Valentine's Day DIY School Bus Box

 

I wanted to share the Valentine box we made with our son last year. He loves vehicles of any kind, so we came up with this school bus. I wish I would have taken photos of the process, but I'll just have to explain as I go instead...

 

Supplies Needed:

2 boxes: 1 large shoe box, 1 small box

Duct tape: Yellow & black (or electrical tape)

Various lids: 4 jar lids (spray painted black for tires), 

4 small red (tail lights), 2 yellow (headlights--we had to use blue), 1 red (stop sign)

4 brads or screws

Stickers & Markers

Hot glue & glue gun (or other adhesive)

Scissors

 

 

 

Instructions:

1. Cut a rectangle out of the large shoe box lid for the Valentines. Our box had a flip-top lid, which was great for this. If your box lid is a separate piece, then duct tape it on to where it will flap open. This makes it super easy to get the Valentines out.

2. Duct tape the small box to the large shoe box.

3. Glue the red lids to the back for tail lights, the yellow lids to the front for headlights, and the red on the side as the stop sign.

4. Punch holes through the box and use brads or screws to attach 4 jar lids for tires.

5. Use the black tape to make a stripe on either side of the bus.

6.  Use a white marker to make the red lid on the side a stop sign. Let your child decorate the bus with stickers & markers! :)

 

 

 We used letter stickers & wrote "Love Bus" on the side & the school name. My son also put his name on top so the other students would know it was his. He drew windows & had fun doodling little details on the box.

DIY: Halloween Card Album

 I recently shared the card album I made with my daughter's cards and I wanted to show you this one as well. If you're as sentimental as I am and save every card you or your child is given, then this is a great way to keep them together and organized. It's also a great way to honor them and be able to share them with others. We love Halloween around here and my son has received lots of fun cards over the last 6 years that I've kept in a box. I decided I had enough of them to make a decent sized mini album out of them, so I got to work!

 

I cut & covered a piece of cardboard with scrapbook paper and embellished it. You can buy premade album covers, but using cardboard was fast, cheap & easy!

 

I decided to keep them in chronological order, so I made little dividers (the orange square) and wrote the year, my son's age at the time, and what he dressed up as that year, on each of them.

 

Some cards are harder then others to bind due to weird shapes & textures, but I used "The Cinch" binding tool and that helped a lot. You could always use a paper punch to make holes to line up with your rings or spiral wire if you don't have one.

 

When I got to the end of the Halloween cards, I realized that I had just a few Thanksgiving cards (yes, my family loves to give cards!) so I added those at the end of the album.

 

You could make a card album to hold any type of card you want to save & remember~think holidays, birthdays, babies, etc. It's fun to go through the old cards with my son, and now they're a special keepsake. I have this album out on display in my home right now--it fits in nicely with our Halloween decorations!

DIY: Card Album

I'm the sentimental type, so I have saved each and every card my 2 children have ever received.  My storage system is simple; I file the cards in a XL sized photo box in chronological order. (They are both still young so each child just has 1 box so far.) Occasionally I'll take them out of the closet and flip through them or show my kids the cards they got for their first birthday or Halloween and many other occasions. We all enjoy looking through them, so I wanted a way to get them out of the box. Here's what I do with all the Christmas cards we receive each year.

I decided that I'd group them by occasion and put them in small albums, starting with my daughter's birth. We received lots of cards for her baby shower and after she was born, so there were enough to support an entire album.

I pulled this old Covey 3-ring binder out of the closet & decided to repurpose it! It's the perfect size to hold cards. I Mod Podged patterned scrapbook paper to the front, back, and binding to hide the printing that was on it. Here's what the inside looked like...It's solid grey, so I didn't have to cover anything on the inside:

I then had fun embellishing the front cover with more paper, stickers, chipboard, glitter paint, and bling! I tied some tulle around it also.

I then got busy punching holes in all the cards. I used The Cinch Bindery Tool-Version II to punch all the holes. (Got it for Christmas--highly recommend it!) If you don't own one, you can always punch your holes with a 3 hole punch. It was a little challenging since each card is a different size, shape & thickness and I even messed a few cards up a little...but it was my first time to try it and I made it work! :)

 I added a typed sentiment to the inside cover of the album (matted on patterned scrapbook paper) that says:

Madelyn Reese McGarity

My Sweet Little Baby Girl,

These special cards are from our dearest family and friends.

Most were given along with a gift for you at your baby shower

or soon after your birth to welcome you into the world!

Love, Mommy

I'm glad I can easily flip through my daughter's cards now and I plan on displaying the album at her birthday party to share them with our family. Of course one of my next projects is to tackle my son's baby cards by making a similar album. I've already made an entire album out of his Halloween & Thanksgiving cards from over the last 5 years, which I'll share with you this Fall. If your family is the card-giving type like mine is, this is a great way to store them and honor them.

Since I've got a baby theme going on...Here's an article I wrote a while back with a step-by-step guide to creating a pregnancy scrapbook.

DIY Cell Phone Charger Organizer

When I first saw this cell phone holder on Pinterest, I knew I had to make one! THIS is the tutorial I used. And here is mine...

Supplies needed are:

 1 baby lotion or baby bath plastic bottle

Scrap fabric

Mod Podge

Foam brush

Scissors

I cut the bottle to the shape shown in the tutorial that I linked to above. (Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of this stage in the process for some reason.) Then I traced the cut bottle onto my fabric & cut it out. I used a generous amount of Mod Podge glue to adhere the fabric to the bottle, then gave it another good coating on the outside.   

I let it dry, & since I can't leave well enough alone, I decided to use some puff fabric paint to make a cursive "L" on the front~for Lindsay. Not sure I like the "L" that much, but oh well!

I've really been enjoying having a place for my cell phone while it's charging and not having that cord hanging down getting my way. Although my husband made fun of me for making this geeky project, I couldn't be happier! :)

I had a little fabric left over, so I made these rosettes & added some buttons for the centers. I think one would look cute on the front of my holder if I decide I want to cover up that "L"!

Let me know if you give it a try! (...and what your husband thinks :) )

Don't forget~there's still time to throw your name in the hat to win an autographed paperback of Lela Davidson's hilarious book, Blacklisted from the PTA! See the post below to enter! Drawing is July 22nd!

Celebrate Blacklisted & Make a Photo Canvas!

I'm honored to be celebrating the one-year anniversary of the launch of Lela Davidson's charming book, Blacklisted from the PTA! Lela is not only a witty author, but also a friend of mine and fellow blogger. Her book is such a fun read about motherhood and marriage in suburbia. I'll admit I laughed out loud in the car-rider line many times while enjoying this book!

So what's in it for you? First let's learn a little DIY trick, then you can see how to win a FREE copy of Lela's book...

Instead of framing your favorite family photo, have you ever considered mounting it on canvas to display in your home? It's very inexpensive and even the crafting disabled could pull this one off.
There are a few different ways to mount a photo, but this is the way I did it...quick & easy!

First, decide what size you want your photo canvas to be. If you have no idea, think about where you want to display it and go from there. Print your photo...or have it professionally printed.

Supplies needed:

(All are available at hobby supply stores like Hobby Lobby)

Wrapped Canvas

Photo

Paint (Inexpensive acrylic paint will do the trick.)

Paint brush or foam brush

Foam roller brush (optional-but it helps!)

Mod Podge (For those newbies out there, that's the brand name of decoupage glue)

Step 1: Paint the top edges and sides of your canvas. It's doesn't need to be straight or perfect because the photo will cover most of it.

Step 2: While the paint is drying on your canvas, trim your photo down so that it's just slightly smaller than your canvas. This will prevent overhang.

Step 3: Use your foam roller brush (or paintbrush or regular foam brush) to roll on a even layer of Mod Podge onto the canvas, making sure to cover the whole surface area and the corners and edges. You don't want it to be too thin or your photo might not stick well--but you don't want it to be so thick that it buckles your photo. Just use your best judgement.

Step 4: Lay your photo on the canvas. If you don't get it lined up perfectly the first time, don't worry-just peel it up and center it. Make sure you don't have any Mod Podge on your hands, then smooth out the photo, eliminating any small air pockets.

There you have it! Just let it dry overnight then hang it up for all to see your clever craftiness. (And your cute family.)
Note: I used a coupon from Snapfish.com & got this 16x20 print for almost nothing. Keep your eye out for deals like that. I had it printed Sepia to match the browns in my living room. I'm enjoying looking at those cute faces every day!

Now that you know how to make your own photo canvas, it's time to join in on the celebration!
It's a giveaway!

Leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered to WIN a personalized, autographed paperback of

Blacklisted from the PTA!

It's also available on Kindle, if you prefer.

I'll pick one lucky winner via randomizer. Contest ends on Sunday, July 22nd at midnight CST.

I'd appreciate it if you'd "follow" this blog...the button is in the upper right hand column. :)

You can also check out Lela's website and blog, After the Bubbly. For every day this month, she is featuring a different blogger to help her celebrate! Go check it out & good luck!

Flower Arrangement Revamp & Lamp Shade Embellishment

I just wanted to share a couple small things I've done around the house recently that have made a big impact. First, I REALLY wish I would have taken a BEFORE picture of this flower arrangement. I'm usually so good about remembering to do that, but not this time. So you'll have to believe me when I tell you that the flowers were so faded and the leaves were so dirty that I just couldn't stand it anymore! I love this arrangement--it's in a metal basket with moss and the best part is that I only paid $3 for it at a church rummage sale a few years ago!

So...what I decided to do was pull all the old, faded flowers off and hot glue new, vibrant flowers on. I throughly wiped down (ok--I scrubbed!) the leaves and I also threaded ribbon through the metal basket and added a bow. It looks so fresh now and is a nice pop of color for Summer on my front porch. Loving the "revamp"!

 Next, this sad, plain, white lamp shade has been sitting upon a lamp I bought a while back at a thrift store

My mom gave me this champagne colored satin tie/scarf and I dug in my old jewelry box and found the pink bling brooch.

I just tied the scarf on, tucked in the ends, and pinned on the brooch. I may still mess with it, but for now it looks much better than the plain white shade!

DIY Easter Basket Tags

I decided the kids' Easter baskets needed a higher cuteness factor--and I wanted my son's name to be on his basket before he took it to school for an egg hunt. I remembered seeing these super cute free printable tags on Pinterest. (There are lots of other items in this set as well that all match!) You can find them HERE.

I printed the "tent cards" to use as tags & chose 2 to use...

 I grabbed some scrap patterned paper to mount them onto and painted the edges of all 3 layers.

I then added some (really old!) scrapbook stickers for their names. I went vertical since there wasn't a lot of room--and I like it.

 I got this laminator for Christmas and this was the first time I've used it! It was so easy--you should get one! (They're pretty inexpensive.) After laminating the tags, I punch holes in the tops & tied them on the kids' baskets with ribbon.

 I love how they turned out!