January 2012 – Dabbled

“Easier than storebought” valentines day kids cards

Dot — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:53:28 +0000

I saw this post, from the awesome Asha @Parenthacks, about how it is not slacking to buy storebought cards for kids class valentines. And while I totally agree, I had to share this, which was our card from last year. I submit that this is even EASIER than store bought cards, because nothing is more hellish in our family than getting my kid to sign valentines cards over and over again, but he does love to draw. The idea is expanded below, but basically you get your kid to draw 1 card (or a few versions if desired) with a picture and appropriate text, and sign it. Then you just scan it, shrink it, and print it multiple times on card stock! Voila, all the cards are ‘hand signed’! The version below also includes candy, but you can of course do anything you like, and candy is not required.

From 2012:

So Sunday evening, after a marathon session of watching Series 2 of Doctor Who with the Boy (who between that and Harry Potter is becoming quite the Anglophile), we had the sudden realization that Tuesday was Valentines Day… oops! I guess we need a bunch of cards for the classmates!

Yesterday after school we sat down to come up with Vday cards, and the Boy (first grade) has been obsessed with the idea of Valentine’s Monsters. Well, he’s a boy, so monsters just come with the territory. He had a blast designing his own cards, and with a little help from mom & Photoshop, here are the results!

How to make your own easy and personal homemade monster cards:

Have the kid design his own monster on a full sheet of paper. We used pencil for the lines and colored with light colored markers. Have the monster hold his hand out, so that you can add your own real-life lollipop. (The Boy insisted on 3 different designs)
Write a pithy saying. The boy decided on “Have a Yummy Valentine’s Day” for one, and “I’m watching you, Valentine” for the one with all the eyes. OK, a little stalker-y, but he’s 6. This isn’t supposed to be Hallmark! He wrote out the saying, and signed the cards.
Scan the drawing and the words. If you have photoshop or something similar, you can make the scanned drawing look a little cleaner by adjusting the Levels. (Slide the left most slider slightly to the right, and the rightmost slider to the left, to remove shadows from the scan and darken the lines.)
Use a photo editing program to shrink down both pieces so you can fit approximately 8 cards on a page. We used the same words with 2 of the monsters, to save time, since his writing isn’t exactly speedy.
Print on cardstock, and cut apart.
Use an exacto knife to cut two slits near the hand, and slide the lollipop through.

These are personal, and having the signature already on them saves time for slow writing and easily bored first graders. He just addressed them on the back to his classmates prior to threading through the sucker. They are also great for sending to the grandparents, minus the candy!

[project originally published 2/2012]

Fabulously simple Cupid’s heart appetizers!

Dot — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:20:07 +0000

Isn’t this a wonderful idea for Valentines day appetizers or lunchbox treats? I was searching for photos of tomatoes on a totally unrelated topic, and came across this one… which led me back to Eye Candy (which is a very clever food site I’ve linked to before: check out the Chicken Egg Family!).

So simple and clever.. The arrow toothpick is the perfect touch!

Go there and get the directions: Struck by Cupid’s Arrow Cherry Tomatoes

How to make a Paper Rose Wreath

Dot — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:07:12 +0000

Artist, and Dabbled favorite, Diana Evans has a great tutorial on making cute paper roses and a paper rose wreath.
Perfect for Valentines Day, no? I think individual flowers would be nice on 3-D Valentine’s Day cards, too.

Go check it out! Her hand drawn tutorial is adorable too…

Crafty Cthulhu Says: “Stop SOPA”!

Dot — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:12:17 +0000

Sorry for the inconvenience of no Dabbled yesterday, but I feel very strongly that we need to get the word out to stop the SOPA and PIPA proposals, so we joined with many other sites to go dark to highlight the problem.

More info:

Internet blackout day is over, but we still need to stop SOPA. Yesterday I posted this to Twitter, but since we’re back up today, I’m sharing it here too! Feel free to pirate this image for use in getting the word out!

Dabbled is Dark Today

Dot — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:34:13 +0000

Dabbled, like Wikipedia, Boing Boing, and many other sites today, has gone dark from January 18, 2012 at 8:00 am until January 18, 2012 at 8:00 pm to protest SOPA/PIPA and Internet Censorship.

This is important, and you need to be aware and get involved if you care about the internet and the freedoms we currently enjoy. All it takes is people who don’t understand what they are doing (ie our representatives) doing something dumb in the name of trying to stop piracy, and ruining it for everyone.

Proposed US Senate legislation — the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA)– would put Dabbled, and most other sites that link to cool stuff on the web, in legal jeopardy if we linked to a site anywhere online that had any links to copyright infringement.

This would unmake the Web, just as proposed in the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Please visit AmericanCensorship.org for instructions on contacting your Senator.

Thanks for reading Dabbled, and we’ll be back tomorrow!
Cheers,
Nancy (aka Dot), Dabbled.org

If you want to join the protest with your site – because we all have to stand together, the tall and the small – here’s a WordPress plugin that will help your site join the fight with just a small amount of setup: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/go-dark/

Learn More Here »

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has more information on this and other issues central to your freedom online.

*thx to BoingBoing as I paraphrased some of their message for this one. I don’t think they’ll mind.

“Don’t Blink” Treetopper (and more awesomely geeky/crafty Dr. Who links)

Dot — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:51:41 +0000

Dude! Totally love this nerdy DIY Don’t Blink Angel treetopper by The Domestic Scientist! For the non-Dr. Who fans, this is the reference to the weeping angels.

Although I’m not really sure Dr. Who is nerdy anymore now with the modern Doctors. Old school Dr. Who is still nerdy, but I never got into that – I must admit I just love the new stuff (I started watching with Eccleston, and adored Tennant, and now Smith is just too much fun!)

Renee says:

From I made her out of Paper Clay. Best stuff EVAR! The first time I used it in making Bianca for Dragon*Con it was really fun, but I didn’t quite understand the potential it had! Underneath the clay is a skeleton of Styrofoam and wire. And a rather silly M&M Mini’s tube in the middle to keep her strong on top of the tree. But hey, I’m recycling! Here are some other, closer shots of it.

Want more DIY ideas?

Dr Who Nesting Dolls… all 11 Doctors and the Tardis!

And check out this Dr. Who themed birthday party. Awesome ideas including a truly ‘bigger on the inside’ Tardis, party activities such as making bowties (because bowties are cool!) and sonic screwdrivers, and Dalek party favor bags.

and a few more links of crafty/DIY Dr. Who:

Tardis cross-stitch iphone case
An amazing Don’t Blink weeping angel costume
Duct Tape Tardis Purse
Dalek Advent Calendar
Dalek Smash Cake
Beaded Dr. Who scarf necklace
DIY Tardis Hoodie ( you know we love freezer paper stencils)

Don’t forget those after Christmas decoration sales!

Dot — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:59:52 +0000

Yesterday I reminded you about picking up your clearance Candy Canes for use in Valentines Day treats. Today I’m reminding you that the rest of those Holiday Clearance goodies are also a bargain hunting crafter’s delight!

In previous years I’ve picked up a tablecloth which was remade into a fun and modern treeskirt, and I noticed my local Target had some pretty red and white snowflake tablecloths (a smaller print than this one from previous years) left on clearance and marked down cheap. If you don’t need a tree skirt, those tablecloths are a great source of holiday fabric for making anything from stockings to kids aprons to fabric ornaments…

Here is the link to my Tree Skirt tutorial, and it’s even easier if you can find a round cloth instead of the oblong one I used : A $4 TREESKIRT FROM AN ‘AFTER CHRISTMAS SALE’ TABLECLOTH

Some other things I’ve picked up in the after holiday blitz are:

solar christmas lights (there are always project ideas that use these–like Not Martha’s Sun Jar–, and they can be pricey.
cheap red felt tree skirts. they are great for just using as red felt in projects! I think the cross on the Knight costume was made from tree skirt felt!
clearance ornaments for use in crafty ornament projects next year (like the cupcake ornaments we featured previously!)

What about you? have you found any awesome clearance crafty deals?

Buy Now – Clearance Candy canes for Valentines treats

Dot — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:40:20 +0000

I was at Target the other day and all the xmas stuff is at 75% off. I picked up a box of multiflavor mini candy canes, because I always see cool things people make with candy canes for valentine’s day, but you can’t find the candy then! So this is your reminder… pick some up now…!

Here are a few things you’ll be able to do with them..

Candy Canes and White Chocolate Heart Pops

Candy Cane hearts on a stick

Spell LOVE out of candy canes

I’m sure we’ll think of more… so don’t miss out and get yours for cheap now :)

And be on the lookout for cool holiday linens, like tablecloths, on clearance too. They make great craft materials for next year, like reusable bags (link via sew green) or (Dabbled’s own) tree skirts!

And no, I’m not a paid shill for Big Candy Cane or Target , hehe.

(reposted from 2011, because it’s still a great idea!)

Happy New Year ! (and winner announcement)

Dot — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:42:26 +0000

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and New Year! Did you make any resolutions?

I sure did, and a busy one too. But I’m sure you’ve been wondering who one the Serve giveaway, so here are the results!

By the power of the Random Number Generator, we have a winner. Congrats to Amy! I’ll be emailing you to the details.

(PS, in case anyone was confused, even though it says 22 comments, 2 were twitter posts, so there were 20 entries.)