Warren’s Masterpiece

Warren's Masterpiece

I love watching little kids as they create.

At almost two, Warren doesn’t always get to use markers.

He just quietly worked on his Masterpiece for at least 10 minutes or more.

Just happy creating.

I wish I had that freedom.  (my head gets in the way)

My Masterpiece

For Warren’s frame I decorated a clear flat acrylic frame from Deflecto Craft Solutions by adding a

couple strips of Washi Tape along with some Lime Green Iron-on Letters from Joy SA Inc.

I glued the letters onto the frame (since I couldn’t iron them) and added a couple magnet strips

to the back.

My Masterpiece 9759

Warren was so proud of his Masterpiece. 

 

*This project was created for Joy SA Inc. and sponsored by Joy SA Inc. and Deflecto Craft Solutions.

I ain’t afraid of no Ghost…

Ghostbusters 0731

My daughter in law brought the boys over today to show me their Halloween costumes…

(and a little early Trick or Treating.)

I just had to share the pictures with you.

She made Warren’s “Stay Puft” costume and even crocheted his hat.

Ghostbuster Nick 0729

Who you going to call?  Ghostbusters!

Warren 727

Isn’t he just the cutest Stay Puft Marshmallow guy?

Nick 0728 Warren 741

Have a Safe and Happy Halloween.

Candy Corn Halloween Treat Bags

Personalized Halloween Bags 9602

Give the kids an extra special treat this year with their very own personalized Trick or Treat Bag.

Halloween Greeting in black iron-on letters and their names on the back using orange

iron-on letters from Joy.

No more fighting over whose bag is whose.

These cute Candy Corn Bags came from Canvas Corps Brands.

Just iron on your Joy letters to each bag and send the kids out there to fill ’em up!

back of bags 9623

 

Making a Playhouse Banner with oly*fun

Making a Playhouse Banner with Oly Fun 9634My grandson Nicholas is celebrating his 5th birthday in just a few days.  (but who’s counting?)

He’s having two parties this Saturday.  One for the kids and the other for family.

Such a lucky little guy.  (Born on his Daddy’s birthday.)

Since the family party is at his house, I had an idea to make a bright colorful banner to decorate

the new playhouse.

I had recently received a selection of oly*fun to work with and thought it would be perfect to use.

It was super easy to put together.

Playhouse 9651

What exactly IS oly*fun? 

oly*fun is a specially engineered material that features some of the best things about fabrics AND

papers.  Easy to cut or die-cut and it will not fray.  It is great for outdoors

Supplies 9625

 Here’s what I used:

Supplies 9631

Directions:

  1. Stencil the check pattern using the black acrylic paint on the orange oly*fun.
  2. Create a banner pattern on cardstock.
  3. Cut out the banner pattern and trace onto the stenciled oly*fun.
  4. Trace and cut several banners out of the black and green oly*fun.
  5. Cut strips and circles to decorate the banners.  Glue onto banner with Fabri Tac Glue.
  6. Fold top of the banner and staple onto the piece of twine.
  7. Tie the banner onto the top of the playhouse and watch the kids play.

Playhouse 9644

A Special Thanks to Fairfield World for generously providing the oly*fun for this project.

 

Ready for the first day of Pre-School

First Day of Preschool

Because starting Pre-School is a really Big Deal…

I wanted to make my Grandson Nick a special shirt to wear on the first day.

At first, I had all kinds of silly and corny ideas…

in the end I thought maybe I should make one he’d actually wear more than once.

Thanks to some Pinterest Inspiration.

I came up with “Class of 2029”.   Sounds kind of futuristic doesn’t it?

Nick’s mommy liked it so much she wanted me to make one for his little brother.

Warren 9366

Class of 2032.  (Oh my!)

The boys’ shirts were made using iron-on embroidered letters from Joy SA.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 8205

Have you read the story of the little caterpillar that ate and ate and ate?

And then turned into a beautiful butterfly?  (spoiler alert)

the hungry caterpillar

My project was based off the book The Very Hungry Caterpillarby Eric Carle.

the very hungry caterpillar 08216

Here’s what you’ll need to make the Caterpillar:

  • Six- 2″ Smoothfoam Balls
  • Sanding Block or Very Fine Sanding Paper
  • Deco Art Americana Acrylic Paint:  Olive Green, Sea Aqua, Watermelon Slice, Marigold, Brown
  • Paint Brushes
  • Bamboo Skewers
  • White Craft Glue
  • Craft Knife
  • Mod Podge

Directions:

  1. Lightly Sand the ridge around the middle of the Smoothfoam ball.
  2. To help the caterpillar sit and not roll.  Cut a slightly flat side in two of the balls.  Use them as your first and last green balls.
  3. Paint five balls with Olive Green and Sea Aqua acrylic paint.  For added dimension, stipple or sponge the opposite color on the balls.
  4. Paint the last ball with the Watermelon Slice acrylic paint.  Add a cute little face.
  5. Cut a bamboo skewer into 1″ pieces.  Connect the balls together using the skewers and white craft glue.
  6. Cut the tip off of two skewers and paint brown.  Insert into the top of the caterpillar’s head.
  7. Paint a coat of mod podge to seal the paint and give a shiny finish.

Disclaimer:  This project was created for and sponsored by Smoothfoam.

Tie Dying for the 4th of July

This may be the last Tie Dye Post from me.  (or not?)

On Father’s Day we tie dyed shirts with the kids.  It turned out to be a really great group activity.

Because we had to let the shirts set, rinse and then be washed….

I was not able to get pictures of all the kids and their shirts.  (you know…the big kids)

Last Wednesday my sister brought my niece over for a play date with my grandsons and

I was able to get a few cute ones.

You may be wondering why only one kid got the last red white and blue popsicle.

Well…. the really cute and innocent looking littlest one had just recently taken a good hard

bite on the tip of his big brothers nose.  “Ouch!”

It didn’t take long before he forgave his little brother and was sharing his popsicle.

Little brother wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Isn’t she adorable?

On her shirt, the dye was painted directly onto the shirt with a paintbrush.

 

DIY No Sew Pillows to Dye for…

A Pillow to Dye For

Recently, I participated with a group of Designers in a Manufacturer Challenge sponsored by

Fairfield World the makers of Pillow Forms, Batting, Poly-fil®… and a whole lot more.

After a little good natured trash talking between the designers, the challenge was dubbed the

“Pillow Fight” and with that it was game on.

Not being much of a seamstress I knew I had to take it in another direction.

Hopefully, what I lack in sewing skills I’m making up for in quantity and possibly inspiration

for other non-sowers like me.

If you happened to see my post, “Tie-Dying with Nick” then you’ll know I’m on a little bit

of a tie-dying kick.  (why stop now?   oh… and make sure to check out the bonus project at the end.)

Nick's Tie Dye Pillow 6430Warren's Pillow

Here are a couple of pillows I made for my grandsons using a one-step tie-dye kit

and the Ombre Technique.  (see instructions below)

It was such a fun and easy project that I let my grandson in on the fun.

Thanks to canvas pillow squares and pillow forms there is no sewing involved.

(The red pillow above also uses the ombre Technique only with one color of dye.)

Iron-On embroidered letters allowed me to easily personalize the pillows for the boys.

Nick and the Ombre Technique

For my No Sew Pillows I used:                                                                  (*amazon affiliate links)

These are the instructions included with the Tulip dye kit.

  1. Apply dye.
  2. Dip brush into dye and apply.
  3. Dip brush into water and apply.
  4. Cover dyed fabric with plastic wrap to keep damp.
  5. Let set for 6-8 hours or longer for intense colors.
  6. Rinse well with water until excess dye is removed.
  7. Fill washer to “large load” setting with hottest water suitable for fabric and a small amount of laundry soap.  Wash and dry separately.  Wash separately for the first few washes.

Directions for Stenciling:

The pattern on the Red Pillow was made using the 12″ Doily Stencil*.

  1. Lay protective paper layer inside the canvas pillow square before stenciling.
  2. Center and tape stencil onto pillow with removable painter’s tape so that the stencil won’t move.
  3. Stenciling is a “dry” brush technique. Using a stencil brush, dip just the tip of your brush into the paint. Tap off excess paint before applying to prevent the paint from seeping under the edges of the stencil.
  4. Apply paint with stencil brush in a straight up and down motion called stippling.
  5. Stuff pillow with pillow form or Poly-fil®.

And for an added bonus… Tie Dyed Socks!!!  (Someone stop me)

Tie Dyed Socks

This project was sponsored by Fairfield World, Canvas Corp Brand, Tulip Brand and DecoArt.

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Tie-Dying With Nick

Tie Dying with Nick

CUTE KID ALERT:  I love working on crafts with Nicholas and his Mommy.

Last Sunday, we decided to Tie Dye t-shirts.

It all started because of a Tulip One-Step Mini Tie-Dye Kit-Neon* (affiliate link) I received

free last February after a CHA Fave Crafts Designer Event from Tulip and I Love to Create.

I had been meaning to use it, but, hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

Using the squeeze bottles made it so much easier and less messy than the old way of tie-dying.

We had so much fun with this project that Bonnie (Nick’s Mommy) went out and bought a

larger kit the next day.  This past Sunday, when everyone came over for Father’s Day,

we tie-dyed Red White and Blue t-shirts and socks with the kids.

Just saying “a little addicting”.

Choosing the design

The kit came with a large full color sheet of designs, techniques and instructions.

For the boys shirts we did the “swirl” technique.

Nicholas and Warren Fronts and Backs

For Bonnie’s shirts we did the “crumple” and “ombre” techniques.  (no pictures, darn)

Nicholas and Warren 2

It doesn’t get much cuter than this!

I used this picture in a frame for their Daddy’s Father’s Day gift.

Many Faces of Nick Collage

This post would not be complete without including the “Many Faces of Nick“.

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The Cooker Guy

Another fun kid friendly project with one of my favorite helpers.  The Cooker Guy!

Kids love helping in the kitchen and this guy’s no exception.  Whenever he catches me

working on something in the kitchen, a scooting chair is soon to follow.

The Cooker Guy

I’ve been told several times, “Grandma you need a kid apron for me.”

So… I decided we should make a special one just for him.

Misting the Apron

I purchased a small apron from Canvas Corp Brands.

They call it a Toddler Apron, but it’s plenty big enough for this 4 year old.

Stenciled and sprayed

We misted and sprayed the apron with various colors of Glimmer Mists from Tattered Angels.

We also used a couple of stencils to create designs on the apron.

Personally, I think it looks more like a Art Apron than a Chef Apron.

But really?  Who’s to say?  He’s happy and that’s all that matters.

Custom Letters

To make this apron special I used these really nice iron-on embroidered letters I received from

I used the Funky Style Hobo Font in white.

I like getting the letters in white so that I can customize them any color I want.

Make sure to check out their Creating with Joy Blog.  www.creatingwithjoy.blogspot.com

I asked Nick what he wanted his apron to say and he choose the words “Cooker Guy.”

Cooker Guy Collage

Here’s my happy “Cooker Guy”, doing what does best.  Helping out.

“This is a sponsored post.  As a member of the Joy® Design Team I have been provided product and compensation in exchange for my creative ideas.  The views and opinions are my own.

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*Disclosure:  This blog uses ads and affiliate links.  If you choose to make a purchase using one of the links, I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) that helps offset the costs of maintaining this blog.  Thanks for your support!