Simple Easter Craft for Kids

Here is a little craft for Easter that I did with Ellie and Robin today. I was inspired by these Egg Chickens from Martha Stewart, but since we don't eat too many eggs 'round these parts (trying to cut out intake of animal products), I thought we could make some out of paper. I found the egg templates here.

This craft made me happy, too, because we don't color eggs, and I was looking for an alternative project!

Materials:

Card stock

Paper scraps in various colors

Pencil

Scissors

Hole punch

Glue

Instructions: 1. Print out the egg templates from the link above. Cut out the egg shapes. You can transfer the templates onto cardboard to make them sturdy and reusable. (Old file folders work well for this, too.)

2. Trace your template onto cardstock and cut out your egg shapes in various colors and sizes.

3. From paper scraps: cut out orange or yellow triangle shapes for the beaks; punch out black dots with your holepunch for the eyes; and cut out feet and a comb from red paper. (I happen to have a star-shaped punch, so I used it to make the comb and the feet--similar or improvised shapes work fine.) For a decorative chick, cut out a strip of paper to make a stripe for across its body.

4. Glue on the beak, eyes, comb, feet, and stripe.

5. Voila! You are done. You can attach string to the back if you'd like to hang them, or punch holes in them and string them on a garland. They make great gift tags, too.

Happy Easter!

Patchwork, Oz and More

Sorry I've been away for so long. We were in Australia for two weeks, and we had a wonderful time visiting family. Prior to that, I was working like mad trying to meet a number of deadlines. Things are settling down now...

I made this patchwork pouch for a friend in Ohio. Once again, it was inspired by Amy Karol's Artsy Clutch from Bend the Rules Sewing. (Sorry, I know I've mentioned it so many times already, but I love it.)

And, my daughters are really into worms right now. They talk about worms all the time. So, I made them some homemade worms. I like them so much that I'm hoping they'll be an item in my someday Etsy shop. They're very simple to make and fun, too. I've got some patchwork worms in mind for my next batch, so stay tuned!

Patchwork Addiction

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Marian brought me two patchwork squares that she bought at a Denyse Schmidt sample sale a few years ago. I got so inspired that I decided to make them into pillow covers. The squares are the middle of each of the pillows above and below. You can see where I started adding on in the gold and orange fabrics.

But, can I tell you that patchwork is addictive? Once I got started I didn't want to stop! So, I made another pillow cover on my own--below. I just used the fabric that I had, and the new pillow covers really spruced up our bedroom!

Happy Anniversary

My blog is now one year old. I posted my first entry last year on February 28th. My first postings were about Valentine's Day projects, and I showed you a picture of my Origami heart garland. Well, that photo was horrible, so here are some better ones!

I just searched and searched to try to find instructions for this heart on the Web, but I couldn't find anything. I don't think I ever had instructions for this heart, and if I did, I no longer have them--I just keep taking apart old ones to remind myself how to make them. I will continue to try and find the directions. Maybe I will even work up to making a video tutorial for you!

A Christening Card

I can't always make handmade cards, but I try to make as many as I can. I've always loved to make cards--even when I was very young.

Here's a card that I made for my father when I was 6. :)




Here's a picture of a card that I made for a contest in high school. My school used it as their Christmas card that year. Unfortunately all that remains is this photocopy. The original card had red ink printed on white cardstock.

I recently made this christening card for my nephew. I have a punch that is the shape of a postage stamp, and I punched stamps from all of my blue scraps. I used photo squares as adhesive. Simple.

Inspiraton

Here are some things that I do when I'm looking for inspiraton or if I am hankering for a new project, sewing or otherwise...

*I go to Make & Mingle, a local sewing shop in Fairfield. They have so many great fabrics, supplies, project ideas, and more. Looking around this beautiful shop always gets me inspired. You can find them here. (The little vintage bundle above came from Make & Mingle.)

*I go to Joann Fabrics or A.C. Moore and wander around. I don't necessarily buy anything.

*I go thrift shopping.

*I look at my own stash of fabrics and paper and all kinds of scraps.

*I get sewing and craft books out of the library or look at ones that I own.

*I look at back issues of magazines like DIY that I have saved.

*I look at my favorite sites, like Sew, Mama, Sew and The Purl Bee. (Links are on the right side of this blog.)

*I go for a nice, long walk.

What do you do for inspiration? I'd love to hear your ideas.

A Gift from Little Pink House

I just wanted to share a beautiful item with you. I bought these sachets as a gift for a dear friend. I got them here from Melissa Crowe's Etsy shop, Little Pink House. They are really so nicely made--felt flowers appliqued with perfect, tiny stitches onto linen and filled with lavender. A great handmade gift if you are looking for ideas. I love Melissa's work. You can find her blog, Checkout Girl here.