Happy National Scrapbook Day!! (well... tomorrow)

Just a short note to let people know that tomorrow is National Scrapbooking Day!!

In honor of it, I am posting one of my favorite double page layouts. This is one that I did for my husband's trip with his dad to a football game in California.

Also, Roberts will be having a National Scrapbook Day event today and tomorrow. Click here to see info on the event. 

I will be scrapbooking ALL day tomorrow in honor of it !

From the Web Wednesday: Jewelry for your Mom (or yourself)

Mother's Day is fast approaching, so if you haven't found the perfect gift to tell your mom how much she means to you, consider one of these items.

They are all cute jewelry items that you can make for your mom, grandma, aunt, sister or any other mother that you want to honor on May 9.

 
Shiny Little Things created this very cute Washers and Loops Necklace. I thought that it was adorable and looked pretty easy to make. It would be adjusted to reflect your mom's favorite colors too!

Click here to see the project. 





This necklace created by Mrs. Priss has a very elegant look and is pretty easy to make as well. It is inspired by a necklace made by Anthropologie and would be a great addition to any Mother's Day outfit.

Click here to see the project. 





This vintage crystal and ribbon necklace by Ruffles also looks very elegant and can be altered to match your mom's Mother's Day dress. Change the ribbon color or switch out crystals for different kinds of beads for a variety of options.

Click here to see the project.





I also have some fun Mothers Day crafts for kids that will be posted soon!

Cake Platter

I took a trip to the local second-hand store last week to see if I could come up with any fun projects there. I found a few really fun items there that looked great together and I only spent $2.25 on the items for these two cake trays. It was a VERY easy craft that looked really nice in the end. I can't wait to put cookies on it and take it to my next get-together.

 Cake Platter

Supplies: 
2 plates, one large, one small
2 glass ice cream dishes, one large one small
Glossy Spray Paint (whatever color you want to use.
Gorilla Glue (or any other kind of superglue)

1. Paint your plates and ice cream dishes black. It may take more than one coat. (I did 3)

2. Allow to dry and glue the bottom side of the ice cream dish to the bottom of the plate.


That's all there is to it! You will have a nice cake platter to take deserts to places or you can use it as a candle holder to decorate your home! It looks elegant without spending a fortune.

Kid's Craft: Earth Day

It's Earth Day!! Celebrate by making crafts from recycled items from around the house. Here are a few ideas:

Pop Piggy Bank

 Supplies: 

• 1 empty 2-liter soda bottle
• Pink acrylic paint
• 1 empty papertowel roll
• Plastic Eyes
• Pink pipe cleaner
• Pink Foam
• Paintbrush
• Scizzors

1. Cut a hole in the side of your bottle it should be big enough to fit all sizes of coins into it.
2. Paint the soda bottle pink. Don't forget to paint the cap.
3. Cut your papertowel roll into 4 pieces about 2 inches long. Make sure all pieces are the same size.
4. Paint the papertowel roll pieces pink.
5. Wait for it to dry. Then glue the plastic eyes into place. Make sure that they are placed so that the money hole is on the top.
6. Cut out ears from the pink foam. Fold the bottom quarter of an inch over and paste them onto the soda bottle.
7. Tape your feet onto the bottom of the bottle. Use tape inside each roll to stick them on.
8. Wrap the pipe cleaner around a round bottle to make it curly, then paste it to the end of your bank.

Cereal Box Tote Bag

This craft is messy, but what kid doesn't LOVE messy? It would be cute for a little girl's dress-up box or just to use as a fun purse. It is really cute and sturdy when finished.

Supplies:

• 1 empty cereal box
• Several Matching scrapbook papers
• Mod Podge
• Paintbrush
• Scizzors
• Ribbon, jewels or any other decorative items.

1. Tear the scrapbook paper into several different sizes.
2. Cut the top flaps from the cereal box.
3. Draw and cut out the holes for the handles on the cereal box.
4. Fold the sides of your cereal box in so that the long sides touch each other.
5. Cover one side with Mod Podge. Place your scraps of paper on the Mod Podge covering the side. It is ok for the papers to go off the edge. You will just fold them to cover another side.
5. Cover that side with Mod Podge making sure that all pieces stick down.
6. Repeat with all sides of the box.
7. Decorate with ribbon, jewels or any other decorative items. I think it would be really cute with a ribbon around the top.

Toilet Paper Binoculars

This craft is easy and would be a fun toy for a kid to play with outside.

Supplies: 

• 2 empty toilet paper rolls (or a papertowel roll cut in half)
• Foam (any color)
• Paint
• yarn or thick string of some kind
•  Glitter or any other decorative items
• Hole Punch

1. Paint and decorate the toilet paper rolls and let them dry.
2. Glue the foam in between the two rolls. Use as much as you need to make the rolls fit the kid's eyes.
3.  Punch 2 holes, each on the outside top edge of the rolls.
4. String your yarn through the holes and tie them on.

Let your kid wear them around their neck and take them outside to look around!

Coloring Sheets

For those of you who would like them, I also found these Earth Day Coloring Sheets that you can print out. Click here.

Do any of you have crafts you have made from recycled items?

From the Web Wednesday: Sewing

There are so many good craft ideas on the Internet, and so little little time to get them ALL done. So every Wednesday, I will be posting some of my favorite craft project tutorials from other blogs and Web sites in my 'From the Web Wednesday' post.

This week I found three sewing projects that peaked my interest.

1. Despite the rainy weather we are having in Utah today, swimming season is right around the corner. Check out this awesome swimming bag from Shannon Makes Stuff (shannonmakesstuff.blogspot.com). This bag is large, very sturdy and has pockets for all of the sunscreen and other swimming essentials. Click here to see this project.

2. Stardust Shoes created this beautiful bean bag chair. It would be perfect for a kid's room. It is bright and colorful, and it looks incredibly comfortable. The best part is that you can match it to the decorations you already have in your room so that it is very personalized. Click here to see this project.

3. No Big Dill featured this Ruched Headband, and they have the template for it on their site. It is really cute and would be cute for adults and kids. I love that you can pick your favorite fabric for it. It can be as bright or as subdued as you want. Click here to see this project.



If you see a project on the Web that you want featured in 'From the Web Wednesday,' email a link to stacy@beingcraftyutah.com.

Glass Calendar

Like most families, my husband and I have very busy lives. We both work and he is working on his master's degree. To keep some semblance of order, I have to keep a calendar, but I hated the tacky paper calendars I was printing off the computer each month. With that in mind, I created these calendars.

This dry erase calendar is one of my favorite decorations in my house. I honestly don't know if I could get through a day without it. After I fell in love with it, I made one for 2 of my sisters and my mom. It is a really easy project that looks beautiful when finished.

Glass Calendars

Supplies:

• Vinyl in your choice of color
• Frame in your choice of size
• Rotary Cutter and mat
• Picture hangers
• Hot Glue Gun
• Pliers

1. There are several ways to create this calendar. You can cut the vinyl for it yourself. If you don't feel like you can cut it yourself, you can buy the vinyl pre-cut online.  (They are less than $10) If you order online, make sure that you are getting a mirror image decal so that you can place it on the back of your glass.

2. If you choose to cut the vinyl yourself, you will need to decide what size of frame you want to use. I used a 16 X 20 on mine. (The sizes below are for a 16 x 20).

3. You will need to cut strips of Vinyl using the rotary cutter. Each should be about an eight of an inch wide.

Cut:

• 17.75 inches long (8 strips for the horizontal strips)
• 12 inches long (7 strips for the vertical strips.)
• Days of the week or any other wording you want using a Cricut or other electronic cutter. Remember to do them as mirror images so that the sticky part is on the top of the letter.

4. You will take the glass out of your frame. When laying out your calendar, use a ruler and use the measurements on the photo (enlarge by clicking here). It is a good idea to use tape or a dry erase marker to mark where the lines should be before you lay down the vinyl. Make sure you are laying all of your vinyl backwards on the backside of the glass.

5. After you lay down your lines, you then decorate using any words you wan including the days of the week, perhaps your family's name at the top or "Month:"

6.Using pliers, you need to hide the metal pieces in the frame that would normally hold the glass and back in. You can pull them our or just fold them to the back of the frame so they are not visible from the front.

7. Add your picture hangers (little metal ones) to the top of your frame. One on each side.

7. Put your glass in the frame and use hot glue to secure the glass to the frame.

8. Hang in your house and plan out each month using dry erase markers in fun colors.

Checkered Baby Blanket

The following craft was shared by Ashley Franscell, the Photo Editor at the Daily Herald. She has been knitting for a little more than a year and has created some amazing projects like slippers, washcloths and several scarves.

 Checkered Baby Blanket
by: Ashley Franscell

 Adapted from a Lion Brand pattern

After finishing a long and difficult knitting project, I needed something that was relatively simple and easy. This checkered baby blanket is simple and looks wonderful when it's finished!

Supplies:

• 6 skeins of Bernat Softee baby yarn
• Size 8 straight needles (or circular)

Gauge:
15 sts + 19 rows = 4 in. (10 cm) in pattern st, with 2 strands of yarn held tog.

Stitch Explanation:
Seed Stitch (over an even number of sts)
Row 1: *K1, p1; rep from * across.
Row 2: P the knit sts, and k the purl sts.
Rep Rows 2 for Seed st.

Blanket:
With 2 strands of yarn held tog, cast on 116 sts.
Working back and forth in rows work in Seed st for 8 rows.
Next 10 Rows: Work in Seed st over first 6 sts, *k8, p8; rep from * to last 6 sts, work in Seed st over last 6 sts.
Next 10 Rows: Work in Seed st over first 6 sts, *p8, k8; rep from * to last 6 sts, work in Seed st over last 6 sts.
Rep last 20 rows 6 more times.
Work in Seed st for 8 rows.
Bind off.

Finishing
Weave in ends.

Remember you can submit your craft projects to be featured on Being Crafty by clicking here.

Spring into Spring

This time of year is hard for me. I love Spring, but I feel like I have to wait forever for my trees to turn green and for it to be warm enough to plant my colorful flowers.

Sure, I have a few daffodils in my yard that are fully blooming, but I love to fill my yard with lots of color.

With this in mind, I have been filling my house with colorful Spring items to get me by until my yard is in full bloom.

Spring Bouquet (for under $5!)

I saw these bouquets at my local craft store for $29.99. I thought they were really cute, but I wasn't going to spend that much for them! Instead I took a trip to the Dollar General down the street from my house. They have very cute flowers this time of year. While the flower bunches at the craft store may look a little more realistic, the Gerbera daisies that I love were $2.49 a flower (compared to the 7 that I got for a buck at the dollar store!)

Supplies:

• 2-4 bunches of your favorite silk flowers
• Glass Vase
• Ribbon
• Salt
• Glue Gun

1. First, I bought all of the supplies for this craft at the dollar store. I bought 2 bunches of flowers, the glass vase, the ribbon and the Salt for less than $5.

2. Glue the ribbon around the top of your glass vase. I liked the colored vases, but the clear vases also looked great.

3. Fill the vase with salt. Salt is cheaper than styrofoam and doesn't look as tacky in my opinion. It took me two containers of salt (but at 50 cents each at the dollar store, it's not bad).

4. Using wire cutters or needle-nosed pliers, cut the flowers from their bunches and remove any leaves. Arrange them very close together in your vase. The salt make it easy to stick the flower in the vase where you want it.

These bouquets are fun centerpieces for your table or they would look great on a mantle or shelf.

Spring Wreath

Make the front of your house warm and welcoming with this Spring flower wreath.

Supplies:

• Wreath Form
• Silk Flowers
• Glue Gun
• Wire cutters
• Ribbon or other Decorative items

1. Start with your wreath form. It can be made from grapevine, twig, straw, foam or wire. I like twig wreath forms, simply because they makes the wreath look more full without overpowering you with flowers.

2. Trim your flowers down and remove the leaves. Start placing your flowers at the center of the wreath and make your way towards the outside. Make a dot of hot glue in the twigs and poke the wire stem into the glue.

3. Place your flowers evenly around the wreath, moving outward as you go. I saved two stems of flowers and used them to fill in blank spots. To do this, I removed the flowers from their stems and glued them to the twigs in the wreath.

4. Decorate with other items such as crystals, fake berries or greenery in the same way as you did with the flowers. You can wind a coordinating ribbon around the wreath if you like.adult

Spring Flowers

It may not quite look like Spring out yet (especially if you live in Utah! What's with all this snow?!?), but you can bring Springtime into your home with this very cute Spring flower craft. It is pretty easy to make and will bring some brightness into your home.

Spring Flowers

Supplies Needed:

• 16 chipboard flowers in 2 sizes
• 1 empty Pringles can
• 16 white plastic balloon sticks with balloon cups
• 1 bag crinkle cut tissue strands or easter grass
• A round piece of styrofoam that is small enough to fit inside the Pringles can
• Variety of scrapbook papers
• Brads, Buttons or other embellishments
• Ribbon
• Beans or rice
• Tacky Glue
• Double Sided Tape
• Hot Glue Gun or Glue Dots

1. Cover each chipboard flower with scrapbook paper. It is best to use different kinds of matching paper. I used glitter paper with mine, but you can get the same look by using glitter on the covered flower. Trace around your chipboard flowers, cut them out and glue the paper onto the chipboard piece.

2. Create the center of your flower using brads, buttons or some other type of embellishment. I found glitter brads to use on mine, but I love using glitter. :)

3. Using a hot glue gun or Glue Dots, attach your chipboard flowers to your plastic balloon sticks and holders. If you don't have holders, you can just attach your sticks with your glue, but the holders do make it more stable. Try to find as flat of balloon holders as you can find in order to make your flowers as sturdy as possible. Your sticks should be about 8 to 10 inches long. If they are longer, you can cut them. The sticks and holders should only cost a few dollars at your local craft store or you can buy them online here.

4. Decorate your empty (and hopefully cleaned out) Pringles can using scrapbook paper and double sided tape. You can make this any design you want. I attached a ribbon around the center of mine as well.

5. Fill your Pringles can with rice or beans until it is about halfway full so that it will not tip over when you put the flowers in the top.

6. Place your piece of styrofoam into the can and push it down into the beans or rice a little bit. The styrofoam piece should be pretty close to the top of the can. This will help it stay in place. Cover the top of the styrofoam with your tissue paper or easter grass. This hides the styrofoam.

7. Poke each stick into the styrofoam in the direction that you want it to go.

This makes a fun Spring centerpiece for your table or can bring a little bit of Spring into any room of your house.

Easter Bucket

This Easter bucket is very cute and has several different uses. It can be functional or just used for decoration in your home. I saw this idea at the Scrapbook U.S.A. Expo, created by Provo Craft. It is very simple to make and can be done by adults or kids.

Easter Bucket

Supplies:

• One clear paint bucket, any size (can be purchased at Roberts or other craft stores)
• Easter themed die cuts
• Tacky glue
• Ribbon, brads and other decor items

1. Using tacky Glue, paste your die cuts on your clear paint bucket. They make several different sizes, so the size you get is totally up to you. Keep in mind that while the glue is wet, you will be able to see it since the bucket is clear. However, it will dry clear and you won't be able to see it.

2. Decorate with Ribbon, brads or any other items you want to.

You can do many things with you bucket after it is done. Your kids can use it as an easter basket or you can fill it with easter grass or easter eggs for decoration. I filled mine with candy and am using it as a candy dish. The possibilities are endless!

If you want to give your bucket a little longer life span, you can use more spring themed die cuts and make it a spring bucket.