In Case You Missed it...

...here's a recap of this year's '12 Days of Christmas'.

Day 1: {For Your Mistle Toes}

Day 2: {Snowman Popcorn}

Day 3: {Nugget Trays}

Day 4: {Santa Gum Holders}

Day 5: {Tile Coasters}

Day 6: {Hot Cocoa Gift Set}

Day 7: {Snowman Poop}

Day 8: {Pencil Pouches}

Day 9: {'To Do' Lists}

Day 10: {Snowman Patty Treats}

Day 11: {Santa Gift Tags}

Day 12: {Jewelry Made By My Girls}

{Jewelry Made by my Girls}

**This year's '12 Days of Christmas' features the items that my daughters and I made for our very first craft fair**


Day 12: {Jewelry Made by my Daughters}

The whole reason why we had a booth at the craft fair was so my daughters could sell the jewelry that they make.  They are pretty crafty, and I adore their creations!

I've got 4 daughters, ages 13, 11, 10, and 7.  The older 3 made jewelry, and my youngest helped me out with all of the other crafts.  Here's the pictures of their jewelry.

Duct Tape Feather Earrings and Candy Wrapper Bracelets

Duct Tape Flower Rings & Pop Tab Bracelets...

Scrabble Tile Earrings

Here's a list of the items, who made them, and what we charged...

Duct Tape Feather Earrings- $3.00/pair (made by my 13-year-old)
Duct Tape Flower Rings- $5.00 (made by my 13-year-old)
Pop Tab Bracelets- $3.00 (made by my 13-year-old)
Scrabble Tile Earrings- $5.00/pair (made by my 11-year-old)
Candy Wrapper Bracelets- $3.00 (made by my 10-year-old)

Their jewelry didn't sell as well as they had hoped.  We sold only 3 of the Candy Wrapper Bracelets and 1 pair of the Scrabble Tile Earrings.  My girls were heartbroken!!  The Duct Tape stuff sold better, but not by much.

I talked with my girls a lot before the craft fair about not getting their expectations up too high.  It's hard to know what people will be interested in, but there's always the hope that they will buy your stuff.  My warnings didn't help their feelings OR mine!  I felt so bad that they worked so hard on their jewelry and didn't see the results that they had hoped for.

Although they didn't do as well as they would have liked, we DID have a great time.  There's nothing better than spending time with my kids, doing something that we all enjoy.

**I don't have tutorials to show how to make the jewelry.  We just googled them and found some videos and written tutorials online.

That brings us to the end of this year's '12 Days of Christmas'!  I hope you enjoyed the items featured, and found some inspiration for gifts to make for your friends and loved ones!!

Our Very First Craft Fair!

My daughters and I participated in our very first craft fair last weekend, and we had a blast!  It was a lot of work, but the time spent with them made it all worth it!

We went in the night before the craft fair and set up our table so we wouldn't be in a rush the next day (that's why all the other tables are empty!!).  Here's what it looked like when we were done. 

Starting Monday, I'll be sharing what we made for the craft fair in lieu of my annual '12 Days of Christmas'. 

Until then, have a great weekend!

Duct Tape Flower Rings

My oldest daughter REALLY wants an ipod touch.  And she has really mean parents who won't just go out and buy one for her.  They are making her earn her own money to buy it.

She loves duct tape.  Actually, she's obsessed with duct tape!  Several months ago, she learned how to make duct tape flower rings.  They're adorable!  When we talked about ways she could earn money, she decided to try selling her rings to people we know.  They turned out to be a BIG hit!

Here's a sampling of the rings she's made. 

Some people like their 'bling' big...

And if you're like me, you prefer smaller 'bling'.

So far, she's had a hard time keeping up with the orders people have placed.  I have a feeling she'll stay pretty busy this summer making these!  And it won't be too long before she has enough money earned to buy herself that ipod touch.  My hope is that along the way, she'll learn a new appreciation for how hard her Dad works to support our family, and that it really does take HARD WORK to get the things you want in life.  I think she's well on her way!

Candy Wrapper Button Earrings

We've been saving our candy wrappers to make more bracelets like THESE.  As I was sorting our collection, I was thinking about how I could make matching earrings.  And then the idea came.  I wasn't sure if it would work, or if they would even be cute, but I must say that I LOVE the result!

Cute, right?  I used a 5/8" covered button kit for these...

and these...

And a 7/16" covered button kit for these...

Here they are together so you can see the difference in size.

Did I mention how much I love these?  I don't know what it is about recycling, but I love taking 'trash' and turning it into cute, wearable items.  What do you think?

FYI:  For some reason, the 7/16" size was harder to make than the bigger size.  I ended up having to hot glue the bottom on because it wouldn't stay otherwise.  Also, to protect the wrappers, I brushed each earring with a few coats of Mod Podge. 

**Edited to Add:  A great tutorial for making covered button earrings can be found HERE**



I'm linking at these fabulous parties:

It's Stinkin' Cute Craft Thursday @It's Sew Stinkin' Cute
Tuesday Tell All @My Craftie Life
Get Your Brag On @Gluesticks
Fantabulous Friday Link Up @Momma's Kinda Crafty
I'm Crafty Party @So You Think You're Crafty
Take A Look Tuesday @Sugar Bee Crafts
Ten Buck Tuesday @Young Nester

Button Earrings

When I saw THIS POST from 30 Days, making Button Earrings became a priority on my To Do list!!  I've only gotten a few pairs made so far, but plan on making MANY more! 

I'm a little OBSESSED with these...

Yes...I'm admitting it.  These cuties have become my latest obsession!  My 2 older girls were horrified when I saw some cans lying by the side of the road and stopped to pick them up.  I guess it won't be the last time they are embarrassed by their mother!

Here's a few samples of the latest earrings I've been making.

Have a great Thursday!!

Candy Wrapper Bracelets

We've been on quite the 'repurposing' kick lately!!  Our latest project has been making Candy Wrapper Bracelets.

I remember making these bracelets all the time when I was a kid, so it's been fun for me to teach my own kids how to make them! 

If you want to make your own, check out THIS TUTORIAL from Cut Out + Keep!

Soda Can Tab Earrings

If you drink soda from a can, DON'T throw the tabs away!!  They can be turned into darling earrings like these...

and these...

And these!

My husband brought home a HUGE garbage bag full of empty cans from his work site (yes...he totally supports me in my craziness craftiness!).  I've got all of the tabs taken off of them, and have 1/3 of them cut and cleaned.  I can't wait to experiment some more and see what other earrings I can make out of others' trash!!

Oh, if you end up making some soda can/tab earrings, I'd LOVE to see them!  Email me pictures or links to your blogs!

One last thing.  A few of you mentioned you'd like to see a tutorial for the flower earrings I posted last week.  I'll get working on one and will try to have it posted soon! 

Flower Soda Can Earrings

As I was searching online for tutorials on making soda can earrings, I came across THESE , and immediately went to work on my own version.  Mine aren't as cute as the original, but I still love 'em!

Here's my very first pair...made out of a rootbeer can.

On my second try I added a 3rd layer and an eyelet.  The flower in the very center was made from a craft punch and some bling.

And this is my 3rd (and favorite!) pair.  These were made simpler than the previous pair, with just 2 layers of the big flowers.

How fun are these earrings?!  I'm hoping to have some more ready to share with you next week, so stay tuned!





Linking to:
Making the World Cuter Monday
Keeping It Simple

Recycled Soda Can Earrings

I {LOVE} taking trash and turning it into something useful.  For the past week or so, I've been experimenting with soda can earrings.

Do you recognize the can I used for these?  Anyone?  If you said, "It's a Dr. Shasta can!", give yourself a pat on the back.

To make them, I traced two sets of hearts onto the can (cut it open carefully and clean it out first!).  Then I cut them out, sanded the edges, and used E6000 to glue them together (I wanted double sided earrings).  After the glue dried, I punched a hole in the top and added an eyelet.

Here's another set made the same way, but the stars are bigger, and were cut out of a Monster can.

These cone shaped earrings were made using THIS tutorial from Cut Out and Keep.

I'm still trying to find the perfect 'recipe' for making these cuties.  I would be in heaven if I had a die cut machine...you can make some REALLY cute shapes with one of those!  But until then, I'll have to stick with hand cutting my shapes.  Or using craft punches.

Come back tomorrow to see some more fun soda can earrings!  Oh, and  if any of you have made these before, could you share your tips with me, pretty please?  




Linking to:
Making the World Cuter Monday
Keeping It Simple