Valentine's Craft

I like to have my two year old daughter paint canvases that coordinate with the current holiday or season as a way to spruce up our walls.  We just did this canvas today and I love it!  Take tape (I used electrical) and spell out a word or create a design.  Then paint the canvas with the colors of your choice (we did pink, red, and white for Valentine's Day).  Let it dry and then take off the tape.  Easy! 

Christmas Tree Skirt

I'm a sap who is all about traditions and keepsakes, so I thought I'd share this idea in case you are as well.  Two years ago (when my daughter was two months old), we put her hand prints on a tree skirt and dated it.  The idea is that we will put her hand prints on it every Christmastime until we run out of room.  After we had our second daughter, we decided to put hers above our eldest daughter's prints.  If we have another kid, her prints will go above the other two.  And so on.  It's a neat little way to remember how they have grown, and it's a fun tradition!

I bought the skirt at Target, and I used acrylic paint.  I figured a kids waterproof paint wouldn't last as long....and this needs to last for a long, long time!

I will say that it is hard to get a good print with babies....they like to ball their hands into fists.  And some prints won't be perfect.  But I think that adds to the charm.  :-)

Paint chip art

I made these a few years ago, and they were super easy.  Crazy easy!  I got some paint chips from the store and picked colors that I thought looked pretty together.  I cut them off the strips, pasted them onto white card stock paper, and that was it!  I didn't paste them on perfectly straight so that it didn't look to uniform.  I bought the cheap frames from Walmart, and all three pictures cost no more than $12 total. 

We have since moved, but I just loved these on my green accent wall in our living room. 

DIY Picture Frame

Back in February I saw a frame that I loved at Pier 1 Imports, but I couldn't justify spending $30.  I went home and sulked about it because I really loved it, but then I had a brilliant idea: I could totally make that!  It's not a very complicated frame--here is the Pier 1 version:

Not a big deal, right?  Right!  Now, here is my version:

Here's what you need:

• A cheap wood picture frame (all you use is the frame itself).  I got mine for $5 at Walmart, and I think it's 16x20.
• Acrylic paint.  And a paint brush, obviously.  :-P
• Embroidery thread.  
• Mini clothes pins.
• Hot glue gun.

This is seriously so simple to make!  First, paint the frame.  I had to use a couple of coats.  Paint the mini clothes pins while you already have the paint out.  While those are drying, cut the embroidery thread the length of the frame (so my thread was 20 inches long).  When the frame and clothes pins are dry, thread the embroidery thread through the spring of the pins--I put four pins on each row.  Then you hot glue the end of the thread to the back of the frame (make sure to pull the thread as tight as you can!).  And that's it!  You can discard the glass and back of the frame.

I love this picture frame, and it is currently on my desk at school.  It's so easy to change out the pictures, and my students love seeing pictures of my little family.  :)  Oh, and the whole project was under $10--much better than $30!  

Welcome!

Welcome to my little blog!  If you know me, then you know that I'm a pretty crafty person.  I have loved to craft ever since I can remember.  Whether it was drawing Fievel over and over again from An American Tail or creating a full sized birdcage from popsicle sticks, my hands were always busy doing something.

I've gotten quite a few "how'd you do that?!" responses to my recent crafts, so I decided to start a blog so others can see how they are made--and so they can make them as well.  If you have any questions, just let me know!  I love helping others, and I love sharing my projects.