a batman party

Our Asher-boy has turned three years old!  And to sum up his personality these days - superhero -.  He has fully embraced it all, and loves to run and punch and throw and jump and fly like all of them!  His favorites are the Avengers and Batman.  

For his birthday, he chose Batman, and I think it all came together nicely!  I am not a huge fan of character parties, but I think I did a good job of a Batman theme that made our boy happy, and didn't go over the top.  Some details include the big '3' gold balloon, batman balloon, big black papered drawing of Gotham City, party favor bags (tag made by me) and his cake.  

Asher caught me looking up Batman cakes on Pinterest, and he got very excited about all the very well done fondant cakes.  I was nervous his hopes were too high!  Luckily what I cam up with, he liked!  Phew!

We had lots (and lots!) of friends in our house, to celebrate Asher, and it made me happy that we were able to do that.  I still feel so lucky and blessed that we have made friends here, (been here over 3 years) ... I remember when we moved to Aberdeen, I thought there was no way we could become connected and have friends!  That is probably silly sounding, but for an emotional, homesick, pregnant (with Asher) girl I was, it was a very real feeling!  

Happy Birthday Asher boy!!

spring brings new projects

Since Logan has been born, (7 months ago!) I have been taking it easy with everything.  (And rightfully so!)  That includes house duties, and creative projects.  Now that Logan is napping for longer periods, if I don't fall asleep on the couch, I have some time to work on some projects on my make list, between loads of laundry and dishes.  (Will my laundry basket ever be empty?!  It seems to never all be done.)  

*I made the big boys some new bowties for Easter, out of my Liberty fabric I had been saving, in case I have a girl.  (wah, wah....)  I figure that's not going to happen, so I put it to good use, and I think this green color is perfect for this Sunday!  I used Jessica's tutorial,  here.  

*I added Logan's profile silhouette to our entrance wall.  To think when I bought all three of these frames, (IKEA) I only had Noah.  I knew one day I would use them all together for our children!  Noah was 2.5 in his, Asher maybe 8 months, Logan, just shy of 7 months.  They will all be updated again one day, but I just love Asher and Logan's messy hair!

   The easiest way to make a profile silhouette is to take a profile photo, print it out from the computer the size you want, trace the profile with a pencil (makes it easier to follow a line when cutting), then, while on top of the paper you want to be the silhouette, cut out the profile photo.  Done!

*I've had this white bud vase for years, and it had found its way into our storage cabinet, for things we don't really use, but maybe will need in the future.  I have seen a vase with this color combo, and although it is very valentines-y, I love it.  Pale pink on top, 'ketchup' red on the bottom, with flecks of brown paint spattered on it with a tooth brush.  Now it sits on my dresser, and makes me happy when I see it!

I've got more projects I want to work on, including a big one I've been putting off for years, a quilt!  I started an inspiration board for it.  I am giving myself till the end of the year to at least start it.

H A P P Y   C R A F T I N G !

child calendar station

Noah is a sponge these days, soaking up knowledge in subjects at school and life skills.  He has always been an organizer.  A rule follower (mostly).  Since before he was two.  It started with organizing his cars carefully on our couch, and now he shows these qualities in organizing groceries, his bedroom, playroom, and even in his leaf and rock collections outside.  He loves lists, writing, and is starting to get the creative bug.  With these qualities, I knew he would love a weather station print out, that I found on Pinterest.  While planning to make that for him, I made him a calendar station too, where he could see the full calendar month, and also be able to switch the date each day.  I loved this weather station so much, I wanted to make something that complimented it.  So I shaped the printed out pages to be similar, and added some small clips at the top, to be able to switch out the full calendar month each month.  The bottom section has a sliding orange bar that he can select what day of the week it is.  (This idea I got from the weather station print out, seriously, such a great little design!)  Along with the full calendar that he can see, there is a spot to put the specific day's date.  Each velcro'd piece is laminated, there is no way it would hold up otherwise with my crazy boys.  

HE LOVES IT.  He goes to his little weather/calendar station multiple times a day, changing the weather as it changes outside, checking the calendar to see what day his dad will be home, what will be the dates for the weekend, etc.  I gave him some little post it's to write little notes about the day to add to the calendar, I came to check on him after him being quiet for awhile and there were post it notes all over it.  But he wrote on the chart, next to the post it's.  Ha!  It's been graffiti-ed!  But it is loved, for sure! 

felt gift wrapping

I think I may love wrapping up presents just as much as giving them.  I have a couple of small gifts I am giving this year, so I wrapped them up in simple black and kraft paper with string, and added some easy tags I made.  I also made some red berry twigs and a kumquat branch, both made with sticks, leaves, hot glue and felt balls!  I love the final look.  Such an easy project, that gives much impact... I'm hooked, I need to make more! 

Happy Crafting!

DIY winter wreath

Making a winter wreath for our front door was so satisfying, and easy!  I did this while my 2 monther was watching from his bouncy seat.... I am still on a tight time frame these days, with my baby only happy out of my arms for a short while, so feeding my creative side with an easy project was just what I needed.  And could handle.  ;)

SUPPLIES: embroidery hoop, string, scissors, cuts of trees/sticks/pine cones from your yard.

HOW TO:

1. I first attached some flexible sticks/twigs to the embroidery hoop with string.  Tie a knot on the backside for the hoop/wreath.

3. Once I had enough sticks added, I started with the greenery.  I was lucky to find some twigs with little pinecones on them already!  Once you have enough greenery and sticks attached by string, you can keep adding to it, without tying anymore.  Just stick the greenery throughout the other twigs already attached to the wreath.  Add as much as you want.

Done!

Super easy and cheap, and I can make another fresh wreath for all seasons, using the same needlepoint frame.  

Happy crafting!

the rubbish truck and the super hero

Here they are, my two big boys - the rubbish truck, and asher-the-smasher!  

Rubbish Truck:  Continuing with Noah's love for vehicles, we settled on a big crane truck for his costume.  But right before I started to make that, he changed his mind to a rubbish truck.  I think it turned out pretty good!  I just used one box, and folded the flaps/cut a few other pieces to help support the truck portion, and make the angled back end, where the trash bags go.  For the front white portion of the truck, I made it with white foam board, and added foil, coke bottle tops, blue paper and magic marker details to complete the look.  Yellow and orange duct tape worked perfectly for the caution/reflection spots.  I am a little nervous about the wear and tear on this truck, as the night progresses while trick or treating, and his little brother, aka 'the smasher'.  The glue I used didn't seem to be the strongest.  Lets hope it makes it through the night!

Asher-the-Smasher:  This one was decided on purely for its easy-ness to make.  (Hello!  Just had a baby!  I was running out of time... ) He does pretend to be a super hero now and then, so I just used up some felt I have had forever, to make his cape and mask and 'A'.  His wrist cuffs are yellow duct tape, and his lightning bolt head gear is from when Noah was a super hero, a few years ago - actually, he was the same age as Asher!  

I love making my boys their costumes.  I don't even think Noah realizes we could go to the store to buy one.  He has already requested a combine harvester for next year's Halloween.  We will see... He wants it to actually work!  That will take some thinking.  ;)  Tonight we are headed out to trick or treat with some friends, and I am looking forward to Asher really enjoying it for the first time.  Hope you all have a great Halloween!

Past Halloween costumes:  

Noah the owl | Noah the super hero | the hippo and the giraffe | mickey mouse and the clown  | clown wig DIY

nesting = making

I have kicked my crafting into high gear as of late.  And it's all over the map... sewing new bed duvets for the big boys room, making a basket (still in the works), a storage bench for the boys, finishing up lingering projects in the nursery, planting a cactus/succulent garden ...and then there are these projects that I am quite pleased with.  A necklace, (totally copied one I have seen) painted my own moroccan/souk rug, and some lavender bath scrub.  

The necklace -  it's pretty easy - paint one wood bead red, use one slightly bigger wood bead (I rubbed olive oil on it to make it a deeper wood), bought some small copper piping at the hardware store, and baked my own polymer clay triangle, and spattered it with a bit of blue paint.  It's my new go to accessory!  One of my favorite things I've made in awhile.
The scrub - I have never been into oils, although I am slowly being convinced... I have always had restless leg syndrome, (which Jason swears is a made up syndrome!) but of course in pregnancy, it is heightened.  I have heard that lavender oil helps with the restless legs, so I wanted to give it a go.  I made some lavender scrub, combining sugar, sea salt, coconut oil, almond oil, vitamin e, and some lavender oil.  The jury is still out on weather it is helping my legs or not, I think I anticipate it, and bring it on myself.  But - my legs are silky smooth from the scrub!
The rug - I bought this shag rug for the nursery, but decided not to use it in there, and one day I was looking at it, and thought to try and imitate a moroccan rug that I liked.  (seen here)  After measuring my design out on paper/then the rug, I first used a sharpie, but that proved to be too light of black.  I then, over the sharpie, used some black fabric paint.  The paint is a little 'crunchy' in places where there is more paint, but I did a little trim of those spots, and it is much better.
My days range from watching too many cartoons with the boys on the couch, and napping during nap time, to go go go, clean clean clean, make make make!  There is a deadline to get things done, and I'll keep going while I can!

big boys room

The big boys room got some attention this last week.  We (ok, Jason) made a low shelf/bench to hold a few toys and shoes, and it fits perfectly under their trash truck print (bought it on Instagram from Jaime Street Photo). The storage bench idea came from here.  The boys really love it and zoom their cars on it, and it currently holds a collection of books they enjoy reading.  We took the plunge earlier than I first planned, and switched Asher to a big boy bed.  He so wanted to be like Noah, and he was very excited to have a big bed, and has done very well with it!
The first few nights:  At night he stays in it, while he and Noah sometimes laugh and talk a bit, and throw their stuffed animals at each other, and in the morning he will get in and out while collecting books or toys to play with.  But no escaping the room!  He is following his big brother's lead, and Noah does not leave the room for any reason.  He doesn't even leave his bed, and always makes sure I know that Asher got out of his bed.  :)
Currently:  The boys are WILD!!  With the first night of them going crazy wild at bedtime, throwing hard toys at each other, stuffed animals, etc... I had to put my foot down the next night, and talked to them and warned them if I had to come in to the room to correct them... well I didn't hear a peep out of them that night, and since then they have been good.  In the mornings, on the other hand, throwing anything they can at pictures on the walls, the fan, jumping on their beds like its a trampoline... having fun but makes me nervous!  Asher is prone to hitting his head pretty good.
I made two matching duvet blankets for their beds, out of a queen IKEA duvet we have had for years.  It was double sided, so I cut it apart, and down to a twin size, and sewed a white sheet to both, for the underside of the duvet.  Their room is pretty simple, most toys are in the play room, and I think that is a good thing for wild Asher.  He likes to throw, in play and in anger, and Noah has gotten the short end of the stick many times!  The less in the room to throw, the better.  ;)

DIY fruit t-shirts

Last week we had two amazing days of clear blue skies, a little breeze, and 75F weather!  I wanted to make something summer-y stat!!  I decided to make my boys some summer t-shirts...yes, these are very Bobo Choses inspired.  ;)  Fruit is in these days, so I gathered up some inexpensive color tees, paint brush, fabric paint, and got to work.  

I freehanded the fruit shape, first using a small thin paint brush to make the outline of the fruit, then a bigger paint brush to fill it in.  I did 3 coats of paint, added the little black paint accents, and done!  I really like how they turned out, even though they are a little rough around the edges, and my boys look pretty cute in them too.  Oh Asher, your smile-y face is awesome.

CRAFTERS NOTE:

You can easily (and maybe even better looking?) print your shape out on some freezer paper, to use as a stencil on the shirt.  

DIY: ombre tassel wall hanging

As I mentioned here, these rope tassels have become my favorite little project.  I love how the citron colored one came out for the nursery, and I wanted to make one more for our room.  In our bedroom, there is a "dressing area".  The closet is pretty small compared to most masters, so Jason nicely gave me the space, and took a big closet right outside our bedroom.  I have been thinking that the dressing area could be really cute if I added a few things, so I decided to make a smaller version of the tassel wall hanging. 

Here are the supplies you need and steps to make it happen.

SUPPLIES: dowel rod, rope (I found mine at a craft store here, in the sewing/curtain/tassel section), twine to hang, small twine to assemble, scissors, paint brush, paint.

*You can use all the same size/style of rope, but I picked up a few different widths/styles, to mix it up.

STEPS:
1. Cut all your rope, to make the tassels.  Depending on how thick the rope is, depends on how many strands of rope in one tassel you will need.  This is really your preference.  I did about 8-15, around 24" in length, depending on the width of the rope.
2. Loop the rope to where all the ends are pretty even.  Tie the smaller twine around the top, about 2 or so inches down.
3. - 4.  After the small twine is tied (really just to hold together) wrap a different style (if you have it) of rope around the smaller twine a few times, and tie in a knot at the back.
5.  Repeat for as many tassels as you want to make.
6. - 7. Tie a piece of twine to the top of the tassels.  I kind of loop it through the back/middle of the tassels, and tie a knot.  Make this piece of twine long, about 12" - 18".  You can later decide how long each tassel will hang, and trim accordingly.  This will later be tied to the dowel rod.
8. - 9. Time to paint.  If you can't find your exact colors you want, buy some paints to mix it up!
10. Take the dry paint brush and paint the bottom half of the tassels.  Be generous with the paint at the tips of the tassels, and as you move up, use less paint.  Make sure to move the tassel around a bit as you paint, and flip over, so you can get paint everywhere you want it.  After painting all the tassels, leave them to dry.
11.  Once the tassels are dry, add some wood beads if desired, (I rubbed some olive oil on them to make the wood richer) and tie the tassels to the wood dowel.  space evenly.
YOUR DONE!  Ready to hang.  Enjoy!
CRAFTER'S NOTE:
I thought the tassels would look awesome with some gold leafed tips.  I tried it out (see last picture) but the rope soaked up the leaf adhesive too much, and the gold sheets didn't stick as much as I had wanted.  So my tassels have spots of gold on them, instead of fully gold tips.  Oh well, you craft and learn!!