I love the fact that my kids are older so they can be in charge of their own stuff on our Disneyland trips and other vacations. My youngest prefers to carry a drawstring bag over a backpack, so we decided to make a special one for our most recent Disneyland trip. He’s a big Star Wars fan and Cricut has some cool Star Wars designs, so this Darth Vader image was an easy choice.

I love how quickly you can customize a project with the Cricut Air 2 or Cricut Maker machines.  The Cricut machine is so user-friendly.  It knows which items need to be cut in layers and it does all the thinking for you.  You can customize what colors you want to use and it will tell you what color of iron on needs to be loaded into the machine.  

I was able to make this Darth Vader drawstring bag in under 20 minutes.   Here’s what you need to do to make one too.

• Drawstring bag (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby)
• Black Iron-On
• Silver Iron-On
• Darth Vader Cricut Design (You can buy the images individually in Design Space, you don’t have to buy them all).

Add the Darth Vader image to Design Space and make it the size you want to fit your backpack.  I often cut the image on cardstock first to make sure I have the correct size.  This way I am not wasting iron-on material.

Simply follow the directions on your in Design Space and on your Cricut machine.  Always make sure to “mirror image” when you are working with iron-ons, this will ensure your image comes out the correct direction once it is ironed on to your project.  I have (and love) the Cricut Easy Press that I use for ironing on my designs.  It’s so much easier to use than and iron because it has a digital read out so you know when it’s the correct temperature and the large square base makes it easier to iron the entire design.  First you iron on the silver material and then lay the black on top and iron that on.  It’s really that easy!  It’s so much fun customizing gifts and items for you home.  Here are a few other projects I’ve created with my Cricut.

Faux Leather Key Chains

Disney Treat Coin Purse

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You can makes these fun coin purses representing your favorite Disney treats.  Just use blank canvas coin purses and use your Cricut to embellish them with Disney treats, like Dole Whip, Mickey ice cream bars or popcorn.  I love how quick and easy it is to customize items with the Cricut Air 2 and the Cricut Maker.

My favorite snack is the Dole Whip!  Which one is yours? Here is everything you will need to makes these cute coin purses.

• Cricut Machine
• Round Canvas Coin Purse
• Iron-On Vinyl (I bought this variety pack via Amazon)
• Cricut Easy Press or Iron
• Disney Treat svgs from Etsy (see below for each specific image  I used)

Disney Dole Whip

Mickey Popcorn

Mickey Ice Cream Treat Bar

Here is the quick and easy process to making these fun coin purses.  Start with the canvas coin bag.

Use your Cricut machine to cut out the iron on pieces.  Make sure you set your Cricut to mirror image so the images will be correct when you iron them on.   I love how the Cricut know which colors and stages to cut things out for the design.  I had everything I needed for this project with three cuts.

First I ironed on the red portion of the popcorn bucket.

Next I added the yellow for the popcorn.

Lastly, I aded the Mickey and popcorn word.  I have said this before, but I absolutely love my Cricut machine because it helps me make customized shirts, home decor and more.  It’s especially fun to make Disney inspired items.

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These cute bunny treat bags would be fun to make with the kids.   They are simple to put together.  You can give them as gifts or even use them as decorations around your house.   

Here is what you will need:

• Paper lunch size bags (white or a pastel pattern)
• Ribbon
• White Pom Poms 
• Silk Cherry Blossom stems
• Glue or Glue Dots
• Treats (or stuffing if you just want to use them as decorations)

Simply cut out a section of the top of the bag to make bunny ears.  Open the bag and add some Easter treats, or stuffing if you plan to use them as decorations.  You could even just crumple of some paper or a plastic grocery bag.   Glue on pom pom for tail. Tie it closed with a ribbon, and add a small stem of flowers into the ribbon.

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Using food is a great and natural way to add color to your Easter eggs.  This can be a fun project to do with the kids.   You can watch how excited the kids get when they realize they can color eggs with food.  It’s like a fun science project.

What you will need:

• natural dye products (I recommend red cabbage, coffee beans/grounds and beets)
• water
• vinegar
• mason jars
• hard boiled eggs

Red cabbage will dye your eggs a beautiful shade of robin egg blue.  Simply add 2 cups of cabbage to a saucepan and add enough water to submerge cabbage.  Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  Let cool, add to mason jars and add 1 TBSP of vinegar per 1 cup of dye solution. Gently add eggs to jar.  Put in refrigerator over night or until you get your desired color.  It can take up to 24-36 hours for darker eggs.

Add ground coffee, to mason jar.  Fill jar with boiling water.  Allow to cool add 1 TBSP of  vinegar per cup of dye solution.  This will dye your eggs a pretty tan/yellow color.  Place in fridge over night or longer depending on the desired shade.

Add 2 cups of chopped beets to saucepan and add enough water to submerge beets.  Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  Let cool and add to mason jars and add 1 TBSP of vinegar per 1 cup of dye solution (you are starting to see a pattern here, right?). Gently add eggs to jar and place in refrigerator overnight or until you get the desired shade of color.  This can take up to 24-36 hours for darker eggs.  The beets will give your eggs a pretty pink hue.

There are many foods you can use for dyes, such as onions, turmeric, hibiscus.  It’s especially fun for the kids to guess what color of eggs they will end up with.  Have fun with it!

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These Valentine Soda Fountain Candy Treats are super cute and fun and easy to make.  It would be a fun project that the kids could help with too.  These treats are also, easy on the pocket book, I was able to get almost everything at the Dollar Store so the cost was less then $5.00 each!

Here is what you will need to make 2 Soda Fountain Candy Treats:

• 2 sundae glasses
• 1 lb of taffy
• 2 bags of candy hearts (my bags were 7 oz)
• small bag of chocolate hearts (you only need 2 pieces)
• 1 straw (cut in half)
• ribbon (optional)
• 1 Styrofoam ball (cut in half)
• Glue Dots
• hot glue gun

Fill glasses with heart candies.  Cut your styrofoam ball in half.  The size of the styrofoam ball will depend on the size of glasses you use.  You want the ball to go to the edge of the cup, but not hang over.   I used a 3 inch ball.   Secure the foam to the top of the glass with Glue Dots.

Use hot glue gun and glue taffy over the entire surface of the Styrofoam dome.   The candy will still be good to eat, the wax paper will protect the candy from the glue gun.   Add straw, and glue a candy heart on top.  You can finish it off with a bow if you wish.

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When the weather is cold and wet, our family looks for fun indoor projects.  This recipe for homemade play dough is awesome!  My son will spend hours with this fun and creative activity.  Even my older boys will join in and make fun creations.  It’s a great family activity.  This PLay Dough is quick and easy to make with ingredients you probably already have on hand.

Homemade Play Dough

• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 cup salt
• 3 cups flour
• 2 TBSP oil (vegetable or canola)
• 2 TBSP cream of tartar.
• Food coloring

On stovetop over medium-low heat add water, salt, oil, and cream of tartar.  Stir with wooden spoon until dissolved.

Add flour and continue to stir.  Remove from heat.

Divide dough into 4, add desired food coloring and work through with your hands until it is all mixed in.

We use cookie cutters, rolling pins, scissors and more to create and make all kinds of creations.   Easy clean up with water.  Store in a air tight container.  Enjoy!

**Keep away from your furry friends, the large amount of salt can be dangerous for your pets to ingest.

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I made this fun game of Mickey Tic Tac Toe for our family (and a couple for gifts). They are great for on-the-go fun because everything stores inside the bag and the playing board is on one of the sides of the bag.  I used my Cricut machine for the vinyl and iron-on pieces.  The Cricut really is one of my favorite and most used crafting tools.

All of the playing pieces for the Tic Tac Toe game store inside the pouch.

On the reverse side of the pouch is the Tic Tac Toe board game.

Here are the non-Cricut supplies & tools you will need:

• Muslin Bag (mine were 4.75 x 6)
• 1 inch wooden discs (10-12)
• Paint
• Paint brush

Here are the supplies I used with my Cricut machine

• Black Iron-On transfer
• Black Vinyl
• Mickey Mouse Symbol (#M42CE0)

To cut the image of the iron-on material, I bought the Mickey Mouse image from the Cricut store (it was $1.49).  I imported my own image for the Tic Tac Toe board and I used a solid font for the words.  In order to make sure the iron on turned out correctly I had to mirror the image so it was cut backwards.  You always want to remember this step when creating iron ons.

Ironing on the image was super easy!   I set my iron on the cotton setting and turned off the steam.  I warmed up the muslin bag first for about 15 seconds then I added the image I wanted to iron on.   I laid a light flour sack towel over the image and placed the iron on top for about 20 second intervals.  I made sure to lift and press the iron instead of dragging it across the image.   It came out perfect!

Next up, I painted the discs, I painted 1/2 red and 1/2 yellow.    I decided to go with colors to distinguish between the 2 different playing pieces instead of “x” and “o”.

I used my Cricut machine to cut out the small Mickey images out of vinyl so I could easily adhere them to the top of each disc.

Here are the playing pieces all finished with paint and the Mickey’s attached.

I was super pleased with how it turned out and how quick it was to make. You can make so many things with the Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Maker you can customize this game with any character or image you want.   If you have kids that love Disney’s Frozen you could make one with a Frozen them.   Your options are endless!

I was provided with a Cricut Explore Air.   All thoughts and opinions are my own and honest and true.  Affiliate links have been used, so if you buy a Cricut or supplies through my links I will earn a small commission.

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Here are some pretty simple cupcakes that just about anyone with any skill leven can make.   These would be fun to make for any fall or Halloween party you have on your calendar.

To make it super easy on yourself, use a boxed cake mix to make your cupcakes according to the directions.

Here are some suggested items for decorating:

• Powdered Sugar
• Shortening/Butter
• Vanilla
• Milk
• Sprinkles
• Food coloring
• Wilton Candy Eyeballs
• Candy corn and pumpkins
• Wilton Disposable Decorating Bags
• Wilton Decorating Tips (this comes with bags too)

First you need to make lots of frosting,   If you want to have pure white frosting make with shortening instead of butter so you will have a nice bright white colored frosting.

Bright White Frosting 

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 4 cups  powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk

Whip shortening in mixer add sugar and milk until you get the consistency you desire.

Buttercream Frosting (tastes best,  great for colored frosting)

• 1/2  cup butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons of milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• food coloring

Whip butter in mixer add sugar, milk, vanilla.  Add food coloring

Cut the plastic bags about 1/2 inch from the tip,  this will give you a nice round tip.   (I do this every time I make cupcakes makes a nice smooth finish and looks very nice)  Add frosting to frosting bags (one white,  one orange).

For ghost you will need:

• Orange frosting
• Orange sprinkles
• White frosting
• Black food coloring
• 2 Wilton frosting bags

Starting with orange frosting starting from the center add frosting to cupcake in a circle motion.

Now dip cupcake into a bowl of sprinkle to get an nice and even coating of sprinkles

Add white ghost using the white frosting.  Pipe white onto the cupcake and apply frosting and lift to make ghost.

With a toothpick dip into black food coloring and add eyes and mouth.

The candy corn, and spider cupcake is made with the same method.

For the Pumpkin patch,  I used the decorator tip,  (grass tip).  Start with the same method with frosting base and add sprinkles.  In the center of the cupcake add grass, with grass tip.   Then finish off with a pumpkin on top.

I had a great time making this Halloween cupcakes, and they were a huge hit with the kids.

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Every year I try to encourage my older boys to make there own costumes for Halloween, I think it helps them to be thrifty and understand the value of money.   It doesn’t make much sense to spend a lot of money on a costume they will only wear once.   This year I took my own advice and decided to make a costume for my youngest.  For the record, I have no sewing experience and I didn’t use a pattern.  I just did a  little planning and used some basic supplies and in a no time I made an Angry Bird costume my 4 year old is super excited to wear.

What you need:

• 1 Yard of red furry fabric
• 2 sheets (8×10) of black felt
• 1 sheet of yellow felt
• 1 sheet white felt
• 1/4 yard tan of felt (I actually used an old pillow case)
• Stuffing (I used old decor pillows so I didn’t have the added expense of the stuffing)
• 1 old sheet (the thrift store is a great place to buy if you don’t have one laying around.

First step is to make the circle for the body.   Start with one yard of red fabric, fold fabric in half and cut out circle for the body.   You will end up with 2 larger circles.   Cut out the same size circle out of an old sheet.    You will sew the 2 red circles with the sheet in middle.  Make sure to leave about 18 inches unsewn at the bottom.

Draw  a pattern for the eyes, and beak, once this is all cut, outline with black felt and sew together. (I made a paper template and used as a guide for cutting)

Also cut out a black tail and red hair for the top.  For the hair you will need to cut two pieces so you can sew it together and stuff it to give it some dimension.

Pin the face on the bird so you make sure you they are where you want them before you sew them on.

Place the bird on your child so you can find the best placement for head hole and arm slits.  Mark them with a pen.   Cut out the head hole,  and arm slits.  Sew (by hand) the  top red circle and the sheet together.

Cut out the belly, which is essentially a half circle, place on bird and sew.  Make sure to not sew the bottom, so you can stuff the bird. (That makes is sound a little like Thanksgiving, doesn’t it…stuff the bird)

Sew on all the face parts by hand.

Stuff the bird with stuffing, between the sheet and the red fabric (with the face on it).    Finish it off by sewing the bottom portion closed (just the top portion and the sheet).   Sew on black tail, and red hair on the top.   You are all done, and ready for Halloween!

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These fun homemade paper mache Easter eggs are great for decorations or you can stuff them with easter goodies for baskets.

Here are the supplies you will need:

• Tissue paper you don’t need much (1 sheet will make about 4 eggs)
• 3/4 Cup Elmer’s glue
• 1/4 Cup Water
• Brush or sponge
• Paper Punch (or stickers) for decor ~ I used dots & flowers
• White paper
• Ribbon (if desired)
• Water balloons
• Candy
• Very small glasses

First step mix glue and water in a small bowl

Cut tissue paper into 1″ squares, and punch out your dots and flowers out of white paper

Blow up water balloon to desired size

Using a brush or sponge covered with glue add tissue paper to balloon and layer, use several coats of glue and tissue paper.  You can’t use too much glue!

Make sure you add as much paper as you can to the top where you tied the ballon so do don’t have a big hole you will have to patch,  you just need it big enough to be able to poke a finger through.

Set on small glasses to dry, after a few hours turn the eggs around to dry bottom.  Let them sit overnight.

Once they are dry, you can decorate with dots, flowers, ribbon etc.

Once they are completely dry, cut balloon at the top. The egg will cave in a little as the balloon detaches itself from the tissue.  Use your finger to push the eggs back to it’s original shape.

Fill the egg with candy or other goodies. Close off the top of egg with tissue and glue and place back on shot glass for glue to dry one last time.

You are all done and now you have super cute eggs the kids can tear into, and find their treasures inside!

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Today we have put together a fun kit that would be great to give to boys (or even girls).   My husband and boys made these several years ago and they had lots of fun with them.

The best part, these are super cheap to make!  The PVC supplies should cost around $2.50 for each shooter, when you add the cost of the marshmallows you have a fun gift that only costs about $3.50. They are simple to make too!

Marshmallow Shooter Supplies

• 1/2″ diameter PVC Pipe (at least 38″ long for one shooter)
• (2) 1/2″ PVC caps (not the threaded type)
• (2) 1/2 ” PVC elbow (not the threaded type)
• (2) 1/2″ PVC tee (not the threaded type)
• Saw(to cut PVC pipe)

You will need to cut the PVC pipe into the following sizes:
(1) 13″ length
(5) 5″ length

Packaging Supplies:

• Shirt Box (I picked mine up at Kohl’s when I bought a shirt)
• DIY Marshmallow Shooter Printable label (for the top of the box)
• DIY Marshmallow Instructions (just print out and include in the box)
• Package of Mini Marshmallows

Assembling your gift:
Take all of the pieces of the PVC and include them in the box with the bag of mini marshmallows and printable instructions, so the recipient will be able to construct their own shooter.

Make sure you adhere the printable label to the top of the shirt box, so they know exactly what it is they are getting (they might not know otherwise). Wrap it up and you are set!

Printables::

Click on the images below to print the label for the top of the gift box and the instructions for inside the box.

Once you have your marshmallow shooter assembled you will do the following:

Load and aim

Blow

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We are kicking off the Homemade Holiday series with some glass tile pendant necklaces.  These were so quick and easy to make!   My daughter is at the age where she wants to give all of her friends a special little gift for Christmas.   We decided to go with these cute pendants.   We had lots of fun making them together, and she was able to choose exactly what style she wanted for each of her friends.  We will be able to make 10 of these for just under $2 a piece (including the shipping charges).  Not too bad!!

Here are the supplies you will need (sources for where I purchased the supplies are listed at the bottom of this post):

• Glass Tiles (choose square, round, rectangle)
• Silver ball Chains necklaces
• Small Silver Bails (this attaches to the glass to hang the chain on)
• Scrapbook paper (best to choose ones with small designs)
• E-6000 adhesive
• Diamond Glaze
• Scissors or Exacto Knife

First you will start by choosing some scrapbook paper for the design of each necklace, then cut a design out of each one to fits the square tile.  I just laid the glass tile on the paper and cut around it, it was super simple. The glass tiles we used were 7/8″ x 7/8″.

Add some of the Diamond Glaze to the back of the glass tile. You will want enough to cover the tile, but don’t get too close to the edges, the diamond glaze will spread to the edges when you press the scrapbook paper on it.

Place your cutout piece of scrapbook paper onto the diamond glaze, (the image side down onto the diamond glaze).  If some of the glaze leaks through to the sides of the glass, gently wipe it with a wet napkin to clean up the edges. If your scrapbook paper has a design on both sides, make sure that you place the paper so that the image you want to show on the front of the pendant is placed onto the diamond glaze, facing the glass tile. The design that will be on the backside of the pendant will be facing up towards you. (in this example the pink lattice design is the back of the pendant.)  Once your paper is adhered to the back, you will want to cover the entire back side of the paper with the Diamond Glaze. This will make sure that the images is sealed onto the back of the glass.   Then, just let it dry.

Once your item is dry, you will glue on the silver bail.  You will want to use the E-6000 glue for this step, because it is super strong.  Once the glue is dry, just add the necklace chain and your project is complete.   See, I told you they were super simple!

When you are done you will have some super cute necklaces to keep or give away!  The fun part, is that you can customize these to match the recipient.   My daughter is totally into owls right now, so we made that one for her.   She has a friend that loves Zebra prints, so we will be making one with Zebra print for her.    You can also use photos when making these, there are so many different options to choose.

Some Tips:

• When choosing your paper, the thicker the better. If it is too thin the glue will seep right through the paper.  If you use your printer to print an image, it is best to print onto cardstock.
• Pay attention to what is on the back side of the paper. The first one we made had the barcode from the back of the scrapbook paper showing through since the paper we used was really a light color.  Plus the back of the necklace didn’t look nearly as nice as it would have with a solid background.
• I would suggest putting wax paper down on your work surface.

Supply Sources (I picked up all the necessary supplies at Etsy):

• Sun & Moon Craft Kits (Great customer service, shipped super fast)
• Candy Tiles 2

This is the first installment in our Homemade Holiday series, look for more fun gift ideas to be shared over the next couple of months. Next up: We will be making some of these into magnets and showing you a super cute and easy way to package them.

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