Crocheted Washcloth...Yes, Crochet!

 I recently had the opportunity to barter crafting skills with a friend. She showed us how to needle felt, I taught her daughter some jewelry making. It was so fun, we did it again and this round, she taught me crochet. I swapped my garden advice, which should not be construed as professional advice. ha! This was my first attempt, and yes, it appears there was a big smudge on my camera lens. I would tell you what stitch I used, but then I would sound like an idiot. I think it is the single chain, and I hooked through the back loop. See, I told you I'd sound ridiculous!

I love the ridges that are formed with this stitch. I used 100% cotton so it will make a nice washcloth. I am going to save it for Operation Christmas Child. The most amazing part of this is I finished it in a day and a half. Considering it took me months to knit a washcloth, I think I am quicker at crochet. Besides, it gives me something to do when I take my kids fishing. That is, when I am not removing hooks from hair, trees, and the occasional fish.

A Little Bling! Decorating Girls Shoes

Our mom has this uncanny ability to find free stuff. She finds stuff in people's trash, at yard sales, and who knows where else. I think these shoes came via a yard sale. They are nothing fancy, but brand new and the perfect blank canvas. My girl has wanted to decorate her own shoes for a while, but plain shoes are few and far between. This was the perfect opportunity to let her loose with the gems. Incidentally, I have pretty good luck at the thrift store and found a huge bag of these for 3 bucks!!!

We each did a pair, using LockTight craft glue for the gems. She took a more free spirited approach and covered up the excess glue with glitter. She is keeping one pair for herself and we are putting the other pair in our OCC shoeboxes!

Crafts To Give! Kids Craft Round Up

I am always on the lookout for quick and easy crafts to make for our shoeboxes. I have posted several craft ideas in the past, and here's a round up of great kids crafts that would be perfect for adding to a shoe box, giving to your favorite kids charity, or for gifting to the special little people in your life!

 Fabric Hair Bows from Momtastic

DVD Coloring Case by staceyvaughn

Boys' Toolbelt by One Hip Mom

Braided Headbands from recycled t-shirts from Make It Love It

Paper Doll Kits from This Mama Makes Stuff

Washer Necklaces from Small For Big

Flannel Picture Sets from Happy Hawkins

Clothespin Airplanes from Paint Me Plaid

Checkerboard from American Crafts

For more ideas, click here. 

Altoid Box Make-Over

I saw an idea similar to this on Pinterest. I applied the fabric to mine with modge podge. The problem I ran into was the text showing through the fabric. I added a few well placed appliques to cover it up. On the pink tin, I added glitter to the modge podge. The sides of the tins are decorated with washi tape. It is the perfect width. I plan on filling these with crayons or bandaids to put in our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. 

Another Bag

Here is the prototype I made for the bacon bag. I drafted the pattern myself and wanted to see if it would come out the way I expected before I used the bacon fabric. It is fully lined and made of upholstery weight canvas I found at a garage sale. I can't decide if it is vintage-funky-awesome, or borderline my-aunt-had-curtains-out-of-that-hideous-fabric. This bag is also going into our shoe boxes. It is big enough to carry quite a bit.

Fold and Zip Bag

I am so behind posting my crafty projects its not even funny. Maybe one of these days I'll catch up. Here is a bag that took me embarrassingly long to finish because I got annoyed with it and put it in a drawer. The tutorial is from Sew Mama Sew. Here is my beef with this and other fold and zip style bags: it is usually difficult to squeeze them in to the zipped pouch. I omitted the lining called for on this one, and it was still a tight fit. Also, the bag gets very wrinkly in the pouch, which I suppose doesn't really matter too much. Anyway, I did have fun using some fabrics that didn't necessarily match in the name of 'funky'.

P.S. I am saving this to put in one of our Operation Christmas child shoe boxes. It is compact, and bags are always useful.

Scrapbook Paper Pads

Another shoe box idea: scrapbook paper pads. I have recently ended up with an odd selection of scrapbook paper left from VBS projects and I wanted to use it up. I had a few of those 12 by 12 'stacks' to work with.  I just tore out the sheets that were left, and cut them in fourths. These pads are square...but they sure don't look like it in the photo! I punched two holes in the top and tied them with ribbon scraps. I know I have heard a lot of stories about how often children are prevented from attending school because of lack of basic supplies. In fact, I recently read that in Uganda, the most common reason children are unable to attend school is the lack of pencils...pencils! While I realize that this is patterned scrapbook paper and won't really be that useful for school, I hope it will be a fun thing for whoever receives them...along with the pencils I will be sure to put in there!

Another Shoebox Idea: DIY Stress Ball

We used to make these when we were kids, and I had completely forgotten about them til I saw them on good ol' pinterest the other day. To make one, you need rice, three or more balloons and a funnel or tube.  The wider the spout of the funnel or tube, the better. I actually ended up using the sheath of my candy thermometer and it worked great! Fit the tube into the mouth of a balloon and pour in rice. When balloon begins to fill up, you can stretch it to make room for more rice, or use the blunt end of a knitting needle or something similar to pack it in. When the balloon is full enough to fit comfortably in a child's hand, fold the balloon end over. With the two remaining balloons, cut away the neck of each balloon. You can also cut a hole in the opposite end, to create a window if you'd like. Stretch balloons over ball to cover the opening. You can layer additional balloons if you want to add more color, and it will also make them more sturdy.

Crafting For Operation Christmas Child

Our family loves filling shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, and I am always on the lookout for deals to stock up on. In the past, I have made things here and there to add to our boxes but never on a grand scale. Recently as I was cruising Pinterest, it dawned on me that there are an awful lot of cute little crafts I could make to put in our boxes! I dug through my stash and found almost everything I needed to make some cute hair clips. The cards are made from cardstock-weight scrapbooking paper. There was no tutorial for the felt bows, only pictures. You can click on my OCC board to see the picture/link.  The tutorial for the pinwheels is here. The bow tutorial is here. I will be posting more shoe box craft ideas soon!