I know many of you are like me and have a gazillion scraps hanging out in your fabric stash. I wanted to do something to use up my tiny scraps that would be a fun and cute craft for myself and my youngest, Josephine, to do together. We got this set of 6 plastic Easter eggs in this egg carton at the Dollar Tree for $1.25. I liked that these didn’t have a seam in the middle like most plastic Easter eggs. We think they turned out so cute!
Today I’m back with another craft that we did over the Christmas holidays! I was in charge of the craft for JoJo’s 4th grade holiday party this year. We only get 45 mins. for the party at her school so I had to come up with something quick and easy. I like the crafts I do for the school parties to be something that is nice enough that parents will want to keep year after year or something the kids can gift to a friend or family member that looks nice.
I’ve been working on getting my sewing room all neat and organized since we moved into our new house last August. Seeing as though it is ‘my space’, it seems to have taken a back burner to all of the family spaces in the new house. There’s something so hard about committing to putting holes in the walls of freshly painted drywall. But I’ve gotten tired of not having my sewing room looking and feeling the way I wanted, so I’m slowly, but surely getting things up on the walls! I can’t wait to share my entire sewing room with you (if you’re following @thecottagemama on Instagram then you’ve seen some peeks), but it’s not completely ready yet for a full reveal.
For Savannah’s 8th birthday party I wanted to come up with a simple craft that the girls could complete. I wanted something that would be useful, cute and I didn’t want the process of creating it to be messy. I don’t like a whole lot of mess with my own kids, so I knew I would not be able to handle it with 12 little girls.
When my mom was visiting from Texas we went to the dollar store to pick up a few things for the party. I spotted these plastic totes in the organizing section of the store and instantly thought that I could have the girls weave something through the holes. I was thinking some kind of ribbon and then mom suggested fabric…….hello? Such a great idea! I happen to have a whole lot of fabric hanging around (wink, wink), so this was perfect. And at $1 per tote, you can’t beat that…….$12 for a craft for 12 girls. Of course the fabric probably cost me money, but it doesn’t count since I already owned it.
So if you would like to make your own Fabric Woven Tote Basket, here is what you’ll need……
We are new to the world of Girls Scouts this year. But I currently have a brownie and a daisy and my girls are just absolutely loving all things Girl Scouts. I did Girl Scouts in elementary school, so it’s fun to see my girls enjoying some of the same songs, sayings and activities as I did as a child.
I had never heard of swaps, but we got an email a week or so ago from one of Savannah’s troop leaders saying they were going to be doing a swap within their own brownie troop. Basically a swap is just a little something that a girl creates to express her unique self, commemorate an event, make new friends and make new memories. When I explained the idea of swaps to Savannah she decided that she wanted to create a dance themed swap. Generally the swaps are attached to a safety pin so that girls can pin them up on their banners that they have at home…….kind of like a place to display their collection.
My husband, Brett, gave me one of the sweetest gifts of all time this Christmas. I’ve come to realize that you do not need to spend a lot of money to have an extraordinary gift. My two most favorite gifts from my husband (aside from our children and my wedding/engagement rings) have been handmade and truly from the heart. The first was when he wrote 100 things he loved about me. He put this list into my Christmas stocking and I unrolled it like a scroll…….the whole thing was so poetic and was just perfect. And the other favorite gift from him came this last Christmas and I’m excited to share it with you today!
I’m slowly but surely starting to focus on hanging some things up in my new sewing studio. I bought three of these inexpensive cork boards from IKEA a few months ago……..one for my office and two for Savannah and Matilda’s room to go next to their desks. I originally thought I would just put them up as is, but that just seemed kind of boring. I’m all about incorporating fabric whenever and where ever I can, so I did these Easy Cork Board Makeovers this weekend and I’m excited to share this DIY project with all of you.
As 2015 comes to a close, it’s always fun for me to take a look at the stats here on The Cottage Mama Blog and find out which posts you all have been enjoying the most this last year. Some of these have been favorites for years and some of these have just made their way into the Top 10 Blog Posts. If you haven’t tried some of these sewing and craft projects or recipes……..check them out! I think you’ll really enjoy them!
This year we introduced a new Christmas Advent Tradition into our family. I know it’s after Christmas, but this was so much fun that I thought I would share the details with you in case you want to incorporate this into your family traditions next year.
In the summer I love doing creative activities with my little ones. The school year gets so busy with homework and after school activities, that it’s so nice to slow down during the summer and share some of my passions with our kids. Last summer I started my two oldest girls, Savannah and Matilda, on the sewing machine and they absolutely love it! They’ve since made a few more sewing projects, but we haven’t done a ton of sewing this summer since we’ve had to keep the house looking nice while we try to sell it (yes, no one has bought The Cottage Home yet……insert sad face). We will be moving in the new few weeks and I have made two special spots for my kids in the studio, so I definitely foresee some sewing time in the new house.