Ours are bug enough to double up around your neck and are pretty cute!  I'm thinking of making more...it took up only about 10 minutes!

(Un)Crafty - Christmas Countdown

Happy December!  Can you believe it?  The fall was beautiful and it went by so fast!  We are busy: still moving into our new house and preparing for our new baby who will join our family in just three short months!

Since today is the first day of December, it was the first day to put our Christmas Countdown, or Advent Calendar, to use!  The boys were so excited when they woke up!  Of course, they would love to go through each day this morning and enjoy all the fun and treats.  Waiting each day will be the hard part!

With our life circumstances feeling super crazy, this is an especially (un)crafty project!  I pulled out all the Christmas and winter-themed books (about 40 in total - whoa!) and wrote the titles on popsicle sticks.  The sticks fit well in the felt calendar I made a couple years ago.

 This project took over the dining room table for a couple days.  

 I wrote the titles on each stick, leaving room at the end for a treat!

 Then I wrapped up all the books in some wrapping paper from the Target $1 Spot.  I used 4 rolls to wrap all the books.  Each book is numbered so when the boys take the sticks out of the "December 3" pocket, they can find the books with a "3" in the basket under the tree.

Most days have two books, which is perfect for two kids.  They each get to pull out a stick, have a treat, and open a wrapped book.  Do you have any great advent calendar ideas?  You can find some seriously crafty calendars at Hi Sugarplum's link party.

(Un)Crafty - Silhouettes

Last fall I started to notice the trend to have silhouettes of everything...especially your kids.  But, any silhouette: from a vintage chair, to the eiffel tower is an easy statement to make in any room.  Take a look around blogland and you will find zillions of them!  Or, take a look around Etsy and you will find a million versions of signs, frames, and artwork featuring silhouettes.

Naturally, I decided to venture out and see what it takes to make a silhouette.  I have no fancy computer skills, no fancy cutting machines, no photography background.  So, if I am going to make something (I'm UNcrafty, remember??), its gotta be easy to do, cheap, and fast.

I was surprised to find that silhouettes are so easy!  I found Emily's tutorial here and decided to give it a go.  *Admittedly, this project was done a loooooong time ago.  In fact, it was done the same stormy weekend as this and this.  I had the photos but never remembered to post about this project until our friends were over for a playdate yesterday and said, "Where did you have the silhouettes done?"  Ha!  Here it is, Shelly...the easy crafty project.  :)

The first step is to get a profile photo of your kiddos (or whatever your subject may be).  This is the trickiest part because those kids don't want to sit still!  I had them sit in a chair and snapped a few quick photos, then uploaded them and enlarged them.  I have my photos printed at Target, but you could just print them out on computer paper.  Quality will not matter for this project.

Supplies:

1. profile photos

2. black craft paint ($0.49 at Michaels!)

3. foam brush

4. newspaper

5. white tagboard

6. frame

7. scissors

Cut out your child's profile, but don't worry about being too perfect.  The larger the profile, the easier, but small silhouettes sure are cute!  Mine were big to fit an 11x14 frame.  I cut them out carefully and then just started painting.  It took several coats of the paint to make the photos really evenly covered.

Once I had the photos covered well, I let them dry and then cut a piece of white tagboard (matte side facing up) and just glued the silhouette to the tagboard.  Then, frame the tagboard and VOILA!  Your very own silhouette!  Can you even believe its that easy?!

Ours found a home on this wall in our family room.

I've since added more frames to make this a gallery wall of family photos.  The silhouettes add a nice touch!

Happy crafting!

(Un)Crafty - Lamp Shade Redo

The lamps in my house have had many lives.  I think lamps are expensive and hard to choose.  All of my lamps have come from clearance somewhere and have then been given some sort of fix-it treatment or makeover.  The lamp in our living room is the latest revamp.  I painted the base with a spray primer and then a classic gray gloss coat.  Next, all I had to do was recover the shade.  I followed Alissa's tutorial for covering a lampshade.  It was easy and turned out so great that now I want to recover every single lamp in the house!

It started with my shade - in terrible condition from many-a-redo - and just enough fabric.

My crafty sister helped me because she has done lamps in her house, too.  We traced the shade on paper, then used that as a pattern to cut the fabric.

We used this spray adhesive to stick the fabric to the shade.  It was so easy!  We sprayed the fabric with the adhesive, then just smoothed it over the shade.  Seriously easy.

I trimmed the edges down.  Then I took the hot glue gun to the edges to fold them over nice and tight.

The final step for me was to add this bias tape (available in every color!) as a detail around the top and bottom edges.  This is totally optional.  I just used fabric tape (called Res-Q Tape) - a double sided tape especially for fabric from JoAnn's to stick the tape to the shade.

Here you can see the detail of the bias tape.

The finished product.

I am so happy with the new life this has given my super old super cheap lamp.

And she looks pretty in my living room!  Hooray!