She's {kinda} Crafty

St. {Paddy's} Wreath

2012-02-23T09:24:00.003-05:00

Here is my latest Ribbon Wreath creation. I found this really cute St. Patrick's Day ribbon at AC Moore a couple weeks ago and just HAD to buy it! This wreath (as in this exact wreath with is a 12" wreath) will be available for purchase on my Etsy Store later this week. If you have any interest in a kit, I probably have enough left over ribbon to sell 1 kit as well.

I'm {Lucky} Lollipops

2012-02-20T11:06:00.002-05:00

Even though St. Patrick's Day is 4 weeks away, it's never too early to start thinking about fun ideas to get in the spirit. These little chocolate lollipops are quick, easy, and, based on my daughter's demand for more, very tasty!

Supplies needed:
Shamrock Lollipop Mold (I bought mine at Bake it Pretty but they have since gone out of business, I am sure a quick google search with find you one)
Green Wilton Candy Melts
Lollipop Sticks
Small zip top baggie (optional)
Tag (available to download for free HERE)
Paper punch
Twine and or Ribbon
Scissors or razor sharp teeth to cut twine and ribbon

These lollipop molds are so easy to use. Just melt a half cup of candy melts in a glass Pyrex or other microwave safe measuring cup per the package directions (I do mine for 1 minute on high and then just use a spoon to stir them all up til everything has melted nicely). Then you can either just carefully spoon the melted chocolate into each mold or transfer the melted chocolate to a small zip top baggie, cut off one of the corners, and squeeze the chocolate into the molds. Once all your chocolate is in, give the mold a nice shake to even everything out. Drop your sticks into place and roll them around to make sure they have enough chocolate on them to stay in place once cooled. Then you just have to wait for everything to harden (we put ours in the fridge to speed up the process for an impatient 4 year old). While you are waiting you can print out these tags I whipped up and punch them with your paper puncher. I used my new favorite punch I picked up at Hobby Lobby with my coupon to make it a little more fun.

Then just tie your tag to the lollipop stick (once they are ready) with some twine or ribbon, or twine AND ribbon like I've done here!

I think I am going to give these out to my 4 year old's class for St. Patrick's Day, in which case I will place them in a cellophane lollipop bag first before I tie on the tag.

Topiary {Love}!

2012-02-16T15:28:00.001-05:00

I know that most people know about my wreaths (especially if you were watching The Martha Stewart Show on the 13th - my husband and I are currently trying to figure out how to share my 5 seconds of Martha Fame that is stored in my DVR right now) but I also love making topiaries.
I was VERY excited to see a request for an Orange & Royal Blue topiary come across my email for a University of Florida bridal shower!! I have enough supplies left over to make another so I am thinking this baby's twin is going to be gracing my desk very soon.

Go Gators!!!

Love from {ME} to You!

2012-02-14T10:14:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I am SWEET on all of you!!

Here's a little token of my love to celebrate - 2 new Brush Your Teeth charts and 2 new Morning Charts!

Gender Neutral Brush Your Teeth Chart

Gender Neutral Morning Chart

Girlie Brush Your Teeth Chart

Girlie Morning Chart

As usual - these are for PERSONAL USE ONLY!! Do not alter to attempt to sell them, I will find you :)

The gender neutral graphics and sweet ice cream cone from Lettering Delights

Background for the girlie charts from Melissa Davis Designs

sunshine graphic from Lilly Bimble

Valentine's Round {Up}

2012-02-10T13:45:00.001-05:00

Well today is the big Valentine's Party at daycare so I thought I would share the treats I made for my daughters' classmates and teachers.

I had previously shown you the treat bags (along with a different free printable) for my older daughter's classmates but I am going to include them again here again!

Last year after Valentine's Day I bought a Wilton cookie sheet for 75% off at Target and used it to mold this cute crayons for my baby's (almost 2) class.

There were so many fun shapes!

The little card I made to attach the crayons to.

And for the teachers I used these cute mailboxes from the Dollar Spot at Target, printed out this CUTE tag from Lauren McKinsey onto sticker paper and applied it to the mailbox (filled with chocolates)! How cute and easy is this project?!?

and just as a refresher here are some other Valentine related posts and crafts!

Wired for Love tutorial!

An oldie but a goodie! Love Valentine's Wreath

And this wreath is available for sale on my Etsy Shop

Easy {Photo} Display

2012-02-08T10:11:00.001-05:00

While preparing for the big birthday party I decided that our guest half bath in the front of the house (that everyone would be using during the party) needed a little something to jazz it up. There was one wall that was just blank and that just wasn't flying with me. So I had 3 of my favorite beach photos from the past year printed in a beautiful lustre coating, 8x10. So with 3 prints in hand I was struggling on the best way to display them. The wall I wanted them on is on the narrow side so my first thought of putting them on a shelf/ledge wasn't going to work. I was going to have to just hang them on the wall but as I was walking through Michael's to pick out some {cheap} frames I came up with the idea to "tie" the frames together with ribbon so I didn't have to actually hang them in a straight line! I don't know about you but I am HORRIBLE at hanging pictures, especially if they have to be level or straight with another piece. This method allowed me to hang them, all straight, just using 1 nail!!

Supplies:

3 frames

3 photos

Grosgrain ribbon

Staple Gun

Ruler

Marker

Hanging supplies (nail, hammer, etc)

Insert your photos into your frames and lay them out on the floor in the pattern you want them to hang on your wall.

Make sure the distance between the frames is exactly the same between every frame and on each side. In retrospect you should do this step AFTER you've flipped your frames over.

Measure distance between frames and length from the edge of the frame to where you want the ribbon to hang and make small marks on the back of the frames.
Starting with the bottom frame, lay your ribbon along the dots you've made, leaving enough ribbon above your top photo to hang your finished triple frame (basically make a large U). Continue back down the other side of your frame. Secure the ribbon to the frame with your staple gun. Hang a nail on your wall, hang the triple frame by the ribbon and you are done! (I ended up adding a nail under the 2nd and 3rd photo to give a little support so that not all the weight was pulling on the ribbon)

Look at those little piggies!!!!

Fabric Covered {MEGA} Letter

2012-02-07T10:40:00.000-05:00

One of the first projects that I did to prepare for Regan's Bake Shop was this huge 23" fabric covered R.

I actually bought the R when I was down in Florida for Thanksgiving last year since my JoAnn Crafts doesn't carry them in our local store (but I knew my sister's store carried them). They are also available online and only cost $9.99 - or use your coupon and get them for even less! I really love paper mache letters, there are endless ways you can decorate them - paint, fabric, paper, ribbon, cupcake wrappers, felt...endless possibilities. I decided a padded fabric with ribbon edging would be cute for this party (although cupcake wrappers would have been SUPER cute for a bakery theme). This project is pretty easy, so here is a quick tutorial for you!

Supplies:
batting
fabric
paper mache letter
stapler or staple gun
ribbon that is the same width as the depth of your letter
hot glue
scissors
disappearing ink pen or like colored marker
spray adhesive (optional)

Flip your letter upside down and trace it onto your batting. Cut out leaving a 1/2"-1" border.

Do the exact same thing with the fabric, making sure you leave a border that's a little larger than your batting.

Use a little spray adhesive on the right side of the letter and then lay the batting down on top. You can also just use a little hot glue here and there to adhere the batting.

Then lay your fabric, right side up, on top of the batting. As you can see, you don't need to be too careful when you cut out your fabric.

You want to notch and clip any rounded parts if your letter has them.

Pulling the fabric lightly, add staples every so often to secure the fabric.

Continue all the way around your letter until you are happy with the letter's look from the front. Then, using a little hot glue as you go, wrap the "sides" of your letter in matching or contrasting ribbon. I used a solid aqua grosgrain 1.5" wide ribbon to add in the other party color to this project.

After looking at this photo I decided that I needed to glue my ribbon down better so I added some hot glue where I saw the ribbon not totally conforming to the letter.

Then just using a nail I hung the letter in our Kitchen, added some pretty paper pendant bunting from Polka Dot Market and I was done!!

Little {Baker} Birthday Party!

2012-02-05T15:12:00.006-05:00

Over the past month or so I have been planning my daughter's 4th birthday party bit by bit. When I saw this Cake Boss party put together flawlessly by Passion-for-Parties last summer my jaw dropped and I knew my daughter would love something like this, just tailored a little bit for the younger set. I ran straight to the amazingly talented Kori of Paper & Pigtails to help her bring my vision to graphic life. She used a photo of Martha, my brand new Aqua Kitchen Aid stand mixer, as part of her inspiration and created the perfect invitation, party logos, and other printable funness! I had the pleasure of working with some really REALLY talented handmade party vendors on this party and without their beautiful products this party would not have turned out half as cute as I think it did. Of course, I also did a handful of {kinda} crafty DIY projects as well and I will be bringing you some tutorials in the coming weeks. For now though, here are some photos of the party (taken by me and hubs) for you to enjoy!
{vendor list at the bottom of the post}

Paper & Pigtails {party printables}

Pom Flair {mylar & tissue garland}

The Purple Pug {cake bunting, cake ribbon, faux cake banner}

The Decorated Cupcake {rainbow cake & cake poppers}

Dough-a-deer {mini donuts}
Made by Morgan {custom apron}
Polka Dot Market {paper straws, paper bunting, cake toppings bottles}

linking up here:

Where did {January} Go?

2012-02-02T11:21:00.000-05:00

Um, I seem to have lost the month of January this year. To say January was busy is a gross understatement. I didn't want to leave you hanging til after the big birthday party this weekend for a new post so here is a little photo round-up of things I have been working on this month. Once the party is over I will have like 5 tutorials for you about all the fun party stuff we are {hopefully} doing! Pinky promise!

A new fun Parisian Love Wreath (available for sale HERE)

How fun is this little removable Eiffel tower?

Even the ribbon has Eiffel towers on it!

This was a custom wreath for a little boy's penguin birthday party!

I love the contrast of the baby blue with the black.

I baked my very first made from scratch cake with my brand new Kitchen Aid mixer! I went all out and made it ombre (or at least tried).

I also discovered that I don't like my buttercream frosting with shortening in it, but the cake was still tasty.

I designed and ordered myself some new business cards. I just loved this shape so much!

There are a little sneak peek into the party favors for this weekend.

I just love the colors of this custom topiary I made!

I just love any excuse to use my turquoise chevron ribbon!

Valentine {Sweet} Bags!

2012-01-24T11:02:00.001-05:00

So days I love printing out bag tags and favor tags to add to my treats and other days I just want an all-in-one kind of solution!
While searching the vast inventory that is available at Nashville Wraps I came across these really nice white treat bags that are lined and so FDA approved for food. Not only were they food safe, they were nicely sized and priced just right. Since I was ordered other supplies for my wreath packaging needs I met the $25 minimum that Nashville Wraps has so I added these beauties to my cart and I am very happy I did. (I haven't looked yet but I am guessing you can buy plain white treat bags at the craft store, next time I go I will look and let you know!)
After designing (and redesigning) what I wanted to print on my candy bags, using graphics I bought from Lettering Delights, I went to tackle printing out the bags. Now, I have had my printer (Canon Pixma iP6600D, which they don't sell anymore) for about 6 years. We are besties and have been through a lot of life changing events together. He printed my wedding invitations, birth announcements, resignation letters...you name it, he's printed it for me, so I was pretty confident printing on flat white bags would be a breeze! Boy was I wrong. Here is what happened when I FINALLY got the bags to even start to go through the printer (which took about 8 tries)

Lovely aren't they? The first 2 was before I discovered my "trick" and the 2nd two were post trick but with all the extra ink jammed up in the printer from my first 18 tries without the trick.
So you want to know the "trick" to printing on these bad boys?!? A piece of cardstock is the trick!! Simple right? I cut down a piece of white cardstock to fit inside the bags and ran the bags through the printer with the cardstock inside, keeping the bags stiff! I mean could it have been any simpler than that? So I printed out 20 of these beauties and everyone turned out just perfect!

I filled them with some assorted candies and lollipops, folded over the top, punched 2 holes in the bag and added a little ribbon to girlie design and some Twinery Twine to the boy version.
So now you might be wondering how you can get this look, too! Well I have 2 ways for you - DIY or Purchase. Now since I bought these graphics for personal use only I can't sell them to you but I have come up with a beautiful personalizes polka dot design that you can buy, already printed on the bags, from Polka Dot Market. But if DIY is more your style I have designed 2 fun downloads for you (including matching party circles if you want to go that route)


You can download the bag printable HERE and the matching circle HERE

You can download the bag printable HERE and the matching circle HERE!

Hope you Valentine's Day is Berry Sweet {suckers}!

Wired for {Love}!

2012-01-10T14:26:00.001-05:00

Here is a quick and fun project you can do for any holiday or party. I even made one back for Halloween but I ran out of time and never got the post or tutorial written up.

Supplies:
Aluminum jewelry or floral wire (the kind usually sold in a coil - I've bought it at both Dollar Tree and the craft store in the jewelry section)
Wire cutters or scissors you don't care about
A print out of whatever word you want to create

Step 1 - open up Word or Photoshop (or any editing software) and choose a cursive font you like. Type up the word you want to the size you want and print it out. If you want something really large just print it out on several pages and tape them all together.
Step 2 - start sculpting your wire so that it "traces" your printed out word. Tip - don't make any sudden kinks int he wire, soft turns can be undone but kinks are hard to get out
Step 3 - Use your wire cutters to cut off any excess wire.
Step 4 - hang it up! I used about 24" of glitter ribbon I had laying around and tied it to each end of the my word.

I after I traced out my word I realized that the font I used makes Love look more like Lave or Laue - let that be your warning to love the font you pick before you print it!

V-Day {Recap} from 2011

2012-01-07T19:08:00.002-05:00

Before we go head first into new Valentine's Day projects I thought it might be fun to look back and what crafts I did last year! (this will also serve a dual purpose in making sure I don't repeat any crafts)

First up is this really cute classroom gift idea for the younger set that might not be ready for candy just yet - hair clippies and a matching card.

Next up is this really simple Valentine's Hand Towel. It is a great project for straight line sewers like myself!

Of course there was a free printable! Oh wait, it gets better, there was a 2nd free printable - this time it was a banner!

Oh wait - there were bag toppers, too!

And of course, what would a holiday be at She's{kinda}Crafty if there wasn't a matching wreath?

Single Layer {Diaper} Cakes!

2012-01-06T11:32:00.003-05:00

After make a 3 layer diaper cake for my sister-in-law's first baby shower I still had some diapers left over when it came time for her 2nd shower. Unfortunately there weren't enough diapers left over to make another 3 layer but there was just enough to make 2 smaller single layer cakes that could be used as centerpieces, gift table decorations, whatever you wanted them for. While I was making the single layer cakes I decided I would take some photos of the process so I could share a little tutorial with you.
Back in the day, what I made my first diaper cakes, I would spend a lot of time rolling every single diaper and hand tie them. UGH! That took forever and just meant the mom had to untie every single diaper when she needed to use them. NO FUN! So the last couple diaper cakes I have made I have used this method for every layer!

Supplies (for a single 8" layer - adjust quantities for larger or smaller layers)
11 size 1 diapers
1- 8" cardboard cake round
A long length of baker's twine or curling ribbon
Decorations, ribbon, etc for the outside of the cake

1) Line all your diapers up so that only the folded edges are showing, space them about an inch & a half to 2 inches apart.

2) Lay your twine down the center of the diapers (this Huggies Natural Diapers have that great "they peed" line on them that changes color when the diaper is wet, which helps you center everything up easier, but it's not necessary)

3) This is the only tricky part of the process. And I dont have a photo of it b/c it takes 2 or 3 hands to do - Stand the diapers on end while keeping them in line then use you twine to bring the 2 ends of the diaper line together, folding in the open end into the folded ends. Go ahead and tie your twine as tightly as you can, you can rearrange the diaper spacing later.

4) Arrange your diapers so the spacing is somewhat even, but don't worry about it too much.

5) Decorate your cake to fit the shower or nursery theme. I used cut outs that I made with my new Silhouette Cameo to decorate both of these cakes. Don't they just look so charming on a cake stand? This shower was obviously a nautical theme (as is the nursery). I have also included some photos of past diaper cakes I have made!

my first ever diaper cake (almost 5 years ago)

a small 2 layer cake covered with receiving blankets

the 3 layer cake I made for the first shower

Homemade {Holidays} Recap

2012-01-03T11:51:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to share with everyone a couple homemade holiday gifts that I made this year.

First up I made my nephew a Build-your-own Fort kit! I had seen a really cute tutorial on Pinterest a while back and decided that he would have so much fun building his own forts at home that I just HAD to make it for him. I used this Tutorial from Just Stitch that I found on Pinterest to make the bag that held the fort kit and this was the tutorial from Saltwater Kids that I used to build and buy the part for inside the bag.

For another one of my nephews, who has a deep love of learning and sports, I made this cute pencil roll using baseball fabric I found at Joann Fabrics and filled it with custom pencils, erasers and even a baseball pencil sharpener that I bought from Explicitly Yours Pencils (which I also found via Pinterest)
There are many pencil roll and crayon roll tutorials available out there in blog land but I just kind of winged it on this one and made it myself without a tutorial.

If you start planning early enough (like now for birthdays coming up) making handmade gifts are fun and so rewarding for everyone. I know that my sewing improves each time I attempt a new project and that is really the only way to progress my skills. Don't be afraid to try something new, just start early enough so that if you have to redo it a couple times you aren't too stressed out about it!

You can follow me on pinterest at www.pinterest.com/shaycock

2011 {Wreath} Wrap Up!

2011-12-30T14:54:00.001-05:00

I seriously haven't sat down to count how many wreaths I've made/sold this year. I don't take photos of every one because there are several combos that are so popular I end up doing them the most. But for your ribbon-loving pleasure here are some photos...ok a LOT of photos...of wreaths I made in 2011!

And that's a wrap on 2011!! I already have 2 orders for 2012 so I am sure there will be a lot more to come!

Happy {New} Years!!

2011-12-28T15:13:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a little quiet around here but I have been working on several fun new crafts to show off in the new year (once we get back from celebrating Christmas with Mr. {kinda}Crafty's family). Until then I wanted to share this printable set and family Top Ten list for 2011. I thought this little set would be a fun way to make your family's New Year's Eve dinner a little more special and include a family activity. It would be fun to print this out and put it on a piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper or foam board and add photos from any of the top 10 things on list that you have. That way you could keep the board to bring out next New Year's Eve and see how your top 10 lists have changed!
The links for the downloads are at the bottom of the post (as well as a banner you can print and cut out) and please remember they are for personal use only.

Happy New Year's Banner
NYE Party Squares
2012 Squares
Top Ten List of 2011

Wintery {Surprise} Party!

2011-12-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we traveled to just outside Atlanta to help throw a surprise party for Mr. {kinda}Crafty's grandmother who is turning 87 this year! Turning 87 definitely deserves a great party and since her birthday is near Christmas we went ahead and added some holiday elements to the party! I whipped up an invitation using these great graphics from Lettering Delights and offered to take care of the dessert table. One of these days I will stop doing traveling dessert table but for now I guess I haven't learned my lesson :) Of course I forgot my huge pottery barn 3 tiered serving tower which was going to anchor the left side of my table, but I doubt anyone else but me noticed. Here are some photos of the table.

Mr. {kinda}Crafty build me this great stand for my popcorn cones!

I found these great royal icing ornament toppers at Michael's - they were part of a collection by Duff (ace of cakes)

These beautiful and DELICIOUS red velvet cake poppers were from The Decorated Cupcake

Nut cups from Shop My Little Love. Lollipops for the lollipop tree I made from Oriental Trading

Be a {Good} Cookie!

2011-12-19T14:26:00.001-05:00

** The Giveaway is now Closed**

I want to share with you a wonderful organization today, Cookies for Kids' Cancer. This program was started by to OXO employees who were inspired by their son's battle with pediatric cancer. As we all know, the main way to find therapies and treatments for cancers of all kind is through research and research takes funding. The goal of Cookies for Kids' Cancer it to raise funding for pediatric cancer research by holding local bake sales.
This year, OXO will donate up to $100,000 to support research for new and improved therapies in the area of pediatric cancers. Part of their efforts revolve around the Limited Edition Cookie Spatula - 50% of profits from the sale of these spatulas, up to $100,000, will benefitpediatric cancer awareness. You can go to www.oxogoodcookies.com to find a local retailer who carries this fun green spatula and learn more about their cause and how you can become involved in hosting your own bake sale. They are also carried at Bed, Bath, & Beyond as well as Amazon.com.
Also on www.oxogoodcookies.com you can send virtual cookies to spread the word about your bake sale and OXO will match all proceeds of bake sales that are registered on the site by Dec 31, 2011 (up to $100,000 again!)
OXO was nice enough to send me 2 of these Limited Edition Good Cookie spatuals, 1 for me to test out and write to you about, and 1 to send to you! (of course, although OXO sent me these spatuals for free this post, all my thoughts about the product and the Good Cookie program are 100% mine, as they are not forcing me to say anything against my will)
To "test" out this cute spatula I asked my daughter to help me make some sugar cookies after bath time a couple weeks ago. It was the first time I really let her get into all the steps of cookie making and she really enjoyed it, so we plan to do it again this week to make some cookies for her teachers and Santa!
Doing rolled out sugar cookies is so hard for me because of the mess!! It drives me crazy but baking with my baby made the mess most definitely worth it in the end. Have a look for yourself

And now for the part you've been waiting for...the giveaway details
It's simple - just leave me a comment telling me what you are most grateful for this holiday season.
I will pick one winner from random.org on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at noon eastern!
Good luck and be a good cookie this holiday season!!

2011 {Party} Wrap Up!!

2011-12-15T19:09:00.002-05:00

2011 was a very fun year for out family. This is really the first year I really got "into" parties and dessert tables, and creativity when it came to parties! Let's take a quick look back at all the fun there was to have!

First up was mini me's 3rd birthday party- Puppies, Polka Dots, & a {Party} which was held at our local JumpE Place/My Gym

After that we had Baby P's Polka Dotty Pool Party (and here and here) which was a Preppy & Bright Nautically good time!

Shortly after the pool party we had our first playdate at the house. The theme was April Showers Have Brought May Flowers . We had so much fun crafting and snacking with our friends!

Next up is 4th of July and the Ice Cream Cupcakes and {Pie} neighborhood get together we hosted!

In case July wasn't busy enough we had our 2nd playdate - this time an Elmer's Craft Camp Playdate Party!

A quick, fun, little Pink & Green Sip 'n See for a dear friend was next!

The final big bang of the year was Gator Girls Tailgate with the lovely Great Gatherings & Lauren McKinsey!

Whew! It has been quite the partyriffic year and I still have one more party this coming weekend!
What was your favorite party that you threw this year? What have you got up your sleeve for 2012?

The last-but-not-least party was a surprise party for my husband's 87 year old grandmother.

Cupcake Topper to {Gift} Tags!

2011-12-15T16:43:00.001-05:00

Today I just want to show you some of my holiday wrapping. I used THIS amazing printable set from Shindig Parties TO GO to help make my gift tags (go stop by her facebook to say "heyyyy" and look for her AMAZING photo shoot she put together with the printable set). Usually you would use the circles as cupcake toppers or favor tags but I decided that were the perfect fit to this great wrapping paper I found at Hobby Lobby (which is now all sold out, at least at my store). I cut out the larger 2.5" circle back ground along with the smaller 2" toppers and sandwich them around a lollipop stick to use as my gift tags! Aren't they super cute?!? There are just SO many fun ways to use printables other than for just parties!!

Winner Announcement!

2011-12-13T14:34:00.001-05:00

The winners of the Elmer's Foam Board craft package are....

Karen said...

I love the chalkboard you made I have been looking for a cheap option! Congratulations Karen! and

32 Cineca @ Dreamin' N Details said...: I follow Elmer's on twitter

Please send an email to sheskindacrafty {at} gmail.com!

Elmer's Look for {Less}

2011-12-09T10:24:00.002-05:00

**UPDATED - THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED**

Recently my family and I did our first ever on location, non-studio photo session. It was SO much fun, but more about that on another day! The photo session was kind of dual purpose, photos of the kids and some good group shots for our holiday card. For the holidays cards I wanted to have a cute chalkboard prop but I couldn't find an affordable solution. So I MADE my own affordable solution using FOAM BOARD!! I know, genius right? I wanted something that would be light weight enough for the kiddos to carry around but fit in with the location we were taking the pictures at which was a living farm at a state park near our house.

I ran to my local Hobby Lobby and bought an open backed frame that was perfectly rustic and then started to prep my foam board. First I cut my foam board with my exacto knife (on top of a self healing cutting mat) to 10x20 to fit my frame. Then I added a thin coat of primer and 3 coats of chalkboard paint, letting it dry in between each coat.

Once it was all dry I primed it with chalk per the directoins on the can and then used Gorilla Tape to secure the foam board in the frame. Using a chalkboard marker I wrote a little holiday message! I think it turned out super cute and it looked wonderful in our photos.

But HOLD THE PHONE! I have a faux version to share with you in case you don't want to buy chalkboard paint or care to re-use the "chalk board" part! Elmer's sells BLACK foam board and these amazing Painters markers so you can skip all the painting steps and just cut your black foam core to fit your frame opening and use the awesome Painters markers to write you message! And the beauty about using the foam board is that it is really cheap and comes in large sheets so you can pre-cut several faux chalkboards out of the black foam board and have them ready to slip in and out of your frame!!

These are my favorite paint pens and they come in so many colors and tip sizes!

Elmer's has been kind enough to offer 2 of you your very own Foam Board gift packs so that you are able to make great home decor projects for less, too! If you win the giveaway you will win:
·         Black 20x30 Foam Board
·         White 20x30 Foam Board
·         CraftBond All-Purpose Glue Stick
·         CraftBond Repositionable Glue Stick
·         CraftBond Extra-Strength Glue Stick
·         X-ACTO Designer Series Gripster Knife
·         Painters Assorted Colors Set

So here's what you need to do to be entered to win - please remember to leave a separate comment for EACH item below!
1) leave a comment telling me what home decor project you'd like to make for less
2) follow me on Twitter
3) follow Elmer's on Twitter
4) Tweet about this giveaway using @sheskindacrafty, @elmers, and #lookforless

The giveaway will end Monday, December 12, 2011 at midnight and I will draw a winner using Random.org! You must be an 18 or older US citizen who lives in the United States. You will have 24 hours to contact me via email, facebook, or twitter to claim your prize!

Good Luck & Thank you to Elmer's for both sending me this great craft kit and offering it to 2 She's{kinda}Crafty readers!!

The 15 {Minute} Stocking

2011-12-06T11:07:00.001-05:00

You read that title right! I have a Christmas stocking that you can make in about 15 minutes (give or take depending on how fast you like to sew).
*please note that I am not a great seamstress, so if you are really into sewing you might get a chuckle out of my way of doing things!

The quickness in this stocking has more to do with the fact that you don't have to pre-cut much, saving you a lot of boring tedious work especially if you are going to make multiple stockings. Also there is a lot of time saving in the fact that you don't have to use any pins to hold together cut out pattern pieces, just hold your fabric sandwich tightly as you sew! Last year when I bought all this material to make my stockings I must have read easily 25 tutorials on making stockings. Just go ahead and google it, there are TONS out there. However, they all had patterns and pieces associated with them, and I am just really bad at cutting out pattern pieces. So I came up with this cheater method (at least I think I came up with it, I might have seen it in one of the 25 tutorials I read last November, so if you invented this method, I mean no hard feeling). I didn't really care about maximizing my fabric usage for this project but you could probably get 2 more stockings out of your 4 yards of fabric if you lay it out a little differently...you'll see.

Supplies (for 4, possibly 6 stockings)
~ 2 - 1 yard pieces of outer fabric (if you are making just 1 you'll need 1/2 yard cut in half to make 2 fat quarters)
~ 2 - 1 yard pieces of fleece for the lining (again 1/2 yard to make just 1)
~ 12"x40" piece of fabric for the cuff (each cuff is 12"x10" so add more if you are making more stockings) - might also need more than 12" wide if your pattern stocking is really wide
~ A 12" length of ribbon for each stocking
~ thread, scissors, sewing machine

Step 1 - Make a fabric sandwich by layering your fabric in this order: Fleece face up, Outer fabric face up, Outer fabric face down, Fleece face down

Step 2 - using a stocking you already have as a pattern (I used one from Pottery Barn, thus the really strange shape of my stocking, so says my husband) and with a fabric marker or sharpie, as I did, loosely trace around the body of the stock giving yourself a 1/4-1/2 inch margin. It doesn't have to be exact, that is the beauty and quickness of it all! Repeat around your large 1 yard fabric sandwich as many times as you want or can.

Step 3 - Cut each stocking you've traced out of the larger 1 yard fabric sandwich and take to your sewing machine. Simply sew right on the line you've drawn, holding all your fabric tightly so it stays smooth, remembering to back sew at the start and end. Using scissors (I used pinking shears) trim off the excess fabric leaving a 1/4" seam or so and then turn your stocking right side out. Repeat this process for each stocking.

Step 4 - Take your 12"x10" piece of cuff fabric and fold it in half, right sides facing, so you have a 6"x10" rectangle. Sew the 10" open end together using whatever seam allowance you need so that the cuff is just slightly larger than your finished stocking body from the step above.

Step 5 - turn your long cuff right side out

Step 6 - Fold your long cuff into itself to that the wrong sides are facing each other and you now have 1 open end and 1 folded end - should be 5" tall if you used a 10" tall piece of fabric

Step 7 - Open up your stocking and insert your folded cuff into the stocking so that the open edges and in line with the open edges of the stocking (you should now have 4 layers of open edges going around the entire stocking - outer fabric, fleece, cuff, cuff)

Step 8 - fold your 12" piece of ribbon in half

Step 9 - insert the folded end of your ribbon in between the fleece layer and the first cuff layer of fabric, this will be your hanger so make it as long or short as you want remember that the actually hanger part is INSIDE the stocking at this point.

Step 10 - Sew all the way around the top opening your stocking using about a 1/2" seam, make sure you catch all layers so you don't have to take your seam ripper out and start again, not that I had to do that with stocking #3 or anything! Remember to back sew at the end of your circle. Then just flip the cuff up and over the body of the stocking and you're done!

Of course you could iron the seams down and junk like that, but I hate ironing!

My husband says they are a strange shape so I blame Pottery Barn since theirs is the stocking I used to trace around :)

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial, I took all the pictures with my iPhone using Instragram! If you have an iPhone I HIGHLY suggest you download and use Instagram when taking photos, it's fun and it's FREE!!

Holiday {Freebies}!!

2011-12-02T11:35:00.001-05:00

I made up 2 quick sets of Holiday printables for your printing and cutting enjoyment. I also made matching gift tags to go with each set!
The first set is my Bright Collection using a fresh, bright color palette and font -

The second is my Mod Collection where I used a modern font and tradition color palette -

And you can also download a sheet with just the gift tag for each collection -

You can download the PDF's from box.net using these 4 links
Bright Collection
Bright Gift Tags
Mod Collection
Mod Gift Tags

Please remember that these fun, FREE printables are for personal use only and that if you share them (please do!) to link back to me :) And of course, if you like them, I'd love to hear about that in that little comments section below!!
Thanks & Happy Holidays from She's{kinda}Crafty!!

{Mini} Ribbon Wreath Ornament

2011-12-01T08:56:00.001-05:00

I posted a glimpse of my newest Ribbon Wreath creation a couple weeks ago but today I am back with the tutorial to help you make your own! The Mini Ribbon Wreath Ornament is such a fun and relatively easy ornament to make. The only thing that might be tough is finding the 3" Styrofoam wreath form. I ordered a dozen from Factory Direct Crafts, but a quick Google/Yahoo/Bing search should find you some. In the stores they sell a 3" twig version of this form which you could also just cover with ribbon and use much in the same way. I do make these slightly different than I make my larger wreaths but I think they turn out just as cute!

Supplies:
3" Wreath Form
60 - 3/8" wide ribbon loops (created by cutting 60 - 2.5" long pieces of 3/8" wide grosgrain ribbon, folding them in half and sewing them with a 1/4" tail/seam)
36-40" long piece of 5/8" satin ribbon
Hot Glue Gun & Sticks
6" length of ribbon to create a hanging loop at the end

See. that wasn't so hard was it? I do recommend that you use a low temp glue gun on this project so that you reduce how badly the glue burns your fingers! I have kinda built up a high tolerance to hot glue. You can always use a toothpick to help you place the ribbon if you find that you are burning your fingers too much.
PS - Holly Trees are prickly little devils but provide for a nice photo op!