My kids are getting dirt for Easter! I just finished putting together these egg carton planting kits for little Easter gifts for them and I know they are going to love them. My littlest one has a lovely bean plant growing right now, and they both are itching to do some planting.

I filled the plastic eggs with potting soil and poured some seeds into the seed packets. I’ve included the printable seed packet along with the egg carton label that I made (you can find them below). Planting instructions are included on the seed packet. You can use glue or double-sided tape to adhere the labels.

Super-easy and loads of fun! I can’t wait to get started on our little flower garden!

The post Spring Planting Kit (Egg Carton Printable) appeared first on One Crafty Place.

So, I’ve been making all kinds of boxes and it’s the weirdest thing how much I’ve been enjoying it!  I love sewing, but the space we’re in right now makes it more difficult for me to sew on a regular basis, so the boxes allow me to engage in some pretty inexpensive creativity.   Below you can see the Easter boxes I’ve made and a St. Patrick’s Day kiss box, but there are several more in the works.

I promise I’ll continue to share fun stuff with you here and will be back soon with more fun projects!

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Flowers are a traditional Valentine’s Day Gift, but why not let the kids bring flower seeds to their classroom friends?! This is a simple printable template of an envelope with a decoration on the front and “To” and “From” fields (not visible above) on the back. It’s as simple to put together as printing, cutting, and gluing. Plus, I was able to find a great selection of seed packs from the Dollar Tree! I still have a few more samples to make for my kids before they decide which valentines they’ll choose, but if we use this seed packet valentine, they I think we’ll also include a little slip of paper with simple planting instructions on the inside (ex: plant in a sunny spot).

Here is the printable seed packet template!

*Be sure to check out my printable Goldfish Valentine and many other Valentine’s Day inspired projects from the archives!

The post Flower Seed Valentine: Free Printable appeared first on One Crafty Place.

Pretty much ever since my last sip of eggnog was had, I’ve been scheming up Valentine’s Day ideas for the kids.  While I was poking around online for ideas I found this truly awesome list of clever/cheesy (there’s a fine line isn’t there?) Valentine quotes. I have a handful ideas which I’ll be posting in two series: The first of which is the Sugar-Free Valentines Series.

So, first up we have this happy little goldfish printable to send along with a snack-sized pack of goldfish. The kids can write their own “To”s and “From”s in the space at the bottom.  I haven’t shown it to the kids yet. I think when I’ve finished all of my samples I’ll let them chose which ones they want to give to their friends.

If you like this one, I’ve provided a pdf printable of it here, which is free for your personal use. Please let me know if you have any problems opening or printing the file!

Come back soon for more kids valentine ideas!

Edit: I now have my Seed Packet Valentine available for download!

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School breaks are my absolute favorite times of the year.

I’m not good with all of the rushing around and time constraints of school days, so I relish every second of our days off. What do we do? Not much really. Play games, explore, or just spend time working on our own projects.

I also like coming up with projects for us all to work on together, but I’ve found that those never turn out as well as those which emerge from the imaginations of my kids.

The other day, Annabelle noticed our craft sticks in the closet and asked if she could use them. I was hesitant at first – as we often are with the prospect of an unplanned mess – but I obliged.  She then carried the craft sticks to the table and thought for a moment, then asked if we had any foam. Well, it just so happens that we had a stack of sticky foam sheets in another closet.  At this point, I had no idea what she had in mind, but I was completely enthralled because she seemed to know quite clearly what she had in mind.

Her sister joined in as well, and you can see the results of their pursuits in the pictures above. By the time they were done they had about half a dozen craft stick puppets in various forms and colors.

I loved it all. I loved that they had enough stillness in the day to have an idea, develop the idea, and carryout the idea. I loved how intently focused they were while they carried out their work.  And, I loved that their first inclination was to wrap two of their puppets to give to their Grandma for Christmas.

I hope all of you have enjoyed some special moments during your time with family over the past couple of weeks. As sad as it is that our vacation is over, I’m excited about coming back to this space and sharing some of my own ideas, as well as seeing what my friends have been up to.  I can tell from my Reader that many of you actually remained productive over the holiday!

Here’s to a new year full of happiness, love, and pockets of spontaneity within the contrived busy-ness of our lives.  Cheers.

The post Spontaneous Crafting appeared first on One Crafty Place.

I was happy he was so open with me because I really did need  a reminder about how special the little things are. Certainly special enough to put a few moments of thought and care into.

And so, here are some simple gift ideas, on the small-ish side, that can easily be made before Christmas.

Felt superhero masks from Cutesy Crafts (free templates)

Felt animal masks from Petit Poulou (free templates)

Shape Sticks with free printables from Tried and True

“Candy” coin rolls from Martha Stewart

Personalized key chains (for the older kiddos) from Little Lovelies

Monster page corner bookmarks from Tally’s Treasury

Wooden slingshot from Made by Joel

Felt finger puppets pattern from Ginger and George available to purchase here

The post DIY Last-Minute Stocking Stuffers appeared first on One Crafty Place.

After finishing up the teachers’ ornaments last weekend I started fiddling with cutting paper out to make some reindeer cards for Annabelle and Charlotte’s classmates. It eventually became obvious that the best way to go was going to be printing these little guys out!

These were our practice runs and I think they came out so stinkin’ cute. I couldn’t wait to share them with you so that you can make some, too!  All you need are some blank greeting cards (I used 5″ X 6 1/2″) or some cardstock plus the following:

- peppermints and small candy canes
- an X-acto knife and either scissors or a 1″ round paper punch
- festive tape (optional) for sealing the card and adding a collar or bow-tie
- PDF file (for 5 X 6 1/2″ card or 8 1/2 X 11″ cardstock) or png file (which you can format into whatever size document you need)

To finish the card once it is printed, cut two slits along the dashed lines at the top of the reindeer’s head and cut the circle for the nose.

If you use a paper punch the hole might be slightly larger than the guidelines on the reindeer but that’s ok! When you tape the peppermint to the backside of the front cover there will just be a small, barely noticeable gap.

Gently guide the candy canes through the slits at the top of the card. They will be very snug and secure but you may still wish to tape them to the back just to be on the safe side.

Lastly you can add your embellishments and tape shut…but don’t forget to write your message on the inside first!

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The kids have just one more week left before their break starts and I can’t wait to have them home with me for a couple weeks. The time off always goes by too quickly, doesn’t it? We don’t have any travel plans this year so we’ll be spending our days being lazy in our pajamas and working on little projects here and there, and savoring every moment of our time together.

Be sure to let me know if you make the candygrams! And please let me know if you have any problems with the files!

The post DIY Reindeer Candygram appeared first on One Crafty Place.

Before throwing my hands up, resourcefulness got the best of me and I snipped a sprig from the branches we cut off the bottom of our Christmas tree. Here’s how we made our version without a stamp:

If you have some good letter stamps you could easily personalize these with family names.

I hope everyone is enjoying the busy-ness that comes with preparing for the holidays!  I am loving seeing all of the special touches folks are adding to their homes and gift-giving and my heart just absolutely fills up when I see the excitement in the kids.

Love. Love. Love this time of year!

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As much as I enjoy sewing, I find knitting to be far more convenient. I can pull out my needles anytime I have a few spare minutes and with knitting I don’t have to worry about taking over my dining room table every time I want to make something. Here are a few knitting projects I’ve pulled together for some Christmas gifting inspiration. Many of these are perfect for beginners and can be completed in an afternoon….and they’re free (except for the bowling pattern which is sitting pretty close to free at $1 for the pattern)!

Happy Knitting!

Toys and Dolls to Knit

Bear ornaments
Snowman
Robot
Hacky sack
Striped stockinette snake
Ice cream cones
Toy boats
Aisling the Elf
Monster softies
Bowling set
Owlie soap sack
Baby gnomes
Frog bath puppet
Rocketship
Dinosaur Softie
Crayon Caddy
Maggie Bean and Friends (22″ doll) from Petite Purls
Monster softies

Wearables to Knit

Little Stay On Slippers
Kindergarten Kit: hat, neck-warmer, mittens
Fox mittens
Fish Hats from Knitty
Chapstick necklace
Yo Gabba Gabba mittens
Snowman Snowball Toddler Scarf

I made some hacky sacks a few days ago and plan on making some baby gnomes for stocking stuffers!  And, if I can swing it, I’d love to make the little bear ornaments and add the kids’ names onto them.

P.S. Some of the patterns require you to open a free account in order to access them…just giving you a head’s up!

The post Free Knitting Patterns in Time for Holiday Gift-Giving appeared first on One Crafty Place.

My 6 year old is showing some signs of weakness in her little fingers so I’ve been coming up with some fine-motor fun for her. I made this snowman buttoning mat with big and little buttons to help her practice both sizes. She can have fun dressing up her winter friend by matching the colors of the felt with the colors of the  buttons, or just doing her own thing! There is a little birdy who keeps the snowman company, and a mug of warm cocoa to drink.

{click for printable pdf file}

*Directions:

- cut 2 pieces of 14×16″ cotton fabric for the background

- cut a 13×15″ piece of interfacing or fusible fleece

- use templates to cut felt pieces (I used wool felt for added durability and ironed freezer paper to the back before tracing and cutting)
~there is no pattern piece for the snow, but you can cut a piece of white felt as wide as your cotton backing fabric and about 6 1/2″ tall, then cut a slight curve into it

- once you’ve fused your interfacing/fleece onto the back of your fabric, use a zigzag stitch to secure your snowy background, snowman, and hat into place.

- use embroidery floss to hand-stitch your buttons into place, leaving just the slightest gap so that the buttons can be easily manipulated by little hands…Make sure you use bigger buttons for the bigger pieces and smaller for the small pieces

- the arms and mouth will also need to be stitched on by hand

- when all of your stitching is done, face your cotton pieces right sides together. Pin two pieces of about 6-8″ ribbon together at the top and in between the layers

- using a 1/2″ seam allowance, sew around the mat leaving a gap between your starting and stopping points for turning

- turn the fabric right-side-out, press, and top stitch all around making sure to close that gap

* these are pretty down-and-dirty directions, but I think you’ll get the gist of it…If not, please feel free to ask away in the comments!

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