Crafts – ally-cat

Pinjects

We did a few crafts this rainy Saturday afternoon. I really love doing crafts with the kids…just usually they don’t listen and don’t wait and then get upset when their stuff is messed up. The kids were really well behaved today and I didn’t lose patience with them (barely at all). If crafts keep going this well, I might start doing them more often.

Project 1, painted circles:

And here are their versions:

Pinjects

Project 2, Father’s Day cards:

This was Lucas and Arianna’s idea. Arianna wanted to paint handprints, Lucas suggested making cards for Daddy, and then I found the saying on Pinterest. Lucas got out the cardstock (I folded) and then he and Arianna painted each other’s hands and made the cards. It was almost an entirely self-done project. Big kids rock!

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Project 3, Rainbow Slime:

This stuff was awesome. Easy to make and so squishy. I had the supplies on hand from back whenever I first pinned these projects.

Blog, Crafts, Kids

Pinductivity

I’ve been on a productivity kick this week. Cleaning (and keeping clean), organizing, and following through on Pinterest pins.

I made a This Week folder and moved ten pins that I wanted to accomplish this week.

I tried making a magnet holder for my fridge using some magnets I had in my craft supplies and a drawer organizer I bought for .50 at the dollar store. The magnets weren’t strong enough to hold it (is there a way to measure a magnet’s strength?) so that was a bust.

I organized 2.5 drawers from the scrapbook room that were full of old cards (ok so really I should throw them away but I’m not there yet) and misc stuff. I made folder pockets and sorted them by year. I also got binders and sorted through all the kids’ papers I’ve kept to make binder scrapbooks.
Memory Binders

On a shopping trip to Target I impulse purchased two Frozen tote bags from the $1 spot. I have zero need for these tote bags as I already have tons, but they were Frozen and Only $1. So I had an idea to turn them into storage tote bins instead. I cut a cardboard sheet from a shipping box to fit into the bottom. Then I cut little strips and stapled them to the top rim to hold the, open. I might come up with a better solution than the staples for long-term, (I have some cute brads perhaps) but the staples worked for a quick and easy.

Did you know you are supposed to wash your washing machine? Never occurred to me until I came across a How To pin on Pinterest. Our machine is around 30 years old and probably was never washed in all that time. It had nasty soap scum gunked up everywhere, but it was one of those things you don’t really notice or think about. I was really impressed with how much nicer it looked and how easy it was to scrub off the gunk with a toothbrush once I’d gotten the hot bleach soaking.
How to Clean the Washing Machine

Crafts, Kids

Crafty Kids

OMG Lucas is SO AWESOMELY ADORABLE.

So I started working on a Pinterest project to make pencil boxes. Lucas wanted to make a project of his own. He got paper and told me he was making the design for his project. Then he showed me a rectangle on the piece of paper and asked for a box that size.

Then he asked me for a glue stick to glue the bottom together, but I one upped him by using hot glue to hold it together. Then he wanted to cover the box in paper (kinda like what I was planning to do…cover my boxes with scrapbook paper), but he wanted white paper so he could “draw my favorite things on the box.”

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We worked together taping white paper around the snack box and he even said “sorry for taking your time from your project to help me with my project.” I told him I didn’t mind because that was what mommies do. He then asked me about my favorite things and also drew a picture of our family.

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Then when he was done he surprised me by saying he made the box for all our DVDs that are all over our mantle to clean them up and be organized. I was thrilled because not only did he make something for me, he did it pretty much entirely on his own, his own ideas on how to do it, and even had a purpose in mind for it that legit helped me organize something.

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Arianna of course wanted in on the action as well. Here is the box she decorated.

2014-10-19 box making (10)

Blog, Crafts, Kids

My First Tie Dye

I know, I’m 33 and I actually have never tie dyed. It’s like one of those super common kid activities that I somehow never got to do. Not that I really cared.

So at school they are doing color days and each week the whole school wears a certain color. This was fine the first week when we did red, blue, green. But this second week we have days for pink and purple. Unsurprisingly, Lucas (and Landon) do not own anything pink or purple. At first I was going to check the consignment sales for cheap pink and purple shirts. But then I had the idea to make a tie dyed pink and purple shirt and he could wear it for both days.

I saw some cool examples that included a lot of black, which helps make having a pink and purple shirt look more boyish, and today we made some shirts.

The first one Lucas made was a black to purple to pink ombre. This isn’t really tie dye, just dying. You lay the shirt flat and brush the colors downward. I’m pretty pleased with the result, especially with it being my first go. Only issue was that when it was hung upright, the purple started bleeding down into the pink, so the pink section ended up being pretty small. I should have left it flat. Pink day isn’t until Friday, so after he wears it doe purple Monday, I’ll dump some more pink dye at the bottom to try to brighten the pink section. After I let it set for about 6 hours, I noticed that the colors bled out more for a nice smooth, even look – you can’t see the brush strokes anymore. The black bled to a greenish color, so now it is black-green-purple-pink. After i washed and dried it, I noticed a lot of color leached from this one. I think this is a combination of the smoother fabric of this shirt as well as that the colors were watercolored on rather than soaked in the dye.

The second one was done in like two minutes time because a storm was quickly approaching and I was just trying to get it done. It involved rolling the shirt top to bottom around a tube, scrunching it inward a little, and then dousing it with dye in different sections. I kept this one in a ziploc bag, and a few drops of purple got elsewhere on the shirt, but it came out okay for the most part. It seems the coarser cotton fabric of this one held the dye better than the soft blend of the first shirt. Just wish I’d had more time with this one.

All in all I’m pleased with my first attempt. When I have more time I’d like to actually try to make designs instead of just three solid sections of color.

Crafts

Little Helping Hands

The kitchen wall behind where my kids sit is disgusting. There is splattered food, play-doh, crayon drawings, and who knows what else graffitiing the wall. It is a half-wall topped by a high-top counter (aka misc junk collector) which luckily shadows the mess a bit.

In a rare occurrence of craft project follow through, I’m painting the high-top counter’s wall with chalkboard paint. I got a pint from Lowes and had them color it white. All the colors it comes in were bright or dark and not what I wanted for this project, so they made it bright white and we will see how it works out.

I painted the first coat, set the lid on top of the paint can, and carried the paint brush to the sink for wrapping. My sweet, helpful little girl took the initiative to bring me the paint can as well. *Luckily* it did not spill everywhere despite the lid just balancing on top of the can and not pushed down at all. Unfortunately, the paint around the rim got all over her shirt and it is now ruined. I instantly pulled it off and took it to the sink for washing, but no amount of soap (I also tried vinegar) is getting it all out. Every time they ruin a piece of clothing I immediately think, “Darnit, now I can’t resell this.”

Lucas: Mommy, is anyone coming over today?

Me: No

Lucas: Then why are we cleaning up?

Waiting for the paint to dry, I’m in an accomplished mood. Luckily for Paul, he is gone all day at a Bando seminar. I decided to tackle another project. Our doorbell has been busted for awhile now, and I picked out a lovely pewter colored scrolly looking one to replace the tacky yellowed plastic one the builders used. Having zero electrical experience of even the smallest kind, I decided to replace the doorbell myself. I did manage to get the old one off, but ran into an issue of the new one needing a large hole drilled for it. But that’s okay, I have the interwebs! Oh, I guess it is a good thing I just looked it up instead of just going ahead and doing it, because “Always always, always check for any electricity cables running through the wall before you start drilling. Catching a live cable when drilling is potentially fatal so it’s worth taking the extra time to check.” ….Probably not an issue with the doorbell, but I think I’ll leave this project for Paul to finish and stick to crafts.

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