Bead Loom Bracelets

I have to admit, when I put "Make Bead Loom Bracelets" on our 101 Things to do This Summer list, I wasn't sure of what Bubba's reaction would be. After all, bracelets are for "giiiirlsss." However, I shouldn't have worried, Bubba loved making his bracelet! To give credit where credit is due, I got this idea from Making Friends

Look at that concentration!

This was some great hand-eye coordination and great for fine motor control

 Even The Little Princess had fun stringing the beads, though I had to do the rest for her.

Note to self, when taking pictures of the
Little Princess for the blog, fix her hair first!

Look at these great works of art! 

(Don't ask me why the picture is sideways)

 "Great pictures of the Daleks," you say. "But tell us how you made them! The bracelets we mean." Alright, alright, hold your horses!

First of all, cost. This wasn't free for me, but only because I did not have beads or string on hand. I spent,  maybe, $6 on the pony beads and string. Other things needed, are a ruler, pencil, scissors, tape (I used painter's tape. I love painter's tape. Seriously, I use it for ev-er-y-thing!), a metal yarn needle (not pictured), and a shallow box (I used a sandwich cracker box which wasn't quite long enough for a bracelet with beads all the way around. I'm thinking a cereal box with one side cut out would be perfect for next time.)

 After you've gathered all of your supplies, measure out 1/4 inch intervals along one side of the box. Repeat on the opposite side of the box. Remember to make one more mark than beads wide you are going to use. In other words, we were using five beads across, so I needed six marks.

Next, make a small cut on each of those lines.

Next, tape the string to the back of the box about half way up the box. If you don't, one of the strings will be too short when finishing the bracelets. (Yeah, made that mistake when making the Daleks' bracelets. I was still able to make it work, but this would have been a lot easier!)

 Turn the box over and begin threading the string through the first cut. Bring it across to the other side and thread the string through the corresponding cut on that side of the box. Bring the string around the back of the box and come back up the side you began on. Don't pull so tight that you bend the box. It's okay for it to be a little loose. It will tighten up as you go. Repeat until you have threaded all six cuts.

It should look something like this.

 After threading the last slit, bring the string around to the back of the box, about half way up. Cut off the string and tape it to the back of the box. I put the tape across all of the strings to make it a little more secure, but it isn't really necessary.

With me so far? Good!

 Cut another piece of string 18-20 inches long and tie it in a big ol' square knot on the bottom right hand corner of your loom, leaving a 2" tail. (Side note, of you're a lefty, you may want to tie it to the bottom left.) Then, slide the knot all the way down, so it is touching the box. Don't worry about that big tail, we'll tuck it away later.

 Now, the fun begins! Thread five beads onto your string and bring the thread under all the threads in your loom. Bring each of the beads up through the "holes" in the loom.

 Now, go back through each of the beads, this time making sure the thread goes above each of the threads in the loom. (The Daleks found it was easier if the string was on a metal yarn needle, but it can be done without.)

As you can see, by going under the strings and then over, the beads will stay in place.

 Slide the row of beads all the way down the loom, so it is touching the box, and pull the string taught. Don't pull so tight that the string on the left start to be pulled into the beads. It should be just taught enough so there are no loops on the ends.

Continue to string beads in any pattern you like. You can even freestyle it like the Daleks did.

When the bracelet is the desired length, tie off your string in another big ol' square knot, close as you can to the last bead. Cut the thread leaving a 2" tail. Using the needle, tuck the tails on both ends of your bracelet through the closest row of beads.

Turn the box over, remove the tape, and cut the strings at the center of the box.

Remove the bracelet from the loom and lay it on a flat surface.

Tie each end into another big ol' knot.

Finally, tie the ends together. At this point I feel I should mention, if this is a project that your little Dalek will love and wear often, you can at this point use bracelet clasps, found in any craft store, to finish off the bracelet. I knew my Daleks would wear them for a day or two and then forget about them, so knots are just fine.

Enjoy your work of art!

By the way, did y'all notice the white background in the pictures? Don't you like it more than my kitchen table? I'm going to have to remember to do this every time I take photos!

Fun Little Clipboards

Why, hello again. Now that summer is upon us things have been busy here at The Crafty Princess house. Between all that has been going on and Hub's change in work schedule (6pm-3am is not fun y'all!) we have been seriously lacking in the communication department. We recently sat down and worked out our frustrations, and I came up with another little gem (if I do say so myself) to help us keep in touch.

While I was at the dollar store, looking for something else (of course), I came across some mini clip boards. I has a flash back to my retail days and how we communicated a lot through the use of clipboards. Surely if it works between management that doesn't see each other much, it must work for us, right? Well, that's my working theory right now, anyway.  

All in all this project cost me the $2.00 for the two clipboards, since I already had all the other supplies. ($2.00 to help relieve stress? That's what I call a bargain!)  For this project you'll need: a clipboard (or two), scissors, a pencil (not shown), a paint brush, a fun piece of paper (I used scrapbook paper), and some Mod Podge. 

First, trace the clipboard onto the paper and cut it out. For the funky area around the clip, fold the paper up around the clip and crease the paper. Now you have cut lines. I realize in typing this, I should probably have a picture of this step, but I promise, it's not as difficult as it sounds. If you want you can always practice on a scrap piece of paper and use that as a template.

Next, starting at the top and going a few inches down, paint some Mod Podge onto the clip board. Then, place the paper on top, being careful around the clip.

Once the top of the paper is secure, paint Mod Podge onto the rest of the clip board. At this point I let The Little Princess help, because she had been begging to help since I pulled out my craft supplies.

Once saturated with Mod Podge, carefully lay the paper down onto the clip board. You will not have a lot of wiggle room. It's kind of a one and done method, not a lot of relifting without tearing the paper. Press firmly to get out any air bubbles.

After the paper is secure, paint another layer of Mod Podge on top of the paper to seal it all up.

Here it is, drying.

And here it is again, all dry, with another that I made. The idea being that we each get one.

Now all that is left is to hang it in a commonly used area (AKA above the computer!) Hubs decided he liked the polka dot one, so that one is his. Whenever I need him to do something for me when he wakes up the next day, I can leave it on the clipboard. And if he needs me to do something at night after the kids are in bed, he can leave a note for me. Fingers crossed that this works!

Summer Reading Kick Off

Recently, our library had it's summer reading kick off event. So Hubs and I took all four of the Daleks (our two plus two of the neighborhood boys) to register for summer reading. The event took place at one of the local malls. It was a little crowded, but a lot of fun.

We began our adventure by signing up at the registration table. Well, I stood in line at the registration table while Hubs took the Daleks to the face painting line. After I got our books, I joined them. However, we soon gave up on the idea of face painting. There was only one person doing it. She was spending 10-15 per child and we were at least twenty kids back. (You do the math.) At least while we waited the Daleks got some very cool binoculars from one of the staff people walking around.

Oh, you can bet your bottom dollar that
I put their names on them when we got home!

There was so much to see and do. Everything was garden related, this year's theme at the library. After we gave up on the face painting, we came to a table full of free goodies. (Sorry, no picture of that one.) They got really cool backpacks which they'll be able to use all summer. Also on the table were pencils, stickers, coloring pages and best of all...cookies! And by cookies, I don't mean a pack of Oreos. No my friends, these were fresh baked, chocolate chunk cookies. Yeah, my rule of no junk before lunch went right out the window! (Hmmm, I want a cookie now!) Ahem, sorry, where was I? Ah, yes.

The Daleks entered a coloring contest.

Okay, I'll admit, I'm not sure how pirates were
garden related. But, they had fun coloring them.

The Daleks made butterflies. out of clothes pins, pipe cleaners, and tissue paper.

They made and planted sunflowers.

And made a few more butterflies and caterpillars.

They also got to investigate caterpillars.

All in all, the Daleks had a  lot of fun and are very excited about this summer. 

Yet Another Summer Bucket List

It's that time of year again. The kids are finishing up school, or already have finished school. We all know the first words out of our kids mouths are, "Moooooommm! I'm BORED!!!" This year I am hoping to beat the boredoms before they begin. So I made what everyone seems to be doing. I made a bucket list.

I know, I know, they seem to be everywhere, in the blog-o-sphere, on Facebook and Pinterest, EVERYWHERE! (By the way, follow me here.) So what is a Crafty Princess to do, but make her own?

Before I continue, let me introduce you to my little daleks. (Wait. Was that a Doctor Who reference? Why yes, yes it was.)

This is Bubba.
He is seven and just finished second grade.
He loves everything Ninjago and Pokemon.

And this is The Little Princess.
She is three and loves everything Disney Princess.

And then of course there is Hubs and me.
This is the only picture I can find of the two of us together.
This was eleven years ago, I need to get another pic, asap!

Well, those are the players. Now, back to the list!

My journey began where it always does, Pinterest! (Did I mention you can follow me here?) After a few pins, I came up with my own list of (da-da-dah!) 101 Things to do this Summer!

I know! Right?

Why 101? Well, why not? After all I learned from Phineas and Ferb that there are ♫ "104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it. So, the annual problem of out generation is finding a good way to spend it!" ♫

So, instead of having my daleks climb the proverbial Eiffel Tower, I wanted a list of ideas that we could do, most without much preparation and very low cost. Like, the closer to free the better.

I came up with a color coding system to help me see at a glance what type of activity each thing is. Red items are places to go. Light Blue are things relating to our local library. Green are outdoor activities. Orange are indoor activities. Yellow are foods to eat and sometimes make. Purple-y/Pink are crafts to make. And finally, Dark Blue are things that will earn Bubba arrows for Cub Scouts. 

As we do each activity, I plan to take lots of photos and use this blog as a log. Anything idea I got from Pinterest I have linked to the original source. So, just because I can, here is the list again. (As we do them I will cross them off this list.)

1. Go to the Beach   
2. Go to the Park
3. Watch the Fireworks
4. Visit Mommom
5. Swimming at Gifford Pinchot
6. Play in a Creek
7. Go to a Farmer's Market
8. Attend a Free Concert in the Park
9. Go to a Baseball Game
10. Dig It! Faire
11. Digging Into Nature
12. Tracking Dinosaurs
13. I Dig Bugs!
14. Dinosaur Story Time and Craft
15. Digging Into Science
16. Animals That Dig
17. Complete GO! York (Don't you wish your library was as cool as mine!)
18. Go Camping
19. Go Swimming in a Pool
20. Have a Picninc
21. 800+ Reading Minutes (each)
22. Play in the Sprinklers
23. Camp Out in the Yard
24. Water Balloon Fight
25. Water Gun Battle
26. Build a Sand Castle
27. Learn to Ride Bikes 
(Bubba needs to learn to ride without training wheels, and The Little Princess wants to learn to ride a two wheeler.)
28. Plant a Garden
29. Build a Den (like this or this)
30. Play with Sponge Bombs
31. Water Balloon Toss
32. Wash the Car
33. Shaving Cream War
34. Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest
35. Roll Down a Grassy Hill
36. Make a Blob
37. Tie Dye T-Shirts
38. Play with Bubbles
39. Make Marshmallow Shooters
40. Play with Ice Chalk
41. Make Solar S'mores
42. Star Gaze
43. Build a Backyard Gym
44. Build Three Toss Games
45. Invite Friends to our Backyard Gym
46. Build a Greenhouse and Grow 20 Seeds
47. Draw your favorite outdoor scene
48. Have a Sleep Over
49. Family Game Night
50. Build a Fort
51. Secret Service
52. Play the Wii
53. Movie Marathon
54. Exploding Craft Sticks
55. Write Letters and Mail Them
56. Treasure Hunt
57. Scavenger Hunt
58. Alphabet Scavenger Hunt
59. Eat Freeze Pops
60. Make Popsicles
61. Eat Something Fresh from the Garden
62. Make Banana splits
63. Make Frozen Hot Chocolate
64. Make Your Own Pizzas
65. Make Homemade Rock Candy
66. Make Ice Cream in a Bag
67. Eat Watermelon
68. Make Trail Mix
69. Make Rice Crispy Treats
70. Drink Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
71. Make Banana Pops
72. Make Lego Gummies (Bubba is REALLY excited about this one!)
73. Make Freeze Pop Holders 
74. Make Bead Loom Bracelets
75. Make Stained Glass
76. Experiment with Egg Geodes
77. Create a Light Box
78. Paint with Lemon Juice
79. Use Fizzle Sidewalk Chalk
80. Create Something to Enter in the Fair
81. Make Sun Catchers
82. Make Rain Sticks
83. Make Firefly Night Lights
84. Make and/or Paint a Birdhouse
85. Make Washi Tape Letters
86. Make Gak
87. Make Grass Heads
88. Create Jellyfish in a Bottle
89. Make Washi Tape Pencils
90. Make Bookmarks
91. Make a Weather Vane
92. Make a Rain Gauge
93. Track the Weather for Two Weeks
94. Make Sock Puppets
95. Make Three Pinhole Planetariums
96. Create a Mask
97. Make Solar Prints
98. Start a Stamp Collection
99. Organize our Personal Library
100. Practice Photography
101. Put on a Magic Show

We may or may not get to everything on the list, but at least I have a plan for the inevitable song of summer.

Subway Art

Yesterday my Mother-In-Law came to visit for two weeks. The kiddos are so happy to have Nana here! Bedtime was hard last night, no one wants to go to bed when Nana Claus is here! But, this is not a post about Nana. Today is the start of my first series: Things I've Seen On Pinterest And Decided To Try Myself. (Too long of a title?)
So today I decided to try some subway art. I don't usually like subway art, but this one caught my eye. Today, while Bubba was working on his school work and Nana was keeping The Little Princess occupied, I decided to whip one up.
All in all this project was FREE and took less than a half hour (not including drying time).
I used a picture frame that was not being used, some spray paint, and my computer.
I began at the computer in Open Office. Any word processing software would work.

First, I typed the dates and saying. Then, I fiddled with fonts and colors and sizes. I decided upon MS Gothic. The dates are size 94 and the saying is 24. Everything is centered. The colors I chose were standard black and green 2. The first two dates are Hubby and my birthdays, then green date is our anniversary, then the dates of Bubba and The Little Princess's birthdays. The saying has no spaces between words but key words are written in green.

The frame was a dusty brown one that was lying around the house with absolutely nothing in it. Tragedy resolved because I have just the thing for you!

Bring on the white spray paint that I happen to have from another project. Thankfully, the rain has left the area so it was nice and sunny today so outside I went to give the frame a once over.

While it was drying, I printed and trimmed down the page to fit the frame. Once it was dry, I put it all back together and hung it up in my bathroom. YOUR BATHROOM? You say? Well, it's on a little wall entering the bathroom. There is about a two foot hall like space when you first enter my bathroom (to go around the laundry area). And it's a nice surprised. Who would expect a piece of art like this in the bathroom?

That is also where the light switch plate I made is located. I have to say I absolutely love it! And the fact that it cost nothing is even better!
And just because I can, here are a few more angles.

Oooohhh!

Aaaahhh!

Pretty isn't it?

Olympic Spirit

Tonight is the night. The opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Bubba and I are very excited about it. In fact I made a deal with him that if he had absolutely perfect behavior today I would let him stay up and hour past bedtime to watch the first hour of the ceremonies. (So far so good!)

While researching the Olympics to put together a guide for Bubba while we watch the next two weeks, I discovered this year's mascots. Which got me thinking. I can make those guys. Because I am sure they are under a copyright I am not going to give you a tutorial on how to make them. This is purely a brag post. 

Bubba decided he wanted Mandeville. I think he was attracted to his more pointy figure. He chose his Mandeville to be red (his favorite color) with dark blue.

While making this little guy I kept thinking two things. The first was he chose very Patriotic colors. The second was this color scheme makes him look a lot like Muno from Yo! Gabba Gabba.

I embroidered his name and London 2012 on the back so years from now we will remember who this little guy is. (Because, let's face it. We all have things we find in our homes that we know at one time held meaning for us that now we just can't remember why.)

Since Bubba chose Mandeville, that left The Little Princess with Wenlock. She chose her colors, and I have to say, these were my favorite colors when I was a little girl.

Did you notice the "2012" logo in the center? It is hard to see in the picture, but I also embroidered the word London on the top "2" and the Olympic Rings on the "0".

I also embroidered his name and "London 2012" on his name.

I had a lot of fun making them. And the kids love them. In fact Bubba took his to bed with him last night. I hadn't finished The Little Princess's yet. Today they have been fighting over who gets to play with them. They both want both mascots. I may have to make two more.

Once more, here they are together.

Now I can't wait for 7:30 to watch the ceremonies! I have nothing more to say than "GO Team USA!"