Come Together Kids: ... to Make a Gift

Showing posts with label ... to Make a Gift. Show all posts

September 14, 2011

Birthday Countdown Stand

My "baby" will be turning six later this month! She's super excited, I'm finding it hard to believe. A couple months ago, I came across this cute Flip Recipe Organizer at Positively Splendid. I'm not nearly organized enough to keep all my recipes together, but I thought the concept was perfect for a countdown. I followed Amy's great tutorial and it came together really quickly.

Our new Birthday Countdown Stand was an easy little project (and I got to use a power tool!), my daughter LOVES it, and I no longer have to answer "How many days till my birthday?" multiple times a day.

Here's what you'll need:

* acrylic picture frame/sign stand (mine was 5x7")

* decorative papers and/or embellishments

* two 1" binder rings

* drill with a 1/8" bit

* painters' tape or masking tape

Here's what to do:

1. Measure where you want your ring clips to be at the top of your frame. I made mine about 3/4" down and in 1 3/4" in from the sides. Place a piece of painters' tape or masking tape over that part of your frame (to prevent cracking when you drill) and drill two holes using the 1/8" bit.

I only had really narrow tape on hand, but it worked just fine.

2. Gather your decorative papers and embellishments. I just used some of the tons of patterned paper I have left over from my short-lived scrapbooking days and printed up the words and numbers on my computer.

3. Cut your main pieces to 5x7" and then assemble your pieces. Punch two holes at the top to correspond to the holes in the frame for the ring clips. Slide your completed design into the frame. (Mine's nothing fancy, but I wanted to finish before my daughter came home from school to surprise her. )

4. Make your number cards for the countdown. Because we'll only be using this for a couple weeks, I didn't laminate them. However, if you're making a countdown stand that will be getting a lot of use, laminating for durability might be a good idea.

5. Attach your number cards in reverse order using the binder rings and you're ready to countdown.

I know this Countdown Stand will continue to be used for all my kids' birthdays and special occasions. It'll be super easy to swap out the design and whip up some new number cards ~ expect to see a Halloween one soon! ;)

Sharing our countdown at:

Gluesticks
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Katie's Nesting Spot
It's Playtime
Smilemonsters
Happy Hour Projects
Sun Scholars
Design Dazzle
Delicate Construction
Tatertots & Jello
Be Different, Act Normal
I heart Naptime
The Sunday Showcase
Under the Table and Dreaming
Craft-O-Maniac
Running with Glitter
Homemaker on a Dime
Beneath the Rowan Tree
C.R.A.F.T.
Skip to My Lou
Making the World Cuter
Lines Across my Face
Today's Creative Blog
Reasons to Skip the Housework
Not Just a Housewife
The Mommy Club
Momnivore's Dilemma
Bear Rabbit Bear
The Idea Room
It's Playtime
Momma's Kinda Crafty
Craft Junkie Too
Ladybird Ln.
Sugar and Dots
The Frugal Girls

August 1, 2011

Personalized Lunchboxes

Aren't these personalized lunchboxes cute? Thanks to some freezer paper stencils and a little bit of acrylic paint, I was able to turn some plain lunchbags into something special just for my kids.

Last year, I ordered the kids' lunchbox sets from EasyLunchboxes.com and it worked out great for us. The prices were quite reasonable compared to others I'd seen and they held up really well.

I really liked the plastic Food Containers in the set I'd ordered ~ it was so easy to pack a variety of foods in their lunches and their sandwiches didn't get smushed. I also really liked the Insulated Cooler Bags that went with the containers. The containers fit in it perfectly, with plenty of room for an ice pack, container of yogurt, water bottle, etc. I could even fit three of the plastic containers packed with snacks in one bag when we went out somewhere for the day.

The only problem was that the lunch bags only came in plain colors. The kids thought they were just too boring compared to the fancier lunchboxes covered with their favorite characters. They used their plain ones last year, but kept asking for character ones as we were starting our school shopping this week. I wasn't about to give up the convenience of the handy containers and bags, so it was freezer paper stencils to the rescue!! (See some other stencil projects HERE and HERE)

Cute dolphin instead of just a plain blue lunch bag!

Here's what I did (you'll see my pictures will alternate between the two different lunchboxes I did, I was working on this project in bits and pieces and didn't take all the pictures I needed on the first try):

1. I found a font and clip art that I liked on my computer. (Because the lunch boxes aren't quite as stable to work with as fabric, you'll want letters and images that aren't really detailed). I enlarged it to the size I needed, cut a piece of freezer paper to 8.5" x 11"then printed it directly on the paper side of the freezer paper.

2. Using a pair of fine-tipped scissors and an exacto-knife, I cut out my stencil. (Those of you with handy cutting machines can probably eliminate a couple steps here!)

3. With my iron on a medium heat, no steam, I ironed the stencil onto the lunchbox with the waxy side DOWN. Make sure the edges are securely adhered.

I put a few books inside the lunch box so there would be a hard surface to work on.

Here I could just open up the top flap to iron the stencil on

4. Using my acrylic paint, I painted in the stencil. Don't put a lot of paint on your brush and paint from the paper in towards the center so the paint won't bleed under the stencil.

See how I'm painting from the outside in?

The stencil did pucker up in a few places

So I just held it down with a fingertip as I painted.

5. Continue filling in your stencil, adding a second coat if necessary, until you have the coverage you desire.

6. I'm never patient enough to wait for the paint to dry, so I just carefully pull off the stencil when I'm finished painting.

7. And there you have it! A name or image that's personalized for your child!

No more plain lunchboxes for us! (Now that my youngest is starting kindergarten, I just ordered her a lunchbox of her own ~ she chose hot pink and a butterfly for the front!)

I was really pleased with how well they turned out and plan to do some more freezer paper stenciling on some pencil cases and binders!

Chalkboard Notebook

How cool is this chalkboard notebook? The cover of a regular composition book is painted with chalkboard paint that you can make in ANY color. Once dry, you can write messages with regular chalk, erase, and then write some more!

Now, wait till you see how easy it is!

Here's what I did to go from a plain notebook to a super cool chalkboard notebook:

1. Gather your supplies: Composition books, acrylic paint, unsanded tile grout, paintbrush, spray paint (not pictured ~ optional)

I found the tile grout near the tiles at Home Depot, it was less than $2

2. Next, mix up your chalkboard paint. I originally saw the idea HERE (thanks, Martha!). Because I wasn't going to be covering a large area, I made a smaller batch. I used 1/4 cup acrylic paint and 1 1/2 teaspoons grout powder. ( I had a big bottle of acrylic paint, but the smaller 2 oz. bottles should equal 1/4 cup exactly)

Adding the grout powder

Mix it up. It'll be about the consistency of pancake batter.

3. Paint the cover of your notebook. I did three coats, allowing it to dry in between. I also switched the direction of my brush strokes on each layer, first going horizontally, then vertically, then horizontally again.

4. NOTE: If you will be doing a fairly light color of paint, you might want to give the cover a quick coat of spray paint first. I was pretty pleased with the coverage of three coats of the pink, but you could still faintly see the design underneath. You can either do 4 coats of the chalkboard paint, or "prime" it with a coat of spray paint.

The notebook on the right had a coat of white spray paint first.

5. Allow the chalkboard paint to dry completely, then prepare the surface by rubbing it with a piece of chalk held sideways. Cover the entire surface, then erase it ( I used an old sock!).

5. Now you're ready to use your new notebook! You can write new messages and then erase it over and over again.

I'm definitely going to be testing this out on other school supplies too. It worked well on the composition books because they have a thicker cardboard cover and the surface isn't too glossy. I did try it on a folder and it worked pretty well, although the paint did warp it a little.

July 30, 2011

Molded Crayon Bracelet

We love taking our broken crayons and making new molded crayons in fun shapes. Last week, we took advantage of the sweltering summer heat and made these Hot Car Crayons ~ a successful little experiment. Now that we had a rainbow of new heart-shaped crayons, I wanted to do a little something special with them. (Otherwise, I knew they'd end up at the bottom of our crayon container once the novelty wore off)

So, I made some super cute Crayon Heart Bracelets!

They were really easy to do, and cost next to nothing! Here's what I did:

1. Gather your supplies ~ molded crayons, some round cord elastic, sharp metal stick (I used a metal skewer, although an ice pick or something similar would also work).

2. Heat the tip of your skewer over a flame for a few seconds, then poke it into your crayon to melt a hole. If your molded crayons are pretty thick, you can make your hole sideways through the crayon like a bead. Mine weren't quite thick enough, so I poked two holes so it would be like a button.

Obviously, you'll want to be careful here ~ that metal skewer is sharp and hot! I set the crayon down on the plate, then pushed the skewer down to make the holes. Then I lifted it up to push it the rest of the way through. I also found it helpful to wipe the melted wax off the skewer in between crayons so the color wouldn't bleed onto the next crayon.

3. Do the same for all your crayons.

4. Thread your crayon beads onto the elastic cord.

5. Tie the ends to form a bracelet and you're ready to go! We made rainbow bracelets because that's what my rainbow-infatuated girls wanted, but you could easily make any color combination or add beads to make a necklace too!

Now you can color away!

Not only are the little bracelets super cute, but they're also a great way to bring a few crayons with you in the car or out at a restaurant, without having to worry about them rolling away.

July 21, 2011

Easy Bandanna Top

If you want to know just how easy this cute little top was, let me just tell you that the entire thing was made by my 8 1/2 year-old daughter. It was her first experience using a sewing machine and would be the perfect beginning sewing project for you or your older child. For my rather petite daughter, it was a longer tank top, but could easily be a dress for a little one or a shorter top for a larger child or petite adult. Oh, and the whole thing will cost you only a few dollars!

My proud little seamstress rocking her new summer top!

Here's how she did it:

1. Gather your supplies. You'll need two bandannas, two pieces of ribbon, pins, an iron and a sewing machine.

Our cool tie-dye bandannas were on clearance for just 97 cents each!

2. On two corners of your bandanna, measure down 6" and press the triangles with your iron. Repeat on the other bandanna.

Measure!

Press with your iron.

So it looks like this.

3. Cut the triangle off on the ironed crease line. Repeat with all four triangles.

Cutting off the triangle corner.

4. On your cut edges, fold over 1/4" towards the wrong side of the fabric, then fold over 1/4" again. Press down your double fold and pin in place.

I helped press the edges so she wouldn't burn her fingers.

But she was able to pin the fold in place.

5. Now it's time to sew a little bit! Sew your folded edge down. She used the edge of the presser foot as a guide and removed the pins as she got to them. Do the same with all four cut corners.


My old sewing machine is probably 5 times older than she is!

Her seams weren't perfect, and we had to stop a few times to get it back on track, but overall, she did great!

6. Next, fold down the top of the bandanna (between the two cut corners) about 1" onto the wrong side of the fabric. You don't have to worry about finishing the edge because it's already the finished edge of the bandanna. Press down and pin in place.

Press to get a crisp edge.

Pin in place.

7. Sew along the finished edge, removing the pins as you go. Do not sew the sides shut, that's where you'll insert your ribbon. Do the same with your second bandanna.

( No picture for this sewing step, we must have been too excited to finish to stop for the camera!)

8. Put the two bandannas right sides together. At this point, you can just sew up the two sides and be finished, but we found that it was just a little too loose and revealing for my almost preteen. So, we took a shirt from her closet and placed it over the bandannas. We lined up the necklines and then used it as a pattern to cut a little off the sides.