Chalk Mat

I found a cute tutorial over a little pumpkin grace for an oilcloth chalk mat. JoAnn Fabric is having a good sale this weekend with a 40% one regular priced item coupon.  I also had my 20% mailer to use.  I went in the store to get supplies for another diaper bag I’m making, but my friends and I found the chalk cloth. The request was made for a chalk mat and I went back later to get the supplies.  Now, oilcloth is not readily available and I didn’t want to wait to order it. But, JoAnn’s did have iron on vinyl, problem solved.  I sent my daughter through the line to get the vinyl at 40% off and then I used my coupon for the rest of the supplies.  Chalk cloth isn’t super expensive.  I followed the tutorial closely (not the dimensions – I bought  1/2 yard of the cloth and then cut that in two) but rounded my corners and made a velcro strap instead of ribbon.  Because I used the vinyl I was able to personalize the roll.  Need to measure better the next time so the last letter of the name isn’t under the strap 🙂 I’m giving her the chalk mat tonight.  Hope her son likes it.

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Happy Birthday Sadi

My niece has a birthday is in a few days and I wanted to make her some special things for her new bedroom.  Her walls are blue and her bed cover is orange and pink.  I made a sham, little fabric basket, and a wall letter.  The sham is all mine (using the sham off my son’s bed to get the dimensions) and the basket tutorial came from Pink Penguin. I used recycled jeans for the denim in this project.  The back of the sham is the back of a pair of jeans, super cute!

Happy Birthday Sadi

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Photo Booth Classic Plus App

I downloaded the iPhone App Photo Booth Classic Plus a few days ago to play with.  It’s a 1.99 but has been so much fun.  My two older kids, 14 & 13, love it. http://www.photoboothclassic.org/ Here is an example of the results using my good friends cute little boy. It counts down 5 seconds between each shot and you have the option to change it to black and white or the full range of partial color. A few pics are blurry because chasing an almost two year old around it tough 😉

Taylor Lautner Hair

T4, the only boy, saw the magazine I bought for T1 & T2, People’s Eclipse edition.  He noticed that the 6 years of Taylor Lautner was indeed Shark Boy (and he’s a fan of Shark Boy, Jacob is just ok).  “Mom, can you make my hair look like his?” I tried, no luck.  T1 took over, still no luck.  We told him his hair was too long.  His response, “you can cut it off, it grows back you know.”

Look at that sad face.  Maybe I’ll put Iron Man on and tell him how much he looks like Tony Stark. No haircut required 🙂

P.S. enjoying my first day of summer break with my kids (until we have to start packing to move!)

Water Balloon Flip Flops

T3 (who is 10 years old) came home the other day and said, “Mom, I want to make some flip flops out of water balloons.”  She googled it to show me and we got the supplies during our Wal-Mart run.  She made them by herself without help and is now making some for her good friend.

Recycled Magazine Wall Art

The family room is VERY colorful with the addition of bright pillows and quilts, but the sofa is denim and I needed some artwork above it.  I had TONS of potterybarn catalog and decided to make some recycled artwork.  I LOVE HOW THEY TURNED OUT!!! and T1 helped make it.  I even scored the mat board and frames 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby.

Any magazine or catalog could be used depending on the color scheme you wanted.

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Bleach Pen Tank

My daughter wanted to make a shirt for her friend for her birthday.  She drew the design and asked me to put it on a shirt.  I considered an iron-on, but they sometimes peel.  I thought about freezer paper stenciling, but that’s a lot of detail.  I finally settled on bleach pen.  It turned out ok, but T1 and her friend loved it.

Window Frame Organizer

The pictures aren’t good, but I wanted to share my version of the project found on The Feminist Housewife. My daughter wanted to re-do her room for her 13th birthday.  Didn’t happen because we will be moving this summer, but she did pick out the new quilt, sheets and a few accessories.  The walls will have to wait.  She saw me looking at the post on the Feminist Housewife and REALLY wanted one.  My mother-in-law found the window frame and my husband cut the metal and wood for the backing pieces.  I used spray on chalkboard paint over a roughed up piece of metal so it’s magnetic too.  The knobs came from Hobby Lobby when they were half off (YEAH!).  I will try to get a pic of it on her wall, when we have a new wall to hang it on.  For now, here’s the before, during and after.

Mother’s Day Gifts

I made washer necklaces and key chains for our moms this Mother’s Day. I also made some for myself 🙂

Sorry about the pics.  I took them with my iPhone

Diaper Bag

Here is the picture of the diaper bag that matches the blanket. The inside has a huge zipper pocket, a side pocket & 2 pockets opposite the zipper.  I also added a key holder.  She loves it!