Halloween or Halloscreen?

Can you believe it’s October already!  Time for pumpkin flavored everything, candy corns and Halloween!  I’m not as big on Halloween as I am for other holidays like Christmas and Easter, but I do enjoy the amount of creativity that people put into their costumes.  And even if you haven’t tapped into your creativity, or your budget is just tapped, there are easy, unique and affordable ways to dress up for Halloween simply by printing or decorating t-shirts.  Here are a few ideas pulled from the net.

Emojis

Do you speak emoji?  Let your costume speak for itself.    

M&M's

Maybe you're plain or a little nutty.  Either way your costume will be easy and sweet.  

Jack & Coke

Beyonce is not the only one Drunk in Love.  

Charlie Brown

It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! turns 50 this year.  The original cartoon premiered on television October 27, 1966.  

7 Dwarfs

Which dwarf best represents your personality?  

What are your costume plans for Halloween?  Kharismatic Kreations, LLC can assist with printing your costume.  Email orders@kharismatick.com.  

Stress Less this Christmas

Is it just me or the closest we get to the Christmas holiday, the longer the gift list seems to miraculously grow.  Just when you thought you were done with your shopping it's, "Oh, what about my child's caregiver, teachers, the mail man...wait, the UPS man who delivers all of my Kharismatic Kreations supplies...hold up, I forgot the administrative assistants..."and the list goes on and on. Although we all sing and shout, "Jesus is the reason for the season," many of us are running around, struggling and stressing, trying to do last minute Christmas shopping for our ever growing gift list.  This year I decided to make gift giving full circle.  I'm using the gifts that I was blessed with to bless others, affordably, and I encourage you to do the same.

If you have a knack for crafts and DIY, use your creativity to make gifts like the Merry Mason Jars filled with chocolate covered pretzels I crafted for my daughter's teachers and before and after caregivers.  Or the gloves that I made for my co-workers.  If you are good at baking, bake some cookies or a cake for the mailman or the delivery person as I plan to do for the UPS man.  Hey, if you are good at singing, call a loved one who is sick and shut in or someone who hasn't heard your voice in a while and gift them a singing telegram/telephone call.  The point is, we all have gifts, and Christmas is the celebration of the most perfect and wonderful gift to mankind, the birth of Jesus Christ.  As I am trying to explain that to my five year old daughter who is more interested about the gifts that she is getting, I think that being a living example of what I am attempting to teach her will go further than me just singing, "Jesus is the reason for season."  It also allows us the opportunity to spend quality time crafting, baking, and thinking of thoughtful ways to spread joy to others - which is a gift within itself.

God did not send his only begotten son for us to live in bondage to debt.  He sent his son to set us free from sin, to give us peace, new hope and unfailing love.  Use the gifts that He has given you to give peace, hope and love to others.

Merry Christmas to all!  Peace and blessings ~ Kelli 

Gifts from the Heart are Golden

When I was a kid I remember my mother giving my sister and I a few dollars to buy Christmas gifts for our family and friends.  It wasn't a lot of money, and as we grew older we would put our money together for some big purchases that we wanted to make for those we loved the most.  This taught me three things:  one, gifts from the heart are the most valuable; two, it taught me the value of money and how to save and budget; and three, even if you do not have a lot of money, you can use your creativity to bring a smile to someone's face.  

This year as I am diligently saving for the Kharismatic Karavan, a mobile boutique by Kharismatic Kreations, my Christmas gift budget has been decreased, but my creativity has increased and I still want to share my blessings with others.  

A quick and affordable craft that you and your children can make for co-workers and/or friends are embellished gloves.  During the winter months everyone can use an extra pair of gloves on hand, so why not make them fashionable and personable.  Stretch gloves cost only $1 and can be found almost anywhere - Walmart, Target, Dollar Tree, or your local craft store.  You can also purchase embellishments like rhinestones, gems, and bows at those stores.  If you have some mix match earrings, some brooches, or buttons, you can use them as embellishments instead of buying them.  Since Kharismatic Kreations does custom printing, I created my own custom embellishments.  I used the heat press to apply them directly onto the gloves. You can stitch or hot glue the ribbons and bows. You can do the same with a hat and make it a set.

There are many affordable ways to spread peace, love and Kharisma this holiday season.  Give the gift of creativity.

Happy Holidays!

Kelli

Trick or Treat T-shirt Tote (Say that 3 times!)

On a recent visit to Sarah’s Hope Hannah Moore Shelter, Kharismatic Kreations used some old sample prints and misprinted shirts to create Halloween Trick of Treat Tshirt Tote Bags for youth activities.  During my Summer of Yes, I created a t-shirt tote bag that I used on vacation, but for this particular youth activity, we tricked the t-shirt tote bag so that the kids can fill them with treats for their Halloween Trunk or Treat event.

We started by using black misprinted shirts as our canvas to make the t-shirt tote bags.  Then using the colored test print shirts, we cut out shapes to glue designs onto the tote bags.  I had stickers, flowers and other decorations on hand, just in case some kids did not celebrate Halloween and just wanted to make a tote bag.  This activity was a hit and affordable!

Summer of YES!

At the beginning of the season I favorited a tweet from Mama Knows It All, a fellow Mom Blogger, who wrote a post entitled, Summer of Yes:  Family Bucket List.  A Summer of Yes, as she described it, is a summer filled with fun and family, no excuses, no matter how busy you are.  After reading her post I decided to accept the challenge.  Sure, I’m busy working full time in addition to managing a business and being a single mom, but there were so many things that I wanted to do and the fear of scarce resources (mainly time and money) were limiting me. In the midst of my full time work schedule, mommy commitments, and multiple t-shirt and Crafty Kreations orders, I decided to decrease the fear and increase the faith, be a little creative and crafty, and embark on a #SummerOfYes! Here’s a quick recap of my most memorable and crafty moments:  

Free Outdoor Concerts and Events

One of my favorite things about summer is all of the outdoor concerts, festivals and events.  This summer I made the time and saved money by attending local events.  I would bring my lawn chair or picnic blanket, a book, some snacks and crafts, and simply enjoyed the entertainment and overall atmosphere.  At one event I made a tote bag out of an old, oversized t-shirt.  

To make the tote bag, you cut off the sleeves of the shirt, and cut down the neckline of the shirt as deep as you want the opening.

Next, you cut 1 1/2 inch wide strips at the bottom of the shirt all the way across. Cut up as deep as you want the tote bag to be.  Grab the strip from the front and double knot it to the strip directly behind it.  Repeat this for all of the strips.

 I also made a floral crown in 3 minutes by pinning $1 floral pins to a plain black stretch headband. 

Momcation 

My parents decided to plan a "GRAND" vacation with just them and the Grandkids in sunny Florida.  So my sister and I took our free time away from our kids to have a "Momcation."  I started planning for us to spend 4th of July weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  We were going to attend a cousin's birthday dinner and decided to extend the trip and the fun.  The itinerary I lined up included yoga on the beach, spa treatments, water sports, fireworks and outlet shopping.  This was the first vacation my sister and I shared, with just us, in over 10 years.   

The floral crown was a staple for the #SummerOfYes.  #FlowerChild

4th of July hair bows out of Dollar Store scarfs.

New York State of Mind:  Wendy Williams Show

My co-worker grabbed tickets to the Wendy Williams show and asked if I wanted to join.  Without hesitation, or thinking about finding a sitter, securing the money, etc...I said yes!  Well it is the #SummerOfYes right?!  All things worked in my favor (thank you sweet Jesus) and I caught the Megabus up to NYC just for a day to go to the Wendy Williams show.  Now, I've experience the Wendy Williams show before as an audience member, but this time was a little different.  When the producers asked if anyone had an Ask Wendy question, of course I said yes (again this is the #SummerOfYes).  My question was selected to be answered by Wendy, which meant my face and voice was going to be on live TV!  Behind the scenes the Ask Wendy segment is rehearsed over and over again.  They even tweak your question/story line to make it more interesting.  The show has since aired at least 3 times and I still get text and FB messages asking, "Kelli, did I just see you on Wendy Williams?"  My answer...."Yes!"

 

#MiniAdventures with Mother Nature

I was a Girl Scout up until around the 6th grade, and as an adult I was a Troop Leader of Daisy Troop 3212 for 5 years.  So the urge to go camping didn't seem out of the norm for me.  But instead of basic camping, I had to step it up just a bit for my little diva and plan a week of glamping and outdoor fun with Mother Nature.  My sister's family joined us in our adventure.  We kicked it off with white water rafting.  It was a first for all of us.  River Riders is just an hour away from Baltimore and offers all types of outdoor excursions including zip lining, rafting, kayaking, etc.  I was a little nervous at first because there are dangers involved in white water rafting and my Mini isn't a strong swimmer; she's just learning, but we survived, and I got a good upper body work out.

The following day we set up camp in a cabin in the woods at Fort Whaley Campgrounds in Ocean City, Maryland.  We had a barebones cabin, meaning there was nothing in it besides a place to sleep in the form of bunk beds and one full size bed.  It was a cute little hut in the woods that we would call home for 3 days.  We cooked outside & made s'mores, had to use a bath house a couple of feet away to use the bathroom and shower; but thank God for the electricity and air conditioning in the cabin because it was hot!  Our camp stay included admission to a waterpark at Frontier Town which was a few miles away, and shuttle access to the Ocean City Boardwalk.  This was definitely a memorable experience that I will do again in the future.

My T-shirt tote bag came in handy during our camping trip. 

Fun on the Home Front

Sometimes I looked no further than my own front yard for fun.  I spotted some cute and easy summer activities on Pinterest to keep my little "TurnUp" Princess occupied like these water balloon pinatas.

We're 2 weeks away from the start of the school year and I"m glad to say we made the most out of summer with one or two adventures left ....but why let it end here?  Let the adventures continue....

Bring on Summer! Creative DIY Fun in the Sun

Memorial Day weekend is just a couple of days away!  Can you say long weekend!!!  Gloray!!!!   Here are some Crafty Kreations DIY Creative Fun in the Sun Projects to get you ready to kick off summer!

DIY WRAP SANDALS

I grabbed some flip flops and 2 scarves from Dollar Store to make some easy wrap sandals in less than 5 minutes.  The great thing about this craft is you can interchange the scarves for a variety of looks, wear the scarves and flip flops separately; and even better, it will only cost you $3 tops for a comfortable and fashionable pair of sandals.  I decided to be festive and use red, white and blue to celebrate Memorial Day. 

2 Scarves and Flip Flops from the Dollar Store

Wrap the scarf around the top of the flip flop.  

Twist the scarf around both sides the flip flop by just wrapping it around.

Twist tight enough for your toes to be able to comfortably slip through.  

 Voila!  Put your flip flops - turned strappy sandals on and wrap the scarf around your ankles and tie.  

CRAFTY CANVAS SHOES

Carrying on with our theme of steppin in style this summer, I DIY'd some canvas shoes, taking them from boring and bleak, to sparkly and chic.  

 Purchased some basic canvas shoes from Dollar General for $6 and fabric markers from the Dollar Store for $1.

Using the pink fabric marker, I simply colored over the original stitching on the shoes.  

I have a mild obsession with gold glitter, so I painted the tip of the shoe with mod podge and covered it with gold glitter.  

 

I followed the same steps for the back of the shoes as well.  As the glitter was drying, I used the black fabric marker and stripped the shoelaces for an additional pop of creativity.  Another idea is to color the entire shoelace or dye them.  

PERSONALIZED WATER BOTTLE

Shop this Crafty Kreation!

Not just T-shirts!  Kharismatic Kreations also prints customized water bottles.  During the summer months it is important to stay hydrated.  Why not make it a personal goal with a personalized water bottle?  I took a plain mason jar style water bottle and made it my own with permanent adhesive vinyl.  Added my own polka dots too!