Need an easy craft for Easter? Michael’s has these super cute — and super easy — bunny rabbit hair clips that are in a kit. Only tools required are some hot glue and a cute kid to put them on!
9 Uses for a Heart Paper Punch – Not JUST for Valentine’s Day!!
Did you know there are so many different ways you can use your heart paper punch? It’s NOT just for hearts and valentine’s day, ya’ll! You can craft SO many cute shapes with that heart punch – year round! And I’m here to show you HOW.
Galentine’s Donut Cards – Paper Source Product Review
Read all about Paper Source’s Donut Friends Craft Kit, and how you can turn these dozen treats into Galentine’s Cards for Valentine’s Day! As with all DIY Tutorials, the Crafty Lefty gives you some tips and tricks to make these cards even craftier with mini donut return address labels and DIY cartoon eyes!
Craft These Paper Poinsettias for your Christmas Decor!
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[Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that are at no additional cost to you, and I may earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog.]
Check out these beautiful poinsettia flowers that I crafted in a spare afternoon (what, what’s that you say? Ok, maybe not spare. Maybe I should say crafted when my 1-year-old was taking a nap, and I needed a creative outlet that did NOT involve picking up her 745 toys off the floor.)
But seriously, if you’re looking for a quick, easy craft that you can add to your Christmas home décor this season, this Poinsettia Kit from Michael’s is a great option! The kit it on sale right now for $8.99, and the best part is the only additional supply you’ll need is your trusty hot glue gun. Didn’t I mention it was easy??
So, keep reading for my product review on this Poinsettia Kit from Michael’s which includes my:
- step-by-step tutorial on how to make it
- tips and tricks that I learned along the way to make crafting it easier, and
- 4 ways you can display these gorgeous flowers at home
Next, the kit comes with a bunch of flowers, leaves and accent pieces to punch out. So, after you’ve punched everything out, your table should look something like this:
The main thing to keep in mind with this kit is they’ve really made it fool-proof…and I’m a fool. Because I messed up their very SIMPLE instructions, so don’t do what I did! More on that below.
Each flower, leaf, hexagon, and yellow dot has a letter marked on the back of it – either A, B or C. Each complete poinsettia comes with a yellow dot, hexagon base, 3 flowers (that you will stack on top of each other) and several leaves. So, the first thing you should do is find is your ‘A’ yellow dot, ‘A’ hexagon, all your ‘A’ flowers and your ‘A’ leaves. Keep in mind that the leaves that correspond to each flower are not meant to be all the same size. There will be bigger and smaller leaves with each flower to create a more natural look to your poinsettias. Make an ‘A’ stack on your table with all of these components. Do the same with ‘B’ and ‘C’.
At this point, we can start folding. You might have noticed that each flower and leaf has a dotted line which is indented on the paper. This is your score line and is meant to help you make that nice fold in the paper. No bone folder required here!
Be sure to fold your leaves and flowers so that the dotted line is on the bottom once you unfold it. The score line is not meant to be seen. This is where I became a fool and accidentally glued three of my leaves with the score line facing up. I know. I know. I was too busy trying to finish this craft before my baby girl woke up from her nap. Don’t do what I did. Take your time before hot gluing!
After you’ve folded all of your leaves and flowers, we can start assembling the first poinsettia. Let’s start with the ‘A’ stack, for example. Take the ‘A’ hexagon and put a dab of glue in the middle of the  hexagon (letter side facing down). Adhere your largest flower first. Then put a dab of glue in the middle of that flower and add your medium sized flower on top, at an angle so that the petals are not directly in line with the flower underneath. In other words, stagger the flower shapes so that the petals can all be seen.
Once all three flowers have been stacked, you can adhere your pom poms. Take the ‘A’ yellow dot and glue it to the center of the smallest flower, with the letter side facing down. Then, place a dab of glue in the middle of the yellow dot and adhere your pom pom. (For the largest poinsettia, they gave you 3 pom poms to use, instead of 1.)  This is what your poinsettia should look like at this point.
Now we can start adding our leaves. I would recommend laying the leaves out around your flower first, and once you are happy with the look, you can start gluing them on to the back of your flower. Or, you can adhere all of the larger leaves first, and where you see bigger gaps, add your smaller leaves in.
Either way, I highly recommend adding the hot glue to your hexagonal base and then securing the leaf on top. It’s much easier to secure your leaves in the right places if you put glue on the hexagon, rather than on the leaf itself.
Once you have adhered all of your leaves, this is what your flower should look like:
Finally, we can start adding our accent pieces! This kit comes with several gold stems (large and small) and holly twigs. Feel free to add these accents to all of your three poinsettia flowers in any direction you choose. You can also switch up the layering by adhering them to the back, on top of your green leaves or even coming in front of your red poinsettia petals. Have fun with it!
These are some ideas for how to showcase your Poinsettia Kit from Michael’s at home:
1. above a doorway, perhaps accented with a bow
2. as a centerpiece to your table, perhaps with a large pillar candle in the middle. I also accented this with some white berry twigs I had at home.
3. on your front door, placed around a large satin door ribbon, in place of a Christmas wreath
4. inside of a shadowbox, framed on the wall next to other Christmas wall décor items
THE CRAFTY LEFTY’S PRODUCT REVIEW
MICHAEL’S POINSETTIA KIT
- only requires one supply: hot glue gun
- instructions are simple and easy to follow
- the ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ labels on the pieces make it very easy to put together
- score line and indents on the leaves and flowers make it very easy to fold
- since each flower comes with different sizes of leaves, the finished flowers look more natural
- comes with many different kinds accent pieces, so you can easily customize each flower to your liking
- quick to assemble; takes about 30 minutes
- great addition to your Christmas décor
- versatile; can be displayed in a variety of different ways in your home
Need an easy leaf craft art project?
Prefer watching over reading? Head over to The Crafty Lefty’s YouTube Channel to see all the action!
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PRODUCT REVIEW – PAPER SOURCE’S FALL FOLDED LEAVES GARLAND
Are you looking for an easy leaf craft idea? Look no further – The Crafty Lefty’s got you. Keep reading for a super cute leaf craft project.
So anyone that knows me knows I love ALL things Paper Source. It’s my favorite craft shop because it has the cutest crafts, unique supplies (sticker maker, anyone?), and I just love going there for craft inspo. I’ve attended their craft workshops a few times, and totally love their easy-to-create kits, but I’ve only made a few of their garlands. So, I was super excited to try their Folded Leaves Garland Kit, and thought I’d go ahead and do a product review on it.
First things first, you’re going to need the following supplies – a ruler, scissors, double-sided tape, and a bone folder. The bone folder is optional, but the
salesman at Paper Source assured me that it is a “life-changer”.
*Full disclosure, it didn’t change my life, but it’s definitely a super handy craft tool, and one that I will definitely be using for all my future paper folding needs.
Paper Source also give you a set of instructions for how to create your Folded Fall Leaves Garland (say that 10X fast) on the back of the packet. Fairly simple instructions, and since it’s a skill level of 2, I wasn’t anticipating any issues.
The kit comes with 12 perforated leaves on 6 different fall colored papers and a long length of kraft twine.
The first thing you’re going to do is cut 7 inches of twine. This length will be used to tie your leaf together at the end. You will need 12 strands of 7 inch twine, one for each of your leaves.
Next, start punching out your leaves from the perforated papers.
Paper Source usually does a great job of providing everything you need for their craft kits without having to spend a lot of time cutting/tracing. This kit did not disappoint! I had a few issues with some of the corners, but other than that, it was a breeze.
Next, you are going to fold your leaf in half by lining up the edges and leaf points together.
Next, if you have a bone folder, use it to press down all along the fold you just created. This will give you a sharp crease which will come in handy later. Next, you will start accordion folding the leaf, starting on one side and making your way to the other. I decided to use a bone folder about half way through the folds just to make those creases very sharp so it was easier for me to hold the paper in my hands as I was weaving it back and forth.
Then, you will fold your leaf in half on that first crease mark you made when you first folded your leaf in half — told you you that bone folder would come in handy! Use your 7 inches of twine to make a few knots around your leaf at that halfway point.
After that, you will need to use double-sided tape to ensure that your leaf stays together when you match the edges back up. The middle of your leaf should be the tallest part, so those two strips of paper in the middle need to stick to each other to ensure your leaf stays open. Take a few pieces of double-sided tape to stick on those two strips.
Then, apply pressure to join the two flaps together. After that, you just need to create the rest of your leaves!
Finally, take the remaining length of twine, tie each leaf on it, ensuring that you are adding leaves to the twine in the order in which you would like to see them hang once complete. Also, you will notice that even after a double knot, the leaves are still easily movable on the twine. That’s great for us because that means you can string all your leaves and then adjust them on the twine to your liking afterwards.
These are some ideas for how to showcase your Paper Source Folded Fall Leaves Garland (did you say it 10x yet?):
-as an accent to your table runner for your fall tablescape –
– as a place card holder for your Thanksgiving table –
-as a super cute addition to any fall decor you have at home –
THE CRAFTY LEFTY’S PRODUCT REVIEW
PAPER SOURCE’S FALL FOLDED LEAVES GARLAND
- great beginner craft for the Fall
- easy and quick to make; you can knock this out in an afternoon
- requires simple supplies that you should have at home, otherwise, very readily available
- colors of the leaves blend in easily with most home decor
I did notice that some paper colors were easier to fold — the white and kraft colored papers, for example. I had a harder time with the metallic paper, and really needed to take my time to ensure that I was folding the leaf along the score lines.
My suggestion for improvement: Ensure all paper weight is the same so it can easily be folded along the score lines.
And that’s it, folks! I hope you liked the product review. If you have created the Paper Source Folded Fall Leaves Garland at home, definitely let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear what your take was!
Again, if you want to watch the full video tutorial and product review, be sure to visit our YouTube channel here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GDbMHrT-Wg
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50% off Thanksgiving Crafts
Hurry! Michaels is having a 50% off sale on their Thanksgiving crafts this week! This is the second year that I’ve bought holiday craft kits from Michaels, and I haven’t been disappointed. I find that their selection & types of crafts is much better than the competitors — JoAnn and Hobby Lobby. I went to a fall picnic last week where I was hosting a craft table for kids, ages 5 to 10. I got the following three kits from Michaels:
I found that the fall animals kit (far left) was great for the little ones – ages 4 to 5. I used the turkey craft kit and the foam shapes for the kids who were a little older (or just a little more focused!) The foam shapes kit comes with over a hundred foam fall leaves, pumpkins, acorns, and feathers. Now, if you’re not crafty and don’t know what you could do with these foam shapes besides having the kids stick them on a plain piece of paper — scour Pinterest for ideas! It’s a great resource for any holiday or DIY crafts.
I had the kids make a Thanksgiving wreath with the foam shapes. I also made construction paper leaves ahead of time, on which I had them write what they were most thankful for. I still have a bunch of foam shapes left, so I thought they could make a frame and decorate it with the foam shapes. Here’s how I did it: I took 4 jumbo popsicle sticks and glued them in the shape of a frame with wood glue. Then, I stamped “thankful” on the bottom and decorated the frame with the foam shapes. I’m planning on having my nieces and nephew do this when they come home for Thanksgiving. I’ll take a picture of them with their family on Thanksgiving Day that they can put in the frame to remember this Thanksgiving. These are the completed crafts:
Don’t they look fun? Be sure to leave a comment if you are doing any crafts with your kiddos this holiday.
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Product Review: The Giant Art Jar
A few weeks ago, I was in Costco, and my mom and I were looking for gifts for my neice and nephew. We were strolling in the Christmas toy aisle, and I spotted the Giant Art Jar. Speaking as someone who regularly has pom poms, felt, popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners at home at any given time, I was amazed that this jar has everything you need to construct over 100 art projects with your little ones!Â
My 6 year old niece and I created some crafts from this jar last week. I let her go through the booklet and pick the craft that she wanted. She made the popsicle stick butterfly and the bird nest scene on the paper plate. (Full disclosure: I didn’t have the patience to take out every single thing from the jar to see if it included glue, so I used my own glue.) She was the perfect age and temperament for these activities.
I don’t think kiddos under 4 (unless they’re really focused and have developed their fine motor skills) would be good for this, and it’s probably going to entertain kiddos all the way up to 8 or 9. I would definitely recommend this for a rainy day activity or a sunny day activity when you’ve run out of ideas to do with your kiddos!
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Wall Art Calendar by PS {Part 2}
I used another template from Paper Source’s Wall Art Calendar the other day: pillow boxes and matching tags! Here is the print for the month of September and the pillow box/tag template.
Who knew mushrooms could look so artistic? Paper Source. Paper Source knew. Okay, so the first thing I did was cut out the pillow box along the solid lines. After that, I scored the dashed lines with the blade from a small pair of scissors. Scoring just means pressing down really hard on the paper in a line
for the intended purpose of folding on that line. If you’re using scissors instead of a bone folder or a butter knife, be sure not to push down too hard or you’ll pierce the page. After that, I folded the dashed lines really carefully. This is a harder template because the lines are not straight, they are the curved lines lines you see in the template above. Here’s what mine looked like before and after scoring and folding.
Okay, don’t hate! It hard to fold on a round edge! Don’t worry. It’ll look fine once you’re done. Then, you’re going to fold that bottom flap in, so that you see the print. Take double-sided tape and place some along the bottom flap on the print side. You’re going to
fold the box in half so that the print side touches that top straight edge and press down firmly. This is what your pillow box should look like now. It should form a loop with two open sides.
Then, take one side of the pillow box., and fold the flap with the cutout flap down and in towards the other flap. On the exposed
flap (the one without the cutout), you’re going to put double sided tape on the top and bottom of the flap (see below).
Then, press the taped flap firmly into the folded flap and hold until the tape stays firm. I put my fingers in through the open side of the box and pushed up on the flaps so that I could apply more pressure. And that’s it! You’re done!
You want to leave one side open so that you can put your gift in there. There were two tags that you could use with either this pillow box or any other gift. I cut out the circle one using my 2″ circle punch and punched a hole using my super tiny hole punch that’s perfect for stringing in some twine. To make the rounded edges on the rectangular tag, I just used my corner rounder tool. Above, you can see all the tools I used for this pillow box and matching tags.
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Wall Art Calendar by PS
Anyone that knows me knows that I love all things Paper Source. If you’re lucky enough to have a store in your city — make a trip this weekend! Besides having all sorts of really cool supplies that any crafter should have in their toolbox — punches, stationary, stamps, etc., it also inspires me to stay creative. Sometimes, I just
browse the store for their handmade crafts and take pictures on my phone. Later, I upload the pics to my Pinterest board so I have new designs to try next time I feel like being creative. I know. I sound sooo cool right now.
One of their products that I love the most are their wall calendars. Specifically, their Wall Art Calendar — it’s two great products in one. When you’re ready to flip to the next month, each page has a template on the back to make anything from cards to gift boxes. I tried the easiest template first — turning the page into a file folder. Here’s the print for the month of July and the template on the back.
Then, I followed the instructions on the back, and cut along the solid lines. The corners are supposed to be round so instead of cutting them, I used a corner rounder tool from – you guessed it – Paper Source. In the template, it suggests that you score and fold the folder along the three dotted lines in the middle. Instead of using a bone folder (which I don’t have), I just used the blade from a small pair of scissors. I didn’t see why I needed three folds, so I just folded the folder in half.
The final product is below. As you can see in the second image, the back of the folder will still show the calendar portion. But, I don’t mind since it’s on the back. I’ll do another post when I use a different template in a few days. If you have this calendar at home, leave a message in the comments and tell me what template you used!
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