This group of cards was made using leftover cupcake papers. With their ruffled texture and fun colors, they make a cool (and cheap) craft material. Also, after baking I'm often left with a few from each pack and I've started collecting them for just these kinds of projects.
Read MoreCheck out this month's issue of Parent's magazine for my story about easy and sell-able crafts that your kids can make for a summer business. My kids inspired the idea because they love to come up with ways to make money over the summer. Over the years they've sold everything from lemonade to painted shells to decorated tote bags to home-grown basil. Details are here for the personalized bead portraits key chains (pictured above).
Read MoreMy husband always makes sweet Mothers Day signs and messages for me. In the past he's covered the kitchen in sticky notes on which he and kids wrote sweet things about me, taped construction paper "stained glass" in our windows also with sweet messages on them, and even made me a paper note necklace. For Father's Day this year, I am planning a yummy brunch for him, and of course, I need a fun decoration so I thought I'd make balloon letters, inspired by the balloon letters in our book, Paper Goods Projects.
Read MoreTime for a Mother's Day treat! This year, I made cake pops and turned them into flowers with leaves and blooms that I snipped from cupcake papers (an idea from our book, Paper Goods Projects). I used this Foodstirs kit to make the cake pops. I like that these pops can double as a centerpiece, until it's time to eat dessert, of course!
Read MoreWinter seems to be lingering here in NY. Because we are still somewhat stuck inside, I thought I'd share some cookie crafts, an indoor project to cheer us up! The following ideas utilize classic supermarket cookies and other edible items that you probably have around the house like candy, peanut butter or chocolate hazelnut spread (like Nutella), fruit, nuts and seeds, and chocolate chips. (By the way, the above image is the chapter opener from our first book, Candy Aisle Crafts. Amy and I shot them with our brilliant designer, Robin Rosenthal.)
Read MoreThis morning I shared a few last minute crafty Easter decorations and treats on the Today Show. (Click here to see a video of the segment.) Most of the projects involve items you have around the house and in your recycle bin or in your backyard!
Read MoreI've been so inspired lately by illustrator (and dear friend) Margaret McCartney's new highlighter pen drawing series. I love her patterns and funky neon recoloring of familiar objects. Seeing them made me want to play with highlighters too! Margaret and I got together to decorate some Easter eggs and had so much fun!
Read MoreIn this month's Family Fun magazine, I worked on the story "How to Host an Easter Egg Decorating Party" with ideas for kid-friendly crafts, decorating and treats! I'm sharing some behind-the-scene snapshots of the ideas, some in-progress. Pick up the March issue of Family Fun or click this link for more images and printable templates for some of the crafts!
Read MoreOne of my favorite gifts to give to kids is a handmade (well, hand-assembled) imaginative play kit. I'm excited to share a fun story that I developed for Parents Magazine about this very topic in the March issue (on newsstands right now) with gorgeous photos by Zoe Berkovic!
Read MoreEaster is so early this year! I'm starting to gather ideas because we'll be hosting and I thought I'd start by posting some of my favorite Easter projects that I made during my years as a craft editor at Martha Stewart Living. These striped eggs were such a fun project. I had a rough path to developing the technique so it was especially rewarding when it finally worked out!
Read MoreIn honor of the soon-to-be-released movie, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, I am sharing my son’s Pee-wee-themed 5th birthday party from a few years ago. We are all BIG Pee-wee fans and very excited for his new movie, which starts streaming on Netflix on Friday, March 18th at 12:01 A.M.!! Use any of these ideas to throw your own Pee-wee viewing party!
Read MoreIf you're looking for some candy-free Valentines to send to your child's school, check out this DIY Valentines story that I did for Family Fun Magazine's current (February) issue! Each includes a little inexpensive gift found in the party favor section at Party City or US Toy (perfect for a class because they are sold in bulk)!
I made the tags for the Valentine pictured above by splat painting card stock and running it through the printer (after it had fully dried). I attached the tags to these little paint sets from Party City.
As a painting major in art school I never quite felt like I got a handle on watercolors, working instead in oil or acrylic. Recently I was testing ideas for a handmade Valentines story and made some super simple watercolor cards and had a tiny breakthrough. Anyone could make these cards, simple painted hearts or stripes, but I finally practiced something that I remember a teacher telling me (and didn't listen to at the time). Let the watercolor do what it wants to do: pool up in some parts and remain dry brush-y (as the paint runs out off your brush) in others.
Read MoreJust a few days until Christmas! I'm sharing some quick ideas from our book, Candy Aisle Crafts, that utilize the candy canes and peppermint candy that we have around at this time of year. This HO HO HO cake topper can also be used on top of frosted brownies or cupcakes.
Read MoreThese 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...
Are any of you doing last-minute Halloween prep like me? If so, here are a few ideas for a craft that will get you a lot of decoration bang for your buck.These balloon projects are from a craft story that I did for Martha Stewart Living a few years ago, one of my favorites! For all of these, I decoupaged thin black construction paper on top of balloons.
Pumpkin instructions and a how-to video here.
This Monday, July 20th, is National Lollipop Day! Yeah! To celebrate, we are sharing a roundup of our easy-to-make lollipops. They all involve melting store-bought candy which means they are easier than "from-scratch" candy-making.
Read MoreAmy and I are thrilled to announce that our second book, Paper Goods Projects, is coming out on August 11th and is available right now for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound! We are honored that our foreword was written by the brilliant Jordan Ferney, founder of the gorgeous blog Oh Happy Day and her fantastic party shop!
Read MoreMy 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.
Read MoreIs it safe to (finally) say that summer has arrived? I'm hoping so! It's time for sprinklers and pool parties! To celebrate, top a cake with these fish pops for an under-the-sea party. Here in Brooklyn we have a blowup pool in our small backyard and my husband and I squeeze right in there with the kids! The lollipops would make great party favors too.
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©2015 Jodi Levine. All photographs by Amy Gropp Forbes unless otherwise noted.
