Tag Archives: Crafts

Frugal Family Fun: Rainy Day Umbrellas

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Rainy Day Umbrellas

I made these on a recent rainy day with my daughters. Theirs were much different (especially the 19 month olds!) but we had fun making them & they love the umbrella banner! I saw the umbrellas on paper over on My Kids Guide & after making them decided to see how they’d do as a banner & I am so glad I did! I think it could make for a cute birthday party decoration, fun tea party or even a baby or wedding shower decoration!

What you will need:

  • Construction Paper
  • Glue (I used washable glue sticks)
  • Tape
  • Pipe Cleaner (I had these in my craft stash already from the Dollar Tree)
  • Cupcake liners (I had left overs from parties as well as a pack I’d picked up from Valentines clearance)
  • Marker
  • Scissors
  • String, ribbon or yarn if making the banner

Instructions:
If you are making these with very small children who can’t use scissors you may want to do the first 2 steps before hand.

  1. Cut pipe cleaners to length if necessary (I cut mine in half & some in thirds).
  2. Cut a small slit in the center of the cupcake liner.
  3. Bend the end of a pipe cleaner into a curve.
  4. Push the straight end throw the hole in the middle of the cupcake liner.
  5. On the inside of the cupcake liner tape the pipe cleaner to the cupcake liner.
  6. Lay your umbrellas on a flat surface back side facing up, spacing them out how you want your banner to look.
  7. Place a piece of string, ribbon or yarn near the top of the umbrella.
  8. Tape the string to the cupcake liner & hang.

Frosty Tea Light Holders

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Frosty Tea Light Holders

Create a wintry frosty setting yet warmed up considerably from the soft glow of flickering candlelight with these super easy and inexpensive frosty tea light holders. This is a great way to upcycle food jars that otherwise would go in the recycling bin.

The cost of this project is super cheap and you may already have all the materials on hand except the Epsom salts which can be found at just about any grocery, drug or national chain store.

Materials Needed:

  • Jars of any size(s) you wish. Cleaned & dried
  • Mod Podge (or white school glue mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with water)
  • Paint brush
  • Epsom salt
  • Ribbon, embroidery floss or any other pretty thing to tie around them
  • Shallow pan or box
  • Wax paper, foil or paper plate to sit you candle holder on to dry

Instructions:

  1. Pour a layer of Epsom salt into your pan or box.
  2. Coat your jars with Mod Podge using a paint brush.
  3. Sprinkle, roll or whatever method you like the Epsom salt onto the jar.
  4. Sit on wax paper to dry.
  5. After it’s completely dry tap the jar to remove excess salts & tie a pretty bow, drop in a tea light candle & enjoy!

Notes: I sprayed mine with with a clear gloss to make sure it was more icy looking but I don’t think it’s necessary. I think I want to see what it looks like with glitter too! These look great on my cake stand with some pine cones & ornaments.

Free eBook: Thanksgiving Crafts And Recipes

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Favecrafts

Thanksgiving should be a feast for all of the senses. Make appealing crafts and whip up delicious pumpkin desserts that everyone will enjoy. FaveCrafts and RecipeLion have joined forces to share some of the best seasonal tutorials and recipes. Click Here To Download Your FREE eBook

Want more free stuff? Check out our Freebie forum!

Halloween and Fall: Homemade Candle Holders!

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Debt Free SpendingThis is a guest post by Stephanie Brandt from Debt Free Spending. Stephanie is married to her husband and together they have three children and reside in Pennsylvania

Fall Homemade Candle

Halloween and Fall: Homemade Candle Holders!

Fall is by far, my favorite time of year. I can cuddle up with my husband and son on the couch, drink pumpkin flavored Starbucks, and listen to the band play at the high school football game all from my house! I love to decorate and take our son to the pumpkin patch, and go on hayrides. So, when I found this adorable craft on Pinterest (Somewhere in my thousands of pins) I told my husband this was on his honey-do list for this fall! Look below for the directions on how to make this amazingly cheap craft!

This is an extremely simple and CHEAP craft! The only materials we needed were:

  • empty coffee cans
  • one can of spray paint -your choice of color! (You can always use another color. We wanted ours to match our black electric jack-o-lantern).
  • A small drill bit
  • Sand Paper

Directions:

  1. Use the power drill to create the words using a small bit. I recommend having an extra coffee can to practice on before you begin. I always try to have a test model of any craft I create.
  2. Decide what words you want on each can. You can do “trick or treat” on one large can, or “trick” on one and “treat” on the other can if you are using two cans. Hubby decide he wanted “trick” on one and “or treat” on the other, so this is entirely up to you! REMEMBER: You can also do other words like “fall, leaves, wonder, hope, etc.”
  3. After created your words, it helps to rough up the outside of the can with some sand paper to help it stick better.
  4. Paint the outside of the can black (or whatever color you choose).
  5. Let them dry, then wait until dark and insert a candle. You now have a SUPER cheap and easy fall decoration. See the picture below for how they look at night!!

Fall Halloween Candle Holder

Frugal Family Fun: Make Your Own Harry Potter Wand

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This is a guest post by Tiffany Ivanovsky who blogs over at MyLitter. Tiffany has been married to her husband Paul for 14 years and together they have 7 kids ages 13, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 2 months. She works outside her home as the Director of a private Christian preschool. When she has the time, she loves to spend it outdoors with her kids, watching their sporting events and participating herself! She loves the thrill of getting a good deal and the satisfaction of helping others find them also!

We spent the weekend being crafty. My kids are on a BIG Harry Potter kick, about 5 years behind the times, but loving it none the less. We watched most of the movies in the car on the way to and from California and all over Arizona and Texas this past month. They turn everything from straws. to sticks to granola bars into magic wands.

I love listening to them and watching the big kids get completely involved and play along. In fact, we have made up a list of our own “Ivanovsky Spells.”

My Favorite? In place of one of the more popular Harry Potter spells “expelliarmus” the Ivanovsky version is “smelly lamas.” I am sure you can see how the rest of them go!

 

My oldest has a “real” Harry Potter wand he got one year from Santa, it was the pricy kind at $40 that is motion activated. The little kids drug it out and have been fighting I mean sharing it nicely all week. They had a lemonade stand earning $42 and decided to pool the money to buy another wand. Like that is going to go well…

My crafty 8 year old got online and found many different sets of instructions on how to make a wand. The other kids shook their heads and said “no!” She begged me to help her make one. Since I had just about everything I said sure, and we got started.

You will need:

  • Glue Gun / Glue Sticks (about 3 large ones for each wand)
  • Craft Paint (we liked metallic and glitter)
  • Construction paper
  • Chop Sticks or wooden dowels
  • Elmers Glue
  • Marble or something to put at the handle end. We found a bag of wedding gems at Walmart for $3.50 that worked perfectly.