MOPS Crafts

MOPS Craft Ideas

As our MOPS year wraps up, I thought I would share some of the crafts we did that were all pretty simple and fun and went over well with our MOPS moms in case you are a craft leader and looking for some ideas for your group next year or just looking for some simple craft ideas that also make cute gifts. Some of the crafts we did this year were

Chalkboard Picture holder 

I made mine a counter downer for when my husband has to travel.  Other ideas could be birthdays, what's for dinner, or just where you leave love notes for your spouse or child...and whoever it's for you can stick a picture on the top in the little coil of them...I wasn't on the craft team at that time so I'm not sure where they got the idea or what the prep was like but it was fun.

Sugar Scrub

We purchased plastic tubs for less than a dollar a piece here.  Then just had the girls make a basic sugar scrub with white sugar, oil and a few drops or essential oil (optional).  Then we had stickers they could add as labels and some glued a wide ribbon around the container to decorate.  

Handmade Envelopes

Up-cycling 

Our theme for this craft was up-cycling, so we had magazines, catalog pages and newspapers that we put out for the girls to choose from.  We also had templates for them to cut out their envelope and then quickly assemble.  We just made these at our discussion groups because it was so simple, but it was really fun, easy, and I heard a few of the moms had fun using their homemade envelopes to send cards to friends and family.  We also put out some scrapbooking stamps and punches with cardstock for them to embellish with.  The Restoration Hardware catalog made awesome envelopes!  Here is a link with templates and tips for making your own envelopes.

Holiday Christmas Clothespins

This was a really inexpensive craft for the group.  We got the idea from Blue Cricket Designs  I hot glued magnetic strips onto the backs of all the clothespins so they could be used as fridge magnets but as she mentions in the original post you could include a ribbon for them to be strung along a mantle for displaying Christmas cards.  What a fun little project!!!

I Spy Bottles 

(a sensory activity for the kids)

Two of our other craft leaders took on this project and dyed the rice, enough for 70-80 women!  Apparently they dyed it similar to the way you would dye easter eggs and then spread it out on tarps in their garage to dry.  Once it was dry they mixed it all together in a big plastic storage tub.  They also ordered clear plastic beef jerky containers Here but you could just recycle an clear plastic bottle too, using what you have on hand.  We then filled the containers with little things to spy such as foam letters, paper clip, buttons, a small butterfly bead, heart and airplane, penny, smiley face bouncy ball, a rubber band, star bead, frog and a marble. They made little labels with what is in side so the kids know what to look for and what they haven't found yet.  This one went over really well too, and the kids loved it!  We had it set up on 2 long tables, the moms came through, picked up a container, filled it 2/3 full with rice, then went through adding the various trinkets (we each bowl of things labeled with how many they should add such as 3 letters, or 1 of each for most of the other things), then they put some tacky glue on the inside of the lid and screwed it on.  Then used some clear packing tape and added the label and that was it!

Jars with Decorative Lids

from the Nate Burkus Show

So this project came from the Nate Burkus show and was really fun, you can see the tutorial here!  Those of us on the craft team took turns being in charge of each craft and our gal who presented this idea and took it on did awesome and she had to collect a lot of jars so we would have enough for everyone (70-80) and she pulled it off!  Thankfully her dad was also helpful in sanding, drilling the holes, and spray painting the lids although if you were to do this on your own, you could just use a nail and hammer to make the hole in the lid.  Also her dad was helpful in trimming the screws on the knobs, she picked up a lot of cute knobs at Hobby Lobby 50% off and the screws were really long.

Anyways, we had three stations set up so when the moms came in, they first went to the table with the knobs and picked out the knob they liked and then chose a station to create their jar.  The stations we had were candy, they could fill their jar with mints or taffy.  The next station was a beachy votive jar, filled 1/3 with sand (we bought a big bag of play sand) and then put a tea light candle in the middle and sprinkled in some small stones and sea shells (from the dollar store) around the votive.   The third station was to fill your jar with bath salt.  We had a tub of epsom salt and then set out the essential oils we had left over from the sugar scrub project we had done previously.  They added a few drops of essential oil to their salt and stirred.  Then they added a cute little scoop that she picked up at a party supply place meant for appetizers or something, but it worked really well in the jar with the bath salt.

This project was fun because there are so many ideas of what you can put in the jars...if you decorate a mason size jar or old spaghetti sauce jar, you could fill it with layered soup mix or cookie mix to give as a gift, smaller jars you can use for toothpicks, candy, teabags, sea shells, rocks, cotton balls, pencils (a great teacher gift) or whatever else you can think of!  

5 Easy Handmade Gift Ideas

Great Handmade Gift Ideas

I haven't had enough time lately to get started on all the things I have on my list of things I want to make this Christmas, but here are a few at the top of my list to try that would make great handmade gifts.

Magnetic Bookmark

I'm totally diggin' this magnetic bookmark tutorial, it looks super easy and I could make some cute ones with all the fun fabric scraps I already have on hand!  View the tutorial by Louise found on the Southern Institute.

Coffee Cup Sleeve

I definitely want to make some of these coffee/tea cup cozy's for Christmas too!  These would be a great handmade gift to make for all your girlfriends, sisters, sister-in-laws, moms, aunts, kids teachers...etc. Just follow the great Coffee Cup Sleeve tutorial by Staci HERE.

Chef hat and Apron

And for the lil' cuties, I ADORE this tutorial for the kids apron and chef hat!  You could even pair this with the paula dean kids cookbook 

Ruffle Scarf

I also heart this frilly scarf made from a T-SHIRT!  Check out the tutorial Here if you want to whip up one of these.

Holiday Clothespins

These holiday clothespins from Blue Cricket Designs are a fun and easy gift you can make.  They can either be strung along a ribbon to display christmas cards on the mantle or you can attach a magnet to the backs to put the on the fridge.  

Are you planning on making any handmade gifts this year?  Have you bought any cool handmade gifts?

Personalized Hanger - Baby Name Gift

Personalized Wooden Hanger 

baby name gifts

I made this personalized hanger for my baby niece who was just born as a funny, cute way to remember how my 4 yo daughter named her "Rainbow Gotters" while my sister was pregnant.  During the pregnancy, Rainbow Gotters kind of became the baby's name until she was born and although her parents gave her a beautiful name, my daughter was a little upset when she found out Rainbow Gotter's wasn't going to be her real name...because that's the name SHE picked out and that SHE wanted her to have.  So we said that it could be her special cousin name for her.  This personalized hanger would be a cute baby name gift for real names too :)

 Trace the outline of the wood hanger on the back of your decorative paper.  repeat for both sides and then cut out the hanger shape from the paper. set aside.

 Paint the sides of the hanger and the front and back if you like.  (although that will be covered by the paper so isn't really necesarry)

Once paint is dry, using a foam brush, apply an even coat of modgepodge over the wooden hanger.  Carefully line up the precut paper and press onto the hanger, smoothing the surface.  Allow that to dry and then repeat on the back side.

Now, using your letter stickers,  personalize the hanger by adding the baby's (or whoever's) name and embelishing with gems or other stickers.

Cake and Strawberries! Plus Cake Stand Tutorial!!!

So I had previously posted a picture and a link to these adorable ideas I found through V & Co. featuring a strawberry shortcake and set of fabric strawberries. This was something on my to-do list that I ACTUALLY got done! I made these for one of my daughter's 3rd Birthday gifts. I used THIS free tutorial for the fabric strawberries and could have bought the tutorial for the cake HERE, but I was too cheap and just stared at the picture instead and decided to figure it out. If you decide to make this cake, maybe buy the tutorial...you'll save yourself some time and frustration. Mine is REALLY "fudged" but with the frosting on it looks decent. I decided to make my frosting reversible so my daughter could have strawberry shortcake or a lemon cake! Anyways, it was a hit! She has really been enjoying this play set, and it goes perfectly with her new tea set! I also made the cake stand, it only took about 10 minutes...if you include waiting for the glue gun to heat up! My daughter loves switching the frosting around and piling on the strawberries....then pretending to take a great big bite right out of the cake!

Fabric Strawberries

I found the little yellow basket for the strawberries in the Easter Section at Hobby Lobby for 50 cents! I thought it was PERFECT!

Strawberry Shortcake

Lemon Cake

Super Easy Cake Stand Tutorial

To make the play wooden cake stand, here is what you'll need:

glue gun
foam brush
acrylic craft paint
wooden candle stick
wooden circle-
(found mine near clock making supplies at the craft store)

Pull out the metal thing that holds the candle. (my husband used a butter knife to pry it out).

Decide which way you want to use the candle stick, I actually used mine upside down, it looked better f0r the cake plate design.

Heat up your glue gun.

Find the center of you wooden disc/circle

Apply hot glue to the end of the candle stick and carefully aligned and attatch to center of wooden disc.

Using your foam brush, paint an even coat of craft paint. That will quickly dry and you can do a second coat if needed.

THE END!

And if you need a real cupcake stand that can be thrown together in a jiffy and on the cheap, check out my super easy, frugal cupcake stand tutorial.

Another great bargain seen here? I got that dress my daughter is wearing last year from Gymboree on Clearance for under $10, it was originally around $40. I bought the next size up and now it fits her perfect for this spring/summer season! I LOVE getting a good deal!

A Diaper Cake!

I'm feeling pretty special this week! Over the weekend, I was treated out to a girls night out before this little guy arrives (about 19 days left)! I've met some great moms through my playgroup that I found through meetup.com and one of those great moms made me this AWESOME diaper cake! Isn't it so cool? I've heard of them but had never seen one before! This morning, my daughter was really amused by it...she kept saying "diaper cake.....don't eat it!" and giggling. But as I started to take it apart, she gave one of the diapers a quick lick...just to make sure she wasn't missing out on something good! haha.

She (my friend) also made these adorable burp clothes!



And then she ALSO did something really cute and thoughtful, she had a little book made for me with recipes and advice from her and the other moms in our group. The recipes were all yummy favorite dishes that are easy to put together after you have a new baby....It turned out SO cute! Best of all was the TURTLE CHEESECAKE we sat and ate over the course of a fun girls night (no hubbys or kiddos!) at the Cheesecake Factory!

Moving to a new area where you don't know anyone can be really hard. And it seems once you become a mom, it can become even harder to make new friends. It's so important to reach out and get involved whether you are in a new area and know people or not, there are tons of other great moms out there! We don't have to be all alone. Two great resources for me have been finding a playgroup through meetup.com and MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). There are lots of ways to get connected in your area, for more ideas, check out this article HERE. It can be too easy feel isolated but it can also be very easy to get involved!

And...I guess I might as well show off a belly shot!

37 Weeks and 1 Day

Relaxing Lavendar Eye Pillow

Since I've gotten my sewing machine this past Christmas, I have made quite a few things for other people, but I haven't made anything for myself! So today I finished up this relaxing Lavender Rice Eye Pillow encased in a pretty satin fabric. I made a bunch of lavender rice heating pads with cute flannel covers for Christmas gifts so I just used some of my leftover muslin, rice and dried lavender to whip this up. It smells SO good and feels great over my eyes. For making cute looking heating pads, there is a GREAT tutorial that I used over at V & Co. And I modified it to make the smaller eye pillow.

Now if you'll just excuse me...my new lavender eye pillow is calling my name and it might just put me to sleep for the rest of the afternoon!

Lace Tealight

Okay so here are some awesome projects I just came across today that are going on the "I've gotta make this!" list!

These charming Lace Tealights from Mint are just so pretty and simple to create and make for a perfect gift or favor! You can view the tutorial HERE. I've never really paid much attention to doilies not thought of any ways to use them beside letting my daughter glue them into her little collages, but now I'm going to be keeping an eye out! I already have someone in mind who would adore receiving one of these pretty little things!

Fabric Strawberries & Strawberry Shortcake!

So my (almost) 3 year is loving her new (to her) white wooden play table that I found on Craigslist. Ever since we got it, she has been hosting daily tea parties for her 3 my little ponies and 1 or 2 monkey friends for the past few weeks. Her birthday is coming up at the end of the month and even though I have an idea of what we will get her for a gift, I keep thinking I would love to get her a play cake set or play cupcake set for her tea parties, possibly something I could make. As of right now, she serves plastic crackers as snacks.
Well, I just came across these ADORABLE fabric strawberries (click for free tutorial) and strawberry shortcake with removable frosting through one of my favorite blogs V and Co.



Is this not the cutest???!! I'm so planning on making these for one of her birthday presents! The To-Do List just got a little bit longer! ;)

Another Tutu

I just whipped up another Rose Petal Tutu today. I was headed to the post office and wanted to add one more thing to the package I'm sending to my niece for her 4th birthday. I couldn't believe how quickly this went, I mean, the first one I made took under an hour, but now that I knew what I was doing this time around, it took no time at all! I did miss having a wider ribbon to tie around the waist but I had to use what I had on hand, so I added 3 smaller ribbons. I also used a clip on flower that I found at JoAnns, which was an easy time saver!

I hope she likes it, now her and my daughter can wear matching tutu's next time they see each other on SKYPE!

If you missed the original Rose Petal Tutu Post, you can click to check out my free tutu tutorial!

Turquoise & Leather Bracelet

Stella & Dot's

Stylish resort style bracelet...

This is my imitation knock off version of the super cute bracelet.

Turquoise and Leather Beaded Bracelet

With Stylish Silver Button Loop Closure

Set against my 34 week Baby Bump!

I haven't made any kind of jewelery since I was in elementary school and made knotted friendship bracelets for my friends! So when I saw all the super stylish jewelery on Stella & Dot, I wanted to have it all...but I can't afford to pay $54 for one turquoise beaded bracelet. So I decided to take a jab at it and make one for myself.

To start off, I picked up the beads at Hobby Lobby, 50% off so it was only a couple bucks. Then The leather cording and other stringing supplies were on sale and cheap as well. I picked up the silver buttons at JoAnns and got to work! Everything was less than $10 and I have leftover supplies to make more bracelets.

I decided to take pictures along the way for a free tutorial so you can try making one of these stylish bracelets too! I was able to finish this during one of my daughter's naps. It only took my a few days to fully complete it because I had to get to the store to buy the buttons.

Turquoise and Leather Bracelet Tutorial

(Disclaimer: I don't know anything about Jewelry making or any special types of knots or lingo for explaining. If you have techniques or know certain types of knots that should be used, please feel free to add your input in the comment section!)

I started with 11 inches of leather cord but I would recommend using more because I could barely get it to be long enough and tie those buttons on at the end. So, give yourself plenty to work with because you can always trim off the ends when you are finished. I would start with at least 13 inches of cord if you have small to normal wrists, more if they are wider.

I used 10mm and 8mm round beads, you can use whatever size, just make sure you have 15 larger beads and 30 smaller beads.

Supplies
Turquoise Beads - 10mm round (15)
Turquoise Beads- 8mm round (30)
Leather Cord (Leatherette Cord) 1MM Black
Beadstring
2 silver buttons

Cut yourself 4 equal lengths of the leather cord (at least 13 inches).

Taking 2 of the strands of leather, line them up evenly and tie at one end, leaving enough excess leather cord off the end to tie a button to.

Tightly tie and knot the end of a long strand of beadstring around your starting knot. Place your first 8mm bead between the two leather cords next to your knot. Thread the beadstring through the left side of the bead.


when you pull the string through the bead, loop the beadstring around the right leather cord and then thread back through the bead, so it comes out on the left side as pictured below. When you pull the string all the way through the bead, thread it on the underside of the leather cord.

Pull tight.
Repeat this process to creat a strand using five 8mm beads, five 10mm beads then five 8mm beads. Tie off when you get to the end.

Take the 2 remaining strands of leather cord and repeat the process, so you have 2 complete beaded strands of bracelet.

Then, using the same technique, Tie a length of beadstring to the end of one beaded strand, add a bead and then connect it to the other strand, so you have a length of beads that attaches the to bracelets together, creating the 3 rows.


At one end of your bracelet, thread one strand of leather cord through the button and then tie a knot underneath. Repeat on other strand so you have two buttons parallel with eachother.

On the opposite end of the bracelet, take the remaining leather cord...create a space large enough to accomodate your button and then make a loop knot. If you have enough remaining cord, you can create a second botton loop hole for variety in length. Make sure you repeat the process so it's even on the other strand.


Try it on! If everything is fitting and in the right place, make sure those knots are tight and then trim off any remaining excess cording/stringing.

Only 6 weeks left!
CAN'T WAIT to meet this little guy!