Thursday, September 4, 2014

Wood Candy Corn

I saw these here & here and thought they were pretty cute.  They looked pretty simple so I gave it a go.

I free handed my own templates, three different sizes.

print as 8 1/2 x 11
Trace onto wood (mine is about 3/4" thick)
 Again, thanks to my grandpa, we were able to cut these out in a jiffy.
Cut and sand


Little painting, sanding, & sealing...



I was about ready to glue them together, when my mother-in-law had the great suggestion of using magnets to hold them together.  Let's be honest here, basically all my decorations end up being toys.  This idea made is so my 2-year-old can actually play with them like puzzles.


My husband used a 5/16" spade drill bit to drill the holes.  Pretty easy.  The tricky part was making sure the holes lined up with each other.

I found the magnets @ The Home Depot for around $6, they worked great.

A little tacky glue & some waiting and now my candy corn is done...






Now these can be fun for the kiddos as much as the adults:) Happy Halloween (or fall, or autumn, or Thanksgiving)...




Thursday, August 28, 2014

10 Step Wood Pumpkins

I know, I know.  I just barely posted about my back to school shelf & now I'm already onto Halloween...

Well, I figured I'd get them out of the way so they'd be ready.  They aren't going on the shelf until October, so don't worry about that.

Anyway.  I have extra wood.  I have extra time.  I like to use both.  I pinned this probably a year ago or so, but finally got around to making my own version.



The pumpkin idea is super cute...and super easy.  Just a 2x4, some paint & a few other things.

Materials:
2x4 scraps
1x1 scraps (for stem)
Hanger (for vine), optional
Craft pliers (the purple & blue) for my project.
Paint, orange, brown & green
Wood of Tacky Glue
Sander & sand paper
Paint brush
Drill & 5/64" drill bit, optional
Hack Saw
Shellac/Sealer

Step 1:
Cut your boards to the size you want.
Mine are 3.25, 4 & 8 inches tall.  Don't forget to cut your stems too.  I did various sizes of what I thought would look good (about 1x1.5x3/4" for the two tall ones, a bit shorter for the small pumpkin)

Step 2:
Sand them down.
I tried to round my edges a bit to get more effect, but do what you like.

Step 3:
Paint your wood.  I used a regular orange craft paint for the pumpkins.
For the stems I combined white & coffee bean to make a brown I liked.

Step 4:
While those are drying, cut and twist the hanger to make the vines.
It wasn't hard, just took a bit of time.  There was a coating on my hanger that kind of peeled off as I was doing this, which was fine, it doesn't matter.

Step 5:
Paint the vines.
I actually used spray paint for these, way easier than trying to hand paint them.

Step 6:
When the boards are dry [if you want a weathered look, sand the edges], take the hacksaw and saw lines down the middle of the pumpkins.  [I actually did this BEFORE I painted...wrong.  Do it after to get the lighter effect that looks better].

Step 7:
Shellac everything & let dry.  I used a sating polyurethane I already had, but you could use mod podge or whatever you have on hand.

Step 8:
Drill holes for the vines to go in (or just hammer them in if your wood is soft enough).
On one end of all my vines, I left about a 1/4-1/2" straight piece that could go into the wood.





Step 9:
Glue stems to pumpkins, let dry



Step 10:
None, you're done!


See, easy & 10 steps..okay, really nine.  It took me about an hour or so to do this & it was FREE since I had all the materials.

Happy Halloween (or Thanksgiving, whatever you use these for)


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Back to School Mantel/Shelf

July is over, September is quickly approaching, October is too far away.  I decided to do a "school" shelf. My son isn't even two yet, but I figured it's never too early to start teaching right?

I searched for some cute school themed decor and found some.  My favorite was from Tatertots & Jello.  I thought this was adorable, and kid-friendly.  I don't have a mantel, but a bookshelf that I usually seasonally decorate.  Perfect.

I had some wooden abc blocks I bought for my son's 1-year-old birthday party, but didn't think it was enough.  I bought them in the Melissa & Doug little cart, but I didn't want to spend that much for the blocks again (and still not have enough).  What were my options?  I looked online and found some at Toys R Us for cheap.  I spent $18 (about $4 more than the one set from Melissa & Doug costs) and got over 100 blocks ($3 for a pack of 15 blocks).  I was thrilled!  They even had numbers, so I was happy.


Next.  I loved the rulers & pencils from the tatertots page.  Easy to duplicate.  Smith's Marketplace was having a great sale on school supplies.  Twenty pencils for $1.  The rulers were about $.60 a piece, a little pricey, but I wanted the nice wood ones.  Mason jars-free.



I love creating my own subway art.  I have this favorite font - Smiley Monster - that I just love.  It's so cute.  I decided to make a simple subway art using that font.  I came up with some words/phrases that reminded me of school & came up with a cute little 8x10.

I had this idea that wooden letters would be so cute.  I am super super lucky to have such a talented (and generous) grandfather.  He has his own wood shop & is so kind to let me use his tools, machines and supplies.  Again, I used Smiley Monster for the letters.  I printed them out on my computer, found a scrap piece of wood at home and traced them on.  My grandpa and I cut them out, sanded them and I painted them primary colors.  I absolutely love how they turned out.  I also love the fact that they are congruent with the subway art.

So, there you have it.  I absolutely love the way it turned out.  And the best part is it is all kid-friendly.  My boy is all boy, so he definitely plays hard and is rough, but these are sure to last.




I even got so creative that I made my own alphabet tracing/learning pages for my kiddo.  I used the font KG Miss Kindergarten for each letter.  I either found and traced or free-handed the drawings for each letter.  Super cute.  Here's a quick little taste of a couple.

(I don't know copyright laws with the font & some of the drawings, so I don't want to post them all)

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Family Fun Jar

 

Now that my little guy is starting to grow up (okay, he's only 9 months), it got me thinking.  My husband & I used to spend our spare time usually watching a movie or a TV show.  We spent ... a lot ... of time in front of that screen.  I realize ... probably not the best ... so I thought I'd try and compile a list of activities that are screen free and family-friendly.

I had this old jar lying around in my house and thought it would make a great "Family Fun Jar" where I could stick all the ideas and we could pull from them when we are either bored or want to do something fun.

It took a few days and a lot of research, but here is the list I compiled...hopefully there are a couple things that might interest you.  It ranges from free in-your-own-backyard activities to all-day adventures.


  1. Play croquet
  2. Play ladder golf
  3. Throw the football
  4. Play catch
  5. Have a water balloon fight
  6. Food fight!
  7. Start a puzzle
  8. Play hand & foot
  9. Play a board game
  10. Make something in the kitchen
  11. Play a card game
  12. Draw a picture
  13. Fly a toy plane
  14. Fly a toy helicopter in the house
  15. Play balloon ping pong
  16. Write an ad-lib story
  17. Finger paint a masterpiece
  18. Chase after bubbles
  19. Run around the park
  20. Get a Slurpee (or hot cocoa) @ 7-Eleven
  21. Go swimming
  22. Go for a walk
  23. Explore a new hike
  24. Make smores up the canyon
  25. Look at the stars tonight
  26. Treasure hunt!
  27. Swing in the hammock
  28. Garden together
  29. Build a fort
  30. Wash the cars
  31. Visit the fire station
  32. Sidewalk chalk
  33. Build an instrument
  34. Visit Wheeler Farm
  35. Visit grandparents
  36. Visit cousins
  37. Play in the dirt, get messy!
  38. Walk around Temple Square
  39. Play at City Creek’splayground
  40. Visit Antelope Island
  41. Visit Kennecott Copper Mine
  42. Visit the Capitol building
  43. Explore Thanksgiving Point
  44. Enjoy a picnic together
  45. Eat outside on the porch
  46. Make homemade ice cream
  47. Visit the planetarium
  48. Visit the aquarium
  49. Visit the zoo
  50. Practice your family's emergency drill
  51. Feed the ducks @Sugarhouse Park
  52. Make a bird feeder
  53. Go to the fair
  54. Go to the farmer’s market
  55. Fly a kite at the park
  56. Explore the library downtown
  57. Visit the natural history museum
  58. Go for a scenic drive
  59. Toss a Frisbee around
  60. Check out the Heber Creeper
  61. Walk around a flower nursery
  62. Have a photo shoot with nature
  63. Read a book together
  64. Visit This is the Place Heritage Park
  65. Discover new birds @ Tracy Aviary
  66. Make a sack lunch to eat at the park
  67. Splash in the fountain at Gateway
  68. Cheer at a baseball game
  69. Play in Liberty Park’s Seven Canyons Fountains
  70. Go out for ice cream
  71. Make homemade popcorn
  72. Explore the Church History Museum
  73. WALK AROUND MEMORY GROVE
  74. Make paper airplanes & fly them
  75. Visit the local library
  76. Have a dance party
  77. Have a backyard camp out
  78. Take cookies to the neighbors
  79. Write random thinking of you cards
  80. Visit the hospital
  81. Donate canned food to Utah food Bank
  82. Give someone a “Heart Attack”
  83. Perform a random act of kindness
  84. Make sugar crystal pops
  85. Make food art
  86. Tour a candy shop
  87. Send a card to a far away relative
  88. Make your mailman a thank you
  89. Visit the folks at the Wentworth (or local nursing home)
  90. Visit family members' graves
  91. MAKE A MUSIC VIDEO
  92. Rearrange the furniture
  93. Make a snowman (or ice cream snow man)
  94. Learn origami
  95. Write love notes & hide them for family members
  96. Scavenger hunt
  97. Squirt bottle fight
  98. PLAY HIDE AND SEEK
  99. PLAY IN A CARDBOARD BOX
  100. DRESS UP AND HAVE A FAMILY PARADE
  101. Explore Hill Air Force Base
  102. Have an arm wrestle
  103. Play shadow tag
  104. Play spider web toss
  105. Trace your body on paper & color it in
  106. Take a bubble bath
  107. Play the alphabet game
  108. Give your pet a bath
  109. Put together a scrapbook page
  110. Pillow fight
  111. Learn how to use a compass
  112. Enjoy a game of checkers
  113. Find a good spot & watch the sunset
  114. Visit the airport
  115. Go bowling
  116. Have a jump rope contest
  117. Go puddle jumping
  118. Look out every window of the house
  119. Learn a new word in the dictionary
  120. Back massage train
  121. Climb a tree
  122. Walk backwards for 20 minutes
  123. Practice juggling
  124. Write a grateful list
  125. Cloud gaze
  126. Eat an apple without using your hands
  127. Make a paper chain for an exciting event
  128. Learn the alphabet in sign language
  129. Draw what you see out the window
  130. Make something out of a cardboard box
  131. Melt crayons for new artwork
  132. Play outdoor scrabble
  133. Have a stamp party (pull out all your stamps & stickers)
  134. Try different yoga poses
  135. Make a letters with your body
  136. Enjoy an outdoor concert
  137. Make footprint/hand print art
  138. Have a cup stacking contest
  139. Build something
  140. Set up an obstacle course
  141. Dye Easter eggs
  142. Attend a local sporting event
  143. Clean up litter at the park
  144. Learn a new language
  145. Run through the sprinklers
  146. Play dodge ball
  147. Learn a magic trick
  148. Play in a band
  149. Play soccer in the school yard
  150. Melt something with a magnifying glass
  151. Hike Ensign Peak
  152. Learn about an animal 
  153. FIND THE TEMPERATURE BY COUNTING CRICKETS CHIRP

So, turn off those screens, pick an activity and go enjoy some quality family time:)