by Julie Jones

Here I will show you a quick and easy board game you can make with your child that is fun and educational.

For this project you will need:
- 3 sheets of 12x12 patterned paper
- circle punch
- paper trimmer
- stickers, stamps, or a pen

When I was in elementary school, my friends and I would make these “fortune tellers” out of a piece of notebook paper. We would put funny things inside of them, like, “You will grow up and live in a mansion and have fifteen kids and be married to the man of your dreams.” It seemed like the fun would never end with those, we made them all the time.  I thought a “fortune teller” would be the perfect game piece for my game, so I started from there. Here are the steps to making a “fortune teller”:

Step 1: Begin with a square piece of paper. I trimmed mine down to 8x8, but you could easily use any size you like, just make sure it is square. Fold the paper in half diagonally.

Step 2: Unfold the paper and fold it again diagonally, touching opposite corners from the way it was first folded.

Step 3: Unfold your paper. You should see a creased X in the paper now.

Step 4: Place the paper in front of you so that the square looks like a diamond, with one of the points facing you. Fold in the point facing you to the middle of the paper (the middle of the X).

Step 5: Continue folding in all four points so that they touch the middle of the paper (the middle of the X).

Step 6: You should now have a square piece of paper. Turn it over.

Step 7: Fold the points in again as you did the first time.

Step 8: You should now have a smaller square of paper, with a place to put your fingers into each corner. This is your fortune teller. You operate it by moving your fingers back and forth. It looks like a bird’s beak opening and closing.

On the outside of the fortune teller, I placed random numbers. I picked two odd numbers and two even numbers because this will affect the inside choices of the fortune teller. On the inside, I placed short words, like dog and cat. (My daughter is 4 ½, so I am using this as an opportunity to help her learn how to spell these beginning words. You can customize your board game to the needs of your child.) Then on the very inside flaps, I placed colors that coordinated with my game board (pink, green, red, etc.).

To make the game board, I cut another sheet of paper down to 8x8. Again, you can use any size you like here. I then punched circles out of my third piece of patterned paper. It happened to be a sheet that had colorful polka dots all over it, so I used those colors to my advantage for the game. I punched enough circles to cover the game board and adhered them to the background piece of patterned paper. 

The object of this game is to use the fortune teller to quiz my daughter on the words. For example, I will ask her to pick a number that is on the outside of the fortune teller. If she picks eight, we will count together from 1 to 8, moving the mouth of the fortune teller with each number. When we land on eight, I will have her look inside and pick a word. I will ask her to read the word and then spell it. As she spells it, I will move the mouth of the fortune teller back and forth with each letter. When we land on the last letter, I will ask her again to pick a word from the choices that are on the inside of the fortune teller. I will ask her to read the word, and then we will open the flap. Whatever color is written on the flap is the color she can move to on the game board. Making it to the end of the game board is “winning” the game.

Again, you can customize this game to the needs of your child. Also, you could make small flashcards instead of a fortune teller as the game piece.

By Julie Jones 

I wanted to make something cute for my daughter to hang her big jewelry from. I decided on altering this plain corkboard to match the décor in her room. Now she has a cute place to hang those big bracelets and dangly necklaces. I think I’ll have to make one for myself now!

To complete this project, you will need:

• A cork board
• Acrylic paint
• Glue dots or other adhesive
• Scrapbooking paper or wrapping paper
• Paper trimmer or scissors
• Sanding block
• Tacks

First, I painted the frame of the cork bulletin board white. The paint did not adhere very well for me, as I noticed when I started to sand it for distressing. I think if I would have sanded the frame lightly first, the paint would have adhered better. I liked the look I got, so I just went with it instead of starting over. If you don’t like this much of a distressed look, I would lightly sand the frame before painting it.

Next, I cut a piece of patterned paper down to fit into the corkboard. I liked the look of the cork showing on both sides, so I centered my paper in the middle of the board. My daughter’s room is shabby chic, so I wasn’t afraid to get messy with the paint, etc. Also, you can paint the cork if you would like it to be a different color. I adhered the paper to the cork with glue dots.

When your board looks the way you’d like, just put tacks into it randomly and hang your jewelry. This would also be a very cute bulletin board for your kitchen, office or mudroom. You can apply all kinds of different things to the cork to dress it up such as rubons, fabric, etc. Have fun creating!

By Julie Jones 

Supplies needed:

Paper mache box

Decorative paper (scrapbooking paper, wrapping paper, etc.)

Ribbon

Hole punch

Adhesive

Computer and printer or alphabet stamps and ink

Cardstock

Step 1: Cover your box with decorative paper. I chose a plain pencil box from the craft store.

Step 2: Cut cardstock to a size that fits into your box.

Step 3: Cut strips of left over decorative paper to adhere to pieces of cardstock.

Step 4: Print or stamp the recipient’s initial onto paper and cut out. I cut with scissors by hand, because I liked the whimsical look. Adhere monogram to strip of paper on to the cardstock.

Step 5: Punch small hole into top of box.

Step 6: Insert loop of ribbon into punched hole and tie a knot on the inside of the box to keep it secure.

Step 7: Wrap stationery set up with beautiful ribbon. Don’t forget to include a pen!

This simple stationery box makes a great gift for teacher appreciation, Mother’s Day, or a friend’s birthday.

by Julie Jones

I love topiaries. They remind me of springtime and fresh flowers and sunny days. I wanted to make something for my daughter’s room to give it a little extra pizzazz and I thought a topiary would be just the thing. A really girly topiary with ribbons…yes, that is just what her room needs! Here, I will guide you through the steps of making a ribbon topiary. Please keep in mind that you can customize your topiary to any room in your house, with any colors you like.

To make the topiary you will need:
- A Styrofoam ball
- A square or circular piece of Styrofoam
- A dowel rod
- Several yards of different ribbons
- Some felt
- Some silk flowers
- Pins
- A hot glue gun
- A pot for the base 
(I found this cute polka dotted one at the craft store, 
but you could use anything…let your imagination run wild!)

Step 1: Cut your ribbons into about 2 inch pieces. You want the ribbon to be long enough that you can fold it into a circle and pin it to the Styrofoam ball. You will want to leave on long length of ribbon to wrap around the stem later.

Step 2: Insert your dowel rod into the Styrofoam ball, making sure it is secure. I ran a dab of hot glue around the edge when I was done, just to make sure it would stay in place.

Step 3: Place a piece of Styrofoam into your base and insert your dowel rod into the base. This doesn’t have to be perfect because you will cover it with felt later. Just make sure the piece you use is large enough to hold your dowel rod sturdy.

Step 4: Your topiary should look like a topiary now, without ribbons, etc. Take one piece of ribbon (the long one you saved) and wrap it around the stem (dowel rod). You can secure it to the pieces of Styrofoam at each end of the dowel rod with pins. If you don’t want to wrap ribbon around your dowel road for the stem, you can paint it or use florist’s tape to cover it.

Step 5: Beginning with your largest ribbon (in width), start adding them to your topiary. Fold your ribbon into a circle and secure it to the Styrofoam with pins. Randomly place your ribbons around the Styrofoam ball. Leave room to add silk flowers if you desire. I used a hot glue gun for the silk flowers.

Step 6: Once you have the ball of the topiary covered with your ribbons and flowers, cut a piece of felt to go around your base. You could also use moss or grass, felt just worked better for this particular project. I used hot glue to attach the felt to the Styrofoam at the base. I then added three silk flowers.