Cowboy Crayons

So our ward is getting ready for our Super Saturday and I was tasked with putting together some of the crafts. Today I finished my first project. Take a look.

They are too cute. And your little boy will love to find them in his stocking on Christmas morning...and you will love how cheap they are to make! :-)


A box of Crayons (maybe a $1)
Sticks from your back yard (free)
One cute husband to drill holes in the center (A few kisses and hugs will do! ;-)



Are these SO cute. I can't take all of the credit. (They weren't my idea.) I just got the pleasure of putting them together! :-) Well...Tim did most of the work actually. lol But, he's been kind enough to let me take most of the credit! ;-)



I'm sure most of these like all crayons will be lost by the time Christmas morning is over but the idea is a lot of fun. And I'm sure some little boys will LOVE them.

Happy Crafting!

Courtney

Toddler Blocks

This is WAY late. But the beginning of June I came across this shop on Etsy. Really cute shabby chic toys and decor for your little one. And I'd been wanting blocks for Allie to play with so she could stack them and of course throw them around a little...ya, NOT! LOL That's probably the only bad thing about them. Giving her the ability to throw in 2" blocks everywhere. And then of course trip over them when you've got a arm full of laundry! ;-)

Unfortunetly, I wasn't really happy with the seller. It took me alomst a month to get my order. :( I wrote her about 2 weeks after i put my order in and she hadn't even shipped them yet but didn't let me or any of the other buyers she had she was very overwhelmed and couldn't pay attention to her shop. So another 2 weeks later I finally got my order. BUT, I really like the blocks and the fact that it came in a cute little kit so I'm not really complaining to much. The wait just stunk. ;-)

Anywho, I thought I would do a little tutorial on how I did them. Because they were SO easy! And you can probably get everything you would need at Micheals or a local craft store.

Here's what you need:

- 2" Raw wooden blocks. (I got 12)

- 72 images to make your set.

(You can use anything from family pictures, to the letters of the alphabet)

- Glaze and Varnish

- A sponge brush to apply the Glaze and the varnish

- A file to sand the edges

Now, before you get stared lay out all of your images. And put together what you want on each block. I messed up and just started putting what I wanted on the blocks and so i have like 3 blocks that just have numbers on them instead of a mix of numbers, letters and pictures.


Then take just a little drop of some of your glaze and brush it onto your block. Then place the image you want onto the surface. Rub until all of the bubbles are gone. And repeat on all 6 sides. Let the blocks sit for a good 30 minutes before you continue.



Once you're done with that set your blocks should look like this:

Now from here you can just leave the paper the way it is and add the varnish onto it a couple of times. Wait a good 15 mintues in between each layer of it and then you would be done. Or you can follow these next directions:

Take a regular nail file and file the edges of the paper away. I liked mine file off a lot but you can do it just a little bit too. File each 6 sides and repeat on the other blocks.

Once you're done this is how your block should look. I even filed a little on top of the picture to "age" it even more. Wipe excess dust off with a dry rag and clean your work area a little.

Okay, ya with me so far? ;-)

So the last big step! You'll take the Varnish and add just a little drop again, (I would wrinse the brush out you used with the glaze first) and apply to all sides. Let sit for a good 30 minutes between applications. I applied the varnish 3 times just to make sure the paper was good and covered...

And here's your final product!

Aren't they so adorable? Well, I love them. And we've used them a lot since I put them together. This was a really fast project. Once I had everything it just took me the day. And I mean "day" by: put the varnish on, wait 30 minutes, do a load of laundry, then come back and do it again "day".

Happy Craft Day!

Courtney

Finger Puppet Fun

So I've been a little bored since we've been in Spokane. You'd think I'd be used to all the waiting! ;-) And since Allie now is VERY busy in church these days I've been trying to find an activity for her that would keep her entertained for a good portion of sacrament.
Well, I came across these finger puppet patterns on: http://www.theidearoom.net/ I love love love her blog. Always something new to do and it's never really that hard. Anywho. I bought her patterns and I've been one busy bee since then.

I bought the patterns for $3.00 that included 18 puppets and a little over $3.00 on the felt. Way cheap! And I had to run out and buy a hot glue gun, glue, a marker, eyes and sissors since mine are all still in storage. :( But I think I spent about $10.00ish dollars for just aboput everything. And if I had waited until I had all of my stuff I probably would have only spent about $8.00 So, I'm finally all done with all 18 of them and i even came up with a Bee. He's really cute. Until you look at his mouth! LOL

The Elephant's my favorite. To cute!

And my top 5 Favorites are the Cow, Horse, Lion, Elephant, and the Frog.

And most importantly, Allie LOVES them! And man am I glad! Cutting all of those little tiny peices out sure was time consuming!! I was originally planning on making a couple of sets for some other toddlers that I know but after sitting down and making a set I've realized it's just tooo crazy to think I could make even another set! LOL

But it sure was a lot of fun. And I'm really happy with them! can't wait for my DIY Block Kit comes that I ordered from Etsy! :-)

Courtney

Allie's Rag Quilt

Okay, so I never make anything for Allie. I guess everything's "inspired" because of her but I never sit down and actually make anything for her. Crazy, I know right! LOL : ) So the other day, I stopped at Hobby Lobby and came across this fabric and fell in love with it and thought it was so Allie. Anywho, So far I've made her her own cute rag quilt.

I love it and so does she. (I'm so thrilled that she is! hehe) It wasn't even that hard. And it only took me two days!
(with interruptions of a one year old and the daily grin of a stay at home mom.)

Here's Allie helping me take pictures of the blanket and roll around on it (with her left over pizza face from dinner) for me so it's perfect! ; )


I also cut out an "A" and stuck it on a corner for her name. Love it. To cute! : )



I used a cream Chenille as the backing. Super soft and snuggly. But I wouldn't recommend using it. Nor will I use it again probably. Since it kinda sheds. (LOL) It wasn't hard to sew, it was just everywhere while I was sewing it all together. And you normally cut the end of the fabric to make it look "raggy-like" but since it was everywhere already I just left it and called it good.

I also had plenty of scraps to put together her own diaper organizer. I hadn't made her one of the bags in my new design. So I thought with the left overs I would make her a matching one. And I love it. It's one of my favorites I've put together so far. (I love having a little girl...so much fun!)


I have more to come with this fabric. I'm currently working on a cute layered skirt. I've never made a skirt before so we'll see how goes it! hehe : )

Happy Friday!

Courtney

P.S. Here's Rag Quilt Instructions if you wanna give it a try! It's lots of fun!!