Recycled CD Spinners About Growing Tulips Make a Graduation Cap Gift Jar Textured Glass Beach Canisters Ladybug Craft: Sun Visors Butterfly Craft: Paper Doily Butterflies

Recycled CD Spinners

Make Recycled CD Spinners from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Don’t throw out those old CDs and DVDs just yet! Instead, turn them into a fun game that keeps everyone entertained, even the grown ups! Make it a contest to see which spinner stays going the longest. Part of the fun is decorating them however you like. I have to admit, I was playing with these. Yes, I was. They   Read More »

About Growing Tulips

About Growing Tulips at CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Two seasons ago I planted tulip bulbs for the very first time. I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t bury them as the right depth, I’d plant them too close together, or worse, I would drown or starve them before they had a chance to grow. Much to my delight, I am now experiencing my second spring with a   Read More »

Make a Graduation Cap Gift Jar

Graduation Gift Jar from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

While not always, most graduation gifts involve some sort of money, whether it be cash or a check. So quite often, parents and relatives are looking for fun ways to package that monetary gift, instead of putting it in a boring white envelope. This gift jar once held dried herbs, making it a nice compact size, perfect for a rolled   Read More »

Textured Glass Beach Canisters

Textured Glass Beach Canisters via CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Do you remember those square glass canisters with the round wooden lid? They were pretty popular in the 80′s and 90′s, but pretty much died off after that. I came across a pair of those at the thrift store several months ago and tucked them away for a future makeover project. These beachy canisters with a textured surface were the   Read More »

Ladybug Craft: Sun Visors

Ladybug Sun Visors by CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Today I have one of the easiest ladybug crafts ever to share with you! Make these adorable ladybug sun visors using foam visors from the craft store, paint and a round sponge applicator. A fun group craft, great for camp or a sleepover. These are so easy, they just require some drying time, and not even that much! Aren’t they   Read More »

Butterfly Craft: Paper Doily Butterflies

Paper Doily Butterflies from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Butterflies are so beautiful, they are one of my favorite elements of spring! There are lots of butterfly crafts you can make with the kids. They are made from many different materials ranging from coffee filter butterflies to cardboard tube butterflies. Today we are going to make a butterfly craft from paper doilies and food coloring. I love crafts that   Read More »

Creating a Dio Place and $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

Dio place Crafts by Amanda

This post brought to you by dio. All opinions are 100% mine.   Have you heard of dio yet? It’s this cool new creative and social platform that allows you to make and explore unique places based on, well… anything! I’ve created a Dio place to keep track of my dining room makeover. It’s not done yet, so saving my   Read More »

Rainbow Crafts: Layered Felt Rainbow Magnet

Rainbow Crafts: Layered Felt Rainbow Magnet at CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Rainbow crafts are really fun for kids because they are so colorful and very easy to make. Sure, you usually see rainbow crafts during St. Patrick’s Day, but rainbows are most common in spring due to the high amount of rain and the parting of the clouds to make way for the sun. Have you ever explained the phenomenon of   Read More »

Makeover: Distressed Shutters

Makeover: Distressed Shutters at CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Several months ago I decided not only to paint my dining room, but also to change things around a little. I had some old vertical blinds in that room that came with the house when we bought it, and we had originally painted the room a mocha color. I felt that a lighter color was in order and made a   Read More »

Cardboard Tube Beaded Butterfly

Butterfly Craft from cardboard tubes and beads - from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

When you think of spring what comes to mind? Butterfly crafts are right up there in the top ten aren’t they? I love watching butterflies as they flit around in my garden, checking out the fragrant herbs and landing on the butterfly bush. They are so beautiful, quiet and graceful. That’s why I always loved making butterfly crafts with the   Read More »

Earth Day Craft: Mosaic Earth

Earth Day Craft: Mosaic Earth by CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

April is Earth Month and the 22nd of April is Earth Day. Earth month is a great time to talk to children about taking care of our Earth and being mindful of what we do with everything we use. Make this adorable Earth Day craft out of construction paper, or use recycled magazines to really get the message across! Did   Read More »

Cardboard Tube Wall Art: Cherry Blossoms

Cardboard Tube Wall Art: Cherry Blossoms from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Earth Day is right around the corner, what better way to celebrate by creating some cardboard tube wall art. If you read this blog fairly regularly, you know that I do quite a bit of recycling in my projects. I love to turn cardboard tubes into crafts, but admittedly, they are usually crafts for kids. Surely, you’ve seem how you   Read More »

Road Map Birdhouses

Road Map Birdhouses from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

When I go to the flea market during the warm months, I’m always looking for old maps to use in craft projects and home decor projects. Last fall I picked up a few state road maps, but each time I tried to use them in a project they just weren’t the right fit.   However, when I saw and saved   Read More »

Beaded Frost Luminaries

Beaded Frost Luminaries from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

I really love the look of luminaries, especially in the garden. I have an herb garden that has plenty of green, but really no color to speak of. I’ve planted a few flowers in there each year to pretty it up, but it never seems to be quite enough. These soft colored luminaries add just the right amount of soft   Read More »

Cleaning Logic Test: Teen Tested

Cleaning Logic Test: Teen Tested

This post brought to you by Cottonelle. All opinions are 100% mine. This is my teenage son T.J. He’s making that face because I just proceeded to “wash” that plate with a dry paper towel. It had ketchup and chicken nuggets on it, but I wanted to see his reaction when I told him to use the plate and that   Read More »

Puffy Tissue Paper Butterfly

Butterfly Crafts: Make a Puffy Tissue Paper Butterfly from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Butterfly crafts are very popular with kids during springtime. They are beautiful, full of life, and fun to watch. This butterfly craft uses tissue paper or crepe paper and looks so pretty when it’s all done! It takes a little patience, but could even be done in stages if you are crafting with younger kids. Puffy tissue paper crafts have   Read More »

Jar Lid Glitter Bugs

Cute Glitter Bugs made from recycled jar lids! Great for Earth Day! From CraftsbyAmanda.com

Are you one of those crafters that saves every empty jar from the kitchen? Jelly, pickles, capers, etc, they all get washed and turned into some sort of craft project, don’t they? What do you do with the lids if you don’t use them? That’s when you turn to the kids and make a fun recycled lid craft like this   Read More »

Mod Podge Fabric Jars

Mod Podge Fabric Jars via CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

While sitting in my craft room one day, I realized that the jars holding my paintbrushes, pens and pencils were all quite plain. In fact, they were downright ugly! Often times I will practice a method of one sort or another on a jar, and that jar is then graduated to a useful item in my craft room. So I   Read More »

Spring Craft: Cardboard Tube Birds

Spring Craft: Cardboard Tube Birds via CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Only a couple more days and spring will be officially here, according to the calendar anyway! The weather here in southeast Wisconsin still reflects the dead of winter, so I’m waiting patiently for spring’s arrival. The birds, however, are back. The last week or so I have heard them chirping in the backyard (probably the woman bird yelling at the   Read More »

Book Cover Craft: Faux Vinyl with Mod Podge

Tutorial - Mod Podge Faux Vinyl Book Cover via CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

While I realize that a book cover craft would probably be more popular during the back to school season, decoupage, or Mod Podge, is always in style. This book cover feels like vinyl and I’m absolutely in love with it. I will definitely be making more, I only wish I had discovered how good these feel before all my kids   Read More »

Easter Egg and Bunny Chair Cover

Easter Egg and Bunny Chair Cover from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

A fun way to decorate for the holiday is to create covers for your chairs. Pillow cases are perfect for this and are fun to decorate. For Easter, I’ve created a pattern of a bunny peeking out from behind some decorated Easter eggs. I used Ink Effects from DecoArt to create this look. Ink Effects is a paintable ink product   Read More »

Easter Egg Hunts: 13 Fabulous Ideas

Easter Egg Hunts: 13 Fabulous Ideas

Are you planning an Easter egg hunt this year? If so, be sure to check out all of these great ideas for hosting a fun egg hunt that the kids will love. Plenty of ideas for keeping it fair, making it fun, and even keeping the candy count down. Also, a guide for finding an Easter egg hunt in your   Read More »

Rainbow Colored Easter Eggs

Beautiful rainbow ringed Colored Easter Eggs by CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

Usually when you think of colored Easter eggs, it involves boiling them first and then dyeing the outer shells. Of course, once you peel the eggs, the fun is gone and you are left with a plain white boiled egg. This year, peel the eggs first and then dye them to create a rainbow of colored Easter eggs that kids   Read More »

Easter Chick Craft: Colorful Place Holders

Easter Chick Craft: Colorful Place Holders from CraftsbyAmanda.com @amandaformaro

When we think about the cutesy crafts for Easter, bunnies and chicks spring to mind. This Easter chick craft is full of color and can and should be totally personalized. Easter is a holiday where people get together to celebrate family, religious beliefs, and togetherness. The holiday almost always is celebrated with a feast with many people around the table.   Read More »