Recycled brown bag Indian corn pin

It’s no secret that I love to use recycled materials in craft projects.  Brown bags are one of my favorites.  Make this indian corn pin for yourself or use it for a wonderful teacher gift.  And the best part is that you create the dimensional base from a simple brown bag.

You will need:

E sized seed beads, yellow, red, white and brown

Brown bag

Tacky craft glue

Needle and thread

Small amount of tan crepe paper

9 inches of ribbon in choice of color

Pin back

Small amount of poly-fill

1.     Draw an oval shape on some lightweight cardboard to make a pattern.  (Approximately 2” x 2 ¾”) Trace and cut two of these oval shapes from brown bag. 

2.     Spread some glue all around the edges leaving the top unglued and press together.  Use a clothespin to hold together until the glue sets.  Let dry.  When it is dry use a pencil to open the inside and fill with poly-fill.  Add a bit of glue to the top area to close and press together.  Hold with the clothespin till set.

3.     Thread a needle and some thread and knot the end large enough to hold the seed beads. (It helps to lay your beads on a piece of felt to prevent rolling)  Begin adding seed beads alternating the colors, predominately yellow.  Measure across the brown bag base and when it fits, add a line of glue and attach the string of beads.  Clip ends. 

4.     Continue adding bead strings across working your way down until you reach the bottom.  Let the glue dry. 

5.     Cut a 5” x 5” piece of crepe paper.  Cut some triangular slits in one side of the crepe paper. Gather the top edge (the edge with the slits)  1 ½”down from the top and tie with a piece of thread.  Place the corn inside the crepe paper with the 1 ½” portion at the top.  Gather around the side and glue the excess to the back.  Let dry.

6.     When all the glue has dried cut a 9” piece of ribbon and tie in a bow at the top.  Attach a pin to the back\ with some tacky glue.

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OWH Midweek Throwdown

Hi everyone,

Hope the week is going well.

I have two cards to share. [Well, maybe 1.5 cards would be more accurate. :( ]

A Masculine Card: All Buttoned Up

The first card is for this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown. This week's challenge is to make a masculine card.

Kaiser Up, Up and Away; ek border punch, Martha Stewart button punch; ribbon, DMC floss

I've been making quite a few pocket cards based on a sketch from that wonderful Leisure Arts book. I added dimension to the buttons using several different inks. Wish I remembered which ones I grabbed when finishing this card. :)

An Unfinished Card: Not Ready for Prime Time

This little card was inspired by a cute patriotic door plaque I found at a flea market.

Core paper; hand-drawn stitching

 My two concerns:

• It feels like it still needs something -- I just don't know what. Maybe some Baker's twine?
• The top third is taped down, with the fold in the middle tan section. The problem with this is that there is not nearly as much space to write as I thought there would be.

Is it worth sending to OWH? If yes, any suggestions, ideas for making it better?

Parting Thoughts

Loved yesterday's OWH tutorial on 6 by 6 pads!  If you haven't yet seen it, it's definitely worth checking out.

Really excited about this weekend's VCMP!

Until then, happy scrappin'!

Duct tape pencil pouch

School is or will soon be in full swing.  If your students are still looking for that unique pencil pouch, look no further.  Just get a box of sandwich sized baggies with slider zipper tops and a roll of duct tape you will have enough to make pencil pouches for the whole class!

You will need:

Slider zipper sandwich bags

Duct tape in color of choice

Ruler

Scissors

Sharpie marker

Ruled cutting mat (optional)

1.     Use the ruler to measure 3 ½” down from the top zipper line and mark with a sharpie marker across.  Cut off this piece.

2.     Cut two pieces of duct tape 7 ¾” each. (You can use an optional cutting mat with measurements if you have one)  Apply the duct tape from the top zipper across. (See photo)  Attach the other strip of duct tape directly under the first overlapping about 1/8”.

3.     Turn over and repeat step 2 on the other side.

4.     Cut another 7 ¾” piece of duct tape.  Apply ½ to the bottom edge, fold and attach the rest to the opposite side to close the bottom and reinforce.

5.     Cut two 3 ½” pieces of duct tape and do the same as in step 4 to each side edge to reinforce.  Done!

6.     Don’t stop here though, you can even purchase duct tape in sheets with backing paper to cut out letters, shapes, and more to personalize even further. 

The Link

The sci - fi me was having a rather good time enjoying the discovery channel when I stumbled upon a curious looking and sounding program called "The Link" and hence my title. The show focuses on how seemingly unrelated discoveries or inventions are related and how one invention let to another and finally to the technological marvels that today we take for granted. The National Geographic talk about the show such:

"Technology is all around us. From computers to cameras, cell phones to sat navs – our dependence on technology has never been greater. But how many of us ever stop to question how these inventions actually came about? Challenging the commonly held view, that they appear fully formed, out of nowhere, The Link reveals the surprising origins of some of the most important technological breakthroughs, of the modern world."

So, why am I talking so much about a random show I happened to watch in National Geographic? The reason is simple. This is what is missing from today's educational system the worldwide. Lets take India's case for example, from the days we start learning we focus on passing exams and mugging up most things. It is a very selected few who go into inquiring about why it came to be. The fact is that education has reduced to more of studying and less of learning. How many of us, the educated mass as we call are able to explain why some certain things came to be and how they influence people, society and humanity at large. Take the case of fire or agriculture or the production line, do we know why it came to be, how it came to be or what it did to the society then? Isn't that what education was supposed to impart to us?

What I am trying to say is that at some time along the way we have lost sight of our goal and has gone astray. We don't need to overhaul our entire system, that's is not possible and even if its possible its not feasible. Our educators are good, our institutions are equipped enough. I don't mean at any point that all our schools are in surplus of facilities but I do believe that our schools have just enough infrastructure to create a thinking and capable tomorrow. What we really need is a change in the systems and its priorities. The priorities should move away from scoring marks and more on understanding concepts.


When one starts to speak about de-prioritizing marks people usually come to conclusions that exams are the villain and they should be taken to the guillotine. In fact that will only cost us dearly, exams should be there otherwise how will we evaluate our children, how will we ensure their progress? What we need are exams that evaluate children's understanding of a subject and their ability to correlate and infer. We need exams that will ensure understanding and model our syllabus and curricular to attain this aim. This does not involve a major over haul of anything but a few fundamentals of our educational system. 

Let our children be Einsteins and newtons, let them make and create and innovate tomorrow, let them know that they alone have the ability and the power in their hands to craft tomorrows dreams. Let them understand that their dreams are not simply dreams but visions for meeting tomorrows challenges head on, solve then and conquer them. When they understand this and cherish this revelation then only we will have completed our responsibility towards our children and completed our link to the next generation.

"Do watch "The Link" on National Geographic if you can its a great show to watch if you are a technological junkie or just a curious homo sapien!"

OWH Pizzazz Blog Skip

Hi everyone,

There's a great little blog skip going on today at Stars and Stamps -- with lots of fun ideas for pizzazz-ing up our cards. I can't wait to get hold of some of that pearl stuff -- and to try out that cool watercolor marker spritzing technique!

So, here's a little card that's been pizzazz-ed up for one of hero's little girls. Wish the scanned image did the card more justice. Nonetheless, I think there's a little girl who's going to be happy to get this from her mommy or daddy. :)

DCWV Sweet Matstack; Distress Ink (scattered straw); gems

So, how was this little card pizzazzed-up? Let's count the ways. :)

• This DCWV stack has some baked-in-glitter papers. Two of these were used on the card -- for the top of the pocket and for the thin strip at the very bottom of the card. (OWH asks that glitter not be used on cards to our heroes. However, there are some papers with baked-in glitter that are okay to use. DCWV carries quite a few of these glittery types of papers. For the safety of our heroes, please always check that the glitter doesn't rub or scrape off.)
• I used 6 different papers from the stack.
• The flowers were heat embossed and cut out of several papers.
• To add dimension, pop up dots were used for the bottom of the pocket and flowers are multi-layered.
• Finally, gems were added to add a little bit of bling from top right to bottom left.

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again to those who left comments about the cards and technique featured in this week's Tuesday Tutorial. To give credit where credit's due, the first two cards were mine. But, the butterfly and motorcycle were all Nancy. Thanks again, Nancy, for taking a nice little technique to a whole new level!

Hoping to have a shape card to share -- for tomorrow!?

Again, be sure to check out the blog skip if you're looking for OWH-endorsed ways to spice up your cards. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Easy Kids Craft Project- Autumn leaf party favors

This is a favorite project that I previously published on my other blog, but since fall is right around the corner I figured why not a re-run? When you are setting your tables for fall parties and Thanksgiving how about including a little party favor by each place setting.  This is a festive and decorative way to dress up your holiday tables.  So why not make some that are as individual and colorful as the autumn leaves that decorate your own back yard? These autumn leaf party favors are easy enough for kids and make a fun project to do as a family.

You will need:

Felt squares in autumn colors

Tacky Glue (I used clear Tacky glue, but regular Tacky Glue is fine)

Dimensional Fabric paint in a corresponding color

 Leaf from your yard

Cardboard to make a pattern (cereal boxes are great for this use)

Scissors

Pinking Shears (optional)

Optional 8-inch length of ribbon

Waxed paper or anything to cover your work surface

1.     Go outside and look for nice shaped leaves.  Collect a couple in an appropriate size.  They should be no wider than 6 inches horizontally and no taller than 6 inches vertically.

Place the leaf onto cardboard and trace around to make a pattern.  Cut out.

3.     Transfer the leaf pattern onto the felt color of choice and cut out with scissors or pinking shears. Repeat for another felt leaf.  You may use a different color for the back or use the same color for front and back as desired. 

Line up the leaf pieces to make sure they fit together and trim any excess.  Draw a bead of Tacky glue around the edges of the back leaf. If you want to have a handle, cut an 8-inch piece of ribbon and glue to the back leaf shape before you attach the front leaf shape.  Leave a section at the top of the leaf unglued to allow for a 4-inch opening.  Attach the top to the bottom and let dry. (see photo)

5.     Use the real leaf as a guide to draw vein lines with the dimensional fabric paint.  If you want these favors to act as place cards, you may write names on them instead of vein lines.  Let dry completely, overnight is best.

6.     When dry fill with candy or small treats and enjoy. 

Follow the first six steps to make as many party favors as needed.   I recommend Tacky glue because it is a thicker consistency and will not bleed through the felt.  When using dimensional fabric paints test on paper first to remove bubbles, and shake downward occasionally while using to keep lines smooth.

These also look festive hanging from a doorknob!   

Easy fall craft--turkey brooch or table decoration

I know its only August but I already have autumn on my brain.  This cute and super easy turkey is created quick and easy with a silk flower-- so you can make a bunch.  They are super pins but also look great decorating the holiday table.  And wouldn’t they make a great teacher gift? 

You will need:

Fall mum silk flower with brown center disc

Small scraps of bump chenille stems, yellow, and red

2-inch piece of regular brown chenille stem

Two wiggle eyes

Tacky glue or glue gun and glue sticks

2-inch pin back

Scissors, ruler

1.     Remove the silk mum from the stem.  Cut off any protruding pieces on the back so that it will be flat. 

2.     Cut the petals off of the bottom half of the mum leaving about an inch intact.

3.     Snip off the thin end a yellow bump chenille stem (about ¼ this will be the beak”) and attach to the top center of the center disc with some glue.

4.     Cut a piece of brown chenille stem 2 inches and wind into a circle.  Add a bit of glue right over where you just added the yellow beak and attach the brown chenille circle.

5.     Cut another end of a red bump chenille stem and glue to the side of the yellow beak for a waddle.   Glue on two wiggle eyes above the beak. 

6.     Cut two ½” pieces of yellow chenille stem and bend each one to form feet.  Glue on each side of the brown disc bottom. (see photo) Let all the glued areas dry completely.  When dry attach a 2” pin back to the back if you want to use it as a brooch.  Leave it alone for a table decoration.