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.

HOMEMADE SCENTED PLAYDOUGH

Play dough is a favorite at our house. Truth? I fought against this. Play dough gets everywhere, the dried up pieces get stuck in the vacuum, it gets stuck in all the play pieces, my kids cannot open those little tiny plastic jars to save their lives. I tried to deprive my children from it-but in the end play dough is the clear victor. And secretly, it doesn't bother me. Especially now that I use this homemade play dough recipe I found on Pinterest.

This play dough is the best. It smells awesome, it's ready in 10 minutes, the colors are divine, it's super soft, and it's non toxic. And it can provide long stretches of entertainment for the littles. It also lasts forever (well, we made this batch over three months ago). We store it in a big Tupperware container and it has dried out at all! So while you may end up with dried chunks of it all over your floor, I promise it will be fun up until then.

 

Homemade Scented Play Dough

from The Idea Room

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tarter
1 package of unsweetened Kool Aid, color of your choice
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 cup water

Mix flour, salt, cream of tarter, and contents of the Kool Aid package together in a medium pot. Add water and oil. Stir over medium heat 3-5 minutes. When a ball forms, remove from heat. Remove play dough from pot (it will be very warm) and kneed until smooth. Play away!

Enjoy!

 

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!

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.