Clearly you haven’t received the memo that you are my favorite month because so far you have disguised yourself as your Summer buddies July, August and September.  I’m doing my best to give you the benefit of the doubt, but our weekly forecast is showing no break from the heat, and I am not a fan.  My spicy candles have been burning all day long, my boots are lined up, and my sweaters don’t think they are going to see the light of day anytime soon.  It’s been difficult to get into swing of this month’s festivities, but we are still doing Halloween in a big way over here in hopes that  FALL will finally come pay us a visit.  We decorated our house this weekend and hit up a (very empty) pumpkin patch in hopes of lifting our hot Halloween spirits….I think it did the trick!  What do you think?

How have you been celebrating the arrival of Fall?  Are your Halloween costumes all picked out?

Time for me to hit up Pinterest for some more Halloweenspiration….I’m covering every inch of this house in spiders, cobwebs and pumpkins and hiding in the A/C until Fall decides to show up!

Amidst all this chaos I have completely spaced that Nathan started Spring Break yesterday (I literally would have been at his empty school on Friday), and I have put zero effort into Easter.  Well ok, we dyed a few eggs and I have been on a Cadbury Mini Egg eating binge, but other than that I haven’t even thought about it.  I have no Easter decorations up, no festive wreath on the door, and I haven’t crafted a single thing in months.  I decided to make a bee-line to Michael’s yesterday without a plan for what I was going to make.  I sometimes think I work better when I don’t plan things out, so I just grabbed a bunch of random stuff that I thought I could turn into something with the kids and came up with this.

If you are feeling anything like me and want to get in some last minute Easter crafts with the kids, this was a really easy one that Nathan could basically do by himself with just a few items that needed my help.  I have tried the whole handprint or footprint thing so many times but I have decided that toddler boys do not have the patience for this (or at least mine don’t) and it always ends in a disaster when they take off running and still have paint all over their feet and hands.  Not into it!  Stick to this on…here’s what you’ll need:

1- Burlap canvas board.  You can pick whatever size you would like ours was 11″ x  14″.  You could also use a regular white canvas and have them paint the background a fun color as another option.
2- White pom-pom balls
3- 2 pieces of stiff felt- we used white and pink
4- Paint brushes & wine cork- for painting tools
5- An assortment of acrylic paints- make sure you have white
6- Wooden eggs/ovals- Michael’s should have these, flower shaped ones would be cute too.
7- Plastic wiggle eyes
8- Black plastic lanyard rope- pipe cleaners could work too, the rope was just on sale for like $.30 so I got that
9- Ribbon of your choice
10- Elmer’s glue
11- Piece of chalk

DIRECTIONS:  

It’s pretty self explanatory from the photos but I will share the parts Nathan did and the parts I helped him with.

- First I started by drawing an oval for the bunny body and a circle for the bunny head with chalk
– I squirted some white paint in the middle of them and let Nathan fill in the two shapes with a brush
– After it dried a little I put Elmer’s glue on a plate and had Nathan outline the shape he just painted with glue dipper pom-poms.  It’s better to have them do the outline first, and then it was easier for him to fill in the rest after.
– We put the eyes on together and I cut a little nose from the pink felt that he added glue to and put on.
–  For the whiskers I cut three long strands the lanyard rope and put them together and tied one knot right in the middle and trimmed them then glued them on.

-  I cut out two white ears from the felt, and then two pink parts for the ears as well.  I gave them to Nathan to glue and assemble and add to the top of his bunny’s head.
–  Nathan said he wanted to add a bow-tie and I thought that was a GREAT idea.  I cut one out of the ribbon and he glued it on and was quite happy with his idea :).
– While the bunny dries I put out the wood eggs and had Nathan paint them with his brush and then use the wine cork to add any dots he wanted to.  After those dried we glued them to the canvas.
–  If you want to hang your canvas I took ribbon and tied a double knot bow, then stapled the two long ends of the bow to the back of the board.

And that folks is all there is to it!!   He was proud of this one!

And Mama likes it too…

Chances are this will be my last post until next week with the way things have been as of late….soooo HAPPY EASTER and happy crafting to all of you!

Once I got home I realized I didn’t actually buy enough to make anything so it was time to gather some supplies I had around the house.  As I rummaged through my craft bins all I kept thinking of was Glitter Deer Head project I did for Christmas.  I had the gold glitter, the paint, and the canvas…ah ha, I would make another but for upstairs in our room.  I bought the wooden L.O.V.E letters with Valentine’s Day in mind so I thought this would be the perfect project for this month.  It could also be great for an anniversary gift, or just really any occasion….who doesn’t want some year round love?

Here is what you will need:

• A canvas (mine was 12″x 24″)
• Black gloss acrylic paint and a sponge brush
• Gold glitter
• A yard stick & pencil
• Blue painters tape
• Wooden letters
• Elmer’s glue & glue gun
• Clear enamel spray

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1- Using the sponge brush coat the wooden letters with Elmer’s glue and lay on a piece of newspaper.  Sprinkle gold glitter generously to cover each letter.  Shake the glitter off and lay the letters on another piece of newspaper.  Save the excess glitter.

2- Let the glitter set for a couple of minutes and then lightly spray with the clear coat enamel spray.  Leave the letters to dry while you prepare the canvas.

3- Take your canvas and yard stick to mark off the size of the lines you want.  I did 2″ thick lines.  Draw lightly with a pencil where each line is.

4- Using blue painters tape, mask off the lines that you want to keep white and keep open the ones you want black.  Make sure you really rub the tape down so it doesn’t bleed under the tape.  Make sure to run tape around and paint the sides as well.

5- Take a clean sponge brush and lightly paint the black gloss paint on the lines you want to be black.  Let it dry a little and then go in with a second coat.

6-  Once dry, remove the painters tape.

7-  Glue gun on your gold glitter letters.

Easy peasy right?  The deer head project was definitely more labor intensive….so this gave me the same look that I loved so much about the first one but was WAY easier.  This would also totally be fun with red glitter for Valentine’s Day.  I was also thinking of buying a wooden heart and doing that in red glitter and replacing  just the “O” with that.  Had I been thinking straight while at Michael’s I may have thought of that beforehand….next time!

And there you have it…a Valentine’s Day inspired project that is super simple and classy that can be displayed year round.  Definitely give this one a try!  Happy crafting!

]]> http://heylaurenrene.com/uncategorized/diy-glitter-love-canvas/feed/ 39 http://heylaurenrene.com/diy/diy-glitter-deer-head/ http://heylaurenrene.com/diy/diy-glitter-deer-head/#comments Tue, 03 Dec 2013 06:22:00 +0000 http://heylaurenrene.com/?p=1972 [...] ]]> So in typical holiday-obsessed fashion, I completely decked the halls all day Sunday.  It may have been 80 degrees outside but our house is twinkling, glittery, and smells like “Sparkling Snow” 24-7.  I love it!  I don’t really think I have any corners or wall space left for more Christmas DIYs, but I just had to find a spot for this one.  I’ve been wanting to make this glitter deer head canvas the first time I saw it on Pinterest.  I wanted to change it up just a little bit so I added some thick black stripes to the background.  I love how it turned out, and from a crafting difficultly level I would rank it a 6 out of 10.  Which basically means….TRY IT!  Here is a simple tutorial on what you will need and how I made mine.

SUPPLIES:

- First go ahead and print out THIS deer head template onto cardstock (scroll down two photos)

- Canvas (mine was 12″x 16″)

- Gold glitter

- Small bottle of black gloss acrylic paint

- Large and small paint brush

- Pencil

- Yardstick

- Liquid gold marker/pen **I’m convinced this made all the difference

- Blue painters tape

- Elmer’s glue

- Clear enamel spray or hair spray

Step 1:  I printed out the deer head then enlarged it by 20% on my printer/copier onto two sheets of cardstock.  Taped them together and cut out the silhouette (you can leave it an on an 8×10 if you want I just wanted mine a little larger)

Step 2: I marked off 2″ wide stripes on the canvas with a pencil and the yardstick (just divide evenly based on the size of your canvas)

Step 3:  Use blue painter’s tape to mask off the stripes you don’t want paint on.  Wrap the tape around the sides to the back so you can paint the edges too.  Once the blue tape is on, paint the black gloss paint on the alternating stripes.  Allow to dry.  Then remove the painter’s tape.

Step 4: Place the deer head cutout on top of the canvas and trace with a pencil.

Step 5: Once you have traced the whole template, remove and go over the pencil with the liquid gold marker.  This is a huge step a lot of the tutorials skipped, but I think it’s so important.  It’s hard to get clean edges with the glue so the gold marker will give you a perfect outline.

Step 6:  Use a combination of your large and small paint brush to fill in the outline generously with white glue.  The thicker you put the glue the more dimensional it looks.  Try to stay slightly within the gold outline so the edges stay crisp.

Step 7:  Dump on the glitter and let it set for about a minute.  When done shake off into a paper grocery bag (so you can pour the excess back into the container).  If there are any spotty areas you can touch them up with glue and glitter.  I also used a dry paintbrush and brushed away any glitter that fell outside the lines.  When done give a light coat of enamel spray or hairspray to keep the glitter in place.

I think by now you know I am a bit of a craftaholic.  Let me tell you…this is one of my favorite DIY projects I have ever done.  I just love how it turned out and keep moving it all over the house because I can’t get enough of it.  The only problem I am left with is which household items should I choose to cover in all that leftover gold glitter?  Lookout mason jars, I think I’m coming after you next!  Happy crafting!

 I love all things chalkboard so I plan on printing this, framing it to display, and using a dry erase marker on the glass to check each item off.  It will be nice to save this frame and use it every year to keep up with the same traditions.  I hope you enjoy it…cheers! xo

Click here to download PDF

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Well it’s happened.  I opened one small box of Halloween decorations, put out a pumpkin here and there…and you know what comes next right?  200 trips (ok 3) to Michael’s, crafting while the kids nap, blowing up my Pinterest Halloween folder full of ideas, and hanging up way too many spiders and cobwebs than I care to even count.  It’s that thing that happens when we get that little taste of cooler Fall weather…we snap and head right into Holiday crack out mode!  And maybe crafting isn’t your thing, but you know you started baking something, bought new warmer clothes, or looked up Halloween costumes already!  If not, that’s ok…it just means you aren’t crazy!

So here it is…the START of the Halloween happenings around our house!  I’m still stuck on what I’m going to do outside but I have until October 1st right?

Have you gotten into the spirit of spook yet in your house?

I understand this is pretty typical behavior for a 3.5 year old, but it drives me nuts how obsessive he is about.  It is literally what he  talks about ALL.DAY.LONG.  Since he doesn’t really understand the concept of time (Nathan, when it’s your birthday we can put this on your wishlist), I have really been struggling with explaining to him that he can’t have everything he wants.  Or if it is something that I think he deserves, I want him to know we are proud of him and that eventually he can be rewarded for his good behavior.

Then the desperation kicks in…and I lose sight of the difference between rewarding good behavior and bribing him.  He starts acting up, he fights me to get in his car seat, he won’t listen to me at the grocery store and I feel myself getting flustered….and then I blurt it out “Nathan, if you listen to Mommy we will go get you a Lego Police Station!!!!”….Nooooooooooooo, why in the world did I just say that?  Talk about being inconsistent and sending the wrong message to him.  I completely panic and say the first thing that I know will get his attention.  I don’t even realize I’m doing it, but then I will hear Greg do the same thing and THEN I realize just how wrong it sounds.

That is why this chart stood out to me.  In addition to the fun of the chart itself, you also earn “pom-pom points” along the way.  Once he has enough pom-poms to fill his jar THEN we can go get a special reward.  This doesn’t necessarily have to be a toy or a treat either if you aren’t into that, it could be a trip to the zoo, a movie date with Mommy, a baseball game with Daddy….whatever you think is great incentive that will keep your child interested.

Also, the “5 Minutes” and “10 Minutes” can be changed to other words if time-outs aren’t your thing or don’t work for your child.  We call them “taking breaks”.  They aren’t forceful or meant to make him upset, he just gets to spend some quiet time in his room to catch his breath and calm down.

I’m pretty optimistic that this chart is going to be very helpful in our household.  It will keep me and Greg on the same page, it should hopefully keep Nathan interested, and I love the visual nature of SEEING the cause and effect of your actions.  The pom-poms in the jar also give him a sense of time which really helps us avoid saying “someday”, “when you get bigger”, “maybe for your birthday” etc etc.

He was AWESOME with it today.  Asking if he could help me make dinner, if there was anything Shane needed, if I wanted to see him eat all his food….and the real kicker, he went right upstairs and asked to take a nap so “the lizard could climb up the chart”.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!  I will keep you posted on the progress we make with it.

If you wanted detailed instructions on how to make one you can find them here.

I made ours on foam core board instead of poster board like the above blogger used.  I also didn’t make ours hanging, I liked having the firmer board so I can move it around to different rooms if I needed to.  We will probably adjust the “rules” a little bit to cater to our household, but the ones in the link are great and you can just print those out and keep with your chart.

I found the large clothespin at the $1 checkout line at Michael’s, and glued on the little wooden lizard that I also found at Michael’s.  You could use anything on your clip.  And if you have more than one child they can each get their own unique clip and use the same board.  So far the lizard worked out great because Nathan loves thinking that it’s climbing up and down the wall for him.

There seem to be a million and one ideas and opinions on how to raise a well-behaved child.  What works for one may or may not work for another.  I know my sister and I came from completely different molds, so I’m sure my parents just had to adjust what they did along the way and roll with the punches.  I know consistency is key, but I also think trial and error comes into play quite often too.  So….we are going to give this one a try.  It’s in line with what we have been doing but it’s a much more organized version of it.  I’m actually hoping it helps keep my behavior in check just as much as it does Nathan’s.  I’ll make sure to update how it goes!  Wish us luck!

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU ARE MIMA OR NANA STOP READING NOW  

Yesterday the boys and I worked on part of the gifts we are going to send out for Mother’s Day in a few weeks.  My mom and Greg’s mom live across the country from us so we know they love anything tangible that is a reminder of the boys.  What’s better than seeing their little hand prints on something they made and knowing they can carry them around anywhere they go?

These totes are great on their own, or you can use them as a gift bag and fill with other goodies for Mother’s Day….photobooks, a frame, gardening tools, candles, jewelry, bath and body products, baked goods etc.  Here are some simple instructions for how we made ours.

What you’ll need:

-Canvas tote (Micheal’s had a huge selection ranging from $2-$10 based on size & quality-these are just the $2 ones)

-Fabric paint (green for grass/stems, black for the writing, and whatever colors you would like for hand print flowers)

-Paint brushes

-Pencil (to sketch out placement of writing)

-Paper grocery bag or cardboard

I used a paper grocery bag and slipped it right into the canvas bag.  It fit inside the tote perfectly so the paint wouldn’t seep through to the other side of the bag.  Next place the bag on a hard surface and paint on the grass and where you want the flower stems.  I did two flowers so there was one for each boys’ hands.  If your child is old enough they can definitely help with painting this part.

Once the green paint dries it’s time to have your children come help with their hand prints.  Nathan liked squirting out the paint on a paper plate and rubbing his hands all around in it.  This didn’t work for Shane (complete mess), so I suggest just applying paint directly on your child’s hand if they are younger.  Wait for their hand prints to dry then go back in and touch up the leaves & stems if you need to.

After the flower hand prints dry you can add any writing you would like.  I went in with a pencil and sketched in where I wanted the lettering to go, then went over it with black paint.  Let the paint dry completely and then remove the paper bag.  Fill with their favorite things or give it to them as is.  Hope you give it a try….Happy crafting friends!

Nana flew in to town last week, and has been here helping me with the boys while Greg has been gone for business.  They have been having so much fun with her…riding bikes, playing ball in the back yard, going for walks and just enjoying time together.  My grandparents were such a huge part of my childhood, and it’s crazy to sit back and watch my own children doing things I remember doing when I was their age.

My Grandma Mary and Grandpa Pete loved gardening.   I remember my Grandpa outside watering their garden, while my sister and I would help our Grandma pick vegetables.  We would love collecting cucumbers because our Grandma would slice them up and pickle them in mason jars for us.  We were so impatient we would only let them soak a few hours and open up a jar and eat them all that same day (drinking her homemade pickling juice too of course).

When Nana suggested earlier in the week that we plant some flowers, herbs and vegetables in our backyard it sounded like the perfect way to kick off the Spring, and I knew the boys would love helping her.  We don’t have that much space in our yard, so we had to get a little creative on what kind of items we could plant and where we could put them.  We ended up getting a large terracotta strawberry pot to plant herbs in.  We planted basil, cilantro, spearmint, parsley and topped off the pot with three strawberry plants.   We also bought a tomato plant that we need to still find a spot for, and Id love to find space for a citrus or avocado tree too.  This house has a built-in sprinkler system and great sunlight throughout the day, so I’m thinking our new plants stand a chance despite my lack of a green thumb.

The boys loved helping their Nana…Nathan enjoyed digging with his shovel, putting in the plants and using “his” new watering can.  Shane liked getting his hands messy and eating the dirt as you can see from the first photo.  It said it’s organic soil, that means it’s good for him right?

Daddy comes home today and we can’t wait to show him our little project from yesterday.  He’s going to love the homemade salsa we can make from our tomatoes and cilantro, and you know where that mint is going….mojitos!  It sounds like Summer is right around the corner, but for now we love the way our Spring has started!  Happy weekend everyone!

I made this easy, fairly healthy, and festive rainbow fruit platter!  Within minutes it was attacked by all the kids, and I was happy to see they went for the fruit before the “clouds” and “gold”.

I used strawberries, Cuties, pineapple, kiwi and blackberries.  You could definitely use cantaloupe, honeydew, green or purple grapes, blueberries, and mango as well.  The marshmallows were clouds but whip cream could also be fun, and I used Rolos as the pot of gold!

I hope you all have a lucky and SAFE St. Patty’s Day weekend!