Blue Jean Purse

Happy Earth Day!!!

Here is my Earth Day project. I made a  recycled blue jean purse. I used a pair of jeans that my nephew Dawson outgrew. I used the legs to make the straps. And had ribbon and rhinestones on hand and added those to the purse. The buttons were a good way to cover the logo on the pocket. The purse is about 14 inches wide and 8 inches tall.

Chocolate chick and bunny peeps

How can you improve Marshmallow Peeps, the perennial Easter favorite? By adding chocolate, of course! These chocolate-dipped Peeps are adorable and so easy to make. Sprinkles are strictly optional, but seem to be a hit with the little ones.

Ingredients:

• 1 package Marshmallow Peeps
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (can substitute 4 oz chocolate coating)
• 1 tsp shortening
• Sprinkles (optional)
• Chopped nuts (optional)

Preparation:

1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with wax paper.
2. Melt the chocolate and the shortening together in the microwave. If using chocolate coating, the shortening can be omitted.
3. Holding the Peep by the head, dip the bottom in the chocolate, covering a scant ¼ inch with chocolate. Shake it several times to remove excess chocolate before carefully placing it on the baking sheet. For the Bunnies dipped the whole bunny into the chocolate.
4. If desired,  add sprinkles on the chocolate while still wet.
5. Place the candy in the refrigerator to set the chocolate for 10 minutes.

Easter Egg Nest

Easter Egg Nest (oops wrong date on camera should be 04/19/2011)

Egg Carton supplies
egg carton
green paint and brush
easter grass
green crepe paper roll
glue

How-to
1. Cut out groups of 4 adjacent cups of the egg cartons. Keep the cups attached together.
2. Paint the cups green inside and out. Set aside and let dry.
3. Cut Easter grass into smaller pieces. Drizzle glue inside all of the cups, then sprinkle the grass pieces inside (to make a nest affect) of about 3/4 of the way up.
4. Measure the crepe paper around the outside of the nest and cut a little longer. Cut 3 of these. Apply glue around the outside of the top rim and glue one crepe paper piece in place ( like a skirt). Glue the 2nd an inch or so above the rim. Glue the 3rd piece even with the second (right on top)
5. Cut small slits on the top of the crepe paper to make (grass) all around the four sides. Pull apart the two layers and fluff out.
6. Fill the nest with Easter goodies.

We put inside two painted  plastic easter eggs and chocolate covered  chicks and  bunny peeps. See the cholcolate covered peeps post to make these.

Easter egg holders

Easter Egg Holder  and egg made by Kylie  (oops date is wrong on camera- should be 04/19/2011)

Supplies
egg carton
sissors
paint
glue

How-to:
-Cut the egg carton into (cups).
-Round the edges with sissors so the top is even or cut like a wave.
-Paint the egg cup inside and out. Leave to dry. Once dried, glue the two bottoms together.
-We tied a ribbon around the middle.
Now it is ready to display your egg.

The egg in the holder that is  in this picture is made from  a plastic Easter egg that was painted.

This project was made by my 7 year old niece Kylie. She did a great job.

Face Cloth Chick

 Face Cloth Chick

Materials:
- face cloth
- narrow ribbon(s)
- 2 googly eyes
- small piece of yellow felt
- needle and thread to match the face cloth and/or hot glue gun

1) Take a face cloth and lay it out flat.

2 Fold the face cloth in half diagonally.

3) Tightly roll the face cloth triangle into a tube, starting with the upper right-hand corner so that you end up with the long fold at the end of the roll.

4) Stitch or glue the long folded edge of the face cloth down to the roll so that it will stay roll-shaped even when you're not holding it.

5) Fold the tube in half.

6) Fold each of the halves in half again so that your face cloth tube kind of looks like the letter "M".

7) Tie a ribbon (or ribbons) tightly around the face cloth about 2/3 of the way up, away from the "donut hole" and close to the top of the "M".

8) Tightly stitch/glue together the creases that the folds have created on the front, back, and top of the "M". At this point, you should be able to see the basic shape of the chick.

9) Tie the ribbon(s) into a bow; secure the bow with a couple of stitches or a bead of glue.

10) Cut a small diamond shape out of felt, fold it in half and stitch/glue it onto the same side as the bow to create a beak. Stitch/glue on a pair of googly eyes.

11) Cut out a jagged "M" shape of felt to serve as the chick's feet.

12) Sew/glue the feet to the bottom of the chick. They should provide enough of a base that the chick will stay standing up if you set it that way.

You're done!

Boo Boo Bunny

                                                                    Boo Boo Bunny

Materials:
- face cloth
- narrow ribbon(s)
- 2 googly eyes
- 2 pompoms (one large for the tail, one smaller for the nose)
- needle and thread to match the face cloth and/or hot glue gun

1) Take a face cloth and lay it out flat.

2) Fold the face cloth in half diagonally.

3) Tightly roll the face cloth triangle into a tube, starting with the upper right-hand corner so that you end up with the long fold at the end of the roll.

4) Still holding the tube tightly, fold the tube in half.

5) Fold the tube in half again, this time so that the two ends (what will become the "ears") end up over the previously-folded side (what will become the "donut hole" area).

6) Tie a ribbon (or ribbons) tightly around the face cloth about 2/3 of the way down, away from the "donut hole."

7) At this point, if you angle the two ends upward, you can see the basic bunny shape.

8) Turn the bunny so that the ears are facing away from you. Using a thread colour that matches your face cloth, make small stitches where there is any loose fabric. There will almost always be loose fabric near the folds.

If you're not into sewing, you can tack the loose fabric down with hot glue. If you use hot glue you won't be able to take the bunny apart and use the face cloth later, though!

9) Turn the bunny so that the "face" is pointed towards you, and stitch/glue the seam down the middle closed.

10) Tie the ribbon(s) into a bow; secure the bow with a couple of stitches or a bead of glue. On the bunny's face, sew/glue on googly eyes and a small pompom for a nose.

11) Sew/glue on a larger puffy pompom for the tail. You're all done!

If you choose to be creative you can add flowers, mini plastic Easter eggs, or felt cut-outs to your bunny as decoration. But you can also keep the bunny simple.

Boo Boo Bunny Poem

Place this poem and some candy inside a plastic egg and put it in the back of the bunny where the ice will go. It makes a cute addition to any Easter basket!
Boo Boo Bunny goes hippity-hoppity
Boo Boo's ears are flippitty-floppity.
His egg holds a special sweet treat,
He's bringing just for you to eat.
Save the egg, don't throw it away,
You may need it another day.
When you get hurt and have a boo-boo,
And you feel sad and go "boo-hoo",
Open the egg and put in some ice,
Boo-Boo's cold egg will help it feel nice.

Tissue paper flowers

I made these tissue paper flowers for Keira's birthday party. For my flowers I used a tissue paper package and cut the paper in half and used 8 layers of tissue paper using two colors for each flower.

Supplies:
1 package of multicolored tissue or crepe paper
1 package of green pipe cleaners
Scissors

Directions: Take four to five sheets of the tissue paper and layer them (if you want multicolored flowers, use different colors). Cut into 8-inch squares. Keeping the sheets layered, take one set of squares and fold it like an accordion so it looks like a thin rectangle. At the center of the rectangle, cut a small v-shaped notch on both sides. Take the end of a pipe cleaner and twist it around the notch. With the stem pointing straight down, gently pull up one layer of tissue into the center. Pull up the remaining layers, one by one. Repeat for the other side of the flower. Once all the layers are pulled up, fluff them in place to look natural. Continue making more flowers with the remaining stacks of squares.

Tips and variations: For sturdier stems, wrap two pipe cleaners together. Cut smaller or larger squares to change the size of your flowers. Add more layers for thicker flowers or less layers for thinner ones. For a shiny effect, dip the top edges in white glue and then dip in loose glitter. Glue a pin on the back of a flower for a fluffy lapel decoration. Make smaller flowers and string them together as garland.