Wall "art"

I did these a few years ago when we decorated our room, but I always get asked how I did them.  I cannot tell you how easy these were.

I used four 8x10 wood picture frames, one really large wood frame, a couple yards of fabric & a staple gun.  The 8x10 frames are from Dollar Tree.  The really large frame was found at Hobby Lobby on clearance for less than $4.  It was just the wood frame, no glass or backing.  Fabric from JoAnn's that was on sale.  I think if I remember right I did these for $10 or $12 total.

I stapled two of the 8x10 frames together & used twist ties to hold them together while I was stapling.  Then I stapled a piece of fabric to one side of the frame.  Pulled tightly on the fabric while stapling the opposite side. Then stapled the other two side while making sure the fabric was stretched tight.  Repeated same process for the other two frames.

They are hung up by resting on small nails.  Once in a while I take a lint brush to get the dust off.  And if I ever need to change my decor, it will only take a couple of yards of fabric.

My kitty says "Hi!"

Permanent Growth Chart

Our friends joke that we might as well be military the way we move.  Thankfully, as of right now, it looks like we'll stay put for a while.  But just in case a move does come, I wanted a growth chart that I could take with us. 

My inspirations came from these two sites:  One to buy and one to make.  (This time I remembered to take pictures as I went.)

You need a 1"x6"x6' piece of wood.  I'll recommend going ahead and buying the piece of wood that is in the shelving area of your home improvement store.  Those pieces tend to be straighter and have less blemishes.

I painted mine white using left over white satin finish paint that I had in the garage.  I also used a tape measure, a yard stick, brown paint, a small paint brush, a triangle & a pencil.

I decided that I wanted the top of my board to be the same height as the door frames.  I think it was 83", give or take.  I used the tape measure to find the height of the board and the foot increments.  I then used the yard stick to mark the inches, making a mark on the side of the board for the foot increments.  I used pencil so I could go back & erase my marks on the side.

I had triangles left over from my drafting days.  I used tape to mark the end of 1" and 2" to keep my increment lines the same length.  I used the 1" for the inches and the 2" for the feet.  I would recommend wiping off the triangle, or whatever edge you use, once every 12" or so to not smear paint.  Thankfully the brown paint I used wiped off the satin finish with a baby wipe pretty easily.

I then just free handed the numbers for the foot markers.  I kept them to about 2" tall.  If you wanted to be really fancy you could use a template.  I didn't.  Too much work. 

I decided to hang mine in the bathroom.  The floor is hard and I don't plan on replacing the tile any time soon.  The board hangs behind the door and isn't visible all the time.  I drilled a hole in the top about 2" in down from the top of the board, found a stud in the wall, and used a wood screw to hold it in place.  I then realized that it swayed a bit at the bottom, so I used another wood screw towards the bottom.  (Yes, now I will have two more holes to patch, but hopefully not for a while.) 

A couple of things I may do differently if I had to do another one of these.  First, I would use a paint pen to keep the line thickness more even.  I do not have a steady hand and my inch marks prove that well.  Secondly, but not really that big of a deal, I'd remember to drill the holes for the screws before I painted.  Third, I wouldn't do this while the kids were being quiet, a little too quiet.  I found them locked in one of their rooms with the telescope trying to watch a meteor shower.  I also learned that my husband is getting either a new drill or a new battery for his current drill for Father's Day, or sooner depending on which project I decide to do next.

Yes, the numbers go high and I don't really think my kids will be that tall, but my little brother is over 6 feet so you never know!

Cell Phone # Bracelets

I think this is Princess' favorite thing I have done yet.  So much so, when I first made it she wanted me to take her to the zoo so she could get lost.

And I changed the number on the bracelet.  Hopefully this isn't a real number.  If it is, I am sorry!!

You need a bag of beads.  I just used the round ones, but you could use different shapes as long as your kids don't mind.  The number beads were a little hard to track down.  The only place I found them was Hobby Lobby.  And when I bought them they were on sale, or I'd recommend using a 40% off coupon.  A bag is $3.99 for 200 beads.  You will also need a spool of Stretch Cord.  I used white.  Or clear.  I don't remember.

I started by letting Princess pick out colors she wanted.  I put a few on a larger-than-I-needed piece of cord, found a good pattern, and then trial-and-error tried it around her wrist.  I wanted it tight enough that I had to stretch it just a little to get it over her hand, but not so tight it left marks on her wrist.  I think I had to take 2 beads out of her original pattern.

I also made one for my little boy.  Just not as pink and purple.  I did have to make just a plain one, without the numbers, for Princess to wear whenever.

Reusable tote bag

I have seen this so many times.  You need a tote bag (about $3 - $4 at the craft stores), a doiley (I used a 12"), & fabric paint. You will also want a piece of cardboard or wax paper to slide into the bag to keep the paint from bleeding through.

The tutorial I used said to use scrapbook paper spray adhesive to get the doiley to sick to the bag. That stuff is about $12 a can.  I don't use it so I wasn't about to spend that kind of money.  Instead I used washable kids stick glue and just dabbed a few areas to hold it in place.

I off-centered the doiley in the corner leaving room for a letter.  I dipped a 1" foam brush in fabric paint (I used "soft", whatever that means).  I very carefully dabbed the paint onto the doiley making sure to get all the little holes, but not using a lot of paint to make sure it didn't run too much.

Since this bag was white, I printed a "K" at a very large font size.  I don't remember if I used 250 or 300 pt.  I slid the printed letter in the bag and then traced the letter with a small paintbrush.

Just let dry flat.  Princess loves this bag.  I just won't tell her that it was actually one I did for something else and didn't realize I had paint on my hand when I did the "K".