This Little Project

After Christmas Catch-up: Advent, gifts

I posted before about not having a single advent calendar and that I was going to work on one and have it ready for next year. Well, here is what I created:

This is what I came up with. It's really kind of fun to get to decorate this tree one day at a time. I used various beads and buttons for ornaments. If you are really good this year I will put a tutorial together for later in the year and you can make your own :)

I also had fun with some gift-giving projects. I couldn't post about them before because it would ruin the surprise. Here are a few of them:
a "Favorites" cookbook-a great way to organize recipes:

a hands-free pin cushion for your finger:

I will post about in more detail about these projects coming up-with direction- so you can make your own. I have also been working up some organization projects. Tis' the season for New Year's Resolutions!

In the meantime, try these yummy cookies (they really are the BEST chocolate chip cookies I've ever made!) from short stop.

I love my cookie scoop pictured but couldn't find it online. You can push on the back and the cookie ball drops out. It is like this one.

Enjoy some yummies and have a Happy Little Project Day!

Project: Geography

My Little guy LOVES geography. These are his favorite puzzles. And yes, he is better at doing them than I am! You can see more about these geo puzzles here. He thinks it is really fun to memorize these things.

The puzzles are neat because each country is its own puzzle "piece" so the geography lesson is more complete. We only get them out when baby is asleep because they are thicker cardboard than others, but they could still get soaked in her mouth.

It all started with hanging a map at his eye level. If you decide to join in this little project, be sure to get a LAMINATED map! And put it down low, where it can be seen and touched. First we learned the location of all the states on the map, then countries, then state capitals, and we just finished doing 100 capitals of nations.

This little geography project began with just a map on the wall, but it turned into a lot more fun. And these puzzles have really helped!

Snowflakes Galore: wearables and a tutorial

We've gone a little snowflake crazy around here-we hung snowflakes and guess what happened over night? It snowed! Wahoo, it's about time!

So here is some more snowflake fun:

I admit that this may show signs of obsession, but I figured out how to get 7 snowflakes out of 1 piece of paper! see directions below :)

From my studio: Wearing snowflakes in her hair

For more "ouchless headbands" and hair bow styles click here.

From my shop: Keeping baby's legs warm from the cold with Lava Legs

(click here to see more color choices)

Here is a conservationalist-style snowflake tutorial: How to get 7 snowflakes out of 1 piece of paper! 3-4 of these snowflakes are approximately the same size, which makes them perfect for making paper snowballs. To see the paper snowballs tutorial, click here.

Here are the little beauties. The "L" on the right is for "leftover." That is all the paper that was left after cutting the 7 squares out for your snowflakes!

First measure over 5 inches and fold down.

After you cut that square out, fold the right corner down, as you can see here:

Then cut it out.

Believe it or not, you will be able to get 5 more snowflakes still!

Start by folding the top left corner down.

Cut it out.

Now work from the other end of the strip. Fold down, and cut it out.

Do the same thing again, folding the corner down, and cut it out.

This fold (photo below) was made by taking the bottom left square from the above photo and folding it up. Then cut it out.

Fold your last bit of paper and trim the extra. You will just have a "L" leftover!

Here is what you have made so far:

Now go crazy folding and turning these into a snowstorm! To make them 3D, see my tutorial here.

And there you go! Lots of snowstorms in the making and wearing! Enjoy your Little Project :)

Paper Snowball Tutorial

Let it Snow! All we have been getting are ice storms around here, no snow to play with! We have been making our own, including a paper snowman!

Below is a tutorial for how to make your own paper snowballs out of your paper snowflakes. If you would like some inspiration for cutting your snowflakes, please visit my previous post, "Snowflake Party!"

To begin, you need to cut 3 snowflakes. It works best if your snowflakes are close to the same size. I used a circle that was about 5 inches across, and cut out 3 circles. This photo shows how you can use a folded circle to make the cutting go faster.

You can use any kind of paper. I tried some fun papers like this that were different colors of blue, double-sided. I also tried some blue/white printed papers from my scrapbook supply. You could also use newspaper or magazines for some fun looks.

After you have cut your circles out fold them in half, then in half again, then in half one more time, for a total of 3 folds. Then cut out your snowflake.

When you finish cutting and unfold them you will have 3 snowflakes that are close to the same size.

Stack the three circles on top of each other.

Take the stack of 3 snowflakes and just sew one line down the center of the snowflake. Be sure to leave a "tail" of thread so you can hang it!

Next, fold the top snowflake up:

Like this: and crease it down the middle.

Then do it again for the back layer snowflake. Don't do anything to the middle snowflake.

You can see that your 2D snowflake is a now 3D snowball! For added fullness you can sew more layers of snowflakes together. I really liked how my 4 layer ones turned out too.

Here is how they look hanging. I have them hanging on my "Mobile for All Seasons."

To make a paper snowballs for your snowman, follow the same idea. I used three sizes of circles and cut 10-15 of each size. Stack each size and sew down the middle, like you did before to make your paper snowball. But this time don't cut the thread when you finish. Instead put the next size under your sewing machine foot and sew down the middle of it. Repeat for the last snowball. Then fold them out to make your snowman turn 3D! Again, be sure to leave a tail to hang it with!

For this look, I used a variety of different patterns of blue and white papers and sewed them one after the other, like you do to make the snowman.

With any luck, you will feel like you are in an enchanted snow storm of your own creating. A snowstorm is quite the project, but oh what fun!

Oh, and thanks Whip Up and The Crafty Crow for sharing This Little Project on your sites too!

PLEASE HELP! Children at risk of loosing creativity!

If you haven't heard about CPSIA and why handmade for children is going extinct, please visit these sites to learn more and help us protect handmade for children. To me, it feels like the creativity of our nation and thus that of our children is being murdered. We need to protect art and not be forced to only purchase mass-produced items for our children. PLEASE HELP!

This site has some nice specifics LINK

For more info about what YOU can do to help LINK

www.endangeredwhimsy.com

Sign the petition HERE

Change.org

Creat a Wordle

Want a Fun {Little Project}? Click the image to go create a wordle!:

The number of times you type in a word decides how big that word is in your wordle. You can choose the font and color scheme too. These are fun to print and share with friends and family and make fun gifts or a neat card too. Have Fun!