DIY Garden Markers

Why did I not think of this? My next herb garden will most definitely have these.

Find easy instructions here, via whit&whistle.

{p.s. my plants have all sprouted and are doing fantastic! I can't wait for my little seedlings to grow up!}

DIY Watercolor Set

Genius! Here is a DIY watercolor set from onegoldenapple.

{I kind of wish I had kiddos that were old enough to appreciate this.}

The best part is, it's mess free and doesn't require jars of water.

Find instructions here.

DIY Lined Envelopes

To spruce up our graduation announcements, I thought it would be nice to line our envelopes with some decorative craft paper. And boy, did I find the best craft paper! It's BYU-blue, velvety and baroque-like.

Materials needed:
decorative paper

envelopes

pen or pencil

gluestick

scissors

bonefolder (optional, but makes things much easier!)

Directions:

1 Make a template out of cardstock. You can either make your own by tracing your envelope or find a template online. Martha Stewart also shows you how to make one right here.

2 Trace the template onto the back side of your decorative paper, and cut them all out. (I used A7 envelopes and 12"x12" craft paper, and was able to cut out two liners per sheet of craft paper.)

3 Gently slide your liner into the envelope and adjust it where you want it. 

4 Carefully fold over the flap of your envelope and use your bonefolder to make a nice, sharp crease. If you don't have access to a bonefolder, try using a ruler to flatten the creases.

5 Unfold the flap and glue just the top triangle of your paper to the envelope flap.

That's it! Didn't they turn out fantastic? I have heard of people making these for weddings. It does get faster and easier after you've made a few, but I can't imagine making hundreds! Yikes!

ooshirts

I mentioned a few weeks ago that my dad is starting a new bbq business and wanted shirts made. After spending quite a long time searching for the cheapest tshirt printing place, I came across ooShirts.

Fantastic. I can't stress enough how great they were to work with. 

They have someone review your design (for free!) before you submit it. How great is that?

They also include shipping right into your order price, and guarantee that it will be on your doorstep in two weeks.

Their prices are very reasonable and I'd highly recommend them! The more tshirts you'll be printing, the price goes down.

Click here to take a peek!

The Creative Place

Today I am a guest blogger (!!) over at The Creative Place. I'll be sharing my easy DIY Pinwheel Mobile that I made for baby Jack's nursery. He loves it more and more everyday, and is fascinated with the spinning colors. Go check it out!

Family Home Evening (Printable Chart)

As Mormons we are instructed to hold what we call Family Home Evening once a week. This typically falls on Monday night. It doesn't necessarily have to be anything formal and structured, but we are encouraged to spend time together as a family during FHE. 

As single college students, you are split into FHE groups and do fun activities together each week. But once you get married you're pretty much on your own, and sometimes it's hard to remember. I decided one of my goals this month (March) is to be diligent about FHE every Monday night. I made a chart for our family, and you can print one out if you'd like too. 

Below is the chart. Print out the first picture on cardstock. You can laminate it, or I have framed it in an 8x10 picture frame. Print out the second set and fill in family member names. Laminate those names and rotate them around the board each week. 

DIY Pearl Hair Pin

One of the best accessories to complete an outfit without going over the top are pearls. I got my first set from my grandma when I turned sixteen and they've been a favorite of mine ever since. They're timeless and beautiful, and you can wear them with almost anything. I dress them up and dress them down. I wore a strand of pearls on my wedding day (see below) and today I'm wearing the same strand today with a black shirt. I've got four (yes, I know that seems a bit much) pearl necklaces, a pearl ring, a bracelet, earrings, and now a faux pearl clip I made this morning to go in my hair.

I'm a little obsessed with pearls, but when used sparingly they can really dress up just a plain outfit so easily. I don't wear them everyday, or even once a week. But you know those "blah" days where nothing you do seems to go right? Put on a strand of pearls and you'll feel just like Fancy Nancy. (Have you read that children's book? I read two of them with my niece this past weekend and they were great!)

To make my pearl clip, I used craft-store pearls that are sticky on the bottom. Using a tiny dab of hot glue, glue them one at a time to a clip (find hair clips at a beauty store, such as Sally Beauty). This would also be darling in a little girl's hair in place of the expected flower. Pair it with a red or pink dress and she can be Fancy Nancy for the day!

photo by Mariah Baddas based out of San Diego, California.
She was the most amazing wedding photographer EVER.

DIY Silhouette

An idea I've always wanted to try is to have silhouettes of all of our kids. Maybe I could update them every year as they grow and have a big wall in our home full of silhouettes. If you're picturing it how I'm picturing it in my mind, it should look pretty neat and spectacular. :)

To make Jack's silhouette, I took a picture of him from the side. I happened to already have a good shot of his grandpa holding him from the side, so I used that one. I'd recommend having someone else hold him, standing in front of a bright window. You can then either print the photo out and cut around your baby's face and trace that cutout onto black paper, or do what I did in Photoshop (or a similar program). I simply made my image black and white, and then tweaked the brightness/contrast until I got it where I wanted it. Then I deleted the background and touched up his face with a black paintbrush to make it a solid black. I used the eraser to gently smooth out any funny lines or bumps. Then I placed my image into Illustrator and live traced it. This was surprisingly accurate, and smoothed out every little imperfection. I added a colorful background, typed his name and stats in, and ta-da!

I'm going to frame it (probably in a 5x7) and it'll go on his wall. He has one blank wall in his nursery that drives me crazy.

I'm not entirely done with the designing process here, but just for this afternoon this is what I've got. I still need to tweak the type a bit. His name is a little hard to work with typographically speaking. I think it's the double J thing he's got going on.

DIY Printed Shirts

Let's just start off by saying I am listening to Christmas music. And I love love love it.

I think the only Christmas music I tolerate is the hymns (Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing). I tend to get annoyed with the Santa ones (Up on the Rooftop, Santa Claus is Coming to Town). 

Needless to say, at our church Christmas party last night they handed out Christmas cds, and I love this one! It's called Christmas Hymns: Carols of the Christ Child, by Mark Geslison & Geoff Groberg. The hymns are beautifully orchestrated (I'm listening to one with a harp, and it's lovely) and I love that not all of them have words. I love listening to instrumental Christmas music more than anything. I grew up with Mannheim Steamroller playing throughout the house every Sunday morning before church. I guess listening to instrumental, soothing Christmas music brings me right back to my childhood. I want our children to grow up knowing not only the carols they sing in school about Santa, but the ones about our Savior too. The mood instrumental Christmas music brings is so unique and special.

But back to my DIY printed shirts.

Lately I've been wanting to make tshirt designs. But once I saw how expensive inkjet printer transfer pages are now (and how their quality hasn't improved much at all) I knew there had to be another way to do it. I saw a post on How About Orange and slapped myself, wondering why didn't I think of that? In high school I learned this same technique, but using canvas instead of fabric.

First I made a design in Illustrator:

I was going to write all of the directions out, but why don't you check out How About Orange? Her directions are far superior than mine would be. I'll just make a few suggestions:

• I used gloss medium (that's all I had on hand) and it turned out just fine. I was worried about it being shiny but it isn't. But I recommend using gel medium (matte). It's much thicker and you will get better results. You can pick up a tiny jar at a craft/art store. In the long run, this is a much cheaper option than buying inkjet transfer paper.

• My first attempt (see my Christmas trees below) didn't turn out so well. I skimped on the gloss medium, and the image didn't fully stick. Then I tried to scrub it off, which didn't work. Moral of the story: don't paint on too thin of a layer.

• I also used a paint brush. I didn't want a huge area in the background to be stiff, so I just painted on the actual image with a little bit of border around it. I hate how inkjet transfers have the ghosting in the background. For my JACK transfer I just painted a teensy bit outside the circles as well. This also made washing it off easier.

• Don't scrub too hard. See the A on my JACK transfer? (I also might have not had enough gloss medium on it)

• You must use a laser print, or this will not work. Also, don't forget to flip (mirror) your image when you print it, or it will transfer backwards.
 

UPDATE: I tried washing them, and some of the design came off. So either you can't wash it, or I should have turned it inside out and run it on delicate/hand wash. Sad! But if this method of transfer doesn't work for clothing, it would look awesome for a canvas tote! You could make tons of reusable grocery bags, or a beach bag...the possibilities are endless.

Questions? Comment or email me and I'll help you out. Good luck!

Free Baby Feeding Chart

I was unable to find a decent looking (& free) feeding chart for Jack, and the whiteboard in our kitchen is running out of space to mark his feedings. Thus, I created my own handy chart this afternoon in Illustrator. Just print it out and cut it in half. :) If you want it any bigger, see below!

(I'm also thinking this would be good in an 8x10 frame...just write on the glass with a whiteboard marker and erase! I actually might do that because I've got an extra frame laying around...)

UPDATE: Find the large, 8.5x11 printable chart here on my new blog.

Two things.

K guys. I really want to share two things, completely not related. Well, sort of unrelated.

Anyway.

One: How darling are these ABC stacking cubes?! My friend Lily showed them to me. I don't have Tyler convinced yet how perfect they are...he thinks they are "girly". (To which I pointed out that they clearly aren't. Upon closer investigation, he stated, "they aren't that bad". Again, it's a work in progress.)

But they're $12. How can you beat that?! I can picture my mom and dad playing with something similar to these when they were kids. My sister has a set of stacking cubes like these and her kids love them. I think they might make a good Easter present for Jack next year. Think he'll enjoy them by 5 months? Maybe by his first birthday? I suppose until then they would look really really good on a shelf in his nursery.

images via homemadebyjill

Two: I'm totally digging these homemade racecar crayons. I told my sister she should skip the candy and give these out for Halloween! (Hey, if you're going to be the weird ones on the block, you might as well hand out cool crayons instead of toothbrushes or dehydrated apple slices, know what I'm sayin'?) I think these would make awesome party favors. You could make them into any shape you wanted, granted they make a candy mold of it. I kind of want a set for myself.

DIY Chalkboard Paint

I came across this post detailing how to mix your own chalkboard paint! I can't wait til we own a house and I can paint an entire wall like this!!

ABC Blocks

Look how darling these vintage ABC blocks are! I think if I can find blocks and scrapbook paper, I can easily make my own. But I want these...badly. (Jack doesn't have blocks yet! Luckily he doesn't need them for a while though, so I have time!)

**update**

Just found a tutorial from Martha Stewart. (Although I think I could have figured it out on my own...)

My DIY Mobile

Here is Jack's finished mobile! It was so easy and less than $2 to make! Go me. :)

I made pinwheels by cutting out squares from double-sided scrapbook paper. Then I folded the pinwheel in half (to make a triangle), and then the other way. I then cut about 2/3 of the way into the center on each fold. I used my itty-bitty holepunch to punch holes in one corner of each flap, and pulled them into the center and secured it all with a brad. Hope that makes sense. It wasn't hard. :)

Next I took three thin dowels, each about a foot long, and tied them together crisscrossed with brown, earthy hemp. I then tied on each pinwheel (I made them various sizes and lengths) and secured it with hot glue, which surprisingly works very well with wooden dowels! Then I screwed a U hook into the ceiling and tied it all on!

His nursery is finally complete, down to the diaper station and dirty clothes hamper (thanks Shannon!). (Tyler would like to interject here and say the nursery is indeed not complete because the only trash can in it doesn't have a lid. I was going to see how long that lasted with smelly diapers...which I don't think will be very long!) Now all we need is a baby to put in it! (Tomorrow I am 36 weeks which means 4 weeks from his due date!)

DIY Onesies

Oh goodness, I've gone crazy deep into nesting mode. I am ready to have this baby! I think that is all that I talk about (and blog about - sorry friends!) these days, but it is all-consuming. I feel him wiggling and squirming and kicking and hiccuping all day ... with all that motion going on in your belly, how can you forget you're going to have a baby in just a few (six!) short weeks??

I almost (almost) forgot to show you all these ADORABLE onesies I made over the summer! I was very determined to complete the entire project myself, but alas I had to enlist the help of my mom. I think she understood completely, and realized that it really was harder than it looked!

They were pretty easy (the first part anyway) and inexpensive. I got the idea off of onesies I had seen on Etsy that sell for $12. I completed mine for under $2.25 each and have plenty of "kits" to spare for baby gifts! 

HOW TO:

First, I drew the shape I wanted. Then I bought fabric (which was actually hard because of Oceanside's bare-bones selection) and the stuff you iron onto the back of the fabric (and then iron it onto the onesie - I forget what it is called). I only bought an 1/8th of a yard of each fabric, and was able to make 12+ designs for each 1/8th of a yard. I ironed the fuse stuff (forgive me, I clearly don't sew) to the fabric and cut each shape out. Then I ironed the shapes onto the onesie and voila! Almost.

Here is where my mom came in. I tried to do it myself, but honestly, you've got to have mad sewing skills to make it look good. Even Mom had a hard time with it, and she's been sewing her whole life. This is where I envied the people on Etsy and realized why they could sell these for $12+!! I started off machine sewing a very small stitch around the outside of the applique, but failed miserably. I couldn't even keep the straight edge of the tie straight! Hence, my mom came in and helped me (aka did them all). She was a rockstar. They aren't perfect, but pretty close (much closer than I came!) They look fantastic!

I wanted to make another one for my friend, so the other night I got out the iron and my sewing needles. I ironed it all on, and then hand-stitched the design on (see the tie picture). It took me about an hour or so to stitch the entire thing (I'm slow) but it was so worth it! I actually like it better hand-stitched, but the real test will be to see which one - the machine or hand-stitched - holds up better in the wash!

Super Easy DIY 3-D Letter

Friends, just look at how crafty I am!

I'd been looking for the letter J to hang on baby Jack's wall, but the letter is actually harder to find than expected.  Then I saw a brief tutorial on this blog showing how to make wall letters. It looked easy, I had all of the materials at home, and I had the entire afternoon free! Here are my instructions:

Do-It-Yourself Alphabet Letter

Materials: an empty cereal box or two, masking tape, scissors, ruler, pencil, water, flour, newspaper

STEP ONE:

Find a font you like and print the letter out. I chose the font ChunkFive. Cut that out and trace two copies onto the cardboard. Cut that out.

STEP TWO:

Decide the width of your letter. Mine is about 1 3/4" thick. Using your ruler, start at the easiest part and cut the sides out, taping them on with the masking tape as you go. (Basically it's just cutting 1 3/4" strips out of the cardboard and cutting them to the right height. The entire curve is one piece.) Don't be afraid to use a lot of tape!

STEP THREE:

Make your papier mache by mixing water and flour together. I like mine a little thinner than pancake batter. Whisk it til everything is smooth. Tear small strips of newspaper up.

STEP FOUR:

Begin coating your letter by dipping a strip into the newspaper and smoothing it onto the letter. Don't overlap too much - you want to do just one thin layer at a time so it has a chance to dry. There's nothing worse than a moldy alphabet letter. :)

STEP FIVE:

Once you've made a layer, let it dry completely. I found the fastest, most effective way is to "bake" it in a 170-degree oven for twenty minutes or so. Sunshine also works wonders.

Repeat with a second layer of papier mache, and voila! You are now extremely proud of yourself and have saved $10+ by making it yourself!

Not too shabby, eh? All of my paints and brushes are in Provo, so when we get home in two weeks I'm going to tackle decorating it. It's hard just leaving it be until then...

The Slim Slack

Oh, how adorable is this? This is why I want boys in our family. Granted, I want to have girls in our family too, but there are so many cool things you can do with boys! You can make them look like adorable, little men, just like this picture. I found this on Design Mom today and HAD to share. Courtney, you need to make some of these for baby Benjamin. And  Mindy, get working on some for Jacob!

I adore the mom who came up with this.

Find the pattern here.

Beam me up, Scottie!

 

How adorable are these scottie dogs? When I get really good at sewing (that is, actually finishing a project without begging my mom or sisters to finish it for me) I'm going to make one. I can't wait for it to sit on our sofa! 

Find the pattern here.

DIY

If you remember this post about Tyler and I's attempts at constructing our own bed frame (verdict: failure), and thought you could outdo us, you'll be happy to know of this website.

They make beds. And dressers. And shelves. And play kitchens for little ones. All from scratch.
How? They find images they love (mostly from Pottery Barn), and work their magic at duplicating it. And the best part is, if you're willing to spend the time and effort into making it for yourself, you could save over $600. (They recreated a twin bed—second one down—that retailed for $699, and made it for $80. Awesome.)

Maybe one day I'll get somewhat decent at using a hammer and save our family hundreds of dollars. New hobby, perhaps?
all images via Knock Off Wood

pillows for the bedroom

If you remember this post about our new bed, you'll remember it's a slate blue color. I've wanted pillows for our bedroom for quite some time now (try almost a year) but Tyler and I have never agreed on a fabric pattern we like. We did finally agree that our room will be slate blue and a brighter, candy-apple red (a bit more orange than red, preferably). I just found this post at Purlbee and those pillows are PERFECT! They look fairly easy to make, and they would complement the X shape on our bed's headboard.

Here's Purlbee's photo:

I love those colors!! They could work well for our room, but there's no red. And I like red. (I might just have to settle for a red and teal kitchen someday...) Here are a few color ideas I've played around with:

(Sorry it's a little sloppy, but I just made it up in Illustrator really quick). The top row are the colors we want. Our bed is black with white/tan stitching, and our bed is slate blue. Next comes our accent color: red. I like the first pillow, with the white, red, and blue. But the problem is that I probably won't be able to match that shade of blue in felt. Darn. I think this will be a summer project, so maybe if I start looking now, I'll find something. Maybe.