She Believed She Could, So She Did Art DIY

I saw this quote on Pinterest and found in love.  Can you think of any stronger message to send to your daughters? 

I immediately went to work creating something with this saying on it for Chloe's room.  

Pick out a font that you think fits the message best and print it out on regular typing paper. 

I don't know why it's sideways but you get the point. 

Grab some wax paper and rip off enough to cover the words.  You will be tracing the letters so you need to have plenty of space on the wax paper. 

Using puffy paint in the color of your choice, trace carefully over the words.  (If you mess up, move the wax paper and try again - FOOL PROOF!)

 

Continue until all of the words are covered.  Let dry.  

Once all of the letters are dry, line them up onto your canvas however you would like them to be arranged.  Play around with it until your happy!  

Use Mod Podge and carefully glue each letter into place.  I picked up 1 letter at a time, and replaced it before picking up the next letter.  This helps to keep the words aligned.  (You could also use a ruler as a straight edge if needed).

I choose white puffy paint on white canvas intentionally.  My original idea was to spray paint the whole canvas the same color pink that I used on Chloe's bookcase, but I ended up really liking it white and haven't pulled the trigger on painting just yet.  (My white puffy paint is iridescent, which helps it to "pop" off the canvas. 

Ta Da!   The possibilities are endless with this project!  Different colors, different sayings, adding a design... make it your own! 

XO!

I Pinned This - Mess Free Painting

Sometimes messy things don't bother me.  Sometimes I would rather stab myself in the hand than deal with the mess.  Today is one of the stabbing kind of days.

Here's what Pinterest promises: 

I got out a plastic freezer Zip-loc bag and cut a piece of card stock to fit inside the bag. I squeezed some big drops of different coloured tempera paint onto the paper and very carefully slid the paper into the bag. I then closed the bag and using duct tape, taped it to one of our craft trays. (Rainy Day Mum)

Here's what I did:
I got a Zip-loc bag, the only paint we had laying around, and some clear packing tape.

I keep my paint in a bottom drawer of my craft dresser, thus the dot of paint on the top of the lid. It helps know what color the bottle is without pulling every container out! 

I squeezed in some paint.  Not too much because I know my kid and the likelihood of the painting squirting out from too much pressure was high.

I taped it up to the sliding glass door instead of the table.  Partly because of what I said about paint squirting out (and the hope that it would be harder to pop the paint up) and letting the light shine through the bag to see whatever she was "painting".

Make sure to squeeze all the air out of the bag before sealing and taping it! 

Play and enjoy! 

And even with my high-energy little one, this was fun and held her attention for enough time to make lunch at least! 

XO!

Upcycling a Baby Doll Bed Tutorial

Isn't it funny how innate it is for little girls to play mommy? I love watching Chloe be sweet and loving to her babies (all 8324 of them).  While helping her go through her toys the other day for our monthly "Let's get rid of anything you don't play with!", I noticed her baby pack-n-play was ripping at the bottom.  It wasn't too surprising, considering the material used to make it, is the same thin material most princess costumes are made of. (and we all know how easily those rip or fray or snag!) 

My first thought was to sew up the hole real quick and move on.  But the more I sewed, the more it ripped.  2 hours later, someone had a completely "new" baby bed.  (It's most definitely not perfect, and when I was taking the frame apart and putting it back together, I tweaked the levelness of it somehow... but it holds babies, the fabric is cute, and Chloe loves it)

Materials:
   sewing machine (hand sewing would take forever, but you could)
   scissors
   fabric for the sides ( 11" x 36" )
   fabric for the bottom ( 12" x 21")
   thread to match
   coordinating ribbon

• Begin by cutting your pieces.  I struggled with the decision to cut panels, or use one long piece of fabric.  I decided it would be easier to manage with panels. (each measurement allows for a 1/4" seam)
• 2 side panels measuring 11x14"
• 2 side panels measuring 11x22"
• 1 bottom panel measuring 11x21"
• Sew these all together with a 1/4" seam.  (I hate 1/4" seam, but it allows for the least amount of fabric waste. 
  • *Don't forget* Iron your seams for a sharp edge. 

• Now that you have one long piece of fabric, measure the allowance for your bed leg.  Mine was 1 1/2".  (put your pins in to hold it, then check with the leg before sewing)
• *Tip* Use a rubberband to mark your seam allowance to keep your sewing straight!

• Attaching the bottom seemed intimating at first, but just take it one side at a time.  I started with a longer side to get it out of the way. 
• *Tip*  When sewing with Minky fabric, pin every inch.  The fabric stretches as it runs through your machine and will bunch up if you are stingy with your pins. 

• As you begin to sew around the bottom, think of the extra material as wrapping paper.  Fold it as you would if it were a present to keep it out of the way. 
• Attach your bottom to the "wrong" side of the fabric so when you look into the bed, you see the "right" side of the fabric at the bottom. 
• DO NOT sew the "pocket" for your bed leg. I used a larger pin to remind myself when to STOP before closing the "pocket". 

 

• After attaching the bottom, fit your creation (what would you call this thing?) onto your baby bed to make sure all is well. 

• Cut 10 pieces of ribbon and sear the edges with a lighter to keep them from fraying.  Line them up evenly along the top (over the rail) and attach with pins.  Hand sew or machine sew on. 

• Ta Da!  High five to you and be happy with the cute (more kid resistant) baby bed! 

Bloopers - Almost every time I do a sewing project, I have at least 1 oops of sewing the fabric together wrong.  I had 3 this time.  Lesson learned, don't do this with "helpers" or past my bedtime.

XO!

I Pinned This - Remove Scratches from Leather

As a preface, leather furniture is not really my taste. We have a set of brown leather furniture from the in-laws that the hubby was so excited about when they offered. So excited that I lost the fight about keeping the furniture we already had. Pick your battles I suppose. 

The couches are in pretty good shape, and when we have kids bouncing around, we don't need perfect couches.  The in-laws had a couple of dogs though so there are a few scratches here and there that have never really bothered me, but when I saw this pin I thought "What the heck". 

Here's what Pinterest promises: 

I used a soft cloth to rub the olive oil into the leather in circles.  I think the key is really rubbing it in.  I followed up with a paper towel and buffed it off a bit (mash-upchic.blogspot.com)

Here's what I did:
I busted out the olive oil, an old sock and a Viva paper towel.  I also chose a spot that would not affect the look (or feel if it stayed oily) if this pin didn't work.

The before picture - it's not too bad, but you can see small scratches. 

I rubbed a small amount of olive oil, in circles, onto the cushion.  There was a slight oily feeling when I was done, so I rubbed the paper towel over it and was surprised to find that there was no residue left. 

It looked great as soon as I was finished! I rubbed over it with my finger to check for extra oil and nothing! 

I waited about 5 minutes and checked again... not as great, the scratches are starting to show again.

And 10 minutes later.  Almost completely back. 

Eh, no harm no foul.  I'm just glad I didn't rub this all over the couch and waste our perfectly good olive oil. 

XO!

I Pinned This - Foam Soap

Do you know the repercussions of asking someone to go wash their hands?  If yes, you must have a toddler/preschooler.  Bubbles and water everywhere, and an almost empty bottle of soap next to the facet.  When I saw this pin, I knew we needed this.  I've bought foaming soap before but it is so drying on my skin, the amount of lotion it takes to not feel like my hands are going to bleed defeats the idea of saving the soap.  Maybe if I can use a soap that doesn't leave my skin crying for moisture, the foam will be perfect in our bathroom.

Here's what Pinterest promises:  (actually Pinterest doesn't promise anything, but the link from Pinterest says:)
Next fill the bottle approximately one inch full with soap
Then fill to the top with hot water
Then shake well.
Hot water is important because it helps to dissolve the soap so it will mix better. If you don't mix it well enough the first few pumps will be quite soapy instead of foamy. Just shake it again and it should be fine. (Adventures of a DIY Mom)

Here's what I did:
I had an almost empty foam bottle that I'd bought from The Dollar Tree moons ago.  I started by rinsing it out.  When I was pumping clean water through, I cannot believe how much soap is stored in the pump itself! I pumped through 1/4 bottle of clean water and soap was still coming out until I said "good enough".

I used a bottle of regular soap we've had since before we bought the foaming soap, I figure it doesn't matter what type of soap is used but I'm thinking Bath & Body works Warm Vanilla Sugar would be amazing!

Following directions, I put in maybe 1" (maybe a little less) of soap into the empty bottle and filled the rest up with hot water.  (Leave some room at the top when filling the bottle for shaking purposes).  After 20-30 seconds the soap was dissolved.

There's really soap in there, the bubbles at the top look like the pump but I promise its not. 

Time to test this bad boy out! 

Seems legit.  I washed my hands a couple of times to compare it to the other foaming soap and regular soap.  It lost some of the fragrance from the regular soap but cleaned my hands like I would expect any soap to.  

My hands are very dry after using this, much like the original foaming soap.  Conclusion - foaming soap is not for sensitive or prone-to-dryness skin types. 

Do you have problems with soap and your hands?

XO! 

I Pinned This - Doll Detangler

I know I'm not alone in this... you're perusing Pinterest and something catches your eye (ha, that's funny - 2392 things catch your eye).  "Hmmm... I wonder if that really works" crosses your mind, almost out loud, and onto a board it goes.  Maybe never to be seen again, who are we kidding.

As I try things from Pinterest, I am going to let you know if they turned out as promised by the description or comments left by others or if it was a - bum bum bubum - epic failure.

Does this look familiar? If you have any daughters, you've run across this post and asked "How'd they get a picture of our doll?!"

This isn't our Repunzal, but it looks EXACTLY the same... shouldn't her magical hair not tangle?

Here's what Pinterest promises:

Detangle doll hair! Go to beauty supply shop and got a wig brush. It has metal bristles with no little knobs on the ends. Supposed to glide through the hair with ease and no static that a plastic brush would cause. Also ran across several sites that made a solution of about 2 TBSP of fabric softener and the rest water - put this is a little travel spray bottle    (Cookie & Claire)

Here's what I did: 

Combined 2 tbsp of Downy and water in a large spray bottle - large is the only size we had around that house that was empty was I filled it about 1/4 of the way with water.  Shake Shake Shake. Spray on Repunzal as you do with detangling spray on your own daughter and let sit for a minute or two.  Instead of a wig brush (mostly because the closest beauty supply store is 55 min away) I used the plastic brush that came with her.  Patience and lots of spraying later: 

To ensure that my work wouldn't be undone in a matter of minutes, I braided up her hair and secured with a elastic hair tie. 

Tip: To learn the 5 strand braid, here is an awesome tutorial! How to: Five (5) Strand Braid by LuxyHair

XO! 

DIY Cleaning Schedule

I've been "working" as a stay-at-home-mom for 8 months now (WOW!) I still don't have it all figured out, it's not as easy as I thought it would be, and our house is still a disaster almost all the time. I know I've talked about this before, but it's something that does really bugs me and I'm trying hard to correct.

To help feel less overwhelmed each day, I created a schedule, of sorts, to help manage what needs to be done each day and what can be left to another day in the week.

Some things are done everyday:
Some things are conquered once a week, or as needed (which sometimes is 5 times a week)

(Bonus Tip: With this being on the front of the fridge, it's not only my eyes who see it.  Meaning... the hubby might notice that I haven't gotten to wiping the counters for the evening and lend a hand)

I made some kid friendly ones as well for my little helper who is always wanting to do what I'm doing, whether it's more helpful for me or not.  I love it because it keeps her on track of what needs done in the morning before leaving for school, too, and I find myself trying to hurry her onto the next task as often - hallelujah!

These are her everyday "chores" - Brush hair, make bed, etc.

These are her extra "contributions" - sweep, change sheets, etc.  She does 1 of these a day.

Do they enforce things getting done on a daily basis?  No.  Do they help keep on track and feel less bombarded with chores? Yes.  I'll take what I can get.  Maybe when spring comes and I can open the windows for some fresh air, I'll be more apt to keep up with chores (ha). 

*The circles aren't cut perfectly, the colors are matched up well... it was a quick job.  I will probably re-make them until I'm satisfied with how they look then laminate them for longer durability from little hands that like to move them 30 times a day. 

Do you have a cleaning schedule you stick to? And how do you hold yourself accountable? 

Until next time... XO! 

Hair Bow Frame Tutorial

Before I begin this tutorial, let me strongly suggest NOT purchasing a shadow box via Goodwill. I was trying to be green in an attempt to upcycle something from the local donation shop (not to mention save some bucks) and thoroughly regretted my decision.

Anyway-
Here is my brilliant idea for a frame.  In retrospect, I would go with a regular picture frame for pure ease. 

U to the G to the L to the Y

I knew this going from the moment I picked it up in the store, but I thought... what's a little hot glue, I can get that off with a utility knife, no problem.

LIE!  

Why yes, I am boring a hole into the back like a mouse... it was the ONLY WAY

Once I succeed getting into the frame, I pried the rest of the back up and it went much easier... until I saw the inside

MORE HOT GLUE?!?  Who put this picture together?  The inventor and tester of hot glue?!

More prying, cussing, and finally some broken glass... we were in business to begin with the tutorial. 

Little cuts keep appearing on my hands, I guess I wasn't as careful as I should have been

And now, it gets simple... 

Decide on some ribbon that you'd like to use, cut and glue into place.  I contemplated running the ribbons horizontally but am very happy with the vertical look.  

It's that easy! Just add bows, clips, headbands... whatever you have laying around getting lost.  With 2 girlys, this is a necessity! 

If you give this project a try, I'd love it see it!  Tweet me or shoot me an e-mail :-) 

Until next time... XO