Glittered Swirl Pumpkin #MPumpkins

I was so excited to get my pumpkin pack from Michaels! I've mentioned here before how I used to work at Michaels before my son was born. Part of my job included decorating all the fun pumpkins that were scattered around the store for inspiration. I loved using these craft pumpkins!

 

One of the reasons I love these craft pumpkins so much is there's no mess! No seeds or stringy innards to scoop out. AND - no rotting pumpkin mess to clean up after Halloween! These craft pumpkins can be decorated or carved once, and then reused every year. How cool is that?

 

 

For my first pumpkin, I decided to go with some glitter. I don't glitter many things, but it sounded fun. I headed to Michaels and picked up some of Martha Stewart's glitter glue and black glitter. I also picked up some ribbon to tie around it.

 

 

 

To make sure my design looked good and was spaced evenly, I used a pencil to lightly draw it on first. I knew the glue and glitter would cover the pencil marks, so I wasn't worried.

 

 

 

Then I worked a section at a time. I'd draw with the glue, then cover that section in glitter. Just be careful as you're going around. You want to make sure that each section is dry before you lay the pumpkin on that side or touch it with your hand. Squished glitter isn't pretty :)

 

 

 

Pretty soon the whole pumpkin was finished. I chose to tie some ribbon for these pictures, but I'm honestly not sure if I'll keep it on. What do you think? Is the ribbon too much?

 

 

 I toyed with the idea of a bow tied on top, but I didn't like that. Any suggestions? Or is it good the way it is?

By the way, this was a very messy project! I was covered in glitter at multiple points during this project!

 

 

On Saturday, October 5th, 2013, Michaels is having their Great Pumpkin Event! For just $6, you get a 9" pumpkin and all the supplies to create your own pumpkin! They'll also be doing free face painting! Be sure to head over next month and create your own pumpkin!

 

Did you also know that Michaels offers custom pumpkin carving for $19.99? If you don't have the time of skill to create your own pumpkin, you can head to Michaels, fill out a form, and then get your personalized pumpkin! How great is that? You can choose from over 25 styles and even have them personalized with names!

 

(Disclosure: Michaels Arts and Crafts provided me with an assortment of pumpkins, a carving tool, and a gift card to cover the cost of other crafting supplies. All of the opinions expressed in this post are my own)

Back to School Paper Organizer

It's August - which means that school will be starting soon for most people. For most parents, I think it's a bittersweet time. After spending all day, every day with them during the summer, they're ready for a break. They're tired of the fighting and bickering. But, I think most parents also want to just keep their kids home with them and not see them grow up. One thing that I love about the Back to School "season" is the new school supplies and the organization. Call me crazy, but as a child, I loved going through my new supplies, writing my name on them, and organizing them in my backpack. This went on even through high school and college!

 

Now, as a parent, I don't have to do that for my own supplies, but I do still get into organizing mode during the back to school time. My son was in preschool last year and I was overwhelmed with the amount of papers he brought home. They were all his creations and I felt terrible that I didn't have room to store them all. So when Michaels contacted me to participate in their Back to School Adventure, I jumped at the chance to add some much needed organization to our school papers.

 

 

I wandered around Michaels looking for some inspiration for paper organization. I had quite a few ideas pop into my head as I wandered, but then the best idea hit me. This is what I came up with.

 

 

I saw a large, rectangular box with hanging folders inside of it, and I knew it was exactly what I needed. I had seen smaller boxes and thought about using those, but they didn't have the hanging files. I also wanted something a little oversized, because the papers that my son brings home aren't always the normal 8.5"x11" size papers. This box is made by Iris and is about 9"x18"x14". It also includes 3 hanging folders, but Michaels sells additional packs of folders.

 

To made this cool paper organizer, here's what I used:

 

 

-Iris Hanging File Scrapbook Case (approx. $16.99 - but use a coupon!)

-Hanging File Refills (they come in sets of 3, however my Michaels was currently out of the refills)

- Vinyl in your chosen color and cut in your chosen design

-Transfer Tape

-Label Maker

-All the school papers that are taking over your house

 

First off, use the label maker to make your grade labels. I started with preschool, since I still have papers from preschool.

 

 

I only made labels for preschool through 6th grade. First of all, I don't have all the necessary hanging files to create one for every grade yet. Plus, I can't remember if I was still bringing home (and if my mom was saving) papers from middle school/junior high. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The great thing is that I can always add more files to this!

 

Add the labels to the top of the hanging files.

 

 

Then add the vinyl to the front of the container.

 

 

Put the papers into the appropriate years and now you're all organized!!

 

 

To help cut down on the paper clutter, before implementing this system, I was using my camera and scanner to keep images of all the papers my son brought home. If I didn't want to keep the hard copy, I would throw it away. However, I made sure to save the hard copy of the really special and important ones. This let me avoid the mom guilt of throwing his hard work away, but helps me keep my sanity because my fridge and counter aren't overrun with paper clutter. My idea is to then use those images to document each school year using pictures from school and the images of his work. I can use sites like Shutterfly or Snapfish to create a photo book and then we can easily see his work in review.

 

Looking for more Back to School inspiration? Michaels has a Back to School Lookbook to help get those creative wheels turning. You can also check out our Back to School Categorically Crafting Party for more projects and ideas.

 

(I received compensation for the products in this review in the form of a gift card provided by Michaels. All opinions expressed in this review are my own).

Passport To Imagination Classes at Michaels

Remember the Passport to Imagination Crafting Adventures that I wrote about in my Unplugged Summer Pact post a couple weeks ago? Well, part of my partnership with Michaels included taking my little guy over to participate in one of the Passport to Imagination classes.

I took my Andy-roo over to Michaels and got him registered for the class. It was a really easy process! You just go to the register, tell them you want to pay for the Passport to Imagination class, and you're quickly on your way.

They have you sign your child in and out of the class, so you're not required to stay in the store. However, I had to go grab something for an upcoming kid's craft post, so I stuck around. I wasn't intending to wander around the store for 2 hours, but I did! Lots of inspiration and projects to work on!

The class goes from 10:00am - 12:00pm, but they ended up getting done almost 30 minutes early. I walked back up to the front of the store to check on him around 11:30 and he was standing quietly by the door waiting for me. Such a sweet boy!

They made these two projects:


A paper lizard


And a pipe cleaner soccer goal.

He loves soccer, so when we were looking through the book, this class was on his must-go-to list!

Here is what he ended up creating.

I was going to take pictures of him during the class, but it was full and I didn't want to infringe on the privacy of anyone else in the class. So instead I snapped a couple quick pics while we were waiting to pay for all of my goodies.

He's really excited about the soccer goal. He was hoping it would be one where you could hit the soccer ball into it, but it wasn't. I told him that we could put some more pipe cleaner onto it to make it stand up and then he could play with his tiny, soft soccer ball. That made him really happy!

After class I asked him what he thought. He said that the class was a lot of fun and that he wants to go back and do some more projects. I asked him if his teacher was nice and helpful and he said she was.

To see the full schedule of classes, you can check out the online Lookbook. It gives you all the details about the project and has lots of ideas for projects to create at home, too!

Be sure to come back on Friday when I'll be posting a patriotic kid's craft for you!






All of the opinions in this post are my own. I received a gift card in exchange for taking my child to a Passport to Imagination class and creating a kid's craft.

Summer Adventure Blog Challenge with Michaels

  Michaels Arts and Crafts has issued a challenge to those in the blogging world. They want us to unplug from the electronics and reconnect with our families and the world around us. I'm not going to lie. Some days I find myself spending way too much time checking Facebook or searching Pinterest. And then the mom guilt kicks in. One of my goals this summer, and this was even before I heard about the challenge from Michaels, was to spend more time having fun with my little guy. There are only so many more years that he's going to want to spend time with me - so why should I waste those precious years stuck behind my phone? I want to enjoy my child!!   So when Michaels contacted me, taking the challenge and signing the pact was a very natural thing for me to do. I'll be spending time outside with my boy, playing in the dirt, practicing soccer, and hitting a baseball.   So, what do you say? Are you willing to take the challenge too? If so, you can go sign your own pact, and then get started on unplugging and reconnecting.   As part of this challenge, we'll be attending some of the Michael's Passport to Imagination in-store events and posting some kid's crafts. We hope you'll come back to see them, but in the mean time, I'd love to hear your ideas for having fun this summer!!