DIY Sewing Cards for Kid's

It's Craft Lightning time again and this one is all about Scout Crafts!

I remember as a young girl attending Brownies and Girl Scouts was always a fun adventure and my favorite part was all the crafts we did!

These organizations always taught such good values and important skills as well.

Sewing was one of the skills I learned back then and this project is a very basic way to teach beginning sewing skills!

I first did this project with my Grandaughters a few years back, to help teach them to sew and now I am proud to say my 8 year old Granddaughter has graduated to using a sewing machine!

As you know, I love to upcycle/recycle things in my crafts and these sewing cards were no exception.

I used old cereal boxes for the cardboard and printed out cute and colorful pictures/graphics from the internet to paste on the cardboard.

I found that the pictures looked better if I used a drier type glue to adhere them to the cardboard, such as "Zip Dry" glue which is used a lot in Scrapbooking projects to preserve the integrity of the photos and not make them appear "lumpy".

I made two versions of the cards, one with small holes for older kids and one with larger (and less) holes for the little ones.

I used some washi tape to cover the edges and poked the holes using a metal scribe on the small holes and the Crop-a-Dile II from We R Memory Keepers for the card with larger holes.

My Granddaughter who was 6 at the time was able to help with almost all of the steps in this project, so I would say it is perfect for any Scout troop with children ages 6 and above!

She was mighty proud when she was done...and so was little sister!

Here are the steps for making the sewing cards:

Here are the Supplies and Tools I used for this project:

Tools & Supplies Used:

Light to Med Weight Cardboard (such as a cereal box)

Photos or Graphics printed out from the Internet

Paper Trimmer, Fiskars

Ruler

Scissors

Razor Blade (Adult Use Only!)

Glue, Zip Dry

Wax Paper (Not shown in photo above), to cover photos/graphics while drying glue with pressure

Heavy Book or Flat Weight to aid in drying glue on cardboard smoothly and firmly

Metal Scribe Tool

Crop-o-Dile II, We-R-Memory Makers

Washi Tape, Scotch Brand

Yarn (Variegated, Multi-Color)

Colored String (Variegated)

Needle, Plastic (for yarn)

Needle, Metal (for string)

Be sure to stop by the other blogs featuring these fabulous Scout Crafts that only take 15 minutes or less! 

Just click on the Info Graphic Below.

Thanks for visiting my blog, hope you will find this project useful and fun!

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

Teacher Note Necklace Made from Upcycled CD

Every year I like to make a little something for my Granddaughter's Teacher for Teacher appreciation week and this year I've come up with this note necklace that is made from an old CD.

I wanted to incorporate something useful into something fun!

I noticed that the teachers at school sometime have recess or yard duty and I thought it might be handy to have this little necklace with a post-it note pad and pen attached!

I even included a badge clip so that they can easily wear their school badge with the necklace.

To personalize it for a teacher gift, I added the photo of my Granddaughter and a sweet quote/poem about teachers!

This craft can easily be done in 15 minutes (minus drying time), though I'll have to admit, I added a few more things to my version that probably made it take a little longer.

Adding the gold cord around the photo was a bit tedious as it didn't want to easily lay down in a circle.
Also, the way I attached the beaded necklace to the cd was more elaborate than you really need to get.

I was just thinking of how it might lay nicer, so I added the snipped paper clip ends and cut the necklace in half and glued it to the ends of the clips.

This of course took more time than just gluing the whole beaded necklace to the back of the CD, but I wanted to add the square post-it note which took up more room and made it harder to mount the beads directly to the back of the cd.

I started by sanding the CD lightly on the shiny side and a little harder on the colored side because I was using tissue paper to cover it and didn't want any of the writing to show through.

I cut some strips of patterned tissue paper and then cut them into oblong pieces and adhered them to the CD with Mod Podge.

I only put two coats of Mod Podge, but you can add more if you like, just be sure to allow drying time between coats.

I scanned and printed out a photo of my Granddaughter on my Epson CX7400 color printer and glued it to the center of the CD.

(Note: before applying Mod Podge to a ink jet photo print out...apply a light coat of fixative to the photo/print out first...it will prevent the Mod Podge from causing the print to run or bleed!)

I was going to make a print out of the poem on my computer, but for times sake I decided to hand write the quote using a black sharpie marker.

In hindsight...I wish I had gone with the printout, only because I have a terrible time lining up my writing/printing as you can tell from the pictures!

I even used a "template" I made from paper and pencil, hoping to get it right and I still wasn't thrilled with the results, but the message will get across I suppose and maybe it will make the gift more personable!

The note pad/post-it note was attached using double sided foam tape and the pen was attached using the clip on the pen.

I thought of using magnets for the pen, but I didn't want to add any more weight than necessary to the necklace.

This project was quick and very inexpensive to make, I found the beads, tissue paper, pen and post-it notes at the 99 cents store and of course the CD was just an old one I had laying around that I no longer needed.

Here are the tools and supplies I used for this project:

Tools & Materials List:

Old CD (Not shown in photo above)
Sand Paper
Tissue Paper
Beaded Necklace, Plastic
Post-it Notes
Mod Podge
E6000 Adhesive
Workable Fixatif
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Mod Podge Gloss Sealer
Foam Paint Brush
Wire Cutters
Foam Mounting Tape (Two Sided)
Heavy Duty Scissors (Cutco Brand)
Regular Scissors
Sharpie Pen, Black
Pen (with clip)
Pencil
Gold Cord
Cardboard
Wax Paper and/or Butcher Paper
Paper Weights
Color Printer, Ink Jet (Epson)
Paper Clips
Plastic Container (for Mod Podge) (Not shown in photo above)

I made a slideshow showing the steps I took to make this project.

You can view it here on my YouTube Channel:


Or here on my Flipagram Feed:



Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

If you want to see some more great Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas, click on the graphic below and visit Angie, Carolina and Jessica's blogs for some awesome and crafty inspiration!

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

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:

Dr. Seuss Cat-in-the-Hat Pen/Pencil Holder

As many of you know, Dr. Seuss is a pretty big deal every year around this time, as his Birthday is coming up on March 2nd as is "Read across America" Day!

In honor of this, my awesome bloggie friends Angie at The Country Chic Cottage and  Carolina at 30 Minute Crafts are hosting a Craft Lightning Series "Seuss Edition".

The goal of this series is to come up with a Dr. Seuss craft that takes 15 minutes or less to make (minus drying time).

I thought a craft that would be super easy for kids to do and would make use of things you might have around the house would be good for this project.

One thing any child young or old could use and easily make, would be a pen/pencil holder for their desk.

Since I have TONS of empty toilet paper rolls laying around (just ask my husband...he always wants to know WHY??!!), I immediately thought of using one of those...one less for hubby to fret about! Ha-Ha!

I wanted to make it look more like a hat and not just put the striped cylinder with a flush bottom on it.

Also, I knew it needed to be a little heavy and somehow be able to remain sturdy to hold the pens and pencils, so I scoured around my kitchen to find some old jar lids and finally found one the right size to make it look like a brim of a hat and to stabilize the holder.

I wrapped the paper tube with Duck brand duct tape (white, then red for the stripes).
You could measure before doing this, but to be honest, I just eyeballed it and cut the tape with scissors and/or an exacto knife.

Next, I painted the metal jar lid with a Elmer's white paint pen.(You might have to do more than one coat, depending on the color of your lid).

After the lid was dry I used a glue gun to glue the tube hat onto the lid/brim.

Easy Peasy and a recycle craft to boot!

Here are the supplies/tools used for this project:

Tools/Supplies List:

Empty Cardboard Toilet Paper Roll
Metal Lid from Glass Jar
Duck Brand White Duct Tape
Duck Brand Red Duct Tape
Elmer's Painters - Opaque Paint Marker - White
Exacto Knife
Scissors
Glue Gun

Hope you enjoyed this quick and easy, kid-friendly craft and be sure to check out the other great Seuss inspired crafts by clicking on the Craft Lightning Badge below!

Thank-you for checking out my blog and this project!