Homemade Valentine's Day cards

One thing I love about Pinterest is the plethora of ideas around the holidays!  As Valentine's Day approaches, I thought I would give DIY cards a try this year.  I found these adorable Valentine's Day cards on a blog via Pinterest (http://adamandhaleykjar.blogspot.com/2011/02/homemade-valentines.html).

This is my second Arts & Crafts attempt to get LJL to paint.  We let him play with the paint first and then tried getting his handprint....



A couple things I learned....
- The plastic basters from the kitchen drawer make great paint brushes that are easy to clean up! (I think these red ones are from Crate & Barrel).
- Although washable finger paint was easy to clean up, it didn't make for very good handprints
- A sweet treat helps bribe an 18 month old to participate
- You can never have enough spare paper towels around

I used a variety of scrapbook paper that I had in my craft box, craft glue, markers, and pictures of LJL which I edited to black and white in Picassa.

 I can't wait to send these out to our family! xoxo

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom letter game

I have a 4 year old niece and 5 year old nephew who are learning the alphabet and enjoy reading.  I found an activity on Pinterest for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and I thought I would give it a try for Christmas.



Supplies:
- Construction paper in assorted colors of brown and green
- Craft glue
- Baking sheet
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book (I purchased the board book version since it is a bit more sturdy...I found it at Toys R Us)
- Alphabet letters (these were a bit tricky to find...see my note at the end of the post!)

I cut various shapes of leaves using the picture on the book cover as reference.



I arranged the pieces and started glueing...

I typed up instructions and glued them to the top of the letter box.  Here is a picture of the box with instructions and the text...

"As you read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, pick the magnet to the letter you read

in the book.  Then, place the letter magnet on the coconut tree. As you

continue reading the story, you will soon have every letter on the coconut

tree.  And then UH-OH....all the letters fall off the tree! Help push them off of

the tree.  The story continues with the alphabet one more time, so you will

get lots of practice finding all the lowercase letters.  Have fun!"

AND the letters...I went to craft stores, dollar stores, toy store, searched online...all in search of these letters! I found some online on Amazon but I was convinced I could find them cheaper (and I refused to pay shipping).  I found the first set of magnetic letters in the $3 bins at Toys R Us.  They weren't really what I wanted but after searching 5 stores with a 1 year old, I gave in and just bought them.  After putting the whole project together I was still not satisfied with them!  I took one last trip to The Chalkboard, an educational store.  I found this bin with letters that were too cute and the right size.  I splurged on these letters ($9.99 per box) but I thought it was worth it since they were a better quality and the right size.

My Little Turkey

My husband and his friends play bowling the day after Thanksgiving for the past 15+ years.  Last year, we made a onesie for LJL that said "My First Turkey Bowl".  It was cute since he was only 3 months old.  Well this year we needed to come up with something better...his very own turkey costume!  We found a few options for buying a turkey costume online but they seemed rather expensive.  My mom, the great crafter she is, decided we could make our own.  After a few conversations of planning, digging through L's clothes to find items we could use, and a trip to JoAnn Fabrics, we had all the supplies and started our adventure.  The hardest part was trying to get a 15 month to sit still for measurements and fittings...

It took a few evenings and a Saturday afternoon but we completed it without another trip to the craft store.  I'm pretty proud of my little turkey :)

Chalkboard Paint Wine Glasses

I've seen lots of dinnerware on Pinterest, Today Show, The View, etc. used with chalkboard paint to help personalize each table setting for guests.  For a recent get together with friends, I decided to try the wine glasses with chalkboard paint bases I found online at: http://justshortofcrazy.com/2011/09/chalkboard-wine-glasses-tutorial.html.  

I started with inexpensive wine glasses from Ikea which I had around the house.

Next, I ventured out to find the chalkboard paint.  My first stop was JoAnn Fabrics craft store but unfortunately they didn't carry it (I did pick up a box of colored chalk and a box of white chalk while I was there).  Luckily, Lowe's Hardware store was across the street and they were stocked with small cans of chalkboard paint, which a staff member helped me locate.  ((In talking with the staff member, I found it was just matte paint, which if I had time to have him mix, it could have saved me a few bucks AND I could have selected the color, but my 1 year old was ready to leave so I grabbed a small paint can and headed home.))

I gathered all the supplies (wine glasses, paint, LOTS of newspaper, parchment paper for drying):

I used the "dip and slide" technique...dipping the ends of the glasses and sliding the excess off the edge of the paint can.  The paint was VERY thick but it was smooth and laid nicely on the glass.

Next, I dried the glasses (base side down) on the parchment paper.  After about 20 minutes I moved the glasses to new parchment paper to dry.  I left them over night and moved them the next morning (they stuck slightly to the paper but none of the paint came off).

After a day, the glasses were ready for some personalization!

I think they turned out great and were a hit at the party!  My only suggestion would be to NOT PLACE THEM IN THE DISHWASHER!  After a couple of glasses of wine, I didn't think it would be a problem to put them in the dishwasher.  In the morning there were specs of black paint all on the inside of the dishwasher :(  Luckily, only 2 glasses made there way into the dishwasher!   

LJL's First "Art" Project

Since Thanksgiving is just a few days away, I found this DIY Thanksgiving decor idea online at http://zitzmanfam.blogspot.com/

I thought it would be a great item to display at our "Friendsgiving" party on Thanksgiving Eve.  HOWEVER, a 15 month old who was ready for bed has NO interest in finger painting.  I set everything up so as soon as my husband got home I would have an extra set of hands to assist.  Since LJL wasn't really into it, there is only 1 picture of the project in action....

Fast forward through a bit of a temper tantrum and enough time for the paint to dry and here is the final product....

I purchased the supplies from JoAnn Fabric: frame for $5.99 (60% off!), scrapbook paper ($.69), paint ($.59), and scrapbook letters ($1.99).  Total project = $9.26.

Homemade artwork from my son's 2nd Thanksgiving that we can have forever!

((Since this is my first pin project, I learned to take more pictures along with way.  My next posts will include my photos and step by step instructions.))

My Pinterest Addiction

I recently discovered the website, Pinterest, an online pinboard which allows you to categorize and post links, pictures, and ideas to share with followers (and anyone else who might be interested). I have found my favorite categories to "pin" are: Favorite Recipes (sharing my love of cooking for others), Style (clothing, hair, makeup), Dream Home (ideas for your home including room layouts and designs), Holiday Ideas (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc recipes, decor), Life (motivation, general ideas), LJL (named after my son, fun ideas for kids), New Uses for Everyday Things (creative solutions to everyday items), and Wellness (health, fitness).

Once I reached 80+ pins, I realized it was about time to start actually doing something with these ideas. Since we were approaching Thanksgiving, I started with a few DIY home decorating ideas and party recipes. My next blog post will highlight how my projects turned out! Enjoy :)