recycle kids art into greeting cards....

If you have children, you have a drawer, file folder or box... of your child's art projects.  I have a few folders of things that I can't seem to toss in the recycling bin.  Some are paintings on scraps of paper that struck me as beautiful.  I needed some thank you cards for a recent family event, and thought of this.  What better way to send a note to a family member than on a recreation of their own granddaughter, niece or great niece's works of art.  Turned out rather pretty!  

"Happily Ever After" Pennant Banner

A good friend of mine recently got married and I made a cute little pennant banner for the celebration.  It turned out so cute I decided to make one for our bedroom but got a little more serious (sorry Heather).  I wanted to frame it in either an old window frame or empty picture frame.  I've been looking for the perfect frame for about a month and finally found it in my friends garage!  YES!- I had to trade a used baby gate for it but over all I totally scored in the deal!  So this is how I made it....

 First find a book you're willing to sacrifice to your art.  I chose A Room with a View by E.M. Forster.  I removed the paperback cover and made a triangle template.

Tear out the number of pages you need for your message.  This one says: "Happily Ever After." Cut out triangles that will make the pennant banner from the book pages.  

I have a cricut paper cutter that I used to cut my letters.  You could also buy letters from the craft store.  I used black scrapbook paper and cut my letters about two inches tall.

Attach your letters to the triangles and tape to string or twine.  If you're really fancy, you could use nice ribbon.

 

Space out your lines in the frame and attach with a staple gun. BAM!  A super easy piece of art for your wall.

Pretty Counters

I can't believe my kindergartener is doing math already!  It's not calculus, but I'm still very impressed with the simple math skills she's working on.  Of course I have to try to modify the idea of using 'counters'.  Usually it's recommended to use beans or coins.  Having a box full of cute scrapbook papers, I thought we'd use a round punch and make cute little circle counters.  Using double sided paper is a great trick.  One print represents the first number in the addition problem, and the other print represents the second.  Count them all up and there you have your answer!  Super cute and easy!

This circle punch is made by Creative Memories.  It's been around my craft room for about 5 years.  5 years and still strong and sharp!

This paper is perfect for counters because it has a print on each side! 

 It would also be fun to use these paper flowers.  

birthday party thank you cards

Such a great birthday party deserves a fantastic thank you card! Step one is a little photo shoot in our neighborhood.  Step two is some photoshop action.  Step three will be making the cards. We made this cute thank you sign with a piece of a cardboard box and some sharpies.... yes I know, sharpies and kids really should not mix, but all in all it went well. More to post on this project later!

I printed the pictures today yeah!  I had some pink velum from some invitations I made awhile back that I mounted them on.  Put some pink thread in my sewing machine and did a little zig zag stitch around the picture.  Mounted those on some pink shimmery card stock and there you have it.  A personalized thank you from two very unique little girlies.

birthday party

The girls have birthdays very close which means we have a combo birthday party.  I'm sure that at some point this will no longer be acceptable, but until then we will simplify our lives with one party. I found this great scrapbook paper at Michaels that I couldn't pass up.  I punched out circles using my circle punch, and with needle and thread, strung them together with white pom poms and paper flowers.  Fun, easy and o-so girly!

doll house makeover

It was my daughter's birthday yesterday!  The big 6!  Because it was a school day, and she is such a studious kindergartener, she chose not to miss school even though I took the whole day off!  After the cupcakes had been delivered, her little sister and I decided to remodel the doll house.  It's been on my to-do list for awhile now.  I picked up these adorable scrapbook papers at the craft store and simply measured, cut, and glued them in place.

The sister's room... The beds have been recreated to match the pink of the wallpaper.

The bathroom... I love this mushroom paper.  I had some scrap organic terry cloth that I  used to create bath mats for outside the shower and bathtub.

The Parent's Master Bedroom.... and another bed makeover to match the wallpaper and terry cloth rug.  

Opposite view from the master bedroom.  I used some craft puff balls to hang as lighting from the ceiling.

The kitchen.... and a couple of hanging pendent lights.

Another view of the kitchen!