Monday, September 26, 2011

Meagan's 12th Birthday-Recycled T-Shirt Goodie Bags

So, I am getting all my blogging done in one day. I have a few more minutes before the older kiddos start getting home from school.

Last year we had a pool party at the house and it was absolutely crazy but fun. This year I wanted to do something that was...well....easier. We ended up at Laser Tag. However, Meagan, who also loves to craft wanted to do something unique for her goodie bags. I could have purchased them for $3.99 per child, but I caved and crafted instead.

This is what we ended up with.

Recycled T-Shirt Birthday Goodie Bags


We made some into drawstring bags and others we cut the sleeves down to make “handles” and made flowers out of the sleeve material and tried to coordinate and contrast them with the other t-shirts.
Yes, I left the tags on…I am all about authenticity. These were very easy to do and cost me very little. The t-shirts I found at goodwill/garage sales.  I just sewed the bottoms shut, sewed the sides on some of them to give a better shape to the bag, and then constructed the flowers by basting a strip and connecting them. I used strips of t-shirt “yarn” to roll up in the middle of the flower and attached them with a few stitches.

The night before the party two of her friends "randomly" showed up and ended up staying the night. So, in addition to her party at Stratum Laser Tag, she ended up with a mini slumber party too. The girls stood up late working on crafts. Oh ...and attempted to dye their hair with food coloring...ugh...it didn't work too well. Thank goodness, or I would have had some explaining to do.

Happy Birthday Meagan we love you!!


Recycled Halloween Fun--Spontaneous Crafting

We have started creating for Halloween.
I love to recycle, so as a family we came
up with these cute ideas so far.

The "Haunted House" is a spray painted Heineken box.  The Tin Can Monsters were super easy and we had most of the supplies already.(Saw something similar to these on the Family Fun Magazine Site". The Hanging Ghost Trio we made from a Pizza Hut box. See below for closeups.


These three little ghosties were super easy to make. We had Pizza Hut pizza the night before and that cardboard box inspired me. Plus, I don't yet have a scroll saw, so I have to improvise. (hint hint...honey) : )

I found a ghost pattern in an old magazine I liked and made a template then cut three out of the box. I painted one side white and the other side black.

After they dried I used my Micron pens to draw all the details. We had a bag of scrapbooking cutouts which we used to decorate them even more. I hung different sized ropes on the back with a button glued over the top of the rope connection to hide the glue.

We also outlined them in thin rope which was also in my scrapbox. It finished them off quite a bit better, I think. The cardboard tends to have torn or rough edges.  They hung nicely in my little Halloween corner.

I am going to try bats and other figures next time. ...what was the number to Pizza Hut??...lol..any type of cardboard would work I am sure.





Okay for the Heineken Haunted House this is what we did. Now I know we could have made it even better or perhaps added a little fence with a graveyard. I am working on that as we speak. But, this was our first attempt. I added this pic and brightened it a bit so you could see the logo bleeding through. It doesn't really show in the corner I have it in, but probably could have used one more coat of paint. Of course, my husband enjoys seeing it, so what the heck. Yes...he loves Heineken, yes we have been to Amsterdam and yes we visited the Heineken factory (It was a wonderful trip)..I assume there will be more projects in the future with bottles, caps and boxes so be prepared. : )

He always opens the box in the front, so that provides me with a little "ramp". I left the edges rough, because I thought it added some authenticity. We added little decorations from the dollar store and my scrap booking cutout bag. Stuffed black grocery bags and purple tissue paper inside.

The felt covered paper mache softball pumpkin was easy to do. Actually, the softball was only the softball guts, as my almost 1 year old puppy chewed the crud out of it. That is why we "re-shaped" it a bit prior to covering it.

I found the leaves at the dollar store. I always pick up seasonal stuff and have it stored away for "who knows what" and it worked to cover the handle hole on the top.  I am sure some of you out there can come up with a better way to do this, but this was just a spontaneous first attempt.

Thanks for stopping by and remember to gather all the bits and pieces of your lives and make lasting memories.

In the Beginning

Welcome to our life.
We are the Cayer family; A non-traditional kind of blended family.We all love to create. My husband comes from a long line of carpenters and creators.I grew up crafting with all kinds of misc materials and have tried to pass that one to my family as well. We have 5 children and as they have grown they have all shown their ability to create as well. I am so proud.

It has been a long time since we have devoted a great deal of time to our crafting passion, but I am now a stay-at-home mom...for the time being..so watch out! We have the crafting bug. Every milk carton, bottle cap, toilet paper roll and aluminum can are now carefully scrutinized before they are tossed in the recycle bin. I have dug out all my old supplies and crafting magazines, and we have begun.

I hope to share with other fellow crafters, make some friends and as always, learn something new each day.