Monster Hands for Halloween Day Art Project #Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! To keep your little ones busy today as they wait for trick or treating and attending Halloween festivals here is a last minute craft idea. Our Monster Hand Craft you can do in minutes!

All you need is washable paint, paint brushes, paper, googly eyes, a permanent marker and little hands :)

DIY Bench Makeover #upcycled #pinterestinspired #furnituremakeover

By Patricia

I've had this old bench around for years. I bought it at a yard sale, and it's been passed back and forth between my daughter and I a few times. I thought it really needed a makeover, and I was tired of the black wood and old fabric.

This is such an easy project to do, all I needed was some white paint and some new fabric. The new fabric I decided to use was actually an old drapery panel that I bought at the Goodwill for a few dollars. This was going to be a fast and inexpensive way to give new life to an old piece of furniture.

I took the bench outside and took off the seat, super easy since it just lifts out. It's a gorgeous day for an outside project!

I only had to do a little bit of sanding before I could apply the first coat of paint. Luckily the old paint was in good condition, but I would need to apply two coats of paint because I was applying white on the black paint.

Applying the first coat of paint. The can said it covers in one coat, but I could already see that wasn't going to work on my bench.

Here is the bench after two coats of paint. I let the first coat of paint dry over night because it was enamel, and it seemed to be drying slowly. Now on to the bench seat.

This is the drapery panel that I cut to size. I measured how much I needed for the bench seat, then I added four inches to each side. Using the staple gun made it very fast and easy to adhere the fabric to the seat. Super simple!

Going around the corners of the of the seat was a little trickier, but you just have to pull the fabric taunt and then staple it down. I didn't remove the very first layer of fabric, but it didn't interfere with stapling the new fabric on.

Here is the bench all finished! I love the light colors and what a big change it is. This DIY project was very easy and inexpensive to do. Love it!

What is your favorite way to Upcycle DIY Projects? Do you shop Goodwill or Yard Sales for DIY ideas?

DIY Pinecone Christmas Trees

As a child the magic of Christmas was always in the decorations, especially ones that my brothers and sisters and I had made ourselves. Every year our mother would pull out the decorations we had made over the years and floods of great memories always came to mind.

I set out to do a simple project with my little ones, something easy, fun with instant results. These Pinecone Christmas Trees were perfect for my 3 year old and almost 2 year old.

A few simple supplies: pinecones (from Michaels), sparkles for the ornaments, different string choices for the garland or lights and glue. Honestly a hot glue gun would have been better but they are so young, later as the items start to fall off I will go behind them with the hot glue gun.

Here they are working so hard, Ashley even moved on top of the table for a better angle! I let them do it all by their selves, they always love it when there are no rules during a craft! There was no fuss, no fighting and beautiful results. I can't wait to pull these out of the Christmas tub every year and seeing the same memories come to mind for them.

This was published last year, but I wanted to share it again.

DIY Pinecone Christmas Trees

As a child the magic of Christmas was always in the decorations, especially ones that my brothers and sisters and I had made ourselves. Every year our mother would pull out the decorations we had made over the years and floods of great memories always came to mind.

I set out to do a simple project with my little ones, something easy, fun with instant results. These Pinecone Christmas Trees were perfect for my 3 year old and almost 2 year old.

DIY Activity Dice for Kids!

As the days get darker and rainier here in Washington we tend to spend more time inside the house, and the feelings of being cooped up start to set in. I am always on the hunt for frugal and DIY ways to keep ourselves active and entertained, these Activity Dice we made are a fantastic way to get them moving!

Very few supplies are needed. 1-2 "square like" boxes, wrapping paper of some kind, several colors of construction paper, a marker, scissors and tape.

DIY Owl Snack Jar

I love to put snacks and treats in fun and interesting jars for myself and my kids.

 So I took an empty Owl lotion container, a jar and spray paint and here are the results.

I love how bright and cheerful it turned out and how it looks on my counter top!

Who wants ordinary when you can easily create something like this!

Frugal Friday - printed duct tape

 

The other day while checking out the dollar section of Target I came across printed duct tape for $1.00. I usually see it for at least $3.99, that role is bigger than the dollar roll I picked up, but the dollar roll was perfect for a little home project. I covered this red chevron L with quite a bit to spare. Nice!!

Here are my supplies: The $1.00 printed duct tape and a cardboard L that I had bought over a year ago at Micheal's. Honestly I can't remember the price but I know I wouldn't have paid more than a few dollars for it.

I cut the chevron tape and made sure to wrap it around the sides and line it up so that the pattern matched all over. It was so simple to do because the duct tape is so strong, it creates great lines.

Here is the finished product on a book shelf in my living room. The whole thing took me less than 10 minutes to complete. This little project was simple and the results are making me so happy!! I have seen these chevron letters upwards of $20.00! I recommend you pick some today, you can cover just about anything in duct tape!

DIY Personalized Valentine Chalkboards

This year I am on the hunt for fun and different ways to give gifts to my little ones. Along with the candy and treats, I wanted to give them something personal and useful. With both of the boys drawing and learning letters I thought these personalized Valentine chalkboards would be a great idea! Here are the step by step instructions:

Here are my supplies to get started: Clip boards bought at the dollar store, chalk board paint (I already has this from another project), tape, and a sponge brush.

I taped off the top to give the board a nice smooth edge.

I gave the board three coats each, and made sure to let them dry in between each one.

When they were dry I removed the tape to get them ready for the next step. Then to give them a "Valentine flare" I cut a sponge into a heart, grabbed red and purple paint and stamped each board with the same amount of hearts in each boys name.

The hearts at the top also helped to hide the tiny blemishes from where I pulled the tape :)

After they dried I took a white paint marker and wrote the letters of their names inside the hearts. To finish the look I put some chalk and a little eraser (sponge) inside a little bag covered with hearts,then tied it with red ribbon. I love how they came out and can't wait to give these to my boys on Valentines Day!

DIY Baby Doll Bed Makeover

For Christmas this year I wanted to do a little bit of DIY mixed in with "new" things. I think that there can be beauty in used items if you look hard enough and have the time to fix it up.

Months back while scouring the shelves of the Goodwill I came across this baby bed. Now remember I have a just barely one year old daughter after having two boys so I am always on the hunt for girls stuff!! And all things PINK!!

When I saw it I knew it had to be mine hers. It had a few chips, discoloration and needed some TLC but for $4.99 I knew it would be perfect for her first baby doll bed. It is heavy wood (durable), low to the ground (she is only one) and the hearts on the sides put me over the top!

Here is the bed after I bought it, not so cute huh?

 See the $4.99 price tag! Also see the markings and chipped up paint?

Here is Ashley's sweet baby bed after I gave it some TLC, repainted it white, added some blankets and a bit of ribbon.

These pictures turned out kind of yellow, they were taken at night right before Santa came. (wink wink)

Handmade Christmas - Knitted Coffee Sleeve Cozy

You guys have seen them all around Pinterest and what not right? You know the Knitted Coffee Sleeve Cozies that look so stinkin' cute and make you want to drink coffee or tea 24/7? Or is that just me?

Years ago my Mom, sister and I decided to teach ourselves to knit. We looked it up on line and just like that we were "knitters." Well kind of. We learned the basics and never pursed it much. My Mom does knit scarves on a regular basis and Meg recently learned to crochet. I hadn't done it in years. But after seeing all of the inspiration out there, I decided to pick up my knitting needles and make these beauties!!!

 

They are super simple, inexpensive and to-die-for cute right? I have been whipping these babies out left and right! I can't lie, I didn't knit the flowers, just the base. I picked those up at a craft store, not too pricey though really. The button I also bought for cheap and hand sewed it on.

I don't know about you but there is something so great about a Handmade gift, giving them and receiving them. So if you are a special women in my life, you may or may not be getting one of these for Christmas this year :)

How about you? Do you do Handmade or Homemade gifts for Christmas?

Weekend In Pictures - Homemade Gingerbread Houses

Homemade Advent Calendar

Made on a mini muffin tin with treats inside!!

I have never had an advent calendar, the boys LOVE IT!! and so do I ;)

Last minute Apple Stamp Paint Project with the Kids

Before November is over and we pack up all things fall-like and gear up for Christmas I wanted to get in one more craft with the boys. They love paint and stamps so what better way to combine the two than with turning some aging apples into stamps!! We had all of the supplies already in our home so away we went. Here is the steps we took to make apple stamped collages:

The Supplies: Apples, knife, paper plates, paint and paper

Cut the apples in half and remove the seeds. I suggest you leave the stem because it looked really cool when it was painted as well! Side note: As you can see these apples were getting past their prime so I thought they would make a great "stamps" for this project.

Squeeze the paint onto the paper plates.

I chose fall colors such as yellow, orange and red. I set it all up and called the boys to the table.

They stamped away!!

Love the Red!!

More stamping!

Liam got really into it and it was starting to get messy haha

In the end the colors were messy and mixed up but I didn't mind because this project was just for entertainment purpose. They loved stamping and painting with no rules really. FUN!!!