Plastic Canvas Earrings

Several weeks ago, Diane of CraftyPod said she was putting together a group of bloggers to do a blog hop of Plastic Canvas projects. Awesome, right? I e-mailed her to see if I could join in… so today I’m sharing my plastic canvas earrings. If you want to see the rest of the awesome, clever, and amazing plastic canvas projects, check out the link-up at the end of this post.

earrings made from plastic canvas

To make these earrings in 30 minutes or less, I left the centers of the plastic canvas squares unfilled. I think this adds to the modern look of the earrings. You can customize the look of the earrings with your own colored yarn, of course.

To make your own plastic canvas cube earrings, here is what you need:

plastic canvas earring suppliesPlastic Canvas
Scissors
Yarn
Tapestry Needles
Jump Rings
Earring Hoops
Pliers

 

Start by cutting a strip of plastic canvas, four squares wide.

cut plastic canvas

Cut this strip into sections to make squares 4×4. You need 12 of these total, 6 for each earring.

plastic canvas squares

With the yarn in your tapestry needle, start by connecting two pieces by whipstitching along one edge. Continue until you have four pieces together. No need to cut the yarn between each set of whipstitches, these will get covered.

stitch cube

Once you have four in a row, add a fifth to the top of the last piece in the line.

connect fifth square

Start folding up your box, whipstitching all the way around the fifth piece, and then up the side.

connect sides

Attatch the sixth and final piece, whipstitching all the way around. Repeat this process for the second cube.

finish plastic canvas cubes

Open up a jump ring, Thread it through a corner of one of the cube, add on the earring wire, and then close the cube.

add earring hook

Repeat with the second earring, and they’re ready to wear!

plastic canvas earrings

pc-bloghop-widget-150Make sure to check out all the other awesome plastic canvas projects… we’ll be adding to this linky next week as well, so be sure to visit again soon so you can catch the updates!

And thanks to all the wonderful bloggers in this blog hop. I’m seriously humbled to be in the company of so many amazing and awesome bloggers. Seriously, how lucky am I!?

 

 

Mother’s Day Handprint Canvas

Looking for a fun and easy (though slightly messy) craft for Mother’s Day? Make a handprint canvas! With only a few supplies you can make a lasting memory for a mom, grandmother, aunt, or other special mom-figure.

Mother's Day Handprint Art

To make a child handprint canvas, here is what you need:

handprint supplies
Stretched, Framed Canvas (buy a pack with a coupon at your favorite craft store)
Paint (I used Patio Paint from DecoArt)
Lids or Paper Plates
Paintbrush (optional)
Baby Wipes or a sink close by

 

 

We made our handprint canvasses on our table on the back porch. This would make any major spills easy to hose off. My husband was also close at hand, because sometimes having two adults means only half the mess.

For my older son, I used a paint brush to paint his hand liberally with the paint. I wanted to make sure we got the whole hand covered. I have no idea what he’s doing with that glass pebble, but this is the only picture of his hand that is in focus.

paint a hand

We then just let him push his hand onto the canvas.

For my 1-year-old, I poured the paint on a lid and moved the lid in circles to spread out the paint. I then pushed his hand into the paint, and then onto the canvas. And then kept his hand far away from both of us until I had it washed off.

DecoArt Patio Paint

Use contrasting colors for each child, and don’t worry if the handprints are smudged, uneven, or overlap at all. This is child artwork. On my canvas there are a couple splotches where paint dripped… and that is totally ok. I think it makes it more fun.

Mother's Day Handprint Canvas

You can add some writing to the canvas afterwards. I plan to write the kids’ names and the date. A great quote would be an awesome idea. If one of the kids is old enough to write, having the quote or names in their handwriting would be priceless!

Fringed Arrow Wallet

I’m a fan of simple clutch purses. This fringed arrow wallet is fast, and has serious personality. Being made of leather, it takes a little skill and patience to sew well, but with this much cuteness, it is totally worth it! You can sew it using a sewing machine, and add the decorative hand stitches, or if you have time you can stitch the entire wallet by hand.

fringed arrow wallet

With a project this cute, you want to make sure to add it to your Pinterest Boards. Please make sure to pin it from the original source.

 

 

Panted Handle Spoons

Looking for a simple Mother’s Day craft? Grab some wooden spoons and paint up the handles in mom’s favorite colors! Put several painted spoons in a jar for her to display in the kitchen, or tie a single spoon to the top of a gift to make a pretty wrapped package. Painting a spoon is such a simple thing to do, and adds such a fun pop of color!

painted handle wood spoons tutorial

Projects like this one beg to be pinned. But be sure to pin from the original source.

Stenciled Watercolors

I have always wanted to learn to watercolor. I remember being about 10 years old and sitting next to my aunt who is an Artist (that is Artist with a capital A), and watching her paint watercolor mountains. Just Awesome. I never took the time to learn the technique and develop the skill to do that kind of watercolor… but this watercolor? This I can totally do. And it looks awesome! Grab your stencils and watercolors and make a set of notecards for Mother’s Day! Or for yourself…

senciled watercolor - grow creative

Pin this project onto your “stuff I simply MUST do” board. But be sure to pin from the original source.

Washi Tape Necklace

Washi Tape has taken the crafty world by storm! It comes in so many fun colors and patterns that it is truly addicting. Earlier this week I did a video chat with some of my friends where we shared fun washi tape crafts. And yesterday I shared with you a tutorial for my Washi Tape Flowers. Well, today I wanted to share a Washi Tape Necklace! Yup… Washi tape is now WEARABLE! Make the necklace to fit standard sized washi tape, and you can tear off the tape and replace it with a different color washi tape to match your outfit for the day.

Washi Tape Necklace - 30 Minute Crafts

Want to make your own awesome washi tape necklace? Of course you do! It doesn’t take long to whip it up…

washi tape necklace suppies

Supplies you need to make your washi tape necklace:

5 Eye Pins (found in jewelry section)
8 jump rings
Necklace chain
Lobster clasp
2 pairs of pliers (one must be round nosed, one must have a cutting edge)
Washi Tape (of course!)

 

 

Start with one eye pin. Fold a piece of washi tape over it, close to the eye. Using the round-nosed pliers, curve the other end into a U shape to determine how much of the wire you’ll need. Cut off the excess (save the piece you cut for the next step), and finish the circle with the round nosed pliers. Note: if you want your necklace to lie flat, make sure that the two loops on your wire face the same way – the wire should lay flat on a surface, with the holes pointing up. If this is not the case, twist the loops until the wire lies flat. add loop to washi tape eyepin

After you’ve made one pin, you can use the piece you cut off to cut the excess off of all the other pins. This makes the process of making all the pins faster.

cut eyepins short
Once you’ve cut the pins, create the second loop on the other side of each, make sure that they all lie flat.

make double headed eye pins for washi tape

Attach them into a chain using a single jump ring between each.

link up washi tape necklace pieces

Using jump rings, attach your chain to each side of your linked up eye pins. Cut the chain to length and add the lobster clasp to one end of the chain, and the last jump ring to the other end.

connect washi tape to necklace

Once you’ve completed the necklace chain, add your washi tape. You can add different colors and lengths. You can trim the ends with pinking shears, or you can tear them. For this necklace I used one color washi tape.

add washi tape to necklace

I added the tape, then tore the middle piece so it was the longest, the pieces to each side slightly shorter, and the pieces on the ends slightly shorter than that.

washi tape necklace - switch out the washi tape for new looks!

Washi Tape Flowers

Yesterday, I hung out with Angie from The Country Chic Cottage, Amy from Washi Tape Crafts, and Jamie from CRAFT, and we recorded a video where we talked about Washi Tape and shared some fun projects. I promised I’d give you a detailed tutorial on how to make these Washi Tape Flowers, so here it is!

Washi Tape Flowers

To make your Washi Tape flowers, you’ll need:

Beading Wire
Jewelry Pliers
Pipecleaner
Washi Tape (3 colors – one for petals, one for center, one for stem)

 

Start by cutting your beading wire into 10 pieces, each about 5″ long. Make a large loop, and twist the ends together as shown in the picture. Repeat with all 10 pieces.

twist petal shapes

Cover each petal with the Washi Tape by covering one side, folding it over, and then covering the other side. Tear off the end, and repeat with each petal.

cover washi petals

Trim the excess washi tape from the edges of each petal

make washi tape flower petals

Stack all the petals. Using the pliers, twist all the end pieces together.

twisted petals

Prepare the pipe cleaner by folding over one end about 2-3 inches. Add a piece of washi tape (this will be used later). Split the petals in half to make a V shape, with half the petals on each side. Tuck in the prepared pipecleaner so that the tape is on top, and twist the ends of the pipecleaner to secure.

add stem to washi tape flower

Wrap the pipecleaner with washi tape.

Cover flower stem in washi tape

Separate the petals.

For the center of the flower, tear off a piece of washi tape about 6″ long. Tear it in half, and overlap the two pieces to make one wide piece of washi tape. Tear this in half, turn one half 90 degrees, and lay on top of the other half so that you have a piece of washi tape that is double thick and more than double wide. Out of this large piece, cut a circle for the center. Place in the center, securing with the washi tape on the pipecleaner. Cut away the excess washi tape from the pipecleaner.

add washi center

That’s it! Simple to make… go make a whole vase full!

Washi Tape Flower

Washi Tape Crafts Live Video!

washi tape hangout

Today I’m hanging out with three of my absolute favorite crafty ladies – Angie from Country Chic Cottage, Jamie from CRAFT and Amy from Washi Tape Crafts. We’re live crafting and chatting about one of our favorite craft supplies – washi tape! Great for fast crafts, and super inexpensive, if you haven’t played with Washi Tape yet, you should get your hands on some!

 

And if you want to win some Washi Tape, the awesome folks at DownTown Tape are giving some away… enter the giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No Sew Football Tee!

I am not much of a sports person, but rumor has it that there was some kind of football draft this last weekend. Well, it might have been more than a rumor. I might have actually seen some of it, since my husband really does like football. But that is his only flaw. Really, other than the football watching thing, he is pretty much perfect.

I don’t have anything against football. I just have never gotten into it. But I’m thinking that I could totally get into football if there was more crafting involved. Like this stinkin’ adorable no-sew football tshirt! How easy and awesome is this?? Let’s find a way to macrame a football helmet, and then I’m on board! But, not really.

No sew football t-shirt from A Night Owl Blog

This football tee is the cutest football craft ever. When you pin it to Pinterest, be sure to pin from the original source.

More Craft Lightning Mother’s Day Painting Projects

Painted Watering Can

DecoArt sent some fantastic Patio Paints to me, and I just had to try them out! I decided to paint this watering can. Super simple, you can let your child do this, fill up the watering can with fresh flowers for Mother’s Day, and then use the watering can all spring and summer long!