DIY Tie-Dye Shirts!

This past weekend we attended a "Celebration of Cultures" festival - and there was a booth there selling tie-dye t-shirts. My five your old son was drawn to them and really wanted one. I - of course - told him... "we don't need to buy a tie-dye we can make our own". Some days I should think before I say that phrase. However, the next day my husband actually went and bought the supplies (two t-shirts and a tie-dye kit) and supervised the activity and they turned out great. Anyone who hasn't done this for awhile... give it a whirl with your kids! It's a lot of fun, they get to plan, be creative and then be surprised the next day when they see their finished product. Plus, the kit comes with plenty of dye... you could actually do some bandanas, napkins, an apron, a table cloth... the possibilities are endless! We stuck to t-shirts though. ;)

The KIT

Clothing optional during the process

Gloves not optional - this dye is serious business

The kids picked different banding techniques - but each turned out cool
Such concentration...
And yes, this is my daughter modeling her finished product in all her glory. No idea why goggles were necessary here - but hey - I'm liking it. You can also catch a glimpse of my son off to the side... but he isn't wearing his goggles so I couldn't let him in the photo.

Linking up to DIY day at Kimba's!! :)

A Fun Family Craft - Family Flags!

This post is brought to you by my five year old son. He has an imagination and a sense of creativity that I like to think I have something to do with...although his Daddy is no dummy...so who knows where he actually gets it. Anyway - he asked me to take him to Michael's last weekend. He had a list of what he needed - below is the list. It turns out it was all just different colors of felt, but he had it very well planned out and even though he's just now in Kindergarten and learning to read - he wrote the first and last letter of each color so that he'd remember what he wanted. I thought that was pretty resourceful!
So, here it is part way through the project. There was a lot of planning, cutting and gluing going on. He worked for at least an hour (which, you know, in kids years is like 4 hours).


Have I mentioned I got him his own hot glue gun for his birthday last year. Sniff - my little boy makes me so proud. ;) Look at him wielding that dangerous tool. (BTW - Steelers jammies made by yours truly).

Here's the finished product! It is a Team T family flag. He planned it out with one T in the corner for each family member. The middle is a tiger - his current favorite animal. Not too shabby, huh? He plans to take it up and hang it at our summer get-away in Pennsylvania next year where the "T" side of our family gathers. I love it.

AND - this is one that my three year old and I made together. She - of course - had to pick out some felt too when her brother was doing his shopping. She's not quite as skilled with the hot glue and scissors as her brother (yet) - so she did the planning and I did the cutting for her. She did most of the placement and gluing though. Pretty cool, huh? I'm sure any of you who have young kids recognize this guy.

All in all a fun and successful family craft time that didn't end in tears or cost a lot of money... can't ask for much more than that. I can also see doing these with a theme for holidays, etc.

A Place for My Dog Toys

My little furry dude was feeling blue because both kids have fancy toy boxes and his was just so plain. Look at that face - he obviously felt like he got the short end of the stick. Even though he does have his own little recliner... I mean - really... the galvanized metal bowl (score for like 6 bucks at Home Depot) is nice... but it needed something more. And because I am a good mom - be it to kids or dogs - I obliged. I used some sponges from the dollar store, cut little letters out to spell his name, glued toothpicks as holders (not necessary, but made them cool looking) and fancied it up a little by sponge painting his name to his toy bowl!

TA DA! Now - every one knows that these toys are for MIGHTY! His full name is Mighty Boy - but this works. ;)

Hope Mighty Boy doesn't mind I'm linking up to Creative Cats. ha ha ha.

Personalizing the Thank You

We recently spent a week in rural Pennsylvania with my husband's side of the family. In addition to a lovely and relaxing stay away from the rat race of home - we celebrated our daughter's birthday and were blessed with gifts and love all around.

When I started to do thank you notes, I decided that doing something unique and handmade was the best way show our appreciation. I used a family photo that was taken of the four of us that week (as we sat by a camp fire using a timer on our camera but it turned out surprisingly decent). Using a googled imaged of PA, Picnik , and PowerPoint I created a snazzy little picture and then printed it on some off-white card stock. The finishing touch was a little red bandanna bow. The result was perfect for the occasion. I can't wait to have someone else to thank now! There are so many tools available for FREE and using your imagination you can make anything you dream up!

Trash to Treasure Tuesday and Tablescape Thursday

Edited: I'm reposting to include the Tablescape Thursday icon. My tablescape below is really rather embarassing compared to the others. But - I've got to start somewhere... ;)

These are some plain desert plates I've had forever. They are very nice - but I really never use them. So I decided to fancy them up with a 4th of July theme. We love the 4th around here - mostly because our littlest blessing was born on July 4th 2006! So - these plates will actually probably be used to serve some birthday cake on Saturday.

I used paper napkins - cut the star out in a circle. Then used spary adhesive to put it on the bottom of the plate. I then used modpodge to seal it. The food, etc. won't touch it since it is adhered to the bottom and showing through. AND - if I really want to - with some elbow grease, etc. I can change out the theme for a different holiday. These plates are also always handwashed - so I'm not worried about that. All in all - I like them and think I will use them at least twice a year - which is twice more a year than they've been used.

Here is the finished plate. I did four of them and then put them on some red place mats I bought around Christmas.

The finished table . Yes, my placemats need to be ironed... but I'm lazy like that. There will just be four of us this weekend (our big plans with family are next weekend)... so this works perfectly! The blue metal star is from the Dollar General. It is heavy and nice. I'll probably use it somewhere other than just here on the 4th. By the way though - Dollar General? Different from the Dollar Tree. This baby costs FIVE dollars. Oh - and the table cloth... a canvas drop cloth. I know - they're awesome.

Here's my little sweetie this morning. Sorry for the funny cropping - it was a horrible picture of me... I don't usually edit myself out - but, really, yuck.

By the way - if you missed my cedar chest "reinvention" yesterday. Check it out! I'm proud of it. Also, click the "reinvention" button at the top of this post to see Kimm's ideas and lots of other cool links if you're into this sort of thing. ;)

*EDITED NOTE: A thought; these would be very easy to do with some clear contact paper and any paper or fabric decor. You could cut a circle of the contact paper just the size of the bottom of the plate and use it to secure a decorative touch that would show through. Then - these could easily be switched out for any holiday or event - or just to match your evening decor!

A Summer Craft for the kids

Isn't she lovely? The kids and I made our own butterflies this weekend. This was an easy craft that we thought up... my almost three year old enjoyed it and was able to do a lot of it herself, and my 5 1/2 year old also enjoyed it. So - there you have it. Something for all ages. Would you like to do your own? See below for some quick tips.


Supplies needed: Clothespins, Glue, pipe cleaners, construction paper, scissors, marker, googly eyes (or you can just draw the eyes), strings (if you want to hang it from somewhere)
My daughter chose to decorate hers with stickers - which was a fun way for her to have control over how it looked. I had to do the cutting and gluing, so adding something like stickers lets them get creative on their own.
My son was able to do it all himself - which was a challenge for him - in a good way. He was very proud to see his creation all finished.Hangin' from the chandelier!

These Walls Do Talk!

Those of you with young children know that it is hard to find a place for all the artwork that makes its way into your home. I know at our house, my husband and I struggle with what to display, what to tuck away and save, and what to just pitch (because, let's face it, we can't save it ALL).

A couple years ago I had the developed this idea of making easily changeable frames in my son's room to switch out some of the constant influx of masterpieces that he brings home from preschool. I started with just empty frames on the wall in which I would clip (or tape) the pictures. However, I recently added cork boards into the frames which made a huge difference. They appear much more "finished" now and it is so easy to change out the art work. Plus, they really add a fun touch to his room!

I got the frames and little letters at Michaels and spray painted them to match his room. You could also buy plain black or white frames and skip the lettering for a little bit more "sophisticated" look.

There are many doodles/quicky drawings that don't make it into the frames - we save the frames for the special pieces. I love the pride and the smile that shines on my son's face when he walks in and notices I have displayed a new picture!

The Dog Days of ... Spring

The weather where I am is slowly getting better - but I stress... slowly. I am so ready for a constant, undoubtedly SPRING season. I think the grayness has gotten in the way of my creativity and motivation to do much lately. My Etsy site has been quiet during this time - which is most likely due to a few different factors, but not the least of them being that I just haven't felt like making many new things or marketing much lately.

However - I did enjoy this project last week. I made the little doggy bed pictured (second picture) for our new puppy, Mighty Boy. He has been the recent excitement at our house and is keeping us busy (in a good way)! It is our first family pet and we couldn't have hoped for a better little guy.

We made this last weekend!

So my daughter was devastated when we didn't win a cake in their school cake walk last Friday night. To calm her sobbing - I said that we should make a cake together the next day. Yes - she thought that was a good idea. And she would like a "Pablo" cake. For those of you without young children - Pablo is a character (the blue penguin) from a show called "The Backyardigans". So - thanks to Nick Jr. com - we were able to get some ideas and voila! You will notice it's my son who actually helped - but baby girl was duly pleased!

I made something for myself!

I've seen these on a couple other blogs lately... dishtowel purses. I thought they were cute, but probably not something I would spend time making. Especially since I rarely sew for myself - I'm not selfless - I just like to do kids clothes best. But then yesterday I walked by my kitchen and saw this towel hanging there and thought "I want to make a little spring purse out of that."

I didn't want it to look country or crafty... I was going for fun and whimsical. I just used white hankies for the lining and then a pink silk scarf that I never wear as the handle. The little silver clip is actually an old costume pin/broach that my grandma gave me. What do you think?

Little Leggings!

I'm loving these little leggings for my daughter to wear under her dresses this spring. I like that she doesn't have to have tights on - but she is not just exposing her bare legs and undies while playing. This is the only picture I have right now that shows what I mean (can you see them peaking out from under her dress?)... I am making some more today to go with this shirt I have listed on Etsy. The shirt is cut long, but not long enough to be considered a dress. I think I will turn the listing into an outfit instead of listing separately. This is a fabric that I don't have more of currently so I am selling as a OOAK. I keep debating just keeping for my daughter, but it is a little big on her. I do love it though!

Compartmentalizing

Containers... my kids love containers. My son especially has a room filled with little bags, packs, boxes, whatever - places to put things. Are all kids like this?

This one I made for him before he was born, awww. I had a short-lived basket making hobby. Very short lived.









This extra-special one was given to him by his aunt (it contains more containers!)


This is a Red Sox cup he confiscated to keep Happy Meal toys in.


And here we have a treasure chest that he and Daddy made together, it holds... what else? Some treasures!


And is it just kids? I think not. Especially those of us who sew or craft - we're always needing new compartments and containers for our threads, beads, buttons, needles, and more. So - lately I'm trying to reuse instead of buying new containers every time the fancy strikes. Here is a wooden compartmentalized tray that originally had little horses in it - now used for sewing supplies. All I had to do was redecorate the top and it fits right in with my eclectic group of supplies.




And finally, here is plastic cookie container (not sure where all those cookies went...ahem) now divided (cut and used some plastic ribbon holders that I didn't need to make dividers) and holding my clothing tags!



Both of these reused items were decorated using just a glue gun and some on hand supplies. And a note on glue guns - KIDS love these. I know it is not something you can let your child play with on their own... but my five year old has his own and is allowed to get it out when I'm working on sewing and crafts and work along side me. His favorite thing is to glue buttons together to make cool little sculptures. We get bags of mixed buttons at craft stores and it has provided hours of entertainment and creativity!

And if you are in need of some fancy containers but don't have any left over cookie boxes- how about looking here? Etsy Container Search. ;) These are actually a bunch of decorative boxes for different uses - but they're great and I'm sure just the tip of the iceberg on Etsy!

More Revamping, Reusing, Recycling

How do you demonstrate to your children the concept of waste reduction? I know most of us talk about recycling plastic bags and bottles, etc. ~ but what about less obvious ways? The outfit I posted in the last post is a flimsy example...but it is a way I reused something that could have just been stuck away in a box until next year, or even thrown out. After I posted it - I started thinking about how else I am being resourceful and creatively reusing, revamping or recycling items in our every day lives. The best way we can teach our children is to lead by example.


In that spirit - here are a few other projects around the house that are getting us thinking about revamping, reusing and recycling!

• I just went through my daughter's closet. We are very lucky to have two nieces each a little older than my daughter. We get LOTS of hand-me downs. Most of her other clothes I make (I know, this will probably only fly until she's about 9 or 10). But, with good care many of the clothes still have life in them when the third child has outgrown them. We sorted together (which is fun and spurs memories and talks of how much she has grown) and came up with a box of clothes to donate to our American Vets and a box to take to an upcoming consignment sale. We talked about donations and giving to others and also about working hard to save and make money. (Side note... the sorting of the styles, sizes, seasons of clothing was actually a great activity for my five year old to take part in too. Categorizing is right up his developmental alley.)

• Next, I am cleaning and revamping my office and sewing supply area. This is a CHORE. Our current space in the house is not exactly an ideal setup for my sewing... however, with some creativity and using what I already had on hand - I've made some great progress. I'll post before and after pictures. One of my favorite things... I used a little wooden horse stable toy that my daughter doesn't use to store a lot of my tiny items for sewing. I tried to entice my son into sorting all my pins and buttons and such for me, but he drew the line.

• The cleaning of all my sewing items resulted in the discovery of some t-shirts that I had started to use for my little Guatemala tops I make (yes, that beauty is my daughter;) ) and then found that they ran too small for the size I needed. So, instead of throwing them out - I have used them for the basis of a new spring outfit! I kept hanging on to them thinking I needed to just get rid of them... and then it hit my that I could rework them into something really cute! Pictures coming soon!

Some other every day ways we try to reuse...

• Save all egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls - this make great craft basis'.
• Buy the reusable grocery totes! If you haven't done it yet - do it - or make one. They're easy. Or just search on Etsy... here, I'll get you started!
• Refill water bottles - or just buy a big pitcher.
• Save cardboard boxes. They make great forts, cages... the possibilities are endless.
  

So, please share...how are you demonstrating to your kids the art of finding new uses or even just re-uses for old things?