5 Minute Crafts

Lately I have been feeling a bit more energy and sort of "nesting" a bit.  I've been wanting to stay home and prepare our "nest" for baby... which means I've been doing a ton of (long overdue) organizing, cleaning, shopping, and crafting.  There are about 1,000 craft projects and things I have pinned on pinterest that I want to do, but I have only done a couple quick and easy crafts lately.  Each of these things took about 5 minutes and less than $5 to make.

I made Jace a felt board by taking an old  canvas that I didn't like anymore and securing a big piece of felt to the back with a staple gun.  Over time I've cut up different pieces of felt for Jace to play with.  Shapes, letters, numbers, Mr Potato Head parts, a little town with roads and houses, cars, dinosaurs, etc.  This project cost about $3 for the felt (after coupons) and Jace LOVES it.

Lately I've been obsessed with burlap... I wish I could wrap everything in burlap.  I just love it's natural quality and texture.  I had originally purchased a roll of 5 inch burlap from the craft store when I made this wreath for our front door.  ($5 before coupons at Michael's)  But it left me with plenty left over... so I made an earring display holder for my bathroom vanity counter.  I took an old ugly picture frame and took out the back and the glass and simple stapled burlap to the back.  I love having my earrings on display, and wear them way more now that they're out.  I'm still undecided on if I will be painting the frame yet or not. 

After that project I still had plenty of burlap left over, so I wrapped a couple plain glass vases in it.  Here is one holding wild flowers from our backyard... I also used leftover ribbon from the wreath project.  I just hot glued the back seam of the burlap to the vase and then tied the ribbon around the center.  I think I will make more vases like this in the future when I give bouquets of flowers as gifts.

I also added burlap to a vase in our living room.  You can see sitting next to the vase is another 5 minute project... a dry erase board.  I took a peice of scrapbook paper and typed up "I love you because ____" and then slipped it into a frame.  The glass acts as a dry erase board so that Tate and I can leave little notes for eachother randomly to surprise one another and show appreciation.

One last 5 minute project I've done lately is making this chalkboard menu.  I took an old antique mirror and used chalk board spray paint (don't worry I was outside, wearing a mask and holding my breath for the entire ten seconds this took!  I know spray paint is a pregnancy no-no).  If I wasn't pregnant I would have at least ten more projects involving that chalk paint... it's AMAZING.  I'm waiting patiently until I can add it to one side of Jace's train table, our vegetable planter pots, and several more things.  I purchased the spray paint from Michael's (for about $3 after coupon) and it went on evenly and quickly and is exactly like a chalk board.  It sits in the corner of our kitchen and I like it for writing down the menu for the night or little inspirational quotes.  I may paint the frame to a brighter color soon... still undecided.

I'm not exactly a "crafty" person skill-wise, but I definitely enjoy trying... and I like to share what I'm doing in hopes that others will also share and I'll get some new ideas.  I have some bigger, more extensive crafty projects I'm about to tackle, so I'll share those when they're done too.  :)