Easy Dish Towel Artwork

         
I have a birthday twin at work and I wanted to make her a unique gift.  Since she has two budding artists and showcases many of  their best projects on her walls, I decided to try my hand at a custom tea towel.  I secretly photocopied one picture from her son and one drawing from her daughter to "combine" on my towel.

Note:  These towels would also be cute gifts for a wedding shower if you have a piece of artwork that the future bride drew for you when she was little! 

You can also trace artwork that you find on the internet...one good source of free artwork is The Graphics Fairy.  I am a fan of her simple "retro" images.

Anyway, this fun post was my inspiration for the towel:  Tea Towel Art

How to:

Simply buy a set of dish towels; wash, dry and iron them with Spray Starch.

Place your copied artwork beneath the towel (I centered mine, near one edge).  Using an ultra fine point Sharpie, carefully trace your artwork onto the towel.

Since I was combining two pictures, I used her daughter's bugs/butterflies

and clouds as filler to balance out my image...

My birthday twin laughed when I gave her the towel

and her kids thought it was cool, too.

You could even make one for grandma!

Try it!

Button Christmas Tree




Button Christmas Tree

 
My grandmother lived through the Great Depression and was what I call a "saver".  When an item of clothing wore out, she cut off the buttons and saved them for a rainy day.  After she passed away, these buttons were handed down to my mother (who is also a "saver" by the way).  My mom had sorted the buttons by color, but there they sat in their little Cool Whip containers...

So we decided to turn them into Christmas trees!

Note:  These are a bit time-consuming, but it was kind of fun and relaxing to sort through the buttons together and choose which ones to use.

1)  Decide on a color scheme.  We started by finding 5x7 frames that we weren't using and chose buttons to match. We simply removed the glass from the frame and cut a piece of matching scrapbook paper to fit.  Note:  Keep the glass, most frames will allow you to put it behind the scrapbook paper for storage (and additional stability) before you put the back on.



Button Christmas Tree


2)  Sort through your buttons and lay them out on your scrapbook paper where you think they will approximately go (this was a bit like a puzzle).  I am a symmetrical person, so I put the larger (matching if I could find them) buttons on the bottom and worked my way up.



Button Christmas Tree


3)  When you are pleased with your basic tree shape, use your hot glue gun and carefully start attaching the buttons to the scrapbook paper.  Be careful to keep the edges and top/bottom approximately centered.



Button Christmas Tree


4)  When all of the larger buttons are attached, it is time to fill in some of the gaps with smaller buttons, which creates a fun, dimensional shape.



Button Christmas Tree

5)  When everything is glued on, center your tree in the frame, then stand back and admire your handiwork!  (My mom and sister like theirs so well that they leave them up year round!)

If you have any "heirloom" buttons, these make very nice keepsakes.  Let me know how it goes (and email me if you have questions).

I think my grandma would be proud!

Linking to:

• Skiptomylou
• craft-o-maniac
• sew-licious.blogspot.com
• bloominghomestead.com
• notjustahousewife.net
• cleanandscentsible.com
• ohmy-creative.com
• smallfineprint.com

Newlywed Game Questions

Tomorrow is my son's two-year "dating" anniversary...

(Did we keep track of that kind of stuff back in the day?!?)

Anyway, it reminded me that I wanted to share a fun, clean, Newlywed (type) Game with you that we played on New Year's Eve.  This game is appropriate to play wth your dating teenagers or any of your couple friends for a fun get-together.  The winner might even get a prize chosen "especially for them"!

Sample questions include:

• What is your wife (or girlfriend's) favorite comfort food?
• What is your husband (or boyfriend's) favorite TV show?

Here is the link to the FREE game

from The Dating Divas website.

Simply print out one set of the questions and make a copy of the answer sheet for each couple (which you will cut in half).

(Tip:  Number both sets of questions from 1-10 before you pass them out to do away with any vertical or horizontal confusion!  We also wrote in "Wife or Girlfriend" and "Husband or Boyfriend".)

We played with three couples.  The men started out in one room with the ladies in another room (out of earshot from each other).  We simply had one person in each room read the the questions out loud and then everyone wrote down their answers on the answer sheet.  (At this stage, the women answer the pink questions and the men answer the blue questions.)

After all 10 questions were answered, we found our partners and took turns going around the room and answering the other set of questions.  (The women will now answer the blue questions, trying to "match" what our significant other has said about us).  We alternated between asking/answering blue and pink questions.  (If you have an "extra" person, they can be the game show host and run the show!)

It was funny to watch the teens "bickering" (just like an old married couple) about what constituted their first date, etc.  They beat us by a mile and placed second!


Happy Anniversary!

This game would even be fun for a teen-only "couples" party (after Prom?!?).  You could call it:

 "The (someday we might be) Newlywed Game"!

My son is never far from his laptop/cellphone, so they could also watch part of the original "retro" show before they start.

(Parts of this made me laugh out loud...we've come a long way ladies!)

If you only want to play the theme song:

If you like to sew, you could make little pillows as party favors for them to hit each other with when they miss an "easy" answer.

Other ideas?



Bunny Envelope

Here is an easy idea for a bunny treat bag

(made out of an envelope)!

(These could be used as gifts for your kids, Sunday School class, Brownie Troop, neighbors, teachers, co-workers, as party-favors, whatever!)

For this version, it is best to use non-security envelopes.

Seal the flap on a small envelope (same color inside and out)

and flip it over.

Draw a curved guideline about halfway down your envelope.

Trace pointed curves for the ears.  I traced around oval templates, but you could use a mug or even draw freehand!

Draw a face on your bunny using a marker.

You can use crayons or markers, but I used pink blush to color the nose, cheeks and ears.

Cut out your bunny and erase your center guideline.

Fill the bunny with basket filler (grass) and treats.  Staple it closed between the ears.

If you want to be extra fancy, glue a small pom pom on the back of the envelope...

Happy Spring!  

Here's a similar one for St. Patrick's Day!

• Leprechaun Envelope Treat Bag

Linking up to:

• igottacreate
• sixsistersstuff
• ladybirdln
• lollyjane.com
• notjustahousewife
• positivelysplendid
• skiptomylou
• smallfineprint

Leprechaun Ideas

Two oldies, but goodies:



Leprechaun Envelope Treat Bag.html








Leprechaun Loot Treasure Hunt