DIY Shopkins season five soap - DIY Shopkins party favor idea

Soap making is fun and easy to do.  I wanted to use some of my daughters duplicate Shopkins to make party favors for a Shopkins themed party.  These Shopkins favors were a hit!  I made a few for my kids and it makes bath time a blast.  They love the glitter soap and the fact that Shopkins are embeded make them even more motivated to wash their hands.

Here is the video tutorial on how to make these soaps:  How to make shopkins soap party favors.  If you make them and you are on instagram I would love to see them.  You can tag me with my handle @thecheesethief.

Shopkins season 5 charms  Split milk, royal cupcake, april apricot (season 4), jilly jam (season 4), polly polish (fashion spree)

DIY Mini Shopkins Piñata Craft Tutorial

I don't know any child that isn't crazy about Shopkins.  If you are a parent of a girl 4- 7 years of age, I'm sure you know what Shopkins are.  For this tutorial, I will show you how to make these adorable Shopkins pinatas.  You only need a few simple materials and a little bit of patience.  The most tedious part is gluing the crepe paper on, but since these are mini pinatas, it was not as time consuming as making a big one.  See my video tutorial here: DIY Mini Shopkins Pinata Tutorial  You can stuff these Shopkins with candy, or if you want to surprise your child, you can even stuff it with more Shopkins.

Be sure to check out my how to make shopkins scratch and sniff stickers video.

wheels on the bus playlist

Princess Elsa Toy Playdoh video

DIY Scratch and Sniff Shopkins Stickers (Great for Party Favors)

Do you remember scratch and sniff stickers?  As a child I loved them.  I was trying to think of two easy ways to make scratch and sniff stickers.  Below are my two video tutorials on how to make Shopkins Season 5 scratch and sniff stickers.  One tutorial uses materials you probably have at home. The second tutorial using embossing powder and a heat gun.  The first tutorial is easier for kids to make, but the second provides better results.  Making Shopkins scratch and sniff stickers is easy and fun.  Let me know how yours turned out!

How to make Shopkins scratch and sniff stickers with materials you have at home.
Embossing Shopkins Scratch and sniff stickers.

Ugly Christmas Sweater DIY

I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with I Love to Create and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own.

For the past few years I have been invited to a couple of Ugly Sweater Christmas Parties. And each year I am always scrambling to find a sweater. I would go to Goodwill, thinking they should have something, but surprisingly they don't have very many. A worker at Goodwill mentioned that ugly sweater parties were becoming quite popular, so they usually sell out of ugly sweaters fast.  This year I will be prepared.  I was sent a kit of sparkles and glitter to decorate my own ugly sweater. This is how I made my ugly sweater, hopefully it will give you some holiday inspiration.

The materials I used for this ugly sweater were as follows:

1 sweater 

1 old child's onesie (optional)

1 set of red poinsettias

Tulip iron-on transfers

Tulip Glitter Dimensional Fabric Paint

Tulip Fashion Glitter

Tulip Fashion Glitter Bond

Aleene's Tacky Glue

The sweater started off pretty ugly itself.  The yarn was mixed rainbow color.  To ornament it and make it even tackier I decided to put fake pointsettias on the sweater.  I put extra glitter on the poinsettia leaves using Tulip Fashion Glitter and Fashion Glitter bond.

To attach the poinsettias onto the sweater I used the existing wire that was on the flowers, but I also secured it with Aleene's tacky glue (seriously the best glue ever, I use it for everything).

I had an old onesie that I cut up to use the snowmen for the sleeves.

To attach the snowmen I used the Aleenes Fabric Glue and the Glitter Dimensional Fabric Paint to make borders. 

Using the iron on glitter paper I cut out Christmas trees.  To cut a perfect tree you first fold the glitter paper in half and cut a triangle.  Then you cut the indentations of the tree.  

Iron on the trees and viola Ugly Christmas Sweater complete.  The possibilities are just endless with the materials from LoveToCreate.

To see the latest goodies from Tulip, follow them on  out on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The Cheese Thief's Whereabouts x2 and a Small Tutorial

My dear readers, some of you may be wondering where I have been, others who have been reading this blog since the beginning might have an idea about my sudden disappearance from the blogosphere. The last time I took a hiatus from blogging I was pregnant with my second daughter. So this departure from blogging is no different from the first.  It's just multiplied by two.  While I was away from blogging I was busy "making" twins!

So introducing the two new members of my family Nathan and Owen.

Needless to say I've been busy.  My family of four turned into a family of six before a blink of an eye, and I have not had any time to craft.  I did manage to put together one tutorial today that I would like to share.  I purchased this clay/ play dough eraser making kit a while back and have been wanting to try it.  I couldn't come back into blogging without posting at least one tutorial :)  Enjoy! See video tutorial below or here.

Macaron eraser diy.  So fun!

This kit is the Sculpey eraser clay. The kit I bought is sold out on Amazon, but there are other types on Amazon.  This one looks like the same kit but in a different package.

To make the macaron, roll out one ball and two cylinder "snake" shapes.  The ball size is dependent on what size you want your macron.  I rolled out a .75 inch ball.  The snakes should be long enough to wrap around the circumference of the ball.

Cut the ball in half.  Remold the ball edges into nice half spheres, as cutting the will mush them a bit.

Wrap snakes around sphere.

Add texture to snake shape.  See video tutorial for exactly how I do this

Take alternate color and create flat circle shape for filling.

Bake according to instructions.  Again see video tutorial for exact instructions and tips.

I do hope to start up blogging again, but having four kids takes up the majority of my time.  I truly want to thank all the readers that are reading this post for sticking by my blog even when I haven't. Happy crafting!

How to Turn Your Handwriting Into a Font for Free

I mentioned it before, that I hate my handwriting.  Hate is a strong word, I like my handwriting, but what I dislike most about it is that it is inconsistent.  When I write a long paragraph it looks as though five different people wrote it.  What I love about making my handwriting into font is that it makes my handwriting look better.  I made a photobook for my daughter and wanted to use my handwriting as the font.  After searching I found this awesome website that converts your handwriting to font for free!  Who doesn't love free?  And it couldn't be easier.  You simply download the template, fill it in, scan the template and upload back to the website.  Within seconds you have your own handwriting font, easy peasy.

This is the website that I used: http://www.myscriptfont.com/

I was not paid for this post, I just really wanted to share this cool site with my readers.  There are other sites out there that can make your handwriting into font but most of them you have to pay for.  This site may not have all the bells and whistles, but its free.

You can add little doodles in the symbols fields also.

DIY Star Trek Spock IPhone Case Tutorial

I haven't seen a movie in ages.  The last movie I saw in the theaters was probably the first Star Trek.  The new one came out and as a tribute to it I decided to update my Iphone case with a new Spock inspired case.  In my previous post I made a phone case with a photo of my family.  I love these clear iphone cases, they are so versatile and don't add too much bulk to your phone.

I used this image of Spock that I found online and cut it to the shape of my iphone case.  Slip it into the case and easy peasy a new iphone case.  I have to admit that I did not think of this idea for the case myself.  I saw someone at the mall have one and thought that I could do it to my phone too.

The geek in me.

You want to print the image onto an 8x10 and scale it to 120%.

Trace your iphone case onto the image and cut out. Position case from ear to chin.

My New Toy

I bought these off ebay and am so happy with them.  It's basically custom letter stamps.  Amazon sells a Martha Stewart version but it didn't get that great of reviews.  The one I purchased is a WT Rogers Printing kit like this one on etsy.

The letters are clear and easy to remove from each other.  The kit was barely used also!  Such a great find on ebay.  I cant't wait to get started on my crafts.  The possibilities are endless for this!

Kids Art Display Monogram Idea

I just found a really old post from 2011 that I never published.  I really need to organize my blog better! I'm publishing it now, back then I didn't have a Cricut so I hand cut out the monogram with a craft knife.  You could probably do cooler cutouts with a die cut machine.

I'm at the point in parenting where I have to figure out what to do with all the "art" Avery makes for me. I am not usually a sentimental person, but since I became a mom I have become more sentimental. Here is what I came up with on how to display one of her pieces of art.

I created a letter cutout using her art as the backdrop and the frame backing as the letter.

Avery's artwork on the left.  Finished piece on right.

Print out large letter on paper and place on top of artwork.  Tape in place and using an exacto knife, cut out the letter.  If your knife is not sharp you have to apply more pressure because you have to cut through two layers (the template and the art). If you have a fancy cutting machine you could use that too.  

Easy Gift Wrapping and Salf Dough Gift Tags

When I did my salt dough gift tag tutorial I didn't post any pictures of how I used the salt dough gift tags. That's because this year I fell so behind in all of my Christmas shopping. I have been trying desperately to catch up and get all my holiday shopping complete.  I did manage to get a little more than half of my shopping done, so I'll show you some ideas on how to integrate the salt dough gift tags into your wrapping.  I'll also show you how to create some custom stamped wrapping paper of your own.

This rope that goes around the box is actually the handle from a shopping bag.  The paper is a brown paper bag.

I created a custom little pattern with some stamps and an ink pad.  I just love the look of brown paper bags as wrapping paper.

Left over yarn cheaper than ribbon.  I tape the ends so I can string it through.

Here are some of my wrapped gifts.  As you can see, I'm still quite behind and it's almost Christmas.

Salt dough recipe and tutorial here.

Custom Monogram Snowflake Tutorial

Here's a twist on the classic paper snowflake. Cut out your monogram on top.  I made a J for my husband and an A for my daughter.  This is a simple craft for a child old enough to use scissors.  If they aren't nimble enough to cut the letters, they can help cut the shapes for the center part of the snowflake.

1. Fold square paper in half
2. Fold in half again, then unfold
3. Take the left corner and fold 30 degrees, then fold the right corner 30 degrees from center (you could use a protractor, but I just eyeballed it
4. Fold in half one more time and cut across the top
5. Unfold and draw on the monogram letter
6. Cut the letter out
7. Fold in half again and cut diagonal so the letter is only attached by small section
8. Cut out little shapes for the snowflake
9. Unfold carefully

Easy Kids Craft - Foamies Ornament

With all the ornaments I have been making for my blog, my two year old daughter has been very curious and wanting to help. I decided to let her help me make some simple foamies ornaments. Just peal and stick. It kept her occupied for quite a long time.  After she finished begged us to go downstairs so she could hang on the tree.

This one is the ornament that Avery made.  I like the fact that she overlapped the foam, it gives it more dimension.

If you want to see Avery making the ornament here is a short video.

How to Weave a Paper Ball Ornament

When I was in Thailand, I would see the local people weave palm leaves into beautiful bowls, fans, balls and other amazing things. I asked my aunt if she knew how to make these things and she gave me a book that was all in Thai. I don't know how to read Thai, I can barely speak it.  Somehow after a week of fumbling around with strips of paper, I managed to decode the pictures and figure it out. Here is my tutorial for you, it is not in Thai, and hopefully it won't take you weeks to make. I did take pictures, but please watch the video. It is much clearer. The first video is how to create a four strand braid, which is the basic premise behind weaving this ball. If you can do a four strand braid, weaving this ball should be simple (with some practice).  The second video is how to use paper to weave the ball.

Newspaper ball on left, Magazine on right.

I used a cookie wrapper to make a silver ball. 

Part 1 (Four strand braid)

Part 2 (Paper weaving)