Bilingual Animal Painting for Escuela Montessori

Sadie the Incredible Mermaid Girl: D.I.Y. Traveling Side Show Mermaid Baby Costume

This year was my baby girl's first halloween as a dress-up-able-human and it was imperative that she have the perfect first Halloween costume.  I had originally had my heart set on her being the bearded lady in a side show but when she wouldn't leave the beard on I decided to take advantage of the fact that she's not walking yet and put her in some sort of a sack costume which also meant that I would need to decorate her stroller...which naturally led me to make her the Incredible Mermaid Girl in a traveling side show!

I created her stroller cover using foam core as the fish tank frame; blue fabric, glitter tulle & clear plastic Christmas ornaments for the water; and foam core for the signage & held it all together using a glue gun.  I attached the whole contraption to the stroller (a Britax B-agile) using Velcro Garland Tie and all that was missing was a fat little mermaid to go inside.

Enter one fat little mermaid.  

I have a tutorial on how to make the shell top for the costume here 

& the mermaid tail tutorial is in the works!  

I'd love to see pictures of your home-made Halloween costumes.  Happy Be-lated Halloween!!

Christmas here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Parenting Project #1: Homemade Baby Wipes

In honor of today being the first day of Spring, I thought we could start our Spring Cleaning by focusing the most important object in the house: the baby.

And more specifically- her bottom. 

When my little Sadie Jean was a mere 1 week old she got the most hellacious diaper rash I've ever seen.  (**it should be noted here that I've probably only seen 3-4 diaper rashes in real life but still, it was BAD!)  So- I started asking around to my circle-of-Moms to find out what they use to cure them and more importantly- to prevent them and was handed down this awesome Do-It-Yourself Butt Wipe recipe from my friend Katherine, who's the mother of twin boys, and I'm happy to report that Sadie is now 12 weeks old and has remained diaper rash free!  This is a big deal in my life.  (Thank you Katherine!!)

So, without further ado, I give you the...

KATHERINE'S RECIPE FOR A HAPPY BABY BUTT

• 1 roll paper towel, cut in half
• 2C water
• 1/8C baby oil (that's 2 Tbls)
• a squirt of baby wash (just a dab'll do ya)
• 5 drops tea tree oil (a natural antibacterial)
• a rubbermaid container with a lid

To make these wipes, first cut a roll of papertowels in half.   

(I use Viva because they feel the most like cloth)

Remove the inner cardboard tube and pull out the first square of papertowel.

Now mix your ingredients.  I put mine in a seperate jar and then dump them over the papertowels while already in the Rubbermaid but you can do whatever you want.  It's your party. 

Swirl the ingredients gently to mix but don't shake them up or it will get all foamy and not soak into the papertowels right. 

 

Put the half roll of papertowels into the Rubbermaid, pour the mixture of the entire roll and let sit for at least 15 minutes to get them completely wet and you're done!  You've made your first batch of butt wipes.  These are not only a nice way to cut down on the amount of chemicals being used to clean little Juniors rear end but they're also economical.  For this roll of 88 wipes the total price was $.98!!  You just can't beat that!!

Hopefully these work for you as well as they've worked for us! 

Diaper rash free in one-three!!

Liz's AMAZING Half-Jewish Ugly Christmas Sweater!

What do you do when you're both half-Jewish and you're invited to your friend's ugly Christmas sweater party?

Well, if you're Liz, you go halfsies on a sweater with your best Dude and make an incredible half-Hannukah/half-Christmas sweater that is so amazing that you just can't help but stare at it and keep saying, "oh my God, it's a full menorah when you're side-by-side!  I can't believe it!"   Well played Rosenberg, well played.

Happy Hannukah/Christmas everyone!

Getting Ready for Sadie: the Bedding

Getting the nursery ready for our upcoming bundle of squish has been really fun.  It's still weird to think that I'm going to be the Mom and that this is all for my own daughter but as our due date approaches (Jan. 1st!) it's becoming more and more real. 

Part of it feeling more real is that my Mom completed the crib set that she made for us for the baby shower and it came out cuter than I could have ever imagined!  We got the fabric from my friend Aurora's store, Fabric Bliss, which is located in Denver but they have a very easy-to-navigate online shopping feature.  I emailed Aurora and told her that I was looking for something "dainty but not girly, that coordinates but doesn't match, has a vintage feel and it can't be pink!"  Immediately she wrote back and suggested the Seaside collection from October Afternoon.  

And it's beyond perfect!!

All of the fabrics coordinate with each other but don't necessarily "match", the prints are dainty enough for a baby girl but not drowned in pink-on-pink and they have an adorably vintage feel that goes perfectly with the vintage feel we are going for in the nursery.  

My Mom also made this precious mermaid-tailed receiving blanket (her own design) and I can't get enough of it!  Thanks Mom!!  You're the greatest!

$5 DIY Googley-eyed Fall Wreath Tutorial

I'm not sure what's happening to me but I felt an overwhelming urge to make an Autumn wreath this year.  I've always been into decorating, and over-decorating, for the holidays but I usually keep it to giant fake spiders, severed hands and glittery skeletons.  Your standard October stuff.  So when I found myself shopping for a wreath making supplies, nobody was more surprised than me.  It was as if I blacked out and woke up at the register with a wreath form and fake foliage in my hands. 

So, I've accepted it, I like wreaths.  There, I said it.  

But that doesn't mean I have to make a button covered, gingham scarecrow country crafts with a giant bow type of wreath.   I can like wreaths and still make them look like me.  It doesn't mean I have to buy high waisted Mom jeans or run out and lease a mini-van.  Not yet anyway.  

So here is my tutorial on how to make a quick $5 Googley-Eyed Fall Wreath:

SUPPLIES (I got the $1 supplies from the dollar store)

$1 wreath form

$1 fall foliage x3

$1 5pk mini squashes

ball of twine (had on hand)

googley eyes (had on hand) 

wire cutters (had 'em)

glue gun/glue sticks (had 'em)

To begin, start by tying the end of your twine to your wreath form and wrap the twine around the wreath for a space about 3" long.  This is purely decorative. 

Next, arrange your 3 bouquets of fall foliage and begin snipping them off of the main branch with your wire cutters.  Arrange the new seperate pieces so that you have 2 equal bouquets (if you plan on making 2 wreaths...which I did because I have a double front door.)

Now begin adding the plastic foliage to your wreath just under the 3" band of twine.  I used hot glue to keep the plants in place and then wrapped more twine around the base of each one- mostly because it looks cute but also to secure it in place.  

When you reach the end add another 3" section of wrapped twine to finish it off.  You can stop here and have a perfectly lovely Autumnal Wreath to hang on your front door but I feel like it's just too regular.  It needs something. 

In my case, that "something" almost always ends up being googley-eyes.  Or "guurely eyes" as my niece calls them.  

From the 5 pack of mini squashes I scooped at the dollar store, I grabbed a couple of 'em and gave them life.  I am not unlike the good Dr. Frankenstein in this way.  

Take your freshly googelied squashes and arrange them at the base of your fallin' foliage until you are satisfied and hot glue them into place.  

**Note: my squashes are made of styrofoam which means they basically melt when the come in contact with hot glue.  Turn your glue gun to the lowest setting if you have that option or put the glue on the wreath first and allow it to cool for about 3-4 seconds before placing your squash so that it doesn't turn into a puddle.**

And finally, add a twine hanger to the top of your wreath and hang with pride from your front door(s).  

Together these wreaths cost me less than $10 and they can be left up through Halloween and all the way through to Thanksgiving.  I hope you like them as much as I do. 

happy fall!

Kids Crafts: My Pet Rock

This is a fun and easy project to entertain kids on a hot Summer's day and, depending on the supplies you have on hand, it could even be free.  

For this project you'll need:

• some rocks
• spray primer (optional)
• acrylic paint
• googley eyes (never optional)
• a couple of kid-friendly paintbrushes
• tacky glue
• some chil'ren

Start out by collecting some rocks.  

This comes as naturally as breathing to my 5-year-old niece so luckily after a day of adventurin' I already had a pocketful of rocks to start with.  If you can't find any "good" rocks, you can always buy some at a craft store.  

Next, using a spray primer lightly coat both sides of the rocks. 

This helps the paint to adhere to the rock's surface and allows bright colors to show up better on darker colored rocks. 

Once the primer is dry (about a 1/2 hour on each side) put some aprons on some kids (some that you know preferrably), put out some paint and let them get creative.  

Encourage the kids to paint monsters with big mouths, stripes, polka dots, animals they like, flowers...anything that gets their imaginations going.  

 
If there are globs of paint on a rock, the googley eyes may be able to stick right to it.  If not just glue 'em on.

Acrylic paint is non-toxic and washable before it's dry.    

And now, if your little people really love you, they might just give you one of the rocks they just painted.  I was lucky enough to have this rock gifted to me.  "She's a girl on this side and a boy on the other"....obviously.

trash to treasure: twine-wrapped planter

I accidentally broke my favorite purple pot (aka my only purple pot) and just couldn't bear to throw it out.  I considered gluing it back together but some of the pieces shattered so there would be holes all over it and the dirt would fall out.  Then I considered smashing it into little pieces and making some sort of mosaic out of it but then I remembered that I don't like mosaics.  (No offense if that's your thing, it's just not for me.)  I also thought about taking a bite out of it like the girls on that TV show but my heart's just not in it.

The only thing left was to fix it and figure out a way to cover the crack and make it super adorable- and I did just that.

Here's how:

For this project you will need the following items:

• a broken pot (or lamp or decorative vase or a little trash can, etc)
• twine
• glue gun/glue sticks
• epoxy

Start off by washing your broken pot in hot soapy water.  **Careful to not burn and/or cut yourself!!**  This will remove any oils or dirt from the pot and make the epoxy hold better.

Next, mix your epoxy and add a generous amount to the break in your pot.  You should wear gloves during this and work in a well ventilated area, this stuff is smelly.   Put your pieces back together.

**You can put globs of the epoxy on since the seam doesn't need to be beautiful because we'll be covering the whole thing with twine.   Smear the extra epoxy around with a toothpick after putting the pieces back together to make a water-tight seal.

Now let your epoxy dry.  Mine says it takes 7 minutes to set.  

 Now you're ready to start wrapping your newly fixed pot in twine.  I turned my pot over and started from the bottom.

 Begin by gluing the end of the twine to your pot and start wrapping, gluing the twine to the pot as you go.  

 I put a dot of hot glue about every 3-5" on the entire pot.  This string's not going  anywhere!!

When you're done wrapping, throw a plant in there and you now have a custom, hand-wrapped planter to wow your friends with.  I'd recommend keeping this pot inside as rain or snow will get the string wet and it could possibly get moldy and gross.  And we wouldn't want that.    

Thanks for reading!

Commuter Crafts: 30-minute Wrapped Earrings

I have almost all of my best ideas while r-u-n-n-i-n-g out of the door to catch the bus to get to work.  (Usually at the exact moment I run out of time to actually do anything about it.)

Last week as I was throwing things in my bag in an effort to leave only 4 minutes after I was supposed to- it hit me, "I should make some custom earrings to wear with this outfit."






Of course!  I'm 4 minutes late leaving to catch the bus that only comes once an hour, I ran out of time to make my lunch and already nixed that, my hair is a mess and I don't think I brushed my teeth but of course- of course there's time for custom earrings.  Why wouldn't there be?

I grabbed some cheap silver hoops from my collection and embroidery floss from a friendship bracelet I was making for a friend and ran out the door to chase after my bus.

Once on the bus (I made it- with seconds to spare I might add) I set up my workspace on my lap and began to wrap the hoops with the embroidery floss.   I chose salmon, beige and black for my colors. 

Tie a knot with all 3 colors on the post side of your hoop (above) and begin wrapping the end of the string with your first color (below).  Keep the floss held taught while wrapping to keep it uniform.  

Switch colors and wrap with each color to create your design.

At the end, quadruple knot the floss, cut as close as possible and you're done!

In about a half an hour you've made some new earrings that you can now wear into work and give the impression that you are a grown-up who wakes early, puts together perfectly matched outfits complete with earrings and who doesn't leave the house cussing at your cat or wrestling with your jacket.    

(No-one has to know what really happened this morning.) 

Why don't you make me?: Three-Tiered Terra Cotta Planter

With limited space in my small city yard every inch counts so each Spring I am faced with a decision: do I want pretty flowers or a functioning vegetable garden?  I envision myself having friends over for dinner and quickly running outside with my schears to an adorable, and lovingly attended to, little vegetable garden- I'd grab fresh herbs for the potatoes, pluck some peppers and lettuce for the salad and maybe bring in some grape tomatoes for my friends to snack on before dinner.  They just love that.  Then, after dinner we'd all get in my spaceship and go visit Unitron, the home of the last living unicorn.  In other words, it's not going to happen.

What did happen however is this- a triple-decker half veggie/half flower tower of compromise.  I'm taking baby steps to becoming the world's best hostess by growing only the greens to my future salads and I still have room for flowers! 

Here's how I did it:

First, I invited Liz over who did everything.  (This was an important step because Liz is wicked good at this stuff and because I have a cast on my right arm up to my elbow right now.) 

Next, we took pots from the pot graveyard on the side of my house and selected 3 in decending sizes.  (These don't have to match perfectly, as you can see.)

Pick a sunny spot in your garden to place the biggest pot- we nestled ours right into this Vinca Minor- and fill with soil until just below the top.


Add a small dowel or bamboo rod into the largest pot and thread themiddle pot onto it burying the pot about an inch into the soil of the largest pot.

Then trim the dowel until about 3-4" is showing to be inserted into the smallest pot.

Now have Liz thread the smallest pot right over the dowel and press into the dirt on the lower level burying it slightly.  Great job Liz!

And finally, you are ready to plant your Garden of Compromise.  Liz and I decided on some green lettuce, purple lettuce, white & purple flowers, 2 small cascading plants and topped the whole thing off with a ponytail fern.

Now we truly can have our garden...and eat it too.

Thanks Liz!! <3 <3 <3

Day 4: Reusable Bags: Not Just for the Grocery Store

By now, pretty much every body I know has caught on to using re-usable grocery bags as part of a daily routine.  They all have a small cache of them to bring to the grocery store or to a weekend farmers market.  What's not common practice however, is to use them when they're out shopping at clothing stores, junk shops, the beer store, etc.

Re-usable bags can and should be used in place of plastic bags whenever possible.  Today's easy way to save the planet is to try to make it your practice to carry a small reusable bag with you wherever you go for those impulse buys you weren't expecting like a quick stop at the drugstore or when you just can't resist a sale at Forever21.  

You can buy small EcoBags for just this purpose.

To help understand why it's so important for all of us to lessen our dependance on plastic Inspiration Green laid out these statistics for us:

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide.
That's over one million plastic bags used per minute.
planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/plastic-bag-facts.html

Every year, Americans reportedly throw away 100 billion plastic grocery bags.

www.worldwatch.org/node/5565

The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year...
NRDC www.nrdc.org/media/2008/080109.asp

Americans use and dispose of 100 billion plastic shopping bags each year
and at least 12 million barrels of oil are used per year in the
manufacture of those plastic grocery bags.
The Wall Street Journal

Less than 5 percent of plastic grocery bags are recycled in the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.

Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down,
so even when an animal dies and decays after ingesting a bag, the plastic re-enters the environment, posing a continuing threat to wildlife.

www.worldwatch.org/node/5565

There is now six times more plastic debris in parts of the North Pacific Ocean
than zooplankton.

www.acfnewsource.org/environment/plastic_plankton.html

And for those times when you simply cannot use a re-usable bag, please please please recycle it or repurpose it. 

To find a recycling center near you go here.

(Did you know you can recycle the plastic that toilet paper comes wrapped in?!  Me either!!)

Or!

Weave them into a rug like Homestead Weaver or make a rainjacket like PenFelt on Etsy.



JUST SAY NO!  to plastic bags.

Makeover Monday: The Red Credenza

Makeover Monday (Tuesday Edition):

The Great Credenza Makeover of 2012

Last Thursday, on my daily trip around Craigslist, I found this beautiful 1960's style credenza living in the garage of the nicest seller in the history of Craigslist for $25 bucks! 

The drawers and the sliding doors turned out to be the only real wood on it.  The rest of it, as far as I can tell, is made of cement mixed with whatever the heaviest thing on earth is.  Seriously, this thing weighs a ton.  Luckily my wonderful (and hilarious!) friend Zach was nice enough to throw on some sweat pants and go pick it up with me.  Thanks Zach!  (Sorry you had to wear sweat pants to class.)

We got it in the house as far as the living room where it had to stay because Zach had to go to class (in sweats) and, as I may have mentioned, this thing weighs at least 300lbs (and I can only bench press 275) so I can't move it alone.  Living room it is.  I began to unscrew the legs...there were 7.  Interesting.  

While it was flipped over I realized that the entire thing was 3 separate pieces connected by 2 brackets and the common top.  I unscrewed the brackets and top, had it quickly inspected by Fonzie and the pieces came right apart.  I love it so much as one piece but at 8' long I have nowhere the entire unit would even fit. 

Plus, now that they're separate I can actually move the pieces all by my lonesome.  Holler!

I sanded everything- doors, drawers, legs, etc.

And primed them with Zinsser.  This was my first time using Zinsser and I love it!  It dried really fast and covered everything.

I painted the outer parts of the credenza (here after 1 coat) with Rustoleum 'Gloss Sunrise Red'.  I chose the Rustoleum because I wanted a high shine and I loved this perfect color red.  The inside was painted flat 'Olivewood' grey.

Now for the doors.  I decided not to prime the doors, just sand them mostly because I didn't want to tape around that little metal handle bit.  Also cause I just didn't think they needed it. 

I put the doors in the credenza where they'll eventually live and traced the line where they overlap.

Next I laid my doors on the amazing decorative paper I'm using to cover them and cut around their outline using an X-acto knife.  Using the line we drew on the second door I allowed for a little bit of overlap so that the image would appear as one piece when the doors are closed. 

Once you're happy with your paper placement Mod Podge it into place.  Cover the entire surface with Mod Podge, lay your paper down and smooth out any air bubbles.  Be sure to work quick, this stuff dries fast.  When it's in place, cover the entire surface with Mod Podge.  (It's a good idea to use M.P. Hard Coat for this project.)

At first the glue will be cloudy but never fear, it will dry to a beautifully clear finish in no time.  I chose a matte finish and also decided to cover the second set of doors with a 2nd paper option because I just couldn't pick one.

I put the top back on, screwed on the legs and slid the doors in and the results are a sophisticated yet playful piece of furniture that I absolutely adore.  I cannot wait to fill it with carp...I mean crap. 

***TIP from my Mom***
Instead of wasting time cleaning paintbrushes that you're just going to use again for the second coat, wrap them in plastic wrap or a grocery bag and pop 'em in the freezer until you're ready for the next coat of paint.  This way you only have to wash your brushes once at the end of the project which will help seriously reduce the desire to just abandon the project halfway through because washing paint rollers is such a gigantic paint in the a**.  Thanks Lady!

Nothing to Wear for St. Patrick's Day??

Oh no!  You waited until the last possible second to figure out what you're going to wear for St. Patrick's Day?!?  ME TOO!!  Here are 2 quick options that you can throw together in either 20 minutes or in under 10 minutes.

**NOTE: These projects will probably require a quick trip to a craft store after work but never fear, Michael's is open until 9:00pm tonight so you should be all set.**

20 MINUTE OPTION: Light-up Shamrock Shirt

First- gather your supplies.  

You'll need:

• a t-shirt (preferrably green)
• green pipe cleaners (about 17 stems)
• battery powered light set (I used 2 sets)
• glue gun
• X-acto knife

  Begin forming a shamrock by bending 2 pipe cleaners together for the outside of the shamrock and secure with hot glue to t-shirt.

 (a piece of cardboard inside of the shirt creates a stiff work surface (that's what she said) and keeps the glue from going through to the back.)

 Add a second and a third loop inside of the outer outline to fill it in a little and make it fancy.

 Glue both of those loops to t-shirt with hot glue.  Repeat 3 more times to create a 4-Leaf Clover.

 Next, cut a series of small holes (as many holes as lights) along the inner rim of the outside of the shamrock's border.  These holes are for the lights to poke through so they don't need to be very big.  Just a tiny slit.

 Poke the lights through the holes and secure with hot glue.  Hold for about 10 seconds to let it set.

 I only had enough lights to put 4 lights on each leaf.

And now you're done and you have a perfectly boring looking t-shirt with a not-so-great Shamrock hot glued on it.  Great.  Thanks a lot Mom.  BUT WAIT!!  Add a couple of AA batteries and VIOLA!  YOU'RE THE LIFE OF THE PARTY!!

And you did it all in under 20 minutes!

Next...

UNDER 10 MINUTES: Mini Top Hat Headband


For this project you'll need:

• a headband
• a mini top hat (or a green bow or a cardboard clover, etc...)
• green pipe cleaner x1
• glue gun

 I found this ridiculously miniature (and equally adorable) top hat at A.C.Moore yesterday on sale for $.50!  If you can't find a mini top hat just look around for something else green and if you can't find anything, cut a clover out of cardboard and color it green with a marker and go to step 2.)

 Step 2.  Remove wire.

Step 3:  This step is optional- I didn't like the green ribbon my hat had so I replaced it with a sparkly green pipe cleaner.

Step 4:  Now, flip the hat over, add 2 dollops of hot glue to the brim and place your headband onto the hot glue wherever you want the hat positioned.

Step 5:  Flip the head band back over and you have a brand new mini top hat headband.

 Well aren't you adorable.  Now go out and show off how crafty you are.

Here's to a long life and a merry one.
A quick death and an easy one.
A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold pint-- and another one!




'Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!'

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Make Me: St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Cupcakes

It is said that every Leprechaun has a pot of gold, hidden deep in the Irish countryside.  The most popular hiding place for this pot of gold is, of course, at the end of a rainbow.

These delicious little rainbows do not have pots of gold at the end of them but they do have icing on top of them and they are, thankfully, far less ellusive than real rainbows.   They'd be a perfect addition to any St. Patrick's day celebration.

Here's how to make them. 

First, collect your supplies, you'll need:

-yellow cake batter
-food coloring
-paper baking cups
-icing

Begin by preparing your cake batter according to your recipe. 

Next, seperate the cake batter evenly into 6 containers.

Then dye each cup of batter a different color of the rainbow.  I like to use Wilton gel food coloring, it makes beautiful, rich colors.  I would highly recommend using them instead of the liquid food coloring from the grocery store. 

Now begin layering batter into your prepared muffin tin purple first. 

Then do the same with the blue...

And the green...

Slap on some yellow...

Add a dollop of orange...

And finally top it off with a spoonful of red.

Bake cupcakes according to recipe.

Remove from oven and let cool. 

Once cooled, the outside of the cupcake will look like this.  Meh, nothin' special.

But crack 'er open and you have a vibrant and delicious rainbow surprise!

My 4 year old nephew actually told me that his cupcake was "too beautiful to eat." 

And then I died of acute cute overload.

You can also play around with the layering to make other cool creations-

Happy baking!

                                                      dry erase board by yours truly

Easy Stool Makeover: Before and After

Stool: $4 at a garage sale
Can of spray paint: $3.95
Time: 10 minutes to sand/spray, 1 hour to dry
Result: adorable new red plant stand

To keep the natural character of this stool I chose to only lightly sand the varnish off before painting it.  This way, all of the wear-and-tear and naturally acquired flaws still show through after painting and you're left with an adorable stool that looks like it's  always been red.    

Total cost: under $8.  Not bad.  

**TIP** If you want to make this project extra easy, set the stool and the spray paint outside and tell Liz you'll do it in a minute.  She can't resist!