Fake Quilting with Woven Denim

I have always loved the looks of handmade quilts. Unfortunately I know that I'll never have the patience, or time, to sit down and piece together all those teeny tiny squares. But I've learned a quilting cheat...weaving.

I saw this idea on Pinterest and I thought it would be perfect for a table runner.

I don't think this one turned out very well, I like to think of it as a good practice one.

I save all my husbands and boys old blue jeans...the ones that are too far gone to send to Goodwill but still have some good wear in that denim. Some of them are down right disgusting but still usable. I cut a bunch of them into strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide. I laid them on a long white piece of cotton measuring roughly 14"x40". I decided to leave a bit of space between the strips but next time I'll butt them right up next to one another. With the strips being a bit apart the final weaving and sewing was a little crazy.

I sewed one end of the strips securely to the white bottom cloth. Then I weaved in three or four strips at a time, pinned them securely and then zig zagged across the width of the table runner.

After I finished weaving and sewing to the end I zigzagged the opposite direction, the length of my table runner. See how my squares didn't line up? Some look big and some look small...that's because I didn't have my first strips, the strips I weaved through, close enough together.

When I first began laying out my denim strips I purposely left extra white fabric around the outside. After I was through zigzagging the denim strips I turned up that white fabric to create a border.

Overall I'm fairly pleased with it but I want to make another one where the strips are closer together before I begin weaving and I think I'll use bias tape next time for a border.

I just love sewing with denim, though I never have enough on hand for all the projects I'd like to do with them. What about you? Do you have a favorite way to reuse old blue jeans?

Marker Monday - Coffee Carpets

This was a project I did with my Sunday school class on Mother's Day. I didn't have a chance to post it before Mother's Day but it's still a nice craft that could be made any time of year. 

First, at home, my kids and I painted up a bunch of sheets of paper in various colors, patterns and textures. It was a lot of fun letting their imaginations run wild. I think it was kind of a stress free art project where they didn't have to think too much or worry that they'd mess anything up. 

I found this idea on Pinterest to help create textures. 

It worked great!! 

To make my "coffee carpet" example, I took half a painted sheet, measuring 6x9, and cut strips from the other sheets to create a pattern. Then with a white paint marker and other markers I added swirls and dots. 

During Sunday School we talked a little about how Biblical mothers would have had lots of carpets in their tents (I'm thinking Abraham time, wandering the wilderness, etc.) and asked them to design their own carpet. 

Here are my boys carpets.

When they were all finished we laminated them and gave them to mothers to use as "coffee carpets". They turned out great and painting the papers ahead of time really worked out well for all the kids. They really enjoyed sifting through the various painted papers and looking at the colors and textures. 

Marker Monday - Caveman Paintings

I saw this idea from Thomas Elementary Art Blog but I was most excited there was a link to a virtual tour of the Lascaux cave paintings!! I had always wanted to go there but there are closed to tourists so this virtual tour is the next best thing. 

This was the perfect activity to do with the boys while their little sister was napping during spring break last week. They really liked the virtual tour; I was especially impressed with the cave painting that seems to be have painted right above a giant hole in the cave floor...crazy cavemen!! 

The boys and I taped up some crinkled brown paper on their walls and I dug out my pastels but only let them use caveman colors; red, brown, black, yellows. Then the fun part...we shut off all the lights, darkened the windows and lit candles! Yes, parent supervision is required for this part! 

I could have taken pictures with a flash but instead I opted to go with some long 1 second exposures and I'm so glad I did. The eerie lighting gives it a much more mysterious quality....more cavelike I would imagine. 

The boys found themselves holding candles up to the wall as they drew which made me wonder how the cavemen could see while they drew. Some of those paintings are way above a full grown adult's head and very deep in the caves. (Take the tour, it's awesome!) 

I'm very proud of my boys' works. Though they couldn't sign their work with painted handprints they tried to outline their hands or putting black all over a couple fingers to make fingerprints. 

The Lascaux site also had some pics of lamps the cavemen used which I think we might make next and use as holders for tea lights. 

Marker Monday - String Painting with Toddlers

I love painting with my kids but I had to take a big break from it with Yahoo for the past six months or so because every time I let her paint more paint always ended up on her than on whatever it was we were painting. 

Or she'd just eat it. 

But she's getting more grown up and listening better (sometimes) so we've been tackling more painting projects lately. She really loved painting with string. First she covered her string in slightly watered down paint. 

Then I gave her a piece of paper creased in half and helped her place the strings on just one side. Let a little of string's end hang off the edge. 

Fold the paper in half and rub the back thoroughly and next, slowly pull out the strings....

...and unfold! 

She loved it! I think she loved the fact that the final painting was such a surprise. 

Thanks to Preschool Powol Packets for the great idea.  

Marker Monday - Painting on Snow.

I haven't done this activity in a long, long time. Not since we lived in Illinois in fact. But last week we had an unexpected inch or so of snow. Yahoo so badly wanted to go out and play in it, so did I, but the wind was just too fierce. So I brought the snow into her and packed some into pie tins and added some colored water and let her go to town.

Painting seems so simple that you'd think little kids would get bored by it. But for this age it isn't so much the end result that is important but the tactile and kinesthetic process of just painting with various tools on various mediums. Painting on snow sure isn't like painting on paper! What's the most unique surface you or your kids have ever painted on?

Marker Monday - Microwave Mystery

And just WHAT is so interesting in the microwave boys? 

It's not popcorn. It's not hot dogs. 

No, they aren't having a Peeps war.

I don't think I've ever seen Yip smile this much over food. 

It must be more exciting than merely something to eat. 

Cool!!! .... What is it?? 

An Ivory Soap Explosion of course! 

(one bar of soap from microwave. Only do a 1/4 at a time!) 

All you need is a bar of Ivory soap, I don't think any other brand will work, and a microwave. Cut the soap in fourths and one piece at a time put in the microwave, watch it grow and take it out when it's done. Ours took about 30 seconds but it may take longer depending on your microwave. It won't be too hot to touch and the boys enjoyed playing with it right away because it felt like foam. After it cooled though and you squeezed it then it turned to powder. 

So, what do you do with it now? 

I used a whole bar of soap to make homemade laundry detergent. 

(4 cups of bar soap grated or microwaved in this case, 2 cups of Borax and 2 cups of washing soda. Mix and use 1- 1/2 T per load of laundry.)

We also made Clean Mud! 

You need one bar of Ivory soap foamed in the microwave, a few sheets of toilet paper and 1/2 cup of water. 

After the soap has cooled mix the toilet paper and water with the soap and it will dissolve into the consistency of mud. You may need to add a bit more toilet paper to thicken it up. 

What a ball this was! And it felt like mud. I was getting kind of worried because there were bits of this mixture all over the carpet but after it tried it vaccumed up super easy. It looks like a mess, but it's only soap after all and we just tossed all the toys in at bathtime. Double duty! Use the soap on the toys to clean your kids. I thought it might chunk up on the tablecloth too but I threw it in the washer, but didn't add detergent, and it came out clean as a whistle! 

Clean Mud...a pretty fun, and clean, activity for a cold winter day. 

Marker Monday - Candy Tray (made from Candy!)

A friend of mine was showing her candy tray made from candy, an idea she got off Pinterest but I haven't been able to find it, and it was so easy I made one the same afternoon! 

My friend used green and red peppermints and placed them in a rectangular casserole dish on parchment paper. The hodge podge above was the only hard candy we had left and I didn't have any parchment paper so I sprayed a pie pan with cooking spray. 

After spraying it Yahoo and I (mostly Yahoo) arranged the candies. You want them evenly spaced and not touching. Then carefully put it in a 350 degree oven, without shifting the candies, for 8 minutes. Mine were left in a few minutes too long. 

I found the yellow butterscotch candies didn't melt at the same rate as the others so while it was still warm I smooshed the yellows a bit with a bag of a spoon. 

After it was cooled I popped it out wiped off the greasy residue and glued a circular piece of felt underneath. 

So easy, so fun and surprisingly sturdy! 

But I can do better, I'm thinking of making a bigger one for Easter with some pastel colored candies..if I can find any! 

Marker Monday - Fold a Dollar Bill into a Ring.

How to Fold a Dollar Bill into a Ring. 

Lay a crisp(ish) bill faceup on the table in front of you. 

Fold up the top and bottom white borders as shown. Crease the folds with your fingernails.

Fold the bill in half lengthwise. 

Fold the bill in half lengthwise again. 

Flip it over so that "The United States of America" is across the top. 

On the right hand (call it End A) end fold back the white border to create a tab. Then fold it again to form a square with the number 1 inside the folded square. 

On the left end (call it End B) fold up the end to the back to form a right angle, about 2 inches from the end. To make the ring even smaller fold it about 3 inches. Fold a few and you'll get the idea of where you need to make the fold to fit your finger. 

Fold End B down over the front of the strip. 

Now flip the strip over so End A and End B have switched places. 

Place end B on your finger and wrap End A around your finger and over End B and fit it to your finger. 

End B is now pointing down and End A is pointing to the left. 

Fold End B up...

...and over the back of the strip. 

Fold End A to the right over End B and tuck the white tab behind End B snugly. 

Your ring is now ready to wear!