building on fire

For my son's 4th birthday he requested a fire fighter theme.  I wasn't sure of this at first, but I think I had as much fun coming up with things as he did that day.  I found this picture on Pinterest and was my inspiration. I don't know where the original picture came from, it was just a picture.

And this didn't cost me anything!  I had everything already.  Just had to dig it out of my closet. I don't remember why I had a box this big, but it was perfect for this.  It had a few tears, but tape worked (and still works). (Please ignore the mess in the background.  I promise I cleaned up before his party.)

First I made a triangular box thing.  What is the name of this shape??

Cardinal Red paint.  After I started painting, I was wondering why I was painting the windows I was about to cut out.  So that's why there are two non-window panes.  

Shhh... don't tell my mom, but I had to use an Exacto knife to cut out the windows.  They aren't cut out straight.  Andrew didn't get out the tape measure and t-square, so I'm good.

This part was fun.  White paint makes bricks!  Yes, I know, don't bring up the scale.  My son loved it.  The "fire" in the windows was tissue paper.  I was originally going to use streamers, but thought the scrunched up and then straightened out tissue paper looked more fun.  I taped each piece about 1/2" above the top of the window so they hung down a bit more.

For the "water" I covered a few Wiffle balls with blue tissue paper.  I didn't have plain blue tissue paper.  The kids didn't mind.

I made this mid-February.  He still plays with it.  In fact, he tripped over it this evening.  Our basement floor has tile sections where he plays with this.  Once in a while I'll hear the bouncing Wiffle balls and have to stop and think about what he's doing down there.  For something that cost me nothing to make, and was made in a couple of hours one afternoon, I'd say it was well worth it!

puzzle snowflake art

The last post I actually told you about was a Fall picture for my entryway.  Well... Fall came & went.  Then in the spot I hang up my Jesse Tree for Christmas (I didn't make it, but my amazing Mom did!!  I'll get a picture up later).  Then Christmas was over.  I left the Jesse Tree up till Epiphany, but then I needed a Winter picture.  Because let's face it, Winter lasts forever in Iowa.

My amazing mother had given me a bag of a billion puzzle pieces from incomplete puzzles.  Okay, maybe not a billion.  But at least 100.  or 98.  This time I bought a 4 pack of canvases (sale plus coupon) for upcoming projects.

So here's the Winter picture.  I lightly painted the canvas blue.  Kinda like a dull, cloudy, snow is going to fall very soon blue.  But I didn't cover completely, letting some of the white show through.

Here are the puzzle pieces.  So mom just gave me the little ones.  The larger pieces were from a puzzle I bought at a garage sale.  It wasn't complete.  Into the project pile it went.

White paint and glitter.  Paint the picture side of the puzzle pieces.  The plain brown side will soak up the paint and they won't be flat any more.  Painted a pretty thick coat of white paint and then pinched sprinkled glitter on the wet paint.  This is one glitter project I did not let my daughter help.  Oh, should mention if you are going to do the glitter and are going to do it this way, a layer of wax paper will be your friend.

Once dried, I glued 3 to 5 small pieces on top of a large piece.  All depending on my layout.  

Just look at those beautiful one of a kind snowflakes!

I guess I've been unproductive

Hello. Wow.  I think I forgot I had a blog.  And I'm sure everyone is just waiting to see what I have been up to.  Right??  Anyone?  We'll assume that at least my mom reads this.  Right, Mom? 

Let's see what is to come... puzzle snowflakes, egg carton flowers, paper flowers, 15 minute little girl dresses... What else have I done that I haven't told you about?  I'm sure there is something.  I will update this week.  Maybe even sit down and write them all and schedule them to update incase I get forgetful again.  It may happen.

Autumn Picture

I'll blame my lack of posting on our move this summer.  I'm sure I've done a few things, but wow, May since I've posted anything.  Sorry guys.

 

So we did this yesterday after school and before dinner.  Extremely quick.  Took me longer to find the orange paint than to make it.  You need a canvas.  I think my is 10x14 or about that size.  I used brown, yellow, red and orange paint. I did try to make my own orange from the red and yellow and it looked more like a dark pinkish ugly color so I had to dig to find orange. 

 

I painted the trunk and then the kiddos hands.  We first did yellow on one hand and red on the other.  Then added the orange on top of the yellow hand.  The kids had fun and liked the way the paint brush tickled.  Oh and the fallen leaves are just their finger tips in paint.  With a few stray falling leaves.

 

 

If your kiddos are bored and need a quick art project, this was extremely easy.  I really think it took me longer to wash the paint off their hands than to paint the picture.

Candy Dish

Since my secret sister knows who gave this to her now, I can show you.  I had seen this Candy Dish on Pinterest and thought it was easy to make.  And it was.  The hardest part was picking a paint color and even then I added a bit of black paint to my green to get it a little darker.

 

You need a small clay pot, the base plate for the pot, a wood knob of some sort, a small glass dishes, paint, really strong glue (I used E6000), paint, and clear acrylic sealer. I really don't remember, but I think I glued felt to the bottom of the pot or did something so it wasn't scratchy.

 

 

I first painted all the pieces (the pot, the base & the knob).  Then used the E6000 glue to attach the bottom the knob to the base (which becomes the lid).  Once that was dry, I sprayed all the painted pieces with a clear acrylic sealer, including the underside of the lid since it may come in contact with candy.  Once that was dry, I attached the glass dish to the top (or bottom) of the pot. 

 

Once it was all dry I filled the glass dish with candy.  I gave this to her in the fall and filled the dish with those little candy pumpkins.  Turned out it was one of her favorite candies!

 

The pot, base & glass dish all came from a craft store.  Got to use those coupons!

Pull-String Pinata

For my daughter's birthday I decided that I could make my own pull-string pinata.  I had found instructions here.  Sounds easy enough, right?

 

I got the supplies:  a good size box, tissue paper, curling ribbon, regular ribbon, a picture of Strawberry shortcake, tape, and lots & lots of glue sticks!

 

 

Tape one end of the box really well and then cut out a flap (three sides only) almost the full size of the bottom.

 

Cut strips of tissue paper and use a glue stick to attach to the box.  Only glue the top half of the strip and fringe the bottom half.  Start on the bottom & work your way up (or down really).

 

Cut out your decoration & glue on the front.  Tie a regular ribbon through slits in the top of the box.  I also covered the top of the box with pink tissue paper. This is the ribbon to hang the box from, or hold it as I was planning on doing.

 

On the bottom flap, using an exacto knife, cut small slits that curling ribbon would fit snugly in.  One ribbon needs to be tied in knot so when that ribbon is pulled, the flap opens.  Do at least enough for each kid to pull 2 strings.  The more strings the harder to pick the right one.  One done, use packing tape to tape the door shut, but not too tight the string won't pull the flap open.

 

That was my issue.  I didn't use enough tape.  The weight of the goodies on the inside was heavy enough to make the flap open when I turned it the right way. 

 

 

I just shook.  The kiddos didn't care.  Next time though... more tape :)

autograph books

We are about to take a family vacation.  I'm sure from the pictures you can guess as to where.  We have gone before and spent a little bit of money on an autograph book for our oldest.  This time I have a little bit more time to prepare, or at least it feels like I do.  I decided that instead of spending the money there, I'd make both kiddos a book.  Our youngest will be able to enjoy the characters this go around instead of screaming and clingy on to his parents for dear life.

 

I found at one of the craft stores a 5.5" x 8" journal back in the artist section, which always use your 40% off coupon or you might as well of bought the book at the park.  The covers are brown.  This won't work for my kiddos.  The girls wants pink (of course) and a plain black background works better for characters.

 

 

 

I have a Cricut machine that I have had for years.  The cartridges I used were Mickey Font, Tinker Bell & Friends, and Disney/Pixar Cars.  If you use the Cricut Craft Room software there is a neat feature called "weld".  You can place all your letters on the virtual mat and then weld them together to have only one cut out instead of having all the letters cut individually.  Big time saver.

 

To customize the covers, the book had to be disassembled (in my head that was said in Number 5's voice).  I traced the holes on the paper with a pencil, used a normal one-hole hole punch to punch out the holes where the spirals would be. I used a thin layer of clear Elmer's glue and covered the covers (front & back) with the chosen color.  While it was drying, I glued the layers of the characters together with the same glue and several Q-tips.  Once the cover was dried, I glued the characters & name in place.  After I let it dry for a while, I used clear contact paper to cover the covers (front & back) to protect them from all the handling they will endure.  I have a small one-hole hole punch that I used to punch the holes in the contact paper once it was on the covers.  One helpful hint, remember how the books were put together before you took them apart so when you try to put them back together you won't spend what seemed like an hour trying to figure it out.

 

Here's the finished products.  I know, I know.  I was trying to keep the kiddos names a secret on here, but without really blurring them, you wouldn't get the idea of the welding.

 

 

Oh and here's the back.  They are both the same.  This was done with the Mickey Font and using a Cricut pen for the numbers.