Mason's Annual Handprint Canvas~Year 6!

Yes, we're still making a handprint canvas every year on the kids' birthdays..and yes, I'm Sooooo thankful we started this tradition when Mason turned one! We already have a nice little collage wall of handprints in his room (6 to be exact) and I just hope he lets me keep doing it until he's 18! :) Ok...I may have to stop before then, but a Mama can dream, right?

This year, I let Mason choose what colors he wanted the canvas & his handprint to be. He chose royal blue & orange. Bright--but it turned out nice, I think!

Hung in a random order...may have to rotate them before next year's handprint.

Here's the big 6 year old!

Here's a link to the past 5 years of handprint art!

Kids' Canvas Name Art

This is a fun art project that your child gets to help make! My son and I made this last Fall but I'm just now getting around to sharing it.

My son always wants to paint while I'm painting and I thought this would be a cute sign for him to make for his bedroom.

Step 1:

Paint canvas a solid color. This is the color your child's name will be. It also helps in case he/she doesn't get the canvas completely covered with paint and so white won't show through.

Step 2:

After the paint has dried, spell your child's name out in removable stickers.

You can use:

A. Painters tape (good if your child's name is short and doesn't have many curvy letters) or

B. Large letter stickers or

C. Cut out adhesive vinyl letters from a Cricut or other cutting system. (This is what I did.)

Step 3: Let your child go wild painting on the canvas--assuring that the letters get covered really well.

Step 4: Let it dry, then peel the letter stickers off to reveal your child's name!

I used a staple gun to attach a ribbon to the back of the canvas...

Then I attached 2 removable Command hooks to his bedroom door and hooked the painting on.

Here are my kids' bedroom doors! I made the ribbon wreath for my daughter's door and I have since added a large painted wooden letter in the center. I love having their names/initials on their bedroom doors!

If you'd like to see another kids canvas art idea, check out our Annual Handprint Art. 

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!

Mason's Annual Handprint~Year 5

You know the drill by now...Each year on his birthday, I paint Mason's hand and put it on a little painted canvas. I'm so thrilled we started this tradition because it's fun art for his room that is also a great keepsake that shows how much he's grown over the years! This year I chose charcoal grey & yellow paint.




Here are all the other year's posts, if you care to check those out:

2010

2009

2007 and 2008

The canvases will get bigger & bigger! *sniff*
Next post: Madelyn's FIRST handprint canvas!!!

Thrift Store Cross Redo

I had been on the lookout for a cross for my guest bathroom to complete a grouping of three on a small wall. You might remember when I made the Crown Plate for this wall. I decided I wanted three of my favorite things there: A Fleur de Lis, a Crown, and a Cross. I bought this metal cross for $1 about a month ago at a thrift store. I knew I could alter it into something I'd like for that space.

BEFORE (front):

BEFORE (back):
I removed the hanger on the top, the metal jump rings on the bottom (that obviously used to dangle something) and the heart from the front of the cross. I just flipped it over to use the back. The blue matches my bathroom really well (unlike in this picture) and I liked the chippy/distressed edges, so no need to paint it!

I did, however use a fleur de lis stamp & randomly stamped chocolate brown scrolly swirls of paint on top of the blue paint.
It still looked plain to me, and a little unfinished, so I decided to trace the scrolls with some copper colored glitter paint. (I love me some glitter!)

I then dug around to find another embellishment & remembered that I had an old crystal off a chandelier. I took it apart & dangled the two smaller glass "crystals" from the bottom holes & (after painting a big blob of the glitter paint in the center to show through) I glued the largest glass "crystal" to the center of the cross. I glued a hanger onto the back & hung it up in the arrangement...
Here she is! A little classy & a little artsy-fartsy. I think I'll keep her!

Rockets & Clothespins (2 quick projects)

Just wanted to share 2 quick projects with you...

My 5 year old and I made these 4th of July rockets a few days before the holiday. I'd seen many other blog posts about them & thought it'd be a good project for us. I won't go into a tutorial but there are many out there floating around the blogosphere if you search. Basic supplies are cardboard toilet paper tubes, scrapbook paper, ribbon & adhesive. I was pleased with how well my son did on these & found it hard to tell which ones were his & which ones were mine! (Can you tell?)

I never ended up getting them hung with clear fishing line, but they sure will look cute for next year! ;)




I use clothespins to clip & organize paperwork, etc. so while watching tv one night, I broke out the glitter pens & went to town glitterizing some for myself...

...and for my Mom. I think they look better in person. I heart glitter!

Tissue Box Cover Redo-Thrifty Find

I posted a few weeks ago how I had found this vintage metal tissue box cover (right) at Helping Hands for $1. It was worn gold and needed some spray paint love to match my bathroom. For a second, I came really close to spraying it Watermelon & adding it to my daughter's room with a ribbon woven through it...but then I've been needing/wanting a tissue box cover in my guest bathroom, so I thought I'd better at least try it in there first! (I can always change it later.)

(I haven't figured out what I'm doing with that wall bucket yet...)

BEFORE
AFTER--I used Hammered Metal in brownTah-Dah! A super cheap & fast project--Done!

Fast, Cheap & Easy Frame Redo!

I found this ornate 5x7 frame at the thrift store for 50 cents...

Popped out the glass....
Sprayed it with my fave Krylon "Watermelon" gloss that matches all the other stuff in my daughter's room...
Let it dry, printed a pic off the computer, and tah dah!! A cute new pink frame (with a cute little girl in it!)

Crown Plate

Several months ago, we changed our front guest bathroom from pale green with a palm tree theme (yuk--So sick of that!) to a soft blue with chocolate brown. We still haven't gotten any chocolate brown towels, but we will get there! (we had a baby 7 months ago, I might add) There was also a little wall that had nothing on it that was bothering me, but I couldn't figure out what to hang there.

I finally decided upon 3 of my favorite things: A fleur de lis, a crown, and a cross. I already had the fleur de lis--it had been begging for a home for some time. I am still shopping around for the perfect cross, but in the meantime, I made this little crown plate.

I bought this 6" diameter plate at Hobby Lobby for $3. I had all the rest of the supplies on hand: patterned scrapbook paper, vinyl, Cricut die cut machine, paint, mod podge, & ribbon.



I chose a piece of scrapbook paper & cut out a circle the size of the inner plate. I then made small 1/2" cuts all around the circle so it would lie flat inside the circle & hug the round edge without puckering.


I looked everywhere for my brown Tim Holtz distressing ink, but ended up having to use acrylic paint to add a distressed border around the edge of the paper. It turned out just fine.


I then cut a crown out of vinyl with my Cricut. If you don't have a die cut machine, you could always cut out an image off the computer or use one at your local scrapbook store.
I stuck the vinyl crown to the paper, then mod podged the paper to the plate.
I threaded ribbon through the holes and ended up with a bow at the top.
Here is the little crown plate hanging in its new home! The cross will go to the lower right when I find it. (lighting is making the wall color look weird in this pic)

Here's another view of the bathroom (dying for chocolate brown towels!)
The supplies cost me around $5 total for this project.

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