Category Archives: crafts for Moms

summer twig ornaments

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Add a little glam to your deck or patio with summer twig ornaments made from raffia and painted sticks.

I just love it when we take a few simple craft materials, and transform them into something this beautiful!  This week we’ve been working on summer twig ornaments, perfect for jazzing up a corner of the deck or patio.

summer twig ornaments - painted twigs (happy hooligans)

These Summer Stars are one of the coolest kid’s crafts we’ve ever made, and you’re going to love how easy and affordable they were to make!

Gather your supplies:

supplies for summer twig ornaments

  • sticks
  • coloured raffia
  • thin wire or twine
  • white craft paint
  • glue gun

A few weeks ago we set out on a walk to collect sticks and twigs for crafting purposes.  We used some of them to make our gorgeous rainbow wind chimes.  If you missed that post, you have to check them out.  They are stunning stunning and really easy to make.

This week we dipped into our supply of sticks for our stars.

How we made our Summer Stars:

To start, I organized sticks that were similar in diameter, and sorted them into sets of five.  I trimmed the sticks in each set to be the same length.

For each ornament, we made three stars, one slightly larger than the other.

Once the twigs were trimmed, I hot glued them into the star shapes, and then it was time for the Hooligans to take over.

They painted each of their stars, front and back, with white acrylic paint.  Don’t worry about full coverage here. You’re going for a rustic look, so just let your little one paint until they feel they’re finished.

IMG_8096

You’ll end up with stars that look something like this.  Aren’t they fabulous already?  I love this shabby birch-bark look.

twigs painted with white craft paint for Summer Stars

Now tie a long length of raffia to your star, and have your child wrap and wind the raffia all around their star.  We went with a different colour of raffia for each star.  Tie your loose ends into a knot to secure them.

Summer twig ornaments painted and wrapped with raffia

Now it’s time to string your stars together.  You can do this with more of your raffia, or with some yarn or twine.  We used thin gauge wire which was easy to twist around the twigs.

For a hanger, I added a long(ish) loop of raffia to the top star.

Ready for the reveal?.

Summer Twig Ornaments - happy hooligans

Yippee!  I’m in love with them!  What do you think?

When I first came up with this idea, I had deck ornaments in mind, but I also think they’d look great hanging from a tree branch or even as a decoration on a door.

Summer Twig ornaments

I think it would be fabulous to make a bunch of them, and string them into a garland!

Just look at them when the sunlight hits them!

single summer twig star

Gorgeous!

summer stars twig ornament

If this is your first visit to Happy Hooligans, I’d love for you to pop over and LIKE us on facebook.  I update my page daily with easy and affordable arts, crafts and play ideas.

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You can follow me on Pinterest too!  I have over 90 boards dedicated to all kinds of kids’ crafts and activities, as well as some personal interest boards too.follow the Hooligans on Pinterest!

See you there!

 

homemade stampers

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Homemade stampers are easy to make using items you have around the house…

Yesterday, while the hooligans were playing, I made a set of homemade stampers, using nothing but a glue gun and some basic household items.homemade stampers - happy hooligans

They were a breeze to make, the hooligans had a great time testing them all out, and I’m happy to say that they worked like a charm!

How I made them:

Armed with my hot glue gun and a container of foam craft pieces, I searched around the craft room for objects to glue the foam bits to.

Here are a few items that I came up with:

Wine corks:  We have a bucket full of corks, and they get used here on an almost daily basis here.  The hooligans like to drop them into empty juice jugs and through wrapping paper tubes.  A cork on its own makes a great stamper. We’ve used them before to stamp polka-dots onto our crafts, simply by dipping them in paint.  This is how they turned out when I glued some foam pieces onto them.  Aren’t they pretty?homemade stampers with wine corks

Bottle tops:  I have a container of bottle tops that I’ve saved for various activities.  We use them on our homemade light box, and the hooligans like to just play with them, stacking and sorting them by colour.  They were perfect for turning into stampers.homemade stampers with bottle tops

Rocks: A rock with a fairly flat surface makes a great stamper

Wood blocks: wooden blocks make excellent stampers, as they’re easy for little hands to grip, and you can glue your foam pieces to more than one side.  I put a foam piece on each end of this wooden block.

Spools:  Another favourite among the hooligans for stacking, sorting and lacing with, a plastic spool makes a good stamper on its own, or with a foam piece glued to the end.rock, spool and wooden block homemade stampers

Styrofoam blocks: I keep a large stash of styrofoam hand here because it’s super for constructing with.  Check out the styrofoam structures that the hooligans made last year using golf tees and craft sticks!  A small block of styrofoam makes an awesome stamp, and again, you can glue foam shapes to all sides.styrofoam block and foam pieces for homemade stamper

For stamping, you can use an actual stamp pad, but we also like to use our paint dabbers.  We just swiped the paint dabber over the foam piece, and it made for perfect stamping!

For your convenience, I’ve included Amazon Affiliate links for some of the products in this post:

Happy Homemade Stamping!

coloured mason jars

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Painting mason jars with glue and food colouring…

For your convenience, I’ve included Amazon Affiliate links in this post. 

coloured mason jars - happy hooligansA couple of weeks ago, when we were making our Valentine’s Votives, I stumbled upon something kind of neat which was the inspiration behind the coloured mason jars that I’m sharing with you today.

I noticed, when the hooligans were gathering their votives up to take home, that there were some areas on the jars tht had been painted with glue, but no tissue paper had been place overtop.  When the dried, those plain glue areas gave the jars a frosted effect.

I figured if “frosting” a jar was that easy, I would try adding some food colouring to the glue, to see what would happen.

What you’ll need:

    • clean, clear jars
    • food colouring (I use Wilton icing gels)
    • white glue
    • water
    • sponge brush

What I did:

coloured mason jar suppliesI started by thinning some white glue with a bit of water.  I stirred that well, and then added a bit of food colouring. IMG_2741 Wilton is my preferred brand of food colouring because of the vibrant colours they produce.

Once your food colouring is mixed well into your glue, brush a layer of it all over your jar.  coloured mason jars, brushing on the pink glue

I used a sponge brush for this process.  Apply your glue/colour mixture in a thin, even layer, trying to eliminate your brushstroke marks.

See this following photo?  The coloured glue has just been brushed on here, and it’s still wet.  When the pink jar dried, I could see brush marks.  When the green dried, it was perfectly smooth, so shoot for the look of the green one when you’re brushing on your glue.coloured mason jars - paint dryingNow let your jars dry (I left mine overnight), and be amazed at the beautiful frosted effect that takes place!IMG_3960IMG_3965

Remember, this is just glue and water, so your colour coating won’t be water proof.  But they’re perfect for storing craft supplies, and they’d make a pretty addition to any desk if you filled them with pens and pencils.    coloured mason jars holding pencils and markers

Cute, aren’t they?

I’m frequently asked what kind of camera I shoot with.  I use a Canon Rebel XS, an entry-level DSRL, and I love it.  It’s my baby.  You can check it out here:

extra large, reversible receiving blankets

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Jumbo, reversible receiving blankets are a snap to make, and they make a great gift…

For your convenience, I’ve included Amazon Affiliate links in this post.

I had a baby shower to go to this weekend, and I was only too happy to make a couple of  jumbo, reversible receiving blankets.  They’re one of my favourite baby gifts to make and give.

This project requires only basic sewing skills and is great for beginners:  Measurements don’t have to be exact, and if you can sew a straight line, you have all the necessary skills. :) easy, jumbo, reversible receiving blanket

If you have little ones, you likely have lots of receiving blankets.  I had loads when my boys were babies:   I bought some of them myself, I received many as gifts, and the hospital sent me home with several.  My all-time favourite however, was a huge, double-sided number that a friend made for me when my second son was born.

It measured one meter by one meter, and being so big and double-sided, it was really cushy and cozy – perfect for swaddling him up as he grew, or tucking in around him in the car-seat or the stroller as the weather got chilly.  This photo will give you an idea of how big the blanket actually is.  I set a “Little People” car on it to give you some perspective.reversible receiving blankets

It makes a great crib blanket, or floor blanket, but my very favourite use for it was wrapping Andrew up after the bath.  It was big enough that I used it that way until he was 2 or 3.

Ok, I’m going to walk you through making one of these.  And I’m going to assume you’re new to the sewing scene, and make things as simple as possible.

What you’ll need:

  • 1 meter of fabric for front of blanket
  • 1 meter of coordinating or contrasting fabric for back of blanket
  • spool of thread to match front fabric ( I like to use a colour that will “pop”)
  • spool of thread to match back fabric
  • scissors (a rotary cutter and cutting mat are also handy if you have them)
  • iron/ironing board


    • The step-by-step:

    Before you do anything, PRE-SHRINK your flannel, by machine washing and drying it.  Iron it too.  NOW you’re ready!

    Lay your fabric out on a flat surface with both of your fabric pieces right-sides-together.  Like this:

    reversible receiving blankets

    Now, with your pieces together like this, trim to 1 meter by 1 meter (or  3 feet, 3 inches x 3 feet, 3 inches).   Don’t worry about being exact.  You just want it to be about that size.   You can use scissors to do your cutting, or a rotary cutter/mat will make the job a little faster and easier.

    reversible receiving blankets

    See that strip that I’m trimming off?  Hang on to that.  We’ll be using it later.

    Once you have your fabric cut, pin your edges together, and move to your sewing machine.

    Stitch around all 4 sides of your blanket, leaving an opening about 6 inches long, about half way down one of the sides.  You’ll use this opening for turning the blanket right-side-out.

    Snip your corners so they won’t be bulky when you turn your blanket.   You’ll see what I mean in this next photo. (don’t snip through your stitching!)

    Now, flip that blanket right-side-out through the opening.  Then reach in through the opening, and poke the corners out so they’re nice and square.  With a warm iron, go all around the blanket, pressing your edges so they’re nice and crisp.   When you get to the 8 inch opening, just turn the unfinished edges to the inside, and press in place.

    Pin the hole shut.  At this stage, I pop 2 or 3 pins per side all around the edges of the blanket, to keep everything in place during the final step.

    Back at your machine, close up that opening by stitching very close to the edge of the blanket.  See how close to the edge I stitch when I’m closing it up?

    Now it’s time to put a nice chunky zig zag all around your blanket, about 2 inches in from the edge.  (I set my zig-zag dial to #3 for this).  To lock your stitches in place when starting and stopping your stitching while zig-zagging, set your stitch length dial at this setting:

    Your fabric won’t move at all.  It will stay in one place while your needle moves right and left, leaving a nice little locked stitch that looks like this: (see the nice, neat knot of thread where the pink and yellow flowers overlap?)

    Once you’ve zig-zagged all the way around, check to make sure you’ve removed all of your pins, trim any loose threads, and stand back and admire your work!reversible receiving blankets

    Congratulations!  You’re done!   Well, almost…   remember that strip that I told you to hang onto?

    I fold it in half, and stitch it closed with a zig-zag.  Then I roll the blanket up, folding it in a way that a bit of the reverse fabric peeks out the top (don’t ask me how – I just mess around until I get it right).  And then I tie a bow around the blanket with that strip of fabric!reversible receiving blankets

    How pretty are these?

    I’m pairing these with a couple of my re-purposed denim bibs.reversible receiving blankets

    You can find the tutorial for the bibs here.

    And a sweet little book and a homemade card complete the gift.
    reversible receiving blankets.

    Happy Sewing!  If you make some receiving blankets of your own, I’d love to see them!  Feel free to link up your photos on my Happy Hooligans facebook page!