Sew seraphic designs: Tutorials

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Kids Easter Egg Decorating {Tutorial Roundup}

Many of you know that I have a dayhome, or as in the United States; a home daycare. I am constantly on the lookout for fun and creative ideas for the kids to do.

Easter is such a fun holiday so rather than bookmark a million fun preschool ideas, I thought it would be better to just do a round up and keep them all in one place. Today I will start with Easter eggs. I was going to do a lot more than just that, but when I started looking for ideas, there were so many cool ones that I just couldn't leave out.

Here are a few of my favorites from many, many, many unique ideas. Some are more preschool friendly than others, which just means you might need to help your kiddos out more.

Unique ways to decorate over at Family Fun

These little guys are so dang cute! They are probably harder for preschool kids; if you have everything cut to size and ready to go, then it would make the process much faster.

Lots of Great Easter Egg Ideas Here!

I love the idea of using different media to decorate eggs. These seem a bit trickier for preschool kids too, however, substitute the fancy ribbon for foam stickers and it's an all around crowd pleaser!

One of My New Favorite Blogs has a whole bunch of Amazing decorating ideas like this one!

Check it out right now! By the way, it looks tricky, but kids can easily help paint the eggs!

Another source of more than one way to decorate eggs. This is a super fun way for kids to decorate them though while also discussing feelings, and fine-tuning their fine motor skills!

Martha Stewart has a great tutorial on this classic idea. Have the kids draw whatever they want onto their eggs with crayons before dyeing them. I remember doing this when I was a kid!

More with Crayons! This is a project that might be a bit tricky for really little kids, but older ones will definitely enjoy the challenge of making them! :)

I hope you enjoyed all the different egg decorating ideas! Just choosing one to do could take hours! {Of course, unless you are like me and want to do them all, just on different days...}

Have any ideas? Please leave your link in the comments or on my FB page! I would Love to hear them!!

Have an EGG-cellent Easter!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Yarn Wreath with a Twist {Tutorial}

At long last my wreath is done and hangs proudly on my front door!

Not going to lie to you guys, I totally thought this was a project that I could whip up while the kids were napping one day. Boy was I wrong! At least I am optimistic! lol Being optimistic made me actually do the project. If I had known it was going to take so long, I may have put it off until Spring was over or even later!

Anyways, now onto the tutorial! I know there are a lot of different wreath tutorials out there, so I hope that mine doesn't get lost in crowd and provides something a little different.

First the finished image:

So that all of you get some inspiration... Now I am totally worried I scared you all off by saying it took me longer than I thought. It will be worth it, I promise! This project is super easy to do; even for all you people who think you are not crafty at all. {Which you are, you just don't know it}

Step 1 Gather Supplies

Here is the list of what you need for this project; pretty basic and easy to find supplies:

yarn or another media (such as fabric) you can find to wrap your wreath form {mine are from a thrift store}
a 17" Styrofoam wreath form, I found mine at Michael's, and afterwards I found one at a thrift store, so check there too!
Silk Flowers for decoration, {I used a variety of sizes of Daisies} also found at Michael's
Glue Gun and Glue
Flower Centers, I love using Earrings, Buttons, Brooches or Beads again check your local thrift store before buying new

Step 2 Start Wrapping Yarn

1. To prep yarn, make sure it is in a tightly wound ball, or else you may end up like I did and have to spend half your time untieing knots! {Sorry for the bad pictures! My camera isn't very fancy!}

2.When the glue gun is hot, make a thin strip of glue on the back of the wreath. Place an end of the yarn onto the hot glue and press down until yarn is secure.

3. Start wrapping the yarn then keep wrapping and wrapping and wrapping... somewhat like the energizer bunny! lol I found wrapping the yarn somewhat tedious as I bore easily, so I wrapped in all directions. I thought it would add some nice texture, which it did.

4. If you run out of yarn half way through wrapping {or if the yarn gets tangled enough you have to cut if and start again} simply repeat #3.Then keep going until your wreath is even and covered so you don't see any Styrofoam underneath.

5. Secure the last end of the yarn to the back of the wreath using your glue gun.

Step 3 The Fun Part
1. Now that the tedious work is over, the fun can begin! Pull out your silk flowers, peel them apart and re-glue them together, ending with your new center on top {I will have a tutorial on this soon too).