DIY Kids Coins

 I've been busy! I got this idea a few weeks ago and started figuring it out in my mind while I waited on buying some supplies (this was NOT expensive!) My mind started rolling after seeing this post about robot coins here, and this idea about story stones here. I've also been brainstorming games and activities to help Otto count up to 20. He's great up to 12, then gets confused with the teen numbers {whose brilliant idea was is to name them that way?}. So the Coins were born. I like that they are small . I like that they are sturdy. I like that they have numbers and pictures. I like that with one item, there are many different games and activities.

So here's the idea and the many uses of the coins: 

1. Otto can post the coins in numerical order while at the same time (this is important so they aren't fighting!) Atlas can post the coins which have pictures on both sides.

2. Both boys take turns picking ones that I specifically ask for (ei. Atlas, where's the guitar? He LOVES it!)

 

3. Otto can sort them by categories: Numbers, Weather/Nature, Things, Food, People/Animals, and Transportation.

4. We can pick them out of the jar one by one and use them as story coins. The idea is that you choose one to start your story, then as you go along keep choosing new coins, weaving that item into your story.

5. They can be used to match colors, and I'm sure we'll find other uses for them as we use them more!

Here are the coins front side:

 

And flip side:

 

I wish I could give everyone my JPEGs for printing them out, but because I used all items from scrapbook designers, it would be illegal! I can tell you how I made them and give credit to the designers whose work I used.

I used 1.5" wooden discs from Michaels. They were 22 discs to a pack, and I used 32 coins. (There are some leftover, so I can always add more pictures if I want.) Since I couldn't just wait to use two 40% coupons in two visits (the only store that carried these was a bit far away), I used one coupon and bought the other at full price. Total price: $8

The can was an upcycle cocoa can. Total price: free (we already used the cocoa, right?) I covered the can with some nice scrapbook paper. Price: 25¢

For the images, I created a new document in Photoshop Elements and made a template to house each item at the perfect size. Then I added each item, resizing them to fit. Some of the items are from online freebies while others are from kits I purchased previous to this project. After I filled a page with the items, I deleted the template part and printed the sheet. If you are interested in making your own, Google images is a great way to get clip art.

Next, I used a 1-1/4" circle punch to punch the images, then mod podged the circles onto the discs. My husband commented, "That's your favorite stuff, isn't it?" Well, I do love my Mod Podge!

And there you have it! Fun Coins!

A breakdown of the items I used:

Sahlin Studio: numbers (recolored), deer; 

Designs By Dani: flower, shoe, ice cream, popsicle, boy/girl, robot, owl, blue car, street light, yellow bus, rocket ship, skateboard, submarine, blimp, race car; 

Just Jaimee: rainbow, cloud, boots, beach ball, hot air balloon; 

Creativity By Crystal: planet, house, guitar, apple, whale, dump truck; 

Megan Turnidge: star, arrow; Amy Stoffel: raccoon, fox

Melissa Bennett: sun; Karla Dudley: moon; Sugary Fancy: umbrella; Sugar Hill Co: tree; Queen of Quirk: record player (recolored); Zoe Pearn: heart; Digital Design Essentials: camera; Cinnamon Scraps: cupcake; Little Butterfly Wings: dog; Jady Day Studio: bee; R. Wagler: butterfly

Valentine Hearts

This week was Valentine's Day. I hope you all felt the love! I was so prepared this year. After our family being sick for most of January, I wanted to be sure to do some fun things with the boys in February for Valentine's Day. So, we baked sugar cookies and decorated them - the boys helped with everything! They loved watching me roll out the dough, then being able to take their cookie cutters and cut the dough into hearts and little animal shapes. We waited until Atlas was napping to do the decorating (because I just knew how that could go!) Otto loved mixing the icing and sampling the red and pink Mike and Ikes we got to decorate the tops. He decorated the big ones we made for the grandparents and Pappy (Andy), and a few small hearts, then decided he was done.

Another other crafty thing we did for Valentine's were these beautiful hearts! They were so simple. I got the idea from here and it was perfect for both boys to do. They ripped tissue paper, then used paint brushes to glue them to wax paper with Kid's Mod Podge. Atlas especially loved the gluing part! Otto helped me cut out some of the hearts (then announcing that he was done), and I strung them into a banner for the window. It looks so pretty in our window! Definitely a project we may have to add to next year!

 

The boys and I also made some Valentine playdough. I tried to brew some tea to make it smell nice, but it really didn't work, so I added some almond extract... and then some more, and then some more... but it just didn't take! I guess the salt smell is just too powerful. I've seen blog posts by others on how they fragranced their playdough, so I'll have to try again. Or maybe it doesn't work as well with herbal tea? Not sure.

Happy Valentine's!

Merry Christmas | Christmas Nativity

 Merry Christmas! It's Christmas Eve afternoon, and half of us are visiting with family. The other half are napping or preparing for tomorrow. We've been having fun playing with some new Nativities. Here are the Nativity Blocks I made for Otto and Atlas to play with. They both love them, and I love them too, since I'm not worried about them getting wrecked! We've been doing a Christmas advent calendar, with Christmas activities each day. I set these up the night before, and in the morning when I told them there were Nativity Blocks to play with, they were so excited!

I used this set

  

(if you're interested in this set for this purpose, you will need to ask for the PNG files from the company because they only provide you with a PDF file, which is locked and comes in larger sizes than you really want for this project). I shrunk all the images in photoshop and printed them out at home, then mod podged them onto the blocks.

Merry Christmas to you all

 -

I hope you have time to reflect on the Nativity in your own ways, as we have had the chance to do all this month.

My Dino Box {or Dinos in a Tin!}

When we visited the Royal Tyrell Museum this spring, we picked up these tiny adorable pocket dinosaurs. They were perfect in the quiet bag for church and of course, Otto was over the moon for them, he thought they were so cool. I've had an idea in my head to create a landscape for them. Originally I thought I'd make it out of fabric and felt and have it fold in on itself, but then I found this tin and it was perfect! It would hold a tiny landscape and the dinos themselves, and would be sturdy enough to withstand two little boys playing with it. Perfect. I used scrapbook paper, some stickers, letter stamps, and felt inside for the sun, lake, and volcano. I mod podged the outside of the tin where I stuck paper. 

I love having boys. Sometimes this means that I don't have to frill things up - I can just leave them plain and simple and know it will be well loved.

My Brother My Friend Subway Art

Last week I was in some kind of funk and just couldn't motivate myself to do much of anything. But I was feeling bad for my boys. We just weren't doing all the usual stuff. I decided that we needed to do something creative. I've been seeing some cool subway art around the internet lately and thought maybe we could make our own. I got so excited that I skipped a step I should have done, then payed for it later on.  I will tell you how I made this and include the step I should have done!

1. I used a plain old 16x20 stretched canvas from Michaels. This had been sitting in my basement forever, with grand plans in my head of what I might do with it. But, plans are better carried out and I decided that my brain was taking too long for those other plans!

2. PREP YOUR CANVAS. Okay, so I didn't do this and had to go back later to touch up the letters because the paint bled under the vinyl letters! So. Very important to prep - use white paint, gesso, whatever. Just don't skip this step!

3. Cut vinyl letters (or get them cut). The bold letters I printed off my computer, then cut them into the vinyl with an exacto, the fun font I cut with my cricut. Stick the letters on your canvas how you want them. Make sure they are well sealed.

4. This is the fun part. Let your kids have free reign with paint, brushes, fingers, and hands! If they are littles like mine are, point out all the "white parts" to cover.

 This is what it looked like when the boys were finished.

 Atlas: "My work here is done."

5. Allow to dry. When paint is dry, you can spray the whole thing with a lacquer spray for more of a sheen. I used acrylic paint, and I thought it ended up looking a little dull, but the lacquer gives it just enough of a shine. 

6. Carefully peel off your vinyl letters. You can do this before step 5 if you want to spray everything, letters and all.

 As you can see here, there was a bit of bleeding. I ended up touching up the bold letters, but not the names. The letters would have been much crisper had I only been a little more patient and did #2!

So there you go. Totally easy, Totally do-able, Totally Cool art for your home.

New LO and Easy Scrap Craft for the boy

I finally made a new LO! I had made a deal with myself: As soon as I cleared the crap off both my craft desks, I could actually craft again! Most of the things on my desks just needed to find places, be organized, etc. I got to it and reaped the rewards when all was completed! I even got to indulge in a bit of Forsythe Saga with Netflix! 

Manilla tags have been popping up everywhere in scrapbooking, and since I've sat on my boxes of tags for quite awhile, I thought I should put them to creative use! I used them here in my LO,

and here, in a very easy craft Otto and I did together. I LOVE washi tapes! I purchased some from Freckled Fawn and was so pleased with their service and shipping prices!!! You don't find good shipping prices often! And the tapes are adorable! I sat down with Otto, while he did his own tag and I did one for Atlas. So easy. I just ripped some of each tape and set it on the side of the desk and he decided where it went, we punched their names with my DYMO, printed off some recent pictures on plain 80lb white paper {because I seem to be behind, yet again, on getting recent pictures developed!}, and he chose the type/color string for the pull. He was so pleased with himself, and what a cute result, no?

Family Memory Game in Felt Bag Tutorial

I made my first felt bag for a set of flash cards I got at a garage sale. I can't stand having cards in a plastic bag - the bag gets wrecked, discarded, and you end up with a flash card here or there, under the couch, in the toy basket, etc. So, I made a felt bag to contain them. Otto loves it and so does my sanity.

Last year I made a Family Memory Game for both sets of our parents - they were a hit, especially with the grandchildren - they get to play a game with their own faces on it, how cool is that?! The game itself is pretty easy to make:

Supplies:
One set playing cards with colorful back
Photos - 2 of each person/couple, size 2x3
Double-sided tape
Laminating Sheets
Laminator
Corner rounding punch

Tape photos onto the playing cards, then laminate. Round the corners with the corner-rounder punch. See? Easy.

The next part is the tricky part (for my artistic side of the brain vs. wherever the heck my math side of the brain is). You will need to measure your finished deck of cards like so:


Supplies for your Felt Bag:
Felt (I use a thick felt)
Strip of cotton fabric
Snap and Snap setter

Do you have your measurements? Now you have to do a bit of math.

Add: Width" + Depth" + .75"= width to cut your felt.

Add: (Depth" x 2) + (Length" x 2) + 2"= length to cut your felt.

Now cut your felt.

Measure the length of the felt and add 4".
Cut your cotton fabric: 2.75" (width) x (length of your felt + 4")

Okay, now the hard part is over and you can get to the sewing, Yay!

First fold over the edges (1/4") of the cotton strip and press.

Center the cotton on the felt and pin.

Turn over and pin the cotton approximately 1/8" from the end. This is really important because you will be stitching from the top and the pins will be your guide as to where to sew the ends down.

Sew all around the cotton piece, 1/8" from the edge. Now go back and sew from where you pinned on the back down to the other pin to close the cotton on the other side. After you are done, it should look like this on the back:

Fold the felt, right sides together and sandwich the deck of cards in between. One end of the felt should be flush with the top of the cards. Pin (like above) to indicate the top of the deck. [If you are attaching a label/tag, now is the time to sandwich it between the side seams] Sew the sides together up to the pin.


Trim the sides of the flap down to your sewn edges so you won't have extra material "flapping" out the top.

Put the corners of the flap together and round them with scissors.

Turn inside out - You are almost done!

Center the snap and attach according to package directions.

Now admire your handywork and pat yourself on the back for a job well done!


This is my first tutorial, so leave a comment if you liked it or if I need to change anything so it's easier to understand! Thanks!

Family Laundry Line

I am SO excited that this project turned out! This is my Family Laundry Line fabric artwork. I've had this idea {and many other stitched artwork ideas} floating around in my brain for some time and wondering if I might make these to order.... I must admit that I thought I might be an original or very near original by making the laundry line into a fabric project, but sadly, my idea was found {almost exactly} on the front of this book! *gasp* Oh well. I actually bought this book and it is a fantastic resource for many of the stitching/fabric projects I have in mind! I must give credit where credit is due and tell you that some inspiration for a laundry line came from here and here. And I couldn't have done it without a dear friend's generous donation of her itty bitty fabric scraps {and some not so itty bitty}!

Update: Now you can order your very own! Visit my Facebook Page at treetopstitchery.com

Hoppy for you!

Two weeks ago I had 6 of my students perform in the music festival in our town. It is a great opportunity to learn and grow in their performance skills. I am happy to say that they all did very well! One student was also chosen to win an adjudicator's award at the showcase last week. Way to go, students!


I made these treat boxes to let them know I am so proud of them. I recently bought this die (a mini milk carton) from Stampin' Up and I have used it so much already! Just change the colors and stamped sentiment and you've got the perfect little token of appreciation, good luck, love, happy birthday, congratulations, thank you, or happy holiday (insert Christmas, Easter, Valentine's, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day). LOVE it!

Summer Mini

I recently went on a crop and got most of this summer mini done. Then, I was very sick (and quite out of it) for a week, and on some heavy pain killers. I'm feeling better now, and I'm slowly regaining more energy daily. So, I was finally able to finish this and now able to show you!

This started out as an altered book. My good friend Birdie, who is a wonderful print artist, made this beautiful book and gave it to us at Otto's baby shower. And since then, I've been wondering what wonderful things I could put in it! I wanted it to be for family pictures or solely for Otto pictures.

The problem was that it was a very long accordion book and I knew that the moment I showed it to Otto and let him touch and look at it, it would get ripped quite easily (as evidenced by the stack of books I recently had to glue or tape). So I stewed over this for some time.

I finally came up with a solution I got so excited about! I asked Andy to drill two holes in the side so that I could attach some “o” rings. This way, I could make the accordion pages into pockets into which I could include more pictures and stories (it was, after all, a packed summer!).

Journaling reads: "I'm celebrating summer. Spending my days with a fun little man. Celebrating what makes him happy this first summer of discovery."

I added pictures and embellishments and included many spaces for pockets – behind pictures to allow for longer journaling for our stories (I used Ali Edwards journal overlays), and in the page pockets for extra pictures. I added ribbons and round metal tags for the pulls.

This has been one of my favorite mini books to work on. Thanks Birdie for the beautiful album!

p.s. I made a great mini album for Otto’s first year, which I’ve neglected to post here, so perhaps I will show you that next week! Also in the works: a new baby quilt! So exciting!