Eileen

4 Simple Steps for Magical Results with Chalk Paint

November 27, 2016 by Eileen 50 Comments

I finally decided to try my hand at using chalk paint. I love using a good wood stain, but I had been hearing so much about chalk paint lately that I decided to give it a try with a “practice piece.”

Using a decades old nightstand with many stains and uneven surfaces, the chalk paint exceeded my expectations, totally transforming the desolate nightstand into a modern piece, without any sanding or priming.

I was sold on chalk paint, and I’m sure you will be too after reading through this chalk paint tutorial.

Before I give you the step-by-step instructions on using chalk paint, here are a few pictures of the piece before the chalk paint. You can see the uneven surfaces and scratches, especially on the lower part of the shelf.

Using chalk paint on furniture - You won't believe the "After!"

And this is a close-up of the top of the nightstand before using chalk paint. It wasn’t in good shape at all – but the chalk paint covered it all perfectly without any sanding.

Choosing a Chalk Paint

The first step in the chalk paint process was deciding what brand chalk paint to use. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I went back and forth deciding whether to use Annie Sloan or another brand. Since I was split down the middle, I ultimately decided to use Annie Sloan because of the chemical warning I saw written on the wax container of the other brand of chalk paint – in comparison to the natural ingredients used in the Annie Sloan wax (like beeswax).

That, coupled with the fact that it was my first chalk paint project, sold me on the Annie Sloan brand.

For the top of the nightstand, I used primarily French Linen chalk paint from Annie Sloan (keep reading for how I made it look like distressed wood).

For the rest of the piece, I used Pure White chalk paint from Annie Sloan on the rest of the piece. Just as a side note about, the Pure White chalk paint – it is very white.

Chalk Paint Materials

You can go a little overboard on chalk paint materials, so I wanted to keep it as simple as possible.

French Linen (Annie Sloan) Chalk Paint – for the top of the nightstand
Pure White (Annie Sloan) Chalk Paint – for the majority of the piece, and a little for blending the top
Annie Sloan Clear Wax – to cover the whole piece as a protective coating
Annie Sloan Dark Wax – to help create the look of distressed wood on the top
Brushes – I liked using a round brush like this one and I used a 1-inch and 2-inch angular one too
White lint-free rags – to rub the wax on
Gloves, mask (if desired), newspaper/brown paper for floor, and baby wipes to wipe down piece prior to painting.

Now, it seems like a lot of materials for chalk painting, but there is a lot of leftover paint, and the paintbrushes can be reused on any painting project.

The other thing you might be worried about is using wax. I read about a lot of others having trouble with waxing after the chalk paint. However, do not worry – the wax was the simplest part of the chalk paint process!!

Wax is way better to use than polyurethane, and it went by way quicker than the painting.

How to Refinish Furniture with Chalk Paint

With these simple four steps, you will be able to beautifully chalk paint a piece of old furniture.

Here I am ready to give this old nightstand a fresh new look with the following chalk paint steps.

Step 1 – Clean Your Piece

When getting started with the chalk paint process, first clean your piece really good so the chalk paint will stick. I like using baby wipes to clean off furniture.
Then remove any hardware – like drawer knobs – unless you plan to paint these.

Step 2 – Work on the Top

First, tape the edges of the piece. Then you can you can uninhibitedly chalk paint the top.
Then, start brushing on the French Linen chalk paint. Chalk paint goes on just like any other paint, so I gave it a good, thick coat of paint going with the grain. You can go against or in any direction, if you want your whole piece to have an uneven, distressed look. As for brushes, I used the round brush – but any of the brushes would have been fine.
As you are chalk painting, watch for edges and any dripping. The paint is thick, so it doesn’t drip too much; however, because the chalk paint dries fast, you’ll want to catch any potential mistakes quickly.
Let the first coat of chalk paint dry. It took about 30-45 minutes for me. Chalk paint dries super fast!
If you want the top to have a uniform color, then apply another coat.

Technically, the top will now be done, and you can move on to Step 3. Yet, if you want to give it a distressed wood look, follow the below steps for distressed chalk paint:

Distressing the Wood (optional)

Paint a second coat of French Linen, adding a little water in. This coat is different because you are going to add a little water into the gray. Because chalk paint is thick and fast-drying, it’s hard to brush other colors into it. Adding a small amount of water will make the paint a little easier to work with – keeping the paint wet longer, which allows you to brush in the white chalk paint. As for an amount, you can just lightly dip your brush into a cup of water or you could use a plastic cup to put some chalk paint and water into. Again, just a little dip into the water will go a long way with the chalk paint.
After you give the top a second coat of watered down French Linen, while it’s still wet, it’s time to put some white streaks onto the gray chalk paint. Use the Pure White chalk paint and dab your brush in – just a small dab. You can run the brush along a piece of paper to get rid of any excess. The goal is to create streaky white brush strokes on your gray. The round brush is perfect for this. You can make subtle white streaks like I did – or you can make them more frequent and apparent. If you have too much white, then use the gray again – keep layering it until you are happy with how it looks. Remember it’s not supposed to look uniform. The strokes of white are creating character and dimension.

Let the chalk paint dry again – 30 min to 45 should be good.
Last, use the dark wax on your chalk paint. Similarly to how you just used the white, you are going to lightly (very lightly) dip your round brush into the dark wax. Only the very ends of your brush should have wax. Just as you brushed on the white paint, brush on the wax here and there, giving the piece more dimension. If you put on too much of the dark wax, then layer again with the gray chalk paint until you are happy with the results. I used a very small amount of the dark wax because I wanted more of an even look.

As far as creating this look, I found this part of the chalk paint process so much fun, and I am not even an artist.

Rather than just painting brush stroke after brush stroke to cover area, it was something different – and was quite fun and relaxing to create this dimensional look with chalk paint. It was definitely one of my favorite steps of the chalk paint process.

Also, as mentioned before, if you make mistakes or aren’t happy with the way it looks, it is easy to fix by touching up the chalk paint.

Step 3 – Paint, Paint, Paint

Now it is time to chalk paint the rest of your piece, leaving the top that you just painted as is. I used the Pure White chalk paint and used the angular brushes to put it on. Don’t forget to also do your drawers.
The first coat of chalk paint will look streaky (pictured below), but a good, thick coat helps.

After the first coat of chalk paint dries, give the piece a second coat of chalk paint. My piece was still pretty streaky after two coats of paint (pictured below).

I did one more coat of chalk paint, which made for a total of 3. For the chalk paint to go on smoother, you can water it down a little. I did this for my third coat because I felt I didn’t need a full thick coat again.

When working with chalk paint, or any kind of paint, I suggest working in the brightest light possible. If you can, bring more light into your work space so your space is as bright as possible. This will accentuate any dripping or streaking which will help if your piece will be in a room with lots of light.

Step 4 – Waxing In Circles

Waxing is actually a piece of cake. If you are good at cleaning, then you’ll be great at wiping on this wax.

Use two rags – you can split your old t-shirt into pieces, and put one rag in each hand. With one rag you are going to wipe the wax on, and with the other, you are going to polish.
Start with a small amount of wax (half of the size of a dime) – less is more. Start rubbing it on in circles, like the way you rub lotion into your skin. Work your way across the furniture rubbing in circles.
Immediately after, using the second rag, work your way across the piece also rubbing in circles. As you buff, you will start to notice the surface becoming very shiny. This is the look you want! You want to polish in circular motions until it is nice and shiny. Once it’s shiny, move to the next area.

Quick Tip: I would use different rags for the top than the rest of the piece in case there is any bleeding from the paint onto the rags.

Also, you could wax the gray chalk painted top after the top dries in Step 2, instead of waiting until the piece is done. I did this, so I got used to the whole chalk paint process from start to finish, before doing the whole piece.

Chalk Paint Finishing Touches

Last, I replaced the knob on the chalk painted nightstand. Home Depot, Lowes, and Hobby Lobby are all good choices for knobs. This knob I had on my telephone table, but I didn’t love it there – but it looks great on this chalk painted nightstand!

I finished this nightstand within 24 hours I believe – as I kept moving as soon as each coat dried.

It was definitely my best turnaround time on refinishing furniture. When you take away the sanding, priming, and all that dry time, it really speeds up a project.

I loved working with chalk paint, and the results are just amazing. It simply doesn’t look like the same piece. And, the chalk paint process is really easy.

Even my dad’s jaw dropped when I showed him the before and after! He usually only gets impressed with Ash’s projects 🙂

Also, I have a ton of leftover paint. I went through about 1/8 of the quart of white and barely touched the gray chalk paint.

Our old piano is going to be my next chalk paint project – I can’t wait to see how it will look.

Stayed tuned (ha ha pun intended!).

How to Throw a Seinfeld Theme Party (Even in a Restaurant)

November 21, 2016 by Eileen 6 Comments

Themes make parties so much more fun. They break the ice, give everyone a few laughs, and they are filled with creative, little details which I just adore.

With Pinterest and Google’s image search, throwing a theme party is easier than ever because there are huge archives of what has already been done.

It’s like having a silent yet awesome brainstorm session with just you and the Internet.

With my sister Bridget turning 30, my family and I wanted to throw her a surprise party.

However, she is extremely hard to trick, lives in a different state, and is constantly travelling at the blink of an eye.

We were worried that we wouldn’t get her to nail down a date, let alone make sure she was actually home for it. Yet, with a little decoy plan, it all worked out.

She thought we were going to see Aladdin on Broadway. Once you purchase Broadway tickets, you are glued to that date, so it was a great cover.

The next challenge was throwing the party in a restaurant.

Planning the Seinfeld Party

Being the DIYers that we are, we love party planning and are used to hosting parties at our home –cooking themed food, decorating every corner of the house, and planning fun activities, like photo booths.

However, since we lived out of town, we wanted to go to her, making a restaurant our primary option. To keep costs down, we didn’t rent a private room but rather had the party in a nice pizza place.

At first, I thought we wouldn’t be able to have a theme party because you can’t decorate a few tables in a restaurant.

Yet, I found a few creative ways to work in the theme. We made Seinfeld desserts, organized Seinfeld-inspired regifts, and made a photo book of Seinfeld quotes paired with pictures of my sister.

My sister loves Seinfeld – I mean, everything is a Seinfeld reference.

She commonly makes jokes about New York’s awful postal service, brings us chocolate babka when she visits, and is always complaining about close talkers.

Not to mention, when I was graduating college, in the love notes section of my yearbook (where you are supposed to say how proud you are of the graduate), she submitted a note filled with Seinfeld-isms.

Check out this yearbook “love note” from my Seinfeld-loving sister:

Funny, right?! There are so many amazing lines from Seinfeld that you can do so much with.

Therefore, it was the perfect theme for this restaurant party.

Here’s how I worked the Seinfeld theme into the restaurant setting:

Seinfeld Party Food

Themed food is my favorite part of parties, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to be as creative with this due to throwing the party at a restaurant.

We had NY pizza and big salads. I also made cupcakes for dessert (easy for the restaurant to serve) with Seinfeld cupcake toppers.

To make the cupcake toppers, I used some short Seinfeld-isms on a yellow oval.

I printed them on white card stock, cut them out, and then taped them to 4-inch lollipop sticks.

Also, I made gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free cupcakes (which turned out great!!).

As far as the food goes, Seinfeld has so many amazing food references. If we were throwing the party at our house we would have had all of this to work with:

Appetizers: soup nazi soup, pretzels (these pretzels are making me thirsty), crab bisque, chips and dip (double dip), big salad
Main: marble rye sandwiches, cornish hens, calzones, atomic subs, Arby’s, bagels, pastrami, sausages, Chinese food, deli meat, beef-a-reno, poppy seeds, lobster, risotto, shrimp
Desserts: black and white cookies, muffin tops, babka, chocolate eclairs, Entenmann’s, Bosco, non-fat frozen yogurt, pie (with unwashed hands), Drake’s cakes, non-fat yogurt, Pez, Junior Mints, Twix, Tic-Tacs, and Snickers.

That would have been some spread!

Seinfeld Party Goody Bags

For another fun detail, I decided to make goody bags, which included some of the many food references from above.

Being that it was just after Halloween, I got some great deals on candy.

The goody bags included Drake’s cakes, Junior Mints, Pez, and Snickers.

I put the candy in clear bags from AC Moore that were only a couple of bucks.

The goody bags also doubled as decorations as I put these in the middle of the table for guests to take. Everyone loved the Seinfeld goody bags. 🙂

Seinfeld Party Gifts

Last, if you are anything like me, I feel like you never know whether to bring gifts or not to birthday parties for adults, and you also don’t want people to go out and spend money unnecessarily.

Soo – what did we do about gifts? Well, Seinfeld presented the perfect opportunity: the regift.

Rather than gifts from the store, we encouraged guests to bring regifts. This encouraged guests to do some Seinfeld-inspired home shopping or regifting.

It was hilarious, and Bridget got some really thoughtful gifts too. I highly recommend home shopping/regifting for every occasion now :))

Personal Photo Book with Seinfeld-isms

Additionally, the other hit of the party was a gift that my sister, parents, and I made. We took over 70 Seinfeld quotations and paired them with pictures of Bridget from the past 30 years.

As far as the number of quotations/pictures, the plan was 30 because Bridget was turning 30, but with all the great Seinfeld quotes and hilarious pictures through the years, 30 was a drop in the bucket.

Titled “A Book about Nothing,” it turned out hilarious! The pictures and quotes made for a truly humorous pairing. We also put each Seinfeld-ism in a different font.

The pictures below are a few of the Seinfeld quotations paired with pictures of my sister:

Even though our restaurant Seinfeld-themed party wasn’t as grandiose as our usual parties, it was just perfect with these special details:)

We completely surprised my sister, and of course, she loved the theme! The guests enjoyed themselves too!

A few Seinfeld party guests broke into their goody bags during the party, but sadly, I didn’t see anyone eating their snickers with a fork and knife…

Guess they didn’t read their note about nothing yet 🙂

Now that I’ve pulled off two awesome surprise 30th birthday parties, I told my family I was retiring from surprise parties. They are a little stressful!

Yet, Ash is still talking about how much he loved his, so maybe there will be more to come.

Adorable Thanksgiving Place Cards Kids Can Make

November 11, 2016 by Eileen 82 Comments

Looking for a Thanksgiving craft to do with your kids this week? Whether or not you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner, making place cards for the holiday meal is a great activity for kids of all ages.

Not only do children love painting and decorating, but they get to design a special setting for the special people in their lives. It’s a great way for kids to participate in the holiday preparation.

The best thing about the template is that it’s completely customizable.

Using this free printable, you can have your toddler making fingerprint turkeys or your older children painting more elaborate turkeys.

Thanksgiving Place Cards that Kids Can Make

With this thanksgiving place card template, you can be as creative as you like: you could have your kids use finger prints for the turkey feathers or they could glue on skittles or feathers in the shape of a turkey. You could even skip the turkey design altogether and have your child practice writing their letters.

The possibilities are truly endless, as the place card template has lots of open space for creativity.

There are even dotted lines for you or your child to cut out the place settings 🙂

Thanksgiving Place Cards Materials

Free Thanksgiving place card printable – see above
Card stock
Kids paints
Scissors
Sharpie
Any other decorating materials (stickers, crayons, markers for decorating the back or inside)

Instructions for Thanksgiving Place Cards

First, I printed the template on card stock. There are four per page, and remember that it’s always good to have a few extra. My toddler smeared paint across quite a few of them before we even started 🙂

Next, I had my toddler paint the turkeys on. You can have your child make finger prints or use q-tips. I love using q-tips (rather than paintbrushes) for toddler painting. It’s more controlled, easy for kids to use, and quick to clean up!

After they dried, I drew on the eyes, beak, and feet with a sharpie. Then you (or your child) can cut them out. The dotted lines make it easy 🙂

After folding, the thanksgiving place cards that the kids made are ready!

If you have a little one and are doing fingerprints rather than painting or q-tips, your place cards might look more like this (see picture below)… a little sloppier but still adorable 🙂

For extension ideas, you can also have your child decorate the inside or back of the place card – through coloring, through choosing stickers for each person, or through writing a note.

Pumpkin Carving with Cookie Cutters & Drills

November 3, 2016 by Eileen 25 Comments

Ash and I decided to be a little more creative with our pumpkin carving this year. We brought a few new accessories to the carving table: his drill AND my cookie cutters. Pumpkin carving with cookie cutters and power tools certainly made for some cute pumpkins. 🙂

Our son loves playing with my cookie cutters – digging through the boxes, guessing the shapes, imagining his own shapes, and stealing a few for use in his play-doh. He has difficulties with eating, so I’m always looking for new distractions to get us through each meal. And, my never-ending cookie cutter collection has been working like a charm lately.

All of this time spent digging through cookie cutters sparked an idea. We could probably use cookie cutters to punch out shapes in our pumpkins. I googled it – and realized it was a thing. So, we picked out a few cookie cutters to get us started.

As for the drill, Ash is rarely apart from his tools, and he figured that drilling holes into the pumpkins would be fun to make some cool designs.

Preparing for Pumpkin Carving

The first thing I did was cover our table with a plastic, disposable tablecloth. I usually pick these up at the dollar store – this one happened to be Easter themed:)

We probably should have worked outside, but it was much easier to push my son’s high chair up to the table inside.

Here were our materials, plus the drill (not pictured below). We also found that a mallet worked better than a hammer, so we swapped that out after doing the first pumpkin.

After cutting open the top and scooping all the goop out, we were ready to start the fun part – hammering in the cookie cutters.

Using Cookie Cutters for Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving with cookie cutters was really fun, and we made lots of cool shapes.

We took the mallet and tapped the cookie cutter into the pumpkin until it made a clean break.

The larger the cookie cutter (like the ghost pictured above) the harder it was. This was because the cookie cutter didn’t lay flat on the pumpkin.

The heart worked perfectly. It was a good size, easy to tap in, and made a perfect heart on the pumpkin.

Using the Drill for Pumpkin Carving

After we used cookie cutters for pumpkin carving, we used the drill to make some designs too.

We did a bunch of circles in the shape of a flower, spelled out the word Boo, and just drilled a bunch of evenly spaced circles.

I had a blast drilling through the pumpkin. After cutting off the pumpkin tops and scooping out all that seedy goop, running a drill was undoubtedly the fun part.

Now, it did make a huge mess, so you might want to drill outside. Yet, I just used the drill on a lower speed, and the flying pumpkin goop was minimal.

Here are a few shots of the pumpkins sitting out on our front bench.

And, here they are all lit up 🙂

They turned out pretty nice 🙂

Overall, the pumpkin carving with cookie cutters and power tools were a fun combination to work with. If you are looking to mix up your pumpkin carving, definitely give it a try 🙂

Making a Firetruck Costume from a Diaper Box

October 31, 2016 by Eileen 28 Comments

What do you get when you have a crafty mama and handy, tech-crazed daddy? A decked out diaper box that makes all your friends jealous.

Our sweet little guy rocked an awesome costume this evening – a firetruck made from a diaper box complete with blinking lights and sound effects.

The poor thing was a monkey more than once (hey, when the costume fits…), so this year we owed him.

Now that he’s carrying on conversations, I had been asking him for weeks what he wanted to be for Halloween, and 80% of the time he said a firetruck.

I tried to clarify, “You mean a fireman?”

I got a very definitive response, “No, mommy. A fire truck.”

Thank goodness for Google images – there were lots of great pictures of kids dressed in firetruck costumes, and it seemed it could be easily made from a box.

I always save diaper boxes (I usually make storage boxes from them), so I had a ton on hand. I grabbed one and got started on the fire engine costume. How hard could making a DIY fire truck Halloween costume be?

How to Make a Fire Engine Costume from Cardboard

In making my toddler a DIY fire truck costume, the first thing I did was cut off all of the flaps – but in hindsight, I should have left just one short flap attached, for the front of the truck costume (I added this back with tape later).

Next, in making the fire truck Halloween costume, I covered the whole box with red construction paper.

I meant to run to Dollar Tree beforehand for red wrapping paper – that would have been a lot easier than using sheets and sheets of red construction paper; however, I was set on making the costume that day and didn’t want to lose time running out.

So, I used what I had and hot glued red construction paper to the entire box for the DIY fire truck costume.

Next, I hot glued on white construction paper to the front and sides (as seen below) and the top too (the part with the flap).

I then added black windows, and a little design made from shapes and stripes on the front. It was shaping up to be a pretty cool fire truck costume.

After the front was completed, I worked on the sides of the costume. I made similar designs on both sides – so I cut out two of everything. I also added wheels to the cardboard costume.

Just when I thought I was done with this part of the costume, I realized I had forgotten about the back, so I did a quick little design there too (see pics further down).

Below is the cardboard box fire truck costume, made using just construction paper and glue 🙂

How to Attach the DIY Fire Truck Costume

At this point, my little guy was running around the house holding the firetruck diaper box costume up with his hands, so I knew I needed to attach something so he could wear it hands-free.

I found some black ribbon and cut two long pieces.

I then hole punched a hole in the front of the box and back, pushing the ribbon through the holes and tying it.

It worked just like suspenders, holding up a pair of loose pants.

How to Add Lights to the Fire Truck Costume

Just when I thought it was done again, Ash said that it wouldn’t be a firetruck without lights and sound. So, there he went altering the fire truck costume.

To make fire truck lights, he grabbed a couple of clip-on lights that he goes running with at night. The lights clip onto your clothes and have a bunch of different settings, including a slow blink which would be perfect lights for a diaper box firetruck costume.

Ash stuck them onto the fire engine costume with plastic cups, cutting out a little piece of the bottom of the cup (which became the top of the light), to clip them on.

How to Add Sound Effects to the Fire Truck

The sound effects were the most impressive part of making a fire truck Halloween costume.

Ash actually attached his iPhone to the back of the diaper box fire engine. Then he used my phone as a remote, playing fire engine sounds on demand using some custom software he took a few minutes to write.

To securely attach the phone to the fire engine costume, he used a small box we had lying around. So impressive, right?! I have to admit the lights and sound effects of the fire engine were my favorite part 🙂

How to Make a Fireman’s Coat for a Halloween Costume

The last part of making a fire engine Halloween costume was figuring out the fireman’s hat and coat. Thinking ahead, I picked up a plastic fire hat from a giveaway table at a community event not too long ago.

As for the fireman’s coat, I had been procrastinating.

I was thinking about getting yellow tape to run across one of his coats or shirts, but I hadn’t made it to a craft store or Home Depot or any store other than the grocery store.

Then, I remembered my love of felt and found a couple of sheets that I cut up into strips.

I duct taped them on, and ran another half width piece of duct tape in the middle of the yellow strip.

The coat I used was a $2 red raincoat that I found at a thrift store months ago – what a unknowingly, perfect find for the fire truck costume.

The coat was the perfect touch to a cute fire truck costume. In pictures, the fireman’s coat totally looks store-bought. I love when my DIYs look like a store purchase 🙂

Time & Cost of Making a Fire Engine Costume

The total cost of making a fire truck Halloween costume was nothing! We made it all from things around our house. I love a project with a free cost! It took a couple of hours to put together.

More importantly, our little sweetheart had a wonderful Halloween, in the fire engine costume he specifically requested.

We were a little afraid that he wouldn’t wear the diaper box for too long. Yet, he got right into the Halloween spirit when he saw the smiles and sweets he was receiving.

Next year, it’s going to be hard to top this year’s diaper box fire engine costume. What are your most creative Halloween costumes? I’m going to need some ideas :))

Fun Fall Turkey Craft for Toddlers

September 29, 2016 by Eileen 92 Comments

I just love everything about fall – the decorations, the food, the crafts, and the fact that it means Christmas is coming. 🙂

My son is at such a fun age right now because we can start doing seasonal activities together.

Of course, the teacher in me always has to tie learning in, too. Today, we worked on color sorting and color matching with this paper bag turkey craft.

Paper Bag Turkey Puppet Materials

The materials for the fall turkey craft are so simple that you probably already have all of them around your house.

When collecting my materials, I couldn’t find any orange tissue paper, so I just used orange construction paper in its place. Tissue worked better, but the construction paper also turned out fine 🙂

Construction paper – 5 or so colors
Tissue paper – colors that match the construction paper
Brown paper bag
A pair of googly eyes (you could also just use white paper and draw the pupils on)
Scissors
Glue
Pen, if needed to draw feather outline

Paper Bag Turkey Craft Instructions

First, I made sure I had 5 colors of construction paper and 5 matching tissue paper colors. Then, I cut strips of the tissue paper into little squares that could be easily crumbled. I put all of the squares in a big messy pile, and let my little one sort the colors into piles (first learning task:)
Next, I put the five sheets of construction paper in a neat pile and cut out a turkey feather. With the sheets of construction paper in a pile, I only had to cut out one feather 🙂
After that, we glued the eyes on the paper bag, and I made a few little construction paper shapes for the turkey’s mouth – two triangles and a teardrop shape.
Then, I had my little helper crumple the pieces of tissue and match them to the coordinating feather. He had a great time matching the colors to the feathers (second learning task:)). After he matched them, we glued all of the pieces down, feather-by-feather.
Once all of the tissue was glued to each feather, we glued the feathers to the back of the brown bag with a strip of glue.

Here’s my little helper adding a few more pieces on at the end.

The finished paper bag turkey craft! It took very little time to prepare and was a great learning activity to do together.

And, my little guy loves that it’s a puppet! We might be making more puppet friends for Mr. Turkey tomorrow 🙂

Looking for more thanksgiving craft ideas? There are some awesome fall projects on All Free Holiday Crafts that inspired me with this paper bag color-sorting turkey puppet.

Six DIY Weekend Projects That You Will Love

September 19, 2016 by Eileen Leave a Comment

With the cooler weather coming in, it’s the perfect time for weekend DIY projects. There’s something about the crisp, clean air that motivates me to accomplish more.

If you are anything like us, you are probably looking to get a few fall projects under your belt too.

The best projects are weekend ones, as I also love a project that only spans two days!

Plus, you can start and finish something amazing before the Monday morning blues set in.

From garage storage to backyard updates to kitchen upgrades, we are sharing quite a few home projects that only span a couple of days.

My personal favorite is the outdoor picnic table – it turned out so beautiful and we saved hundreds!

So, without further ado, here are six projects that you can complete over the course of the weekend.

1. Outdoor Picnic Table

Ash built this picnic table in just one day!

Imagine my surprise and delight:)

It was simple to make, and the results were beautiful. We especially love the composite decking on the tabletop and the seats, as it involved no staining or sealing – and provides a nice safe material to have meals on.

As for cost, this was a steal ($160!) compared to the cost of this type of outdoor furniture at the landscaping and home improvement stores, and it looks just as wonderful. It was definitely one of our favorite weekend DIY projects.

For a step-by-step tutorial, read Building a Picnic Table in One Day.

2. French Door Pantry

In our old house, we had an eyesore of a pantry.

It was nothing more than a nook of shelves with drawn curtains. It was nothing short of awful.

In sprucing up our house for our move, I was looking for ways to make our kitchen look less dated, without updating the counters and cabinets.

The idea of putting French doors then hit me. Ash agreed – he loves my design decisions…:)

We found a reasonable pair, installed them, and painted them white.

I couldn’t have been happier to see those awful curtains go – it was definitely a rags to riches moment!

It took a mere weekend of work, and I’m sure the nice folks who bought our house are enjoying them.

Check out the before and after along, with all the nitty gritty details in From Rags to Riches: Updating the Pantry.

3. Folding Workbench

Building a Folding Workbench for a Weekend DIY Project

This project was one of Ash’s favorite weekend DIY projects because he checked an item off his bucket list, as he finally built his own functional workbench.

It’s definitely a fan favorite, as it’s been featured on quite a few sites, including Life Hacker and Make.

In his post Constructing a Folding Workbench with Storage, Ash shares his plans (it’s an Ash original!) and explains not only this thought process, but all the necessary steps for you to build your own.

It only took two days, and Ash has been reaping its benefits ever since!

4. Sliding Garage Shelves

Ash and I are a little storage-obsessed. I’ll admit that I have a little Christmas stuff addiction, although I won’t even admit how many trees I have.

And, Ash, well he never throws anything away.

In his defense, he creates some really cool things from his hoard collection – including a built-in pantry shelf made from a CD shelf.

Thus, we could never have too much storage.

In our garage, we had a 20-foot corner of space between the wall and the fridge, and Ash turned this into 70 feet of space with stacked, slide-out storage shelves.

These shelves are awesome, storing some of our holiday decorations.

The slide-out feature provides easy access to boxes in the back, along with easy steps up to the top.

Not to mention, Ash created bonus shelving with the leftover wood.

If you love storage space as much as we do, check out Creating More Garage Storage.

In just a weekend, you could have yourself your very sliding storage shelves, just in time for the holidays.

5. Wooden Mower Wagon

Build a Utility Cart in Just One Weekend

Inspired by a trip to the strawberry fields, Ash had his mind set on building a trailer for his riding mower.

He figured he could haul yard waste to the curb more easily and even take the family on a few tractor rides.

His vision became a reality with this custom-built wagon.

When he finished the wagon, no one but Zeus was around – so he got the first ride. 🙂

Ash gives all the details, from basic construction to assembling the axles to hooking up the hitch connection in his post How to Build a Wagon for a Riding Mower.

After using it all summer, Ash found it more helpful than he originally thought, and he’ll continue to use it this fall bagging up all of the leaves.

6. Boardwalk Pathway for the Backyard

Thinking about tackling a wooden pathway project? It’s easier than you think. With just a few hours of work, Ash created a perfect path from our patio into the backyard.

Prior to this boardwalk, there was a narrow pathway with a few uneven rocks, so this was quite an upgrade. It took a little digging, but it was completed in a just a weekend – making it a perfect weekend DIY project.

After a year, it gets used each and every day and is holding up great. Looking for a boardwalk solution, read A Wooden Pathway for the Backyard.

All of these weekend DIY projects were tackled in just one weekend.

Make your Monday a little happier next week, knowing you created something awesome during your two day break.

How to Make a DIY Banner with Free Printable Letters

September 14, 2016 by Eileen 41 Comments

There are so many adorable “Happy Birthday” banners out there. The party stores have all kinds of customized banners, and you can find any type of party banner in any theme on Etsy.

Except, party banners always cost so much – especially when you only use the banner for event.

I have the perfect solution – make your own DIY banner for any occasion with these simple and free printable letters and then customize the card stock or pennants that you glue the letters down on (see our Sesame banner or our puzzle party banner).

You can make an amazing banner and the only cost is the background paper and the ink you used to print.

A few birthday parties ago I wanted to make a simple but cute sign. However, I couldn’t find free printable banner letters to go with the vision in my mind. If I’ve learned anything from my husband Ash, it’s that if you can’t find something the way you want it, just make it.

So I made my own alphabet banner letters, and then I put them into user-friendly google documents to share with you so that you can use these free printable letters for your occasions too!

The best part about these printable banner letters is that you can print four letters per page, and you can add, copy, or delete the letters so that you print exactly what you need. 🙂

Free Printable Banner Letters

I made three different, yet complementary designs. First, I created a few popular banner titles – Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, and Congratulations, using all three designs.

I also created an A-Z index of free banner letters in all three of the designs. You can use these to create your own titles or to add names to the above titles. Last, there are number indexes, along with punctuation and special characters too. I just made these in the first design. The special characters include stars and hearts 🙂

Materials for the Banner Sign

Free printable letters (see above)
Card stock, pennants, or other background material (I love this card stock)
Glue or tape
Fishing line

Time-Saving Trick for the Banner Letters

I know I already told you that the best part of these banner letters was being able to easily customize your wording, but I have another best part. You can reuse these letters year after year or for every birthday!

This year I had a puzzle party for my son, and last year we had a Sesame theme party. I used the SAME letters for both banners, which saved time, paper, and ink. And, you can do the same with these free printable letters.

I just used scotch tape to tape the letters to the background last year. After the party, I removed the tape and saved the letters. This year, I taped the letters to puzzle pieces. How’s that for saving time!?

Making the Banner Sign

To make the DIY banner from scratch, first print the letters you need and cut around the template.

Next, I chose several card stock designs from my closet card stock collection. I LOVE the below card stock book that I found at Walmart. The designs are so pretty – and I work in other solid color papers too so the patterns don’t clash.

When choosing patterns, I pick designs that I feel would compliment each other and not be overly busy.

For the background, when I made rectangles for the Sesame banner, I cut 4.5 x 4.75 pieces. When I made the puzzle banner, I drew puzzle pieces and cut these out.

Once you have your backgrounds cut and arranged, you can glue or tape your letters on the background. Use tape if you want to reuse those letters for a different banner:)

Here’s a closeup of one of the free banner letters, so you can see the design and card stock up close.

After you tape or glue the letters, flip all of the letters over and hot glue fishing line to the back of the letters.

Banner Making Tip – Use Fishing Line

I love using fishing line for banners because it’s easy and cheap! Perfect for a tight party budget. I love the fact that you can’t see the fishing line, and you don’t have to punch any holes and thread – you just hot glue it to the back.

Here’s a picture of my banner making set-up. It helps to have some little but weighty objects around to hold the fishing line in place while the hot glue dries.

Overall, the birthday puzzle banner turned out great, and I will be reusing those letters for signs to come 🙂

The free banner letters really are so versatile. They go with any color scheme, you can use them for any occasion, and you can customize them so easily for holidays, parties, or even home decor.

In the few months after I made the original banner with my free printable letters, I made about four or five other banners. These printables truly do make it so easy.

Enjoy the free printable banner letters – I would love to hear about the banner sign you are making!

If you want to see how the puzzle party turned out, check it out here.

If you’re wondering how to throw a DIY party without going crazy, click here.

How to Make a DIY Hopscotch Mat

September 7, 2016 by Eileen 48 Comments

I’m always looking for simple do-it-yourself activities and games for my toddler to learn from and enjoy.

While planning his birthday party, I was looking to make different station-like games for kids to walk up to and play with.

Through scouring the Internet for ideas, I came across a cool hopscotch idea, where a blogger made a homemade hopscotch game from carpet samples from Home Depot. I loved this idea because it was so creative and resourceful.

I looked into making it, and the carpet samples were quite cheap. However, I was worried about toddlers who are still working on their balance tripping on the carpet squares, especially because they weren’t stuck to each other.

This was all occurring during my felt craze, and then it dawned on me.

I could make a felt hopscotch mat that I could unroll inside or outside for my toddler and his friends to play with.

It turned out awesome – it’s definitely my favorite DIY this year.

Not only did it look store-bought (I love when my DIYs look store-bought!), but it even inspired my son to learn his numbers. Here’s how to make a hopscotch mat.

Materials for the DIY Hopscotch Mat

Here are the materials and the steps for making this homemade felt hopscotch game.

One 2-yard piece of felt – I used this felt fabric in green from Crafty Cuts, which measured 72 inches x 36 inches. I like this brand of felt because it was nice, thick, and not slippery! (Some felt can be slippery like the kind you buy in craft stores in rolls). This material served as a perfect mat. (I even used a small piece of this cut for the lamp post in our photo booth backdrop)
15 pieces of felt in colors of your choice – 5 of these will be used for your numbers (2 per sheet), and 10 of these will be used for the hopscotch squares. I used a variety pack from a craft store, but Amazon has some great felt variety packs too. I used the size 9″ x 12.”
Glue – I used hot glue to stick the numbers to the squares and the squares to the felt. It held up just fine but I had to use a lot of glue. I didn’t try fabric or felt glue, but I know those choices are out there too.
Number Pattern – I made a free printable (see below) for my numbers. To save ink, you’ll notice I took a few short cuts. I only printed the 1 once (use the stencil for the 1 and the 10), and I didn’t include the 9 (use the 6).
Scissors

How to Make a Hopscotch Mat

Making the hopscotch was really simple. It’s a no-sew project that doesn’t take up too much time, and yields a great result.

Creating the Layout for the DIY Hopscotch Mat

First, I laid out the green 2-yard felt piece. Then I started to pick colors for the squares. After I had picked out my colors – yellow, pink, and two shades of blue, I laid everything down, creating a pattern that I liked.

Cutting the Felt Squares for the Mat

After the layout was down, I needed to cut the ten rectangular felt pieces into squares.

To make this as simple as possible, since the pieces were 9″ by 12,” I just cut the 12″ side to 9″ to make a 9″ by 9″ with just one cut per piece.

Also, I used my paper cutter to cut the felt. This made the process of cutting felt perfectly a cinch because I can never get a perfectly straight line with scissors.

I don’t leave my paper cutter sitting out anymore with my son running around; however the paper cutter I use takes 30 seconds to set up, and you only need to set up part of it to get a good cut.

For someone a busy mom who can’t cut straight, it’s simple and perfect!

Making the Numbers for the DIY Hopscotch Mat

After I cut the ten number squares, I started on the numbers. I decided to use felt to make the numbers. I tried fabric paint and a few other types of paint – but it just didn’t look professional.

So, I made a quick little number printable, and then cut out the numbers to use as stencils.

And, for efficiency, I skipped any redundant numbers (one stencil for 6 and 9).

Next I simply held the stencil over the black felt (I used all black for the numbers) and cut as precisely as I could.

I could have traced the stencils onto the felt first and then cut, but I skipped this time for the sake of time.

Gluing the Pieces Together

Afterward, I glued the black numbers onto the colored felt squares.

Then I started gluing the colored squares to the green felt background. It was turning out so nicely 🙂

The completed hopscotch mat 🙂 Along with a few other party decorations – the photo booth backdrop and the Sesame pom-poms in the background.

Before the party, we used the hopscotch mat in the house, as a little reading carpet. My son learned his numbers quickly and would pick a different number to sit on each time we would read 🙂

This cute, very simple to make, hopscotch mat can serve as a game or a reading mat.

The cost of the project was very little – I bought most things at the craft stores with coupons, and I used the variety pack of felt for numerous other projects, with a large pile still left.

To give an estimate, I would say I didn’t spend more than $15. I love it so much that I’m looking to make another felt mat as a reading mat for my son’s reading corner.

If you are looking for a fun activity for kids that involve learning, definitely consider making a hopscotch mat.

Easy Homemade Elmo and Cookie Monster Cupcakes

August 25, 2016 by Eileen 36 Comments

The Sesame Street desserts were my favorite part of my son’s Sesame themed party. Based on the rave reviews, I think they were my guests’ favorite part too. I made a huge Elmo cake and then I made homemade Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes.

I just loved how the homemade Elmo cake turned out… so much that I was actually sad cutting into it.

The DIY Elmo cake was a 12″ two-layer, gluten-free vanilla cake with chocolate icing. Red sprinkles covered the sides of the cake, along with two Elmo face cut-outs – made from cut-out cookies and chocolate melts.

The homemade Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes were regular vanilla cake with chocolate icing and decorated with sprinkles, icing tubes, and chocolate chip cookie halves to resemble Elmo and Cookie Monster.

Our guests were totally impressed with the Sesame Street desserts – and the homemade Elmo and Cookie Monster cakes were so easy to decorate.

DIY Cookie Monster Cupcakes Video

How to Make Elmo and Cookie Monster Cupcakes

After making the homemade Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcake batter, I filled the muffin liners 3/4 of the way full. I wanted to have a nice dome at the top of the cupcake. If the cupcake was too flat, the Sesame Street faces would be harder to make and wouldn’t look as nice.

Elmo and Cookie Monster Cupcake Decorating Materials:

a large bag of red sprinkles for the Elmo cakes – I looked for just red and just blue sprinkles everywhere – Michaels, Joann, AC Moore, Walmart, Target, the grocery stores – and couldn’t find any! I found these on Amazon. The bags are pretty big, and I had a lot of extra 🙂
a large bag of blue sprinkles for the Cookie Monster cakes
chocolate chip cookies – broken in half and used for Cookie Monster’s mouth. Homemade or store-bought both work fine. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies a week earlier and put about a dozen (broken in half) aside and froze them for the cupcakes. Working with frozen cookies was easier too.
icing tubes in white, black, and orange .- used for the eyes, mouth, and Elmo’s nose. When looking through the aisles at Joann and Michael’s for ideas, I kept seeing pre-made candy eyes. I preferred using icing because those little candies can be a choking hazard for little ones.

Pictured above is my Cookie Monster cupcake set-up.

For Elmo’s mouth, you could always use half of an Oreo, but since I already had a black tube of icing for the pupils and I didn’t have Oreos – I went with the easier option.

If you are thinking of making the Elmo cake also, you can use leftover sprinkles and icing tubes from the cupcakes 🙂

How to Make Cookie Monster Cupcakes

First, after the homemade cupcakes cooled, I iced them. I was running a little low on icing, so I put just enough on so that the sprinkles would have something to stick too.
Next, I filled a small bowl with blue sprinkles, and then I flipped the iced cupcake upside down and dipped it into the sprinkles. I twisted it around a little to give the sprinkles a good stick.
Then, I used a white tube of icing to make Cookie’s eyes. I first made a circle outline and then carefully filled it in.
After that, I used the black tube of icing to make the pupils. I made sure to make one higher than the other, as that is Cookie’s signature look.
When the eyes were done, I took a chocolate chip cookie half and ran a strip of icing across the edge of the cookie (the part that would to stick to the cupcake), and then stuck it on.

I used a pizza pan to put the cupcakes on, so the Cookie Monster sprinkles didn’t run everywhere.

A cookie sheet would be fine too, but I was using all of those for my butterscotch batches that were baking.

Here is a picture of the finished Cookie Monster cupcakes.

The homemade cupcakes turned out so cute and were much easier to make with sprinkles, rather than the blue icing 🙂 The only decorating that was needed was the eyes. So these Cookie Monster cupcakes are pretty fool-proof!

How to Make Elmo Cupcakes

For the homemade Elmo cupcakes, I took almost the exact same steps as the Cookie Monster cupcakes listed above: I baked the cupcakes large so they would have a dome, iced the top, and then dunked them into a bowl of red sprinkles.

I then used the icing tubes to draw on the face. A little more skill was required for Elmo’s nose, eyes, and mouth (compared to just Cookie’s eyes), and I was tired from baking all day – but they still turned out pretty nice.

If your toddler can recognize Elmo, then you know it looks pretty good 🙂

The Elmo Cake

The Elmo cake consisted of three main parts – the Elmo face cut-outs used on the sides of the cake, the icing, and the actual cake. All of them were pretty simple to make. I made the face cut-outs the night before I did the Elmo cake, so two nights before the party. Then I made the Elmo cake and icing the day before. I also did the Elmo cake decorating the day before.

Elmo Cake Decorating Materials

Listed below are all of the materials for the Elmo cake. I had 50+ people coming, so I wanted to have plenty of Sesame Street desserts to go around.

Large Round Cake Pan – I used a 12″ cake pan, found on Amazon. It came in a set of four cake pans for $26, as it included a 6″, 8″, 10″, and a 12.” I figured if I was going to undertake this Elmo cake endeavor this year that I was sure to use the other sizes in future endeavors (maybe a tiered cake next year?). I also compared prices at Michaels, AC Moore, and Joann, and even with a coupon, this was the best deal.
Cardboard Cake Circle – I hemmed and hawed about purchasing these 14″ cake circles, and I’m so glad I did because in hindsight, I wouldn’t have pulled off this cake without them. Not only did they make taking the cake out of the pan so easy, but I also used them to hold the cake while in the fridge, and they easily allowed me to place the cake right on top of the cake holder. With a cake this big, cookie sheets and regular round plates would not have been a help at all.
Double Recipe of Cake Batter – I made my cake gluten-free from the most amazing recipe. Yammie’s Gluten Freedom has a recipe called The Best Gluten Free White Cake Ever. Instead of using eight egg whites, I used four whole eggs, and instead of using her gluten free flour blend, I used this one from America’s Test Kitchen called America’s Test Kitchen’s Gluten Free Flour Blend. It’s the only gluten-free recipe I have used that people have no idea it’s gluten-free. Even my gluten-loving husband was fooled. However, you can use any cake batter recipe for this – even two cake boxes. 🙂
Double Recipe of Icing – I used a chocolate recipe that my mom makes for every family birthday. It’s quite simple but results in a lot of taste-testing for the correct balance of sugar and chocolate.
Extra icing or icing tubes for decorating – I used the leftover orange icing tube from the Elmo cupcakes to write on the cake, and also I used the leftover chocolate icing to do borders on the cake.
Red sprinkles – These are for the sides of the cake – to make Elmo red. I found a great bag of red sprinkles on Amazon that I used on the cupcakes and the cake, and I still have leftovers.
Elmo’s eyes/nose cut-outs – I made these from cut-out cookies. In addition to having cut-out cookie batter (I made a half-batch), you’ll need candy melts in orange, black, and white. You will have lots of leftovers from these for future baking projects – or for delicious chocolate covered pretzels. Keep reading for instructions on these 🙂

Decorating the Elmo Cake

So my plan was to make red icing from beets to give the Elmo cake his red color.

I know that sounds crazy, but I didn’t feel like dumping a whole bunch of red dye into the icing that I knew my son would be eating by the spoonful.

I read that beets can be used for red icing, so why not try and make an MSG-free alternative?!

Well, in short, tampering with the beets was a waste of time the day before having a huge party at your house. The beets turned the icing hot pink.

Like really hot pink.

Too bad I wasn’t making an Abby Cadabby cake.

The teacher in me thought that I could still use the hot pink beet icing to ice the cake, and then put the red sprinkles over the side to make Elmo.

Well, that idea sunk when the cake started looking like Valentine’s Day with the hot pink and the bright red.

I laugh now, but oh was I frustrated!

So, how did we get the Elmo cake red?!

We sent Ash out to the store for more powdered sugar, and my sister, who is the icing master, made another huge batch of icing in chocolate.

Our altered plan was to ice the Elmo cake with chocolate frosting and then use the red sprinkles for the sides.

It worked out well, and we absolutely loved the way the Elmo cake looked!

The most time-consuming part, beets aside, was getting the sprinkles to stick to the sides of the cake.

My quick google search showed me there was no good strategy, other than tilting, and I was not tilting a two-layer 12″ cake.

So, I grabbed a handful of sprinkles and pressed them up to the icing to make it stick. It took a while, but it was worth it in the end. I absolutely love the way the Elmo cake turned out.

Making Elmo’s Face Cut-Outs

This was actually the easiest part of making the homemade Elmo cake.

First, I made a half batch of my mom’s cut-out cookies. You can make these a day early and leave the dough refrigerated overnight.

I used circle cookie cutters to get Elmo’s eyes right, overlapping the circles a little. Then, I made two different sizes – a smaller and a larger, so that I could pick the better of the two after they baked.

I made about a half dozen of each version – just to have extras.

For Elmo’s nose, I used a large oval cookie cutter to go with the larger eyes.

Since I didn’t have a smaller oval cookie cutter, I set the large one down in the dough as a guide and used a knife to cut a smaller oval. I made about two or three of each size nose.

As a visual guide, I had an Elmo party hat in front of me that I used on the party decorations. This was helpful to look at as I worked.

After the Elmo face cookies had baked and cooled, I picked from the two sizes I had made. I actually chose the smaller size, and then I got started on the decorating.

I used candy melts in white and black (see materials above).

For the whites of the Elmo’s eyes, I melted the candy melts and half dipped/half iced it onto the cookie.

Then, I simply took two chocolate morsels from the black candy melt bag and stuck them on for Elmo’s pupils.

The size was perfect!

For the orange, I thought I bought orange candy melts, but I hadn’t. Ugh!

I wasn’t making another trip to the store, so I had to improvise and use a little of the orange icing tube that was for nose on the Elmo cupcakes.

I just spread it over the nose cookie until it was smooth. It would have turned out better with the melted candy, as the icing was a little streaky.

But hey, it saved me a trip back out 🙂

If you haven’t used candy melts before, the trick with these (or melting any kind of chocolate in the microwave) is to microwave the morsels for 30 seconds at a time.

After 30 seconds, stir the chocolate up really well. Continue this pattern until the chocolate is all melted.

When you are heating it up in 30 second increments and giving it a good stir in between, you don’t run the risk of burning the chocolate.

Making Abby’s Magical Wands

For Abby’s Magical Wands, I simply bought pretzel sticks and dipped them in hot pink candy melts.

After dipping, I placed them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. This contains the drips and sprinkles. I also used some of the white candy melts to drizzle on them too, after the pink had set.

I was so pleased with how the Elmo and Cookie Monster cakes and Abby’s wands turned out. It was definitely my best cake ever.

Last year, I tried to draw on a bear that looked more like a blob….

This year, I used cookies, sprinkles, and chocolate melts to mask my poor decorating skills 🙂

The homemade Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes totally impressed my party guests and myself. These simple tutorials show you exactly how you can make your own party desserts.

The homeamde Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes were a big hit among the kids! And, the adults loved the cake.

When you enjoy baking and creating something totally awesome, the time spent was absolutely worth it.

And, it was all in a day’s work!