#624 - dip dyeing coins

 Or more correctly, dip dyeing pennies.

 

I was going through our coin jar with the boys and decided it would be fun to clean some coins.  It's super easy and fun to watch.

Cleaning Pennies Recipe

1/4 cup vinegar (i used distilled white vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt (i used plain table salt)

Mix in a clear glass bowl.  Toss pennies in for 10-60 seconds (or longer). Rise with cold water.

 

And before I knew it I was half dyeing the coins.   I just held the half the coin in the "cleaning pennies solution" for about 30 seconds, pulled it out and washed it in cold tap water.

The boys were quickly over the excitement of dyeing coins (they were on to mixing up stuff in my cupboards - see below), but I was just getting started.  I was looking through my coins to find birth and anniversary years for my family, so that I could make "lucky us" keychain charms.

 Do you notice the different coin above?

I found my sister's birth year and put her name in vinyl letters on the coin.  ( I think you could make tape work).  I only dyed the coin for about 15-20 seconds because I didn't want the solution to get under the letters.

I'm so excited to try this again with initials, fun words, and cool designs.  And the awesome part is that I didn't deface the coins (at least I don't think it's defacing), because I was just cleaning them.

Let me know if you try this...I'd love to see pics!   I'm off to build a fort with Oster before he mixes up another popcorn kernel, balsamic vinegar, ginger, bouillon cube concoction.

ps, casi, this is in the mail (sorry to spoil the surprise on my blog and give away your age)

#579 - Mini Easter Egg Piñata

I'm working on these tissue eggs today. ( Inspired by Not Martha.)  I wanted mine to be a little more natural, so I'm using a flour/water mixture (that's why mine have a powdery look in places) instead of a fabric softner starch (thanks Cathy!) like Martha.

Happy Easter everyone!

#575 - Cat Eye Glasses Onesie

Whenever I see cat eye glasses, one of my college roommates comes to mind.  She could totally pull them off and she didn't even need to wear them. 

So, when I saw this cute cat eye glasses onesie tutorial, I knew that I had to make this for her new baby girl. 

I used a freezer stencil for the glasses.  I painted it in with black and glitter fabric paint to give it that old black plastic sparkle feel.  I used the back of a paint brush to make dots for the chain/necklace. 

If you want the freezer stencil pattern to use for your self...just email me and I'll send it your way.

#568 - Kid's initial roads

 

I really want to make these.

#553 - elephant stencil

 

I saw this cool t-shirt design on my sister's shared items and decided to make this for her.  

I bought a men's small white (which order should those adjectives go in?) sweatshirt on clearance ($2.79 @ Target).

Sewed the sides in so it didn't look like a bubble.

Dyed it pearl gray.

Cut out a freezer paper stencil (using this method). 

Painted the design on.

I can't wait to use this stencil again!

#540 - cool ABC quilt

This picture isn't really a quilt, but I'd love to make a quilt that looks just like this...great way for Oster to learn his ABCs.

#538 - freezer paper stencils

Have you tried making freezer paper stencils yet to make t-shirt designs?  It's loads of fun. 

I made these t-shirts about for my niece, Mae.   Here's the tutorial I used.

#536 - State of Idaho Pillow

 

I saw this Idaho State pillow and thought I could recreate it with some red corduroy I had laying around (thanks mom for the material!)  

Promise...the above photo doesn't do it justice.

Here's how I did it:

 

1 - found a map of Idaho on the internet and blew it up to the size I wanted (about 20 inches high and 12 inches wide)  email me if you want the pattern...i'll send it your way.  Then I pinned it to the corduroy rights sides facing each other.

2 - cut out pattern leaving about 1/4-1/2 inch trim

3 - use a white crayon (i didn't have a fabric marker) to trace around pattern (probably not neccessary)

4 - sew around pattern, leaving about 2 inches open to turn inside out.  I sewed it twice to make sure it stayed.  I also used black thread b/c I ran out of red.

5 - cut of corners, so turning inside out would be easier and turned it inside out

6 - sewed white felt heart onto our hometown location with black embroidery thread

7 - stuffed it with stuffing

8 - sewed up the 2 inch hole (with correct color thread)

I think this is a perfect gift for a college student to remind them of home, so I gave it to my sister Kar.

#533 - red felt wreath homemade

I saw a wreath like this on etsy and thought I could recreate it easily. 

I bought a styrofoam wreath and cut out tons of circles in red felt.  I then pinned them to the wreath (really tight...lots and lots of them) and the final result was pretty cool. 

#532 - little boy's corduroy tie

Oster loves to dress up in "Sunday
clothes"so he can be like his dad.  So, Christmas Eve I decided to whip up a tie for Oster,  I used this patten from Purl  Bee and trimmed off about 2-3 inches (from the bottom) to make it fit.   I can't wait to make more ties!

#517 - colorful leaves project

today during library storytime Oster made these really cool leaves

1. cut out a leaf on paper
2. cut inside of leaf out
3. stick leaf onto contact paper

4. add layers of different colors onto the inside of the leaf (see above)
5. add re-adhere contact paper backing or you could put more contact paper on the back of it

does that even make sense?

Here's Oster showing off his leaf (with a roaring fire in the background)

These leaves remind me of these colorful sugar cookies...yum! (saw this on SYTH)

#507 - tv bars and tone

Working in tv, I think that tv bars and tone artwork in the picture above is such cool decor!

Picture via Jamaica Makes

#501 - Made by Joel

ok...I should really be on post #500, but I'm still writing it, cause #500 is a special one.

In the meantime, I'm loving the blog Made by Joel.  Have you seen it yet?

Such fun projects.  All the pictures above are ones I want to try with Oster....toy pet, nature mobile, owl mobile, drawing people with fabric, toy snake and drawing with buttons (i've got a bunch of buttons for that!)

#362 - baby blanket

Love this baby blanket! I think they just need to add in the word, "poop."

Here's how to make it.

*post edit - I can't believe that I just did 2 posts in a row about...you know what :)

#340 - Birth Announcement #2

Oh, I really like this birth announcement/print for a baby's room.

via

#337 - Birth Announcement

Isn't this a cute birth announcement? I think it could be easy to make...maybe?

via

#278 - 10 Little Monkeys

Baby O's favorite new song is 10 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. I saw this cute glove and I think it would be fun to make one someday.

#277 - Gingerbread House for your Hot Chocolate

Someday when I have nothing else to do but bake, I'll make these.

#227 - learning ABCs

I saw this and it inspired me to use some frames I bought at IKEA years ago.

I painted the frames with the leftover paint from this project. Then, I framed some pages from the ABC Dr. Seuss book (I had 3 copies - not sure how that happened).
Hopefully, these will help Baby O to learn his ABCs, plus we needed some more decoration for his room.

#223 - How to Make a Homemade Pinata

Remember Baby O's birthday party at the beginning of summer? Well, I asked my sister if she could do a quick tutorial on how to make a homemade pinata.

She said, "Spend $20 bucks and go buy one from the store."

At least she is honest.

Oh, I hope she doesn't resent us too much for all that we put her through this summer.

Anyway, here is what she did:

1. Buy a big balloon (the Dollar Store has 3 punching ones for, you guessed it, a dollar)
2. Blow up big balloon and get a bowl or something to stand it on (see pic 1)
3. Mix a bowl of flour and water (it was a little soupier than pancake mix)
4. Tear up pieces of paper (we used some bills, old documents from work, receipts)
5. Dip paper in the flour mixture and lay it on the balloon (see pic 2)
6. Cover the entire balloon and let dry (see pic 3)
7. Repeat after it has dried (Kar did this for 3-4 days straight because she wanted a strong pinata)
8. Cut colored tissue paper into thin, long strips
9. Cut little strips (make it look like a banner) into the tissue paper (see pic 4)
10. Glue onto the pinata
11. Poke 2 hangers into the top of the pinata, so that it can hang (see pic 4)
12. Fill with candy
13. Let the kids smack the heck out of it

Or you can watch this video on how to make a pinata.

Happy Birthday Kar! We miss you out here and we love you!