A Pickle Pucker Jar

A lady called Betsy Hatfield submitted this idea to The Romantic website :

Last year at Valentine’s, I got a big glass pickle jar from a restaurant, scrubbed it clean, and painted the jar with flowers, hearts, sunshine, clouds, etc.

Then I got a bunch of “fancy” doodle pads and began writing reasons & reminders of how & why I love my husband. It didn’t stop there — I began collecting little poems, quotes, and song lyrics to add to the pot.

When my husband is having a rough day he can open the lid and reach in for a “boost”. This jar was easy to make and VERY personal, and he enjoys it year around. I love to collect stuff for the jar as well!

We’ll be looking around for more unusual craft ideas for February 14 in the next two weeks.

For a fun bouquet or just something to add a little pizazz to gift wrapping, these tissue paper carnations are a unique way to give flowers.

The project is incredibly easy and inexpensive. My 12-year-old made these in under half an hour.

The materials are simply:

Colored tissue paper

Decorative pencils

Pencil Eraser Caps

Small elastics

You can use any color of tissue paper, even white – or layer different colors for a rainbow effect. Lay out your tissue paper in layers of 4 – 6 sheets. 4 makes a loosely petaled flower, 6 is a bit tight and harder to work. We found 5 sheets were about right. Then measure a rectangle of about 5 – 6 inches wide and about 10 – 12 inches long. This will determine the size of your flower but the great thing is that it doesn’t really matter if you are exact or if you eyeball it. The edges don’t even have to be particularly straight as when you fan out the paper, these inconsistencies will only make it look more real. This makes it a great project for kids who may not be as meticulous about measurements and straight edges.

Once you have your rectangle, start an accordion fold at one of the ends. Fold on the short side, not the long. Fold over and over as if you were making a fan. Each fold should be about 1 inch width. When you are done, fold it over to find the middle, then unfold and place an elastic around the middle of your now 1 inch wide folded fan.

Take a pencil and wind the elastic on the pencil end, just under the metal band that holds the eraser on. Placing it here keeps it from slipping off easily. To ensure it doesn’t slip off, place a colored eraser cap over the eraser. This also makes the pencil more useful as the owner will be able to erase with it without removing the flower.

Now fan out both sides and grasping the edge of the innermost tissue paper layer, start pulling it up towards the middle. Once you have done that, do the next layer and the next and so forth. Pull each layer on both sides towards the middle until your carnation is formed.

You can make several of these and give them like a bouquet of flowers. Alone, these tissue paper carnations can be attached to gifts instead of bows for a unique decoration.

Christmas images flood our minds at this time of year. The smell of pine, home-baked cookies and pies and the excitement of decorating the tree. But stepping out into the shopping throngs can push all these wonderful Christmas memories out of our thoughts as we face the glitz, glitter and commercialism that await us at the mall. Why not give your children the true meaning of a family Christmas with crafts and creations that are fun, bring joy and become family traditions for a lifetime?

Rather than purchase expensive and flashy tinsel garland for the tree, why not make your own the old-fashioned way? A garland of popcorn and cranberries makes a wonderful addition to the tree and is fun for all to make.

You will need:

*Cranberries, fresh

*Popcorn – air-popped is best, or microwave popcorn that is natural and not salted or buttered. The popcorn you string should be a day old, fresh popcorn breaks too easily. Make extra as the kids will inevitably consume it as they work.

*Heavy duty sewing thread. Waxed dental floss is another choice for the string, it won’t break and can make it easier to slid the cranberries on.

*Sewing needle. If you don’t want the kids to use a needle, try a toothpick. Securing the string to the toothpick is trickier but can be done.

You will need long lengths of thread. Tie a knot at one end and thread the other end through the needle. Each child can work on one length of garland and they can be tied together when they are finished, just leave a couple of inches extra thread at the top when you tie off.

Push the needle through the cranberry and then slide it down the length of the thread to the knotted end. Next do the same with a piece of popcorn. Continue alternating cranberries and popcorn until you have finished the garland length. Tie them all together and hang the garland on the tree.

After Christmas, you can take the garland and drape it over bushes outside to give the birds who winter in your area a nice Christmas feast of their own.

In many regions, fall is nearly over. That is, most of what there was to fall, has fallen. Now comes the job of gathering together all those dead leaves. Kids love to rake leaves into a big pile for jumping into, moms and dads with gardens might put them in the composter, others bag them up for the day they pick up the yard waste and in some communities you can still burn leaves.

But if you want to keep the kids busy outdoors in the fresh fall air, another idea is to use the leaves to make a scarecrow. The materials needed for the main body are simple:

* An old pair of pants or overalls, jeans or strong material

* An old button-down shirt, plaid flannel is traditional but any cotton shirt will do

* Some elastic bands

* Safety Pins

* Old boots or shoes

Wind elastic bands around the ends of both pant legs and at the cuffs of the shirt sleeves. Have the kids fill the pants with leaves. When the pants are stuffed full, tuck the shirt tails into the pants and attach with safety pins. Use at least two or three front and back and one on each side to keep your man together. Then they can start stuffing the shirt through the neckhole.

The head can be done a few ways. Some use a pumpkin for a head, but it may lack support. Another way is to draw a face on a pillowcase and gather it around a medium size air-filled play ball. This year the kids and I stuffed a plastic shopping bag with leaves and tied it up. We used a stick for support, long enough to go down the shirt and into the bag to hold it straight up, a neck if you will. Then we used a halloween mask fitted over the bag for the head and face. Ours is a jack o’lantern mask but any mask will do. Imagine how scary having Frankenstein sitting on the porch will be for the trick or treaters.

After the main construction, you can get creative with the shoes and other accessories. Your scarecrow can even sit in a chair holding the bowl of Halloween candy. Or use sticks to pose him standing in the yard. Put stuffed gloves on the ends of the shirtsleeves to give him hands. Let the kids be creative in making the scariest scarecrow in the neighborhood.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.