Valentines Project | Cardboard Art Weaving for Kids

Our daughter spends most of her free time immersed in some sort of art project; which we love and fully promote, but we were a little stumped to find something that didn't involve paint when she asked to have an art themed birthday party. We found a tutorial for cardboard weaving on the Art Bar Blog and we jumped on it. After the fact, we wouldn't recommend such an activity when you have to help ten 6 year olds at the same time, but one on one, this is an awesome kid friendly and even fun for the adults, project.

With Valentines day quickly approaching, we thought it would be fun to make a weaving in valentine colors that could then be given away.

We simplified the process a bit by not being too picky about the measurements and by substituting the plastic needle with a wooden stick that was then also used to hang the weaving on. The best part is that the main piece of equipment for this project is a piece of cardboard!

How to:

• Cut a piece of cardboard (the wider or longer the piece, the wider & longer your weaving) and either measure or eye, to cut consistent slits across each end. 
• Cut a small piece of cardboard the same width as your first piece of cardboard and glue to the bottom of your slits on each end. 
• String yarn into each slit, leaving a tail on the end and then tape down all of the tails to the back of the cardboard.
• Choose your first color of yarn and tie to your stick or attach to your plastic needle and follow a pattern of over, under, over, under or vice versa. Pull the yarn through and keep a short tail on the end.
• On the next line, do the opposite of what you did before, so under, over, under, over and repeat on each line, pulling through and adjusting to the tightness that you desire. The tighter you pull, the thinner the weaving will become. 
• Switch yarn colors as often as you desire, always leaving a short tail on the end.
• When finished, pull the string out of the slits, tie one knot in the top and leave the bottom out to hang. Tape all of the loose tails to the back.
• Connect the tied portion to your stick and wahlah you're done!

 

  

Toddler Canvas Painting

Lately I've had the itch to make our little girls room a bit more complete and together in the decor department. I had hung several family photos as well as her main art piece with washi tape and decided that although I'm a huge washi tape fan, that her room was looking a bit thrown together. I transitioned the photos to frames and decided to switch out her main art piece for something with more color. That bit of color came from a mom/daughter afternoon session of canvas painting. I was inspired by paintings done by Elsie of A Beautiful Mess. The great thing about this type of art is that lines and dots are right up a painting toddler's alley. Our little gal chose the paint colors and then together we painted the lines in which she followed up with dots. We signed our painting on the back and now she has a memorable and custom piece for her very girly room.

DIY // Simple Sailboat

Our daughter has been into sailboats lately. I managed to find a good plastic one that is perfect for the bathtub and long term use, but their is something about constructing your own and making a project out of simple items. So, we pulled out our craft bin and made this 5 minute simple sailboat for the exchange of 30 minutes of fun.

Supplies //
Balsa wood
Scissors
Tape

I originally planned to cut and adhere a skewer but simply cutting a thin piece of the balsa served the purpose I was going for. For good looks, we added some decorative washi tape. The wonderful thing about this thin balsa wood is that it can easily be cut with scissors. We then used masking tape to keep the pieces together.

As you can tell from the materials used, this is not meant to be a long lasting sailboat. The water will soon wear the tape and the balsa will begin to bubble. However, by the time this happens, a 3 year olds attention span has probably moved onto bigger and better things! It was the perfect little activity for a hot afternoon and brought enough newness and excitement that the duration of the sailboats life didn't matter. It would be fun to let your child draw with marker on the balsa wood as well. With these kinds of activities, the sky is the limit.

Triangle Fabric Paint Shirts // Mom & Little

Brought out the fabric paints again! I've eyed this shirt from Forever 21 for some time but only wished that it had sleeves. So, with my new love of stenciling, I decided to fashion up my own. And then of course, the little gal's plain grey t-shirt begged for one too.

Supplies //
Cardstock [fold in half and free hand desired shape, unfold for a symmetrical result]
Scissors
Masking Tape [i placed tape around the edging and rolled a few pieces to place underneath the paper]
Fabric Paint
Paint Brush
T-shirts [mine from walmart for $4.88, the little gal's from target clearance for $1.29]
Cardboard or something similar to place inside the shirt [so that the paint doesn't soak through]

Tips //
Paint around your stencil edge and when painting inside that line to fill in the middle, do not re-paint the edging, it won't be even! Using a large foam brush and using a dabbing technique seemed to work best. Hold the stencil down tightly and go at it.

Fabric Paint Shirts

I'm definitely a late comer to stenciling and fabric painting clothing but after months of intending to try it out, I finally did! I might be a little addicted now--what can I paint next???

I was so excited to use my horse & fox stamps with a fox shirt for the little gal and a horse shirt for myself but sadly I couldn't get a good enough print out on the shirt and you couldn't even tell what the animal was. So, I opted for the basic polka and even a few triangles by dabbing paint on a large wooden bead. I was tempted to bring out vegetables, potato, celery, carrot and carve my own stamps. However, I love how the polka dot turned out on the little girls shirt and the large polka dots will be a nice addition to my boring maternity shirt. Next up, I'm thinking a diy of this belt.

*I used "Tulip" soft gold fabric paint from my local Hobby Lobby. 

Valentines DIY

Last year I created a chalkboard message box that I themed with valentine treats although not quite in time for the actual day of...here it is again just in case you need an easy last minute diy that will last past the holiday. Find the original post here.

Also, a round up of some favorite V-day projects //

"My Heart" Sweatshirts
Noodle Necklace
Valentine Bots
Heart Cake Topper
Astronaut Valentine
Cheerleader Valentine

In the Workshop // Cardboard House

In the studio this week, we broke away from our regular wood & cork and dabbled in cardboard. The great part about being a creative is that you can't keep from experimenting in all mediums and in allowing your normal to try something new. When we see something we want or something that would make our little girl happy, our first thought is, can we make it?

This last week, a doll house seemed easy enough to attempt, a little cardboard, a little paper & decoupage, and a few wood beads for decor. It's satisfying to know that this house can be played with or destroyed and not much is lost in the process.

how to // knock off locket

a long time ago i was on the search for a locket. not sure why all of a sudden i wanted a locket but it just seemed lovely. i came across the likes of these and immediately fell head over heels. simple yet bold, exactly what i was looking for. however, they weren't quite in my price range. i forgot about them for some time until recently i noticed a similar locket circulating pinterest. i then got an idea; visit my old friend etsy supplies. are you already friends with etsy supplies? i don't know if this is considered spilling the beans or not but, there is a secret [really not so secret] way to search etsy and get cheap supplies. do they come from china? why yes they most often do!

when you go onto etsy's home page, you can search for any item via the search box at the top. once you enter your search, you will see options in the left hand column which allow you to minimize your search. this is the kicker, click the supplies box. your search now only offers supplies instead of finished products. what does this mean? you are now searching through single products from large sellers who offer killer prices. why? because they aren't sending you a finished product, the increase on price is minimal.

i was so stoked when i found the most perfect knock off....and for an unreal price. the shop i ordered from also offered little bronze letters and so i decided to add the letters of my family. now, i make necklaces all the time and so adding a little chain and the necessary connectors to the locket was no problem. you may want a finished product because you don't already have these supplies on hand, but believe me, if you go pick up some chain from your local craft store or order online, it will still be less expensive than the original and you'll have a good little afternoon project.

did you happen to notice all the colors i received? it was cheaper to buy the stock of 5 offered than just ordering one and so i do have a few left on hand. if you're interested, email me and i'll send you pricing. i'd be happy to add chain to one for you. but p.s. you should know that the shop is currently having an anniversary sale! i knew i should have waited.

making your own iphone case

don't rain on my parade if this has been done a million times before, because i thought i was a genius the day i figured this out! [i refuse to pinterest it]

i spent [wasted] hours and hours on the www trying to find the perfect iphone case all the while muttering under my breath over the price. i just spent --- on the phone itself and now a silly case is -- !!! and then it hit me, MAKE YOUR OWN! is this post acquiring too many !!!!! ?

i then spent some more time on the www to find the cheapest clear case possible. i think i did. so what if it took like 15 days to get here....thank you china.

so here ya go, my detailed pictures [way more detailed than you even need i know] of the way i made my own patterned iphone case.

i'm pretty happy with the fact that i have endless possibilities for a mere $1.17.

diy simple house

when i saw the lovely simple house by ferm living, i knew that a] i wanted one and that b] i could probably just make one on my own. so i did!

i intended to put one in the little gals room and one in another spot in our house but they looked so good on her wall, she got both.

supplies//
1/16 x 3 x 36 in. balsa wood [can be found at your local craft store]
glue gun
scissors

process//
to be honest, i didn't even worry about measurements, i simply eyed what size i wanted the walls and bottom of my house to be and then cut one piece for the roof and then halved it.

i started out with wood glue and quickly learned that that route was too difficult. that's when i turned to the always reliable glue gun. why did i ever stray?

after quick cuts and quick glueing, i let the house sit for about 30 minutes to stabilize the glue and then hung with push pins. light enough to hang but still stable enough to hold a little something.

as you may have noticed i also added a little chimney to one of the houses. and if you have extra balsa left over, you can free hand cut out a cloud for just the right touch on that empty clock.