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Butterflies in Winter

January 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment

I like butterflies all the time.  It’s especially nice to see them in the winter.  So, I made some butterfly suncatchers to share.  I think especially with the snow we’ve been having in parts of the country, this might cheer people up.  It’s an easy craft, however it requires a few things that you might not have at a home.

Transparency film can be found at office supply stores.  It’s pricey but you will probably not have to buy it again for a long time.  If you don’t bead (or fish!) you might not have the monofilament on hand either.  I think I bought mine at Michaels.  Any craft store should carry that.  I think everything else most crafters either have or know where to get.

I have been working on these for quite awhile, not because they were so hard to do but because things kept getting in the way like Christmas and other things.  Each one really only took an hour or so (not including drying time for the paint).  Kids could make these with adult supervision.  OK a LOT of adult supervision.  🙂  Well, whatever, I think they’re really pretty and they make nice gifts.

Stay tuned for the other crafts I came up with using the butterflies.  But for now go and take a look at instructions for making these Butterfly Suncatchers.

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Doo To Doo!

January 22, 2014 By 1 Comment

I think everyone who has had kids has done something with the cardboard tube in the middle of toilet paper and paper towel rolls. They are ubiquitous and for some reason children love them. What child has not put one up to his mouth, filled his lungs with air and bugled “Doo to doooo!” I don’t recall having a name for them when I was a kid. I think we just called them “toilet paper rolls” or “paper towel rolls”. Something really creative like that. When my oldest son was about 2 he liked to play with them and it was a big deal when we got to the end of either item so he could get a fresh one. One day, he came up to me and asked for the one I had recently liberated. I didn’t know what he was talking about as I was busy with some task.  I could only tell he wanted something in the general direction of “over there”. He pointed to the tube and and said clearly, “I want the doo to doo.” Forever after after those tubes were known as Doo To Doos by our family.

So, now that I have a grandson who is old enough to enjoy them, I decided to see what was new in the world of Doo To Doos. Of course people are making all sorts of interesting and cool crafts with them, but I wanted to send him one that was fun while still in line with what his Dad played with. After looking at many, many photos I decided on this. Very easy but I think the Duck Tape (hey that’s what they call it) will make it last longer than the original.

I used:

  • a short toilet paper tube for the small one and a paper towel tube for the long one
  • scrap ribbon
  • double sticky tape –you might be able to do without this but it’s easier to hold them in place
  • Duck Tape in whatever pattern/color you like – I thought the owls were cute!

 

 

 

 

 

Cut 11 pieces of ribbon (depending on the width of your ribbon you might need one more or less) to varying lengths.  Using double sided tape stick them around one end of the tube so that they will hang down.  You can overlap the last one if you need to to make them fit. 

Starting at the end where you put the ribbon, begin wrapping the Duck Tape around the tube in strips.  The straighter you can stay the better it will look, but after all, it’s a Doo To Doo, don’t stress about it.  When you get to the end, go ahead and put some tape down inside.  It should help it hold up to being blown into, if you know what I mean.

I made a short one and a long one and sent the short one to my Grandson.  Then, when we had a Face Time chat he was quite tickled with the ribbons blowing out the end of mine.  Just a little silly Grandma/Grandson fun.

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It’s a New Year

January 7, 2014 By 1 Comment

I’m not a resolution maker because they hang over your head and I tend to either forget them or resent them. However I have resolved to do better on my blog this year than I did last year. It would be hard to do worse. Last year was just an anomaly.

I was on the reunion committee for our class reunion which was in April (and out of town of course). Then I stayed to spend time with my kids and grandkids and spent most of the summer out of town. By the time I came home I had appointments to catch up on and and suddenly it was Thanksgiving and then BOOM Christmas. BTW if you think Christmas came fast it did. There was a week less than usual between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So. Those are my excuses.

I did craft, I just didn’t take photos of everything and I didn’t blog about it. I already have a few craft ideas lined up and ready to start on and some things started that I need to finish, but today I’m just going to post a few photos of things I did last year and didn’t blog about. You can click on the photo and see a very short description along with a larger image.


And so that’s it for today. If you see something that interests you, please comment. If you have done something similar or the same and have a better idea, tell me! Here’s to happy crafting and cooking.

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