Color Me Tables

ColorMeTables has a great product that is perfect for family get togethers!  Or birthday parties...  or a craft room...

For about $50, plus shipping and handling, you get one table and four chairs that are ready for your budding artists.  I have a daughter that would go nuts for this!!!  A birthday tea-party... ohhh laa laa!  For $75, plus s/h, you get the table and 6 chairs.  What a fun birthday activity!!

Happy Tape!

Japanese tape?  Never heard of it!  But... I think I've fallen in love!

Happytape is made in Japan and uses traditional washi paper.  Each roll is 50-feet long and comes in 2 different widths and over 120 fun colors and patterns.  And on most papers it is repositionable.

The Happytape website suggests using the tape in scrapbooking, gift wrapping and all manners of crafts.  I love the idea of taking a plain gift bag, or gift box and decorating it up with this awesome tape!!

Each roll is approximately $5.

DIY: Cake Stand

I saw this cute and inexpensive craft project on prudentbaby.com. Click here for all the instructions! Easy!!!

Our local Hobby Lobby just opened last week. On my list (which I suspect I'll always have a HL list) are the cake boards I need to give this craft a try! Very excited about the possibilities.

Giant Activity Tablecloth

What a great idea for Thanksgiving dinner... or for the time leading up to actually eating Thanksgiving dinner.

This is a $30 activity tablecloth from International Playthings (available at Amazon.com) that can be used, and reused. Use washable markers on the dozens of activities printed on the tablecloth... mazes, word-finds, coloring... and then pop the cloth in to the washing machine for the next event!

Click here for more information.

Spoon Flower

If I was a quilter...

I would love this website!!!

www.spoonflower.com

At this site, you can turn your creative vision into a fabric reality. Upload a JPEG of your vision to the spoonflower website and your custom-printed cotton fabric will arrive in a couple of weeks!

I.am.not.kidding.

$18 per yard.

I'm going on-line, right now, to look for some quilting classes.

Melissa and Doug Craft Kits

Melissa and Doug toys and puzzles have long been favorites of mine. I love their durability... and the quality of the materials that they use.

I've recently discovered their craft kits. What fun!!! You can find their products at their website, Melissa and Doug. They usually have a good selection of products on sale... or are offering a discount on qualifying orders.

I've also found, on occasion, their puzzles at T.J.Maxx.

Make your own Puzzle Kit - $7

Decorate your own Whiteboard Kit - $13

Cake-Stand Skirt - a la Martha Stewart

What a great and adorable idea for dressing up cake-stands!! For instructions, click here! Thanks Martha for the most clever idea!!

Perler Beads

It is summer. Officially!!! Yesterday was the last day of school! Yippee!!

One of my children's teachers gave her a gift set of Perler Beads. Oh, I forgot how much I love Perler Beads. It is a perfect activity for kids!!

This website has some amazing Perler Bead sets. Too fun! They also sell buckets of beads, extra bead pegboards to create different designs (my favorite is the t-shirt pegboard... wait, maybe it is the girl pegboard... oh, the monkey pegboard is too cute, argh!!) and I saw ornaments too. Cool!

You can also find Perler Beads at toy stores, craft stores and Target and Wal Mart!

If you've been living under a rock, or don't have any kids aged 4 to 12, let me tell you what Perler Beads are...

Perler Beads are colored beads that are placed on pegboards (the boards are reusable, the beads are not) and then fused together with an iron on medium heat. You use either Perler Bead paper, or parchment paper to protect the iron, and the beads! Without even knowing it... kids learn patterning, eye-hand coordination and creativity!! Love it!

Moda Bake Shop

IF I ever start to quilt, it'll be because of this blog, ModaBakeShop. Seriously, some dang, dang cute stuff.

And the pictures make me think that maybe, just maybe, I could do this!

I've done a quilt for my son that turned out darling... but the truth is... I had two very good friends of mine who are almost as good at quilting as they are at being a friend (they are AMAZING AMAZING friends), looking over my shoulder the entire time. And even more truthfully, the did a good portion of the work, with me nodding my approval and support!

I would love to give quilting a shot.

Current Giveaway!!! Close to My Heart Event Calendar

The current giveaway is a project... either a stamping project, or a paper-crafting project. The pages to this calendar come blank... you get to add your personal, creative touch!

This calendar is a perpetual calendar. One page for each month... you add the special events (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) and then you use the calendar year after year.

Included in this giveaway is the blank calendar only. Stamps and supplies not included. However, I will inform the winner of my birthday so they can add that! That is a bonus!!

To enter... just leave a comment to this post by midnight Tuesday, February 3. Link this giveaway to your blog and you'll be entered a total of three times!!!

Good luck!

Ticche and Bea T-Shirt Quilts

It seems every activity that my kids do comes with a t-shirt. Every race, every tournament, every season, etc. These are sentimental treasures, but seriously, how many t-shirts can any given person have?

I have started a box for each of my kids for these special t-shirts. My dream is to make a quilt, or have a quilt made for each kid with these t-shirts. My cousin Kerry has made one, and recently I saw my friend Heidi's quilt that she made for her husband. I love the idea.

My sewing skills are... well, not really skills. So, I am inclined to have these quilts made for my kids by a professional. Click here for an option that I recently found. Seems like a good deal to me. The company, Ticche and Bea, have lots of fun kits. Take a look around their site!!!

Chalk Talk Storage Jars

I found these very cute, and very reasonably priced jars at Cost Plus World Market! I think they would make great teacher holiday gifts! Fill them with a homemade goodie, or even a bunch of wrapped candies, and label them with the teacher's name and presto... gifting done!

Also, I thought of many uses for these jars at home. I think I'll get two... one for a chore jar and one for a special treat jar. In both I'll put colorful slips of paper with either 'extra' chores or special treats or privileges. I will use the chore jar for chores that can be done to earn extra money or be done as a consequence! In the treat jar I will include coupons for things like an extra serving of dessert, an extended bedtime, a dessert date with mom or dad, a mini-manicure, a little toy, etc... all things that I can use as rewards!

I started thinking... these jars range in price from $4 to $8 each... I wonder if I could find some bulk jars (maybe from IKEA) and buy some of the blackboard chalk paint and create this gift for much cheaper! I think so.

Fun project...

Amy Butler Designs

If I could sew...

these are the things I would sew...



I want to sew, but am afraid.


For more information about these cute patterns, and others, check out Amy Butler Design.