$1 Craftastic Autumn Leaf Project

So today was a very cool and soggy one here in Washington. So the question most mommy's want answered is what they should do with their little ones to entertain. Well I for one don't believe that you'll melt in the rain, so if we can take a fun little trip outside in between down pours then I'm happy to do it in the name of crafting. 

Unfortunately, Ilybug and I have found it difficult to get out to do much of anything with Boogerbutt being a typical 4 month old and wanting mommy a lot. So today I got a little creative and snuck some mommy daughter time in. While driving home from running errands, I asked my husband to drop Ilybug and I off at the end of the road so that we could walk and gather leaves for our project. With Boogerbutt in the back sleeping, it was a piece of cake to sneak this special time in. So mommy's out there who don't get enough time with their older children, there are ways, you just might have to think outside of the box. Anyways, I made sure to get some pictures of our leaf project we came up with. So without further ado...

Supplies: 

Clear vinyl shelf liner (Found at Dollar tree)

Scissors

Leaves

Optional:

Glitter

Confetti

Any other items you may want to add

Step 1: Find leaves, any shape or color will do. Use your imagination and find some fun ones that have multiple colors on it. Or try and find one for each color of the rainbow... or the autumn version of a rainbow. We found a great ditch that had lots of bright colored leaves in it. 

 So my brave daughter took off ankle deep in it to pick out the best of the best leaves.

If you can't find what you're looking for on the ground, chin up because there just may be the perfect one hanging loosely on a tree nearby. Like these ones here, we had in our front yard, we couldn't resist the bright reds, oranges, and yellows on it.

And with bucket in hand, we filled it to the brim, although in actuality we only used a fraction of those. But hey, who knows what we will come up with for the rest. But if you only find a few beautiful leaves, that is perfect.

Step 2: Dry the leaves. There's a few ways to do this, we tried a couple different ones. The first way we tried was to lay them out overnight to dry. But use caution with this method as they can get too dry and brittle when left out too long.

The alternative is the way I prefer which is to use a blow dryer and just put a little air over them to remove the excess moisture. Since I have no patience, and my daughter takes after me in this aspect, it's a great quick way to move forward in the project. 

 

Step 3: Make sure you have all your supplies ready. Now you can go as big or small as you want with this step. We went down into our craft room and gathered some glitter and confetti to add to ours as well. I also thought crayon shavings may be fun, you may even be able to place a little heat on it and melt them to make a really neat creation. (I think I see a future project for us as we have extra vinyl left over and bought an extra roll. Can't beat $1 projects!!)

Step 4: Cut two vinyl sheets (same size) as big as you want, I went about the size of a place mat (which it can be used as since it's vinyl and made to protect your surfaces), although I think cutting it to fit in a picture frame would be an excellent option as well. Then peel one of them and lay it sticky side up.

Step 5: Decorate in any way you see fit. I think having your child color some small pictures or even color on clear acetate or you write a cute message on the acetate to stick in it would be a great idea. Even maybe doing the date on it so it doesn't distract from your finished craft. Again there really is no wrong way to do this. We chose to do glitter first, and since my daughter had left over mixed glitter we used that in a baggie, with a spoon to sprinkle it around. And I know what your thinking, it'll get EVERYWHERE, but that's the beauty of this stuff. Once the glitter lands it sticks, so that makes for easy clean up. But luckily it's not too sticky so if you want to pull something up to replace it, that's not a problem with this either. It's very versatile.

The next thing we added was some Happy Birthday confetti since Dad's B-day is coming up in a few days.

Now a little trick before using your leaves, cut the stems off of them, it makes it a lot easier to smooth down.

 

Add your leaves in any order you want, just make sure your leaves are all facing the same way so you get the colorful side showing for all of them. 

Step 6: Take your second sheet of vinyl and peel it. I recommend having an extra set of adult hands for this step as it makes it easier to align and stick all the sides together. Thank you to my hubby for lending his help.

Step 7: Smooth out and enjoy! At this point you can trim any uneven edges. I think putting it into a frame, even maybe on top of a collage or picture of your child the age they are when they made it as a fun way of remembering how old they were when they created this masterpiece. Or again, just have fun and get creative.

 

One thing is for sure, and that's that your little one will be proud of the work they did. Plus they get to carry around their favorite leaves with them.

Ilybug decided she wanted hers put on the fridge, so she could stick magnets to the different leaves. And it kept her entertained for a good chunk of time trying to stick different magnets to the different leaves and places on the mat.

Well that's it, not too shabby for $1 huh? It's easy, it's inexpensive, and there's a million different ways to use it. I definitely recommend having a roll of clear vinyl in your craft closet to pull out on rainy days. I will definitely be using more of it in the future. And I can't wait to see how it holds up to all the tests we will be throwing at it. I will definitely share our finds with you. And I would love to see what you come up with too. Feel free to share your blog, or links in the comments to see the masterpieces you and your kids come up with. Enjoy!

Which comes first the blog or life?

Bet you thought I was going to have an answer for you didn't you? But I'm sitting here, and my daughter is finally in bed, my husband just put my son down in his bed. So I am torn between spending some always needed time with my wonderful husband and taking care of the house, and of course my son who is, shall we say, a picky sleeper. I like to think that he just knows he's our last baby, and as such wants to give us everything we didn't experience with our very easy first baby. Well I've been struggling with this dilemma for the past month now (as you can see from my lack of posts). But I will admit, it's constantly been on my mind to post something fun. I have the blog bug, every time we are trying a new recipe or doing a craft, or just going outside for some fun I think of how I should take some photos to add to my blog. Well now I have tons of photos, and lots of great memories, but no blogs to show for it. Which brings me right to my question which comes first the blog or life?

Now for me a mother of two children both under 4, I find life to be very important right now. So some might ask why do I want to start a business and chase dreams right now, why not wait until the kids are both in school? Well let me tell you, we recently decided that we are done having children, and that is quite a shock to my system since I have devoted every waking moment to raising my family. And what I have come to realize is that I no longer know who I am outside of being a mom and wife, I'm finding this is a very common problem among women who are raising children. Well since there is soon to be no chances of us having more children I went through a little bit of a panic on what I am going to do with the rest of my life while the kids are growing up and moving on. While I'm still unsure if I am going to make it into the major leagues of a stay at home business, it is practice for me to prove to myself I can balance home life and something for myself. I'd love to go back to school at some point as well, but with student loan pricing and the economy being the way it is I don't want to waste money if I'm not able to keep up with it while I'm taking care of my family. So that is where my blog and business come in. It's to prove to me I can keep up, and in the process I'm following a long time dream of mine. So it's really two things built into one giant goal.

You see not too long ago I was one of the moms who browse through pinterest, google, and Facebook (and still do....) seeing all those successful moms who are doing the things they love while at home raising their kids, cleaning their homes and being a wonderful supportive wife... or so it seemed from the outside. But one thing I'm learning is there has always got to be room for compromise and of course nobody is perfect. My son got a bad cold and our schedules were thrown out of whack for two weeks because of it, not to mention my husband had surgery and I was sick as well. But the thing I allowed myself was time, and while that seemed like the end of the world at some points, I'm glad I took that necessary time for my family, and myself. That's the benefit right now with just starting a business, is that I can take a little time. The downfall is I will only be as successful as the time I'm willing to put into it. So I am pushing myself to be successful, and to really step outside of my comfort zones. I started crocheting and decided I love that, and it seems like a pretty high demand skill, so I'm primarily pursuing that right now. I'm still trying to convince myself to buy in at a vendor fair coming up here in Port Orchard at the Imagination Station. It's going to be Nov 17th from 9a-2p, so if you're in the area you should check it out. You may just see me there, if you do please come over and say Hi. 
 
If you mention you subscribed to my blog or my Facebook page I'd be happy to give you a 10% discount on anything I'm selling at my table, or on any custom orders. And for those of you that aren't able to make it but would like to make an order on or before Nov 17th, I will apply the same discount if you contact me at www.facebook.com/craftasticmommy or send me an email at craftasticmommy@yahoo.com. I am also exploring my photography skills, so if you'd like to discuss that as well, please just let me know. All the photos on my pages are taken and edited by myself. So if you are interested I'd be happy to work out a deal with you. 

Anywho I think that's enough information to process right now, I'm sure it's sounding as scrambled as my poor brain right now. Lol. But I should be getting a fun tutorial put up here real soon to make things a little more interesting around here. Hope you all enjoy. Thanks so much for your support. If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them anytime.  
 

A New Beginning to Craftastic Craftiness

Just learned to upload photos. Woohoo.

So I've decided I'm going to become an amazing blogger, extreme craftist, unique photographer, and exquisite chef, all while still being the perfect wife and stay at home mom... but the more I think of it the more I become overwhelmed and seem to sit at home scrolling through Pinterest (since they of course have all the answers... even to questions I didn't know I had). Anyways the one thing it hasn't told me how to do, is look at all the a-maz-ing pins and still have time to implement them all into my life. If only I had unlimited hours in the day, and a family that could survive on their own for more than 10 minutes without the house falling apart. No literally I went downstairs for 10 minutes and came back up and my daughter had all the cushions off the couch and my husband had the railing pulled off.... okay, okay he may have had a good reason to take it off, and in my daughters mind she did too, but still I think you catch my drift. I love my family more than anything else in this world, and I've dedicated the past 3 1/2 years to being a strictly stay at home mom, and by strictly I mean I had given up myself to do it. I did it without even knowing it, and I've since forgotten who I was before my children, and what it was like doing other things I love, especially guilt free.

An example of some coasters I made
that are now wall deco in my home.

Now that I have IlyBug and BoogerButt (I know-- not a pretty name... but it seems fitting for my boy. Lol), my family is complete. We are not having any more children, and with that scary realization I find myself in a frantic search to discover myself before my kids are grown, leaving me and I'm still sitting wondering what I'm supposed to do with my life. And since adopting millions of babies can probably get ridiculously expensive, I figure now is the time to rediscover my loves and start fitting them into my daily life. And if I can make a little money while doing it... well whoopie I'm golden! So I've started this blog as a stepping stone to put my feelings and efforts down for all to see the trials of a SAHM trying to find herself again before she becomes the creepy cat lady down the road raising kitties and calling them all by their first, middle, and last names; because they are my new babies after all. Wow that seems all too possible.... which is why it's imperative I make a stand for all home owners in my neighborhood and get a life now before it's too late and their gardens become litter boxes for my kitty folk. So please follow me, join me, help me, even criticize me (nicely please) to become the woman I want to be and of course a reliable source to get your crafty needs met without paying ridiculous prices at the retail stores.

Here's a picture of my first headband made, hope this gets your excitement going and you will come follow me on Facebook to see what else I come up with to sell. https://www.facebook.com/#!/CraftasticMommy I will also be opening my Etsy shop here in the near future after I get some stock built up. Now that my hubby is behind me in this adventure it shouldn't be long before I have that up and running also. www.etsy.com/people/craftasticmommy

I'm totally new at this blogging world, but I'm hoping to perfect it and get pictures and descriptions of items I've been working to create to share with you. I enjoy every SECOND I get to craft and let my imagination loose, although those seconds fly by way too fast when I have wife and mommy duties that come first. But my GOAL is to bring in a little extra income while doing something I love. But even more importantly to me, I want to help others who are too busy or just not touched with the crafty gene to bring a little piece of home made goodness to their lives. So, here we go!