Adieu until Sept.

I'm off to bonny Scotland again today. Just cleaning up the studio for my subtenants. With all my personal stuff in storage, it looks so much like a boring hotel room.

I'll be taking in the sights of Edinburgh with the little guy. Apparently, he's already got an itinerary for us. One of his favourite books is Miroslav Sasek's This is Edinburgh - we read it together every night on my last visit. Now he's decided that he wants to take a tour of his town using the book as a guide and he wants to have his picture taken at each spot. Sounds like a plan and a good one considering he's only 3!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope your day is special and you are surrounded by those who love you.

Ciao, belli!

Dancing queens

   

Need I say more? I found both here via Poppytalk. But they seemed to have orginated at the Visual & Critical Studies (VCS) program site at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) as a sort of gift to grad students.

Enjoy.

Tutorial: Vintage lady cupcake topper

I've had several requests on how to make the vintage image cupcake topper that I featured in a previous post for Mother's Day gift ideas. So here's the tutorial: to make a double-sided cupcake topper like the ones shown above, this is what you do:

1. First you gather up your materials. You can find vintage sewing patterns at almost any charity shop, church bazaar sale, or flea market. You'll also need a scanner, printer, scissors, toothpicks, and glue or tape.

2. Scan and save your preferred image. Once you have scanned and saved the image, you will need to make a mirror or reverse copy. To do this, select and copy the image to a new file. Create the mirror image (Flip/Rotate Horizontal under Tools) and then paste this mirror image in the first file as close as possible to the original one. 

3. Save this double image as a jpeg or whatever image format you normally use and then print out the image onto cardstock. 

4. Fold in half where the two images meet, so they are back to back and cut out being careful that both sides are even (you may want to cut off any excess paper first). 

5. Glue or tape a toothpick to the back of one side and then glue both sides together.

6. Stick it in a cupcake and you're done.

NOTE: If you don't have a scanner/printer, take your picture (or dress pattern package) to a photocopy center and have the folks there help you create the image you want. 

Mother's Day kiddie crafts from ...

A friend called me and asked why I had no kid-friendly craft projects for the wee ones to make for Mother's Day. So, Daniel, I had a quick look-see over at our lady Martha's because she always has oodles of ideas for any holiday event for the little ones. She shows tells you how to incorporate your kiddies' masterpieces for Mom as shown above. Kind of cute, no? You can also embellish tin cans or plastic containers (for vases or pencils, or utensils) with their artwork - just cut to fit and paste on. For more great Mother’s Day crafts from Martha, here’s where to go (and I mean that in the nicest possible way!).

You can also get some more ideas over at my Recycle, eh blog recycling cereal boxes, etc.

Have a blast!

Six more Mother's Day gifts to make and give

If you still need a little inspiration to make a gift for Mom (or gran, auntie, sister ... ), here are a few ideas including two that I made myself. 

1.     Give Mom a laugh with this cheeky cupcake topper. I scanned (but you can also photocopy) and printed the above image from a vintage Vogue sewing pattern, picked up at Value Village for 35¢, but you can use family photos, magazine images, etc. - whatever you have on hand. Once printed or copied, cut out the image, glue or tape a toothpick on, and stick it in a cupcake you've made or bought (be sure it’s Mom’s favourite cupcake!).

2.     If Mom’s a bird lover, she’s gonna love this cute little tea cup feeder (and so will all the birds, too). Head over to The Natural Wedding blog to find out how to make it.

3.     Instead of a humdrum box of chocolates, surprise Mom with this sweet gift featuring family photos. Get a few good quality (organic, if possible) chocolate bars, remove the paper wrapping and measure it. Next, choose your photos and crop so that these are the same size as the bar wrapping. Wrap one photo around each bar, and tape or glue at the back. Note you may want to make and use copies instead of original photos. 

4.     From Fun Kytie, here’s something every Mom needs - a cute sewing kit in a jar. I could certainly use one.

5.     Natalie over at Crème de la craft tells you how to make eco-friendly cereal box mini notebooks.

6.     These clever (and easy DIY) saucer photo frames, repurposed from unused saucers, are from Ideal Home magazine’s Home Shopping Spy blog.

If you have a few clever ideas of your own, why not share them here?

Earth Day is April 22

A little late in reminding you (and myself) that Monday, April 22, is Earth Day. There are many activities and events planned, some here in Ottawa. Go here to find out more.

Ciao!