Style, Recipes, Travel, Crafts & Household Tips
One thing I am focusing one this year is memory keeping. My girls are growing up so fast and I am sad that I don’t have items like this Valentine Quiz for Kids from when they were young. I am going to make them complete the quiz this year but wish I would have started when they were little.
If you are a room mom or teacher this would be a great activity for a classroom Valentine’s Day party. I am sure most parents would love to receive this.
[Read more…]
Valentine’s Day is coming up soon and we rounded up a bunch of Tween Valentine Crafts to keep your kids busy and productive. Many of these crafts make great Valentine decorations or DIY Valentine Gifts. We have so many craft ideas that I am sure you will find many your tween will love.
The huge list of valentine crafts to make includes quick valentine crafts as well as valentine heart crafts. There are so many unique and fun Valentine craft DIY projects and some even include a free printable.
Tweens love to collect different EOS lip balms and these make fun Valentine’s Day treats for kids, tweens, teens or adults. These are so simple to make and we have created two different printable cards. One is Valentine’s Day themed and the other EOS Lip Balm card, you can use to give these fun lip balms as small gifts, all year long.
Everyone loves Gnomes! Have your tween make their own personalized gnome to give to their your friends.
Got nail polish that’s past it’s best and a little gloopy? Why not use it to decorate recycled plastic hearts.
Recycled Plastic Valentine Hearts
These Paper Quilling Heart Balloons are so fun to make. This is the perfect Valentine card craft for tweens.
These cute mini Valentine treat boxes are so easy to make and you can make easily make someone’s day just a little more special. Tweens will love making these for their friends.
DIY Mini Valentine Treat Boxes
These Mini Gum Ball Machines are so fun and they make the perfect treat for boys and girls this Valentine’s Day.
Valentines Day Mini Gum Ball Machines
These chocolate covered strawberry hot cocoa bombs are a fun way to jump on the hot cocoa bomb trend! Tweens get to drink strawberry hot cocoa when it is done.
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Hot Cocoa Bombs
This Paper Quilling Art Photo Frame is a fun paper craft project and a great way to show someone that you love them. Paper Quilling Projects are becoming more and more popular and I can see why. These paper projects are absolutely gorgeous. Although they look very detailed, they are pretty easy to do.
Paper Quilling Heart Photo Frame
Sending homemade cards and making a clipboard photo frame is a perfect way to spend a February afternoon!
Create a one of kind melted crayon canvas. This is such a fun heart canvas project to make!
A fun and easy DIY with pink and red nail polish for a festive Valentine’s Day gift for anyone!
Super quick and easy foam rose heart wreath. This wreath is only $7 in materials! All the supplies are from Dollar Tree for this budget friendly Valentine’s Day decoration.
Tips on how to use a Sharpie marker on glass and make an easy Valentine’s gift in minutes with supplies you probably already have at home.
Sharpie Marker on Glass Crafts
This is the perfect Valentine slime, or a perfect activity for tweens anytime. It is simple to make, and everyone likes making slime.
Tweens can make this beautiful ribbon tree to give as a gift or to decorate their room this Valentine’s Day. It’s a fun craft that takes few supplies and little time to create.
Just a few supplies, and this cute Valentine Garland is ready to add love to your decor. This easy paper craft takes only a few minutes but adds a lot of color and fun!
Tell your valentine that there is “gnome” one else but them with this cute Valentines gnome paper craft for kids. Here’s how to make it!
I just love making these spa sock cupcakes and who doesn’t like warm fuzzy socks? Tweens can make this cute craft for friends, teachers or coaches.
These heart bath fizzies are fun to make and fun to use! They also make great gifts.
Duct Tape Roses make a lovely homemade gift idea for Valentine’s Day. Tweens can make beautiful hand made roses, they won’t believe they’re made from duct tape.
Make adorable and practical elastic heart book bands using scrap denim with this easy no-sew craft project. These DIY elastic book bands are a fun no-sew craft to make at home. It’s pretty simple as far as crafts go, all you need to do is cut out the pieces and then glue them together and voila, the elastic book bands are complete!
Washi tape cards are super fun to make and are totally adorable. Perfect to make for all of your friends!
Lavender is one of my favorite fragrances. It’s so relaxing and this recipe uses Lavender essential oils. The soaps are love heart-shaped and perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Painted Heart Magnets can be attached to a card. Plus a free printable if you’d like a Christian themed card
Valentine Slime is not only fun to make, but it is also a great gift for your tween’s friends too!
Valentine Slime Plus Printable Tag
See how to make these DIY Valentines Felt Hearts, perfect for a center piece, gift and more. Easy way to teach your teen to sew!
This easy DIY sugar scrub requires just a few ingredients and can be infused with your favorite essential oils. Tweens will love mixing up this DIY beauty craft.
This pressed heart clay ornament craft is absolutely darling! The fun pop of texture on this heart ornament is easy to create.
Pressed Heart Clay Ornament Craft
This heart-shaped Valentine moldable sugar scrub is easy for anyone to make but tweens love it.
Heart-shaped Valentine Moldable Sugar Scrub
Huge giant chocolate kiss made with foil and gift wrap. Super easy super fun and perfect for tweens!
Giant Kiss filled with Chocolate Kisses
Make this super cute matchbox valentines in minutes! It’s a simple but sweet Valentine’s Day gift or token for friends and family. It’s also a great teacher or class gift idea!
Cute and Easy Matchbox Valentines
Make some sweet pebble love bugs from rocks you have collected from the garden. This is such a cute and easy Valentines Day craft idea for tweens!
This fun Valentine Clothesline Heart Frame is super easy to create using basic crafting supplies, making it a perfect DIY craft for kids or adults.
Valentine Clothesline Heart Frame
This DIY Peppermint Lip Balm has a minty scent and makes a fun gift for Valentine’s day with free printable red and white labels.
This beautiful paper flower card uses heart shapes to make the petals. It can be easily created with the free template.
Make Valentine’s Day extra special this year with these keepsake Fingerprint Rock Hearts! Tweens will love dipping their fingers in paint to make these adorable hearts and enjoy drawing in faces!
While the design looks very detailed, paper quilling isn’t difficult at all! Your tweens and teens will love making this paper quilled card.
DIY Quilled Heart Hot Air Balloon Valentine’s Day Card
Looking for an adorable card to make with your tweens? This DIY Quilled Heart Balloon Card is a perfect choice for teaching your children how to paper quill.
DIY Quilled Heart Balloon Card
Cute and fluffy no-sew gnomes make the cutes tween valentine craft. These DIY Valentine Gnomes made of socks are a cute Valentine craft for kids (and adults!) and require no sewing. You and your kids will love making these fluffy and soft gnomes.
These adorable DIY painted gnomes make an excellent Valentine’s Day craft for Tweens. Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to gift painted rocks. You could do some fun heart rocks or you can take them up a notch and paint these super cute Valentine’s Day gnomes.
Valentine’s Day Gnome Painted Rocks
I hope this long list of tween Valentine Crafts should keep you and your tweens busy no matter what type of crafts your enjoy.!
Don’t forget about Valentine Gifts. Tweens love receiving fun Valentine Gifts and we have lots of great ideas. Many of the ideas on our teenager lists work for tweens too!
I am always on the look out for easy ways to make Valentine’s day just a little more special. These cute mini Valentine treat boxes are so easy to make and you can make easily make someone’s day just a little more special. They are one of our DIY simple Valentine Gift Ideas.
Valentine Treat Boxes are so fun and easy to make but have a huge impact. Sometimes a small simple Valentine’s gift can be the perfect treat. You can give them to friends and family. The kids will love to help to fill these boxes and delivering them to teachers, coaches, and friends.
Just follow these simple directions to make the treat boxes.
These are mini treat boxes so you will want to have just little candy to put in them. Valentine Hershey kisses and Valentine candy corn work perfectly. You can see the size of the box in the picture above. You can see how the box is not much taller than a few Hershey kisses.
These mini treat boxes would be perfect for school parties or any type of Valentine’s day get together. You could even print them and have them at a family dinner. There are really so many ways that these treat boxes can add just that little special touch. The beauty is that they look so cute and fun but are so simple to make. I hope you enjoy them!
Valentine Quiz for Kids – Easy Valentine Kids Activity
DIY Star Wars Valentines with printable
Valentine’s Day Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies
Just wait until the kids see these Nutcracker Craft Puppets. They’re adorable, festive, and certain to put them in the Christmas mood! And the best part? They’re so easy and simple to make! When you’re looking for a fun holiday craft, the kids are going to love this fun idea! Be sure to check out more fun Christmas Activities for kids here.
We’re huge fans of the Nutcracker in our house so the kids always loved creating this Nutcracker puppet. And when it comes down to it, it’s no secret why. The kids can easily start and finish this simple Christmas craft with minimal assistance on your part.
If you have a younger child doing this craft, they just need a little bit of supervision and they’ll be good to go. It literally just takes a few moments of time to put this together. And once they’re done, they can put on their own version of the Nutcracker for you as well!
All you need are a few simple supplies to get started. Gather them up for the kids and let them start creating!
Step -1:
Select colored cardstock papers for this craft. Prepare the template patterns by printing and cutting them out nicely. Trace the patterns on the selected cardstock papers. Use scissors to cut out the traced patterns from the cardstock paper.
Step -2:
Attach the zigzag bordered strip along the top side of the hat cutout. Attach the smaller parts of the uniform on the big part of the uniform. Attach the hair cutout on the backside of the base cutout, by leaving a cm from the top end of the base. Last but not least, attach the boots along the bottom end of the uniform.
Step – 3:
Attach the hat on the top side of the base cutout; aligning the short end of the hat with the base. Attach the uniform on the bottom side of the base cutout.
Step – 4:
Use a black gel pen or marker to draw the eyes, moustache, nose, and other features of the face.
Step – 5:
Finally, attach the cardstock nutcracker on a popsicle stick to complete the nutcracker puppet craft.
See how cute this simple puppet is? Save up those popsicle sticks and see what you can create. Popsicle sticks make great puppet handles and are a fun way to use your imagination to craft.
Let the kids keep creating and using their imagination. The Nutcracker Puppet is fun to make but can be even more fun with a newly created backdrop as well. Let the kids make their own scenery for the Nutcracker and have them put on a play!
These could also make cute Nutcracker cake toppers
Looking for an easy and fun way to track how many days until Christmas? Check out this easy DIY Countdown to Christmas printable that you can easily use with a dry erase marker once you put the printable in a frame. My girls always want to know exactly how many days until Christmas and this is a fun way to track. The frames can be cleaned each day by simply using a paper towel to remove the marks from the dry erase marker. It is so easy you can even have put the kids in charge of this task.
If you are a crafter, the Silhouette Cameo Electronic Papercutter is a must-have machine. It uses digital images from your computer and uses a small blade to cut paper, vinyl, vellum and fabric. It can cut up to 12 inches and 10 feet long. Just plug this machine into your computer and use the included software to start crafting! What sets this machine apart is it’s ability to print and cut. You can design a label on your Silhouette Studio Software and print it on your home printer. The Cameo has a special sensor that tells it how to cut around your label after it’s printed on your home computer. So cool! The Silhouette Portrait machine is similar to the Cameo, but just has a little bit smaller cutting area.
This sale includes the Cameo 4 with the 12 x 12 cutting area, the Portrait cutter with the 8 x 8 cutting area, the Alta 3D printer, the Mint Stamping Machine, plus some fun media bundles. All of bundles are listed below.
In addition to the bundles, you can enjoy the sale prices on individual items like consumables and software:
From now until December 7, 2020 MT, Silhouette has some exciting deals for Black Friday with bundles starting at just $19.99 and all other Silhouette products at 50% off with $5 shipping in the US. Use coupon code: BARGAIN to get these prices.
Cameo 4 White Machine Only: $279.99
Cameo 4 Pink Machine Only: $279.99
Cameo 4 Black Machine Only: $279.99
Portrait 3 Machine Only: $179.99
Cameo 4 White Bundle: $299.99
Cameo 4 Black Bundle: $299.99
Cameo 4 Pink Bundle: $299.99
Portrait 3 Bundle: $199.99
Alta Plus Bundle: $199.99
Mint Christmas Bundle: $79.99
Specialty Media Bundle: $24.99
Tattoo Bundle: $19.99
EARLY ACCESS: Shop here to get early sale access on November 25, 2020
To Shop the sale on November 26-December 7, 2020 MT, shop the sale here.
If you need more gift ideas, then check out our great gift ideas page. We will be adding more gift ideas and holiday shopping tips all month. Be sure to sign up for our free newsletter so all the updates comes right your inbox.
If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook.
Are you looking for a simple way to make Father’s Day special for the Dads in your life? Then check out these adorable free Father’s Day printables that make a great homemade Father’s Day Gift. We include both necktie-shaped bottle tags and cupcake toppers. I included four different tags. Some are more elegant and some are more playful and you can choose which ones fit the Dads in your life. These are so easy to make that even the kids could help cut these out or help assemble them making them a great father’s day gift from kids. Plus, you probably already have most of the supplies to complete this project at home! [Read more…]
Kids, as well as adults, will enjoy these creative ways to decorate Easter eggs and Easter Egg Designs. Here, you’ll find fun ideas that use everything from craft eggs to plastic eggs to hard boiled eggs. You’ll learn various ways to dye eggs with natural ingredients as well as innovative methods for designs. From bling and glitter to a favorite superhero or character, you’ll find techniques to decorate one-of-a-kind Easter eggs. Try decoupage, adding gold leaf, Washi tape, splatter paint, and even paint pen drawing for a range of awesome ways to make works of art with these crafty activities. Get inspired by these 20 ways to celebrate the season with these unique Easter eggs decorating ideas!
My entire family loves Easter and we always seem to acquire so many plastic Easter eggs after the holiday has come and gone. I always try to think of fun and creative ways to upcycle these boring plastic Easter eggs and this year I decided to do Chalkboard Easter Eggs. These are so easy to make and you and your kids can have so much fun decorating them with designs and cute, short sayings or designs!
Chalkboard Easter Eggs by Everyday Savvy
Make unique design patterns by securing rubber bands in random patterns on your hard boiled eggs before putting them in the dye solution. When dry, simply remove the rubber bands to expose the white stripes. Smart!
Rubber Band Easter Eggs by Freut Cake
This Ninja Turtle egg decorating idea is as adorable as it is easy! Dye your eggs a vibrant green, use various colors of ribbon to wrap around each egg and secure with hot glue. Add googly eyes to the ribbon and you’re done. Cute!
Dyed Ninja Turtles Easter Eggs by A Pumpkin And A Princess
These beautiful Easter eggs are easily dyed with the help of cool whip and gel food coloring. Spread the cool whip in a baking pan and squeeze on gel colors in a random pattern. Place a hard boiled egg in the mixture, roll it around, take it out and let dry so the color develops. Wipe the eggs off and admire your designs!
Dying Easter Eggs With Cool Whip by Mommy Made That
For a no mess decorating idea, use Washi tape to decorate your eggs. You can cut strips, cut out design elements, or randomly cut pieces to attach. Get creative with how you want the design to look. Easy!
Washi Tape Easter Eggs by Lovely Indeed
If you and the kids are okay with getting a little messy, try this fun way to splatter paint on eggs. Do this outside, of course, with your choice of paint colors and paint brushes. Just dip the brush in the paint and flick the paint on the eggs and let dry.
Paint Splattered Easter Eggs by Squirrelly Minds
Use plastic eggs in blue, green and purple for this idea. You’ll need Mod Podge, embellishments like glitter, seed beads and rhinestones for the decor. Bonus: fill each egg with little chocolate kisses!
Disney’s Frozen Easter Eggs by Two Sisters Crafting
For hard boiled or craft eggs, use a flower design hole punch to create colorful paper flowers. Hot glue the little flowers on your eggs in random patterns. Pretty!
Paper Flower Easter Eggs by Tell Love And Party
Here’s a fun way to decorate a plain chocolate egg. Using a new and clean paint brush, melt some chocolate squares. Paint a heart shape, or an initial, in the middle of the egg with the melted chocolate. Sprinkle on some colorful sprinkles or nonpareils. Cute!
DIY Chocolate Easter Egg Decorating by Sum Of Their Stories
Use this method of dying hard boiled eggs for a glossy and vibrant finish to your eggs. Use vegetable oil, water and food coloring in a range colors. Have plastic cups available for the various color mixtures. Add an egg to each mixture and remove when the color has developed. So pretty!
Oil And Water Dyed Easter Eggs by Happiest Camper
Bright yellow dyed eggs or paper mache eggs can be used to draw on your favorite emoji faces with craft paint markers. Make sure you get black, white, red and blue to capture all those emoji expressions. Fun!
DIY Emoji Easter Eggs by Studio DIY
Preschoolers will enjoy watching and hearing the fizz as they drop their hard boiled eggs into the vinegar and baking soda solution. Dye tablets will color the eggs and the kids will be able to watch as the color develops. Fun!
Fizzing Easter Egg Dyeing by Fun With Mama
If you’re looking to decorate craft eggs, consider this adorable decoupaged craft that uses children’s story book pages. With just a little Mod Podge and a paintbrush, you can have a one-of-a-kind beautiful basket of eggs.
Decoupaged Easter Egg Craft by Atta Girl Says
This is a super easy but highly creative way to make an Easter egg look like cacti. Dye your eggs green and let dry. Using a fine tip black marker, draw on the cactus designs.Try drawing vertical lines, or vertical line of little x’s, or little v’s to look like prickly thorns. Have fun with this one!
Cactus Easter Eggs by Delia Creates
This no mess decorating idea is a colorful way to add “sprinkles” to your hard boiled eggs. Using acrylic paint and a fine tip paint brush, paint little vertical lines or “sprinkles” on in various colors. So easy!
DIY Sprinkle Easter Eggs by Let’s Mingle Blog
Here’s a great way to get a Robin’s Egg blue color by naturally dying hard boiled eggs with blueberries, water and a little vinegar. Let the eggs soak in the solution and dry, To add a speckled look, mix a little cornstarch and water and flick it on with a paint brush. Pretty!
Dye easter Eggs With Blueberries by Freut Cake
Use craft eggs and marbling paint for this idea. Add paint colors to a plastic cup, swirl with a toothpick and then pour over the craft eggs to achieve the marbling effect. Let dry on a wire rack.
Marbled Easter Eggs by Creative Green Living
Using a sharpie and a vinyl image attached to your hard boiled egg, just dot around the vinyl and as far out on the egg for some dimension before removing the image. Use on any colored egg to create a unique effect.
Sharpie Easter Eggs by The Girl Inspired
Here’s an easy Easter egg designs and decorating idea for kids of all ages. Using plastic or hard boiled eggs, brush on paint using random brush strokes. Make sure you leave some white on each egg. Easy and modern!
Brushstroke Eggs by PMQ for Two
Using dyed eggs, apply a thin layer of adhesive on the egg in random spots. Place a gold leaf sheet on the egg, press it down to adhere and then brush the excess off. Beautiful!
Gold Leaf Easter Eggs by A Pumpkin And A Princess
Need more fun Easter ideas? Check out these Easter basket ideas, and Easter Egg hunt fun.
Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt Directions
Easter Basket Ideas for Tween Girls
Easter Basket Ideas for Tween Boys
Easter Basket Ideas for Teenage Girls
Easter Basket Ideas for Teenage Boys
Easter Basket Ideas – Outdoor Toys
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These fun Easter Bath Bombs would be a perfect Easter gift for tweens, teens or adults. These DIY Easter Egg Bath bombs are simple to make and require just a few ingredients.
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Making DIY Easter bath bombs seems like it might be difficult or overwhelming but you can use plastic Easter eggs for bath bombs! If you are like me you have a bunch of plastic Easter eggs lying around and they make the perfect Easter bath bomb mold. Bath bombs from a store like Lush are very popular but you can make your own Easter egg-shaped bath bombs for so much cheaper.
I think these DIY colorful bath bombs would look super cute wrapped up in a favor bag and handed out as little Easter gifts for friends.
This Easter egg bath bomb recipe requires just a few simple ingredients and they are all available from Amazon if you want to save yourself a trip to the store. I linked to each ingredient to make it easy. [Read more…]
Buying a craft cutting machine can be a big decision. There are several different types of cutters on the market and they all have very unique features. Most crafters opt to purchase a Silhouette or a Cricut machine, but there are more options out there. Your choice will heavily depend on what type of crafts you want to do and what type features you will want in a machine. I will highlight the unique features of each machine to help to make your decision easier.
Silhouette machines are great for the person that likes to design and manipulate their own projects. There is a small learning curve to the Design Studio software, but you can easily change projects to fit your needs by erasing something here and there, adding text or drawing new lines. The Silhouette design store offers turnkey images and projects at a low price, but as you get better, you can easily tweak these projects to fit your needs. You can also cut any font that is installed on your computer. You can work within the free version of the Design Studio software or you can purchase the Designer Edition
Tracing is another unique feature of the Silhouette machines
Silhouette has a whole line of machines in different price ranges and with different features:
The Silhouette Cameo
Silhouette Cameo 4– The Silhouette Cameo 4 is the newest machine and it has some impressive new features. This Cameo is stronger and faster than ever. It has 5000 grams of cutting force, which is 1000 grams more than the comparable Cricut Maker (4000 grams), which helps cut through thicker materials. The Cameo 3 has the capability of just 210 grams of cutting force, so the Cameo 4 is quite an upgrade. As far as speed, the Cameo 4 cuts 3 times faster than the Cameo 3. It also comes with new tools that the Cameo 3 did not have such as the Kraft and Rotary tools to help with cutting things such as balsa wood, leather, chipboard and more. The exclusive Punch tool is a special tool that helps create weeding points for working with vinyl. These new tools have built-in sensors so your machine can detect which tool is inserted into the holder. How cool is that? The Cameo 4 still can cut up to 10 feet long of vinyl and 12 inches wide, but it now comes with a built-in vinyl roll feeder (new!) with a cross-cutter to cut off your vinyl roll when you are finished cutting. Like previous Cameo machines, the Cameo 4 has wireless capability, can print and cut and has the ability to “trace”, which is unique to Silhouette machines. The Cameo 4 has a larger clearance (3mm vs. 2mm) for thicker materials like balsa wood, leather, but will still cut things like cardstock, vellum, acetate and paper. It uses the Silhouette Studio software that is included with your machine or upgrade to Designer Edition software to unlock additional features.
Silhouette Cameo 3-This is the next oldest model and out of production, but there still some being sold. The Cameo 3 cuts a variety of mediums such as vinyl, cardstock, vellum, acetate, paper, thin cardboard and more. The cutting area is 12×12, but it will cut longer items by feeding it into the machine without the mat. You can also purchase a roll feeder that will attach to the Cameo 3 for cutting rolls of vinyl without a mat. You can use both older ratchet blades in the Silhouette Cameo 3 or there are autoblades available that you can set the depth and it automatically changes to your setting. Like all Cameo machines, you can print and cut, use the tracing feature and cut any font that is installed on your computer. The Cameo 3 uses the Silhouette Studio software that is included with your machine or you can upgrade to the Designer Edition software to unlock additional features.
The Silhouette Portrait Machine
The Silhouette Curio is a cool little machine and I believe it is meant to be a machine that compliments either the Cameo or Portrait. It’s cutting area is 8.5 inches wide, but you can feed thicker materials into the machine with a wider clearance area. It also draws and embosses, debosses, etches and stiples. If this is your first Silhouette machine, I would recommend the Cameo, but if you want to try some specialty crafts, the Curio is for you.
Cricut’s latest and greatest machines are the Cricut Explore Machine lineup and the Cricut Maker Machine
You can cut all sorts of medium such as vinyl, cardstock, paper, chipboard, leather, thin wood and much, much more. The Cricut Explore and the Cricut Maker both have very strong motors and will cut a variety of thicknesses. The ability to cut thicker mediums is one of the main unique features of these machines and it sets them apart from the Cameo and other machines. I am most impressed with it’s ability to cut wood and leather.
Another feature of the newest Cricut machines that sets them apart from other machines is that they can draw and cut at the same time. They have slots for both a blade and pen. This will be a huge time saver if you are making cards and such that require both of these features. The Silhouette also draws and cuts, but you have to stop and change from the blade to pen and vice versa.
1. Cricut Explore Air 2 Wireless
Gone are the days where Cricuts only cut with cartridges. Users can enjoy cutting and drawing up to 2 times faster with the newest wireless Cricut machine. It is easy to select fast mode to speed up your cutting! The cutting speed is the biggest difference between the Explore Air Wireless 1 & 2. The Cricut Explore Air 2 Wireless machine has bluetooth capability that is built-in and the user can manipulate and cut images wirelessly from a PC, Ipad or MAC, just like the regular Cricut Explore Air Wireless. Be sure to check if your PC or Mac’s operating system is compatable. Certain operating systems do not work with the Cricut Explore machines.
The Cricut Maker Machine has most of the same awesome features of the Cricut Explore Machines, but it cuts with a whole lot more force. With it’s new knife blade, it cuts with 4000 grams of pressure and can cut through leather, chip board, balsa wood and most other materials up to 2.44mm thick. And while the Cricut Air Explore 2, which cuts with 400 grams of force, can also cut thicker materials, such as balsa wood, aluminum, and chipboard, the Cricut Maker can cut them faster, better, and with more precision. Another major difference is how it cuts fabric. The Cricut Maker has a rotary blade attachment that is included. Quilters will love this feature as it allows cutting fabric without needing you to add bonding to the back of your fabric before cutting. To make this feature work, you will need to purchase the Cricut Fabric Mat. The new Cricut Maker can also do print and cut on colored paper vs. just plain white paper. The Explore Air 2 is only able to detect objects on white paper to cut around them. If you own old Cricut Cartridges from older Cricut machines, you will need an adapter to use the cartridges with this machine while the Cricut Explore 2 has a built-in slot to use cartridges. The cartridge adapter will be out in December of 2017 and will plug right into the USB port. There are a few other smaller differences like the addition of a USB port to charge your phone or ipad and some different storage compartments for tools. Overall, the Cricut Maker is a great machine and a step up from the Cricut Explore 2.
Brother has come out with a few cool machines that rival the Cricut and Silhouette. Because of it’s scanning technology, it is unique in it’s class. It can scan just about anything and easily create cut lines around your scan. This machine is great for people who hand sketch designs and want to die cut them or want to die-cut stamped images and it’s superior as far as detecting and cutting both inside the lines and outside the lines of a design. The Brother machines use steel blades with Japan Design Quality, this blade will ensure you to always getting the best cut and they offer a variety of mats for different materials such as delicate papers, fabric, thin metals and more. These machines are perfect for quilters and stampers!
The ScanNCut DX is the newest machine from Brother and it comes with some cool new upgraded features from previous Brother cutters. It comes with an autoblade and autocut features where the machine will detect the thickness of the material you are cutting and adjust itself on it’s own-no fiddling with settings if you choose. This cool machine will cut paper, fabric, vinyl, balsawood, leatherette and so much more and it cuts up to 11.7″ wide. You can choose the 12×12 mat or the 12×24 mat, scanning mat or purchase the vinyl roll feeder separately to cut up to 6 feet long of vinyl without a mat. One of the biggest improvements is the upgraded scanner, which makes picks up outlines easier than older machines, but note for clearer scanning it is best to use the scanning mat (separate purchase). The DX Scans at 600 dpi (previous model does 300 dpi) and cuts up to 3 mm thick. Stampers can scan in stamps and die cut them and quilters can scan patterns and cut fabric. It is also great for hand-drawn sketches. You will need the mats specifically for the DX as they are slightly different than the mats of older models. The ScanNCut DX is already wireless, which is a great feature that makes downloading designs and software updates easy. You can manipulate files with the free Canvasworkspace or send files wirelessly to the machine. I also love the 5″ pop up touchscreen for manipulating files on the DX model, which is better than previous models. Overall, this machine has some cool features. If you want more freedom to design, then maybe check out Silhouette or Cricut.
The ScanNCut 2 machine comes with a Built-in Scanner and it is very unique in that you can scan an image and cut it out without computer connectivity. You can literally do some projects without even plugging this machine into a computer. This makes cutting shapes very easy and you can even do some editing, right on the provided screen. The brother will cut paper, cardstock, vinyl and chipboard, however and you can use either a 12×12 mat or a 12 x 24 mat to cut your medium. It does not have the autoblade like newer models. You can use the free software to with either pre-loaded designs, designs that you scan or you can covert SVG files to work with this machine. While this machine has been the clear underdog of the cutting machines, if you love the scanning feature, this could be the machine for you. With the scanning feature, you can cut inside of your design lines, outside or both with the “region” feature. For clearer scanning, it is recommended to to invest in the scanning mat. This machine does not come wireless, but you can purchase a wireless upgrade card to make your machine wireless.
While the scanning and cutting feature is what makes this machine unique, there has been some trouble with older versions of this machine. The older machines only recognizes dark, crisp lines when scanning, so this will be necessary to access this feature. This feature is made better with the newer machines.
If you love this post about comparing electronic cutting machines, check out our posts about Vinyl for Electronic Cutting machines or Where to find Supplies for your Cricut Explore Machine.
If you love holographic vinyl, then check out our post on where to find holographic vinyl.
These easy DIY flower letters are a fun craft you can do with your older kids as DIY gift for mom, to celebrate spring, for a birthday or many other occasions. I think a single initial or even a full name would be very cute as a decoration in a girl’s room. An adult will need to cut the flowers and make the hole, but the kids can easily paint the cardboard letter and fit the flowers into the holes. If you have kids who are 10 and up, they should be able to do the entire craft with adult supervision. Because the cardboard letters are less than $2, you can easily spell MOM like we did, or words like HAPPY or LOVE as well as a person’s name, their initials or monogram. Just get creative and have fun! [Read more…]
These teacher appreciation flowers with printable tag make an easy teacher appreciation gift.
Giving a teacher flowers is a simple and lovely gift that can be given during teacher appreciation week or as a year-end teacher gift. This teacher gift requires just a few materials and is easy to assemble with our printable tag.
You can download the printable tag for the flowers for teachers below. Each tag says “Teacher, Thank you for helping me BLOOM this school year!” The download includes 4 tags for the flowers so you can give them to multiple teachers. This is great if you happen to be in charge of teacher appreciation week and need Teacher Appreciation Week gift ideas for many teachers. You couls also use them for each teacher if you have multiple children. It is easier to just buy multiples and make this cute gift for a bunch of teachers.
Bloom Teacher Appreciation Flowers Gift Tag
This is quite an inexpensive teacher appreciation gift idea but still looks beautiful. What teacher would not love having fresh flowers in their classroom or to bring home.
Best Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas
DIY Teacher Cup Gift – with free “tea-rific” teacher printable gift tag
More Teacher Gift ideas here (Even though these are Christmas Gift Ideas, many work for teacher appreciation or year-end teacher gifts)
I just love making these spa sock cupcakes and who doesn’t like warm fuzzy socks? I wrapped this sock cupcake for my daughter’s teacher for Valentine’s Day, but you can make these for any holiday or occasion. These cute treats make great, inexpensive gifts for your kids’ teachers, for friends, bridal or baby showers, or even inexpensive party favors for your tween or teen’s birthday party. They are quick and easy to put together and I just love how they look wrapped in cellophane and tied with a pretty ribbon. If you are using these as favors, these would also look adorable if they were set up on a tiered cake plate or on a cupcake tree. [Read more…]
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and you will love our cute free EOS Valentine printable cards, made to hold those cool EOS lip balms. My tween loves to collect different EOS lip balms and these make fun Valentine’s Day treats for kids, tweens, teens or adults. These are so simple to make and we have created two different printable cards. One is Valentine’s Day themed and the other EOS Lip Balm card, you can use to give these fun lip balms as small gifts, all year long.
You can buy EOS lip balms just about everywhere. They sell them at Target, Walmart and at most drug stores for around $3-4. I have also found them on Amazon at about that same price or less. I sometimes buy them with coupons at Ulta stores too. CVS and Walgreens carries the Beauty 360 brand, made by Revo, which is a similar size to the EOS lip balm brand. You can also buy the Revo brand at the Dollar Tree, under the name Chap Ice for just a dollar! It is about half the size, but at a better price. I have included smaller printable cards to fit the smaller Dollar Tree Chap Ice/Revo lip balms. If you are going to make 6, these packs are a great deal.
We love Star Wars movies and were inspired to make some printable star wars valentine cards that will be a HUGE hit with both boys and girls. These are so simple to print at home and have your child give them to their classmates. The Valentine’s include Rey, BB8, Finn and Chewbacca. [Read more…]
Unicorns and Mermaids have taken over the world! If you own a Silhouette Cameo, Cricut Explore crafting machine or any other craft cutter, you will want to try some new projects with this gorgeous holographic and glitter vinyl. I can’t say enough how much I love how it sparkles and shines in the sunlight. Whether you are looking for adhesive vinyl or heat transfer vinyl, holographic and glitter will add something special to every DIY project that you do. The glitter vinyl comes in so many gorgeous colors. Pictured here is opal holographic vinyl, but there are a few other pretty hues too and when you move this vinyl, you will love the way the iridescent colors change.
Hydroflask water bottles have been my absolute favorite right now. It keeps hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold for hours and hours. I bought this pretty purple Hydroflask for myself and personalized it with this opal holographic vinyl and my Silhouette Cameo 3, in less than 10 minutes. I measured the area for my decal and adjusted my name and chose a font in the Silhouette software and quickly cut my decal. I cleaned my water bottle with windex to remove any dust particles and then used clear transfer tape to adhere my decal. My kids were having fun moving my water bottle around in the light to see the different iridescent colors of the decal.
Adhesive vinyl is sticky on the back and great for projects like personalizing cups, waterbottles, signs, jewelry or makeup trays and more. You will also need transfer tape to lift the vinyl off of the backing and it helps keep the pieces of your cut in place and transfer your decal to your project. I used Opal adhesive vinyl in the above project and transfered my decal with clear transfer tape. If you are having issues with your vinyl releasing from your transfer tape, de-sticky the transfer tape, on a tee shirt before placing it over your decal. The lint from your shirt will make your transfer tape less sticky and your decal will release easier. I buy my transfer tape in 100 foot rolls and it has lasted me for years.
Holographic vinyl and light-colored glitter vinyl stands out the most when personalizing darker objects. My waterbottle is a deep purple so the holographic vinyl really pops. Holographic vinyl and light-colored glitter vinyl doesn’t show up as well on glass or lighter projects, but it still can have a fun effect! I sometimes cut a small piece of vinyl and place it on my object to get an idea of how the colors will look together, then remove it afterwards.
1. Happy Crafters – 12 x 24 Sheets White Opal, Blue Opal, Pink Opal
2. Expressions Vinyl – Opal Vinyl 12×12 sheets or 12×24 sheets
3. Swing Design – 12×12 sheets or 6ft x 12inch rolls
4. Amazon – 6 pack, 12 x 12 inch sheets
5. Amazon – 12 inch x 5ft. rolls
1. Expressions Vinyl – Sheets and Rolls (solid vinyl, clear glitter, ultra glitter vinyl)
2. Happy Crafters – 12 x 15 inch sheets (24 colors to choose from)
3. Swing Design – Sheets (solid vinyl, clear glitter vinyl, ultra glitter)
4. Amazon – Variety 25-pack of 12×12 inch sheets
I buy transfer tape in large rolls in the 6 inch width. You can cut it to size for smaller decals or I layer it for larger designs. If your transfer tape is overly sticky and won’t release your vinyl to your item, de-sticky it on a t-shirt or a pair of jeans before you place it over your decal. I like to test the vinyl with the transfer tape to make sure it will release easily before cutting a large design. You can also burnish your vinyl to using your fingers or a scraper to get your vinyl to adhere better before removing the transfer tape.
1. Happy Crafters – 100ft. x 6 inches
2. H & H Sign Supply Clear Choice 50yd roll, 6 inch
Below are suggesting settings for your adhesive vinyl. It is important to do a “test cut” on your materials to make sure it will cut properly before you go ahead and cut your entire design. This helps you to not waste your expensive vinyl!
Silhouette Cameo –
Blade 2, Speed 7, Thickness 5 for holographic/glitter
Blade 3, Speed 5, Thickness 13 for Ultra Glitter
Cricut Explore Machines –
“Vinyl” for holographic/glitter
“Light Cardstock” for Ultra Glitter
You can also get holographic vinyl and glitter vinyl in heat transfer vinyl, which is best for fabric garments like t-shirts, tote bags, etc. Most heat transfer vinyl is cut in the reverse or mirrored, meaning you need to flip your design in your cutting software before cutting. When you place your material on your cutting mat, you will need to place the shiny side down on the mat.
Glitter and holographic vinyl can be hard to weed (remove the negative material) because of the pattern in the design. After your design has been cut, you can gently bend the cut material backwards to allow the lines to pop up, use a lightboard to weed or some have had luck sprinkling baby powder on the dull side to reveal the cut lines.
Glitter and holographic material can be pressed with a heat press for the best results or an iron. Holographic and glitter HTV often has different pressing instructions than regular HTV and can be a little trickier to get a good press and some holographics can be stubborn. Be sure and follow the directions you receive with the material that you purchase. If you need more tips on pressing or ironing HTV, check out my other article: Getting Started with Vinyl for Electronic Cutting Machines.
1. Swing Design – Holographic HTV sheets and rolls
2. Happy Crafters – Holographic Sheets, 12 x 19 inches, 16 colors to choose from
3. Expressions Vinyl – 17 different colors, 2 size of sheets
4. Amazon – Pearl/holographic sheet
5. Amazon – Starter Pack 4 sheets HTV and 4 sheets Adhesive Vinyl
1. Happy Crafters – Glitter HTV sheets and rolls in 37 colors
2. Expressions Vinyl – Glitter HTV sheets and rolls in 48 colors
3. Swing Design – Glitter HTV sheets and rolls in 45 colors
4. Amazon – Glitter HTV sheet variety pack
Below are suggesting settings for your heat transfer vinyl. It is important to do a “test cut” on your materials to make sure it will cut properly before you go ahead and cut your entire design. This helps you to not waste your expensive vinyl!
Silhouette Cameo –
Blade 5, Speed 5, Thickness 15 for glitter HTV (I sometimes check the double cut box in the software)
Blade 5, Speed 5 Thickness 20 for Holographic
Cricut Explore Machines –
“Iron-On+” for glitter HTV
“Fabric” for Holographic HTV
Getting Started with Vinyl for Electronic Cutting Machines: Tips and Tricks
I was so excited when my Silhouette Mystery Box arrived on my doorstep. As I have mentioned before, my Silhouette Cameo cutting machine is my favorite crafting gadget and Silhouette America just started offering mystery boxes. Starting in September, you can purchase both small and a large mystery boxes from Silhouette America. This is a great way to try lots of fun products at a discount. The small boxes are $49.99 and they include over $100 worth of products and the larger boxes are $99.99 and they include over $200 worth of products. Use coupon code: BARGAIN to take advantage of these savings.
My small mystery box contained two neat starter kits-the Chalkboard Starter Kit and the Glass Etching Starter Kit. It also contained a Sticker Sampler Pack (which included those scratch off sheets like you can find on the lotto tickets!), Printable Adhesive Kraft Paper, Foil Transfer Sheets, Leatherette Sheets and Glitter Sketch Pens. This was quite the haul of fun products!
I have never tried the Silhouette Leatherette Sheets, so I decided to try out a project. My kids have all sorts of gadgets and cords, so I decided to make my daughter a cute personalized cord keeper, better known as a cord taco to keep her phone charging cord neat and tidy.
To make this project, I used the Silhouette Leatherette sheets, which came in a package of three (Gold, Pearl and Black), some snaps from the craft store, a snap setting pieces and a rubber mallot that I had on hand. I also personalized my cord keeper and used heat transfer vinyl for this, a teflon sheet and my trusty iron.
I made my own file in the Silhouette Studio Software, on my computer. It was a super simple 4 inch circle. I drew two small holes for the peg of the snaps a little less than a half-inch from the top and bottom. Let me give you a great tip so you don’t waste your leatherette sheets! After making my own file, I cut my design using some scrap cardstock to make sure my snap holes were placed in the correct spot and that the size was right. I did have to make an adjustment and I was able to do that without wasting my leatherette sheets.
I used the faux leather paper setting in my Silhouette Studio software to cut my cord keeper and I was amazed how cleanly it cut the leatherette sheets. When choosing a blade to cut the leatherette, one tip is to keep a different blade for each type of media that you cut and your blades will last longer. I used the blade reserved for fabric projects to cut the leatherette sheet. I label them with a white pen for fabric, vinyl, paper, etc. To finish off your simple project, follow the directions to attach the snap that you purchased from the craft store. I used my rubber mallet and small setting tool to attach them to the cord keeper. If you want to personalize your cord keeper, you can cut a name or sentiment from heat transfer vinyl. Keep in mind that the leatherette sheets will melt if you use too much heat. Be sure to use a teflon sheet or parchment paper in between your project and the iron. Press with your iron for a few quick seconds at a time to press your heat transfer vinyl onto your project. The personalization is optional, but a really fun touch! As soon as I finished this cord keeper for my daughter, my two boys requested one as well!
Use Coupon Code: BARGAIN
This year Teacher Appreciation week is May 6-12 2018. It is coming up soon so we thought we would share this cute and easy gift idea.
Are you scrambling to find affordable gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week? We have the perfect Teacher Appreciation Gift for you! I just love these double-walled cups and I made this one into an iced tea themed gift for around $5! I use these cups all summer long when I’m on the go and they wash up so nicely. You can fill them with water or any other beverage and I like that they are double-walled and don’t sweat. This one fits perfectly in the cup holder of my car too. This iced tea gift for teachers would make a great year-end gift too or if you have aids or other teaching staff to recognize these won’t break the bank. When I use this for a year end gift, I usually drop a Target gift card in the cup as well. This ships free if you spend $25 or have a Target Red Card. [Read more…]
My entire family loves Easter and we always seem to acquire so many plastic Easter eggs after the holiday has come and gone. I always try to think of fun and creative ways to upcycle these boring plastic Easter eggs and this year I decided to do Chalkboard Easter Eggs. These are so easy to make and you and your kids can have so much fun decorating them with designs and cute, short sayings or designs! [Read more…]
Easy mint bath salts recipe with free printable. Makes a cute favor or gift.
With St. Patricks day coming up around the corner it’s such a great time to whip up some homemade gifts to give out to your loved ones. I made these Homemade DIY Mint Bath Salts as a present to myself and they turned out so cute I made a few more batches! I just love how relaxing scented bath salts can be. [Read more…]
If you have an electronic cutting machine like a Silhouette, Cricut or Eclips machine, you will love crafting with printed or pattern vinyl sheets. Pattern vinyl looks great on projects alone or mixed and layered with a solid color vinyl for a fun look. I love to adding printed vinyl to my cups, keychains, shirts and it adds another dimension to my project. You can find pattern in vinyl in fun prints like polka dots, stripes, florals, camos, anchors, plaids and more. We made a few fun projects with pattern vinyl and included some resources to help you find pattern vinyl and other vinyl graphics supplies, plus some tips and tricks on how to use it.
To save these resources and tips for later, hover over the photo above and press the “P” button to pin it to your Pinterest Boards.
Looking for a cute and super easy craft? Then this DIY Lollipop bouquet is for you. It requires just a few simple ingredients and not much craft skill. If you can trace and use scissors, then you can make this cute lollipop bouquet. That makes this craft perfect even for pretty young kids. We used yellow lollipops and I think that makes these look similar to daffodils but you could use any color that matches your home or theme. I think these would be adorable at a wedding or baby shower or for Easter or Mother’s day.
If you love crafting with an electronic cutting machine like a Silhouette or Cricut, you won’t want to miss out on the one-day only, December 26, 2016, vinyl sale at Expressions Vinyl. Right now, you can get 20% off all vinyl at Expressions Vinyl. Expressions has great prices on rolls of adhesive vinyl. I use rolls for most of my projects because you can just cut off what you need, as you need it. I also love to make fabric projects with heat transfer vinyl. If you are new to the cutting machine world, this is a great opportunity to purchase your vinyl at a discount.
20% off all Vinyl, One day, December 26, 2016 (ends at midnight)
I love making these pretty bath bombs at home and it is a fun project to do with kids, tweens or teens. These bombs make great affordable gifts for a variety of ages or they are fun treats to use at home. It is so much fun to experiment with different scents and colors to create these amazing bath fizzies. I love adding body glitter to add some sparkle or other decorative sprinkles. My young teen daughter loved helping me with this project and she is already planning to make these as treats for her friends. I was surprised how much my young boys loved using these bombs too!
Finding the ingredients for bath bombs at your local brick and mortar stores can be pricey and challenging, so we have compliled some resources on how to find quality bath bomb ingredients at a great price and they will come right to your doorstep. It takes an initial investment for some of the molds and oils, but you will end up with ingredients to make lots of bombs at an affordable price. Make sure to order a good amount of supplies so you have plenty to experiment with.
There are so many recipes out there on the internet for bath bombs, but I have found this recipe, which includes the addition of skin-softening kaolin clay to create durable bombs that can easily be gifted without breaking. Plus, kaolin clay is great for your skin and has other household uses. Creating bath bombs takes a little practice, but it is a great project for both beginner and advanced crafters. I will say my first batch wasn’t the best, but my kids were thrilled to use my flopped bath bombs and they fizzed just the same. Just be sure to order plenty of ingredients so you can experiment. Once you get the hang of it, making bath bombs is so much fun!
Citric acid is the main ingredient that will make your bath bomb fizz and I love that it is both all natural and also used in the food industry. It can be pricey in your local store, but I buy it in a big 5 lb bag and if I order other items with it, I can get it shipped at an affordable price for free. It also has other uses such as for cleaning toilets, descaling your coffee machine, unclogging drains and cleaning the inside of your dishwasher. Store it in an airtight container to keep it fresh.
Citric Acid is sold by the pound:
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil has so many great uses in the kitchen and it is also a great softening oil for your skin. You may also love cocoa butter to use as an oil in this recipe. I used coconut oil in my bath bombs, but you may like to try one of these other oils or butters in your bombs. Solids should be melted for a few seconds in your microwave to liquify them for use.
Oils that can be used in your bombs:
Kaolin Clay
Kaolin Clay is often used in bath products or in mineral makeup and it will soften your skin. Plus, it also makes your bath bomb harden properly so it won’t break.
The 1lb bag lasts a long time:
Fragrance Oils
There are so many great fragrance oils available. I had fun ordering the scents that my kids would love like vanilla ice cream, cotton candy, toasted marshmallow and pink sugar from Chelsea’s. I included information on how to order from Chelsea’s, plus some other types of fragrance oils. Be sure you check the size of each bottle that you are buying. I found that each 1/2 ounce bottle will work for two batches of these bath bombs. You can buy these fragrance oil in sets or individually. I bought several bottles so I could make multiple batches. These oils can be used for other DIY skin and body projects as well.
Bath Bomb molds
I prefer stainless steel bath bomb molds myself. They are more durable than the aluminum molds and they don’t have a chemical reaction to your ingredients. They also clean easily and don’t retain the scent of your oils. I mold them one after another and let my bombs dry in a muffin pan covered in plastic. Plastic molds can also be bought in large packs. Some people like to let their bath bombs dry in their molds and this way, you have lots of molds to use. Molds also come in a variety of sizes. I prefer the medium to large size for larger bathtubs like this 2.5 inch mold that I used in my project.
Body Glitter
I love putting body glitter in my bath bombs for that princess effect. When your bomb fizzes in the water, a light layer of glitter floats on the surface. It is both fun and pretty! Body glitter comes in teeny bottles, but I have found that it lasts a while. I like sprinkling it in the mold first and then packing in my mixture. That way it is on the top of the bomb.
Coloring
I used the Wilton Color Right System to color my bath bombs. There is a brochure included on how to achieve different, hard-to-mix colors and it was very helpful, plus each bottle lasts a long, long time. It took about 45-50 drops of color to achieve vibrant colors. If you are splitting the recipe in half and doing marbled coloring, I did about 25-30 drops of each color in the proportions listed in the brochure. You can also use more “professional” products to color your bombs called mica colors. Mica is similar to coloring that is used in eye shadows.
1 cup Citric Acid
2 cups Baking Soda
2 Tablespoons melted butter or oil (either Cocoa Butter, Coconut oil or shea butter)
4 Tablespoons Kaolin Clay
1 Tablespoon Fragrance Oil
Food Coloring or Mica Color
Witch Hazel in a spray bottle
Optional: Body Glitter or Sugar Sprinkles
Bath bomb molds, either plastic or metal
Disposable Rubber gloves
Large Strainer
Bowls (I prefer stainless) and wisks (large and small)
Parchment paper and plastic wrap
Muffin tin covered in plastic wrap for drying
Cello bags for wrapping
Make sure you set out everything you need within arm’s reach so you can mix quickly.
Measure your citric acid, baking soda and kaolin clay and place in your strainer over your bowl. Use a wisk inside the strainer to break down any lumps. Take your wisk and thoroughly mix your dry ingredients. If your oil of choice is solid, melt it for a few seconds in the microwave. In separate, small bowl mix the oil and fragrance oil together. **If you want to make two-colored bombs, you can divide your dry ingredients evenly in separate bowls and divide your wet ingredients into separate bowls.** If you choose to divide, you will have two bowls of dry ingredients and two bowls of your oils. Add your coloring to the wet ingredients and wisk.
Get your witch hazel handy and put on your disposable gloves. Use one hand to slowly add your wet ingredients to your dry, only a few drops at a time (so that your mix does not fizz), and use your other hand to knead the mix. Once all of your oil and color mixture has been added, keep kneading. Spray a few spritzes of witch hazel in at time until you get the perfect texture. If you live in a dry climate, you will need lots of spritzes. If you live in a humid climate, you won’t need as much. Your mixture should be like wet sand. Squeeze a handful together and if it stays formed, it is ready. If it cracks, it is too dry. If you are doing two colors, repeat for the second color until you have two bowls of colored mixture, the texture of wet sand.
If you are using sprinkles or body glitter, put a little bit into one side of your mold. Pack each side of your mold with the wet sand mixture, until it is mounded and overflowing. If you have two colors of mixture, I alternate layers of colors in my mold for a fun effect. Press together. If you are using a stainless mold, you can remove immediately and place on a muffin tin covered with plastic wrap. If you prefer to have multiple plastic molds, fill and leave for a few hours, then gently tap on the mold to remove. Allow your bombs to dry a full 24-48 hours and then place in an airtight container or airtight bag.
Sift all of your dry ingredients to removed clumps. Any clumps in your dry ingredients causes warts and lumps in your bath bombs. I use my wisk to push the ingredients through the sieve. It makes the dry mix sift quickly.
Use a wisk to thoroughly mix your dry ingredients until they are well-blended.
If you are dividing your ingredients to make two colored bombs, after your oils are mixed (no color yet!), divide your oils into two small bowls like this. THEN, add your colors to each bowl. I used these Wilton food colors and I used about 25-30 drops of color in my divided bowls. Then I wisked the wet ingredients.
Add your wet ingredients just a few drops at a time to make sure your wet ingredients don’t react with the dry. If you pour in too much wet ingredients at a time, it will remove the “fizz” from your bombs. Use your gloved hands to bury and mix the drops of wet.
After all the wet is mixed in, start spritzing your Witch Hazel, just 1-2 sprays at a time and keep mixing. Too many spritzes at one time will also cause your mix to have a fizzy reaction. Your mix should resemble wet sand. Squeeze handfuls of your mix together to test it. When you handfuls no longer crack, your mix is done. If your mix is too dry, your bath bombs will crack after they are molded. If they are too wet, then will not hold their shape after they are molded and they will flatten.
-Optional: Place a few drops of mineral or baby oil in your mold and wipe out excess with a paper towel. This can help your bombs unmold easier.
-Sprinkle glitter or sugar sprinkles in your mold first before adding your mix so that they glitter will appear on top of your bombs.
-Overpack each side and press firmly together
-If you are using a stainless mold, you can mold one after another. If you are using a set of plastic molds, you can leave them in your molds for 1-3 hours before unmolding. Just tap the outside of your plastic mold gently with a spoon.
-Cover a muffin pan with plastic wrap to create hammocks for your bath bombs. Place each unmolded bomb in the hammocks to dry.
-Allow your bombs to dry 24-48 hours and then place in an airtight container or an airtight bag.
Before you know it school will be here again plus my girls also have summer homework to complete. It seems like we are always scrambling to find everything we need when the girls are doing homework. In order to solve that dilemma, I wanted a dedicated spot for highlighters, pencils, crayons, rulers, paper clips and more. Even though both girls have a desk, they often complete their homework in other spots of the house. Therefore, I made the bin portable with all the necessary supplies plus it looks cute too! This bin will also work great if you end up having virtual school this year.
I bought all the supplies to make the DIY Homework Station Bin plus all the school supplies at Dollar General. It cost me under $30 for everything.I started with a basic shower caddy and my youngest daughter used washi tape and patterned duct tape to give it some style. She also used the sticker letters to add the word homework to the side. The beauty of this project is that you or your kids can decorate it however you like. Dollar General carries a bunch of cute washi tape patterns and duct tape patterns. We picked pink with white polka dots, mustaches, and owls.
I bought some tumblers that we decorated as well to hold pencils and highlighters. They fit right inside the shower caddy and give some more organization. It helps when everything has an assigned spot. I also bought some small plastic containers in the kitchen section that are perfect for paper clips!
Overall, I love how this project turned out. It is so easy plus inexpensive as well. I think that this DIY homework station will keep us on track for the upcoming school year!
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I love a good sugar scrub but don’t love all the extras that are in some commercially prepared ones. Plus they can be expensive. This easy DIY sugar scrub requires just a few ingredients and can be infused with your favorite essential oils. [Read more…]
So my kids get a ton of candy for Valentine’s Day so I went on a hunt for some fun no candy Valentine’s Ideas. I got all the ideas from Pinterest and you can click through each one to get directions to make them yourself. If you are interested in just one of these valentine cards, be sure to pin the original source. Each of these ideas has free printable and instructions for a no candy valentine. Also, if you are not following me on Pinterest yet, you should because I pin lots of great stuff. Follow me on Pinterest. [Read more…]
Crafting with different types of vinyl in my electronic cutter is one of my favorite things to do. Vinyl is so fun to work with and I have created lots of cute personalized party favors, teacher gifts, straw cups for sports, t-shirts and more. My kids and their friends love to receive their own personalized items with their name, initials or favorite characters on them. Soon you will find yourself personalizing anything with a blank spot on it!
I have used many different vinyl products and a few different cutting machines. It took me a while to figure out what products and machines work best. I am sharing my favorite tips, tricks and resources below on vinyl graphics supplies to use with your electronic cutting machine.
You can buy both removable/indoor and permanent/outdoor adhesive vinyl. Temporary vinyl can be removed easier than the permanent variety and works great for walls and other items that will remain indoors. I actually prefer permanent or outdoor vinyl for things like car decals, straw tumblers, water bottles, decorating my kids’ school supplies and more. It holds up well through washing. Once your item is cut, you will need transfer tape to apply your vinyl. You can buy either paper tape or clear transfer tape. I prefer clear so I can easily see where I am placing my design. Once your design is cut, remove the negative of your design and cover the top of your design with transfer tape. Peel off the backing and apply your vinyl.
Craft stores do not sell the quality of vinyl that I like to work with. It is best to order your adhesive vinyl graphics supplies online. My favorite brand of vinyl is Oracal Vinyl made by Orofol. There are also a few other brands that work great like Greenstar, which is similar to Oracal quality. If you are in a hurry to get started, I highly recommend the outdoor vinyl variety pack in the links below. Oracal 631 is the most popular indoor or removable vinyl. Oracal 651 is the most popular permanent or outdoor vinyl. I love my 100 yard roll of 6 inch transfer tape. The clear is easy to use and it will last a long, long time. Once you invest in your transfer tape, there is no need to constantly purchase more.
Some of my favorite vinyl resources:
1. Expressions Vinyl – Oracal 631 and 651
2. MyVinylDirect.com for Affordable Vinyl by the Sheet
3. H&H Sign Supply- Rolls of Vinyl (Use coupon code TENOFF for 10% off your first order of $50 or more)
4. Variety Pack – 12 x 24 inch – 30 Sheets of Assorted Glossy Colors of Permanent Adhesive-Backed Vinyl for Craft Cutters
5. Large Variety Pack – 12″ x 24″ – 40 Sheets Assorted Glossy Colors of Permanent Adhesive Backed Vinyl
Transfer Tape
1. Expressions Vinyl – Transfer Tape
2. H&H Sign Supply – Transfer Tape
For t-shirts, you need something called heat transfer vinyl (HTV). HTV can be applied to shirts or other fabric either with a heat press or with a home iron and comes in many different colors, metallic and even prints. If you are using a home iron, be sure to use extremely firm pressing (not gliding) motions with your iron and make sure you have a very hard surface underneath, like smooth tile or a metal cookie sheet. HTV comes on its own carrier sheet (like transfer tape). When cutting HTV, make sure you put the shiny side down on your mat and mirror your design, so the writing or design appears flipped or backwards. After you remove the negative part of your design, place the whole carrier sheet on top of your t-shirt or fabric and press or iron according to the product directions. It is also recommended that you place a Teflon sheet
Heat Transfer Vinyl is very expensive and hard-to-find in the craft stores. Also, many brands will not last through a washing, so it’s best to order quality HTV online. My favorite brands of HTV are Siser Easyweed or Thermoflex. They are the easiest to work with and give the best results.
Regular HTV:
1. Expressions Vinyl – Siser HTV
2. H&H Sign Supply Siser Easyweed 5-pack, 1 foot each
3. MyVinylDirect – HTV Vinyl by the Sheet
4. 4 Yards Siser Easyweed, Mix and Match Pack 4 Yards Siser EasyWeed Heat Transfer Vinyl (Mix & Match your favorite colors) ***FREE Shipping***
5. 6 Yards Siser Easyweed, Mix and Match Pack 6 Yards Siser EasyWeed Heat Transfer Vinyl (Mix & Match your favorite colors) ***FREE Shipping***
Glitter HTV:
1. Expressions Vinyl – Glitter HTV
2. H&H Sign Supply Siser Easyweed Glitter HTV by the foot
3. 3 Yards, Siser Easyweed Glitter, Mix and Match pack 3 Yards Siser Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl, Wide 20″ (Mix & Match your favorite colors) ***FREE Shipping***
Teflon Sheet
1. Heat Press Teflon Sheet 15×15
If you plan to create tons of t-shirts, personalized bags or other designs on fabric, you might consider buying a heat press. Heat presses use an exact temperature and pressure to set your HTV easily. There are several smaller machines that work for home use.
Heat Presses with good reviews:
1. PowerPress Industrial-Quality Digital 15-by-15-Inch Sublimation T-Shirt Heat Press
2. GECKO 15×15 T-Shirt Heat Press Machine
I personally have own several Cricut machines and a Silhouette Cameo. My Silhouette Cameo is my absolute favorite crafting machine. I am able to design all of my vinyl cuts right on my computer and then easily cut them out. The original Silhouette Cameo was released a few years ago and recently, Silhouette released a slightly updated Cameo 2. The updates were small and I would recommend both models. The Sizzix Eclips 2 is another new electronic cutting machine on the market for home use that would work great for vinyl cutting. It’s features are similar to the Silhouette Cameo and this new and improved model has gotten excellent reviews so far.
Cricut has a new Cricut Explore machine that is computer-based. Although pricier than the Silhouette, it’s worth checking out. Keep in mind that you will need internet access at all times to use this machine. I love that my Silhouette machine works without Internet Access.
Click to See Any of these Machines:
1. Silhouette Cameo 2 Electronic Cutting Machine Starter Bundle
2. Silhouette Cameo Starter Bundle Kit
3. Silhouette Portrait
5. Cricut Explore Electronic Cutting Machine
6. Cricut Explore Air Wireless Cutting Machine
If you are planning exploring vinyl cutting, you will need just a few simple tools. If you are cutting adhesive vinyl, you will need transfer tape to easily transfer your design from the carrier sheet and place your design on your item. For example, if you are cutting a name, the transfer tape keeps it straight or just as you designed it and you are able to transfer entire names, words or phrases all at once. Other tools include a hook for “weeding” out the negative vinyl around your design or those little shapes inside letters like “A and R”. I also own a great scraper or squeegee tool to help stick the vinyl to my transfer tape and to the item. After placing the transfer tape on top of my decal, I go over it with my scraper to make sure it picks up every detail of my design before I peel off the backing paper to apply it.
Some of my favorite tools for vinyl
3. Silhouette Digital Cutter TOOL PACKAGE
It is best to make sure your mat still has plenty of adhesive to hold your vinyl in place to avoid sliding. Your mat should be free of paper debris so it will cut properly. Be sure to start with a new blade for vinyl for a clean cut. To prolong the life of your blade, keep a blade specifically for cutting vinyl. I mark my Silhouette blade with a metallic sharpie with a “V” for vinyl and save it to only use with my vinyl graphics supplies. I keep a blade for every type of medium that I cut whether it’s vinyl, paper, stamping material or fabric. I find that the best prices for mats and blades seem to be online.
Mats
1. Silhouette Cameo Replacement Cutting Mat
2. Silhouette Portrait Cutting Mat
4. Cricut StandardGrip Adhesive Cutting Mats
Blades
1. Silhouette Replacement Blade
Different types of vinyl require different cut settings in your machine. Below are some guidelines for cut settings, but it is always recommended to do a test cut before wasting any of your precious vinyl. Also, machines may vary, so use these settings as a starting point with your cutting machine.
1. Silhouette Vinyl Cut Settings
2. Silhouette Version 3 Software Cut Settings
There is so much activity and stimulation at Christmas time that your kids can easily get overwhelmed. This Calming Homemade Christmas Play Dough Recipe is fun to play with and has the added benefit of calming. It is so easy that the kids can help make it plus play with it!
I used the Lavender Essential Oil from my Young Living Starter Kit. This is a great way to get started with essential oils and I even have some bonus items when you purchase through me. Learn more about Young Living Essential Oils here.
I absolutely love receiving holiday cards even in this age of facebook and Instagram. It is so wonderful to receive an update from friends and family and pictures from their lives this year. Finding the perfect photo and card and addressing and mailing the cards in this busy holiday season can take up a bunch of your time but it doesn’t have to. Here are 6 reasons why ordering holiday cards from Minted can make your life easier and help you send an amazing holiday card your friends and family will love.
I love to get a little update from friends about their lives this year. I wanted to share a little something on our card as well. I was able to add another picture and a personal paragraph to the back of out card. I love this feature! They even include a few sample paragraphs to get you started which are pictured above.
A big thanks to Minted who sponsored this post and printed our family cards this year. Here is the card we chose. Photo taken by the talented Evan Willingham of Evan Willingham Photography.
I hope that this post inspires you to send out holiday or New Year’s cards this year. I promise that Minted will make is easy for you!
