I’m sort of a tin can and glass jar horder. One of our laundry room cupboards is filled with em! Last night I finally pulled them out to do some crafting.

My garden is almost blooming and with it being wedding season I got a little romantic with my tin can vases!

Love, cherish, adore, XOXO are stamped onto the fabric. The fabrics are bleached and non-bleached muslin cut with pinking sheers and wrapped around the cans. I went the lazy route and taped the fabric on but I think hot glue would be better for handling.

All that is missing are flowers!

Little Peanut spent a lot of time in the kitchen at our old house (due to lack of play space) and we invested in quite a few magnetic toys to keep her entertained. The new basement playroom has plenty of room but no magnetic surfaces. Inspired by this popular Pinterest pin I set out to find something similar and came up with this:

With little luck finding the right oil pan I stopped by Home Depot and asked for metal sheets. For some reason I kept thinking they came as large as plywood and wasn’t sure how I’d cut it down (much less bring it home!), but sure enough they come in nice manageable sizes in the plumbing section. I got the largest one I saw – 24×36 inches for $10.

Once home I realized we’d have to cover the edges to prevent little fingers from getting cut. First I thought about duct taping around the edges and then covering with fabric but that idea was scratched when wasn’t sure how to make the fabric taut. Then one day (about a month later!) while browsing Michaels I saw their large poster frames and it hit me- duh, frame it! Of course I had to make an additional trip since I didn’t know the exact dimensions of the metal sheet. There are quite a few styles to choose from but I went with the basic Michaels frame – $15 on sale!

I brought it home and took out the glass. If you’re careful you can remove it with out breaking it. There is a little double sided tape on all 4 sides to hold the glass on. You guessed it, I was not careful, it broke all over and startled both kids and hubby! I had no plans for the glass but it would have been nice to keep for later. The metal sheet turned out to be a wee too big for the frame but a pair of decent scissors fixed that problem. Less then 1/4 inch was cut off the width and height. It is easy to cut, just don’t use the good scissors!

It still needs to be hung but I’m thinking it might survive propped up as long as they don’t get too rough with it. It was also intended for the Little Peanut but the Little Guy seems to be enjoying it more (I guess he is the right age for the toys we have. Oh and don’t mind the little scar on his nose. He’s been feverishly trying to crawl, got a little rambunctious and bumped his nose on the ground. Good news is he is now crawling, bad news is he is now crawling. Hah! )

Hours of fun for under $25!

One more DIY playroom accessory crossed of the list. Infinite amount more to go.

In honor of Earth Day, I took a couple of my husband’s old button down shirts and turned them into aprons for my kids. It was a great way to reuse stuff we already had and as an added bonus, it was a super quick project! For my girl’s apron, the neck was too large so I simply cut down the center of the collar and overlapped it. I used an old belt for the waist ties (the apron ended up looking much like a halter dress!). For my boy’s apron, I cut two strips from the shirt sleeves to make the ties and for a more “boyish” look, I used an old tie – as a result, aprons also make great dress up clothes!

My workplace has had a baby boom lately (and everyone has stopped drinking the water!) A few weeks ago we welcomed three little ones to the world. But before doing so we had to have a little party! The ladies of the Interactive Services department put our heads together for this a spring themed baby shower.

Initially we were going for pink and blue but a few of the baked goods wanted to be green (something about the chemistry of the foods and coloring. I’m sure I’d know more if I had actually paid attention in chem and color theory!) so we went with it. It all ended up matching pretty well with the table cloth and other decorations.

Here’s a look a the full table spread. Being interactive geeks we had to include the <h1> tags. And oops, it’s been a long time since I actually programmed anything and forgot to add the closing slash.

It was a lot of fun to put together. Everything except for the Peeps and fruit were made by us. I made the cake balls/pops and diaper cakes. It was the first time making them into pops and plan on making more in the future. The chocolate covers so much smoother and doesn’t leave the small puddle of chocolate at the bottom.

The diaper cakes were inspired by Pinterest. I love the swirl look and it was an easy last minute diy project. You can learn to make your own at Creative Diaper Cake Ideas!

I used these cupcake toppers to decorate the cakes:

- Baby shower printables by chickabug (via U-Create)

- Baby girl cupcake toppers

- Baby boy toppers were made by me. I hope to post the pdf soon.

It was a big hit and I had a lot of fun with the planning, baking and decorations.

Special thanks to one of my co-workers for taking the photos!

Last week Little Peanut fell off a stool and fractured her arm. Luckily it’s just a hairline fracture so no cast needed but she does need to wear a sling for a month. As soon as I saw it ideas for making it girly and cute popped into my head. Unfortunately she had other ideas and refused to let me touch it. We’re only 4 days in so there’s still time to work some magic (or decorate it while she sleeps!)

Last night though after noticing how the strap rubbed up against her neck I made a fun strap cover in her favorite color and slipped it on this morning while she was changing. All she said was, “it’s green!” when she saw it.

While I didn’t follow the tutorial (lazy me didn’t want to go get the computer…) it was based off of the Gathered Camera Strap tutorial from The Cottage Home. The tutorial is great and I had used it to make a camera strap cover for my sister. The only thing I would suggest it cutting the ruffle/gathered fabric wider. I had some problems sewing it to the backing and really had to manipulate the ruffles to get it to fit.

Its a shame this pic turned out blurry. I love her model pose and puckered lips. Such a little diva.

Being a procrastinator that I am I just shipped off these hats to Craft Hope today.

The story about the Littlest Warrior brought tears to my eyes and I knew I wanted to participate. Not only are hats one of my favorite things to knit but all of the items are going to local (MN) children’s hospitals.

Learn more about Craft Hope – www.crafthope.com.

I’m looking forward to the next project already!

When my daughter was born she received tons of baby blankets. At the time I wasn’t sure what we were going to do with all of them. But sure enough we ended up using them all. There are three that the girl has claimed for her own and has said the rest are ok for her brother to use too. Its great that she knows how to share but I wanted him to have a blanket he could call his own.

When I saw this tutorial from thismamamakesstuff.com I knew I wanted to make it. I also knew I wanted to use the same fabric from the sling but when I went back to JoAnn’s for it I couldn’t find it and neither could the workers. Trusty old Google led me to an etsy store with it in stock.  It cost almost twice as much then the yard I got at JoAnns but I had my heart set on it and also knew I probably wouldn’t find it anywhere else. Totally worth it though because it fits in so well with the boys room decor – blue and red.



To make it special for the boy I also added an applique initial to one of the corners.

The tutorial was great and easy to follow. I love that it didn’t require any turning or bias. The fluffy fabric also allows for some fudging around the corners and hides uneven stitching, not that I do any of those things. Haha.

One last photo of the blanket with Bear Bear. I love love love the soft and fluffy fabric backing. It’s super warm to cuddle under.

My boy’s first obsession was with the vacuum cleaner – we couldn’t go to the store without visiting the vacuum aisle. We would keep our vacuum out in the middle of our living room so that he could examine it. And I can’t tell you how many vacuums I’ve drawn for him!

While that obsession has died down somewhat, he’s picked up a new one: the performance stage. It’s every aspect of it; the actual physical structure with the curtains and how it opens and closes to the performance – he asked for a microphone stand for Christmas (he already had a microphone) and is constantly entertaining us. 

I knew it was just a matter of time before he would ask me to make him a real stage so I decided to make it a real project for his birthday in a couple of months (it will also be a future blog post). To hold him over until then, I decided that I would make him a play stage that he could use with his other toys and take with him wherever he wanted. I actually got the idea to build a toy stage when I was about to recycle some box lids. With some fabric, craft string and a glue gun I knew I could create a one-of-a-kind, portable stage that could entertain him for as long as his obsession would remain.

I started this project by cutting a piece of cardboard to the dimension of the bottom of the lid and wrapped it in green fabric (his favorite color – according to him, the curtains had to be red). This would serve as the backdrop. Next, I cut out two fabric panels a little larger than the dimension of the lid to allow for some gathering and sewed a 1/2 inch seam. I then punched a hole on the sides of the lid whereby I strung the craft string and the “curtains”. For the stage platform, I cut out another piece of cardboard and wrapped it around a scrap piece of fleece and then hot glued it to the lid. This also helped add a little weight so that the curtains wouldn’t make it too top heavy.

I added some embellishments to dress up the stage using some wood decorations that hung in his room when it was still a nursery (another great way to reuse existing materials). I knew he would want the curtains to remain open during the “performances” so I simply punched some holes to the sides and tied craft string long enough to tie. I even put a hook on the back using a pipe cleaner so that he could hang outside his bedroom door – now talk about a one-of-a-kind door hanging!

This project only took me about 30 minutes to make; the sound of my boy’s squeal made it totally worth it even if it took 3 hours! 

Long overdue but hopefully worth the wait!  The next installment of the little girls room – the reading nook!

Read part 1 here.

What started in my mind as a reading nook has since turned into just a hideout cuddling corner because she keeps taking the books downstairs.

The canopy is from Ikea. Initially I had planned on DIY but knew it would cost way more then $20. It’s hard to see in the photos but I did add a little DIY touch to it by tying long strips of ribbon to the inside (on the hoop and center) and adding some yellow and green tulle. While putting away the Christmas decorations I thought she might like to have some twinkling lights added to the canopy and sure enough she loved it when I showed her that night.

The photo wall began with the name poster we got from my nephew. He’s only 9 and a great artist! I picked up the three bird prints on the right from JoAnn’s in the clearance section for a a little under $3 each. The two pics in the green frame are from Oohmoon.com. The smaller frames have photos from her 12 month photo session.

I would love to say that this fabric inspired the colors of the room but I actually found it way after we had painted the accent wall but knew it would fit in perfectly the moment I saw it.

The pouf (or floor cushion) in front was made using this tutorial from Living With Punks. I skipped the piping part partially because I was chicken to try it and partially because I couldn’t find the piping section in the store since I was in a hurry. Maybe next time!

The pouf in the back was made from this tutorial from Design*Sponge. The only thing I had trouble with was adding the tuft. I didn’t have a needle long enough and didn’t want to invest in one just for this. I attempted it with a knitting needle (the one to sew up seams) but it was difficult to push it through without loosing it inside!

Eventually I would love to add more pillows and a blanket to make it extra cozy.

I think she likes it!

Cooking. Sometimes I love it sometimes I hate it. I’m more of a cook out of necessity person but I do enjoy a good cooking session now and then. Our old house had a great built in spice rack. Our new house… not so much. See..

I stuck them all in the cabinet and could never find anything. Plus look at all that wasted space at the top! A search for just the right one became futile and eventually I stopped looking. Little did I know all I had to do was look in the cabinet NEXT to the spices!

Add in a little tape, glue and cardstock and voila — spice rack.

Here’s how you can make your own.

Gather your materials:

-Tape (I used blue painters tape because that’s all we had)

-Glue (I used spray adhesive because again, that’s all I had)

- 12×12 cardstock. At least 2 pieces depending on the finished size of your rack.

-empty boxes (I found the ones with about a 2″ depth worked best for the sizes of the spice bottles)

-scissors

Determine how to stack the boxes to fit your spices.

I had a few of the shorter (2 inch?) spices so I laid one flat and stacked one on top to form an L shape. The red box goes under the blue one. It’s a little hard to see since I taped it up already in this picture.

Cut and tape the boxes together

Once you found the right combo, cut the boxes if needed and tape together. My boxes weren’t the same height so I had to cut one down. I taped a stabilizing piece to the open end so it wouldn’t collapse.

I also taped over the open end so nothing would accidentally slip in.

Unless you plan on moving the shelf around a little tape around the bottom will do.

Cover with cardstock

Measure the front and top sides of the shelf and fold your paper to size. Cut the width if needed. Sorry no photos of this step but here’s how it will look after.

I had to use two sheets. One to cover the top “shelf” and one to cover the front of the bottom “shelf.” You can see in the photo it wasn’t long enough. Oops! What’s the saying? Measure twice cut once? Once you get everything cut to size spray the underside of the cardstock with spray adhesive and stuck it on.

Tada! I didn’t do the sides because honestly who’s going to know besides me?

Here’s a close up. There is also a rack on the left but there was still pasta in the box so I didn’t want to cover it just yet.

Now cooking is a little bit less stressful!