Gone Swimming Beach Plaque

This was something I made a few years ago after a trip to the beach. Many people decorate their bathrooms in a nautical or beach theme, so this is a great addition to that decor. I hung mine on the wall and it looked lovely.

Gone Swimming Beach Plaque

Make this pretty beach craft and bring a little of the ocean's calm into your home. Gather seashells, starfish, and some sand from your beach vacation this summer, and make this lovely keepsake to hang on your wall.

What You Need

oval paper mache hanging plaque
acrylic paint, antique white
acrylic paint, tan
black craft or Sharpie pen
assorted sea shells and starfish
sand
1 large starfish
scruffy paintbrush
flat paintbrush
hot glue gun
white craft glue
water
acrylic sealer spray, matte

To get the instructions for this craft please visit Gone Swimming Beach Plaque on FamilyCorner.com

Country Dammit Doll

This little country doll is a great comfort gift for someone you care about, or an adorable addition to any room in your home. You may remember Dammit Dolls from your grandmother's time period and they are still around today.

Several years ago, I made this for a friend who was living in Germany. Her husband was in the military and away quite a lot. She missed him dearly and seemed so sad. She loved the gift and still cherishes it today.

You will need

FOR THE DOLL
country floral fabric (half of a yard should do it!)
doll pattern
white yarn
darning needle
Fiberfil
curled jute
sewing needle
thread to match fabric
6 buttons to coordinate with the fabric
2 flat backed black eyes
fabric glue
large unpainted wood button
scrap of blue gingham fabric for neck bow

FOR THE CONTAINER
12" cylindrical papier mache container
acrylic paint in antique white, light brown, and country blue
crackle medium
paintbrush
household sponge or sponge scrap
curled jute
rusty tin button
blue gingham fabric scrap
white tacky glue
black fine tip craft pen
ruler
scrap piece of paper
pen or pencil

What you do

THE DOLL

Bodice
To begin, print out the doll pattern and cut two pieces from country floral fabric, RIGHT side of fabric facing out. This doll is sewn on the outside, rather than sewn and turned inside out. This gives it a more primitive country look. Using a darning needle and white yarn, begin at the top/center of the head and sew downward, all the way around the doll until you get to the other side of the neck. Pause here to stuff the doll with Fiberfil, using the eraser end of a pencil to gently push the stuffing into the arms and legs. Complete the stuffing of the doll's head and sew shut, knot off.

Embellishments
Using a length of curled jute (can be purchased in the craft store where doll hair is sold), cut into 1 1/2" pieces. For each piece, fray the ends halfway, leaving the other half curled. Use a sewing needle and thread to sew the curled end of the jute pieces to the top of the head, frayed end should be pointing upward for the hair. You will need around 6 or 7 pieces of jute to complete the hair. Sew 3 buttons to the front of the hair, in the center, and 3 to the back, running thread through two buttons at once (one in back, one in front). Cut a strip of blue gingham fabric and fray the ends. Tie around doll's neck and secure with a couple of threads. Use fabric glue to adhere eyes to the doll's face. Sew wood button to the front of the doll's body.


THE CONTAINER

Paint the papier mache cylinder and lid with a coat of antique white acrylic paint and allow to dry completely. Following the directions on the crackle medium, apply a coat of crackle medium over the antique white, and allow to dry according to the manufacturer's directions (usually 15-45 minutes, or until tacky but not completely dry). Finish with a coat of light brown, again, follow the directions on the crackle medium! Use single brush strokes, DO NOT brush over and over, you will lose the crackle effect. Allow to dry completely.

For the lid, cut a piece of blue gingham fabric long enough to fit around the lid, fray and tie. Trim and fray the ends. Use tacky glue to secure the fabric to the lid. Tie a piece of curled jute around the lid over the fabric, tie in place, secure with tacky glue. Gently thread a rusty tin button with the jute, and tie, ends should hang downward.

When the light brown coat is dry, use the household sponge to apply an oval shape to the front of your cylinder using antique white. The oval should cover most of the length of the container, leaving about an inch at the bottom and the top (below the lid). Sponge a light border of country blue around the outer edge of your oval.

Using a piece of scrap paper and a pen or pencil, sketch out the poem listed below to ensure that you can fit it all on your oval. You can use a ruler to approximate how much area you have to work with. Use a craft pen to write on the poem when you are comfortable with it.


DAMMIT DOLL

When you want to climb the wall,
And stand right up and shout.
There's a little Dammit doll
You cannot do without.

Just grasp it firmly by the legs,
And find a place to slam it.
And as you whack the stuffing out
Yell Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!

If Dammit's not a word you say
Then twist its little neck
And grumble out repeatedly
Oh Heck, Oh Heck, Oh Heck!

And once your done abusing it
Just sit it on the shelf.
But hug it first, as I'd hug you
If I were there myself.

Note: Carefully stuff container with some light tissue paper before placing doll inside. You may need to tuck your doll's arms in a bit to fit her in. Cover her with a bit more tissue paper and cover with the lid.

You can get a printable version and see a larger photo of this Dammit Doll craft on FamilyCorner.com

Garden Crafts: Country Plant Pokes

Here's a craft I made back in 2001. Now is a great time to make these as it's almost time to start planting!

Country Plant Pokes

What you need
(For each plant poke, variations are pictured here)

3" wood heart
12" wooden dowel
acrylic paint in antique white and contrasting color of your choice
crackle medium
craft pens
material scraps
white craft glue (Tacky glue)
matte finish sealer spray

To get the font pattern and the instructions, please visit Country Plant Pokes on FamilyCorner.com

St. Patrick's Day Pot of Gold Greeting Card

Valentine's Day has come and gone, now it's time to move on to St. Patrick's Day! This holiday always makes me yearn for spring. I am definitely in need of warmer weather. :) Below is a craft I made a few years ago. I have also included some links at the end for more fun stuff!

Pot of Gold Greeting Card
Designed by Amanda Formaro © 2006

What you need:

5"x7" piece of light green card stock or construction paper
black construction paper or card stock
tan, yellow or gold construction paper or card stock
scissors
white craft glue
construction paper OR patterned card stock papers in the following colors or shades:

• red
  
• orange
  
• yellow
  
• green
  
• blue
  
• purple
  

print the pattern here


What you do

Fold 5"x7" light green card stock in half to create the card. Use the pattern to cut out all the necessary pieces from colored papers.

Glue the rainbow pieces in place first. Next glue on the black pot, then the band for the pot. Finally glue on the "pieces of gold".

Variations: Instead of card stock for the band, you can use a gold glitter. Another idea is to add little dots of gold glitter to the "pieces of gold" in the pot.

Note: Don't buy sheets and sheets of expensive papers. We used Sizzix brand paper pads, known as Little Sizzles. We used papers from both the Pastels (40-0014) pad and the Watercolors (40-0015) pad. These pads can be found in the scrapbooking aisle of your local craft store. Ours cost $4.99 per pad, each pad has 4 sheets of each solid cardstock, 3 sheets of each pattern paper, there are 80 acid free sheets total per pad. These papers were made for the Sizzix Die Cutting Machine. We have used these pads for many different projects, including our Charming Valentine Greeting Cards, our Quilted Keepsake Box, as well as our Decoupage Coin Banks.

Related Fun!

Fun St. Patrick's Day Printables
St. Patrick's Day Fun Recipe Ideas
More St. Patrick's Day Craft Ideas

Be Mine Valentine Wall Hanging

This was a craft that I made in 2002. Sometimes I can't believe how long ago I did stuff when I look back at my projects! LOL This one is one of my favorites though because it can be adjusted for kids and for adults. Make it as simple or as intricate as you want or as your supply inventory will allow ;-)

Be Mine Valentine Wall Hanging
by Amanda Formaro

You'd never guess this darling heart was once a boring brown paper grocery bag! Make one yourself to give to a friend or to hang in your entryway.


You will need

brown grocery bag
acrylic paint in red and pink
toothbrush
paintbrush
fine tip black marker
pinking shears (or other decorative scissors)
small material scrap in gingham or other pattern of your choice
heart shaped buttons, small pink, medium red
cotton batting (Fiberfil)
white craft glue (Tacky glue)
craft wire
pencil
raffia
hot glue gun

What you do

Lay brown paper bag on flat work surface. Cut out two large sections from the front and back of the bag. Stack those sections, one on top of the other, then fold them in half. Draw half a heart, with the fold being in the middle of the heart, then cut it out with the pinking shears. Or you can use this as a pattern.

Beginning at the bottom of the heart, use tacky glue to connect the two layers at the seams, stuffing the heart as you go with cotton batting (Fiberfil). Work your way around the edges, carefully stuffing (but not too much!) until heart is completely closed.

When the glue is dry, paint the heart red, leaving the decorative edges plain as seen in the photo. When the red paint is dry, dip the bristle tips of a toothbrush into the pink paint. Test your flecking ability on a piece of scrap paper before doing this on your heart. Hold toothbrush horizontally and drag your thumb across the bristles, causing the paint to fleck spots wherever you aim it. When you are comfortable with this method, go ahead and fleck some pink paint on your heart.

When pink paint is dry, use the black finetip marker to write BE MINE, placing decorative dots at the point of each letter. Use pinking shears to cut out a small heart from the gingham scrap material. Use white glue to adhere the material heart to the upper right hand corner of your brown bag heart. Use white glue to adhere a small pink heart shaped button to the material scrap.

Cut a piece of craft wire long enough to wrap completely around your heart. This should be enough for your hanger. Find the middle of craft wire, wrap the middle section of the wire around a pencil about 6 or 7 times. Pull the pencil out to create the curl at the top of your hanger. Curve the wire into a hanger shape and poke each end carefully through the sides of the heart as shown in the photo. Use the skinny end of a small paintbrush to curl the ends of the wire that you poked through.

Using raffia, tie a bow out onto the craft wire just before where the top curls begin. Using a hot glue gun, glue the medium sized red heart shaped button to the center of the raffia. Spray the entire heart with a coat of acrylic sealant.

Note: It is not necessary to paint the back of the heart, though you may if you like.


If you need a cute craft for the kiddies, try these Salt Dough Lips!!

Easy Homemade Valentine Cards

Valentine's Day will be here before you know it, so I thought I would share some simple Valentine greeting cards I made a few years ago. These are very easy and they are fun to make with kids too :) 

You will need:

Card stock in various solid colors and patterns (8.5" x 11 cut in half or 4"x 6")
pinking shears
scissors
white craft glue or glue stick
Valentine themed stickers

What you do:

There are so many different ways to make these cards, just let your imagination lead the way. For the designs we have created, follow these easy steps.

Cut & Paste Designs
Begin with a piece of solid colored card stock, fold in half to make the card. Use pinking shears or regular scissors to cut hearts from various patterns of paper. Don't be afraid to experiment! Stripes and checkerboards look wonderful matched up with a floral or polka dot design. Find patterns with colors that compliment each other. Next, simply glue the the hearts onto the front of the card (pictured below).



Waste not want not! Notice that in the second card, we used the outer edges of the hearts used on the third and fourth cards. We cut our hearts too big, then simply trimmed around the hearts one more time to make them smaller, hence having a heart border left over to use on another card.

Borders & Patterns
As with the others, begin with a solid color for the card. For the first one (pictured below), use pinking shears to cut out a border from a patterned piece of paper to create a "frame" for your card. Use complimentary colored Valentine stickers to decorate the center. The card in the center is simply four hearts cut from different patterns of paper, then glued in a diagonal, layered on top of each other. The third design is just two rectangles cut from different patterns, one larger than the other, then glued in the center of the card.



When you are finished, it is recommended that you place your cards inside or under a heavy book, such as a cookbook or phone directory. When the glue dries, it tends to curl up the cards. Allowing them to dry under the weight of the book will flatten them as they dry.

As you can see, you don't have to be into scrapbooking or be an artist to create charming cards for any occasion. Simply let your imagination guide you. If you are convinced that you just aren't that creative to think up your own designs and patterns, look through home decor magazines to get ideas on contrasting patterns and colors.

Christmas Crafts

Wow, I'm sorry, I've totally neglected my craft blog. I'm afraid my cooking blog has just taken over :( So I'll post some goodies of past crafts I've made, along with links to the instructions in case you are still looking for some fun Christmas crafts!

• Light Bulb Angel - Isn't she Heavenly! Make this lovely angel from a burnt out light bulb, some lace scraps and a few silk flowers. Then hang her high upon your tree or in your doorway for all to see. Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• Light Bulb Penguin - This cute little fellow is all bundled up for those arctic winter mornings at the North Pole! Help this little cutie get warm and cozy by placing him in your lighted Christmas tree this year. The possibilities are endless for these fun and easy crafts, try one today! Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• Light Bulb Snowman - The lightbulb is used for many different ornaments! This project brings you a whimsical snowman all bundled up, ready for a cold winter's day. Try this project today with scraps from around your house. Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• Clay Pot Elf - Santa's helpers are busy making presents for all the good boys and girls. This little elf is no exception! It's a tough job being Santa's Head Elf, but someone has to do it! This little guy takes his job quite seriously.
  
  
• Clay Pot Gingerbread Pals - These gingerbread are too cute to eat! If you are looking for an easy holiday craft, this could very well be the answer you've been searching for.
  
  
• Clay Pot Rudolph - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Had a Very Shiny Nose! This cute little reindeer will bring smiles all winter long. Make the matching snowman for a fun set to display this year.
  
  
• Clay Pot Santa & Mrs. Claus - Santa & Mrs. Claus are ready to bring joy to all the girls and boys. What a fun way to say Merry Christmas to your holiday host, your child's teacher, or a member of your family.
  
  
• Clay Pot Snowmen - This darling snowman and snowwoman make the perfect couple. All bundled up for a cold winter's day, and so easy, the kids can make then too!
  
  
• Clay Pot Winter Friends - Ice blue is the popular color for snowmen and winter scenes. These winter friends are looking cool in their ice blue outfits, just waiting for the ice rink to open!
  
  
• Acorn Snowman - This little fellow is perfect for hanging on the tree, or as a gift topper. Gather up your extra acorns and make a few today! Give away as gifts to teachers, neighbors, even the mail carrier!
  
  
• Glass Ornament Snowmen - Looking for a quick and easy dress up to those plain glass ornaments in your Christmas box? Or maybe you need a unique Christmas gift idea? Try these adorable snowmen on for size! Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• Salt Dough Christmas Trees - If you are looking for a fun project that doubles as a really cute decoration, try your hand at these salt dough Christmas trees. Easy to make, fun to decorate, and so many different possibilities!
  
  
• Santa's Clothesline - When Santa gets home from his long trip around the world, his clothes are sure to be damp from tromping through the snow! So what does Santa do with those wet clothes? He hangs them on his clothesline of course! This craft makes a cute decoration, you can even drape it on the tree.
  
  
• A Whimsical Wooden Santa - This rosy-cheeked Santa Claus can be put together in less than an hour. These are wonderful accents for your dinner table or fireplace mantel.
  
  
• Coffee Creamer Santa - Ho Ho Ho! As Christmas quickly approaches, do you find yourself in need of some new decorations? Instead of running out and spending yet more money, look around your kitchen for the perfect holiday craft. Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• No Sew Country Santa - This Santa is a great addition to any wall, sitting next to the fireplace, or atop a shelf. He's soft enough to cuddle too!
  
  
• A Waste Not Snowman - There are plenty of crafts you can make from items found around the house, or even those headed for the garbage can. This adorable snowman was created from a condiment bottle, fabric scraps, and lots of imagination. Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• Adorable Snow Folks - Create a group of carolers or a sleighful of happy winter friends with your mismatched children's mittens, wooden balls, and lots of imagination. The sky is the limit! Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• No Sew Plump Snowman - This plump little snowman makes a great centerpiece, is easy to put together and makes a cuddly pal for the kids. With some very simple items you can put this craft together inexpensively and quickly. Easy instructions and photo included with this craft. Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• A Snowball Fight - Create this cute winter pal with your mismatched children's gloves. Much like our Snow Folks, all you will need is gloves, wooden balls, and lots of imagination. Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• Salt Dough Snow Family - This cute little snow family is easy to bake up. Paint them white then have a ball adding the finishing touches. Be as creative and colorful as your heart desires.
  
  
• Snow Place Like Home - This adorable snowman can be painted onto any surface that you like. While we chose a glass jar as our medium, he would also look great on a wood plaque, papier mache box, or any other surface you can think of! This craft was designed for those with some experience in tole painting.
  
  
• Snowballs For Sale - This cute little entrepreneurial snowman makes a great addition to the fireplace mantel or the front entryway. A fun wintertime craft that recycles too!
  
  
• Snowman Wall Hanging - This cheerful snowman will greet visitors as they come in the door. Hang him on the door, in the entryway, above your kitchen counter, wherever his cheerful face fits best!
  
  
• Sock Snowman - This cute snowman is so easy, you'll be able to throw several together in an afternoon! All you need are some tube socks and imagination.
  
  
• Wood Scrap Snowmen - If you have access to some small wood scraps, or perhaps a board you can cut up, you can make these cute little additions to your holiday shelves. But wait, don't stop there! The creative possibilities of this craft are endless; try Santas, Christmas trees, reindeer, Nativity scenes, elves, and more!
  
  
• Country Elegance Holiday Wreath - The holidays are just around the corner and you aren't looking forward to fighting the crowds at the mall for just a few decorations. Then dig out your fabric scraps and a grapevine wreath and you are on your way to country elegance. Easy instructions and photo included with this craft.
  
  
• Ice Candle Centerpiece - What a beautiful centerpiece. Your friends will be amazed at your craftiness and the compliments will keep coming as the night goes on. Be sure to make this a day or so ahead!