Thumb-body Loves You!

I love this thumbprint necklace that I found {Here}. I just couldn't justify that kind of cost for it. 

I decided to make my own...times four. My little brother used to make me necklaces to match my more casual dance outfits when I was in high school. He used to roll the bead with craft clay that he would bake in the oven. He used to make all sorts of things. Which gave me an idea....

I headed out and took a gander at the local craft store and found me a couple of clay colors that I fancied.

I returned home and pulled out some parchment paper, a rolling pin, a cookie cutter {of sorts}, some letter stamps and the clay.

 I pulled a portion of the clay out of the package and I started to knead it- just with my fingers until it was more pliable. When it warmed up I rolled it out with my rolling pin on the parchment paper.

 Once it was rolled out, I used my lid to cut a circle out and called my little ones to do their part.

I had my kiddos wash and dry their little hands- mainly because they had been eating Cheetos and I though I love orange, I didn't want this one THAT orange.

I had the girls press their thumbs in the pearl colored clay and the boys on the metallic gray.

 Once they were done leaving their imprints I stamped each of their charms with their nicknames. {Something to consider: I put the letters on the side that will end up being upside-down to everyone else. Be aware of the letter stamp direction and readability.}

 I wanted to make sure that the necklace holels were big enough. - Double check yours- and I removed the toothpicks from the charms before I put them in the oven.

 I put the charms on the same parchment paper I had rolled and cut them out on on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven for 10 minuted {at 300 degrees}.

 I picked this one up off the cookie sheet almost immediately- look how cute!

 Here's the four of my charms together. I love it! Way less expensive than the metal version, easier to make and faster, too!  Just my style. ;)

 Check out MindyMaesMarket.com to see which vendor's product is up now!

And our blog: MMMblog  for our ORANGE ideas this week!

Bride and Groom Moss Initals

Howdy. My little brother got married a bit back {last month} and I thought I'd share a simple, cute and {eh-hem} cheap way to personalize any sort of shindig you might be hosting.

First. You might be inclined to purchase the metal letters from our shop {HERE}. I did.
Second. I painted said letters green. This just happened to be the green I had available- which didn't require me to change out of my sweats or load up four children in the 100 degree heat and hit the local Lowe's. You can use whatever color you'd like. I did this just-in-case I missed a spot with the moss, or if some fell, or whatever.

  I'm showing you to paint the side that would be facing you- rather than the backside...I think. ;)

Here is the moss that I used. It came in a cute little package. {I actually purchased THREE because I didn't want to have to venture out again (see four kids spill up above).} I found this cute little package in the floral department. I can also tell you that if you are doing a few letters 2-4, for example; ONE package will suffice.

I simply sprayed the painted letter with Elmer's Craft Bond and held the moss in place over the moss, on the letter. I laid out all of the moss {which is why I have craft paper underneath} so that I could pick and choose moss. I assembled the moss probably like one would assemble a puzzle or a rock back splash or whatever.

Here are the two letters finished. I flipped them over after an hour {surprisingly cushion-y} and applied hot glue and a ribbon.

 Be mindful of the length of ribbon and where they will ultimately hang. This would be a sad place to not finish the way that you need it to. ;)

 And there you are. A few letters, a few steps and fewer dollars than on typically might spend!

Another Yarn Tutorial over at MMMblog, today!

Neat-o Newspaper Lollies!

 I started with some left-over newspaper parts. I used full sheets and the colored pages.  I needed something that looked fun, but a tad bit masculine.

 I started accordian folding the paper on the short end.

 I folded two pages but you could fold as many as you'd like- each folded paper will make up two section of your lolly.

 I foleded the folded paper in half.

 I pulled out my hot glue gun and glued on the inside of the folded paper and stuck the edges together to form half {or a section} of the lolly.

 Once the section is formed, you will glue the outer edges to the outer edge{s} of other sections you have made. Attatch them at the glued edge.

 If you wanted a more "full" lolly you would add more sections simply by attatching edges.

 I only used two sections of folded newspaper (two pages). To hang mine, I attatched paper clips to the center to hold it together and give it some stablility {newpaper isn't the strongest of papers, no?} Then I tied twine to the paperclip and taped the twine to the top of the paper to hold the lolly upright.

 I'm sure there are a million other ways to do it...more glue, etc. This way was just simple and on-hand.

Aren't they just so cute?