Super Hero Capes

2014 started off full of ambition.  I vowed to start home-made Christmas gifts early in the year.  I had seen tutorials on pinterest on how to sew super hero capes and thought they would make great gifts for all my nephews and even my own kids.  I said to myself...I could make one a month till Christmas and be done early. Oh how quickly life happened and motivation wore off!  Fast forward three weeks before Christmas and I was frantically sewing capes. Is this crazy?  Yes, probably  but they still managed to be completed with some help and simplification.  Plus, I got to spend some extra time with my Mom which was super fun!

Here is the tutorial I used to get the general idea. There are three things I modified from this tutorial. First, I used jersey fabric instead of satin.  The jersey had a good flow to it and was a little less flashy which was what I wanted.  Second, I did not put a lining on the capes (the less fabric to work with the better for me).  The third thing was, instead of doing tabs I did collars which proved to be the most challenging part of this project.  I had to have "Mom to the rescue" to help me figure out what I did wrong a few times when sewing the collars on.   

When it came to personalizing the capes I used my Cricut to cut the letters with the iron on adhesive which made things go so smoothly.  The lightening bolt was clip art made as big as could fit on an & 8 1/2x11 sheet of paper.  I really like how they turned out and the kids seemed to enjoy them as well. I highly recommend doing this project for all those super kids in your life!  Maybe 2015 will be my year to start things earlier.  

  

Sweet Heart Craft

We recently moved and our new home has a fireplace.  Since we were moving through the Christmas season, we didn't put any decorations up.  Now that we are more settled into our new home, it is high time we decorate that mantle!

This project was great because it could be as simple or as complicated as we wanted (cause some days I just don't have the energy for big complicated projects--this was not one of those days).

The first step for us was to decorate the scrap paper.  I will be honest, my scrapbook paper collection is pretty pathetic.  I tried scrapbooking for about 5 minutes in college.  I quickly decided after paper cuts, glue all over my fingers, and wrinkly scrapbook pages that it wasn't my thing.  I have the same 50 page pack from 10 years ago that we are using for this project.  If you by chance have Valentine themed paper, you can skip this step.  My daughter (age 6 1/2) would not think a craft project is complete without some pink paint and glitter.

Next, make a template of a heart.  We traced the template and cut out 18 hearts (you will need 3 hearts for each completed heart).

If you want to get fancy you can cut out extra smaller hearts and sew them down the middle.  This step is totally unnecessary, but we did it anyway cause we wanted this craft to take us all afternoon.  I lengthen my stitch to the longest stitch my machine can do, before I sew on paper.

Lay out your three hearts, and take a deep breath.  The next part is not really hard, you just have to follow the steps, in the picture below.

Make sense?  3 hearts merge into one 3 dimensional heart.  If your hearts are not perfectly lined up, nows the time to trim the edges.  

Next, you can hole punch through the top (I was still unpacking and had not got to the box with the hole punch, so snipping a small hole with scissors works just as well).

Add the string, and add some beads or buttons. 

Hang those pretty hearts up for Valentine's.

What crafts are you doing with your kids this week? 

My Project vs. The Pinterest Project

I pinned this no-sew zipper case to my pinterest page last week because it looked easy.  Of course, it did.

My idea was to use up all of my water bottles and make containers for my boys' legos.  Easy!  Genius!  I was congratulating myself and patting myself on the back.  And I was looking forward to sharing my results on the blog....

After 30 minutes and 2 tries, I had this:

It wasn't very pretty.  The zipper was crooked.  The glue clearly visible.  And it wasn't easy for my 4 year old to open and close it.  However.  She loved it as proven by the quote at the beginning of this post.  And we sat down and drew a couple of pictures.

Clearly, I'm an artist.  ha.  I have 30 years of "artistic practice" on the girl but I really love her whale picture better.

Lesson:  Attempt those pinterest projects if it is fun for you.  And even if you're dissatisfied, most kids will be happy that you made something for them and, more importantly, with them.

It's Snowing, Now What?

 

This seems to be a popular post on many blogs this time of year, but I thought I would post it anyways for anyone trying to figure out some fun activities to do with your kids this time of year.  When it snows, think ice cream! :)

 

Here is your recipe:

 

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk

4-6 cups of fresh show

 

Mix the sugar, vanilla and milk until the sugar is dissolved.  Then go out and get your snow.  It will melt fast so be ready to go.  Mix in the sugar and put in bowls ready to eat. Enjoy!! My kids sure loved it! :)

Easy and Inexpensive Change of Art

So this holiday season was such a blur.  We went straights from Thanksgiving into Christmas and to be honest I wasn't quite prepared this year.  Usually I am "gun-ho" on getting Christmas decor out and looking nice early on but this year crept up on me and I found myself doing my decorating maybe a week before the actual holiday. I'm always on the lookout for simple inexpensive decorating ideas. I have three super simple ideas to dress up your walls with things you already have at home. The first idea came to me while we were at our yearly visit to Coney Isand.  The nostalgic photographs that hung on their walls were dressed up for the holiday by wrapping them in Christmas paper. Easy peasy.  So I did the same to our canvas wall decor in the entry.

While doing some holiday shopping I came across one super cute canvas art piece.  While it would have went well with our decor in our living room I wasn't willing to pay the price.  I had some extra frames just sitting upstairs at home so I put them to work and made my own version.  I used my cricut to cut out the letters but you wouldn't need a cricut, you could print them on the computer just as well and cut them out.  I made the "O" to look like an ornament and glued a bow on top.

The third piece of art was a combo between the two above.  I used wrapping paper as a backing and cut the word "peace" out of glittery cardstock. 

I love how simple these were and it cost me nothing because I already had the items at home. All three only took one evening to complete. I am looking forward to using some spring flower wrapping paper to dress up the frames later in the year. What kinds of simple things do you do to re-decorate your home?

Leave Us A Comment

Good Morning Mama,
How are you doing on this frigid day?  How is 2015 treating you?

I think this new year is the perfect time to sit down with you and have a little chat.  So, grab your coffee and get cozy.

I think I can speak for all of us Mama Together bloggers, when I say this.

We see those stats.

We know you are out there.  We also know that you are a little quiet.  Generally speaking, you read what we have to say and go about your day without much feedback for us.

So, we would like to know....what would you like to see more of in 2015?

I know, that for me, 2015 is starting off big.  My husband and I bought our first home, so there are lots (and lots) of projects to work on.  Any interest in those types of posts?

Then there is the ever changing homeschool.  Lately, we have been doing 'unschooling' and 'strewing' any interests out there in hearing about school projects?

 How about some organizing ideas?  I seem to be in over my head with things that need to be organized, streamlined, and tweaked to run more smoothly.  Any interest in that?

And finally, Crafts.  We do a lot of them around here.  Kid crafts in particular.  What do you think of the crafts?  Like them?  Hate them?  Want to see more things you can make, rather than things to make with your kids?

Leave us a comment.  Let us know what you think.  We do monitor the comments before they post, does that make commenting on our posts difficult?  Is there a way we can streamline the process for you?
  What would you like to see more of?  We are just dying to hear from you :)

What to do with those Christmas Cards and Photos?

What do you do with all of your Christmas cards and photos?  Need an idea?  I have one for you!

 

I was lounging around on one of those "lazy post-Christmas every one is still on break I don't want to do anything but flip through the tv channels kind of days" when I saw this neat idea on a morning news show.  I decided that it was easy/doable/my kids would love it and it would be better than shoving all of the christmas cards and photos in a drawer like I did last year because I felt bad for throwing them away.

Christmas cards turn into tags for next year.  Draw some lines and cut.  Easy peasy.

Before:

After:

Christmas photos become puzzles.   

Please do not be offended that I cut up your faces.  My kids loved this and talk about which family was easier to put back together.  I give you permission to cut up my family and put us back together again.

Before:

Hello Lisa and your beautiful family!

Middle:

After:

There were 3 different puzzles in the pile.  They were each finding their own pieces.

DIY Sentimental Ornaments

Each year, we have a tradition of adding an ornament to our Christmas tree that has sentimental value in our family.  Something we can look at and remind of us a wonderful memory from that year such as our wedding, pregnancy, birth of a child, pet or family vacation.  In 2014, we took a trip to Grand Haven, MI during the summer and while we were there, I checked various shops for an ornament to add to our tree, but struck out in finding one.  My kids loved searching for and finding shells on the beach and we had quite the collection along with a little sand we brought back with us in the kids' sand toys, so I decided to make our own to remember our vacation for years to come.

 

 

I purchased a ornament at JoAnn's fabric while it was on sale and pulled out our shells and sand from our trip.

 

 

Regular permanent marker would rub off, so I purchased a special painters pen from Walmart to write on the ornament.

 

 

On one side, I wrote Grand Haven, MI and on the opposite side I wrote 2014 for the year of our trip. I waited overnight to handle it to make sure it was completely dry.

 

My kids loved hanging the new ornament on our tree this past Christmas and it will be one we fondly look back on each year as we pull it out and remember our family vacation. 

 

What special things do you do to remember some of your most precious moments in your family?

Winter Wonderland

***Throughout the month of December, the Mamas Together team is taking a break from our regular posts.  While we won't be posting our usual tutorial/crafts/etc. posts, we will be posting four times each week.  We will each be sharing one photo every week that fits into a specific category.  (Week 1:  Favorite Christmas Movie.  Week 2:  Tradition.  Week 3:  Wrapping Paper.  Week 4:  Family.  Week 5:  Winter Wonderland.)  We hope you enjoy these snapshots of our daily lives and we encourage you to feel free to share your photos with us on our facebook page!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each and every one of you.***

Winter Wonderland

***Throughout the month of December, the MamasTogether team is taking a break from our regular posts.  While we won't be posting our usual tutorial/crafts/etc. posts, we will be posting four times each week.  We will each be sharing one photo every week that fits into a specific category.  (Week 1:  Favorite Christmas Movie.  Week 2:  Tradition.  Week 3:  Wrapping Paper.  Week 4:  Family.  Week 5:  Winter Wonderland.)  We hope you enjoy these snapshots of our daily lives and we encourage you to feel free to share your photos with us on our facebook page!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each and every one of you.***