Motif #1 Day Block Prints

This was a glorious day in New England...sunny, breezy, and full of things to do. 

One of our favorite places to go for a day trip is Rockport, MA - and on this particular day, they were celebrating Motif #1...

This charming seaside shack is Motif #1, and supposedly, it is one of the most highly photographed, painted, and otherwise immortalized buildings around (which I did not know until today).

So, all around town they had things to do, honoring the motif.  These easels were set up to draw your own masterpiece...

There was a sidewalk chalk contest and, you guessed it, the motif was a popular subject...

My sweetie drew a mermaid :)  I was impressed!  And who knows, maybe mermaids frequent the motif too...

One of my favorite activities were these sweet block print crafts that they had for everyone to try:

They were super simple, and turned out so cool!  I definitely want to make more of these at home, and I'm thinking this would be a really great birthday party craft....

It takes just a few supplies: foam sheets (these were only about 1/8" thick...I'll have to figure out exactly where to get these), a ballpoint pen, paint and paintbrush or roller, and white paper. 

First, take a foam sheet and draw a picture with the ballpoint pen. 

 Second, brush or roll a thin layer of paint all over the foam sheet...

Third, press the foam, paint side down, onto a piece of paper, press down firmly all over, and then lift the foam off. 

Aren't they beautiful!? (If it matters, make sure to draw a mirror image onto the foam...my motif is backward :)  This especially applies with words). 

So, if any of you live in the vicinity, or are planning a visit, I highly recommend Rockport.  It has lovely shops, delicious lobster, and Motif #1.  And if nothing else, it is a beautiful place to throw rocks in the water....



Teacher Appreciation Pencil Bouquet

Despite the fact that my kids are not yet in school, I have made my fair share of teacher appreciation gifts!  As I have mentioned before, I have been a school secretary for a while - and because I love crafting, I always volunteer to make the end of year teacher gifts. 

(You can see my past Teacher Appreciation gifts here on my tutorials page, just scroll down to the Teacher Appreciation Gifts section.)

This year, I decided to make pencil bouquets, after finding these great "flower pot" mugs...
Even without flower pot shaped mugs, this is a great gift, because of the easy, personalized elements. 

I filled each mug with candy, so that the pencils would have something to hold them up.  This year, I made 70 sets - which is why there are so many in this picture :)

We had a die-cut flower shape that allowed us to produce the hundreds of flowers we needed fast - but if you were doing this for 1 or 2 teachers, you could certainly cut flowers out by hand, or cut them on a silhouette or other cutting machine.  We used cardstock, and had the school kids color and decorate the flower shapes.  My favorite ones had words written on them, thanking their teachers. 

With glue dots (found in the scrapbooking section of the craft store) we attached the flowers to the top of the pencils, one flower shape on each side so that it was pretty from any angle.  We debated about sharpening the pencils, and decided not to - both because we had so many to do, and also because we didn't want the pencils piercing the candy bags.

A dozen pencils fit very nicely in the mug, and we finished it off with a tag, printed from the computer, with the teacher's name, tied on with a ribbon.  They look very colorful and festive, and I am sure our teachers will love getting a useful mug, yummy candy, and teacher appropriate pencils for their classroom.  Not to mention the sweet drawings from the children in their class :)

Mason Jar Wall Holder

I've seen these clever Mason Jar Holders all around blogland.  One in particular that I like I saw here at Shanty 2 Chic - and the idea has been floating around my head for a while.... until I recently found an excellent need for my own Mason Jar Holder ;)

We have a very small bathroom - and it has a vanity with no drawers.  So, we have installed a shelfing unit for some of our necessities - but it isn't always easy, just using the shelves.  Particularly, I am often annoyed when I need to brush my girl's hair after a bath, or put it up quickly before running out the door, and I can't find a hairbrush!
Enter my brilliant idea: a Mason Jar Holder, just for the brushes!

I took a scrap piece of wood, and gave it a wash with black paint (acrylic paint, really watered down).

I decided that rather than screw through the pipe clamp (found in the plumbing section of the hardware store...these are 4" clamps), I would secure it with two screws around it....

Below, you can see how I put the screws very close to the edge of the metal, and tightened them down as much as I could.  That baby isn't going anywhere :)  Before you finish this step though, make sure that the clamp is positioned how you want it, and just big enough to slip the jar in and out.  You don't want to be tightening the clamp itself too much after it is screwed onto the board. 

I did that on both sides of the board - to hold two mason jars. (I measured my first/top screw the same distance from the edge and the top of the board, so that the jars hung at the same height.)
These are wide mouth, 1 pint jars - 5 inches tall - and the board itself is 4.5 inches tall.  The jars hang off the bottom of the board a little. 

After that, I screwed a hook into the middle, and some hanging hardware onto the back (as usual I used the d-ring picture hangers.  They are screwed into the back of the board, and very secure.  I might ultimately prefer to screw the whole board itself into the wall though ... we'll see.  For now, this works great.)

And now, I don't have to go pawing through the shelves to find the brushes - or the hair ties!  I love it!

Perfect Playdough Recipe

I got this recipe from the local Boys and Girls Club - so I knew it was tried and true - and it is amazing!
The dough is so soft, DOESN'T CRUMBLE, and this makes a great big batch, fast!

Perfect Playdough Recipe

Place all these ingredients in a medium sauce pan:

2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Salt

2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar

2 Cups Water

2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Food Coloring (optional)

Cook on medium heat, stirring until the dough forms a ball.

Remove from heat and knead on a hard surface.

Let cool completely before storing in a Ziplock Bag.

The Boys and Girls Club said they keep theirs for at least 2 weeks (and I imagine they use theirs almost every day).  I haven't had this batch that long yet, but it is still perfectly soft.
The great thing about playdough is that it keeps my kids entertained for hours - and the really great thing about this recipe is that it reduces the amount of playdough that is tracked around the house!  We just use our regular playdough toys with this dough, but any old cookie cutters and plastic utensils would be just as fun!

I hope you can go make a little person really happy by making them a batch :)

Framed Magnetic Board

This is one of those great ideas I found on Pinterest.  This link leads right back to the post at The Twice Remembered Cottage that describes how they did it - which is slightly different, because they built their own frame. 

I found this guy on the side of the road on trash day :)  Huge wooden frame (In fact it had glass intact! Need to think of something to do with that...), and the foam backing was there and clean enough to reuse.

I painted the frame black, and distressed it a bit.  Then, I sprayed it with clear sealer. 

I got this giant piece of sheet metal at the hardward store, and cut it down to the right size with tin snips.  Because my frame was so big (about 2' x 3'), this piece was pretty expensive ($20, I think), but since it was the only thing I purchased for this project, I was okay with it.  Smaller pieces of sheet metal are much less expensive. 

I tore pages out of an old book.  Some of them I faux aged with a tea bag.  To do this, I got the tea bag wet, and used it like a paintbrush across the pages.  I let the pages dry overnight.  Then, I sprayed spray adhesive on the metal, small sections at a time, and set the pages down, smoothing them with a credit card type card. 

You can see how some of the pages are darker color than the others, from the tea.  I trimmed around the edge of the metal, to cut off the pages that were hanging off the edge.  I also sprayed over the pages with clear sealer - though I don't know if it needed it.  I made sure all my edges were sealed well with the spray adhesive, so I probably could have gone without the clear spray over the top.  It added spots that look perpetually wet, so I don't know if I would recommend it. 

I put the metal in the frame, along with the foam backing that came with it, in order to make it fit snug. 

Here it is with a few magnets.  I was thinking it would be fun to use to hold a reading chart in the summer, what with the book pages as a background :)

Or, it is pretty darn cute holding my daughter's rainbow princess picture...

Fabric Super-kid Cape

My daughter went to a friend's birthday party recently - and this friend just happens to be a boy (imagine that) :)  This boy loves capes, and this gave me the perfect excuse to make one for him!

I made my first cape a couple of years ago....click this link here to see it (and the instructions on how I made it!)  That was for Halloween, and it turned out really well.

I am very happy with this one too - and it is really not difficult!  This could be a beginner's sewing project.

Each side of the cape is made from 1 yard of fabric.  I like having the capes double sided - it adds fun for the wearer.  You can see the shape above, cut out from each yard of fabric.  I used a string and a pen to mark the back side of the fabric with this shape. 

If you have someone hold your string down at the middle edge of the long side of fabric, and extend your string almost to the other edge of the fabric, you can swing the string/pen in an arc to mark the even round shape of the bottom.  Same concept to mark the neck arc - just make your string much shorter.

This picture should make it a bit more clear:

You can, of course, make a cape without pictures sewn on (that would cut the time it takes WAY down).  If you like the shapes, cut them out of scraps of fabric, and zig-zag stitch around the edges to secure them onto the cape.

I often use bias tape for the neck ties - but you can make your own strips with scraps of the same fabric. 
Then, the cape is made simply pinning right sides together, with the neck ties facing in at the edges of the neck curve, and sewing all the way around the cape.  Leave a couple of inches open to turn it right side out.  Iron the cape at this point for a nice crisp look.  This time, I top stitched all the way around the edge of the cape, 1/8" from the edge, in order to secure the hole shut. 

This size, made with 1 yard of fabric, is long on my 3 year old (above), and just right for my 5 year old (below).  So, if you are making one for a 3 year old, don't use the entire 42-44" width of a yard of fabric.  This size would work for a few years older than 5 I would imagine...it certainly is long on my tall 5 year old. 

Capes are fun accessories for costumes - fun for imaginative boys and girls - and extra fun when they are personalized!  Don't be afraid to go whip up a cape for your favorite little super-kid!!