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Fabulous Free Printables from Our Favorite Blogs

With nothing but some paper and a printer, you can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.  There are some great free printables out there that can help you become an instant Martha Stewart.  From gift boxes and wrapping to spiffy lunch bags, we’ve scoured the blogs and found some pretty printables to brighten up the drab and add that ...
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Fab 5: Spring Crafts for the Whole Family

photo courtesy of Made by Joel

 

With blossoming flowers and bees buzzing about, there’s lots of inspiration around us for some fun spring crafts. The bright and vibrant colors of spring popping up around us are like a dream-come-true palette to play with. We can finally shed the winter darks and neutrals and dish out the pinks, corals, greens, and violets. Whether you need some weekend entertainment for the kids or ideas to keep them occupied over spring break, we’ve found Fab 5 sites with fun and fantastic spring inspired crafts.

  1. Made by Joel brings on the blossoms: One of our favorite crafty dads has put together a bouquet of crafts with his spring projects. For a super simple project that will take you back to your childhood, make a paper flower basket with your kids that they can use to collect and put flowers in. If you are willing to put in a little more effort with power tools and wood, these adorable flower building toys will keep your kids busy creating their own flower gardens. Too cute!
  2. Martha Stewart’s got more than flowers to deliver: No one does crafts like Martha Stewart and she’s got plenty of kids’ spring crafts to choose from. For the kid with the green thumb, these adorable eggshell flower pots allow kids to plant seeds for the spring in halved eggshells and uses coffee stirrers to label the seeds. Pencil stamps made from pencil erasers and pressed pansies are a great way for kids to create and decorate stationary. See how creative your kids can get with some paper, crayons and clothespins in creating a clothespin barnyard.
  3. Big Red Hat will keep you cool in the spring sun: Check out what are fave little craftess, Olivia, is up to at Oliart. For spring, Olivia teaches us how to make a beautiful felt flower that can be attached to a headband, hat, belt, or any number of items.  Is this little girl really only 11 years old?  Look out Martha, you’ve got some company!
  4. Crafty Crow is making its way back from a winter break to the south: Flowers, fairies and butterflies flit galore in the spring craft section of this site that pulls great ideas from other blogs and sites around the Internet. For the wee ones, this flower loom allows kids as young as preschool make a beautiful floral creation. Boys and girls alike will let their imaginations sail away with one of these milk carton boats.
  5. Nick Jr. is putting on more than television shows: We know our kids love their TV characters like Dora the Explorer and the Backyardigans so a quick visit to Nick Jr.’s spring crafts section will have them excited about crafts that use their fave characters, complete with downloadables to make the shows come to life. An old oatmeal container can become a Wonder Pets recycled birdhouse. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but when it comes to spring crafts, sticks and yarn makes a cool Backyardigans mobile.

While these aren’t really sites that are kid oriented (hence they did not quite make the Fab 5 list), they had a couple of projects that might interest the adults in the house as well as the kids so we thought they were worth mentioning. Honestly…WTF (gotta love the name), although it’s primarily a fashion focused site, we found these adorable DIY pom poms made from yarn that can be used a number of ways including stringing them together to make pom pom garland. The dudes over at Dudecraft had this great idea to make a t-shirt scarf out of old t-shirts. Seriously, how much do you love that this site has a scarf project?

Happy crafting and for more great craft ideas, check out our Top 20 Craft sites.

Eat Drink Chic

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Take your holiday planning and decorating to the next level and check out the fantastic inspirations at Eat Drink Chic.  Loaded with cute, unique ideas for holiday, or every day crafts, there is sure to be something here to strike your fancy.  Especially great is their section of DIY freebies, where you can download printables for invitations, decorations and more.  

http://eatdrinkchic.com/

Fantastic Freebies

Who doesn’t love a deal? Whether or not you are on a budget, there’s no better word than “free.” Few things in life are free, and we’ve found some fantastic freebies for you. This holiday, add that extra special touch to gifts, cards and decorations by making the details that make a difference. These sites all have free downloadable templates, so grab some paper and scissors and put on your creativity cap.  The best part is that many of these projects can be done with your kids.

For some, the idea of getting crafty might send you into a cold sweat. We can’t all be Martha Stewart, but we can certainly learn from the Queen of Crafts herself. Martha Stewart has templates for every occasion including holiday ornaments, sewing patterns, place card templates, and even templates for clothespin dolls. If Martha has thought about it (and you know she has), then it’s here. Just search “templates” and you will find it all.

Skip to My Lou is a darling little site with plenty of free downloads and patterns that will make your heart skip. Even though there is a section dedicated to Free Downloads with cute things like labels and recipe cards, the site is peppered with craft ideas that cost next to nothing. Several of these are crafts that your kids can make and give as gifts for teachers or family members.

Templettes and Cut Out and Keep are two more sites with some great free template downloads. Templettes is a blog with both paid and free templates from sites around the net. Check out the “Free” category for templates for everything from holiday mailing labels to a paper Hermes purse. Cut Out and Keep is more than a craft site, it’s a craft community where you can comment and connect with a free membership. Most of the “How-To” projects have templates, but there are so many fun ideas here you’ll get inspired just browsing the site. There are even instructions on how to paint your nails with decorative designs (ok, so it’s not a template, but it’s too cute!).

If you want to take your crafting to the next level (or just have people think you are a creative genious), check out Eat Drink Chic. Many of these downloads found in the “Free Stuff” section are to elevate food presentations. If you are making cookies and candies as gifts this year, you’ll find lots of packaging ideas here that are as simple as clicking print. There is also an assortment of holiday gift tags and labels. In just a few short minutes you can download and print great gift tags that will put those store bought stickers to shame.

Finally, from a crafty dad comes Made by Joel. This site has some downloadable templates that you’ll enjoy browsing through the site to find, but the shining stars here are the cool craft ideas made with items you have around the house like dollhouse cereal boxes and cardboard marionettes. Dad Joel has provided easy-to-follow videos that make this site both endearing and fool proof.

 

Photo courtesy of www.madebyjoel.com

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