DIY Gift That Brings Smiles

I mentioned in my last post that it was a very DIY-ish Christmas.  Not only did my hubby create the mother of all Barbie houses for our daughter but I got on the bandwagon too and decided to go all homemade for the grandparents' gifts.

I found a fast and easy little project on Pinterest that seemed to be gaining popularity as I had seen a gazillion posts on it.  Decorating cheap ceramic ware with Sharpies and baking the pieces to set the ink.  The possibilities are endless!  I knew that I wanted to try this project with my 3-year-old and create some special keepsakes for the grandparents.

Before diving right in I decided to do more research on the effectiveness of using just plain ol' Sharpies.  I'm so glad I delved further into the topic because I read quite a bit of disappointed responses that included, "This didn't work for me!" or "I followed your directions exactly and when I washed my plates, the ink came right off."  I decided right then that I would not be using regular Sharpies.  The only way to ensure a stay-put image is to use the more expensive oil-based Sharpie or the equivalent.  Works great!

First we made plates.  I colored my daughter's thumb and pointer finger with the black marker and pressed onto the plates to make the bellies.  I added arms and legs and let her take over with the heads.  A polka dot border kept things simple.

Next, we made matching bowls.  Again, my daughter was in full control of making the faces (it's her specialty) and I covered the rest.

Materials Used:

matching plates and bowls from the Dollar Tree

Sharpie Oil Based Paint markers in black, light blue, and red

(Warning - the red ink turns magenta after baking but still looks pretty)

rubbing alcohol and Q-tips (for erasing mistakes)

How We Did It:

1. First I removed all stickers from the plates and bowls and rinsed any dust/dirt off.
2. Colored my daughter's thumb and pointer finger and pressed onto plates to create the "bellies."  She added the heads and I finished the rest. (Warning - the marker dried VERY fast on my daughter's skin so I had to work quickly in order to get a decent print onto the plate.  Some turned out better than others but I'm one who prefers slight imperfections on homemade items.  Endearing.)
3. Made the matching bowls but with no thumbprints.
4. Placed dishes on baking sheets and put into a cold oven (not turned on).
5. Set oven to 350 degrees.  When heated, bake for 30 minutes.
6. Turn oven off and let cool without removing dishes.  Remove dishes after oven has cooled.
7. I let our dishes sit overnight before hand washing them.

These would make great candy dishes if you didn't feel comfortable eating off of them.  Although my mom called me the next day to proudly announce that she and my dad had already enjoyed their breakfast on the dishes and loved every minute.  

Score.

A DIY Christmas Surprise

For some reason, Christmas 2013 had a major DIY flavor.  This is not at all a bad thing.  In fact, in my little humble opinion, it's better.  Much better.  Unless you have a problem with managing your time.  Then a DIY Christmas becomes one hairy stress ball.

Let me back up a bit...

My 3-year-old daughter has recently hit her Barbie Alcoholic Phase.  She drowns herself in all things Barbie for hours on end.  I would be lying if I said I didn't play any part in introducing her to the blonde-headed bombshell or that I don't partake in Barbie binges that occur in our house on a daily basis.  In other words, you could call me the enabler.  And I'm okay with that.

The one item that was missing from my daughter's pinked out fantasy world was a Barbie house.  I think we can all agree that you can't really play Barbie without a tricked out pad.  It's just not right.  I remember how important the Barbie Dream House was when I was a wee one.  My heart still aches for that awkward three section plastic contraption.

God, I loved this thing.

(photo courtesy of Google Images)

Thus began the Doll House Project of 2013.  It was going to be the "big gift" for Christmas.  You know, the Red Rider BB Gun hiding in the corner type of gift.  I'm going to be totally honest here and admit that my part in all of this was actually pretty easy.  I simply logged onto Pinterest, found my inspiration, and then coerced my husband to build it.  Oh yeah, and I picked out the paint colors.  Whoop-de-doo.  Therefore that big hairy stress ball landed right in my husband's lap.  I really felt for the poor guy.

Plans and construction began shortly after Thanksgiving.  TOTALLY enough time, right?  Negative.  We should have started the monster back in August.  But what are ya gonna do?  As mentioned before, the inspiration came from this Pinterest link.  It's pretty apparent that this smart couple indeed had started construction in August because their doll house has stairs.  Stairs!  My hubby and I thought, "To hell with a staircase.  Barbie can levitate to the upper levels for all we care." But really, we knew we just didn't have time for things like stairs. Sheesh.

So, for the next 23 days our nightly conversation went something like this (on repeat):

Me: Soooo... how's the project going?
Hubs: (Sigh) I'm getting really nervous about this.
Me: (Playing dumb) Really?  Why?
Hubs: I'm afraid I won't finish in time.
Me: (Lying) Oh I'm sure if you work on it a little every night you'll finish in time.

Fast forward to December 23.  Whilst complaining about all the imperfections (paint, roof, sanding) my husband declares that the hairy stress ball is complete or as complete as it's going to be.  And I'm relieved because things were getting a little scary there for a while.

What started off as a hairy stress ball turned out to be one of the most adorable things my husband has made for our daughter (homemade gifts began a year ago with a vintage kitchenette but that's another story).  My heart swelled when I saw the finished house for the first time all stuffed with hideous plastic furniture.  It was perfect.  I knew our daughter would be rendered speechless and I couldn't wait for Christmas morning.

Project complete

Materials Used:

plywood

Behr paint

scrapbook paper

Happy

All the other gifts were left in the dust ... for about 20 minutes.

My mom had a small stove that was made for her when she was a little girl and she's kept it all these years. My older sister played with it.  I played with it.  My daughter has played with it.  And if the stars continue to align, her daughter or son will play with it.  It was important to me that my husband take his beautiful handiwork and put it to use toward things that can be handed down just like mom's stove.  I have no doubt that this Barbie house will become one of those cherished family treasures.

My husband may have developed a few ulcers along the way and he is so not the type to boast about his creations but I know deep down he's proud and glad he took the time to make this beloved toy for his little girl.

Hairy stress ball .... so worth it.

Gender Reveal

Yikes.
Looks like I've been snoozing on the blogging as of late.
I have three good reasons for that:

1. I'm currently growing a human being inside of me and I'm tired.  And completely brainless most of the time.
2. My 3-year-old does not take naps anymore (thank you in advance for your condolences).
3. Managing to complete a load of laundry, scrub a toilet, and/or shower and dress for the day has taken precedence over lounging in cyberspace (refer to #2).

With that being said, I do still love to blog and I have a lot of posts piled up in my head. I'm just not sure how/if they'll ever touch ground.

But enough of me whining.  Let's get on to the true meat of this post.  Gender Reveal Parties!  They really seem to be all the rage nowadays and I took my turn with throwing one a couple months ago.

I suppose it goes without saying that after the glowing attention thrown at the birth of a first born child there's not a whole lot of pomp and circumstance with subsequent babies. No showers, no new stuff, no endless spans of time to plan, decorate, reflect, glow.  Heck, the kid won't even have a baby book filled out for him.

Therefore, there are very few options left when it comes to celebrating the upcoming birth of a second (or third, fourth, fifth...) child.  This is where gender reveal parties make a big splash.  They're a great excuse to celebrate, show off, and give your little bean a time to shine.

We decided to use homemade lottery cards to reveal the gender of our baby.  I found the adorable idea on Pinterest and only made some minor modifications.  So easy.  So much fun.  Great memories.

 First I made some silly props using a mustache and lips.  Guests selected a prop upon arrival depending on their guess.

These were very easy to make (granted I only had to make a couple dozen seeing that my party was small).  I found the mustache and lips on Google images and used them as stencils.  Black and red foam sheets were used along with skinny dowels and some Super Glue.  A no-brainer.

Everyone posed with their props (or cried like my 3-year-old).  The majority of guesses were for a boy ... how did they know???

Next came the actual reveal.  This is the winning scratch off lottery card.  I created these in Word and printed them onto card stock.  See Pinterest link above for directions for making the scratch off paint.  SO.  DANG.  EASY.

A little goody for guests to take home.  Again, stolen from Pinterest like everything else.

Here we are!  Soon the tides will shift and Marly and I will be outnumbered by males in our house (dog included).  We are thrilled about our newest little guy and can't wait to meet him.

Gender reveals can be cute, fun, AND easy!  Which is great for the prego hostess.  

Have you thrown your own gender reveal party or attended one?  What did you love about it?  How did you/they make it special? 

Please share!

Linking Up With...

Fun Friday Blog Hop

I Got Dressed ... For Halloween

Halloween costume ideas are a pain.  I really love dressing up but coming up with a creative concept is not easy.  

I'm typically drawn to an idea that falls into one of these categories:

• Ridiculously off-beat and tacky (ex: my hubby and I dressed up as Jon and Kate Gosselin back in 2009 during their very public divorce - it's still my favorite costume to date)
• Classic with attention to details (ex: the hubby and I went as our nerdy alter-egos, Martha Weinerstraum and Ronald Rickenbacher)
• Retro whimsy (see below)

This year I was on my own with no hubby to complete a dynamite duo ensemble (sniff) and I had another minor obstacle ... a five month prego bump.  Not a huge bump (yet) but still awkward enough to interfere with a regular costume.

I suppose I could have used my bump as the focal point of my costume but painting my belly orange and wearing a basketball jersey is just not my bag.  Instead I tried to think of something I could carry/attach in front of my bump to make it less "center stage" so to speak.

That's when I discovered (after scouring hundreds of images on Pinterest) the Sunmaid Raisin Girl!  Being an American product icon fit perfectly into my retro whimsy category and the basket-o-grapes was a bonus. Sold!  

(see the original Pinterest pin that inspired me here)

Make It!

red bonnet (got mine here)

long brown curly wig - if needed (got mine here)

white t-shirt (got mine here - maternity)

dark blue rick rack trim (got mine here)

fabric glue (got mine here)

any peasant-y looking skirt in white, black, blue, or red (got mine here - maternity)

flats or sandals (mine are old)

basket (my mom's old Longaberger)

fake grapes (got mine here)

thin wire (from our garage)

a box of Sunmaid raisins of course

Only two things required assembly:

1. The Shirt: I simply cut the rick rack trim to fit the edges of the neck and sleeves and secured it using the fabric glue.  Worked great!
2. The Basket: My bump actually gave me an advantage here because I could tie the basket around my waist allowing it to literally "sit" on my belly.  No hands!  I chose a small basket from my mother's beloved 1980's Longaberger collection keeping mind of the weight (lighter is better and less annoying).  I took satin ribbon and weaved it through the basket and tied it behind my back.  Then I secured the clusters of grapes to the basket with thin crafting wire and taped the box down.  An old bandana was placed beneath the items to add more color and detail.

What I would do differently:

Add an apron!  I was running short on time and didn't want to pay $20 for an apron or take the time to sew one.  But it would have been really cute to have had a red or blue apron against my black skirt.  Next time...

And because I knew you'd REALLY want to see these...

John and Kate Gosselin - Halloween 2009

John and Kate Plus 8 - Halloween 2009

Martha and Ronald - Halloween 2012

Honey-Do: Return Air Grille

Ah, yes!  The beauty of return air grilles.  Who doesn't love them?  Uh, me.  That's who.  They are just a bunch of eye sores screwing up beautifully decorated rooms.  Especially when they're the size of Timbuktu and have been placed so elegantly OFF CENTER within the wall like the doozy in our living room.  Deep sigh. 

So ... you can understand my delight (or maybe not) when finding this wonderful idea on Pinterest.  I immediately ran to my husband and proclaimed, "This is what we need!!!  It will solve all our horrible return air grille problems!!!" 

Because I can't build anything to save my life, this instantly became a Honey-Do task.  My obliging other half was sweet enough to add yet another home improvement item to his long and dreadful list and now I have the CUTEST return air grille ever!  Don't be jealous.

Before the installation...

We never put the ugly old cover back on after painting this room a gazillion years ago.  We have been living with a GAPING hole for a looooooong time now.  This will explain my over-the-moon excitement about a simple little air grille DIY upgrade. Translation: Get a life, Brooke.

After the installation...

My honey used:

• sheet metal with this awesome retro pattern (find it at Lowe's)
• scrap wood from the garage to build the frame
• matching wall paint

See Pinterest link above for detailed steps.  Again, I'm no Builder Bob.  My talent lies in stealing the ideas from Pinterest.

DIY On Deck: Still thinking about hanging a cluster of ceiling medallions on the wall above my couch (just under the air grille) for a more textured look.  I'd like to figure out a way to add just a dusting of shimmer along the medallion perimeters.  I'm sure it'll be another 6 months before I get around to it.

Linking Up With...

Two Girls and a Party
Fun Friday Blog Hop

I Did It: Wipe-Off Menu

DIY projects must adhere to the following criteria if they are bound to stand a chance in my Wanna-Be-A-Craftstar world:

• Child-like Ease: I have no time/patience/tears to waste on artsy-fartsy frustration
• Cheap: Seeing that I am liable to make at least 3 mistakes per project, this one is important 
• Chic: Regardless of my refusal to put too much energy into a project, I am a brat and still expect the thing to be stylish and mod
• Husband-Friendly: "HONEY!  I found this GREAT idea on Pinterest!  Will you build it for me?!"

With that being said, the following project was perfect for me.  I have to admit though, as easy as this was, it was actually my second go at it.  The first time I made this menu I used a background paper that was too busy and my alphabet sticker choice was lame-o.  It irritated the heck out of me and thus, DO OVER!  I'm much happier with this version.

Wipe-Off Menu

(Click HERE to see original Pinterest link)

1. Any 12 x 12 frame will do.  I chose this one from Target.

2. 12 x 12 scrapbook paper of your choice.  I really love this one.

3. Alphabet stickers (similar here) and a Vis-a-Vis marker (here).  

4. If this will be sitting on your counter, a sturdy frame stand is needed.  I couldn't find anything strong enough at the store so my hubby was gracious enough to build one for me.  However, this may work.

And .... Badda Boom, Badda Bing!

I love this because it keeps me organized and frazzle-free when dinner time rolls around

Just wipe off with a damp towel and reuse again and again and again!

I'm always on the hunt for easy (but CUTE) projects that fit my DIY For Dummies criteria!  What crafts have you got up your sleeve?  Do share!