Homemade Puffy Paint

We are currently in a phase where anything mixable and where Dylan can 'help' makes for a good project. Homemade puffy paint fit the bill. It was very easy to make. He loved helping me measure & dump each ingredient. We used the recipe shared on sandy toes and popsicles blog:

Supplies

• 1 tablespoon of self rising flour
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• food coloring
• water

Add the first 3 ingredients into each spot in a small muffin pan. Then add enough water to create a paste and mix it all together.

Use q-tips to paint designs onto stiff paper or cardboard. I cut up an old cereal box for us to use. (And, yes, the painting on the right was mine - Dylan isn't quite advanced enough to paint shapes on his own!)

After your designs are complete, microwave for 5-10 seconds. Admire your artwork!

Read More

Durham Bulls Fan Fest 2012

The Durham Bulls baseball team hosted their annual spring Fan Fest at the beginning of the month. Trent happened to have the day off work so we headed to the ballpark. We were fortunate that some friends of ours made it out too. It was an overcast rainy day, but the boys had a great time running around the stadium and playing catch on the field. We were also grateful for a moment with Wool E Bull for a group photo.

Supplies: Sara Schmutz's No 1 Fan kit; Robin Meierotto's Fashionable Fall papers, So Daily - Die Cut Cards and In Stitches - Bright Basics; Karla Dudley's Today and Digi Essentials 8 brushes; Just the Way You Are font.

Also seen at CraftGossip.com - Scrapbooking.

Read More

Little Order to the Pantry

Last year, I found a great blog post on creating your own lined canvas bins using old diaper boxes. I bookmarked it for future reference. Fast forward to this week and I was frustrated with a pile of chip/snack bags in our pantry that fall everywhere with the slightest bump. I had a small cardboard box that was just the right size so I set off to repurpose it and have it looking cute.

Completed Canvas Bin

I used canvas and spray adhesive to cover the exterior of the box. Then dug through my scraps for fabric to make the liner. I followed these instructions for making the liner with a little alteration as I added the striped top with fabric left from our dining room curtains. (Yes, this bin totally coordinates with the dining room/kitchen even though it lives in the pantry!)

Filled to the brim with bagged snacks.

Besides the new neatness to my pantry, the best part was the price - free. All of my supplies I had on hand left from previous projects.

Supplies: cardboard box, canvas, spray adhesive, fabric remnants, thread.

Read More

Blue Lagoon

I confess, I've been day dreaming of the beach lately. That led me to start 'pulling' photos in my digital files to scrapbook from our trip to the beach last fall. This is the house we were fortunate to spend a week at with friends:

Supplies: Gennifer Bursett's Gidget papers; Karen Funk's Claire alphas; Come Unto Me font.

Read More

Lens Pouch

Since getting a new lens at Christmas, I've been looking for ways to take it along from time to time. My camera only fits in my small bag with the kit lens (new one is too long) and I don't always want to carry my large camera bag as I typically have a diaper bag in tow as well. I found the idea for the Strappy Camera Lens Pouch on Pinterest.The tutorial was written by another mom who also wanted to take along the extra lens while toting the diaper bag.

This was my first time sewing a project with a zipper. I was proud I at least knew to change the foot on my machine! Beyond that, it took a minute of reading the manual. I was just about to search online for how-to videos when I figured it out.

The main fabric was in my stash leftover from creating my camera strap cover. On the inside I used a coordinating fat quarter I bought while shopping for the zipper.

Supplies: floral print fabric - Central Park by Kate Spain; liner fabric - JoAnn Fabrics; Pellon fusible fleece; Coats & Clark thread and zipper.

Read More

Stamped Shamrocks

A St. Patrick's Day inspired craft I've seen numerous times in the past is stamping shamrocks using a green pepper. I confess, the thrifty side of me hated wasting using an entire pepper for this so I cut off about 1/3 and then stashed the rest back in the fridge for dinner.

The initial reaction when I handed Dylan the project supplies was confusion. I can't blame him. Why in the world would mama hand him paint and a vegetable? So, I showed him how to dip the pepper into the paint and stamp a shamrock shape.

He followed my lead, took the pepper and made a stamp all by himself.

Then came the "oops" moment. What I neglected to realize until we were in the midst of the process is that a short stubby slick section of green pepper + paint getting on fingers = slimy and hard for Dylan to pick up (me too for that matter). So after one awesome stamp by each of us followed by a second attempt by Dylan that resulted in a big paint blob over my stamped shamrock, we moved on to finger painting. Got to roll with the art flow here. Next time, I'll let him have the whole pepper. :)

Read More

We Were Here

Dylan & I spent a week in Virginia at the end of January, beginning of February. A look at our week in a glance:

Supplies: Kate Teague's Just the Photos 3 - the Squares template; Robyn Meierotto's Oceanside papers, In Stitches - Bright Basics, and Let's Go mini kit; Sara Schmutz's Happy Camper brushes and Star Spangled freebie (recolored tape); Just the Way You Are and Impact Label fonts; Google map.

Read More

90th Birthday

Trent, Dylan & I traveled to southwest Virginia for the day in late January to celebrate my paternal grandfather's 90th birthday. Of course, not everyone was there, but it was fantastic getting as many of our extended family together as possible. A glance at our fun:

Supplies: DHD February Blueprint Challenge template; Karen Funk's One Year Older & In This Life kits; Shannon Hegarty's Lighhearted papers; Century Gothic font.

Read More

My Memories Suite v3 Giveaway Winner

The winner of the My Memories Suite v3 software is ...

Comment 7 was posted by Kim @ Everything Etsy:

Congrats!

Read More

Shamrock Handprint Plaque

It's true, we have a handprint or footprint plaque for almost every holiday now. I love pulling them out to decorate with and Dylan gets so excited seeing them! Our Shamrock plaque we made last year the day before St. Patrick's day.

I started with a square wooden plaque that I painted white. After the paint dried, I very lightly sketched outline of the shamrock leaves in pencil. Then, with Trent's help, we slowly painted Dylan's hands and made the prints - two with each hand. I painted the stem and set it aside. Once the green paint was dry, I used a Sharpie marker to carefully outline the leaves I had sketched earlier as well as the stem. This gave the design the 'pop' it needed and helped define the shamrock. I completed the plaque by sealing it with a coat of Mod Podge and adding a picture hanger to the back. Also, as with all the plaques, I noted on the back the date and Dylan's age.

Supplies: wooden plaque; acrylic paints; brushes; Sharpie marker; Mod Podge; picture hanger.

Read More