DIY – The Hustlin’ Homemaker

DIY Daisy Rings

The 90’s must really be back! I used to LOVE to make these daisy rings when I was in middle school and now I am making them with my girls (and one of them is starting middle school!)

These rings are so cute and very on trend with fashion right now. We love making them in all different colors and matching them to our outfits. They are so easy to make, so here’s how we do them!

Here’s what you need:

Seed beads. We found these at Michael’s. We love how they had an assortment of shiny and matte colors.

String. This is the tricky part. We had to try a couple of different types of string before we found the winner. You want string that is stretchy, and it also has to be 0.3mm or less. The beads are super small, so a larger mm string won’t work.

You also just need some scissors, and that’s it. Oh, and you’ll need some patience because these rings take some practice.

Ok, I’m switching over to my coffee table because the string was invisible on my usual laundry room counter top. Yes, that’s where I take my pics. There’s really good lighting in there! haha

First thing you want to do is measure out your string. It’s better to have too much than not enough. I do about 8 inches.

Select your bead colors. We chose red, purple, and blue. Red will be the petals, purple on the inside of the flower, and blue for the spacers.

Start off with the center of the flower. We wanted that to be purple, so put that bead on first. Then, place three petal beads on next to it.

Take the right side of the string and put it through the last petal that you put on, and pull it tight.

This is what it will look like when you pull it tight, it makes one half of the flower. Next, add three more petal beads on the left.

Now you’re going to take the string from the left side, and loop it through the top petal. Pull tight!

It makes a little flower! Now, add three spacer beads and repeat the flower.

Here is what you have at the end! I find that doing 5 flowers with spacers and a few extra spacers at the end gives me a perfect fit. I wear ring sizes 5-7 on my fingers.

Tie the ends a few times (we triple knot) and trim the ends, and there you go! A cute little daisy ring.

We make these three different ways, the flowers with the spacers, flowers with no spacers, and then one flower with the rest spacers.

My girls and I have so much fun making these! We hope you will love making them too!

Thanks for reading! xx

New Hobby | Hand Lettering

I have started a new hobby that I am so excited about! I have always loved writing and being creative, so I thought I would try out hand lettering. Hand lettering is basically just modern calligraphy. I love this style of writing and always wanted to learn how to do it.

I purchased some things from Amazon. Two tablets and a package of pens. After doing some research, I realized that you have to have the right pens to do this type of writing.

These pens come in a two-pack. They have bigger packs, but I figured two would be good enough to get started. These pens are bendy at the tip so you can push harder on your paper to make a thicker line, and less pressure for a thin line. Really cool!

I also wanted to purchase kind of like an adult handwriting tablet, you know like the kinds kids use when they’re learning their letters? Well, they had it! This one was the prettiest.

It takes a while to get used to putting pressure on the pen and then letting the pressure off, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it! I can’t wait until I get good at it and create some projects!

I also purchased this book, Hand Lettering 101. It tells you everything you need to know, tips on how to hold your pen, and some special projects you can try. It also has spaces to practice your letters.

I find hand lettering to be calm and relaxing, kind of like adult doodling. It’s something that I can teach my girls, and gives us a new thing to do together.

It’s never too late to learn a new skill or hobby! I’ll take a good hobby over Netflix any day.

Have you tried out hand lettering?

Thanks for reading xx

DIY Personalized Beaded Bracelets

Hello! I absolutely love personalized jewelry. Anything with a monogram or a name I just have to have!!! Recently, I have spotted a trend of beaded bracelets that you can have personalized with a name. I have seen these on Etsy, Baublebar, even really expensive ones on NET-A-PORTER.

Photo from Baublebar

Photo from Etsy

Photo from NetAPorter

These range from $10- $85!

I thought, I can totally make these myself. AND, my girls will love to help me!

All you need are some beads and some string. We found ours from Michaels and Amazon.

Multicolor letter beads here

Black and white letter beads here

Metallic beads here

These were all fairly inexpensive, and they come with a ton- you can make bracelets for everyone!

The girls and I had so much fun making them, and I love how cute they are.

Do you like personalized jewelry?

Thanks for reading 🙂

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Popsicle Stick Crafts

My girls love to make crafts with popsicle sticks. I love them because they are cheap, they come in a big package, and the possibilities are endless! We have made tons of things over the years with popsicle sticks, from holiday decorations to jewelry boxes!

These crafts that I have for you today are easy to do – both of my girls enjoyed making these and they are 3 and 6. They all use items that you probably already have around your house, too. Enjoy!

1. Emoji Sun

What you need:

Yellow paper
Yellow paint
Paintbrush
3 popsicle sticks
Glue
Markers to decorate

First, paint the popsicle sticks yellow.

After they’re dry, glue them on top of the other to create the sun spikes.

Cut out a yellow circle and draw an emoji face on it. Our favorite is the heart eyes one. Glue that to the middle.

Decorate the spikes with markers or glitter.

Ashley wanted polka dots.

TA-DA! A cute little sun.

2. Popsicle Stick Popcorn

What you’ll need:

9 popsicle sticks (we used the big ones)
Glue
Red, white, and yellow paint
Paintbrush
Cotton balls
Paper plate

First, line up seven popsicle sticks in a row vertically, and glue two popsicle sticks horizontally to hold them all together. This is the back.

After the glue dries, flip it over and paint it alternating red and white.

After that dries, cut a paper plate in half and cut off the outside edge crinkles.

Glue the half circle shape to the back of your popsicle sticks.

Glue on your cotton balls.

Using yellow paint or a yellow marker, color in a little bit of yellow to make it look more like popcorn.

You can leave it like this, which is super cute on its own, but my 6 year old Allie wanted to make it look like Poppy Popcorn the Shopkin. I think she did a great job!

3. Popsicle Stick Picture Frame

What you’ll need:

Four Popsicle sticks
Glue
Any color paint of your choice
Paintbrush
Embellishments (jewels, buttons, etc)

Glue two popsicle sticks horizontally onto the back of two vertical popsicle sticks to form a square shape.

Paint them anyway you like.

After they dry, add your embellishments.

We added pictures and also glued a magnet to the back so we could put them on the fridge.

4. American Flag

What you’ll need:

8 popsicle sticks – we used 6 big and 2 little ones
Glue
Red, white, and blue paint
Paintbrush

Line up 6 popsicle sticks horizontally and glue two sticks vertically.

After that dries, paint them alternating red and white, but on the top 3 make sure you only go halfway.

Paint the leftover square blue.

Add white dots of paint to make the “stars”. You can use glitter or actual little stars. Ashley just wanted to make dots.

This would be really cute to do on the 4th of July.

I hope you guys liked these and will try them out!

Thanks for reading xx

90’s Throwback Craft | Shrinky Dinks

It’s the last day of summer for my daughter Allie, who starts FIRST GRADE tomorrow!!! To celebrate, here is one of her favorite crafts to make!

Tell me you remember SHRINKY DINKS from the 90’s! Color on a piece of plastic, put it in the oven, and out comes a little shrunken charm? Well, if you don’t, here is how you and your kids can make this simple (but really cool) craft. Let’s get started!

What you’ll need:

Number 6 plastic (you can find this on the lids of to-go containers, or the aluminum containers at the grocery store. Look for the triangle with the number 6 inside.

Sharpies (regular markers won’t work)

Scissors
An oven preheated to 350 degrees

So go ahead and preheat your oven first, and then cut out your plastic sheets.

Using a white sheet of paper underneath, draw your object, and color it in with the sharpies. We did a cupcake and a Shopkin. If you have a coloring book or something like that with an image, you can trace it!