Frosted Stripes

The door at the back of our kitchen leads out to our back porch/mud room/laundry room.  This room is notorious for becoming a dumping ground.  Last week, I spent two days cleaning it up and right now it looks awesome.  I am a realist, though, and I know it won't stay perfect for forever.  So, what to do.  The door isn't solid and the top half has a window.  I don't like passing it and seeing all of our junk and it isn't the best view for our guests either.  I decided to take down my son's 5 year old art work (he is 8) and frost the glass.  

If you need a step by step, check out Young House Love's tutorial (that's what I followed).  It is really very easy to do.  I bought Gila Privacy Control Window Film along with Gila Applicator Spray from Lowe's.  It is around $20, but I've covered two windows with it and still have a lot left over.

I decided I wanted a fun pattern and so I chose to cut strips of various heights and place them at various widths.  I first cut out a large piece that would fit the entire window and then I cut my strips.

I started at the top with the tallest strip and put the smallest on the bottom and then filled in the center.  Looking at it, I wish that I had kept the spacing between the strips the same and only varied the heights of the strips.  I may rip the bottom three off and redo it.  But then again, I may not.  For now, I'm enjoying the look and glad that I'm not staring at an ugly back porch.

This little project took me about 30 minutes.  I thought it would be a lot longer process.  Don't you love when you get great results in a little amount of time?

Decorating for Fall with Kid Crafts

 

 

Oh Fall, how I love thee!!  Fall is such a beautiful time of year with the falling leaves, open windows, changing colors, pumpkins, hayrides and brisk mornings.  I recently decorated my home for fall and thought I would share a fun craft I did with my kids in celebration of the arrival of fall. 

 

You could use a piece of paper and frame it or a canvas.  I chose to do ours on canvas because I plan to keep these for years to come.  These crafts are some of my favorite and I want them to be keepsakes/memories. 

 

First, you need to trace their forarm and hand.  Then take some dark chocolate paint (I used acrylic) and paint the arm/hand.  If you have small children, this is probably a step you will want to do.  Let it dry completely before you move on to the next step.

 

 

After they are completely dry, you are ready to move on to the next step.  You will be using the kids' fingerprints as the leaves so choose paint colors that would resemble fall colors.  I chose orange, yellow and red.  For my two year old son, I helped him to make the leaves. 

 

My four year old daughter was good to go on her own and she enjoyed making the leaves.

 

Here are the finished products.  Super easy, cheap and fun.  I love how they turned out and couldn't wait to add them to my mantle with my other fall decorations.

 

 

Did I mention I love fall?! The changing of seasons is a gift.  Enjoy! 

 

What are some things you do with your kids to decorate for fall?

Tin Can Ice Cream

When I went camping back in college a friend of mine introduced me on how to make ice-cream using plastic baggies and throwing the bag back and forth.  The liquid in the bag slowly turns into hardened ice-cream.  A few weeks ago my mother-in-law reminded me of this project when she kept the boys and had them make ice-cream using the same type of method but instead of throwing bags rolling a tin coffee can to harden the liquid.  The coffee can is so great and prevents little fingers from freezing like they would if it was in a zip lock bag being thrown.  It's so fun for the kids to make their own ice-cream and it only takes 10 minutes.  How about that for an after school treat?

The recipe:

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cut light cream (half and half)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

You will need a quart size heavy zip lock bag and one tin coffee can.  Most coffee these days are sold in plastic containers but my mother- in- law, Karla, said she found a tin one at Rural King.  Place all the ingredients into the zip lock bag.  Place the zip lock bag in the tin can.  Layer with ice and rock salt around the baggie. 

  Let the kiddos roll it for approximately 10 minutes.  Keep the can moving.

Enjoy!  Tastes like the stuff we make in the home-made ice-cream maker in much less time. 

What kinds of treats do you like to make with your kids?

Fantastic Mr. (and Ms.) Fox

I am not sure what it is, but we I have developed quite a love for 'woodland creatures.' I tried to convince my daughter to have a woodland themed birthday party, but for a girl who is into all things pink, purple, and girly, this just wasn't girly enough for her.  

Alas, my love for all things woodland has been put on the back burner, because I am the only one in the house that thinks it is cute.  

That is until, I came across some adorable crochet fox hats on Pinterest (see here and here).  As it turns out, I didn't really use these patterns, because the girl hat was for a 6 month old, and the boy hat was for a 5 year old (my daughter is 6 years old, and my son is 6 months).  I did use the hats I saw as inspiration, and created my own pattern for both hats.

I picked up some yarn, and set to work on Little Mister's hat, because he doesn't really have an opinion on what he wears, unlike a certain 6 year old who tells me she has a style and loves to say 'that's not my thing'.  

I finished his up in an evening, and the next morning my daughter asked if I was making her one.  She thought his was pretty fun,  and she is all about matching her little brother.  However, she had some major requests.  She required pom poms at the end of her braids, fancier ears, and 'Egyptian looking eyes' (I have no idea where she comes up with this stuff or why it makes it girly).

After 2 nights, of fiddling around with hers, it was finally complete with fancy ears, poms at the ends of the braids, and fancy eyelashes.

I loved the original fox hats that I found online, but I also love the changes I made to original patterns, to make them personalized to our family.  I think the hats are winners, and I am on cloud 9, because I finally got my woodland creatures ;)

One Year Blogiversary Equals a Giveaway!!!

This little blog started one year ago today.  It is amazing how fast that year went and we're so thankful for those of you that have stuck with us.  MamasTogether has grown and stretched and bounced around a little bit over the course of this past year.  We started with a different group of ladies than we have now.  We miss Lauren and Ashley and the blog wouldn't be here today if not for those two amazing women.  Lauren was the one who had this great idea and worked diligently to set up the blog and get the ball rolling.  Ashley was brave enough to jump on board along with Amy and Rachel.  After blogging for a few months, Lauren and Ashley decided that they needed to step aside and so Amy and Rachel started looking for two new contributors.  Thankfully, Lisa and Bekah were willing to join this crazy blogging ride.  

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And so today we are sharing our favorite posts from past and current contributors.  We hope that you enjoy these selections for a second (or maybe first!) time.  

Lauren's Boy Nursery Mood Board 

Ashley's Inspirational Messages 

Amy's Beautiful and Creative Table 

Lisa's Cute Tulip Art

Bekah's Amazing Bubbles

Rachel's Scrappy Fall Pillow 

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As a huge thank you thank you thank you to all of our readers, we are giving away a $20 Starbucks gift card.  woop woop!!!  All you need to do to be entered into the drawing is leave a comment.  Let us know your favorite post--or just say hi!  We will announce the winner this Friday the 19th.

                                                    

Fabric Duck Tape Part 4

This is the fourth and final installment of our duck tape series.  I've loved seeing these posts.  If you missed any of them, please check them out right here:  Amy, Bekah and Lisa are such creative ladies!

I had a similar idea as Lisa and used my tape to add a little decoration to a plain gift bag.  I found my tape at walmart and I bought the larger 2" width.

I simply taped a strip of it across the width of the bag and wrote a note to the recipient of the gift.  So easy but it adds a bit of something beautiful to an otherwise plain bag.

Have you used fabric tape?  What projects have you created with it?  Please share with us--we love your comments and are inspired by others' creativity!

Fabric Tape Part 3

Our Mamas Together team is doing a four part series on the many uses of Fabric Tape.  I purchased mine from the craft department at Walmart and decided to make some fun DIY cards to send out for various occasions. 

I had some cards that I precut from card stock, some stamps I wanted to use and two different kinds of Duck Fabric Tape. Along with some scissors and ink for my stamps, I was good to go.

I measured out the fabric tape I wanted and then cut as needed.  I took the backing off and placed it on the cards.  Very simple.

Lastly, I put the stamp I wanted on each card and I was done.  I am pretty sure it took a simple 5 minutes and I made a total of 5 cards (only 4 are pictured). You could simply leave them blank without any writing on them and just the fabric or if you have beautiful handwriting or are creative you could add your own writing or even buttons to the cards. 

I was very happy with how they turned out and how easy they were.  Be on the lookout for the final part of our series coming up on Thursday from Rachel. Have you used Fabric Tape before and if so, what did you make with it?

Fabric Duck Tape: Part 2

After searching every craft store and Walmart for this duck fabric tape I was discouraged to find the selections were quite slim.  Every store had the same 4 styles and so I decided to try making my own.  Amy had pinned a wonderful tutorial how to make your own.   First I used regular duct tape and stuck strips of it to wax paper.  Then I cut fabric to be the same length and width as the tape strips.  I then Mod Podged the fabric to the duct tape and put a generous coat of Mod Podge over the top of the fabric.  Pretty easy so far. I waited for it to dry and cut away the excess wax paper leaving pretty strips of fabric tape.  I thought about taping the fabric to a lamp shade as a nice decorative accent in our bed room.  However, when I went to take the tape off the wax paper it WOULD. NOT. UNSTICK..  So, while it looked pretty there is a reason the tutorial said they used masking tape.....not duct tape.  You have been warned and maybe I have learned my lesson on using the exact materials they call for in tutorials.  I hurried to find a plan B only two days before needing to post this exact blog entry because that is just how "on it" I am (haha).  

I don't enjoy my sewing machine much.  Usually I end up tangled in threads, frustrated, and dreaming of throwing the machine out the window so I was excited to find a no-sew coffee cozy idea on pinterest using fabric tape. You can find the tutorial here.  I substituted a little because I had no toss away cozy at home so I Googled coffee cozy pattern and printed one off. I also did not have elastic string so I just cut a hair tie in half and used it to wrap around the button.   

This project if done right the first time (I had to do it twice because I hot glued my button in the wrong place) only takes about 15 minutes, crazy, right?!

While I'm not crazy about the fabric pattern I am sure I can find someone who likes it and gift it.  It was such a simple project and would make a great Christmas gift for a friend or teacher.  What other things can you think of to do with fabric duck tape?

Fabric Tape

Our Mamas Together team is doing a 2 week series on Fabric Tape.  Ever heard of it?  We each purchased a roll (or made some), and will be showing what we used the tape for.

My ideas were less than original.  I look at those kinds of art supplies, and think 'ohh it's so pretty.'  Then, after I pick up a roll and get it home, I have no clue what to do with it.  

The tape worked well to organize my notebook.  It would have worked even better, if I had multiple colors.

My daughter and I also covered the outside of notebooks in the tape.  My daughter loved using the tape.  Like borderline obsessed about ways she could use the tape.  Honestly, she had way more ideas, and tricks for using the tape than I did.  After the notebooks were covered, she asked if she could use the rest of the tape.  Why not?

It took no time at all before she found, 'the perfect project' for the tape.  She spent a good 20 minutes covering the inside of a shoe box.  She is planning on turning it into a bed for her beloved bear named Starbucks.

Be sure to check back on Friday to see Part 2 of our Fabric Tape Series!