Mess "free" painting with kids: Dollar Tree cookie sheets!

So it turns out that Dollar Tree cookie sheets make great art/painting stations.

Since I'm outnumbered by the kids painting isn't something we do a lot of because it was stressful for me to try to make sure we weren't make a gigantic mess. I'm not super uptight person about messes, but painting with the kids would just push me over the edge. Invariably paint would end up on the wall, table and chairs making for a big mess to clean up afterwards. Enter the Dollar Tree cookie sheet. They are smaller than typical making them the perfect size for a standard size piece of paper and some paint (we've used both acrylics and watercolors with great success). It keeps the mess contained (well as contained as you can get when handing a three year old a paintbrush and saying 'have at it!') plus it seems like it was easier for my boys as well (ex. the paper doesn't slide around as much, etc). One of my little guys knocked over his water cup this time around and instead of it making a huge mess all over the table (and him!) I just picked up the tray, dumped out the water, gave it a quick rinse and we were back in business. Boo-yeah! 

Construction Site Portable Play Mat

My best creative ideas come when I am creating for someone I love. No doubt about it. My number one inspiration most days are my crazy love-able 3 year old twin boys. Last year for Christmas I made them these time intensive felt car mats. I love them, but  I'm not crazy about how the felt has held up (especially because I used velcro for the closure, take my advice and don't do that!). So for Christmas this year I thought I would try something new for the construction site play mat I wanted to make them: designing my own fabric and having it printed by Spoonflower!

Sound crazy? Well it was really. Designing the fabric took quite a long time since, well, I started out without really knowing anything about Adobe Illustrator. But I love how this construction mat turned out!

Spoonflower was great to work with and I love how my fabric turned out! I think my little construction enthusiasts are going to love these! Of course I made a few extra for my etsy shop :)

Linking up with: Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, Newlywoodwards and Primitive and Proper!

Rustic nail and string art state ornaments

I love it when a creative bender ends somewhere fabulous! My sister loves NYC and I wanted to make her some kind of ornament to put on her Christmas tree to remind her of a place that is really special to her. And this is what I came up with:

Mini rustic nail and string art NY state ornament!

I seriously LOVE how this turned project turned out!! So much so that I decided to add these state string art ornaments to my etsy shop. My sister is going to love this ornament! 

I love them so much that I made one for each of the states we've lived in since we got married. 

One of my customers is ordering one for each state her kids were born in and letting them choose the string color (awesome!). I love that there are so many ways to personalize this gift to make it meaningful for the recipient. Plus they look gorgeous against the dark foliage of a Christmas tree! 

I won't rehash the specifics of how to do this project since I know there are tons of nail and string art tutorials out there. Just follow the tutorial you find, but do everything on a mini scale! 

Linking up with: Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, Newlywoodwards and Primitive and Proper!

 Tatertots & Jello

Give Thanks

As my boys get older the fun of holidays is starting to sink in a little bit more so for the first time we've been putting up some holiday decor! I've had some scraps of plywood left over from other projects that I've been hanging onto for um, well like 2 years. I was just about to throw them away when I realized they would make the perfect hand painted signs! So I did a couple small ones for Halloween, but I saved the nicest piece of scrap wood for Thanksgiving:

{Ignore the stickers on the apples :)}

I LOVE how it turned out! Just a quick recap of the process:
1. Sanded, then stained wood (dark walnut by minwax)
2. Designed "give thanks" on the computer then printed it out and traced it onto the wood (I ran a piece of white chalk over the back of the paper and then traced the out line with a pencil. It worked great!)
3. Filled in the traced out line with white acrylic paint. (be patient, this takes time!)
4. Distressed the letters a little bit to hide my less than perfect paint job.
5. Applied a light coat of furniture paste wax to seal it. (you could use any sealer, I just had this one on hand plus it gives more of a matte finish rather than a high gloss which is what I was going for)
6. Attached a saw tooth hanger and put that baby on the wall!

It hangs above our kitchen table and I love that it is a beautiful reminder to be grateful. On an even sweeter note one of my 2 year old twins asked what it said. I explained it was a reminder for us to say 'thank you.' When his dad got home that night he excitedly brought him to the kitchen and said "Wook, Dad! Dat say 'say dank you!" I melted into a little puddle. Two year olds are the most aggravating and adorable creatures on earth!


(Linking this to the Dare to do-it-yourself Series at Primitive and Proper)

Project Big Boy Room: Part Two

When I saw these darling striped rag quilts earlier this year on DIY Divas earlier this year I fell in love (they have a great tutorial on their site, go check it out!). I loved the texture of the rag quilt combined with the bold stripes. So when I started planning the big boy room I knew these quilts in some form or another would make an appearance.

I changed the dimensions a bit (we plan to get the long crib mattresses from IKEA). I also wanted to make the quilt a bit heavier and even cozier (my boys love cozy fabric) so I backed the super soft flannel with an extra cozy minky type fabric. This was my first real attempt at a quilt so I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, flaws and all! :)

While you can get dirt cheap flannel at JoAnn's I opted to invest a bit more in some higher quality flannel and I am so glad I did. The flannel is super soft and cozy. I'm excited to see how they look on the simple platform beds we are planning to build. For now they are tucked away in our closet and I am really hoping I did all the calculations right when I figured out the dimensions :)

Next, I'm planning to redo the bookcase in their room for better toy storage and my goal for October is to get the beds built!!

Project Big Boy Room: Part One

We're in the process of changing our boys room over from a nursery to big boy room. I know that this will be something that happens over the course of a couple months (from planning mode to fully finished) and I'm doing my best to be patient with that. Anyone else an impatient creator/crafter/decorator? I'm seriously the worst so this is going to be a great learning experience for me. I've been planning and plotting for over a month now so I am really excited to show off my first finished project for their room: a map dresser!

Here is a Before: 

{My husband spent several hours sanding, staining, and finishing this old dresser for our boys nursery. He was nice enough to let me paint over all his hard work:)}

And After:

I really love how it turned out! I had the hardest time choosing a color for the dresser. The color scheme for the room is going to be blues, greens, and gray and I just couldn't decided on a color. I finally marched myself over to Lowe's and forced myself to just pick something. The color wasn't quite what I was expecting (I was hoping for a deeper blue), but I really like it any how. I actually think it will end up going pretty perfectly with the rest of their room. What I love the most though is that each drawer is a map of somewhere significant to our family. 

One of my guys is really into maps right now and I love showing him where my husband and I got married and where he was born. I know he doesn't super get it right now, but he still thinks pointing at the maps is fun!

I did this little make over on the cheap: DIY mod podge, DIY chalk paint, spray painted the old hardware and used free highway maps (most states will send you one for free). Overall, I'm really happy with how it turned out and itching to keep working on projects for their room. Next on my to do list is making some (simple) quilts for their beds!

Giveaway!

Rachel, of Maybe Matilda is hosting a giveaway today and the prize is one my monster bags! Sweet! Go check it out.

http://www.maybematilda.com/2013/06/giveaway-better-than-perfect-monster.html

Plus, Rachel is hilarious, so creative, and mother to one darling little guy. Definitely check out her blog.

New! Personalized felt car mats

One of these days I'm going get caught up on this blog. One.of.these.days. 

In the meantime I've added something new to my shop (yeah!) that I'd love to share.

Check out my cute little personalized felt car mats (double sided no less!):

4 little pockets to hold your little one's favorite cars + bright numbers appliqued on each pocket.

One side has sweet little machine stitched roads + bright colored shapes (to help your little one practice their shapes and colors while they play). The other side features the letter of your choice (your kiddo's first initial!) as a road along with those 4 cute pockets. So fun!

Plus, this double sided beauty is the perfect take along toy! It folds so nicely and secures with a sturdy magnetic snap. (Can I just say how much I love magnetic snaps?) 

In addition to choosing the letter on side (A) you also get to choose the background color! There are lots of colors to choose from so you can personalize this mat so it is perfect for the little miss in you life:

Or the sweet little man:

I've been perfecting this little mat over the last few months and I am so excited to have it up in my shop! Wahoo! You can find them in my shop here.

Oh.my.

So life got a little ahead of me and I've been running frantically trying to catch up. Well ok maybe not running, but I've at least been speed walking :)

I have so many things to post about still: Christmas presents and decor ('tis the season still, right?), but I'm really excited about something so those other things will just have to wait.

So you might remember the monster coloring totes I made for my boys. Well that post generated a bit of traffic via Pinterest (thank you everyone who pinned it!) so I decided to take the plunge and start an Etsy shop. This is something I've wanted to do for a while, but I needed an idea to get me started. It has been so fun (and a little nerve wracking) getting everything put together: sketching out new patterns, sewing, taking pictures. Whew! It's a lot of work, but I have had a blast doing it.

So go check it out!

Better Than Perfect Shop

I'm really excited to expand my shop. I have some ideas for new items and hope to put together some patterns for the monster bags. We'll see where it all goes!

Here's a little sneak peak of some of the bags I have in my shop currently!

Shaun the Sheep birthday shirts

Our twinners turn 2 next week. TWO! Having two two year olds brings some unique challenges, but I have to admit there are parts of this age that I absolutely love. Like the talking! I love hearing them talk and get excited about the world around them. Granted they don't talk a whole lot yet, but they say more every day. It's the best.

I also love all the personality that comes out at this age. While I could do without the tantrums and hysterics I love all the laughter and silliness. So much personality in two little bodies!

Well if there is one thing my boys agree on it has to be their favorite TV show...

Shaun the Sheep!

In honor of their greatest obsession I decided to make them Shaun the Sheep birthday shirts for their big day.



I must say I am very pleased with how they came out. I'm no applique expert so I was pretty much just winging it. A little felt here, some hand stitching there add in some machine stitching and a dash of polyfil and voila! I just used some plain t shirts I had on hand and definitely would've chosen a lighter color than navy blue for the second shirt if I'd been buying them.

His hair and eyes are stuffed with polyfil to give it some dimension. I just free hand drew the pattern pieces on paper whilst looking at a picture (is that a copy right infringement?). I was actually surprised with how cute they turned out. And I know my boys will like them because well they've already seen them (oops!). Though I felt extra good that they could totally tell who it was supposed to be!

My husband and I were looking at sheep cupcakes tonight online. I think we might try to  make  some! If we do I'll be sure to take pictures and post them even if they turn out disastrous  Especially if they turn out disastrous  We all need to laugh at ourselves now and again, right?

We did it!

Folks I am proud to report that we made our December 1st deadline for getting all our Christmas gift shopping/making done. It was quite the undertaking with all the handmade gifts I did this year, but oh so worth it. Already December has been more relaxed and we are just able to enjoy our time together as a family. There are of course still the wrapping of presents and all that fun, but the rest is done. It feels so good! I think we'll do this every year. Seriously.

And now I actually have time to blog about the stuff I've made! Yeah!

A little man's tool belt

This has truly turned into the year of the handmade Christmas! I was going through the list of things we have to put under our tree and a good portion of them are handmade. One of the few store bought items my boys are getting this Christmas is a tool bench with a tool set (yes they will be in heaven on Christmas morning). I thought it would be fun to make them each a tool belt to go along with their tools. But I didn't want to spend any money on it so I was relegated to using things I could find on hand. I mulled over some different ideas, but decided on this tutorial that repurposes old jeans into a kids tool belt (awesome right?!). Well after my fiasco with the car cozy  I made using an old pair of jeans I just couldn't bring myself to give denim another try (I'm a chicken I know). Instead I used some left over red upholstery weight fabric I had on hand (canvas maybe? I'm not sure) along with some coordinating cotton plaid scraps for the edges.


I'm generally please with how they turned out though they are still lacking a little something to me. If I had to do it over I would have used a contrasting thread on the pockets so you could see them better. Live and learn! 

I even managed to score the parachute buckles for free. I had an old backpack with all kinds of buckles and straps on it that was just gathering dust and headed for Goodwill. I also noticed that the Dollar Tree has dog collars with parachute buckles that would probably also be a great alternative. If I hadn't had something on hand I definitely would have gone that route.

 

I think I might go back after Christmas and add a little something more to these (a felt monogram with their first initial, some loops for hammers...I'm open to ideas). There is just something missing.

But I am determined not to do anything else to them before Christmas!

(I’m sharing this at the Dare to DIY party hosted by Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, Newly Woodwards, and Two Twenty One!)

My version of the adorable monster coloring tote

POST EDIT: If you are visiting from Pinterest, welcome! I'm excited to announce that I have opened an etsy shop to sell these cute bags. You can find my shop here.

On my list of things to make for my kiddos this year was some kind of crayon cozy. When I came across this adorable tutorial for a monster tote (seriously, check it out) I decided to take the plunge even though it wasn't what I had originally envisioned. Some where in my google searching I came across this blog as well and I sort of combined ideas from both of them to make these sweet things!

(forgive the less than stellar photography)





I am so happy with how they turned out. I was also impressed with how easily they came together (especially the second one!). I deviated a bit from the original tutorial (they are sized a little differently, I changed the bottom of the bag a bit, and used only felt etc.). Oh and instead of using nylon webbing for the handles  I just did a double layer of felt for each handle. Saved me a couple bucks and a trip to the fabric store. Winner in my book!



They are the perfect size for a coloring book and a few other toys/books. Love it!



(I’m sharing this at the Dare to DIY party hosted by Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, Newly Woodwards, and Two Twenty One!)

Portable Felt Car Mat/Car cozy

Friends, I have been hard at work this last week and I am ridiculously excited to share what I've been working on. Christmas is fast approaching and we are  trying something new this year. In an effort to enjoy the holiday season more we are determined to be entirely done with our Christmas shopping/gift making by December 1st. We've decided whatever isn't done by the 1st isn't going to happen. We might be a little crazy, but I'm excited to see how this grand experiment goes.

With a December 1st deadline it is major crunch time around here! Last week I hit the DIY Christmas projects hard spending pretty much every free moment making Christmas gifts for my boys. First on the list for them was a car cozy to house the matchbox cars we got them for Christmas.

This sweet little car cozy by Homemade by Jill seemed perfect and I actually made one a few weeks ago. 

{Click on the picture to go to her fabulous tutorial and generally fabulous blog}

Instead of doing a simple applique on the front I hot glued a whole street system with a few buildings on it which turned out cute! But I just wasn't thrilled with it. The denim+canvas made for a really bulky combination that for me, a very average seamstress, was hard to sew. I found myself not looking forward to making a second one (with twins we do everything by twos in this household) and it kept getting bumped to the bottom of my list.

So I decided to hit the internet up for some more inspiration and I came across this

{Click on the picture for a link to her etsy shop where you can buy the pattern or the mat itself}

I loved that it folded up and seemed so much less bulky! But I wanted a road system that was a little more fun/intricate. Armed with some new inspiration I set out to make my own version of the car cozy that would have everything I wanted. They are far from perfect, but I am so thrilled with how they turned out!

(Prepare yourself for picture overload)

Portable felt car mat #1

Side One: I decided to do a race track on one side along with the pockets that hold the cars.

 I wanted to spice it up a little bit so I put colored parking spaces in the middle of the race track. I figure it's good practice for the boys to work on their colors ("put a car on the green spot." etc) plus it added some visual interest (the white strip is velcro).

I did a simple stitch and added numbers to each pocket. Again, great practice/exposure to print and numbers.

Side 2: The street view! I was really excited about this part of the project, though it required me to learn some new stitching skills which I am clearly still working on perfecting. I wanted to include some places that we go regularly like the grocery store, library, and park. Well ok we don't go to the park regularly, but I know my kids would love it if we did. A long time ago I saw an adorable felt car mat that had a car wash like the one I included. I wish I knew where I saw it so I could give proper credit. I think the car wash might be one of my favorite parts of this mat!

{Clockwise: Grocery store, library, fire station, car wash, park, pond with tree, house.}

Car Mat #2

So because we have twin boys we do everything by twos. I was nervous as I started this project that I would be burned out by the time it came to start the second car mat. Thankfully I wasn't and  I think this one turned out even cuter than the first!

Side one: I did the same thing as the first mat, with different colors (the background color is light blue not the white it appears to be).

Side Two: I had a little more confidence in my skills as I started the second mat so I got a little more creative in some of the buildings I included and I love how it turned out!

{Clockwise: Gigi's cupcakes (the boys love this place!), house, townhouse, Lowe's (another favorite place), gas station and hospital}

My two favorite parts of this mat are the gas station with the shoe lace pump.

 And the Gigi's Cupcakes which just turned out adorable!

 

AND 

(are you ready for this???) 

I made the mats so the roads would intersect (more or less) when placed next to each other. So they combine to make a bigger car mat that the boys can share (wishful thinking?).  

{Car mat #2 on the left and #1 on the right}

{Car mat #1 on the left and #2 on the right}

I'll have to add a picture of how they fold up, but this is what they look like when they are folded up. They are secured with a velcro closure with the cars inside.

{Car mat #1 folded up, front}

{Car mat #1 folded up, back}

I am beyond thrilled with how these turned out and while I sewed everything on it would be really simple (and much faster) to make a mat using mostly hot glue.

I just hope my boys love them as much as I do!

(I’m sharing this at the Dare to DIY party hosted by Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, Newly Woodwards, and Two Twenty One!)