square stick wreath

My babies and I enjoyed picking up sticks in the yard yesterday and breaking them down for this wreath.

We used our four biggest sticks as the frame, twisting wire around the corners to connect the pieces. We used wood glue to secure the sticks to the frame.

The wreath was allowed to sit and dry overnight - probably a full 24 hours, but even so, two or three sticks fell off when we picked it up.

I was going for a very simple wreath to display right now in the dead of winter. No extra frills. The wreath is hung by a piece of burlap garland (buy it by the roll at Ben Franklin for about $5) and a piece of twine which I wove through the garland to avoid ripping it. Once the garland was cinched to create the twine hanger, I tied a simple burgundy ribbon on it. I didn't buy any special ribbon especially for the project, just used what I had. I think this would really reflect the season with a wide white ribbon. Maybe on my next trip out ...

Happy Crafting,

crayola art

So I fibbed. Here's another Pinterest-inspired craft for the day ... the Crayola art that everyone seems to love.

Let me say that it's a little trickier than I expected it to be. It's a two-person job. One to manage the heat gun (or blow dryer) and another to manipulate the canvas if the colors start going where you don't want them to go ... or if the colors just flat out don't go anywhere cool.

I bought two boxes of 24 Crayola crayons and two 8x8 canvases - one for each of my children - plus grabbed a handful of good-shape crayons we already had to mix it up a bit. The canvas on the left is for my son and the crayons are roughly in color order (or at least pleasing to my eye). The one on the right is my daughter's. She arranged the colors and suggested they run to the middle (it's a tree, don'tcha see?). He is four and she is nine. He doesn't care and she does (i.e. Mommy has creative control on the little guy but not so much with the big girl).

Tips:
1. Two people, as said before.
2. Melt from the top of the crayon, not the bottom (if you melt from the bottom, you blow the colors all over the place).
3. Use the end of a pencil to depress the canvas and encourage pooling in various spots.
4. We used a heat gun because my husband is on a power trip. A hairdryer might be a better tool because it won't heat the crayons as fast and you don't risk burning yourself as bad.
5. Work slowly. Turn the gun or dryer off every so often and let the wax cool and pool (I should trademark that!).

If I could do them over (or when I do them over), I'd go ahead with the bigger canvas and I'd be sure to go heavier with the green on my son's canvas. I would also insist that my daughter choose some brighter colors and omit the brown and black. She had a cool idea, actually ... but we had already started her canvas ... She suggested a line of pink and green alternating (maybe blocks of three at a time?) as an homage to Sweet Frog. That would be totally awesome. Maybe we'll end up with our own Crayola art gallery.

Other ideas for Crayola art:
1. Camouflage?
2. School colors (I'd opt for "old gold and blue" for my alma mater.)
3. Christmas red and green
4. Mix in several whites and get pastel effects in the pooling.
5. Pick one solid and go for it. I can see needing a punch of red in a room and this would be a neat way to accomplish it.
6. What if you leaned the canvas diagonally and all the wax ran to a lower corner instead of vertically?
7. Can you tape sections to create a shape in the middle that the wax runs around?

Hmm ...

If you have any tips or have created Crayola art canvases before, leave and comment and let's share ideas!

of pinterest interest

So after pouring over the wonderful craft finds that are to be had on Pinterest (thanks, Pinners!), I got crafty today.

{Honestly, I had this fear wash over me (okay, not real fear, but I was a little shaken and disturbed) that I was accumulating all of these fantastic, simple craft ideas and not acting on them. In the way that I've decided to use Pinterest, the goal is to find and create, not collect.}

From my For the Home board and re-pinned from Kristen R, is my rendition of the "tree of love" ...

My four-year-old son has already requested that we add grandparents! The two twigs are steadied with floral foam and I filled in around them with little red foam balls I found at the Dollar Tree. They're labeled "decorative container filler," and will surely last longer than red hots or red jelly beans. The little wooden signs had been stashed away in my "wood pile" in the craft cabinet. I have some small hearts, too, that I may paint and add to the tree. I can see this staying out all the time, not just for Valentine's Day. After all, family love isn't seasonal.

Today's second craft was inspired by Lindsey St. Louis's twig luminaries that I pinned to my DIY Gift Ideas board. While I still may make those luminaries, I went in a slightly different direction today.

I bought a small pillar-sized candle jar (not the votive size) at the Dollar Tree, wrapped twine around it and then wove the twigs through the twine. No glue or mess. I probably would have woven more twigs in, but the twine became too tight to manage such a task. And mama, I know you're reading ... this is one of your birthday gifts. :) Act surprised next month, okay?

I have one final twig craft for the day, but it's not finished. Stay tuned ...