Quick-n-Easy Collage Board

When I was a child there was nothing that got me more excited than to see paper, glue and scissors!
I knew that meant some crafty fun and what better way to create than to start with these three basic things.

That is the inspiration behind my post today for "Busy Bag", the latest edition of  the "Craft Lightning" series hosted by Angie from The Country Chic Cottage and Carolina from 30 Minute Crafts.
This edition is also co-hosted by guest blogger: Stacey with "Glued to My Crafts". (LOVE that blog name by the way!)

When I found out the topic of this version of Craft Lightning, I was a little stumped at first as my creative flow has been lacking lately because of other "stuff" going on in life...but then I remembered a draft post I started a couple of years ago, but never completed and I thought how perfect it would be for this series!

Since I babysit two of my Grandchildren, I often try to think of Crafty Fun to do with them and making collages was something I always loved, I thought it would be fun for the older Grandgirl at the time (Little B), who was 6.

I thought it would be nice to have her make something for her Momma to have at work to remind her of her girls during the day!

We started with a plain piece of cardboard and glued on some pretty tissue paper.

Then I had Little B tell me some things her Mommy liked and of course I knew of some things that my DIL liked and together we came up with ideas to include on the collage.

One thing she really likes is vintage pin-up girl pictures and I had just recently found this cool book full of pin-up photos at a yard sale. It had been partially damaged by water and I got it for practically free, so I felt like it was okay to salvage what pages were still good and not feel guilty about cutting-up the book!

We also printed out some instagram photos using my Zink printer which was really handy for this project!

The Starbucks logo and sweet little girl graphic were printed out from the internet using my Lexmark Printer.

My Granddaughter added some cute stickers and washi-tape accents and then we attached a pretty ribbon to the top for hanging.

I kept this project fairly simple so that it could be easily done by a 6 year old and be done quickly.

Even though the concept of a collage is nothing new...I think it's always timely and loved because of the thought and planning put into it. It says a lot about the person who made it and the person it is made for!

Me and my Granddaughter had so much fun making it too!
Made for some good memories for me and for her also I hope!



Here are the tools and supplies we used to make this project:

Tools/Supplies Used:

Pin-up Illustrations/Pages out of Book, "The Great American Pin-Up"
Zink Printer
Mini Personal Photos (printed on Zink Printer)
Printed Tissue Paper, Expressions from Hallmark, Lt. Purple design on White
Stickers, Tiny Crafts, Felt, Owls
Stickers, Puffy
Stickers, Me & My Big Ideas, Girly, Mambi Mini's, Words
Lexmark Printer (not shown in photo above)
Graphic of little Girl (Internet)
Logo/Graphic of Starbucks (Internet)
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Elmer's school glue stick
Stapler & Staples (to attach ribbon)
Scissors, Large Adult Size
Scissors, Kid-Safe (not shown in photo above)
Ribbon, Satin, Polka-Dot, Fuschia/Dk. Pink
Washi Tape, Tapefetti, Monster High

Be sure to stop by the other host blogs (click on graphic below) and see all the great Kid's Busy Projects you can do in 15 minutes or less!

Thanks for stopping in to visit my blog!

Desk Organizer for Teacher

I am really loving the Craft Lightning  Series sponsored by my favorite bloggers, Angie at Country Chic Cottage and Carolina at 30 minute crafts and this current version, Teacher Appreciation, is no exception!

I am always trying to do 10 things at once and am never very successful in getting things done, so finding a craft I can do in 15 minutes or less fits right in with my daily madness!

As my previous visitors and followers already know, I babysit two of my Grandchildren on a regular basis and one of them is in school and she LOVES to make things for her teachers, so I decided to be sure and make a teacher gift every year for her to give to her current teacher.

Last year, I made this personalized coffee container for her Kindergarten teacher and it was a hit not only with Little B and her teacher, but with the entire class!

I don't know if this project will be quite as popular as that one, but since I've been on a "recycle/upcycle" trend lately, I decided to continue with that theme and try to re-use something in a creative way.

I had seen a very cute idea on either Pinterest or Stumble Upon recently and wanted to re-create it but wasn't sure if that exact item (A jewelry holder) would fit for B's teacher, since I do not know a whole lot about her and what she might like, so I decided to down-size it and make it for use on a teacher's desk.

(Click Here to see the original project that I used for inspiration)

So, I made this desk organizer (paper clip, brad, rubber-band holder).

I tried to think of what little items a teacher would use that would need to be organized for quick use on her desk and I came up with paper clips, rubber bands, brads and push-pins.
(I forgot to take any photos of the organizer with push-pins in it...oops! But you get the idea!)

I used 3 empty plastic soda bottles (12-20 oz.) for this organizer, but you could make yours bigger and/or smaller depending on your taste and what bottles you have on hand.

One of the great things about this project is you can almost make it from stuff just around your house and in your craft stash, especially if you have a hubby with a garage or shop!

Oddly enough, my husband has a garage stock full of hardware and tools, but since he wasn't home at the time I started my project, I couldn't find some of the hardware I needed, so I did run to the corner hardware store real quick and pick-up the threaded rod, washers and nuts, though I'm pretty sure he had most of that hidden somewhere in the dark corners of his man cave!

When he got home, I had him do the drilling for me, even though I attempted it with my 25+ year old dremel too, but it finally gave up the ghost, just as I was drilling my first hole, so I had him finish the others for me, as I was not sure I wouldn't drill my finger trying to wrestle with the bigger drill!

(Note: Be sure to wear safety gear, ie: googles and leather gloves when drilling or cutting...I forgot the gloves in my pics, but I did wear safety glasses!)

I noticed that most plastic bottles have a built-in line around them right about where you want to cut, but if you prefer a deeper dish/bowl, then just mark the bottle with tape and then cut it with the utility knife.

I sanded the edges of the plastic after I cut just to smooth them out a bit.
I decided to add some washi tape to the edges also, mostly for color and decoration, but this is not necessary if you sand them smooth or unless you just want to dress them up a bit!

(NOTE about the washi tape...some brands/types don't want to stick as well on plastic...especially when you are wrapping it around contours and curves! In this case, you may need to use a little elmers glue or mod podge to seal the edges. I did not do this...as you might be able to see in a few of the pics...but I will probably go back and do this before I have little B give this to her teacher.)

After attaching all the pieces using the washers and nuts I decided to add an embellishment to the top, to make it look a little prettier!

I used a plain white bead and inserted a straight pin with a colored ball tip and glued them together with E6000.

When it dried, I just snipped off the excess pin and glued the embelli to the top of the threaded rod.

This project was so easy and inexpensive...and it turned out pretty cute for a recycled project!

Hope you like it and might want to try making one of your own or for your favorite teacher!

Here is a photo of the tools and supplies used for this project:

Supplies/Tools List:

3 Empty Plastic Soda Bottles (12 oz., 16.9 oz. & 20 oz.)
Painters Tape, Blue, Scotch 3M
Utility Knife, Husky
Threaded Rod, 1/4" (approx. 6")
Hex Nuts, 1/4"
Flat Washers, 3/16"
Scotch Expressions Tape, 3/4", Dark Pink (Fuschia), Matte Finish
Washi Tape, We-R-Memory Keepers, 1 cm., Green/White design
Washi Tape, We-R-Memory Keepers, 1 cm., Blue flower design
Sand Paper, Med-Fine Grit
Adhesive, Industrial Strength, E6000
Side Cutter/Wire Cutter - (Not shown - Used to trim off excess straight pin)

I would like to send out a special thank-you to my daughter Beth, (who is a photographer) for helping me with some of the photos (you will be able to tell which one's are hers! She's a pro...I am NOT! LOL!)
If you get a chance, check out her photography site, she is very talented and I'm so proud of her!

Also, a big thank-you to Angie and Carolina for once again allowing me to be part of this awesome blog series.

It's always so much fun and so much inspiration to be shared!

Be sure to check out all the great Teacher Appreciation projects in this Craft Lightning Series.
Angie and Carolina will be posting round-ups of all the projects each day!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

This project is linked-up to the following sites/link parties:

Dollar-Store Halloween Pumpkin Luminaries

Happy Halloween to all my crafty friends out there!

Just thought I'd post this cool and thrifty craft that me and my 4 year old Granddaughter "B" completed the other day for Halloween.

It's so easy, yet turns out looking so nice and only costs a few bucks to make!

I originally found this idea on a cool blog that I follow called "Mod Podge Rocks" and I "pinned" it to my Pinterest Board so I would be able to find it again later.

I was glad that I did, because when I decided to try and come up with a fun Halloween activity for my Granddaughter, this one immediately popped in my mind, as funds have been tight lately and I had remembered that this one was cheap to make!

I took a quick trip to the dollar store to get the glass votive holders, battery tea lights and Halloween napkins (Total: $4.00 w/o tax!).

I had the other supplies needed already on hand.

Here are the supplies we started with:

As you can see, my precious Granddaughter was very excited about getting started with our "Crafty" project.

She is such a sweetheart and brings me so much joy!
I really love that we can share crafting together!

I wanted to show a lot of pictures of her doing this with me, so that you all know that this is a craft that can be done with Children with a little supervision.

I was pretty impressed at how much of it little "B" was able to handle on her own and she was really in to it!

I am going to lightly skim over how we made these, but if you want a better, more complete tutorial check out The "Maiden D'Shade" blog post/tutorial here.

(The Mod Podge posting directed readers to the Maiden D'Shade tutorial also.)

We started out by cutting out the strips of orange tissue paper to cover the glass votive holders.

Then we mixed a little bit of water with some Mod Podge:

Next, we began gluing on the tissue paper strips with the Mod Podge:

This part was a bit tricky at first, because we tried "dipping" the pieces in the MP and placing them, but they tend to tear and come apart that way, so then we decided to just lightly glue them first with a brush...just enough to get them to lie down on the glass and then after they were all on there, we went over the entire thing lightly.

After the first coat of Mod Podge, we took them outside on the front porch to dry:

(NOTE: Don't try this if it is a windy day, because obviously dirt, sand and other foreign objects could stick to the wet Mod Podge and give your project an unwanted design addition!)

We were under a little bit of time constraint, because "B" was making hers for her Mommy for Halloween and we needed to get it done kind of fast.

Putting it outside in the sun definitely helped dry it enough to get us to the next step.

"B" wanted a cat on her pumpkin, so we got out the Cricut Stuff and she picked out one from the Seasonal "Pumpkin Carving" Cartridge.

If you don't have a Cricut or would just prefer to cut out designs for yourself, Better Homes & Gardens has some great Stencils for carving Pumpkins that can also be used for this project, you just have to size them down a bit on your computer before printing them out.

Click HERE for the link to the stencils.

Sweet "B" has done a lot of "Cricutting" with Grandma, so she can actually operate it with a little help from me.

She chose the cat with a circle around it and the Cricut Imagine Machine did the work for us!

B's favorite part is "scooping" the finished product off the mat!

I sometimes have to help her a little with this part, if the design is particularly intricate, as one slip of the hand and the design can easily be torn!

She is getting pretty good at it though...an old pro!

The next step was to attach the cut-out to the pumpkin/luminary.

By now the first coat of Mod Podge had dried enough to continue.

"B" brushed on the MP to the back side of the cat cut-out:

I helped her glue it on the votive holder, as it was tricky to get it to lay flat on the rounded edges:

I had to hold it in place for about a minute or two so that it wouldn't slide around when I coated it with the MP.

Also, I had to fold and tuck under a tiny bit on each side to make it fit to the round shape.

I probably could have cut it smaller and would not have had this problem, but like I noted earlier, we were under time constraint, so I just did what I could do to make it look alright.

After adhering the cat, we covered it with a layer of Mod Podge and let it dry:

I did my Pumpkin next and just tried to experiment with something different.

I decided to try and cut out a design from a Halloween Napkin.

These are the napkins that I got at the dollar store:

I cut out the ghost with the word "Boo" on it:

Then I attached it to the pumpkin with a little bit of MP:

A bit of a warning here...go VERY easy on the Mod Podge with napkins, I was forgetting that they are a bit more delicate than tissue paper and I over-did it and made a crinkly mess out of my ghost!

Also, I put the second coat of MP on too early, before it was dry and it made the face part of the ghost too transparent, which I guess would have been fine for a ghost, if the bottom half had matched!

I didn't realize this until it had dried completely the second time, so there wasn't much I could do to fix it at that point, but at least I learned something from my experiment!

After the luminaries were completely dry, we added one LED Tealight Candle to each.

The tealights we used were purchased in a pack of three from the dollar store:

Here are the luminaries lighted:

I have to say, my Granddaughter's turned out much better than mine and I am so proud of her!

She is pretty excited about her gift for Mommy!

We had so much fun making these and I can't wait to make some more next year, or perhaps make some for Christmas!

Thank-you all for joining me and sharing in my fun craft time with my precious Granddaughter!

This Post/Project is linked-up to the following sites: