Sparkling Snowflakes

Yesterday was a cold, cold day. Little Annalise needed some Mommy time as we've had a busy couple of days. What better way to enjoy each other's company while staying warm on a cold day than making snowflakes? :)  This website: http://innerchildfun.com/2011/12/10-winter-crafts-activities-for-tots.html has a bunch of wonderful winter crafts to do with toddlers. I chose one and we got to work.

Supplies:
construction paper
double-sided tape
tin foil

While I got the paper ready with the tape, Annalise tore up the tin foil (or, as she calls it, Tim Oil). It was a great way to keep her occupied and train her fine motor skills.

You can't see it very well, but there is double-sided tape on the paper. You put the tape down in different snowflake shapes.

Next step - take the little pieces of "Tim Oil" and stick it to the double-sided tape. Annalise had fun with this. She got really into it and pretended the foil was orange juice that she had to poor all over the paper. Then she squished it all onto the tape. Whatever didn't stick, went back into the container for Mommy to use. :)

This is mine. It was fun to do crafts with Annalise. Hopefully more crafts will come soon! :)

Pretty Trash

So it's been some time since I've posted here ... but it's been some time since I've been creative (either on my own or with my oldest daughter). December was insanely busy, of course with Christmas, but it is also the month my mom went to be with her Saviour. We praise God that she is no longer suffering! But with sorrow and busyness, crafting gets pushed to the side. It's hard to be creative when your heart is breaking. We are getting settled back into our routines now and, oddly enough, my creativity has come back stronger than it has been for about 8 years or so! This makes me glad ... my heart has a way to express itself again.

So, this post isn't super creative/heart expression but it's something I've wanted to do for a while because I think these are so cute. Shortly after doing this craft, I sat down to paint and that is where my heart expression could come out. However, that painting is a gift for a friend and I will not post about it here until the friend has received it (so as not to spoil the surprise). :)

This post is about a pretty, cute, little trash can for the car and this (http://calicoandcupcakes.blogspot.ca/2011/08/repurposed-project-car-trash-can.html) is where I got the idea. :)

Supplies required are an empty Costco size Cascade dishwasher 'pods' container, modge podge, a sponge brush, scrapbook paper and scissors.

Oh, and wine. It's good to have a glass (and bottle) of wine as you craft. :)

Empty, clean Cascade container - Costco size.

Pretty scrapbook paper. :)

Modge Podge the bin, wrap paper on it, modge podge on top of the paper to seal it (2 or 3 coats). As an afterthought, I realized I should have removed the Cascade labels from the container. Too bad but it still looks alright and, after all, it is just a trash can - it doesn't have to be perfect! :) It was a bit annoying wrapping the paper as the roundness of the bin made it a slight (very slight) challenge to get the paper flush with all the sides. I managed though. (Sorry for the lack of "during" pictures.)

Pop the lid back on and you're done. I actually ended up popping the lid off again so I could put a plastic shopping bag in to act as a garbage bag. May as well keep the pretty trash can clean and pretty! :)

It was a fun and easy craft and I think I will make a second one for Darran's car. Only then I have to first get some more masculine looking scrapbook paper. :)

Name Art

Here's an art project Annalise and I did before Emilie was born. Yes, I know I'm super late posting this but hey, I was pregnant and had a baby - I have a good excuse! :)

So, what I did was get a canvas (Dollarama is a great place to get canvas for art) and I wrote her name out with painters tape (you could also use masking tape). Then I let her have at it with the paints and her fingers. Annalise had a blast and I tried not to panic about the mess too much. :) As you can see, the paint was so thick in some areas that it bled right through the paint. Still looks pretty cool though. Next time I think I'll write out her name with white glue and let it dry first. I think the effect might be a bit nicer.  This was another Pinterest idea but I can't find where the idea was linked from so can't share it. If this was your idea, or you know which site originally posted this idea, please let me know in the comments below and I will update this post to reflect that!

Birthday Presents Keep Me Busy

So this year, for Darran's (hubby) birthday I decided to do some things I found on Pinterest. The first thing I did was the "52 Reasons I Love You" on playing cards.  In my sleep-deprived-due-to-a-new-baby mind, I forgot to take pictures of the projects in progress so you're just getting the end results. :) Here is the "52 Reasons ...":

And the following 3 pictures show some of the reasons I gave:

Now, I need to say, all of the tutorials I found said that white glue doesn't stick to glossy playing cards so the paper won't stick that way and they are right. However, their solution is to get sandpaper, sand down the cards, and then use white glue to attach the paper with your reason to the card. That sounded too time-consuming for a mom of a 2-year-old and a new born, and too messy as well. So I did some thinking and remembered how wonderfully modge podge adheres to pretty much anything you can think of. That's what I used - no sandpaper needed. So here's my tutorial:

Materials needed:

1 deck of playing cards

hole punch

list of reason you love your man (or woman)

reasons put on paper squares/rectangles (I used Word to do this and I made the rectangles about 5 cm by 6 cm.) 

ribbon or something to attach the cards together

modge podge

sponge brush to spread modge podge

scrap paper or card board to put under project to protect your surface when using modge podge

Directions:

1. Get your deck of playing cards. Keep the jokers (I used them for the covers of the "book"), the 2 "instructional" cards that come in the deck are good practice cards to test where you want to punch the hole or holes).

2. Print off your reasons (after you type them out in to whatever shape you choose on Word). Cut these out.

3. Hole punch the cards in the area you want (after practicing on the practice cards).

4. Spread modge podge on your paper, stick it to the card and spread another layer of modge podge over that to seal it. (It worked perfectly.)

5. When dry, stack in order you want, and connect with ribbon or other method you choose (some use binder rings).

It's pretty simple and ends up being a pretty special gift (at least Darran seemed to think it was pretty special so I guess I achieved my goal with that). :)

Now, that wasn't his only birthday gift. That was the birthday card. After I compiled a list of 52 reasons I love him, I chose about 8 of them to represent with applicable gifts. Darran quite liked the gifts I chose for him. One of them was another Pinterest project so I will post it here. :)

This is a DIY canvas print. This gift went with the "you are a great father" reason of the "52 Reasons ..." project (a picture of him and our oldest daughter). 

Materials needed: 

8 x 10 canvas

tissue paper (or tracing paper) cut to 8 x 10 size and made flat

modge podge (and brush) 

computer with pictures (and an idea of which picture you want) :)

Directions:

1. Choose a picture to print and print it on the tracing paper. Spread modge podge on the canvas. Quickly (and carefully) place the picture on the canvas, ensuring it's centred and quickly spread the air bubbles out (but don't panic if you can't get them all out).

2. Allow it to dry slightly and then spread a layer of modge podge on top (spread thinly as it will cause the ink to bleed a bit ... but that just enhances the cool look of it in the end).

3. Now you might be starting to panic (as I did) if you see bubbles in the middle of the picture that you just weren't able to get out and you might think the whole thing looks like crap. DON"T WORRY! Put it away the the rest of the day, even overnight. When it's fully dry, look at it again and it might (will probably) be just fine. That's what happened to me. I was in a full state of panic and hid it in my closet, the next morning I pulled it out and it was just fine. All the bubbles had flattened out and the whole thing was perfectly stuck to the canvas. You now have a DIY canvas print.

Darran thought it looked pretty cool and was super please to get a gift like that. I want to do another one of him and our newest baby girl. :)

So, since this is a post about the birthday, thought I'd put in all the pictures of Darran opening his gift. :)

This is the bucket with all the gifts wrapped (and the reason written on the outside of the package). The deck of cards is in the envelope. :)

Hair Clip Organizer

Today I finally made a hair clip organizer for my daughter! I don't think I got this idea from Pinterest (though I'm sure it's been posted there somewhere too) but I do remember seeing things like this at various trade shows I've attended and I believe also from a couple people on Facebook.

Basically, you need a couple shapes that your child would like (I chose a lion and giraffe for Annalise as she loves those kinds of animals, especially lions, and it fits the theme of her room), then a coordinating colour of ribbon and of course some super strong glue to attach them to each other (I used Modge Podge). You also need a picture hook or nail to hang it on the wall.

So, measure out however much ribbon you want/need based on how many hair clips you have to store. Then make a loop and glue it down so it stays as a loop. Then glue your first shape (you should also use the child's initials) at the spot where the loop was glued down. Then glue your second shape at the bottom of the ribbon. When it's all dry, it might be good to add an extra layer of Modge Podge to seal it and make sure it will stick. Then you nail your hook into the wall and attach the hair clips and you're done! :)

Modern Art Toddler Style

So, this past week my little girl has been dealing with Hand Foot Mouth Disease and it has been a bit of a challenge finding activities at home that would keep her distracted and happy. Thankfully I remembered we have paint. And then I remembered some of the painting activities I saw on Pinterest. I decided we should try a bit of modern art. So, the supplies you need are paper, paints, containers to hold paint (like lids of plastic containers or plates or something similar), clean empty jars (mason jars, pasta sauce jars, etc.) I only had one empty jar so we also used clean, empty pop cans. :)

So basically you just pour some paint into the lids and then, turning the jars/cans upside down, dip them in the paint and then stamp them on the paper. Oh, if you're wondering, those are those lovely vinyl outdoor table clothes that are under the table to protect the rug and floor. :)

Annalise gets very intensely involved in activities like this and it's very hard to pull her attention away from it. :) This might be a good thing, and it might prove yet to be a not so good thing. :)

This is mine (but I forgot to flip the picture so you're getting the wrong view). :)

Very intensely stamping the can ... you can see she added her own touch to it too by adding a bit of finger painting.  :) Whatever works! :)

This is a finished product. She made about 4 of them! :)

It was a very fun time, painting with my daughter. Of course, I forgot about the clean-up involved and the scrubbing of paint of her hands which, when you have Hand Foot Mouth, does NOT feel good!

This is the original blog that was linked to Pinterest: http://salsapie.blogspot.ca/2011/09/mod-dot-art.html

Animal Collage

This was not recent, nor was it something I found on Pinterest (it was found through Living Locurto) but it is an example of some creativity that keeps me sane so I figure it's applicable. After all, I did say that sometimes I'd post about other creative things I've done, not just Pinterest ideas. :)  This was done in early July and it was quite enjoyable. It's a great, creative way to re-purpose canvas art that just doesn't fit with your home's decor. :) It started with an old canvas painting I found at Value Village a few years ago when we needed some not so pretty decorations for my husband's 70's themed 30th birthday party. Really, what am I going to do with a nasty, outdated painting that doesn't match ANYTHING in our house? I was going to donate it back to VV but then I saw this idea in a Living Locurto newsletter and thought I'd try it. So, you need canvas (old and used or brand new ... although old and used is much cheaper), scrapbooking paper in coordinating patterns/colours, and templates for the animal (or plant or shape) of your choice. Oh, and modge podge and a sponge brush to apply it.

Here's the picture, then I'll explain how I did it. :)

So, you take your base coloured/patterned papers (and I think next time I will use a less busy base pattern at the top). Modge podge the back of it and apply it to the canvas, keeping in mind that you want to go over the edges (so that if you're using a used canvas, you don't have the ugly art showing at the sides). I started with the solid colour at the bottom and the I added the patterned background (overlapping the solid bottom slightly). Next, you cut out your templates (I found the giraffe and elephant on Martha Stewart's site - she's got some pretty awesome creative resources there for free!). I first cut out the giraffe shape, traced it on the back of the scrapbook paper I wanted to use, cut it out of the scrapbook paper, modge podged the back and stuck it on the canvas where I wanted it. Then, using the same template, I cut out the giraffe's spots on another coordinating colour and modge podged them on, one at a time. Next I did the elephant, similar method. Once you have everything modge podged onto the canvas and it's relatively dry, you need to go over the entire picture with modge podge, spreading it evenly. This will ensure that is stays stuck. :) Do this 2 or 3 times, letting it dry between each application. Once the last application is dry, spray it (outside or in a well ventilated area) with clear acrylic sealant spray. This will preserve your creativity much better and give it more of a glossy finish. It will also protect it a bit more from moisture.

Once all that is done, you're art is finished! :) Be sure you choose your colours and patterns wisely. You can see that my background is a bit too busy and, as I said, I'd have chosen a different pattern if I'd do this one over. So, the next time I do this, I will choose more wisely. :)