Announcement!!!!

What do you get when you combine....

 with a little girl who loves to create and craft, have a lemonade stand or bake sale every year? 

You get a mother who is trying to nurture and encourage her upcoming artist by harnessing her creativity and teaching her a little business sense along the way. Please join me in welcoming my daughters new business - BRASSY Blossom! A joint effort of a mother and daughter team to produce a new line of eBooks specifically  for young girls to create, learn a new skill and build up confidence.

These are perfect for Mother/daughter crafting time, slumber parties, Girl Scout groups, youth groups, play dates, birthday parties or any day!

If you have a girl that loves to create and has that entrepreneurial spirit, we hope you will enjoy these eBooks.

The first eBook has been released today! You can snag it from her site or from my shop as well! PLUS there is a special introductory price from NOW through May 30th! 

 --------------------------

 more eBooks and ePatterns from her and ME coming very soon!

Read More

Summertime Badges - The Crafting Chicks

Hey Brassy Apple readers! My name is Nikkala and I'm one of the Crafting Chicks. I'm excited to be part of Megan's Save our Summer series. Summer is such a fun time of year, but it seems to go by way too fast and I want to make sure we make the most of it. My oldest starts kindergarten this year, so along with having a great time this summer I want to make sure he is set for school! My mom always said "summer vacation doesn't mean it is a vacation from life". One summer when I was in 4th or 5th grade, and long before Google was around, she hauled 6 kids to the library every week and had us write research papers on different Native American tribes from our area. Using old school card catalogs, we would look up the topic she had assigned for the week to research about our tribe. Luckily, we were young enough it seemed like fun and not torture! And as a huge bonus, I've never met a research paper I was afraid to write because of that summer.

This summer I'm taking full advantage of my boys eagerness to learn. We're implementing a merit badge type system. You know, like the boy scouts have? I've made up a stack of badges of summer activities and tasks that my boys are old enough do. As they earn a badge it will be added to their collection. I've even made some blank ones as I'm sure a lot of opportunities for badges I haven't thought of will come along. At the end of summer they'll be able to look back at all they accomplished summer 2011!

I don't know if your kids are like mine, but they want so badly to be able to do tasks I'm not ready to let them do. Like my 2 year old is obsessed with being able to crack an egg. We always tell him he hasn't passed the "egg class" or the "knife class" either, for that matter. This is the chance for me to hold these special "classes" and for them to become certified experts. I've tried to make the badges varied in the amount of time it will take to earn. Some will take all summer, others will be one time activities, and some are just fun things we have planned. Like their first airplane ride to visit a new cousin.

My list is geared toward the pre-school to kindergartner range, but of course this is can be customized for each child's interests and abilities. My 5 year old can earn his bike badge by learning to ride without training wheels, while an older child could earn their bike badge by riding a designated number of miles, or even by learning to patch a flat tire.

Here's a list of badge ideas:

Riding a bike

Tying own shoes

Weeding the garden

Washing the car

Reading

Washing dishes

Cracking an egg

Name writing

Camping

Birdwatching

Making a bug collection

Rock skipping

Roasting the perfect marshmallow

Building a sand castle

Stargazing

Pumping themselves on a swing

When a boring summer afternoon presents itself, we will know right where to look for an activity! Knowing my boys, they will try to earn all the badges in the first couple of days! Feel free to stop by and visit more great summer ideas from 2010 over on The Crafting Chicks too!

Thanks Megan for having me!

Read More

Funner in the Summer!

Mique over at the 30 handmade days blog asked if I would be one of the participants in her "Funner in the Summer" series. If you didn't know about it - well you've missed out! :)

A weekly posting of ideas for you and your kids to have well....."Funner in the Summer!" ha ha ha......

This week my idea was featured!  SO - as the beginning of school is nearing ever so quickly, squeeze some last bits of fun out of each day! Hop over to the 30 handmade days blog and check out all the fun!!! and tell Mique I sent ya ;)

Read More

Fairy Wings......

It's Spring Break week here and one of the things that were on our "list" was doing ART projects! We had three girls, imagination, entertainment and FUN with these Fairy wings.

Materials -
Wire hangers - 4 for 1 pair of wings
Nylons - $1 store
flowers to embellish - $1 store
paint
elastic

I created the base shape and let the girls run wild with the rest!  They even came up with the idea to create "fairy wands" themselves with their leftover flowers, some ribbon, an unsharpened pencil and hot glue! 

After a morning of creativity these little fairies took flight!

this project made the TOP 10 in the Dollar Store Craft Challenge!

Read More

Crafty Summer Series - I SPY book! creativity for the car...

Hello hello! It's challenge #2 REVEAL day! Two weeks ago I challenged all of you to craft up something for the car. Whether you are on the go, road trippin' it, have a kids to entertain or simply running errands around town.

What could you create to make it easier, better, more organized, comfortable, etc.

My head was swimming with ideas but I only need to share one so HOPEFULLY everyone else got up and moving and will share some great inspiration with you too!

Add your link to the Mr. Linky box belowm, then please leave a comment and have fun blog hopping!

I SPY book tutorial.......(great for car trips, trips around town, waiting at the dr. office, etc)

1. Take photos of "piles" or groups of items. Ideas include childrens toys, junk drawer, pantry, bathroom drawer, what's in their back pack, books, toy box, closet, etc....The possibilities are endless!

2. Print them out or send them to the 1 hour photo.

3. Buy an inexpensive little photo album/flip book.

4. Type up some "I SPY" riddles or counting challenges, etc. Think of the different ways they phrase the rhymes and wording of those "I SPY" books. Use counting, colors, objects, finding words, and on and on. Choose the skill level that is best for your kids.

5. Slide the photos and coordinating "riddles" into the book and VIOLA! you have your own personalized "I SPY" book!

The great thing about these are the pictures or "riddle" cards can be changed out at any time! They are also small enough to easily slide into your purse, their back pack or even better? make them their own t-shirt pack!

I have 12 different photos in my I SPY book. Here are some of our I SPY pages and some of the "riddles" I typed up to go along with them. Enjoy!

I spy a Cow, an Owl and a Snowflake

Can you find 4 pencils & 4 pairs of scissors?

I spy an apple, a fish & 5 containers of glue

“FABRICSHACK”, “MARKS” and a pen that’s gray/blue

I spy a pirate, “FUR REAL” and a Rose

A red Ranger, a crown, & a little brown nose

How many balls do you see?

Can you Spy 4 tools?

I spy spaghetti, an elf ear & 3 hooves

Read More

Crafty Thursday w/kids.....Placemats

So part of our summer fun around here is having a "schedule" and list of ideas of things we want to do/go/read, etc....It helps keeps us on track and from ever saying the dreaded words, "I'm BORED!!!" Plus they have something to look forward too as well. Good times for all. :)



Thursdays we are scheduled for a Craft or some type of cooking project. We'll today the kids got to do both! They frosted graham crackers with vanilla frosting and made a mound of cookies to munch on through the week. They enjoyed licking their fingers, breaking the crackers and having free reign in the project. It's nice when the cooking project doesn't required so much measuring, mixing, cooking, etc that the kids need alot of supervision with. They relished in the freedom!

Then it was craft time later on. I saw this link on Twitter for kids placemats and thought, "why not!" We used 2 pieces on construction paper for the base. Then they cut, glued, colored and drew all over them. My daughter even covered both sides. Instead of going to the store to have them laminated I just pulled out some contact paper and quickly finished them up!

They are so proud of them and enjoy peeking around the edges of their plates to see the pictures and it certainly sparks some interesting and funny conversations too! Have a great week-end!

Read More

DIY Fridge magnets and pushpins

(Be sure to upload your photos from trying this project into the Brassy Apple Projects Flickr group!)

I love taking fabric and using it on other fun crafting projects besides just sewing or what you would typically expect. I have several projects I have done over the last couple of months and thought I would share them with you! So if you - or your kids - are itching for a little DIY project, here's a great one for the whole family!



Fridge magnets and pushpins



step 1: gathering the supplies - you will need largecrafting "bubbles" with one side that is flat. You can use any size you like. Magnets - make sure your magnets are large enough to support the size of your bubbles. If they are too small the finished magnet will slowly slide down your refrigerator when you try to use it to actually hold any papers. Small pushpins with a flat head if possible. Craft glue - I prefer E600 - it's great for many projects, is clear and dries fast too. And then of course your fabrics or patterned scrapbooking type papers if you don't have fabrics on hand. Scissors, and something to trace with - I like using a fabric marker. Fusible interfacing or fusible fleece - optional.

Step 2: Layout your fabrics and place your bubbles
over top moving it around until you find a pattern that you like. Cut around the pattern in a small square and continue with as many fabrics and patterns for the magnets that you want to make. Optional step: Fuse interfacing or fleece to the back of your precut squares on the wrong side of the fabric. This will give the back of your magnets a finished look and keep the fabric from fraying when you cut it and use your magnets.



Step 3: Trace around your bubble and cut out your circle. Repeat with all your cut squares.















Step 4: Using a toothpick, squeeze out some glue and use the toothpick to apply it to the right side of your fabric. Place a nice medium sized glop in the center of the circle. Take your bubble and place it on top of the glue and press firmly and evenly down. The glue will race for the outside edges - be sure to push out any or as many glue bubbles as you can. Set aside to dry and repeat until finished.

Step 5: Using craft or hot glue adhere
your magnets to the back and place them right side up to dry. Remember to use a large enough magnet for the size of your craft bubble.

Step 6: Once dry they can dot your fridge, metal file cabinet, etc. Another great idea is to place them in a small container like an altoids tin, wrap it up with some ribbon and you have a great personalized gift to give away! Enjoy!

Push pins

To make push pins for your bulletin board simple
use the smaller size craft bubbles and follow steps 1 - 4 as outlined above. Then, instead of gluing a magnet to the back glue a flat headed push pin. Set pin side up to dry.

Read More

Spin Art Tutorial

Here's a great, fun and good for all ages tutorial - SPIN ART! - Create your own! Perfect summer activity to keep boredom at bay.

Let's get started!

Materials:

Cheap salad spinner (I purchased mine for under $3.00 at the grocery store)
Acrylic Paint - in various colors
Paper - construction works great!
Pencil/Pen
Scissors
something to cover your work area - newspaper, cheap plastic tablecloth, etc
optional: disposable pan or disposable plastic lid

Step 1: Cover your work area. This is a good activity for indoors or outdoors.













Take out your middle basket piece, place it on your paper and trace around it.


Step 2: Cut out your circle pieces of paper. These will fit in the spinner. I like to stack several pieces of construction paper together when cutting so I get several circles of paper ready to go! I also cut just on the inside of the line I traced just to make sure I have a good fit.

Step 3: Place your paper in the middle basket piece and place that back into the salad spinner.

Grab your bottles of paint and let your little ones squirt the colors on the paper in any pattern - or no pattern at all!

Step 4: When they've put on all the colors they wanted, replace the lid on top and start spinning!

optional: you can place our salad spinner in a disposable tin dish or disposable plastic lid as I have used here. When you start to spin the paint will eventually build up on the inside and start to drip out the bottom of the salad spinner. I like to place my spinner in a pan/tray/lid to catch the mess later. Then I just keep it and re-use it for more spinning projects.

Step 5: Lift off the lid and take the first look at your newest masterpiece!

Step 6: You can now add a few more drops of paint and spin again if necessary. To remove your art I simple tilt the middle basket piece to the side and shake gently. The paper will scoot out and be easy to grab. Or you can just simply reach it and grab it! Place somewhere flat to dry and spin another!

These are great for entertaining your kids this summer, for parties or get togethers! You could even make some patriotic ones this upcoming 4th of July! Enjoy spinning and creating with your kids, grandkids, family and neighbors!

Be sure to upload your photos from this project into the Brassy Apple Projects Flickr group!

Read More