RuReady 2 Craft?

Coming back to Blogging

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 22:17:00 +0000

Wow, it has been 4 years since my last post, RV Ready - Crafting Future Unknown. Whenever I say, "It has been X amount of time since doing blank" I feel like I am in a confessional. Life has happened in a very messy way since that post. Let's see if I can summarize so we can move on. We moved into that RV and it didn't work out in many ways. We moved back into our Arizona home and I got sicker. I have always had medical issues, but it got worse once we moved back into the house. We discovered our home needed mold remediation. I also tested CDC positive for Lyme and then after a Neuroquant MRI was diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease and CIRS. I was off to more medical professionals and more diagnosis. The remediation wasn't so bad, it was the expense of replacing and rebuilding our whole house that brought us to our knees financially, along with trying to recover my health. My husband felt he needed a much better paying job so he found one in a different city and state. We did finally sell our home in Arizona. We then settled down into a rental home in New Mexico. I was recovering slowly and making the most of the changes in our lives. I did travel over 16,000 miles in an RV across the country twice over the last 2 years to visit family and escape the summer heat. Then the RV got water damage. Our rental home started not feeling as healthy to me and my health declined again. I finally convince my husband to move to a new home in the boonies (clean air) for my health. We finally are someplace where I feel good outside and we can control the indoor environment a little better. It has taken me 4 years to finally feel like it is time to get back to blogging. Have to get our family photo updated since my two girls are now old enough to do their own projects. Stay tuned for some upcoming projects. The glue gun is warming up again! I am linking up to these craft parties!
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RV Ready - Crafting Future Unknown

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 17:01:00 +0000

You’re doing what? Moving into an RV full-time!

We had casually talked about moving into an RV when we retired. A few years ago we discussed spending one year touring the US while we homeschool the girls before they hit high school. It always seemed hypothetical to me. We have been homeschooling continuously now since October, 2012.

Through one of my homeschool Facebook groups, I found out about the World’s Best Roadschool Convention coming to Tucson, AZ. http://fulltimefamilies.com/family-reunions/2014-worlds-best-roadschool-convention-tucson-az/ I thought it would be a fun way to investigate this alternative way of homeschooling. Before it started, I read many blogs about families that live on the road full time. At the same time we were starting to feel restless and needing to move out of our current home.

Being prior military, I don’t think we have ever lived in a home more than 3 years. We had been living here since December 2011 and the floor plan does not suit our lifestyle. We have no extra space for school stuff or crafts. All our school books and supplies end up on the extra freezer and dining room table. The carpet needs replaced and the walls haven’t been painted in 7 years (painted last week). Plus, we can’t seem to grow much in our garden other than pumpkins. Anywho, we both felt God wanted us to move, but we didn’t know where. We didn’t feel led to any particular place. The Roadschool Convention started and I knew this was God’s plan. It was just like He brought homeschooling to us. After the first day I knew we would be roadschooling too, eventually. Both our daughters are keen on the idea too. We have so many reasons for going.

We want to get out of our current home. I would like to simplify our life by having less stuff. I cannot wait to be free from 90% of our stuff. We want to travel and see many sites around the United States as well as visit family and friends. We want to spend time together as a family. We want to be able to focus on being a family without the clutter of stuff. I am looking forward to only having to clean approximately 300 square feet as opposed to 1900! In a way we are going on the road after retirement. NASA spent exactly 20 years in the Air Force and we have his retirement income to rely on for our basic needs. We can pick up extra jobs here and there to supplement our desires like going to Disney World or taking a cruise.

Since the layout of our home was barely conducive to homeschooling, we didn't do many craft projects either. Living in our RV is certainly going to present many of the same challenges space wise. I am bringing a minimum amount of craft supplies. It remains to be seen if we make the time to actually do any crafts. I am hoping that with simplifying our lives that we will make the time. I will at least try to blog more. Stay tuned for our new adventure. Maybe we will see you on the road too!

© 2023 ruready2craft.blogspot.com All Rights Reserved.

Valentine's Day Paint Skin Tiles Craft

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:33:00 +0000

I was inspired by a post on Facebook. I 'like' some great Facebook pages through my own Facebook account. I love to share what I find and this time I decided to try to copy one from Inner Child Fun. Her Kid Made Paint Skin Tiles looked so tile like and pretty. It looked easy enough and I have some acrylic paints. I also had 2 large quarts of interior house paint that I never used for another project. A project I envisioned more than 5 years ago. I bought it when I was delusional enough to think that I would paint something artsy in our entry way. I thought maybe the house paint would make a nice base. Plus, the only other acrylic paints I have are small bottles for much smaller painting projects. I was skeptical about what the results would be when I figured out that the quarts were interior satin enamel paint. I thought, "acrylic or enamel, kinda the same, right?"

Swirling acrylic paint into the base enamel paint.

I gathered the supplies and the children and hoped for the best. I am always apprehensive when it comes to permanent paint. My dining room chairs still hold the evidence of previous adventures.

Supplies for creating the paint skin tiles.

I attempted to tape down the pieces of parchment paper on cookie sheets. The tape not wanting to stay put wasn't an issue once we poured the base paint out. I wasn't real sure how thick to go with the base. I didn't want it to never dry, but wanted it to be thick enough to be tile like. One thing I didn't expect was the parchment paper getting all wrinkled. I was concerned the paint would saturate and go through the paper. It didn't. My cookie sheets are old so I thought maybe it would be a good excuse for new ones if this craft didn't work out. No new cookie sheets for me. :(

We spooned and poured out enough of the base (deep purple) paint to cover the paper, using enough so that when we swirled the paint with the toothpick it wouldn't scrape the paper. Does that make sense? If I had to guess I would guess 1/8 inch thick. I let the kids add the other acrylic paints and swirl away. They absolutely loved playing in the paint and said, "this is the best craft ever!"

Mass mess of acrylic paint swirled into enamel base paint to set out to dry into paint skin tiles.

When they found out they would have to wait at least 2 days before finishing the whole project they were less thrilled. Even though we live in the dry air of Arizona, it took the full two days to dry. They got excited again when they felt the dried paint and I told them they could peel it off the paper and make their Valentine creations. For my sensory seeking girls this was a good thing. The paint was sort of rubbery.

Peeling the dried paint (paint skins) away from the parchment paper.

Instead of just creating square tiles, my girls wanted to create hearts. They wanted to use the heart cookie cutters for the shapes. The cookie cutters did not cut the paint skin. We had to use scissors. I did convince them to cut some squares for a mosaic tile effect too.

Using cookie cutters to create shapes out of the paint skin.

Once we figure out how to make the paint skins look pretty, we used regular school glue to attach them to the paper.

Heart made out of the paint skin for a Valentine's Day Card.

Valentine's Day Card with paint skin X and Os.

The Hugs -n- Kisses card on the inside says "...always. Happy Valentine's Day."

Paint skin tiles used to create a mosaic like heart with a piece missing.

My girls only finished three pieces for this project. They spent more time playing with the paint skin tiles than they did creating anything else with them. Although we may not have perfect results, the process was far more valuable than the actual product.

I am linking up to these craft parties!

Stay Tuned For More Soon...

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 05:50:00 +0000

It seems that winter is my challenging time of year for getting my work posted. I have some great projects to share. Please be patient as I get my less than professional photos together.

Glass Jar Turkey Decoration

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 02:55:00 +0000

Using the same glass jars we used for our pumpkins we created turkeys for Thanksgiving. We removed the orange and green paper, the black noses and mouths. We then created tail feathers using scrapbook paper. I solved the glue problem by using Beacon's 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue that I got at Michaels. The kids call it snot glue. It is thick, but gooey and stringy. It does stick to everything so far.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

Before they become turkeys. They looked scared!

Supplies, including the Snot Glue.

Using the scrap paper was Hey's idea. Personally I thought using the traditional red, yellow, and orange tail feathers would look great. The girls wanted them to look like real feathers and thought the patterns on the scrapbook paper was the best choice. Little did I know that meant lots of different paper. We used the orange and green paper from the pumpkins to guide the size of the brown paper for inside the jars.

Using the paper from the Pumpkin to size the paper for the inside of the Turkey Jar.

The tracing of feathers from the template to be cut out.

I took a chance and did one feather template free hand. I must have done 10 of them before we came up with a general consensus on the one we liked. We then used it to trace others onto the scrap paper. I think the feathers came out okay.

Tracing the hard way.

I had to tell Hey it was easier to trace it on the white side of the paper. Myrrh wanted all peacock feathers despite my discouragement. It doesn't look like a turkey to me. It looks like a peacock! Oh well, it is one of my areas of growth. Letting go and allowing my children to direct what they see as art. They are cute no matter what they may or may not look like.

Using the snot glue to attach the feathers to the jar.

I will claim credit for the yellow foam feet since that was my idea. The top hat and red scarf were again Hey's idea. She thinks that makes it a decorative turkey. The top hat was a challenge. Hey stapled the circle of the hat. Then she taped the top from the inside. It doesn't look good from the inside, but it works all the same from the outside.

Taping the top of the hat.

Finished hat. See you barely can see the mess.

The beaks and red gobble neck on one of the turkeys were cut from vinyl type shape stickers that we had.

Completed set of Thanksgiving Turkey Jars.

Turkey with a gobble.

The snot glue was very helpful this time keeping the tail feathers attached to the jar and the red scarf. Just think if we had discovered how good the snot glue was to begin with, we may never have gotten the pumpkin jars that we are able to transition for every holiday. Wait until you see the Christmas jars! Until then, happy crafting. I am linking up to these craft parties!

Glass Jar Pumpkin Decorations

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 03:30:00 +0000

This is truly a kid created craft. My girls wanted to turn some empty jars we had into pumpkins. They wanted to paint the glass jars orange and the lids brown or green. We didn't have any paint that would stay on glass. Myrrh and Hey started to brainstorm ideas. They decided they wanted to glue or tape paper to the outside of the jar. There was a suggestion that they cut jack o'lantern patterns in the paper then use a candle on the inside to illuminate it. I thought that sounded cool, jack o'lanterns with tea lights inside the glass.

Glass Jar Jack O'Lanterns

Then the paper didn't want to stay on the jars with glue. I don't know how it all happened, but the paper ended up on the inside. When I told them they couldn't put candles on the inside with the paper they decided they would put faces on the outside of the jar. Stickers worked where the glue had failed. I haven't seen anyone else use paper inside of a jar as a decoration. It isn't the best looking thing, but creative. My little artists never cease to amaze me.

Supplies:

Glass Jars without labels

Colored construction or cardstock paper

Ruler

Scissors

Stapler

Foam Stickers

Googly Eye stickers

1. Soak the jars in warm soapy water to remove the labels.

Soaking labels off bottles

2. Dry the jars out.

Myrrh drying out the inside of the jars.

3. Cut the paper to the proper size to fit the size of the jar. They used a Cricut paper cutter to get a straight edge.

Cutting paper down to size.

4. Roll the paper to fit into the jar. Measure the height of the jar to determine how short the paper roll needs to be inside the jar.

Measuring the jar to cut the paper to the right size.

5. Cut the paper to the proper size to fit as close to the inside wall of the jar as possible.

The orange paper cut to fit the bottom section of the jar.

6. For the top piece, green stem of the pumpkin, you will need to measure and cut again. Roll it to the proper size. Staple it into a roll so it stays uniform in size.

Added the green paper for the pumpkin stem.

7. Choose your decorations for the outside. My girls decided to use foam stickers to create the nose and mouth.

Foam stickers that got slaughtered for the girls idea of a face.

8. They decided the $1 store stickers were to big for the jars, so they cut out their own faces.

Glass jars decorated as pumpkins.

They don't look like jack o'lanterns to me (more like ghosts), but the girls loved them just the same. They were very proud of their creation and displayed them in our front window for all the neighbors to see.

Sure they could have filled them with candy corn, or some other clever thing, but these are their unique creations. The beauty of them being paper and stickers is that we can recycle the jars for the next project. I have plans for the next holiday for these, just wait and see.

I am linking up to these craft parties!

Chef or Artist Beret or Genie Costume Hats for Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 01:14:00 +0000

This project originated from Myrrh's teacher. A really cute chef hat. They played a math game at school called, Order Up. It sounded fun. Her favorite part was the hat of course. The band was made of only 1 piece of paper, probably poster board. We only had regular 8 1/2 X 11 card stock paper. Have you ever wondered why that is the standard size? I didn't want to have that much stapled paper around their heads. Plus, there would be to many seams.

Order Up Hat from School

Since I didn't have a strip of paper long enough to go around the circumference of the girls' heads we had to improvise. Hey suggested we use ribbon. It was actually an interesting idea, but I don't have ribbon that wide or did I? I remember we had some Christmas ribbon that we used for making bows on presents. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it. The girls thought it was awesome since it sparkled.

You use gift wrap tissue paper for the top puffy part of the hat. We had white, but the girls decided they wanted colored paper.

Supplies along with the sample to follow.

We started by measuring out the length of ribbon needed for the band of the hat.

Head band of hat.

Next you take the tissue paper and tape two of the corners to the inside of the band. Tape one corner and then the other on the opposite side of the headband. Then you gather or wrinkle up little sections and tape them to the inside of the hat band. We tried to use Scotch tape. As I suspected would happen, it didn't stick well. We switched to packing tape. It is the kind you don't have to use with scissors.

Attach tissue paper to inside of head band

Hey in her beret artist hat.

Chef/Baker hat flattened makes a cool artist beret.

With the hat, it is a complete chef/baker costume.

The girls really enjoyed making something they could wear. You could see the pride in their eyes. It would be nice if they would decide what they are actually going to wear for costumes. They seem to change their minds on a daily basis.

I am linking up to these craft parties!

Beautiful Butterfly Hair Clip Accessories

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 05:39:00 +0000

I have had a great time finding easy ways to make unique hair accessories. I not only found the crochet flowers, I also found these butterfly appliques. I am loving eBay for super easy ways to create beautiful and adorable hair clips. You can find these great appliques to use by looking on eBay for sewing craft items. The particular store I have ordered the crochet flowers and now these butterflys, carries tons of cute appliques. There are ladybugs, flowers, crowns, hearts, dogs, teddy bears, and many more. I could have spent a fortune. I got 50 padded sparkling 2 layer butterfly appliques. It cost me about 16 cents per butterfly including the cost of shipping.

Supplies:

Hair clip of choice covered with grosgrain ribbon of choice

Butterfly appliques

Glue

Start with the foundation of a nice color coordinating covered hair clip.

Bag of 2 layer sparkling butterfly applique to attach to hair clip.

Padded 2 layer sparkling butterfly applique to attach to hair clip.

Place some glue on the back of the butterfly, the felt side, and press it onto a hair clip. Voila, an adorable butterfly hair clip. The one tip I will offer is that on the alligator style clips that I use you have to think about placement. If you want a set or pair to be used together, say on pig tails, you want one to face one way and the other in a different direction. Otherwise you end up with one upside down butterfly when you place it in the hair. Does that make sense?

I make them so that when I slide them into each side of the hair, the butterfly is right side up. Most of my hair clips don't have a right side. They are usually able to be used either way. Be sure to test it and see which side up you want it.

These provide some more great choices to coordinate with a little girls wardrobe. With the volume of clips my girls now have, I am going to look at some different display and storage options.
I am linking up to these craft parties!

Crochet Flower Hair Clip Bows

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 05:56:00 +0000

It isn't easy being original when creating hair accessories. I was proud of my Gardenia and Luau Flower Bows, but it seemed the end of my originality. I wanted more beauties, but not have to spend to much money or drive myself crazy trying to be original. After a good tip from a friend, I have discovered you can buy almost anything you want on eBay. I found what I needed to feed my desire for my beautiful hair accessories.

Under sewing crafts on eBay I found a nice source for my hair accessories. I ordered some items and didn't wait long. They arrived quickly. Let the fun begin. I started with the Handmade Crochet Flower Appliques. I had gotten two different kinds. The solid 2 layer crochet flower appliques that are approximately 1 1/4 inch in size (costs 18 cents each) and the two tone that are about 1 1/2 inch large (38 cents each). The costs included what I spent for shipping. Shop around, you may find a better deal, especially if you are willing to wait longer for shipping.

Embellished 2 Layer Crochet Flower Hair Clips

Materials:
Handmade Crochet Flower Appliques
Hair Clip lined with some 3/8 inch grosgrain ribbon
Hot Glue
Embellishment of choice

Crochet appliques to apply to lined clips

Attach a crochet flower applique to a complementary covered and lined hair clip. I used hot glue. I use lots of hot glue. I end up cleaning up strings and clumps for days and again when I go to place it in my daughters hair. I have never had one fall apart from a lack of glue! You can leave it plain or attach your favorite embellishment to the center.

2 layer crochet attached to lined hair clips with embellishment of my choice

Completed project. Embellished crochet flower hair bows.

Voila! You now have your own creation.

2 tone 2 layer crochet applique. Left the purple ones plain.

I am quite pleased with myself. I was able to make some really cute colorful hair accessories for less than I would pay if I bought the completed clips on Etsy or eBay.

Two tone, two layer crochet flower with my added bling.

You can make these to coordinate with any wardrobe. It is so great to have so many choices for hair accessories. I don't think there is an outfit that doesn't match at least one of the bows I have made! For the price of what one set of hair bows would normally cost me, my daughters have 5-10 to choose instead. Wait until you see what else I found and made!

I am linking up to these craft parties!

Dollar Store Craft - Luau Flower Hair Bow

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:49:00 +0000

A dollar store can be a great place to get inspiration and find supplies. My girls always notice when the Luau party items are in season. They are not allowed to wear jewelry at school so I think they want fancy hair accessories instead. Myrrh has been requesting more flowers. I picked up some luau flower necklaces at the dollar store and created some great hair bows. What I like about them is that not only are they inexpensive, but an easy craft too. When looking at the finished product, I feel it was rewarding to make them. It is a fashion that will get you noticed.

Handmade Luau Flower Bow

Supplies:

Luau/Lei of flowers                                $ 1.00
Foam or felt circle for back piece          < $ .25
Hair clip of choice                                  < $   .40
Embellishment of choice for the center < $1.00
Scissors
Glue (hot glue gun)

Luau Flowers from Dollar Tree.

Step 1. Cut the string of the Lei necklace. Take the flower petals off the string.

Lei cut apart and flower petals separated.

Step 2. Use your center piece of material to attach the flower petals to. I use foamies I got on clearance. I have found them very useful.

Foam center used to attach flower petals.

Step 3. Attach (I use a hot glue gun) one petal at a time layering them one on top of the other. When you layer them try to keep them centered, but alternate the petals for a fuller look. Be careful if you are using a hot glue gun. The flower material is incredibly flimsy and porous. The glue goes through easily. I used the end of a wooden dowel to press the petal down on top of the center while the glue was hot.

Layers of luau flower petals with glue in the center.

Bottom view of luau flower petals attached to center piece.

Step 4. Once you have done enough layers to achieve the look you want, attach your choice of embellishment to the center.

Butterfly embellishment in the center of luau flowers.

Different ideas for center embellishments.

Step 5. Attach your choice of hair clip to the back of the center piece.

Luau flower attached to hair clip for a beautiful bow.

These are so easy to make that I can do several at one session of sitting doing crafts. I can make 6 of these in the same time it takes me to make one Gardenia Flower Hair Bow.

Shades of pink flower center in luau flower petal hair bow.

Purple butterfly luau flower hair bow

I let the girls pick out the center embellishments they want. These bows will be a great addition to their collection of hair accessories. Their wardrobes have plentiful supplies of purple and pink outfits.

Pink cake luau flower hair bow

I made these all in one craft session.

Handmade beautiful luau flower petal hair bows.

These look fabulous in the hair. I think the next time I am in the dollar store I will pick up some different colors of the luau flower necklaces.

I have posted in these crafty parties and Making the World Cuter.

Gardenia Flower Hair Bow Craft

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 05:39:00 +0000

While the girls are sleeping, I wanted to get this post out.
I had a few requests for a tutorial on this style of bow. Since I can't do korker bows right now I have found a new hair bow that I am enjoying. I call it my Gardenia bows. To me it looks like some Gardenia flowers I have seen. What is ironic is that I am allergic to Gardenias. I can still appreciate their beauty.

Favorite Gardenia Flower Bow, so far.

1st Attempt of a Gardenia flower hairbow.

The first one I made I gave as a gift attached to the bow holder I made as a birthday present. It was the favorite of several of the birthday guests as well as others who saw my post. Now each time I make it I learn something new.

Materials:

Ribbon (You can use almost any size)

For the 2 outer bottom layers I used 5/8" ribbon.
For the 2 top inner layers I used 3/8" ribbon.

Circle for the center anchor piece (felt, foam, use your imagination)

A peace symbol foamie from a bag I got on clearance at Michaels.

Scissors
Flame/Heat source to seal the end of the ribbons you cut (I use a lighter.)
Glue (Using a hot glue gun works best for me.)
Embelishment of choice for the center (A crystal like gem looks nice.)
Preferred type of hair accessory to attach the bow. (I use a ribbon covered single prong metal hair clip.)

Step 1. Cut 8 ribbons for each layer. Start with the largest ribbon for the outer layer. I chose to start with 4 inches.

Cutting 4 inch length of 5/8" ribbon

Step 2. Heat seal the ribbon on the ends to keep them from fraying.

Step 3. Take your first 4 inch ribbon, put a dab of glue on the top bottom piece of the ribbon, create a loop and glue just the bottom ends together. The loop is like those remembrance ribbons, just don't leave any tail. Maybe if I say it is half of an infinity symbol? Not quite sure how to explain it. I hope the pictures help.

The loop to glue. Looks like a cone with shorter ribbon.

Step 4. Attach each loop at the end onto the top of the circle. Placing each loop across from the other making a cross pattern. Each set of 4 loops makes a square or cross. The first layer is 8 loops.

1st cross pattern of 1st layer of ribbons.

Finish 1st bottom layer of bow filling in the gaps.

If you turn your creation upside down it looks like a flower too.

Upside down, bottom view of the bow with loops attached to foam circle.

Step 5. After your first set of 8 ribbon loops creating the bottom layer, repeat each layer using smaller ribbon loops. My 1st attempt, picture above, I only did 1 complete layer of 8 ribbons and only 4 ribbons on the top/last layer.

You can experiment with lengths and widths of the ribbon. With this purple/yellow Gardenia flower bow below, both layers are the same size length, 4". The purple ribbon is 7/8" ribbon.

7/8" purple ribbon 4" long, 5/8" yellow ribbon 4" long.

Step 6. I suggest your last layer be with 3/8" ribbon, it really looks good like the bow below.

Purple Gardenia Flower Hair Bow.

If you stay with the 5/8" size you may not want to do as many layers. I wasn't thrilled with the outcome of the pink ribbon flower below. It is one I would like to change. I don't like the last layer of the 5/8" ribbon. The pink one was the 2nd one I had ever made, so I learned to use the 3/8" ribbon for the last layer like in the blue and purple ones above.

Least favorite Gardenia flower craft bow.

Step 7. Place chosen embelishment in center of flower. My daughters always pick the embellishments for the middles.

Almost looks like a crown for a princess!

Step 8. Attach Gardenia flower to the hair accessory of your choice. I attached it to a single prong metal hair clip.

Handcrafted Blue Gardenia Flower Hair Bow.

After wearing it a few times, it seems that others seem to think it looks like a crown on my daughters head. So maybe I should call it a Crown Flower Bow. What do you think I should call it?

I am linking up to these craft parties!

Do You Need a Break?

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:29:00 +0000

Totally copying this from my other blog. It applies just the same.

I am trying to be as "Hands Free" as possible this week. I am taking the lead from Hands Free Mama. Her blog has really awakened me to the lost moments of childhood due to my distractions.

Best Mom Blog Ever!

My girls will be starting school on Monday. Once they are in school, it will be hectic, but we will have a set schedule. We work much better with a strict schedule. Although, we spent many weeks of the summer in camps or VBS, there were plenty of days to seek opportunities for fun. I do look forward to a consistent schedule week after week. It will provide better organization, but I will mourn what we didn't have time to do before the start of school.

I will only be online after they are in bed, or before they wake up. That is only enough time to check e-mails and Facebook. I won't be able to blog anytime soon. It will be after July 17th for sure.

I will be on Facebook. Have you liked my page yet? RUReady2Craft, Check it out. Be sure to see the other cool crafts I find from other sites.

Have a great summer break. If you have children or not, enjoy the moments you have with other people. Focus on relationships without distractions.

4th of July Fireworks Craft

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:50:00 +0000

After another craft fail, I needed to do something fast using all the supplies we already had out with the paint. My girls were not going to move on from the craft fail unless we did something else right away. I found a nice easy Patriotic painting craft courtesy of Crafts~N~Things for Children blog. Google is my friend. A nice red, white and blue American craft.

These are nice since we may not see 'real' fireworks on the 4th of July. We live in the desert and sometimes due to extreme fire dangers they have to cancel them.

Fireworks!

Fairly simple since we only needed the three Ps:

Paper
Paint
Pipe Cleaners
Scissors

Pipe Cleaners. They can be any color.

1. Cut the pipe cleaners to create what the girls first thought looked like a flower. Once they had it twisted and laid out the way they wanted them, they accepted they were fireworks.

A Firework with a handle.

2. Dip the firework into the paint. Place more paint on with a brush if you want a fuller look.

Adding paint to the firework.

3. Stamp the paint coated piper cleaner onto the paper.

Painted firework print on paper.

4. Repeat # 2 & #3 for each color.

When stamping down the pipe cleaner firework my girls wanted it thicker so they pressed with their fingers. You can see finger smudge and smear marks on the paper. If you want to avoid that, use a stick instead.

Fireworks stamp painted for the holiday.

Stamp painted firework on black background.

Once they were done with the pipe cleaner fireworks, they moved onto painting all kinds of things red, white and blue. There were the small boxes, small cardboard left over from the boxes, and the paper plates themselves.

Red, white and blue everywhere!

After the paint stamped fireworks were dry, the girls decided they needed to add glitter glue. Where would fireworks be without glitter glue? After that, they declared they were done.

Fireworks with the glitter glue touch.

Have a wonderful Day of Independence celebrating the 4th of July!

Another Craft Failure

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 05:51:00 +0000

Sometimes I wonder where is my common sense. I wanted to do a fun holiday craft with my girls. I saw this neat banner on Country Living and thought, "Oh, we could do a variation of that for our craft."

Banner craft from Country Living website.

For a very novice craft person (yes, I said it) little warnings should have gone off when I thought 'variation'.

Rosettes for the banner from County Living.

Here was my erroneous thinking. We would dip newspaper into paint to create a red, white and blue type fan flower. See, if you are a 'crafter' you already know where this is going.

What made me think that water based paint would work on paper? Now that I think about it, wet newspaper is a disaster unless you are making paper mache. I clearly hadn't thought it through.

All the paint did was make wet newspaper.

I put them out in the hot sun to dry. I was still delusional enough to think maybe when they dried it would look better.

It just turned out to be a mess as I tried to create the 'fan'. Another craft fail. I have got to stick with what I know. If I am going to try to be original then I need to try it out before I sit down with the kids to do it. My girls were not impressed. They wanted to paint and they wanted to paint now. I was able to find them something quickly. It saved the day. See my next post for the 4th of July craft that succeeded. Until next time, may all your crafts work out better than mine.

Dollar Store Flower Craft

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:43:00 +0000

Today was Mommy and Hey day. After the princess treatment at the nail salon, we made a trip to the Dollar Store, our 2nd favorite place to go get craft supplies. I am getting better at envisioning what I can do with things for art. I don't always need to resort to Pinterest or Google. Now I don't know how original of an idea it is, but it it new to me.
I bought self-stick flags to create pretty flowers. Great thing about this craft is that it is very self explanatory. It is super easy for any child to create beautiful art. This flower craft fed my kids need to craft without the mess or fuss.

Flower Craft with self-stick flags.

Great craft supply from the Dollar Store.

Supplies I made available for flower craft creations.

We used Creatology Foam Stickers 'Shapes' to create the centers of the flowers. We cut up a few of the triangles to create the stems for the flowers.

Self-stick flags made into a simple flower craft.

With easy crafts like this, my girls will do several before they get bored with it. I love it when something so inexpensive can be used to create art. You cannot beat art inspired by a $1 purchase. My girls added their own touch to their creations.

Myrrh added a pig.

A pig added in with the flower blossoms.

Hey created a cottage with a picket fence. You can make more things with the self-stick flags, a picket fence, what a great idea!

Summer cottage with a 'white' picket fence.

What could you make with the self-stick flags?

How NOT to make Korker Bows - Craft Fail

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:17:00 +0000

It is getting to be quite a sizzling summer. Yesterday was 105 degrees. Since NASA is still unemployed we have to try everyway we can to cut back. That means a much warmer house with less use of the A/C. With a 2 story house on just 1 unit it is tough. It just means using the oven as little as possible to help keep the house cooler. Well, you have to use the oven to make good korker bows. So I was thinking.... think, think, think. Then, Pooh, I had an idea.

My favorite korker bow creations before summer hit.

It is hot here. To make korker bows you need heat. Normally I put the ribbons in the oven for 20 minutes at 275 degrees. It may not be necessary to keep the oven that hot for that long. So I wondered if I took the ribbons out into the hot sun would that 'bake' them enough?

Out in the sun all day to make korker bows.

So I wrapped my ribbon around my favorite korker ribbon makers, BBQ skewers. Then what everyone else uses, 1/4" wooden dowels. Wet them thoroughly to set on my old cookie sheet outside. I placed them outside in the part of our yard that gets sun 16 hours of the day. I put them on a teak end table thinking heat rises up from the walkway. I let them 'cook' there all day.

After a day in the sun, they were super dry, but were they curly?

I brought them inside out of the desert heat and sun at 8 PM. I chose two specimens to test. I felt like a hairdresser checking to see if a perm is done. Anywho, the results were less than I wanted, but still made them curly. They just weren't curly enough for my korker bows. Bummer.

The results are a little to loose for me.

Huge craft fail. I guess I will stick with my other bow making until it is cool enough to turn the oven on or if I feel like staying up past 1 AM or get up before 5 AM. I don't see that happening anytime soon. I am not that dedicated or driven for korker bows.

Right now I am into what I call my Gardenia bows. Look for that post soon.

Veritable Boredom Solution Bug Craft

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 21:09:00 +0000

Last week Hey and Myrrh were going each morning to Vacation Bible School, also known as Veritable Boredom Solution. An awesome inexpensive way to occupy my children during the summer. This one is 8:30 AM to noon. Granted it isn't the whole day, but for $15 per child (includes a t-shirt and snack) I think it is a great price for a 1/2 day camp. The theme was BugZone: Transformed by Our Big God. My girls like bugs as long as they aren't loose in the house. Well, you can put it in a box or plastic cup, that's different. I say, "No bugs in the house unless they are dead!"

Myrrh's Bug Headband Craft

Anywho, it has been a very nice week for us at VBS. They have come home each day with a Bug Zone themed activity book. There are cute bug related jokes too that the girls love. What does a bumble bee say when it flies backwards? Zub Zub. Anywho, they were doing a performance on stage. They wanted to have antennae like many of the VBS team leaders and helpers have been wearing each day. An easy craft project is born. I didn't look it up or watch a video! Figured I could just do it on the fly.

Supplies Needed:

Pipe Cleaners
Firm U shaped Headband
Glue
Optional: Pom Poms. FYI: I don't know of any arthropods that have balls on the end of their antenna. The girls didn't care, they liked the way they look.

Note to self: If you have pipe cleaners, pom poms and a glue gun on hand, you might be a crafter, just sayin'.

Making Bug Antennae Headband Craft

Ideally you will want to let the kids pick the headband, pipe cleaners and pom poms they want. They are more likely to wear their own creation.

1. Take a pipe cleaner and wrap it tightly around the top of the headband.

Suggestion: Be sure to start wrapping with the end on the top of the headband. This helps keep the pointy end of a pipe cleaner from poking your child's head.

2. With the 2nd pipe cleaner repeat # 1.

Suggestion: Wrap it the same amount of times, trying to make sure that both are the same length.

3. Place a dab of glue on the top of the pipe cleaner, the one furthest from the headband.

Suggestion: The hot glue gun came in handy and was fast. I have tried letting the kids use regular school glue, tacky clue, etc... for pom poms and pipe cleaners. It doesn't work well and can take forever to stick.

4. Squeeze the pom pom onto the tip top of the pipe cleaner. Hold it a few seconds until it feels secure.

5. Let the child to shape (re-shape) their antennae once the glue is dry, they are now good to go.

Optional: One of the headbands was slippery plastic. I hot glued either end and in between the antennae on the headband to keep it from sliding.

Optional Suggestion: You could use color coordinated rubber/hair bands on either end of the wrapped pipe cleaner for similar results, depends on how picky your child is about how it looks.

The girls were thrilled with their creation. It was a fun quick craft that they felt successful about and wore with pride.

Wearing their bug craft creations while enjoying VBS workbook.

Beary Special Card For Dad

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 05:25:00 +0000

At the last minute, I decided to pull together a Father's Day card that would be different from the "Love You... This Much" card that the girls Dad, NASA, watched them make for Papa. I originally planned to create some footprint art for his gift. I thought I would have the girls create a bear from their footprint inspired by one I saw on the blog Handprint & Footprint Art. It would say, "You are Beary Special." I know, super cute huh?

NASA takes the girls hiking and camping. They have come home telling me all about spotting bear scat. Oh joy! They thought a bear for his Father's Day card was awesome.

After doing the hands cut outs for the card they made Papa, I wasn't really in the mood to pull out the paint. I really should have planned better and done the Father's Day crafts on seperate sessions. I just didn't have the motivation and the girls didn't want to sit and wait, they wanted to keep working to finish all the crafts. Since I already had the Cricut out for the "Love You," so I figured why not see about finding a bear.

The Doodlecharms Cricut cartridge has a teddy bear. I printed it out on brown card stock. The girls did the rest. Results: very adorable Happy Father's Day... You are Beary Special cards.

This beary special card could be used for any holiday. Bears are never out of style.

Father's Day Craft - Love You...

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 05:46:00 +0000

This was a fun and easy craft for Hey and Myrrh. 10 Easy Steps. I saw this on Day in My Life blog and thought it was great for a Father's Day gift to send to Papa. Being that he is all the way across the country, this could be like a hug sent to him. Plus, I didn't really plan anything in advance and was able to do this on a whim since I had all the supplies on hand.

Materials List:
Card Stock Paper - Child's color choice
Pencil
Scissors
Eraser
Glue
Stickers and/or Stamps for the letters

Step 1. Trace both hands onto colored card stock paper.

Step 2. Cut the hands out of the card stock.

Step 3. Erase the pencil marks from the hand after it is cut.

Step 4. Write, stick, or glue the words "I Love You..." on one side of one hand. On card stock, I cut out the words with my Cricut using the Jubilee Celebration Font Cartridge. The girls glued it onto the hand.

Step 5. Cut 2 strips of card stock paper, the same size/width. Ours were the length of the paper, 11 inches. The width of our strips were 1 1/2 inch. Your strips may vary depending on the size of your letters and/or your child's hand.

Step 6. Glue the two strips together, end to end, making it approx. 21 inches long since you have to overlap the ends to glue together. You can make it as long as you want.

Step 7. Fold the long strip, accordion style.

Step 8. Place a letter in each fold. "T h i s M u c h". Leave enough space at the ends to allow the strip to be attached to each hand and still show when extended out.

Step 9. Glue a hand at each end. Be sure that when folded together the "Love You..." can be on top of the accordion folded center paper showing the "This Much".

Step 10. On the back of the hand write whose hands they are and the year. We wrote: Handmade for you from Hey, Happy Father's Day 2012.

Lessons learned:
1. Do not use foam letters if you are sending this through the mail. It created a thick bulky card. Next time I will let the girls stamp letters, or use flat stickers.
2. I would pay attention to what direction the child glues the hands to the strip, so that folded all together the thumbs and fingers line up.

This actually would be a great card/gift for anyone for any holiday like a Birthday, Mother's Day or Valentine's Day.

Birthday Bow Holder Present

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Continuing on my adventure into the DIY crafting world, I decided to make a bow holder. I have been busy making bows for my daughters and even created some as an inexpensive and unique birthday present for my daughter’s classmate. My newfound tolerance of crafting has turned into a new hobby and my very own blog about my adventures in the craft world. I got the idea to make bows, hairclips and a bow holder from a friend, Leah Mims, in Tucson, who has turned her hobby into a little business. She gave my daughters each a bow holder and bows at their Adoption Day party in April 2009. She has talent I can only aspire to.

My 1st crafts, A.D. (after dependents), were hair clips. I started by just covering hair clips with ribbon, getting used to using a hot glue gun, and attaching all the ribbon and non-slip grips. Another one of my friends, Amanda, is the one who told me about using the shelf liner as non-slip grips for hair clip. I use some purple shelf liner I found on clearance.

Still learning not 2 use so much glue.

Anywho, I thought I'd make the birthday girl a bow holder for all the hair clips I made for her. When I called to RSVP for the party, I found out from the birthday girl's Mom that her favorite color is purple. I chose a butterfly theme since most little girls like butterflies. Hence, why my current craft table cover has butterflies.

Supplies Needed:

wood plaque

wooden ‘smile’ - these would be fun as personalized name holders too!

large butterfly for the corner and/or other embellishments of choice

butterfly ribbon or ribbon complementary to your theme

acrylic paint

glitter paint - I found the purple one in the clearance section at Wal-Mart!
Optional: staple gun
Optional: I bought a purple brush and comb with holes on the end to hang from nails on the holder.

Did I mention that Michael’s has become my new favorite store?! I purchased most of the above supplies from there. It has become habit to always check the clearance aisle at Michael’s for frugal & fun finds. The dew drop stickers I used for the end of the nails were found there. They were marked 49 cents, but they rang up as 1 cent- Woo Hoo, gotta love a bargain!

How to make this Bow Holder:

Paint the whole wood base the color of your choice as well as on the edges. Ours is a lilac color. Let that dry thoroughly.
Paint the top with the purple glitter paint or another color of choice.

Repeat with as many coats of the glitter paint needed in order to get an even color.

Nail or hot glue the word on. We chose 'smile.' I did both because I wasn't sure how secure it would be with just glue.

Glued 2 pieces of 10 inches of the butterfly ribbon together, back to back, so that the pattern was on both sides.

With the ribbon, created a loop, like those 'awareness' ribbons and glued it to the back of the plaque.

Cut three more pieces of ribbon to hang from the back of the plaque, approx. 2 ft. in length. Glued them to the back of the board with the pattern facing out.

Optional: Once the glue for the ribbons on the back were dry, stapled the ribbons on the plaque. I wasn't going to let dried out glue ruin the holder months or years from now.
Optional: Printed out a 2 X 4 label that said, "Handmade for you from Hey May 2012" with my daughter's picture. I adhered it to the back.
Optional: Measured equal distance from the ends and hammered two nails on the front of the plaque. Took dew drop stickers and adhered them to the nail heads.

Adhere any embellishments you would like to decorate the plaque with.

At the bottom of the 3 hanging ribbons I used the butterfly embellishments to weigh down the ends.

There certainly should be plenty of room for bows!

Additional Notes:

The one thing I would have changed was how I nailed the ‘smile’ to the plaque. I wanted it secure, but should have used finishing nails. I also should have placed the nails where they wouldn’t be so obvious. Each time I make one of these I am sure I will get better at it.

When I make hangers for bow holders in the future, I plan to use either a regular picture holder, two-sided ribbon, or solid colored ribbon; the ribbon I used only had print on one side. I ended up gluing two pieces together so the pattern would be on both sides. Since this wood was larger and heavier, I should have used a regular picture hanger. Next time around I will be better prepared!

I don’t think I would use such a large heavy piece of wood for the base next time unless I was prepared to do wooden dowels for hooks and use a picture hanger. I wanted to put a wooden butterfly on the base, but due to the size and shape couldn’t find a reasonable priced base for it. I didn’t want to spend a fortune. I have some ideas for my next bow holder that I think I will like better.

It was quite the adventure and learning experience. I learned there is a Hobby Lobby store opening in our town soon and am so excited to see what journey that store may bring!

In The Beginning

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 03:29:00 +0000

My husband and a good friend, Amanda, helped create my blog title. He suggested Passive Crafter, Disaster Crafter and decided that The Bow Master was the one, but I do more than bows. I also wouldn’t call me a ‘Master’ of any craft. Amanda, who I consider a Master Crafter, is the one who helped me go with the current title.

My first e-mail address back in 1993 was ruready1st. My account on Twitter is ruready1st and I have used it on several message boards and forums. I guess that is the best way to explain why this blog is RUReady2Craft.

In the beginning, I accidentally started doing crafts. I actually have another blog for me to be me, An Obsessed Analyst. My first posts came directly from that site. I started this blog to let me focus on my latest obsession, crafts. I may just have to break down and admit I can craft. I may have some latent artistic talent?

I am the mother of two beautiful little girls who deserve the best. They have artistic inclinations. What I see as a mess, they see as creating art. Both girls are strong visual spatial learners. While homeschooling them as a kindergartner and pre-schooler I discovered that arts and crafts were their favorite subject. It was the one activity that they would choose over television and video games.

Now the issue is that I do not really consider myself artistic. I love to shop, talk, spend money, read, research things on the internet, and did I mention shop.

When I moved to Tucson, Arizona I was introduced to the craft of making jewelry with beads. Tucson has the best supply of inexpensive high quality beads during the Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show. I made my own necklaces and bracelets. I actually quit doing it when we had our first child. I was petrified that I would misplace a bead and she would choke. I gave all my beads away to a family member.

Some necklaces I made over 7 years ago. Left: faux freshwater pearls, Middle: natural Rubies & Swarovski Crystal, and glass beads necklaces.

I never saw the jewelry I made as being into crafts. I thought of it more of an economical choice since I adore jewelry that coordinates with my wardrobe. It was more cost effective to make my own to feed my need. I didn't think my creations were very unique either, just creations that matched my outfits. When I quit I actually had a huge supply of choices and didn't really need anymore. I had run out of jewelry box space.

Then we had two little girls. At first our crafts were fairly simple without much imagination required. There were Moms in Tucson that were incredibly clever making their children clothes, hats, and bows. I admired their talent, but it didn't seem realistic for me to do.

Then I met some Moms in Las Vegas. They were crafters. They had stamps, Cricuts, beads, hand print art, handmade jewelry (not beaded) and projects that were so creative. I saw the fruits of their labor, much of it they did with their children as a part of their homeschool experience. I felt inspired and started doing little things too. I never imagined my girls favorite thing to hear someone say is, "Are you ready to craft?" The real kicker was when my babysitter started doing crafts with the kids with all the supplies I would leave out. When I would ask her where she got the idea, she would say she looked it up on the internet.

The revelation that I could copy other people’s genius from the internet was born. I let the craft monster loose in the house. First the Cricut, then the lunch bag animals, and then bows. Right now I am stuck on bows. I hope to add jewelry too. I may just turn into a master crafter!

Surprise! Another Day of Bows

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Sun, 27 May 2012 02:09:00 +0000

My oldest daughter has been invited to a birthday party of one of her classmates. We don't really have the resources to buy a present that I would feel comfortable giving. I am trying something new. I have until May 19th to see if I can pull it off to my satisfaction. I decided to follow directions and make some corker bows. I didn't realize how time consuming it could be. First I used dowels that were to large so the spirals were to loose. So I used skewers from our grill tools to get a tighter spiral. They worked great, but I only had four of them.

The mail arrived while I was lamenting about my lack of choices. My Mom, Grandma, comes through. She sends us boxes of clothes or supplies I request on a fairly regular basis. She rocks. She sent me 1/4 inch dowels that were perfect. I was able to make more that had the right spiral tightness.

I made some different combinations of the 3/8 inch grosgrain ribbon. It takes 25 minutes in the oven for the wet ribbon to get the twist. Add on twisting it onto the dowel and taking it off then the time to heat seal the ends it is quite the project. I wish I knew some shortcuts. The end results are fairly nice. I spent 6 hours making 6 bows and 2 hair clips. I would like a better return on my time. I can see why bows like this cost $8-10. If I ever see any for less than $8, then I know they are a real steal since they are so labor intensive.

I do have two favorites that I will have to make again since I will want my daughters to get a chance to wear them. I also think I will look in their closet to see what I can specifically coordinate with a dress or outfit.

Now I have to figure out what to do with all the 5/8 inch ribbon. I will have to watch more You Tube videos. Feel free to make suggestions.

I Surprise Myself

noreply@blogger.com (ruready2craft) — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:03:00 +0000

Since my oldest daughter goes to school now, she loses hair clips all the time. She is growing out a short layered pixie style hairdo that she wanted about 1 1/2 years ago. Growing out super short layers is no easy task. Her hair is always in her eyes. In order to keep some of it out of the way for school she wears barrettes, bobby pins, and/or hair clips. They seem to disappear as fast as I can buy them. I got most of them at the dollar store, but it was adding up.

Then there is my other daughter who is growing out her hair, thank goodness not layers. I put her hair up in a ponytail most of the time. She would prefer I braid it or do something fancy. The fanciest thing I can do is a basic Topsy Tail and/or put a bow in her hair. Yes, I have an original Topsy Tail tool from 1992. I still haven’t used it to its full potential.

I am hair challenged. I grew up with a curling iron in my hand. I can curl the heck out of any hair, but can’t braid or anything else to save my life. Actually I can braid embroidery floss. I used to make braided bracelets all the time when I was young. Which reminds me, do you remember the bubble gumwrappers that you could fold and make into bracelets? I found out recently that making those is doing origami. Who knew?
My point in all of that is that I can braid, but have a hard time with hair and don’t have the patience to do it on a live wiggly child.

Anywho, I know that God has a sense of humor by blessing us with two little girls that have gorgeous features that are best displayed with their hair out of the way. People tell me, “it is easy, just keep trying and you will get it.” I guess I shouldn’t say I can’t do it, it is more like I can’t do it well enough, so I don’t like it. Heck I have a hard enough time just trying to get a part straight. I can’t do jig jag parts either. I see absolutely adorable hairdos on other little girls that I couldn’t dream of doing.

What, did these people have Barbie head dolls to practice on all the time? I wasn’t really a doll kind of girl. I preferred Barbie’s camper instead of her. I liked to play card games, puzzles, house, tea parties with stuffed animals, color, and read. When I did get a doll, I tried to use my Mom’s curling iron on it. It was the biggest smelly mess ever. I have a memory of that smell, it was awful.

Hair after the playground.

I have decided that no matter what the girls’ hair may look like, a nice hair clip or bow detracts from the mess. So if the hair clips or bows are pretty and/or unique enough no one will notice the messy hair. Do you think that is a good strategy?

Hence my latest project: making hair accessories. It is less expensive than even the dollar store. Plus I have put an order into Grandma to please send supplies. Also, I have an amazing friend who does awesome crafts that is going to make me some bows too. I figured we can never have too many hair accessories with two active little girls!

You Tube has been a tremendous help. I never would have known how to do anything without You Tube. See my latest creations, not bad for a very awkward crafter in training. Now if I could just figure out how to stop burning my fingers. I swear I end up with more glue all over my fingers too than on the craft item. I keep something (plate or paper towel) by me to keep all the peeled glue in until I am ready to throw it away. Making these I went through 3 glue sticks. I did all these in one afternoon and evening which I won’t do that again. I think craft sessions need to be less than 3 hours.

If I keep up creating all these craft items I may have to take back my declaration that I am not a “craft person”. I think I have at least called a truce about my hating crafts. Maybe I can inspire others to do crafts for the sake of the children. Well, it helps our budget too since we have a much lower income now.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.