Burlesque Pasties

Here’s how! With your typical grade school compass, cut two circles out of a thin sheet of craft foam (approximately 4″ in diameter). Next, cut a line to the center of each and overlap the edges to form a small cone. Use hot glue to secure the shape. Gather sequins, tassels, jewels and other adornments and start gluing!

If you decide to put your dainty decorations to work, try theater Spirit Gum (found at any costume shop for around $5) or dig into your makeup bag for eyelash glue, which, I’m told, works just as well to secure the decorations.

Hand Made Pasties Adorned with Sequins and Tassels

See more photos on Flickr!

Liz Clechenko

Elaine Goddard

Liz Clechenko

Ashley Throckmorton

See more photos here – And let us know if you’d like to host a party of your own!

Ever since I was a child I’ve horded miniature relics and idolized dioramas (see: my adventures in an overstocked basement.) Whether creating tiny scenes on a shelf or in a shoe box, there’s something amazing about how the fractioned scale invites you in. In college, I satiated this fascination with an undying admiration for David Levinthal’s early works – specifically, Wild West and Hitler Moves East. But it wasn’t until I saw Blackface in Houston a few years ago that I began to appreciate placing all attention on the object itself and allowing each toy’s history to visually unfold.

Bright Puppy

Like many TLC projects, both design and history have their place. These bright photographs are no exception.

To create your own images, place your object in the middle of a light box (Porta Trace makes a great one for less than $40.) (Or, at $15, the Fado lamp from Ikea is a fantastic alternative.)

Bright Gorilla

With a digital camera, shoot photos of your object from a high angle (above the toy) getting as close as you can while still maintaining a sharp focus. Be sure to fill your screen with the white of the lamp (lay sheets of white paper underneath your light source to provide a larger white area). Cameras that allow you to control your shutter speed and aperture settings work best (as you’re dealing with dramatic lighting situations). Expect to spend some time getting used to the lighting and take lots of photos to make sure you get a good shot. Offload your images and print! That’s it.

Got questions or interested in TLC capturing your favorite childhood relic for you? Just ask. We’re happy to help!

Reading her note, I can’t help but be reminded of the playful photo collection by Jan Von Holleben of Germany, Dreams of Flying. Read on to find your inspiration…

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell

Love the site, Bregan! Arts & Crafts are a big deal in my house. I don’t play with dolls or transformers, so if Sky wants to kick it with mommy, that means we’re makin’ something. When she was just a baby I started by sitting her on my lap and holding a crayon in her hand. We’d sit and draw multi-colored circles together. Then she would sit and watch while I turned them into various creatures and objects.

The Rocketteers

Mommy also doesn’t do tag or any such running sports, so one of our favorite outdoor pastimes is to do sidewalk chalk outlines of each other. Then we turn our shapes into fairies and make giant gardens all around them.

4 year olds are pretty easy to please when they’re making a mess. I keep us stocked in plain ol’ construction paper, paints, white glue and vials of glitter. Throw in some scissors and the possibilities are endless.

The Superman

My dream is to have a studio of my own where I can add clay, a potters wheel, a kiln, canvas, glass and other such things to our arsenal. But to tell you the truth, making ‘kid stuff’ with Skylar is one of my favorite things to do. Sure it’s all very silly and only lasts through the next rain or as long as it survives on the refrigerator, but those activities still serve as a creative outlet for me too.

I have no idea who my daughter will be when she’s all grown up (though I have a few suspicions), but creativity is in her blood and something tells me that’s something we’ll always have in common.
It sounds like you share that with your mother as well.

Much love
~N

Let us know what unique crafts you’ve come up with – with your kids or on your own.

Please welcome TLC’s newest contributer and my ridiculously well-spoken mommy, Cindy Hubbard. If this doesn’t get you in the holiday spirit, you’re on your own.

Dr Delphinium, aliedwards.com

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it means the first snow in KC – or at least cool crisp weather – the first sign that Christmas is on its way. For me, Thanksgiving is a no pressure holiday. Just a marvelous family gathering, wonderful smells wafting from the kitchen and a warm fire glowing to clothe the chill.

After Halloween I save all of my pumpkins and gourds for Thanksgiving decorations. Thanksgiving is Act 1 of the Christmas play – and what a wonderful beginning, what a way to introduce this joyous holiday (and it truly is joyous for me – from the first unpacking of my little treasures stored in the basement to decorate the house).

Decorating for the holidays is not a task. It is the beginning of a wonderful holiday surprise that kicks off my holiday celebration. For me, decorating for Christmas is as delightful as when Christmas morning arrives. Every container, brought up from the basement, is a glorious surprise – a happy reminder of what the last joyous seasons have brought. When I open up each container, I say to myself, “Oh, I just love this.” It’s like recycling a little surprise gift. Decorating for the holidays, for me, is a special Christmas gift that starts the season.

Good Housekeeping, Crate and Barrel, Wreath Works

On Thanksgiving I forage my backyard for natural decorations – maybe a long walk in the neighborhood to find special prizes like pine cones, leaves, bird feathers. But it’s the backyard that offers the most precious gifts that become my old grapevine wreath.

I used the soft pliable vines to shape the wreath and twisted sprigs of bushes with bright red berries along with special fuzzy weeds and pine cones. A delicate birds nest lost by our big tree from a storm is nestled in the wreath just above its curve holding a couple of bright feathers in its bed – just perfect. I let it dry and added other decorations from outside.

Thanksgiving started my backyard nature collecting for the holidays: wreaths, fresh cut branches from trees, everything beautiful that nature offers us for free during our quiet trip outside. It’s just magic. And it turns your home into a wonderland of natural discovery.

What natural decorations do you love?