Girls Camp Crafts - FishTail Bracelets

I was trying to think of one more bracelet we could do and started fiddling around with embroidery floss and braids.  Regular 3 strand braided bracelets were cool, but not different.  And I knew a lot of girls would like to learn how to fishtail braid, so there it was.

These took a LONG time though.  After about an hour of watching the girls I realized it would go a lot faster if you used 2-3 strands at a time.  So I began making them with 12-14 strands instead of 6-8, and I used 3 strands of the same color to cross over instead of 1 shown in the tutorial.  The result was a very cool, chunky, and much quicker version.  BUT because there were so many strands the knots were very chunky and hard to wear as a bracelet.  So we made much faster thick and chunky FishTail Key chains, too.  I didn't get any pictures though, sorry.  Too busy craftin'.

Figuring how to organize the thread was tricky.  I ended up cutting all the 1 yard strands myself and wrapping them around a clothespin so the girls could just unravel one strand at a time.  This worked pretty well, but I realized quickly that there is no real organized way to do anything with 100 girls and embroidery floss.  So it just ended up as a free for all with the floss all over the place.  Which is okay if they're okay.  I guess.

It was hard for me to walk away on that one.

Here's the tutorial:

PDF FILE - GIRLS CAMP

FISHTAIL BRACELET TUTORIAL

Click HERE for another tutorial on Fishtail Bracelets I found, from Oh So Pretty.

I sewed!!

Joey wanted to buy his friend Sarah some Polly Pockets for her birthday. "Sure, but they have small pieces and they always end up all over the house." I said. To which he replied, "you can just make her a bag!"

grin. lightbulb. "Why yes, yes I can."

So this apron started out as a simple Polly Pocket Organizer Handbag, but the idea transformed. I thought about how Kacie tries to stuff all her "little things" into her pockets, and carries a huge bag on her shoulder all day so she has her special stuff with her ALL the time. And I thought, how convenient that would be to have a cute apron to wear all day every day with a special compartment for special stuff, and an extra pocket for other treasures. She can wear it outside in the dirt and fill her pockets with acorns or dandelions, or in the kitchen with mom, or on a playdate...and all her Polly Pockets are right where they should be. In her pocket!

It felt good to sew.

Fuzzy Valentines.

They didn't want the Valentine to say WARM,

because that word implied to much cheesy-ness.

Someone could get the wrong impression, you know

So the WARM FUZZY Valentines became just FUZZY.

They wanted blue hearts,

because boys don't like pink.

And girls are okay with blue.

The plan was to put a small message on the Valentine

that said something like "use this clip to post

warm fuzzies to your family."

no thanks. They said that was cheezy.

Again, the word warm has too many implications.

Keep it short and as mushless as possible, mom.

Jake is just dropping a fuzz in everyone's bag,

without a clip and without a note.

I asked how they're going to know who it's from?

He said he'd make an announcement.

so as to totally avoid any pleasant sentiments.

fyi. we used a glue gun, which took some serious lessons to teach the kids how to hold the fuzz on the very top so they wouldn't touch the glue...but don't let them do the eyeballs! Ouch city.

Coco Moke City.

Dani and I designed this lion for my nephew, Jaden, for Christmas. Dani wanted him to be a flying lion, but he ended up looking like a dead angel lion with the wings, so she left them off and he became just a normal lion without any superhero quirks. Jaden named him Coco Moke. but he already has a monkey named Coco Moke, so my brother suggested he pick another name so as to not confuse the two. Jaden agreed, and changed the lion's name to Coco Moke City. perfect.

I think this year I'd link to pretend "launch" a Coco Moke City line of animals in that Etsy shop I opened. But, you know, it's the year of little commitment. So who knows. But it's also the year of following through. And the year of simple projects. And the year of the cheesecake. Which has nothing to do with Coco Moke City, but I'm hungry.

oh the conflicts of a good craft!

Wouldn't it be great to have a cow, and a pig, and a hedgehog, and a flamingo (just kidding. tricky.) made with soft, washable, recycled, sentimental tee-shirts? My head is full of ideas.

hmm. I wanna.

don't let me forget.

because I'll get busy and I will.

you know it.

Best Dressed Onesie Tutorial.

Jasmine just had a baby boy, after 3 girls.

I wanted to give her something very BOYish,

and I thought of ties.

But, hello, he's a baby.

So we stuck some on a onesie.

The bowtie was easy and quick,

but the necktie took some chocolate

to get me through. I finally figured

it out and thought I better document it

in case I get questions. It's best to be prepared.

So here's what you do:

with the skinny side on the right!

happy handsome baby.

i'm making a dress

{staring in the mirror contemplating

the unwanted poofiness of the first draft.}

and a quilt

and bowties

and hemming pants

and two bags

and a pillow

and dolls

and a mad mess.

waiting for the simplicity of lists.

why does one believe it is possible

to do 50 million things at once?

maybe I should just make

dinner.

there.

simple.

and everyone's happy.

favorite recipe utensil crock.

hello noodleheads!

I make cookies a lot. Like every day. And even though I pretty much have the recipe memorized, there are some times the kids want to make them or I forget to add the baking soda or something wild and crazy happens and all things good and lovely are lost and forgotten; so I've been wanting to display my recipe somehow where it's always visible. Kind of for nostalgia, too, because cookies are a big part of our kitchen. I thought about making a cute poster or embroidering it to hang on the wall, but I have no wall space to spare.

So there I was, craving Nestle Tollhouse one afternoon and staring at my blank utensil crock when it came to me: Put it on the crock. hmmm, good idea.

{the contact paper is for another tutorial below.

Don't worry about it right now.}

Cover the surface you're going to paint

with the Delta Surface Conditioner and let dry.

I wanted the recipe to be in my handwriting,

for nostalgia's sake,

so I decided not to use a stencil for this.

I tried using a paintbrush

but the paint is pretty thick

and it didn't turn out so well.

Just keep lightly dipping the end of your pencil in your paint

and write quickly so you get your real handwriting look.

You can wipe it off and try again if you don't like it.

Now slowly fill in your writing with more paint

using your pencil or a toothpick.

Carefully "drag" the paint along your outline

to fill in your letters.

Don't get too much paint on your pencil;

less is more. Go slowly.

Don't worry about it being a little sloppy.

We'll fix that in a minute.

Now do the same thing for the rest of your recipe.

As you've probably noticed, your writing doesn't look

as clean and streamlined as you'd like it to be.

This is because the PermEnamel paint is thick

and not easy to glide around. It's kinda gloppy.

So let your paint dry for 5 minutes or so

and clean it up with an x-acto knife.

Carefully scrape away any blobs or messes,

and thin out any thick and wonky letters that annoy you.

this is a little better:

remember, you're going for a

homemade handwritten recipe look,

so don't clean it up too much.

The paint dries fast but takes 10 days to fully cure,

so don't wash it for at least 2 weeks.

{PermEnamel paint is dishwasher, microwave, and oven safe.

However, I wouldn't put it on a surface that touches food

because it's not FDA approved. It is non-toxic, though.}

After finishing this and seeing it on my counter, I thought this would be a great wedding or anniversary gift. Cover the crock with special recipes in your handwriting and pass it on to your daughter. Love it.

I'm going to put my pizza crust and bread recipe on it, too, I think.

Here are a few other ideas and kitchen stuff i love using ceramic paints:

Martha Stewart painted china.

Wildflower Mugs by thimbly things.

Stenciled Animal Mugs by Country Living.

ps. This is my basic cookie recipe; I mix it up a lot. Sometimes I use 1 cup wheat or oat flour, shortening instead of butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon, pecans. Whatever. I almost always add 3 Tbsp ground flaxseed though; it's good for you. Use a big cookie scoop and bake them at 350 for 10 minutes. Your life will be happy.