DIY STATE SILHOUETTES

We've lived a lot of places and the places we've called home have been all over the country. We've loved some of the places we lived. Some places have never felt like quite the right fit, even after years of living there. But every single places we've been and every home we've lived in (5 in 10 years and counting) has been just that: home.

I made these little states to commemorate all the places we've lived. This is a ridiculously easy DIY. Whether you've lived in one states or 50, this is a charming little addition to your home! 

All it requires is:

-sheets of watercolor paper

-watercolors and paint brush

-Sharpie marker

-State silhouette (tons to choose from if you google it)

Print out the state shape of your choice. Cut if out and with a pencil, trace it onto a piece of watercolor paper. Retrace the line with a black Sharpie marker. Over your home town, draw a small heart and fill in completely with the marker. Chose a watercolor color, and paint in the lines of your state. DONE.

DIY: CHALKBOARD CHEESE PLATE

 

I like Pinterest. I know that these days there is a lot of talk of resisting Pinterest, and that talk is valid. Comparing your life to the picture perfect-literally-world of Pinterest is not healthy or sane. But I love Pintrest for the inspiration. There are some people out there with lovely, smart, and inspiring ideas and I love looking at them and coming up with ways to incorporate some of them into my own life.

Example: the chalk board cheese plate.

I love the look of these and it's so easy and pretty.

I bought a chalk board tile (similar to this one, but smaller) and it works perfect as a tray.

 

 

Christmas Eve.

 

New Year's Eve.

 

Now I've thinking of all the chalkboard projects I can do.

 

You can following me on Pinterest here.

FRONT PORCH CHALKBOARD

In our new neighborhood, fixing up your front porch is a big deal. Kids play outside together a lot in our neighborhood and parents sit out front and talk. It has an old fashioned, small town feel. We wanted our porch to be useful, comfortable, and pretty. We when we first arrived, there were no flowers out front, so while we waited a week for our furniture to arrive, we planted some shrubs and flowers, and the kids each chose a bird feeder as well. We already had the flag, the metal chicken (silent auction win!), and the vintage Coca-Cola chairs and table. It was all looking pretty nice but basic, so I decided to put out a welcome chalkboard sign.

 

The chalk board used to be inside our old house, but I couldn't find the right spot for it in our new place. But it looks super cute on the porch. I like the idea of changing it throughout the season. Just the right little extra for front porch sittin'.

 

Also, this cuteness helps.

EGG CARTON RABBITS AND FLOWERS

There are so many lovely spring time crafts out there, aren't there? But some of them just seem a little overwhelming. Who wants to paper mache with a 1 year old? (Not this girl.) I wanted a simple craft that both of my children could enjoy. And these egg carton flowers and rabbits are just that.

 

 

This little craft is sweet, simple, and so easy. All you need is an egg carton, a pair of scissors, a few sheets of pretty paper, glue, and markers.

 

Cut out the "cups" of a cardboard egg carton. Trim them down a bit. Cut out some pretty paper into several leaf shapes.

For the flowers, glue the paper around the inside edge of the egg cup. Fold the paper slightly, so the colored side shows. (Or, you can leave them straight up for "tulips".)

 

For the rabbits, glue two of the papers, colored side out, to one side of the egg cup. Draw a face.

 Happy spring time crafting!

CELEBRATING...100 DAYS OF SCHOOL

It was the 100th day of school yesterday, evidently a BIG DEAL on the kindergarten circuit. I found this shirt idea from Really Quite Lucky on Pinterest, and thought it would be perfect. It was easy, although cutting out each tally mark individually with scissors was a bit of madness. But what's a little madness when you get a smile like that?


What you need:
White shirt
Colored fabric (two to five colors works)
Scissors
A tally mark silhouette
Heat'n Bond or some other iron-on adhesive

1. Trace your tally mark onto the smooth side of the iron-on adhesive paper.
2. Iron the adhesive onto your colored fabric, marking sure to divide the number of tallys per color that you desire.
3. Cut those tallys out like crazy.
4. Arrange in the pattern of your choice on the shirt. Iron.
5. Let your kid be the rock star of the 100th day of kindergarten.

LAST MINUTE HALLOWEEN: NO SEW KNIGHT COSTUME

 

 

So Halloween is less than a week away, you have no costume for your kiddo, and what's left on the selves at Target is sketchy. I have a solution! A no-sew Knight costume. Let's do it.

 

 

 

Materials:

1/2 yard white felt

Iron on reflector tape ( I bought a package that had three sizes)

Small scrap of felt, any color

Heat'n Bond or some other iron-on adhesive 

 

Iron

Scissors (fabric scissors work best, but any will do)

Pins

Animal of your choice silhouette

 

 

Fold the white felt in half. Using one of your child's tee shirts, measure a neck hole and cut it out on the folded side of the felt (you can eye ball this). Cut the bottom slightly longer then the tee shirt. At this point, you may want to try the piece on your child, to determine the width of the shoulder piece. Pin it up. Take it off your kiddo and cut the sides to your desired length.

Cut the reflector tape into strips and make a shield shape. Pin it down. Follow the manufacture directions and iron it down ( mine was about 2 minutes of heat). I also added thicker strips of reflector tape to the bottom on both sides.

Choose an emblem. My boy is really into bucks these days, so that's what we went with. I just Googled "deer silhouette" and found this guy. Iron on the Heat n' Bond or other adhesive paper to the piece of colored felt, following the manufactures directions. Trace your image (if you're using letters, make sure to trace them backward, so the adhesive will be on the correct side). Cut it out, place it in the middle of the reflector tape shield, and iron in on according to instructions.

BOOM. Done. No sewing required.

We added a cardboard shield curtosey of Dad,  gray henley hoodie, gray pants (these are from Target, but don't seem to be available any longer), and snow boots from last year. Fierce knight expression is up to you.

Bring it Halloween.