1.Tell us a little about you and your blog.

I started my blog, Attempting Aloha, as a way to chronicle our home renovations when we moved to Oahu three years ago. It ended up being a whirlwind year, and we relocated to the East Coast within 12 months! I’m still attempting to live the aloha life by sharing my creations and things I learn along the way with anyone who happens across my blog.

2.How and when did you start crafting?

I am a self-taught seamstress and builder! I’ve never considered myself crafty or artsy or creative, but I LOVE to learn. Hence the tagline of my blog: “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”–Albert Einstein

3.How often do you craft?

I always have 4 or 5 projects in different stages going on at once. It drives my husband crazy, but creating is just a part of daily life now.

4.Where do you get your inspiration?

Other bloggers, stores, magazines, garbage on the side of the road…

5.What is your favorite medium to work in?

It’s a toss-up between fabric and wood!

6.What is your guilty pleasure?

I love watching chick flicks and staying up all night working on projects when my husband works night shifts. It’s true therapy for me.

7.What makes you smile?

“I just like to smile. Smiling’s my favorite.” Funny quotes make me smile.

8.What is your favorite thing to do (other than crafting)?

Running. It’s my other form of therapy.

*Tutorial by Jess @ Spool & Spoon for her win of the Kids Can Do challenge of season 15*

I have always been a big fan of Earth Day so I was delighted to create a kid-friendly and planet-friendly project this past week.

To make your own set of hand stamped seed sacks you only need a few supplies: a foam sheet, wood blocks, linen bags, double-sided tape, paint/ink pads, and scissors.

1. Let the kids loose on the foam sheet. Instruct them to draw small blossoms and stems all over:

2. If they are old enough, let the little ones cut them out. If they are not, use a small pair of scissors (or even an xacto knife) to cut them out yourself

3. Gather an assortment of small wooden blocks that  are just the right size for the cut shapes (mine ranged in size from 1 to 2.5″ cubes)

4. Attach a piece of permanent double-sided tape to one side of the cutouts.

5. Take the shape and put the tape side down on the center of a wooden block. Push down on the foam shape to adhere it securely to the block.

6. Repeat steps four and five on all of the remaining foam shapes

7. Before letting the kids go crazy with the stamps, stick a piece of scrap paper inside the sacks to prevent colors from bleeding through.

8. Now it’s time for the kids to go wild. Using thin layers of paint or pigment ink pads, the stamps work either way. I like the mix and match aspect most of all since your little ones have the freedom of expression — they can use a variety of colors and combinations that is only limited by their imagination.

Let the paint dry completely and pack the sacks full of wildflower seeds or whatever plants you adore.

And just think, those stamps can be made into any shape your babes can dream up! Think mix and match monsters, faces, weather patterns, etc. I hope you and your little munchkins have a blast with this simple springtime project.

Wow.  What a week last week guys.  Thank you for all the emails and messages of concern for our family.  We’re all doing well.  I woke up Monday morning with the plan to have a day out and about Boston with Abi.  It was beautiful outside, a holiday and the marathon was going on so I thought there would be plenty of awesome things to do.  Thankfully, it was a bit of a slow morning so we never made it, thank goodness. It was all very surreal to see our favorite and most frequented places under attack like that.  Very glad it’s all over now, that’s for sure.  We’re still prying for those that were injured or more affected by the tragedies of last week.

But now onto happier things (and sorry I didn’t get these results posted Friday – I was a bit distracted to say the least.).

And the crafter/project match up -

 A few things to remember:

• Link to a specific post, not your blog in general.
• Please only post your ideas, not round ups or guest posts.
• Only link up 2 posts.
• Think outside the box – a craft, tutorial, recipe, anything you want!
• Grab the handy dandy button in the side bar (or a text link it you like to keep things simple) and put it on your blog so people know there’s other great stuff linked up here to see.
• Visit other links and leave them some love – everyone likes appreciation
• Join me on Twitter & Facebook.  I’ll be sharing some of my favorites there throughout the week.

1.Tell us a little about you and your blog.

I started my blog as a way to make myself accountable for actually finishing my crafts. All too often I would start a project and not finish, and having this outlet helped motivate me to get them finished!

2.How and when did you start crafting?

My earliest memories are of me around age 4 waking up early enough to draw the sunrise. I’d sit outside on the sidewalk and draw the sun as it peaked over the mountains. My mother taught me how to sew and crochet, and she enrolled me in all the art classes I wanted! My love of drawing morphed into painting which morphed into love all things crafty!

3.How often do you craft?

Usually weekly, but mostly it’s spontaneous. I almost always have a project or two lying about that I work can work on in my spare time.

4.Where do you get your inspiration?

I’m always looking for inspiration in other crafters on craftster.org, pinterest or stumbleupon.

5.What is your favorite medium to work in?

Paint. I also enjoy a bit of sew and crocheting. I’m pretty good at nail art. I love finding old, useless items and transforming them into something new and wonderful!!

6.What is your guilty pleasure?

Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes (Chocolate-Hazelnut flavor). I probably have 80 or so empty tins at my house (and I’ve used a couple dozen already for other projects). I’ll eat an entire tin in half a day if not monitored…

7.What makes you smile?

90′s music, rainbows, baby animals and my beautiful daughter and amazing husband. Oh, and glitter.

8.What is your favorite thing to do (other than crafting)?

I love to Zumba and go swimming! I’ve been inspired by a close friend to try out roller derby… that is my next goal- learn to roller skate!!

*Tutorial by Amber C @ The Craft Project for her win of the “Scrap”tastic Challenge of season 15*

To create my “Butterflies in the Wind” project you will need:

• A picture frame with a wide mat and the glass removed (mine was 16″ x 20″)
• A piece of good watercolour paper
• A selection of paint chips in a range of colours (grab them from the paint section of a hardware store)
• Black and white sharpie paint pens
• Thin wire
• A strong glue, like E-6000
• Three sizes of butterfly punches (2″ wide, 1″ wide, 1/4″ wide)
• A bone folder helps, but isn’t necessary

I started with punching out a wide range of butterflies from paint chips. I wanted the piece to be very 3D so I folded each of the largest size of butterflies in half with the bone folder. To add a bit more visual interest to the piece I added geometric patterns with alternating white and black paint pens to one half of each of the larger butterflies.

I put the watercolour paper and mat into the frame after I pulled the glass out of it. I wanted to extend the piece beyond the rigid boundary of the frame so I twisted a some wire into tight curls and glued them to the back of the frame, with the plan of using these as extra bases for the butterflies.

I then arranged the butterflies in a swirl across the entire piece – working through a range of colours. I set the butterflies in a swirl that started on the wires and went across the piece, touching the paper, mat, and frame throughout the piece. I used E-6000 glue to put secure them in place.

I hope you enjoy making your version as much as I did with this one.

Howdy!  So how was your weekend?  I hope it was great.  Mine was heavenly.  I just got to stay at home and relax.  I even got caught up on some things while Abi colored at the desk next to me.  It was bliss

There is one thing that I discovered the other day that I want to share with you all.

I instagrammed out this picture (missyharding if you want to follow along ) after the first bite because it was so amazing.  You’re going to want to go get some right away.  It’s sure to start your week out right

Anyway,  here are the fantastic Kids Can Do projects that the ladies have put together for you this week.  This is one of my favorite themes.  I always get such great ideas of things to do with Abi.

The poll will be open until Friday morning so get your vote in early.  Have a great week! Read more

I hope you all had a marvelous week!  I forget how much time it takes to get back in the swing of things after a few days off. Especially when those days are totally awesome.  I’m just barely getting back with it since my friends left.  Poor family.  At least I did the laundry

Anyway, here are the results you’ve all been waiting for!

And the crafter/project match up:

Be sure to keep up with her on her blog and leave her lots of love!  These ladies work so hard and I know they would appreciate a little love on their blogs in return

*Tutorial by Heidi @ greendoodle for her win of the Knock-off challenge of season 16*

Wow!  Thanks for the votes.  This project has elements of super frustration (cutting glass and photographing glass) and really easy rewarding elements (like coloring the glass).  If you can get past the bottle cutting phase you are sure to have a really cool D.I.Y. light fixture.

Supplies:

bottle cutter

large bottle/jar (can be purchased here)

food coloring

colored nail polish

Modge Podge

small paint brush

automotive chrome tape

medium base porcelain socket (hardware store)

desired length lamp cord

chrome spray paint (optional)

Research bottle cutting on YouTube.  Then research some more.  This is by far the hardest step. I am super cheap frugal, so I only bought a glass cutter and my husband rigged up a bottle cutting device.  His tool worked like a champ, but it is still very tricky to get a perfect cut.

Score the glass then slowly pour HOT water over the cut.  Pour cold tap water, then HOT water again.  The bottom of your bottle should fall off at this point. (Again, YouTube is your resource for this step).

Throw away the junked bottles and get ready to paint any that are to your satisfaction.  (I cut three bottles with one perfect success, and one that had a large crack.  When painted however, the large crack was undetectable).

Mix 3T hot water, 1/2 c Modge Podge and desired food coloring.  I used 20 drops of blue and 10 drops of green.  Your finished product will dry much lighter.  Add colored nail polish if desired.  This creates a seed glass look, however clear nail polish will be your enemy.  Also, color all of your glass from the same batch.  It is really tricky to recreate the exact color. Trust me.

Pour a small amount of glue mixture and slowly swirl. I found this part of the project to be really fun.  Keep turning the bottle until all the glass has been covered.

Set right side up on paper to drip dry for 5-10 minutes. Paint any handles with mixture.  Place in a warm, dirty oven (170 degrees) for about 30 minutes.

I was unhappy with my first attempt to trim the light with chrome.  I used a chrome tape from the auto parts store, the price was great ($4) but ended up bubbling and lifting.  My second try was more successful.  I still used an auto chrome tape – but this time bought the more expensive product ($20).  I used custom chrome flexible interior exterior molding and lays beautifully. I used 3/4″ but would have preferred 1/2″.  This tape is firm and covers any imperfections in your cut.

Also, I spray painted the lid chrome (but don’t love it).  The original pendant reminded me of an oil dispenser so I grabbed one from the dollar store.  The look is similar, but unnecessary.

This step varies for each bottle.  I experimented with a pendant kit ($15 Home Depot), but found the fixtures to be too big for this bottle.  I ended up using lamp cord and a porcelain keyless light socket.  This part was not hard, but will you will need to customize the electrical for each bottle.  Best of Luck!