easy project

Snowman Lantern DIY

January 28, 2021 by Jessica Leave a Comment

We had our very first snow day this winter today! It was so fun. My girls were up really early and were more excited than they were on Christmas morning hahaha. Since it is still very much winter here, we are still making winter crafts. This is one I had shared on instagram, but decided to give it a home here on the blog too. It’s not a super specific tutorial, but it’s enough to help you create one of your own.

I’m always looking for ways to add some extra light to the winter darkness so I was immediately drawn to winter craft lanterns I had seen on Pinterest. The only thing was is they were all made with glass jars. I wanted something I could make with my youngest (and niece and nephew) that would be more kid friendly. I found a great alternative one day when I was at Michaels. I saw these plastic snow globes and knew we could create our very own kid friendly snowman lantern. (These were a seasonal item at Michaels so you might be able to find them in the clearance section, but you can also find them online from other places.)

Besides a plastic snow globe (or some kind of plastic jar), all you need is a few simple crafting supplies:

Plastic snow globe/jar
Mod Podge
White Tissue Paper (cut up into small pieces)
Foam/Paint Brush
Black and Orange Piece of Felt
Felt Color of Choice for Scarf
Pipe Cleaner
Pom poms (I actually had cut off small ones from some yarn I had)
Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Battery Operated Candle that fits in plastic container (I picked one that flickered)

To begin, I had the kids cover the globe with mod podge and stick on the pieces of tissue paper. Then they did a layer of mod podge on top of tissue paper. To make it simpler, I had already cut out the eyes, mouth, and a nose from felt for them to glue on using a glue gun. You could use regular glue too. I dabbed on the glue and they placed the felt in the right spot. Then since it was a bit trickier, I glued the pipe cleaner in place and the pom poms on top of the ends so it looked like ear muffs. The pipe cleaner even acts as a handle if you leave enough room.

I let them decide on the scarf color and then cut that out and glued it on. I had to cut two long pieces for it to be long enough to fit around the “neck”. The seam is in the back middle. Then once it’s all dry you can place the candle inside. The fact that it flickered added a bit more magic to the finished product. You can be creative and make other winter themed lanterns too…. like a reindeer, the Grinch, Santa, an ornament…. just change out the color of tissue paper and accessories and there you go!

Easy Magnolia Wreath DIY

May 10, 2016 by Jessica Leave a Comment

I love having a wreath on our front door. It adds so much! Especially for us since our front yard has no landscaping yet 😉 I had bought a gorgeous dried floral wreath and sadly it did not do well with the few hours of sun it gets before night time. I thought maybe it might make it since it’s not in direct sun for too long but I was wrong. I learned my lesson. I’m sticking with faux wreaths for now since they will last quite a bit longer before they fade away. To rectify the situation, I went to the store and decided to make a magnolia wreath diy.

To make your own you will need:

Magnolia leave stems (I bought five at Michaels and ended up using only four; I happened to get them on sale for 50% off!)
Grapevine wreath (I reused one that I had torn everything off of already, but you can find these for less at thrift stores or at local craft stores)
Wire cutters
Hot glue gun and glue

Start by breaking down the stems into smaller bunches.

To create a more natural look, you can turn some of the leaves around so you can see the back as well. I have seen faux magnolia stems be all green, so you might not need or want to do this. I liked the look and felt it added more visual interest to the wreath.

Start by placing one stem in the grapevine wreath. Glue the bottom in place and at other spots where the stem is lying flat on the wreath so it will stay in place.

Continue adding more stems on top of the previous ones. Glue one in place at a time. I also found I had to bend the stems at times to make them more curved to fit the wreath’s direction.

Your last stem will be tucked underneath the very first one. From the front, flat on the ground, I liked how the wreath looked, but once I held it up there were some spaces I wanted to fill in.

If you feel the same way, take some individual leaves and glue them in the bare spots.

I also decided to glue down more leaves because we get a ton of very strong winds out here and I didn’t want the leaves blowing off. It made for a flatter wreath, but I wanted that security.

It now lives on my front door and I’m hoping it will make it through the summer. This is truly a simple and easy project and would be fun to make together on a craft night with friends. -jess

Stamped Wood Magnets DIY

July 1, 2014 by Jessica 2 Comments

Ever walk around the craft store and randomly buy supplies and then come up with something to make from those supplies? That was this project. I have always wanted to make something with wood discs and then I fell in love with these mini stamps I found. Put them together and add a magnet and you get these! This is a fast and easy craft and would be good to do with older children or even make these as a party/wedding favor.

You will need wood discs (you could even cut some up from branches in your back yard), mini stamps small enough to fit on discs, an ink pad, magnets, and a strong glue (like E600).

Simply stamp on the wood. I did find that I like the bigger type stamps better as they showed a lot nicer on the wood. But if you make some you don’t really like, flip it over and use the other side or paint over it and stamp again. That would make for a more colorful magnet.

Glue on the magnets once ink is dry (which is really quick). If using the E600 glue, make sure to use it in a well ventilated area.

Then let the glue dry. The magnets I used were really strong, so I had to make sure not to place them too close together while they dried or they would attract each other and stick together.

Then use them on your fridge or wrap up really cute and hand out a fun little gift for your friends and family.

Happy crafting!

Jess