Craft Project: Homemade Bookmarks

Paper craft projects are one of my favorite ways to spend time and these days are a welcome respite from all the time I spend in front of my computer.

I have some pretty stickers from an Etsy shop that I had planned to use for seating charts in my classroom.  Seat assignments aren’t an issue when everyone attends school from home and so the pretty stickers got reassigned to some chipboard I had on hand.

 Bookmarks!

Lots of them — for holding my place in the books I am reading, or marking the page in a book I am using to teach, for notebook pages that need to be marked, or marking a place as I scroll down the lists I make.

Pretty, cheerful, and useful.  That’s happy!

Pretty Packages: December 15

I wrapped some package this weekend.

I love craft paper and old-fashioned ribbon.

That’s happy!

Bulletin Board

Today marks the close of the second week of school.  It’s Friday the 13th and a full moon, so someone in charge has a sense of humor.  By the end of next week, I’ll start to secretly wonder if I’ve contracted a serious medical condition.  Then I’ll realize it’s just my annual start-of-school exhaustion.  I’ll sleep a few extra hours and come October I’ll emerge on the other side, having built up some stamina for the school year.

Right now, my office is a wreck of lost sweatshirts and pencil cases; missing books and nameless folders.  Next week, I’ll get the mess in hand.  In the meantime, I come to school each day and admire my newly designed bulletin board.  It has pictures of things and people I love, examples of craft projects, a few inspirational words, and samples from my collection of buttons and stickers.  All year long, I collect the items that will make up the next year’s bulletin board.  I put it together just before school starts and it always makes me smile.

This year is no exception and that’s very happy.

Craft Project

Paper crafts make me happy and for summer I have some paper ice cream cones to put together.  They will become bookmarks and notecards; one may turn up on my yearly bulletin board.  But most of all, I enjoy having the time to create something.

That’s happy!

Valentine Crafts

I enjoy paper crafts and the kits at Paper Source are just my speed.  The patterns and colors are splendid and the kits are comprehensive so that projects come together nicely.  I enjoyed making these mermaid and pirate valentines.

I don't have a need to hand out loads of Valentines so this kit will last me a while.  That’s happy!

Paper Flowers

I am not especially artistic but I have a creative streak when it comes to paper and ribbons (or, in any case, I believe that I have a creative streak when it comes to paper and ribbons).  A paper flower craft project caught my eye a few months ago and when I received the kit for Christmas, I was eager to make a start.

The kit came with all the things I need and the paper flowers were precut.  My task was to punch out the paper flowers, trim and fold them as desired, and then stack together the designs that most appealed to me.  I got started last week and I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made.

These flowers will eventually join others and serve as a front door wreath in March. It’s a pleasing project for cold Winter nights, one that reminds me of the promise of Spring blooms.

Crafty Valentine

I made some homemade valentines for today, a tiny treat for others that reminded me of how much I enjoy making things. 

Crafts aren’t quite the same as art, but they do make me appreciate the importance of art in my world —— for beauty, of course.  Art also reminds me to look at the familiar in new ways.  Homemade items like these help me show the people I love that I care.

Time to create and daydream makes my life nicer.

That’s happy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This Winter's ample snow days inspired me to get to work on some homemade Valentines.  They were fun to make and send, a reminder that blessings shared are blessings multiplied.  Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Project Valentine

As soon as I saw these over at Mighty Girl, I knew that I would be making dozens and dozens of matchbox valentines.  JT helped and today he'll be distributing tiny valentines to all of his classmates.  I plan to tuck a few into mailboxes of some folks at work.

To quote Willa, from one of my favorite children's books: That's happy.  What else?

Pretty Packages

A few weeks ago, my sister had a birthday.  I won't say how old she is (my computer doesn't have numbers that high anyway), but pictured below are the packages JT and I sent her.  I decided to treat her birthday present as the birthday version of a Christmas stocking and I was really quite pleased with how the project turned out.

I like wrapping gifts.  JT and I have already started a project to make tiny homemade Valentine matchbox packages to share with his classmates at school.  Basically, it's just an excuse to visit craft stores to admire the paper, ribbons,  and stickers; not to mention bring some of those things home to live with us.  I've a weakness for such things.  And having a few creative projects to work on will tide me over until I can get to work in the garden.

Household Happiness: Renovated Bulletin Board

Last month, I wrote about a bunch of cleaning projects completed while JT was away.  One of the cleaning projects was a bit more than cleaning, it was to re-claim the bulletin board that hangs in the tiny hallway that connects the living room and the kitchen.

The bulletin board had been a thorn in my side for the last 4 years.  Located directly across from the basement door, the tiny hallway where it hangs is well-traveled.  So countless times each week I would walk by it and think, "I should really do something about this.".  It wasn't just the chaotic mess on the board (though that should be enough), it was the color.  The board was rimmed in a lovely rich red and it looked terrific in my last house.

Of course, I haven't lived in that house for four years (ahem!) and it's never fit in with the kitchen in my current home.

While JT was away, I set out to fix things up.  First, the collection of must-haves pinned to the board was slimmed.   Then I set off for the local fabric store, to find some fabric that matches the hallway to cover the board.  Three yards of calico fabric later (a pattern happily called linsey-woolsey), the bulletin board now matches the kitchen.

Now, instead of shaking my head at the mess on the wall, I smile every time I walk by.  Which makes it a daily source of household happiness.

Circus

For his birthday, I gave JT tickets to see the circus. That's not an easy gift to wrap, so I made a circus ticket for him. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. And he is happy to be going to the circus in a few weeks. So I'm feeling happy about the whole enterprise.

Cupcake Cards

Though I liked Nichole's suggestion that I make some anti-Valentines, I have yet again gone to girlish creations for today's Thing. I've got some pink cupcake cards here. They could be Valentines? Or maybe a birthday card? Definitely not for JT, who would recoil in horror from such pinkness.

Posey Valentines

It's February and that means Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I made some posey Valentines on pink card stock yesterday. The card stock is something I keep on hand; the embelishments are from an etsy shop that I frequent. The cards are very girly...this is not a Valentine that JT would enjoy. I'll put together a tough, manly Valentine for a boy some other time.

Day 25: Get Well Soon Card

I had a crummy day today, but one of my students had a worse day because she slipped on the ice in the morning and fractured her ankle. Just writing it makes me wince.

Lately, my student K has been showing me some terrific color collage art work she's been making. So it seemed fitting that I share something I made with her. I laid out my supplies and got to work.

To combat the icy cold, I picked out some spring paper for her get-well-soon card. I went with a yellow gingham background and a second layer with a green floral print.

Then some white daisies added good cheer. Clearly, I wasn't looking to be subtle.

It's out in the mailbox waiting for the postman to deliver it to her.

Day 24: Bunny T-Shirt

There is a back story to today's project. I found this brown bunny appliqué on etsy, and I had to have it. When I asked JT if he wanted me to make him a t-shirt with the bunny on it, his response was immediate. "I will not wear it to school," he said.

As I know no boundaries of good taste, I made myself a bunny t. And I plan to wear my bunny t-shirt to school. So there.

Card Play

Between the upcoming Valentine's Day and JT's 8th birthday, there is a great demand for homemade cards around my house. So I got started on some this afternoon and I expect to be in heavy production mode all weekend long.