We worked on a couple of Valentine’s Day treat prototypes and were happy with how they came out! Ryan is still laughing at the very large bag of corks I ordered off eBay. I deal, a grand deal I tell you. Someone’s Two-Buck Chuck obsession was my advantage.

We tested the boats out and they indeed float! Our inspiration came from this tutorial by Jonah Lisa Land. I simplified ours a tiny bit since we have to crank out twenty five.

A few Valentines ideas I’m bookmarking for years ahead:
Love Bug Valentines | Secret Message | Color Theory Cards

And maybe, just maybe you were curious as to the depth of my nerdiness? Well, a couple years back I designed a couple of Twilight Valentines that you can download. Because it wasn’t enough that I was obsessed with the books at the time. I had to go out of my way to illustrate my passion. Um…tada?

Here’s a simple project that is a craft and rudimentary lesson in color theory all wrapped in one.

What you’ll need:
*self-sealing laminating sheets or pouches
*tissue paper in cyan, magenta, and yellow
*a CD or DVD for tracing
*metal brads
*permanent marker

Step 1:
Using permanent marker, trace around the DVD/CD onto laminate sheet. Mark a dot in the center. Cut out circle, making sure to cut inside the line (so that marker line is cut off), and cut center dot out. Use the tip of your scissor, a craft knife, or hole punch if you have one long enough. Just make sure this center hole is large enough to accomodate your metal brad. Repeat all of Step 1 so you have two circles.

Step 2:
Make a small stack of all the colors of the tissue paper and cut out various shapes. These will eventually be layered on top of each other, so have multiples of each shape in all three colors (eg. a cloud in cyan, magenta, and yellow, etc).

Step 3:
Unpeel laminate circle. Set aside the non-sticky side for sealing later on, and lay the other part of the circle on work surface, sticky-side up. Carefully stick on tissue paper shapes. My younger son free-styled this part, placing shapes arbitrarily, whereas my older son created a pattern. The laminate is very sticky and unforgiving, so your child may need your steady hand for help! We made a couple mistakes, but built any wayward tissue pieces into our pattern.

Step 4:
When finished, seal up your circle with the non-sticky side you set aside earlier. Now lightly (I used just two small pieces) tape this circle down to your work surface, just to keep it steady and in place for the next step.

Step 5:
Expose the sticky side of your second circle, setting aside the non-sticky side for sealing later on. Sticky side up, lay the circle down on top of your previous circle. Remember making multiples of your shapes in Step 2? Carefully stick on same shapes to align with the shapes on the circle below. This is essentially a duplicate of the first circle, but use different tissue paper colors. Here’s where the lesson in color theory comes in; your child can see how adding a blue cloud on top of the yellow cloud makes it green. When all the shapes have been added in, seal up this circle with the non-sticky side you set aside earlier.

Kai’s two completed circles. Shapes don’t overlap exactly. That’s okay!

Step 6:
Remove your first circle from the tape and off your work surface. Use the metal brad to attach the two circles together and you’re done! Hold and spin the circles against a light-source to get a really neat kaleidoscope effect. Video (no sound) at the end of this post to show kaleidoscope in action.

I made my own ‘kaleidoscope’ using three layers of circles instead of just two. Each circle had stripes in a single color.

This is also my craft contribution this month to the always great Bloesem Kids. I would hasten to subscribe if you haven’t already done so!

My latest project for Bloesem Kids can be found here.
An easy project using things you may already have on hand;
tin foil, permanent markers, cardboard or foam core, and glue.

When I was younger, I lived for the days when my aunt took me to the Japanese bookstore — the stationery section was where I spent my time. So I’m happy to share with you online retailer JetPens who specializes in Japanese pens and stationery!

JetPens is giving away a $35 gift certificate to one lucky reader. To enter giveaway, please visit JetPens, and in the comments section below, mention an item you’d be interested in.

Feel free to leave a second comment for yourself if you ‘Like’ JetPens on Facebook.

And add a third comment if you follow JetPens on Twitter.

Good luck! Giveaway ends next Wednesday the 21st, midnight EST.

I’m almost certain you’ve already seen this amazing photo backdrop by Matthew Parker. As fate would have it, I soon after stumbled onto this DIY project complete with instructions and templates (hooray!) created by the ladies at Blow Up!

Since I have a strange fascination with glitter right now (that I think we’ll all regret late 2012), I slightly modified the project using glittered scrapbook paper. After printing and trimming out the template, I flipped it around so that the printed side was down, and traced around it onto the white backside of the glitter paper.

Following the original instructions, I then scored, folded, and hot glued the sides and panels together. I finished it off with a ribbon loop for hanging on the tree, and tassels cut from tissue paper.

If you like symmetry and think folding paper is fun, this project is for you.
Visit Blow Up! for templates and instructions.

The kids and I created this papier mache igloo using just vellum paper, glue, and a balloon. It was messy fun (okay, and maybe a tiny bit stress when goopy glue went flying because of the kids’ over-eagerness!)

Find the full tutorial at Bloesem Kids.

I think many a blogger/designer/fashionista was stunned when these glitter Miu Miu booties from the fall 2011 collection debuted a while back. So far, I’ve seen painted nails and a cake inspired by these amazing shoes. The silver and gold glitter screams holiday and cheer to me, and so felt inspired to experiment with some packaging ideas.

I had some gray, round Paper Source labels on hand that I coated with spray mount, then sprinkled with gold Martha Stewart Fine Glitter. I did the spraying and sprinkling in a very large paper shopping bag to keep the mess in check. So that my round labels would be easier to pull off, I went ahead and removed the ‘negative’ label area.

And I punched these silver medallions out of silver glitter scrapbook paper and tied off with velvet ribbon.

Church doesn’t start until 1 in the afternoon, so mornings are slow-paced and quite nice (until 12:15 or so, which is when it gets crazy and Kai refuses to wear socks/tie/belt because it’s itchy/tight/uncomfortable and Dax acts like he can’t put on his pants so he lies prostrate on the ground and I’m trying to stuff my hippo feet into heels two sizes too small).

But since the kids like to get up unbelievably early as most children do, there’s a need to fill the time. So on Sunday, I cut some sticky notes in half to make sticky triangles since I have an ongoing addiction to triangles. Quiet, creative play for the kids. Easy cleanup too.

I really ought to be cleaning/nesting but making stuff is so much more fun.

My sewing skills are pedestrian at best, so I’m glad I was able to pull off this cloud pillow to the degree expected of myself (not very high). I even hand-drew the chevron pattern using a fabric marker. Brilliant idea by Mer that I’ve been wanting to try out.

A happy cloud is so apropos right now because it’s going to be a rainy weekend.

Here’s an easy Halloween craft that even involves a little bit of outdoors time. All you need are 1) twigs (bendable, or strip some dead-ish thin branches off a tree or bush), 2) yarn, 3) glue gun, 4) fishing line, and 5) plastic spiders.

I made two hoops, one smaller, one larger, by tying ends together with the fishing line. Next, to make the weaving process easier for the kids, I used a glue gun to attach ‘spokes,’ connecting the inner and outer hoops. When it felt solid enough, I let the boys weave their webs.

At some point, I had to take over Dax’s, but Kai did great creating his web. Finishing touch was to glue on plastic spiders, then hang.

A little lot more crude and rough, but these were inspired by this tactile Yarn Font project by Teri and these pretty dreamcatchers. I also spotted Dana’s yarn spiderweb DIY this evening. I like this as alternative decor to the cottony stuff.