Lil' Sprinkles of Joy: Being crafty

Showing posts with label Being crafty. Show all posts

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Holiday Chevron Art

We have two fireplaces in our current home which means two mantels to decorate at Christmas!! This year I was looking for a new addition to our living room fireplace and decided to take my love for chevron and create some new mantel art.

I am in love with this new pop of color! It was very easy to make and ended up being a quick evening project after the boys went to bed one night.

Supplies:

2 16x20 canvases ( I already had this size laying around but you could substitute)

Frogtape Shape Tape Chevron: purchased at Lowes

Gray/Silver Acrylic Paint purchased at Michaels

Red Chipboard Glitter Letters purchased at Michaels

White paint for touchups

Step 1: I measured and taped off the chevron lines using the chevron shape tape. I basically used an extra piece to space the lines evenly.

Step 2: Next, I used a foam brush to paint on the gray paint and removed the shape tape as soon as I was finished painting

Step 3: I touched up with white paint and a small brush

Step 4: Waited 15 minutes and attached the chipboard letters! You may need to use some additional glue to stick to the canvas

Step 5: Display! I will be showing additional photos soon of the completed fireplace look

Hope you've enjoyed this quick & easy chevron art tutorial.

~Ila~

Linking up here:

I Should Be Mopping the Floor

From My Front Porch to Yours

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Thanksgiving Photo Cards

One of my adventures along with blogging has been to slowly open my own little Etsy shop with some more customized printables. Like I said, it is a work in progress and one that I am adding to little by little as time permits. However, I wanted to share my Thanksgiving card designs that are available for anyone looking to make a last minute card for the holiday all about giving thanks for the blessings in our lives.

Give Thanks Chevron Style

A Stitched Thanksgiving

We Are Thankful

All of the cards can easily be customized to your liking in either a 5x7 or 4x6 style. The best part is you don't have to wait for them to arrive in the mail....just wait for the email file and then print them at home, Costco, Walgreens, etc...and let everyone know how thankful you are for having them in your life!

~Ila~

Sunday, November 3, 2013

No Sew Superhero Cape Tutorial

Remember my son's 5th Superhero Themed Birthday Party? Well, I finally had a chance to write a tutorial for all the capes I made. I was not blessed with the gift of sewing so I decided to do a no sew version which really was an easy task that took about 2 hours to complete.

First I found a cape pattern online at Jollymom. She also made a no sew version so it was a big help to read her post before attempting for myself. I found felt on sale at JoAnn Fabrics for about $1.50 a yard and each cape took about a 1/2 yard of fabric. I cute my felt to 20x28 and then folded each piece in half. Pin on the pattern and then cut around the pattern and straight down the sides.

Open it up and your cape will look like this!

Next I traced a variety of diferent superheros from the font Hall of Heroes that I downloaded onto photoshop. You could also use word to make your stencils to trace.

I used felt glue to glue together the different superhero symbols and then later to glue them onto the capes. It may appear that the glue is not sticking but give it a hour and it will be fine. In a pinch, I also used double sided tape for one piece when I ran out of glue!

I bought sticky back velcro at Hobby Lobby to add to the capes. I did end up gluing the velcro on also as it didn't stick to the felt that great so you could easily use any type of velcro.

The capes were a big hit! All the kids loved them and they made great party favors for a pretty cheap price!

Unlock the inner super hero in you and create your own capes today!

~Ila~

Linking up here:

Alderberry Hill

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Ladybug Blessings

Ginger Snap Crafts

Much Ado About Somethin

Not Just A Housewife

Fireflies and Jellybeans

Much Ado About Somethin

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

A Superhero 5th Birthday Party with Free Printables!

Our middle son turned 5 last week and over the weekend we celebrated with a few friends and family. I had intended to make a number of other items for the celebration but time got the best of me between my husband traveling for business, school and baseball. Our son said it was a super awesome day and was so thankful for all the fun, food, family & friends.

I made the cupcakes myself. If I don't have time to whip up a homemade recipe, I will add ingredients to a box mix. The biggest trick I have learned is that the new box sizes are not the same so I usually buy two mixes and scoop up a 1/3 mix from another box to make the recipes work. No cupcakes would be complete without my favorite buttercream recipe from Magnolia Bakery.

The POW! boxes I bought a Party City and were filled with Pirates Booty and Smart Pop Popcorn (my son's favorite) I made the party POW! Circles and have included a free download HERE. I used a 2.5 inch circle punch to make them and double sided tape to attach to the boxes.

The Superhero Masks and Capes were a big hit and I made them all out of felt and glue (no sewing required). I will share more about the capes in a future post. They definitely made the party a success!

After the kids dressed up, we went on a short scavenger hunt through our yard and unfortunately, I don't have the greatest pictures. The kids first searched for some power pellets (I found superhero PEZ dispensers at Wegmans). Next they looked for their power source (glow sticks from the Dollar Tree) and finally they found kryptonite (silly string from the Dollar Tree). After they found the silly string they chased the villain (aka my husband) through the yard and sprayed him. I think this was their favorite part of the whole day.

Next came pinata time. You can see the instructions for making the pinata HERE. I filled it with superhero gummies, pencils, goldfish and some candy. It took a while for the kids to finally break it down.

Here are the bags the kids used to store all the scavenger hunt supplies and their pinata goodies inside. I designed the label and have also linked to my free printable HERE

If this expression doesn't say it all! I definitely think he had a terrific 5th birthday!

~Ila~

Linking up here:

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Boy's Room Update: Part 1: The Desk

When we moved into our house a year ago, we had a 2 week old and were just trying to get settled, then came the holiday season, the crazy winter filled with sickness and spring sports. Needless to say, we didn't get much accomplished! This summer we made a list of all the "ideas" and "updates" we wanted to start tackling and #1 was our oldest son's room updates. He had asked for a desk since last spring because he wanted a place to do his homework and art projects without having his younger brothers running around. Have you ever explored the world of pricing for a simple kid desk? How about $400 or more! So, I started looking around and discovered the perfect first building project for my husband and I to tackle together!

If you've never had the opportunity to explore the fabulous site of Ana White then you don't know what you are missing. In fact, as soon as you finish reading this, hop on over and take a look at all the amazing DIY project plans she has for great knock offs from stores such as Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Land of Nod to name a few. We found the plans for the 1x3 Sawhorse Desk on her site and followed them exactly with the exception of adding the extra piece in the back

Don't you love how simple this desk is yet adds the perfect space for a boy's room!

As for staining we wanted to find something that would blend in with his existing furniture so we chose American Walnut from Rust-oleum and sealed it with a Satin Polyurethane. Both products can be found at Lowes and offer fast drying times.

Project Details:

Plans for 1x3 Sawhorse Desk

Materials: We used pine wood from Lowes: $65

The Kreg Jig: $99 (we didn't own it but now love it!)

Stain: Rust-Oleum American Walnut found at Lowes

Other items displayed

Baseball bat corkboard: Pottery Barn Kids

World Market Medium Ryan Wire Baskets

Stay tuned for some additional updates to his room!

~Ila~

Linking up Here:

Clean & Scentsible

The Blissful Bee

Someday Crafts

Reasons to Skip the Housework

I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Create your own Disney Halloween Shirts

This week kicks off a magical celebration at one of our family's favorite destinations, Walt Disney World. Two years ago we had the chance to visit for a long weekend in the fall and made sure to grab tickets to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. If you've ever been to the Magic Kingdom in the fall, you already know how wonderful the parks look decked out with pumpkins and fall colors galore. However, the magic truly comes alive at this family friendly event. One secret, it is a hard ticket event but they let you in early (4 pm) so take advantage and hit a few more rides before the actual celebration begins. What I love about these special events are the unique parades, fireworks, character greeting experiences and of course the trick or treating.

As you can see, the characters dress up and many children will also come decked out in costume.

Now, I will warn you, the only "scary" part was the headless horsemen at the beginning of the Boo to You Halloween Parade. It was enough to send my then 2 year old running! Yikes! However, the parade was wonderful and filled with many of the classic characters as well as the villains. However, my favorite aspect of these events are the unique fireworks that are only showcased then. Hallowishes was amazing! It definitely did not disappoint. Check out this video below from All Ears.

Like I mentioned above, kids have the opporunity to dress up in costume if they desire. My boys did not want to take their costumes and it was very hot that night (90s) so I'm thankful they weren't uncomfortable running around Disneyworld. I actually made the boys shirts to wear, however, we forgot them at home (whoops) and during our last move, I think I donated them away since they didn't fit anymore. However, I wanted to share the printables with all of you so if you desire, you can make your own also. It was an easy task.

Supplies needed

Iron

Shirt color of choice

Iron on transfers

Printer and Printable file

These are the 6 different style available

You can choose the link below for your favorite design and create your own shirt for your Disney Adventure! Hope you enjoy and have a spooktacular time!

~Ila~

Linking up:

Gingersnap Crafts

The 36th Avenue

Someday Crafts

Reasons to Skip the Housework