Valentine Table Display

I finally got all of my Christmas decorations put away and quickly pulled out my Valentine's Day decorations.  I only have a few items, but really enjoy the simplicity that the colors of this holiday bring, especially during the dreary winter.

I had some artificial roses left over from a project I never started, so I finally put them to good use.  I used these styrofoam cubes (purchased for yet another project never started) to create a simple table display.

The roses were already trimmed from the bunch they came on and had a two inch stem.  I pushed them into the cube, making three rows of three flowers.  I put all the white roses in one cube, all the pink in another and all the red in another. 

 

I wanted to group these together, so I first rubberbanded them, then used masking tape to hold the three cubes together.

 

And last, I used a piece of scrap faux leather fabric to wrap around the styrofoam cubes, and added some coordinating ribbon for a neat finish.  I just used hot glue to attach the fabric and ribbon.  I love the way this simple display turned out!

 

Snow Fun!

If you were like me, and were a slacker about putting away the sand toys at the end of summer, don't fret! You can use those sand toys and buckets to make some pretty cool snow castles.

My daughter actually came up with the idea when she filled just one small bucket with snow and realized she could make snow castles. We pulled out a few of our other small buckets and sand castle shapes and built in the snow for a while. I think snow packs even better than wet sand!

Cheer Sticks

We are cheering on our hometown team, the Ravens, in the playoffs.  To help the kids cheer them on, we made some cheer sticks using some empty paper towel tubes and leftover party streamers.

 

We cut some strips and stapled them inside the ends of each tube.

Next, we applied some Mod Podge along the outside of the tube and

wrapped the party streamer around the tube.

Fun and simple!  Now it's time to cheer on the team!

Pressed Penny Coin Tube

Over the holidays, the kids found out we are going back to Disney World!  We went for the first time this time last year and had a good time, but unfortunately, our daughter got really sick our second day there, and missed out on a lot of fun.  My husband and I were both feeling pretty bummed about it, so we worked some things out to make another trip.  Fingers crossed everyone stays well this time!

I've been working on a few goodies for the kids to take along with them, including this coin tube.  My kids love to make those pressed pennies wherever we go, and Disney World was no exception.  The problem was, every time they spotted one of the machines, we had to dig in our bag for change.  Hopefully this tube will help solve that problem and give the kids a convenient place to hold their quarters and pennies to fund their pressed penny collection.

I found these mini M&M tubes on After-Christmas-Clearance for just a few cents.

After the kids ate the candy, I removed the wrapper.

Next, I cut some Disney scrapbooking paper into strips to cover the tubes.

Using Mod Podge, I adhered the strips to the tubes.
I used about 3 coats to make sure they stayed put.

To get the kids involved, I had them sort out the quarters and pennies they would need.
They created a pattern - quarter, quarter, penny,
since you would need 2 quarters and a penny each time you wanted to make a pressed penny.
They added them to their tubes.

And here is the finished project!
They were really simple to make and hopefully will prove very useful.

I'm back!

I'm really sorry I've been MIA for so long.  Christmas came like a whirlwind and so did an awful sinus/ear infection that left me feeling tired and light-headed for almost 3 weeks.  I'm finally on the mend though and having more energy to get back into my regular routine, especially blogging.

I have so many new ideas to share with you, including some fun winter crafts, repurposed clothing projects, Valentine's Day crafts, and much, much more!  I'm also nearing my 100th post - woo hoo!  So, spread the word about The Muddy Princess to your friends and family and have them become a follower today.  No one should miss out on all the crafty fun!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I just wanted to pop in for a moment to say hi!  I'm taking a little break so I can enjoy the rest of the Christmas season with my family and get ready to ring in the new year.  Looking forward to posting more after the new year with winter crafts, Valentine's Day ideas and a sneak peek at my son's 7th birthday party.  See you in 2011!

Kissing Ball

I love to bring nature into my home as much as I can around the holidays.  You'd be surprised at how many things still exist when it's freezing, that make lovely additions to your home.  I currently have 2 kissing balls, but both are artificial.  One is a ball of mistletoe and the other is a ball of poinsettias.  But, I was really looking for one made with natural materials.

I saw this boxwood kissing ball on the Pottery Barn website, but unfortunately it was also artificial and $50!  Then, I had an idea!  We have some boxwoods by our front porch, that I'm sure wouldn't mind having a winter trim.  So, I headed outside, snipped some branches, brought them inside and put them in a bowl of water.

I used a small styrofoam ball as my base. 

I trimmed the boxwood branches so I had short, 2-3 inch long pieces to stick into the styrofoam ball.  I started adding them randomly to the top, bottom and sides, then continued to fill in the spaces.

You could hang the kissing ball or sit it in a decorative bowl or vase.

I just finished it today, so I can't tell you how long it will last for, but I'll be sure to come back and let you know how it's doing after Christmas.

Homemade Hand and Body Scrub

One of my favorite products during these cold winter months, is a nice hand scrub.  They do a great job of exfoliating and leave my hands oh so soft!  But, they can be a bit pricey!

So, I really wanted to try to make some homemade hand scrub for my children's teachers this year.  There are a lot of recipes out there, and mine is a compilation of a few with some minor tweaks.  Here is what you need:

• brown sugar
• white sugar
• raw sugar
• vanilla extract
• olive oil

In a large bowl combine 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of raw sugar.  Stir well.  Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and begin adding about 1 tbsp of olive oil, stirring the mixture well.  Continue adding 1 tbsp of olive oil until you get the consistency you like.

I prefer a crumbly consistency with less olive oil.  I find that the olive oil will not leave behind as much residue, but still leaves your hands feeling soft.

Spoon the mixture into a container and seal with the lid.  I hope the teachers are as excited about receiving these as I was to make them!

Footprint Penguin Ornaments

Every year since my son was a baby, we've made a handprint or footprint ornament.  As the kids have gotten older, it has definitely become harder to find ornament ideas that we haven't already done, or that will accomodate growing hands and feet. 

This year, we decided on footprint penguins and they turned out really cute!  We used Crayola model magic for the footprint and for the details we used craft foam, sequins and googly eyes.

I had a few other ideas, like adding a piece of riboon for a scarf and adding triangle feet, but the kids liked them just they way they were.

I did a post way back in September about our previous handprint/footprint ornaments that you can see HERE.  Have fun creating!

Faux Gingerbread Houses

My kids love to decorate gingerbread houses, but they really don't like gingerbread.  They will surely eat the candy decorations off of their houses, but the gingerbread usually ends up going to waste.  So, last year, I decided to make their "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers.  We did it again this year, and it was another big hit! 

I cut the graham crackers to the shapes I needed by using a serrated knife.  By using a sawing motion, you can cut the graham crackers without breaking them.  I whipped up some royal icing and built our tiny graham cracker houses.

Then I pulled out all of candy decorations.  This is a great way to use up leftover Halloween candy if you have any.  I love to decorate holiday cookies and cakes, so we always have a ton of candy decorations.

I put some royal icing in a baggie, snipped a corner, and put the kids to work! 

We also made Christmas trees this year by spreading green frosting on a pointed ice cream cone and adding small candies.

This kept the kids busy for a good part of the day!  And they turned out really cute!