Last year on Christmas Eve, we started the tradition of sprinkling magical reindeer food on the lawn. The story goes, that the glitter sparkles in the moonlight and helps Santa locate your house. The oats are there to feed the reindeer while Santa is creeping in your house. My kids were totally into it. This year, I thought, instead of just putting the food in a plastic bag, I would make these little pouches for them to tear into and sprinkle away. 
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MAKE
Lego Duplo Advent Calendar…
Well, there is certainly no shortage of advent calendar ideas swirling around Pinterest. There are some amazing ideas out there! So, I felt the need to make my own contribution with our Lego Duplo 2013 advent calendar. I think it’s hysterical! As a bonus, you don’t really need to posses any major crafting skills for this one folks…a little cutting and writing…that’s it!
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Mini Pilgrim Hat Piñata…
Who says you can’t have a piñata at Thanksgiving? Not me…that’s for sure! You know I love a mini piñata! Inspired by my mini leprechaun piñatas, these little guys are a fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving.
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Handmade Kid Stationary…
I still prefer getting cards and handwritten letters over emails, texts, tweets, or Facebook messages. I have saved many letters over the years. I kept every letter my husband and I wrote to each other, before we ever even met almost 20 years ago. I’ve gone through the box a few times and it brings back such great memories of such a different time in our lives. I have saved countless letters from my bestie…all dating back to High School. We got in sooo many fights…and she was so dramatic! Love that I still have these….
Bat Mobile…
Halloween is less than a week away and I just put out our first decoration. Ha. Well, it’s an improvement from last year, when I didn’t put anything out until Halloween night. I used to be so on top of this stuff. Times…they did a change! Also, I find it funny how my tastes have changed since having kids. Pre-kid I would have much preferred store bought decor, but now, I prefer homemade all the way. Maybe it’s because I’m a homemade type of gal..I dunno. There is always something so charming about homemade, that store bought could never replicate.
I picked up a bunch of vintage hangers for $1 at a thrift store a few weeks back. I wasn’t really sure what plans I had for them, but I liked their shape and there’s the whole $1 thing. So, I bought them and do what I always do. Toss it in my never ending “to do” craft pile and wait for inspiration to strike.
Inspiration struck today and I decided we needed some Halloween decor. I busted out the craft supplies and we made this little bat mobile. I do love it!
Gather your supplies:
Sculpey oven bake clay
Toothpicks
Acrylic glitter paint
Bat template
Floral wire
Rolling pinHangers or dowel rods
Drill
Instructions:
Roll out clay to approximately 1/8 in thickness.
Place bat template onto clay.
With a toothpick cut around template.
Remove excess clay and template.
Make a hole in center of head with toothpick.
Bake according to directions.
Once cooled, coat with glitter paint and let dry.
Thread bats with floral wire and attach to hangers or dowel rods.
For the hangers, I had my husband remove one of the metal hanger part things. Then, he straightened the remaining hanger and threaded it through the the bottom of the other hanger. Next, he bent it back into a hook shape. After he drilled holes, I wrapped some floral wire around the center of the hangers to keep them in position. If you don’t have any wooden hangers, wooden dowel rods would work just as well. You can get those from any craft or hardware store.
All that’s left to do is to hang your bat mobile. We hung ours right under an air vent…to help the bats fly a little.
Make A Difference Day…
Tomorrow, 10/26/13 is Make a Difference Day and I wanted to share with you these cards I created to help celebrate. Sometimes, it can be the littlest things that truly make a difference in someone’s life. I’ll be honest, I’ve been bad about instilling that in my kids on a regular basis. I know I’ve said it in passing, but sometimes you just don’t think to have certain conversations repeatedly. My kids are by no means spoiled, but today I talked to them in depth about how some kids have no toys. Or maybe they just have one. Some kids have only one outfit and maybe no shoes. It’s hard to know what actually sinks in with them, but I think they understood what I was trying to convey. So today, the kids and I spent the morning drawing pictures and and making watercolor confetti for a little girl in Africa who is being sponsored by a blog I follow, NewDayNewDeals. The owner, Sarah had posted that she was sending a care package to Selvine and would love it if her blog followers could send in some drawings, letters or cards. They were tickled just knowing what they had made would be traveling all the way to Africa. And though it’s something small, it’s sure to put a smile on the face of a little girl who doesn’t have much. 
We have plans to do more..hoping we can make a difference in someone’s life tomorrow! I encourage you to do the same! The cards are free to download and share!
Random Act of Kindness Cards
Ding Bat Donuts…
For my birthday this year, I got this really cool tablet I’ve been obsessing over for a while. The #1 reason I wanted this was so I could do drawings or doodles and implement them into my blog or crafts. I adore doodles! They are so fun and carefree. Totally not stuck up!
Anyway, I was playing around with it last night and started drawing Halloween doodles. Then, I started drawing bat body parts. Though I was a little skeptical at first about my technique, I ended up loving it. It just works…ya know? So, I’m sharing it. Don’t laugh.
Gather your supplies:
- Donut Holes
- Candy Eyeballs
- Toothpicks
- Peanut butter or frosting
- Ding Bat printable found at the end of this post
Instructions:
Rough cut wings and ears.
Leave a little “stem” on the ears for easy insertion into donut.
Place donut on toothpick or lollipop stick.
Insert wings and ears.
Dab peanut butter or frosting on the back of eyeballs and fix to donut.
I cut up an egg carton so I could stand the bats up on the toothpick. I was fresh out of floral foam. Somehow, trekking three kids to the dollar store for some foam, lost it’s charm about 2 kids ago. I’m learning to use what I have. And…I had egg cartons. There ya go.
I love this Ding Bat. It looks like it ran smack into a wall…and is all discombobulated!
This is a pretty basic craft…but my kids had a lot of fun decorating the bats. Even more fun eating them!
Madeleine Monster Feet…
Life has been busy happening around here and I’m learning, that even I have my limits of what I can take on. Honestly, I don’t know how other bloggers do it. By the end of the day, I’ve already checked out. I’m lucky if I get one blog post out a week. So, pardon my lame excitement over this post, but yay…here is my first Halloween post of the season! Whoop!
I LOVE Madeleines! I own Madeleine pans just for this reason. It was only a matter of time before I transformed Madeleines into monster feet. RAWR!
Supplies:
- Madelienes (make your own or store bought will work fine also)
- Candy melts or melting chocolate
- Slivered almonds
- Sprinkles
Instructions:
Dip the top portion of the Madeleine into the candy melts.
Using a toothpick, make three holes at the top of the Madeleine.
Insert slivered almonds into the three separate holes you just made.
Top with sprinkles and let harden.
You can put these on a stick or leave them as they are. I tucked them into a basket made from a baking cup and attached with the printable found at the end of this post.
Bohemian Fabric Feather Headdress…
I’ve been dreaming this one up for a while. I was going to make this for the scraps challenge in the So You Think You’re Crafty contest, but I didn’t have the kinks worked out. I have finally gotten around to it…and I’m obsessed with how it turned out. This may be one of my favorite projects ever!
Supplies Needed:
- Fabric scraps
- 17 x 6 piece of canvas or drill fabric
- Heat n Bond Ultra
- Floral wire (see notes in blog post)
- Elastic
- Sewing machine
- Scissors
- Iron
Instructions:
Iron Heat n Bond to fabric scraps.
Remove paper backing and place a 6 in piece of wire in the center.
Fold fabric in half and press with iron.
Cut out a feather shape.
Make random notches and slices on each side of fabric feather.
Fold in the ends of the canvas piece 1/4 inch and press with iron.
Fold canvas in half lengthwise and press with iron.
Unfold canvas, then fold each side to center seam you made above, and press with iron.
Fold canvas in half lengthwise one more time and press with iron.
Unfold canvas and begin placement of the feathers on the creased side of the canvas. (Refer to picture below. It’s important to attach them this way, so all of your stitches are hidden in the fold.)
Using a straight stitch attach one feather at a time. Reinforce with back stitching.
Repeat until all feathers are attached.
Cut a 3 inch piece (this will vary depending on size of head) of elastic and secure to end fold.
Repeat the same on other end of elastic.
Top stitch the entire perimeter of the headdress.
The whole project worked out beautifully. The only change I would make is in the gauge of wire used. I chose floral wire because I wanted something I could easily sew over without breaking a needle. However, some of the larger feathers could have used more stability, to keep them from flopping over when moving around.
Sprinkled Mini Party Hats…
I’m finally getting around to posting my tutorial on the mini party hats I did for the So You Think You’re Crafty birthday challenge. I love these little guys! And just like candy dots, the sprinkles design is completely edible…how fun!
Supplies you will need:
- Cardstock
- Pom poms
- Glue
- Tape
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Razor blade
- Elastic thread
- Sprinkles
- Small batch royal icing
- Number or desired image template
- Mini party hat template (download available at the end of this post)
Instructions:
Trace party hats onto cardstock, using the mini party hat template.
Trace desired image onto center of hat.
Make cutting marks for tab insert and holes for threading elastic.
Determine length of elastic needed, cut, and thread through holes. Tie a secure knot for each side.
Insert tab through slot on back of party hat and secure with tape on the inside.
Flood the image with royal icing, careful not to use too much.
Cover icing with sprinkles and gently shake off excess.
Allow to dry overnight.
Glue pom pom to top of hat.
Party on!!
Mini Party Hat Template