November 22, 2020

Easy Folded Paper Leaves for Your Thanksgiving Table!

November 22, 2020/ jodi levine

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been contributing craft ideas to the incredible At Home section of the New York Times for the last few months. Because we’re not all able to get to stores like we once did, they have asked me to create crafts where newspaper is the main “art” supply (like these newspaper crows, this newspaper flower wreath, rolled newspaper beads, and paper mache animal masks! This month, I made accordion-folded paper leaves to decorate your holiday table!

September 28, 2020

For Halloween, Make a Murder of Crows...from Newspaper!

September 28, 2020/ jodi levine

Spooky birds, such as crows and ravens, are perfect Halloween decor, and can be easily created with newspaper and a few simple supplies! I showed how in the recent At Home section of the New York Times! (In case the title of the post shocked you, a group of crows is referred to as a “murder”!)

March 25, 2020

A Fun Use-What-You-Have Craft: Cardboard Tube Sea Creatures!

March 25, 2020/ jodi levine

If you’ve visited this blog before, you may know that my one of my favorite materials is recycled toilet paper and paper towel cardboard tubes. Never throw them away! You can make letters, holiday decorations like these, these, and these, pretend ice cream cones, annnnnd these sea creatures! They’re fun to make and can be strung together into a mobile for a cute room decoration.

Grownups can help by cutting the slits (which require a craft knife). Using pinking shears or zig zag paper edgers adds spikiness to the fish fins and is a quick way to add a mouthful of teeth to the shark!

October 24, 2019

"Stranger Things"-Themed Halloween Party

October 24, 2019/ jodi levine

If your family, like mine, are big Stranger Things fans, channel the creepiness to inspire your Halloween party! I worked with Family Circle to create ST-themed crafts and decorations like the Upside Down portal (below), '80s photo wall and an Eggo buffet (essential)! Click here for the buffet details and here for the string lights wall.

November 08, 2017

Easy Kid-Made Thanksgiving Centerpiece

November 08, 2017/ jodi levine

Thanksgiving is coming! I always want to use fall leaves for my decorations, but I find that they are usually dried up by the time the holiday comes around. This is a fun way to get fresh-looking leaves that don't crinkle or crumble and it gets your kids involved in decorating!

February 18, 2017

Fun, Easy Upcycled Crafts on Naturally, Danny Seo

February 18, 2017/ jodi levine

Tune in to NBC tomorrow (Saturday, February 18th) at 11:30 AM to watch Naturally, Danny Seo. Danny and I had so much fun making jewelry, toys, and decorations out of items that you probably have in your recycle bin right now, like these flower necklaces made out of squeeze pouch caps and felt scraps!

December 02, 2016

Easiest Coffee Filter and Cupcake Paper Paper Snowflakes

December 02, 2016/ jodi levine

We LOVE making paper snowflakes, lots and lots of them. Thin square paper, like origami paper, works best for folding and snipping but I don't like using up my stash. Printer paper is great, but I don't like having to precut the paper into squares. Coffee filters and cupcake papers, inexpensive, thin and easy to cut, are the perfect material for this fun craft!

October 22, 2016

Easy Easy Cardboard Tube Halloween Decorations

October 22, 2016/ jodi levine

Paper towel and toilet paper tubes are some of my favorite materials to make stuff out of. Needless to say, I never throw them out! I pulled a few out for Halloween decorations this year and made some ghosts and a BOO sign. Super easy!

March 16, 2016

Tube Letters: An Easy Birthday Garland Alternative!

March 16, 2016/ jodi levine

In our house we have a tradition of leaving birthday messages for each other as a birthday morning surprise. They're usually in the form of garlands or banners, strung across doorways or along the edge of the mantel. These tube letters, from our book, Paper Goods Projects, are a fun way to display a message, no tape or string required! And they marry type and cardboard tubes, two of my favorite things!

November 17, 2015

Easy Balloon Turkey Centerpiece Your Kids Will Love!

November 17, 2015/ jodi levine

These turkey balloons are an easy make-ahead centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table...kids or no kids! It's simple to put together once you've gathered the supplies so you can make a few for the mantle, the kid's table etc...

July 10, 2015

Comic Book Birthday Party!

July 10, 2015/ jodi levine

My son requested a comic-themed party for his ninth birthday. He loves Calvin and Hobbes, Big Nate, and Garfield and came up with his own list of fun activities based on these characters! For his cake, above, we made toppers by printing out some comics we found online, trimming and then taping them to skewers and toothpicks.

April 24, 2015

Paper Napkin Roses

April 24, 2015/ jodi levine

It's finally spring here in Brooklyn. Hooray! We're looking forward to the blooming of our beautiful rose bush. It is glorious...for one week...so this year we are determined to seize that moment and have a gathering to show it off. I thought I'd use my stash of half-packs of different colored napkins to make some rose napkins tucked in glasses for a buffet. Both square dinner-sized and rectangular guest towel napkins work well to make roses...

November 29, 2014

Parents Magazine Christmas Candy Craft Story

November 29, 2014/ jodi levine

For some fun do-together Christmas candy craft ideas, pick up the December issue of Parents Magazine. I crafted and wrote the story "A Candy Christmas". Above are starlight mint garlands, shot in my studio while I was developing the story. They're super easy to make. Click here for the how-to on the Parents website.

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