molly – A Glimpse Inside

Waldorf Style Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus

Hello readers, this is Molly from Just a Little Creativity. I can’t believe it’s Christmas week!
I also can’t believe I’ve been contributing here once a month for a whole year, it’s gone by so fast and it’s been a lot of fun!

This is the last post I’ll be sharing with you for 2016, and I hope you enjoy it. These precious little Waldorf style Santa Clause and Mrs. Clause dolls are easy to create, and make unique stocking stuffers or even ornaments.

If you enjoyed the Rustic Snowmen I shared last month, then these peg dolls will be a fun compliment with those to your Christmas home decor.

I’ve made several styles of these peg dolls over the years and have shared the tutorials over at Just a Little Creativity.
I’ll use my Amazon affiliate links for you to find the supplies you’ll need easily online, but be sure you can find everything at your local craft store as well.

Supplies:

Peg doll girl (3.5″ tall)
Peg doll boy (3.5″ tall)
White felt
Red felt
Tiny white pom poms
Hot glue & gun
Scissors
Red craft paint
White craft paint

Directions:

First, paint your boy doll body red, and your girl doll body white.

Next, cut the two Santa caps and Mrs. Clause’s cape from the red felt.
A simple triangle is what you’ll need to cut for the hats and a circle with the top sliced off for her cape.

Then, cut the white felt to trim the hats and to trim the cape. Hot glue these in place.

When the paint on the dolls is dry, you’re going to simply hot glue the accessories on.

For the hats, wrap them around the doll heads, keeping them low over the face.
Hot glue one side on the back, continue wrapping the other side around tightly, and glue in place.

Then to make the point, fold down one side of the hat from top to the doll head and place a line of hot glue, and glue the other side down over it.

Last, hot glue the white pom pom, and if you don’t want the hat to be pointing straight up, bend it over an glue it down.

For her cape, fold down the top half of the circle where you cut it off, this creates a nice little cuff. Then wrap the cape around her body, and hot glue in place.

Cut a white piece of felt for his belt, wrap it around his waist, and glue in place.

You can make these into ornaments by adding a ribbon to the backs of the dolls.

These don’t have to only be Mr. & Mrs. Clause, you could use a variety of felt colors and turn them in to little Christmas elves as well.

Enjoy!

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Connect with Molly:
Just a Little Creativity // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

allison
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December 21, 2016 By Allison

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DIY Rustic Snowmen for Your Christmas Farmhouse Decor

Hi readers! It’s Molly from Just a Little Creativity, and I’m so excited to share this cute Christmas project with you. As we all know, farmhouse style is all the rage.

And if you’ve browsed Pinterest, you’ll see that this decorating style looks fantastic in Christmas decor.

These rustic snowmen are easy to make, and add the perfect touch of the distressed, vintage look to your farmhouse mantel this year.

I actually picked up my set of snowmen last year at Target, on clearance after the holidays. But you can find unfinished wood snowmen like these at most craft stores during the holidays.

To begin, I painted them white with chalk paint. I’m sure regular craft paint will work as well, you just may need to prime them first.

Then using a sanding block, I distressed the snowmen in a few places by sanding the white paint back off.

I do a lot of furniture makeovers, and I like to seal my pieces with wax. A brand that I discovered this year is called Daddy Van’s, and it’s wonderful. I highly recommend it for any projects that need wax. And for the rustic antique look, I used the antique brown wax.

Now, there are many types of similar products on the market, so use what you have or what you can easily attain.

And if you don’t want to use wax at all, you can follow these instructions on distressing with paint, it’s pretty easy. For the sake of this post though, I’m going to continue on with the wax tutorial.

Using a brush, I covered the snowman in the antique brown wax. It looks crazy, I know.

You can see the difference in the side by side.

I didn’t let the wax sit long, maybe a minute, and then using a rag, I rubbed it off again.

What this brown wax does is knocks down the bright white look, gets into the cracks and crevices, and also enhances the areas that were distressed with the sandpaper.

When it’s rubbed back off, it leaves the snowman very rustic looking.

I didn’t wait before I sealed the snowmen with the clear wax.

As soon as I wiped off the brown, I added the clear on top. This will seal the snowmen and also continue to take off any of the brown that stayed too thick. It acts as an eraser in a way.

antique-snowman-nwm

The last thing I did was used some of my favorite farmhouse styled Christmas fabric, and cut little strips from it to use as scarves.

They would also be cute sewn or glued as little stocking caps (like these I made last year for Coke bottles).

christmas-fabrics-nwm

These would make great teacher or neighbor gifts, paired with some homemade cookies in a little basket.

farmhouse-snowman-nwm

And there you have it!

Have a happy holiday season, I’ll see you next month!

Connect with Molly:
Just a Little Creativity // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

allison

November 30, 2016 By Allison

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Thumbprint Trees Kids Can Make for the Fall

Hey everyone!

It’s Molly from Just a Little Creativity back again this pretty October to share a fun project the kids love! I’ve made several of these little thumbprint trees over the years, and they’re always fun and unique. In fact, I shared one originally years ago on my blog that my kids and I created on canvas for Mother’s Day.

My youngest was a preschooler then, and he enjoyed getting paint on his fingers, and his little thumbprints usually end up smudged, but precious anyway.

And as the kids have gotten older, it’s fun to see how much more careful and precise they are with their designs.

Today, I’m sharing how to make these trees in the colors of Autumn, and on a really cool palette board I found in the dollar section at Target. Which, btw, was actually $3 so I’m not sure why we still call it a Dollar section, do you? Anyway, back on track 🙂

Supplies:

A base (I’m using the palette)

A variety of Fall colored craft paint (make sure you include brown for the trunk)

A paintbrush (I used a flat brush)

Directions:

First, paint the trunk of your tree and your branches. I promise this doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. I prefer the swirly branches, you can do straight ones. I have found that the more sparse the branches are the better for all the little fingerprints that will be added. If you’re really not confident with a paint brush, then use a brown paint pen. But I encourage you to give the paintbrush a try. You can do it!

Now is the fun part!

Put a little paint in each color on a plate, and let the kids dip their thumb or finger into one color at a time, and dot all over the top of the tree. These are the leaves. Make sure they wipe their fingers between colors (keep a rag or baby wipes handy).

Remember, you’re not necessarily going for perfect. Make sure you have fun!

There is no right or wrong way to know how many leaves you want to add. We’ve made these so full, and have made them less. They look great either way.

You can create these on really any type of material. Card stock for greeting cards, canvas, scrap wood, probably even on craft plates and cups with the correct materials.

They make great grandparent gifts, or even a class gift for a teacher. Have each little one in the class take turns with several colors of leaves. Then, personalize at the bottom with the teacher’s name and school year.

What would you use yours for? I’d love to know.

Thank you for letting me share, see you next month!

Molly is the blogger behind the blog Just a Little Creativity. Molly a mom of five- one girl, four boys ages 18-7 and has been married to her husband for 16 years. Molly loves to read and creates and sells hand painted custom art for children’s spaces at her Etsy Shop, MyArtsyBaby. In 2010, Just a Little Creativity was born where she shares crafts, recipes, home decor, family stories, and product reviews.

Connect with Molly: Just a Little Creativity // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

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October 19, 2016 By Allison

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Free Kitchen Printable & Delicious Smoothie Recipe Ideas

Hi, it’s Molly from Just a Little Creativity! I hope everyone is enjoying September. Maybe your weather is beginning to cool off, and hopefully you’re family has fallen into a nice back to school routine by now.

If you’re kids are like mine, by they time they get home from school they’re so hungry! While prepackaged snacks and chips are easy, they’re not always the best first choice, right? One of the easiest things I like to have ready for them when they get off the bus are smoothies. You already know how much my little guy likes strawberries from the strawberry watermelon popsicle recipe I shared earlier this summer, so of course including them in smoothies are a hit.

Here’s a delicious smoothie recipe your kids will enjoy as their own healthy after school snack-

In a blender add:

1 Cup frozen strawberries (fresh work as well, you’ll just need to add ice to the blender)

1 Cup plain yogurt

1 Cup Almond milk

1 Tbsp honey

Ground cinnamon to taste (I use about 1 Tsp)

Blend well and serve cold!

Obviously, you can use more or less of each ingredient to make a larger or smaller batch.

And here’s even more smoothie ingredient ideas:

Peanut butter

Bananas

Blueberries

Mixed Berries

Pears

Apples

Squeeze of lime

Almond butter

Chocolate milk

Almonds

Spinach

To help our families remember to choose more healthy foods, I’ve created aa free printable for our kitchens!

“Eat Well”

click the image to print

The chalkboard style combined with simple typography will look cute in almost any decor, from farmhouse and shabby chic, to clean lines and modern.

It will print watermark free on an 8.5X11 page. Or, you can simply click HERE to download the printable and resize however you’d like.

I hope you enjoy this fun little printable and smoothie recipe.

I’d love for you to stop by Just a Little Creativity any time and say hello. I’ll see you back here next month!

Connect with Molly:

Just a Little Creativity // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

allison
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September 21, 2016 By Allison

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Ten Inspiring Fall Vignettes for Your Home

Hi readers, it’s Molly from Just a Little Creativity. How’s everyone enjoying August? Back to school always makes me think cooler weather should be happening as well, but for us here in Florida, it’s still soaring in the 100’s. While I was just here last month sharing my popsicles recipe, the reality is that Fall is right around the corner.

If you’re planning to decorate your home for Fall and Thanksgiving, now is the time to start planning. When you plan ahead and give yourself time to shop or create, you can get the best deals.

I created this collection of 10 beautifully inspiring Fall vignettes for you using the Roundup Friendly Blogs search engine, which I also participate in (if you’re a blogger and are interested in joining, you can sign up and read the Terms of Use agreement here https://bit.ly/RFBAgreement).

These vignettes that I chose to inspire you are full of variety- fireplaces, shelves, even a piano have been decorated for Fall.

*Please be awesome & use proper Pinterest etiquette by clicking through to the original post to Pin*

Vintage Inspired Fall Piano Decor from Cherished Bliss

Sideboard Decor from Worthing Court

Decadent and Textured from Unskinny Bop

Putting a New Spin on Old Decor for a Fall Mantel from Blooming Homestead

Fall Display in Burnished Colors from Cottage at the Crossroads

A Casually Elegant Vingette from Our Southern Home

Colorful Fall Decor from A Cultivated Nest

Kirkland’s Home Inspired Fall Mantel from Country Chic Cottage

Pottery Barn Knock-off Ledge Ready for Fall from AKA Design

Hydrangea Harvest from Mad in Crafts

I’m always amazed at how wonderfully creative bloggers are.
Pinterest is nice to browse, but stopping by the bloggers who are the
real creators, you get the full inside scoop on how something is put
together. The helpful tips and advice bloggers dish out is invaluable.

I’d love for you to stop by Just a Little Creativity and say hello.

Otherwise, I’ll see you here again next month!

Connect with Molly:

Just a Little Creativity // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

August 17, 2016 By Allison

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Strawberry Watermelon Popsicles Kids Love to Help Make

It’s been a hot summer, and popsicles are a fantastic refreshing treat!

These strawberry watermelon popsicles are easy to make and a great recipe for the kids help create.

Hello readers! It’s Molly from Just a Little Creativity, joining you again to share one of my son’s favorite popsicle recipes. My youngest is almost 8 and has always loved helping out in the kitchen. He has a few cookbooks for kids, but is actually great at reading and adjusting recipes to his liking. These Strawberry Watermelon Popsicles were inspired by a recipe called Rocket Pops in the kids cookbook The New Junior Cookbook from Better Homes.

He’s made these several times (they’re his favorite) and has tried a lot of new combinations of flavors. When I told him I wanted to share his best one yet with the readers here, we decided on the strawberry watermelon combo. The flavors are summer inspired and FRESH!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 envelope of unflavored gelatin

2 Tbsp sugar substitute such as Truvia Baking Blend OR 1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

1 cup chopped fresh watermelon

6 oz vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup passion fruit juice (almost any juice will work)

Popsicle molds (we used 3oz cups and craft popsicle sticks)

Directions:

Mix gelatin and sugar together, add water, and heat slowly on the stove until melted. If you’re letting the kids make these, make sure the grown-ups supervise or do this part.

When the mixture is melted, remove from heat and let cool completely

When the sugar solution is completely cool, add it and all of the ingredients to a blender and pulse until well blended.

If you’d like your pieces of fruit to be chunkier, adjust the amount you blend the mixture.

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until set.

*Tip* If you use cups for your popsicle molds like we did, set them in a muffin tin so they sit level and can all go into the freezer at the same time. Set a timer for about 30 minutes and then insert the popsicle sticks so that they stand up straight.

I’ve found that the 3 oz cups are a great portion size for kids.

The only thing left to do now is enjoy!

I love how proud kids are when they create their own treats, I think it makes it extra special.

If you like this popsicle recipe, you may also like my Ice Cream Inspired Yogurt Popsicles.

I’ll be back again next month with another fun idea, but in the mean time, I’d love for you to stop by Just a Little Creativity and say hello!

Connect with Molly:

Just a Little Creativity // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

allison

July 20, 2016 By Allison

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DIY Metal and Wood Patriotic Stars {4th of July Wall Art}

This set of three rustic Americana stars make perfect 4th of July home decor.

Using simple supplies, and a few hours of your time, your home can have a patriotic display pieces for any style home decor.

Hey readers! It’s Molly from Just a Little Creativity. I hope you’re enjoying your summer!

Fourth of July is just around the corner, and I was browsing the Pier 1 website the other day and came across this star decor that I absolutely love. But being the DIYer that I am, I thought how can I make my own more affordable and more colorful?

Cutting corrugated metal is out of the question because I don’t know how, and I honestly don’t really want to. I remembered from a previous project that I worked on that simple tin foil is a great substitute when you want a metal look.

So, I set off to make my own, and now I’m here to share the DIY tutorial with you lovely readers.

Supplies:

(pictured)

Wood stain (optional, and in any color you’d like)

Red, white, and blue craft paint

Star shape printable- click HERE to download your own

10×10 Wood canvas panels (I found mine at Walmart, but they’re also available on Amazon)

Tin foil

(not pictured)

Silver thumbtacks

Scissors

Glue

I’ve only recently found these awesome wood canvas panels, but I LOVE them! They’re so versatile, and fun to use.

For this project, if you choose to stain your wood darker, then go ahead and do that and let it dry.

If you’re new to staining wood, don’t worry, it’s not hard. I recommend wearing gloves.

Just use a rag or old paint brush, and rub the stain into the wood. The more layers you do it, the darker it will be. In about 15 minutes, go back with a different cloth and rub over the stain and remove any excess left behind. I usually don’t keep the cloth I use for staining, but mineral spirits is what you’d use to clean them if you choose to keep yours.

While your giving your stain time to set for a bit before adding paint, cut our your star pattern.

Then trace the stars onto the foil and cut them out. Carefully crinkle them up, and then flatten them again to give them the bumpy metal texture.

Next, give each panel a quick coat of paint in the red, white, and blue. If you like the distressed look, don’t cover over the entire panel, and use quick light strokes with your paint, making sure that the stain is showing through. I didn’t let the stain sit overnight or even for hours before painting them. I like the look you get when you jump right in. Especially in the white, you really get that whitewashed rustic look. As if you found these awesome pieces of wood straight off the side of an old barn, and they happened to be in the perfect patriotic colors you were looking for.

If you feel like you covered it too much with the paint, don’t worry. Just use a sanding block to remove some. I went ahead and sanded the edges of my canvases anyway, just to add to the rustic look.

When the paint is dry, glue the back of the foil stars and place them in the center of the panels. I used regular white school glue and they stick fine.

To give the tin stars an even more authentic look, I pressed silver thumb tacks around the edges of the stars. This gives them the look of hammered tin.

*Be careful on the backside of the panel, because the sharp part will be sticking out. So in other words, don’t let the kids handle these when they’re finished.

For a very final detail, I added white stripes along the edges of the wood panels. Again, a quick dry brush stroke so that the line isn’t very thick is really the perfect look you want for the rustic, distressed look.

And that’s it! You can display these on a mantel, or add picture hangers to the back for easy hanging. They’d even work well in an outdoor patio space as long as they’re not directly exposed to rain.

Thanks so much for letting me share these with you today, I’d love for you to stop on by Just a Little Creativity and say hello!

Connect with Molly:

Just a Little Creativity // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

allison

June 15, 2016 By Allison

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Three Free Inspirational “Class of 2016” Graduation Printables

It’s hard to believe, but the school year is coming to an end. The seniors are finishing their final year, and are preparing to move onto the next stage of their lives. These three free graduation printables would make a nice framed gift, display at a graduation party, or a card for a special graduate in your life.

Hello readers! It’s Molly from Just a Little Creativity, and if you’re like me, you’re in awe (and a little happy) that it’s the end of the school year already. My oldest graduated high school last year and just finished her first year of college 500 miles away from home, and my next in line will be a junior next year. Time is flying by, that’s for sure. Graduation is exciting and scary, and one of the most unique times in both the child and parents lives. It’s sad and happy all at once. There will be a lot of tears shed and smiles shared as you see your graduate walk across that stage, so grown and so proud, and you’ll wonder when they grew up. Weren’t they just a baby yesterday?

We want to give them just the right words to carry into their futures. There’s so much you all of a sudden feel like you have to impart. You’ll wonder whether there was more you could have done, and pray they’ll remember all you’ve taught them as they go into the next season of their lives.

I’m sharing these three free printables that I created for you to use as you’d like. They’re ready to print on an 11×14 page, and are perfect for framing. Or, you can download and size them to whatever you’d like to suit your needs.

I’ve recently learned how to digitally watercolor my own photos, and it’s so, so fun!

This cherry blossom image for the “Always Stay Humble & Kind” printable was photographed in Nashville, Tennessee this past spring.

The “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them” by Walt Disney was photographed on the Natchez Trace Parkway in Franklin, Tennessee.

And finally, this quote from John F. Kennedy “Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try” was photographed on a nature trail in Pensacola, Florida.

So yeah, hug those big kids really tight before they walk across that stage.

And parent’s of littles, cherish these young days, even the hard ones, because they’ll be gone before you know it.

Connect with Molly:

Just a Little Creativity // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

May 18, 2016 By Allison

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Two Ways to Create a World Globe Vase for Earth Day

This Friday, April 22, 2016 is Earth Day! If you’re looking for a
fun project that you or your kiddos can make, these DIY world globe
vases can be made two different ways depending on your skill level.

Hey readers, it’s Molly from Just a Little Creativity. I’m back this month with an Earth Day project you have plenty of time to make.
I really enjoy sharing projects for kids, but I know that sometimes the
grown-ups want fun projects too. So, that’s what I have for you this
month, a double tutorial- one for easy and one for advanced.

Easy Tissue Paper Mosaic Globe Vase
(Perfect for Kids to Make)

Most of us made these tissue paper vases at some point when we were
little and had tons of fun doing it. With the right color tissue paper,
your little one can make theirs into a globe!

Supplies-

(I’m linking a few of these supplies using my affiliate links, just in case you’d like to purchase any)
Mod Podge or watered down white school glue
A globe shaped vase (I found mine for $1 at Dollar Tree)
Tissue paper in shades of green and blue (also found at Dollar Tree)
Scissors
Paint brush

First, cut or tear your blue tissue paper into small pieces.

Apply Mod Podge or glue liberally to the glass.
Add tissue paper with your fingers or pick up with the sticky paint brush.
Brush more glue over the tissue paper to seal it well onto the vase. Don’t worry, it will dry clear.
This is the water portion of your world globe.

Let that layer become mostly dry, and and apply your green for the land portion of your vase.
I traced the approximate shapes of the continents, but your little one
doesn’t necessarily need to do this. Just show them where to place the
green (even sketch the continents onto the vase with a marker if you
want) and let them glue the green for land in a similar mosaic style as
the blue.

When it’s dry (which is usually in just a few hours) your little one will be so proud of their mosaic world globe vase!

Glass Paint Globe Vase
(Advanced)

This option requires a more steady hand than most kids have, so I recommend this for teenagers and older.

Supplies:
Craft glass (enamel) paint in green (my favorite brand for painting on
glass is FolkArt because it’s not very opaque. For this project I used Evergreen and Lime Green)
A world map printed to a small size (I found mine on Google & printed it on my home printer)
Small paintbrush

First, print your map, cut it out, and tape it inside the vase so you have an outline.

Then, starting with the lighter of the two shades of green, simply paint the outline of your continents.

For added depth and dimension, add your darker shade of green and mix the colors a bit.

And here’s the really cool part…
Once the glass paint is dry, add water to your vase and a drop of blue food coloring!
Now you have crystal clear blue water that makes your green land pop.

The pair of globes together look adorable.

I’m not even sure which is my favorite because I love them both, how about you?

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Connect with Molly:

Just a Little Creativity // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

allison

April 20, 2016 By Allison

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DIY Travel Memories Board

Spring Break is happening across the country, which of course means road trips and making memories. Keep track of all those memories you make on these fun DIY travel memory boards . They’re completely custom, and with a few hours and a couple tools, anyone can create their own.

Hey readers, this is Molly from Just a Little Creativity back again this month to share how to make your own travel memory board. Use these boards to customize your space with a map or favorite quote in any color you’d like. Then pin your ticket stubs, photos, airline tickets, travel brochures, all the special things you collect along the way.
You don’t need any special machines or projectors to create yours, only my secret favorite art tool- carbon paper. It’s available in most office supply sections in the big box stores, and I’m sure you can find it online too.
You’ll also need a cork bulletin board, a pencil, tape, paint, and a print out of your state, country, quote, etc.
I just do a quick google search to find what I’m looking for regarding maps.

Measure your bulletin board so you know how large to print your image.
For my US map board, I had to print the map in four different pieces. Size you image accordingly on whatever document program you use.

Then, put the pieces of the map together, overlapping where you need to, and hold the pages together with tape.

Now, place your carbon paper under the image, and trace with a pencil. You’ll need to press hard to make sure the image transfers to the cork.

Then, like a coloring book, simply paint in the image. No special type of paint is needed. I’ve made a few of these and have used chalk paint, house paint, and regular craft paint.
They all require at least two coats to give it a solid covering.

Let it dry completely before pinning anything to it, usually only a few hours.

I had a larger map that I made a few years ago, and my daughter took it with her to hang in her dorm room. It’s come in very handy as a jewelry holder, lol.

I make a quote memory board is exactly the same process, except I’d recommend using a sharpie or paint pen for the finer lines.
You’re welcome to click and save this quote I created on PicMonkey and use it for your own board if you’d like.