Pencil Shavings | Tag Archive

Tag Archives | crafts

16
Sep

Washi Tape Wonders

posted by rachel, September 16, 2011

You know about washi tape, right? Leave it to the Japanese to make boring, utilitarian masking tape fun. Punchy colors, preppy patterns, and quirky designs make it easy to snap these little babies up like candy.

Etsy seller PrettyTape has quite the selection, like those shown above.

I hadn’t seen the super skinny washi tape, but I’m loving it, too. Get these from etsy seller Crafty Japan.

At our blogger’s night out a few weeks ago, Chirps+Cheers gave each of us a darling spool of washi tape, and I was happy to add another family member to my ever-growing collection. Admittedly I was a sticker hoarder as a kid and I fight the tendency as an adult. I would not want to waste my collection on a less-than-perfect project. I’m trying to ease up on my death grip, though and so when my friend Rita asked me just what exactly do we do with these little rolls of tape, I got to googling. What project will be worthy enough for the cuteness?

Maybe you will wrap some candle holders. //source//

Or darling gift tags // source //

A typographic book display // source //

Glassware, anyone? // source //

Escort cards for your wedding! // source //

Clothespins // source //

DIY bowls out of paper plates. // source //

Fun way to jazz up a plain wrapping paper. // source //

This creative blogger wrapped up these tiny canvases. Love! // source //

Let's Chit-Chat { 12 }

30
Aug

Art School for Toddlers

posted by rachel, August 30, 2011

This past weekend we attended Uptown Kids‘ first anniversary birthday bash, where they teamed up with Prevent Blindness Oklahoma. In addition to a crazy awesome carnival (complete with petting zoo!), the kids also got to paint a canvas which will then be auctioned off in a couple of weeks to raise money for Prevent Blindness. How cool is that?

Jude was in hog heaven getting to paint his little canvas, which got me to thinking, “Why don’t we ever do stuff like this at home?”

Oh yeah. My anal-retentiveness about having to clean up one.more.mess. That’s why. :-

But c’mon – I was an art major, for pete’s sake! Can I not deal with a little mess to give my child a whole lotta joy?

So it was off to Hobby Lobby we went, to pick up the couple of supplies we didn’t already have. I have a ridiculous amount of art supplies left over from my OU School of Art days. All we were lacking were canvases, really, and a couple of tubes of paint that I was out of. If you want to do this at home, remember that places like Hobby Lobby frequently run major promotions on art supplies. All canvases, for example, were 30% off this week. Another idea is to go to a thrift store and buy up ugly paintings and let your kiddos just paint like crazy over them.

Hobby Lobby also sells giant packs of cheapo brushes that you don’t have to feel bad about ruining.

Keep in mind that if you choose to use acrylics (like I do), either strip your kid down to his skivvies or put them in clothes you don’t mind ruining. You will not be able to get the acrylic paint out of clothes. Ever. Trust me on this one.

I covered the kitchen table with an oil cloth splat mat that I had and taped it securely to the table so we wouldn’t have one of those “OMG” moments when one of us inadvertently pulls the tablecloth & all its painterly contents onto the floor. A few dixie cups were filled with water & placed within sturdy plastic cups (again, to minimize spillage). Then I let him have at it – and I did too!

I forgot how awesomely cathartic painting is. And for Jude, he was so stinkin’ proud of himself as he swirled the paint around his 2 canvases. The first one he used the brushes on. But the second one, he studiously applied the paint w/ a palette knife (my personal favorite method).

Et voila! Fabulous art for the upstairs! And he’s so proud of his work, he couldn’t wait to show Simon when he walked in the door last night.

How about you? Do you indulge your kiddos in high-mess-potential projects? I feel inspired to try new ones now!

Let's Chit-Chat { 10 }

22
Dec

A Pipe Cleaner Christmas

posted by rachel, December 22, 2010

Only a few more days!! I love this advent calendar “house” that my cousin’s family gave us a few years ago. Jude has been thrilled to wake up every morning and open the next door. Advent calendars were my favorite as a child.

After the great snow tubing extravaganza on Tuesday, I kidnapped Matthew and Luke and brought them home to our house. Jude is like a wild animal when his cousins show up. I can’t blame him – there’s nothing better than being with cousins. I adore having the boys here at our house; it would’ve only been complete if Ben could have deigned to join us (are you reading this, Ben? FEEL GUILTY YET?! HAHAHA).

We spent our time watching Christmas movies, eating pancakes, and running errands. I ran into Michael’s for some craft supplies and came out with a nice little selection. I’ll show you in a minute.

This year I went a little nuts w/ pipe cleaners. I love the look of tinsel pipe cleaner garlands on trees, but I never want to spend the money on it. It’s easy enough to recreate with pipe cleaners, and there are so many fun colors to choose from. I chose a rainbow of colors, and at only $.77 per package, I got a lot of bang for my buck. We have been playing with pipe cleaners for weeks.

Every year for the past 3 years, I get Jude’s photo made w/ Santa and then I buy a 50% off frame ornament from Pottery Barn Kids and hang it on the tree. The grandparents have also gotten one or two in the past, as well.

Last year, he was wearing his “Eat Cheese or Die” button, and holding simultaneously a golf ball and a football. Awesome.

This year’s. LOVE.

After we finished watching Elf, I pulled out my surprise supplies. At Michael’s, I purchased a smattering of styrofoam cones in various sizes, as well as some more pipe cleaners, mod podge, and one skein of fluffy white yarn. To do this, you really could use any variety of item, be it wrapping papers, ribbon, etc. One favorite idea was to glue peppermints on them, but I wasn’t able to get any. Wouldn’t they be fun as candy trees?

The finished product. This was the perfect project to keep boredom away, and to encourage creativity. All 3 boys – Jude (3), Luke (7), and Matthew (11), thought this was a fun thing. I was kinda sad when we had run through all the trees. Originally I thought about mod podging the pompoms onto the trees, but they really were better applied w/ straight pins. Obviously I didn’t let Jude do that, but the other boys were able to easily.

From left to right: Luke, Matthew, Matthew, Rachel, Rachel, Jude, Luke.

Not associated in any way with pipe cleaners or crafts, but here’s the photo that Ben posted on my Facebook page tonight, entitled: “This is just what happens when you leave jude with us.”

Uploaded with Skitch!

OY.

Let's Chit-Chat { 1 }

9
Sep

First Day of School

posted by rachel, September 9, 2010

Somebody was just a little bit excited about starting “school” (mother’s day out) today.

He wanted to put his shoes on last night in preparation for the new school year. It isn’t the first year he’s gone to MDO, but this year we’re at a different school, and I think I was nervous about how the transition was going to go. When I dropped him off, he didn’t even look my way, just plunged on ahead into his room. I’m happy to say that it was a super successful first day, and Jude happily chattered the whole way home about “MY NEW SCHOOOOOL!” His little report card of the day’s activities said that he was “an A+++ precious angel baby.” Haha. Love it.

In anticipation, I did a little upgrade to Jude’s nap mat. It was pretty dirty from last year, so I just tossed it into the washing machine and it came out fine. I had covered it last year with fabric from an Ikea kids’ duvet cover that I loved the print of.

This year, I attached a pillow and I made a duvet cover for his favorite blankie, this super-soft mini-comforter. Every time he drug it to school last year, I was semi-embarrassed because it’s just so stinkin’ huge. But it makes him feel happy and secure, so okay.

I tacked down the pillow onto the nap mat so it wouldn’t be an extra piece to keep track of.

I have leftover washable care labels from my days in the apparel industry, so I sewed one onto the mat upside down and wrote his name on the back of it.

Once you’ve got the mat wrapped up, it’s kinda bulky what with the pillow on top, and then with the blanket folded on top of that. I felt a little silly dragging it all into the school building today until I saw EVERY other mother lugging in even larger sleeping bags and nap mats. I mean serious fluffy contraptions. I didn’t feel quite so bad then.

The good news is that I have a ton of fabric left over to tackle other fun little projects with. My only gripe with this fabric is how thin, and slightly rough, it is. I know it’s IKEA and all but it just isn’t super high quality (surprise, surprise). But even for Ikea, you know?

Thankfully one of the reusable totes I designed for Uptown Kids is the PERFECT size for his nap mat w/ attached pillow and blankie!

All in all, an excellent start to the year. Now summer REALLY feels over!

Let's Chit-Chat { 0 }

8
Feb

A more grown-up space

posted by rachel, February 8, 2010

In the past few weeks, I’ve been tweaking Jude’s room a little, helping it to grow from bitty baby nursery to a more grown-up space. It makes my heart twinge just a little bit, taking away his baby bumpers (yes, he was still sleeping with them) and seeing a toddler bed occupy the room now. I loved having a baby baby. Now I’m loving having a big boy, a bonafide toddler.

When I came back from having my first surgery, I wasn’t able to lift Jude in and out of his bed, so my sister and her hubs sweetly donated Luke’s firetruck toddler bed to Jude so he could hop in and out of it without my assistance. And Jude really took to it for the time that I needed him to. After awhile, we put him back in his crib, but the firetruck bed has stayed because sooner or later, he’ll graduate to it completely. We like sitting in it, reading books together, and he thinks it’s just the coolest thing ever.

I found these awesome vintage cinema marquee letters on Etsy, and the seller, SalvageNation, gladly put together a special listing just for me w/ Jude’s name. It was extremely inexpensive, and I love them. I’m tempted to paint them, but I like their authentic, original black color. They’re lightweight plastic, and SalvageNation has a ton of them.

Did I ever show you the final setup of Jude’s play kitchen? I picked up a couple of short shelves from IKEA, and now they display (empty) Sprinkles cupcake containers, as well as all of his play dishes that my mom bought for him. All in all, an inexpensive, and completely fun little setup.

The firetruck bed! I rearranged the furniture the other day and I’m still not totally thrilled with it. Eventually it’ll look less cluttered when I get the crib out (sob!).

Oh! I’m also loving vintage felt pennants, and I found these (below) from another Etsy seller. Too cute.

Big kid — getting into everything!

I’ve also been on the hunt for cute toddler bed-sized duvets, much to no avail. Jude likes sleeping with a pillow and these small, lightweight down blankets that I’ve had since college, from Target. I thought I might find something else cute, but I hated everything I did find, although for the most part, the genre is nonexistent. So I decided to make my own using one of those Target blankets. Turns out that they’re nearly the same size as a toddler-bed-size comforter, so already, this was looking like a cheap project. I ordered some fabric (Paula Prass chevron stripe) that was very inexpensive, and I backed the duvet with an old white sheet we already owned. So all in all, a very inexpensive and easy project. AND I have enough fabric left over to make a little roman shade for the window in his room.

Here’s what the blanket looked like before. It has seen better days, but is so warm and comfy.