christmas crafts links

i'm not all that creative. i'm muuuch better at just copying people who have way better ideas than me. so here are some of the projects that i totally copied this year:

a gel transfer puzzle on popsicle sticks from {here} for mary brooke. (btw - make sure to use the right copier. i tried to print out the pictures on our printer at home but it didn't work, so i used a copy machine and it was much better)

chalkboard coasters from {here} i totally made myself some too and love them. crazy cheap and super easy (sorry to recipients :)

freaky or fun? i'm still not sure. family puppets based on {this} idea but i printed out pictures of our faces onto fabric using {this} tutorial. i'm still not sure about how these turned out but i do know i love printing straight onto fabric. so easy! put them all in my favorite little drawstring bag from {here}

some tissue pouches for sweet grandmothers using {this}

lots of infinity scarves using {this} tutorial (that i forgot to take a picture of...) these are so easy and quick. i might have made myself quite a few as well...


some great (free) printables from {here} btw- i love these little $5 frames from walmart - plastic frame but real glass and a mat - score in my book, especially when i take the time to spray them with a little oil rubbed bronze paint.

i've had a picture of this chalkboard taped in my calendar since the spring that i tore out of the newspaper. plus i love any gift that "requires" me to buy new power tools. i'm sure my neighbors agree.

and now that i'm looking through all my pinterest boards, i'm remembering all the crafts i meant to do but apparently never got around to. there's always next year, right? (so don't go a-lookin around my boards, em and grace...) but can you even craft with little boys around?? i'm not getting nervous or anything... 10 and a half weeks and counting...

merry christmas!

ikea hack - my striped rug!

i love stripes. a lot a lot. i've pinned about a million striped rugs for the baby room but sadly, they were all out of my tiny price range. so why not just paint one?

this was one of the first projects i knew i wanted to do for the baby room... and the one that i was most nervous about. but i also realized it would be a lot harder to do this really huge and pregnant, and since i'm growing by the hour these days, i made myself get it done before we left for christmas. and it felt oh so good to mark this off the nursery to do list.

like most projects i'm nervous about, i procrastinate by reading about lots of other people who have done it a lot better than i ever could so there are some great tutorials
{here} or {here} or {here}

i stareted out with ikea's erslev rug that was only about $50, so i figured if i really messed it up, it wouldn't be too horrible.

i made a (really) rough sketch to figure out how many stripes i wanted and ended up going with more stripes. so i divided my 98 inch rug by 11 stripes

and started measuring and marking on the rug. i was really nervous about making these straight, but since there were already lines in the weave on the rug, it ended up being super easy. i quickly quit measuring and just starting counting the little lines (35 for each stripe) and put a pin to mark each stripe

next came the tape which, again, was a lot easier than expected since there were already lines on the rug. i wish i'd used the thicker painters tape and after going over the line twice while painting, i ended up going back to double up the tape which helped a lot.

i used just regular wall paint and added a little water. i read that the rug would soak up paint, but for real - it soaks up the paint. i ended up using almost 2 quarts.

i used a foam roller and it went on pretty well. i tried to avoid going back for a second coat but ended up doing it and really glad i did. the second coat took less that 10 minutes and made it look really even.

side note - i was really nervous about starting this because i'd read that it takes forever but since i did easy stripes, it didn't really take that long at all. i can definitely see how a more detailed pattern would take more time, but it's oh so worth it.

oh. my. goodness. does pulling up the tape give anybody else a heart attack?! make it or break it time

and i loved it. but it looked a little too perfect. a little too painted.

so i broke out the sander and sanded down the paint. it let the grain come through a little more so that it didn't look too painted which i really liked. i was also really nervous that it would be really crunchy feeling when we walk on it, but sanding it down helped this and now i don't really notice much of a difference walking between the painted and unpainted.

yay! i'm so loving it. it's definitely not perfect. (and boo for dark pictures. i'm not a fan of the sun setting at 4:20.) but i think it's a great start for our little nursery!

a completely free gift for 5 year olds x 20

old scrapbook paper + copied homemade doodle pages

+ a seam down the middle

and you've got cute little tiny notbooks

add in the nasty crayons they've been using since august, popped in the oven for a few minutes

and out comes ginormous multi-colored crayons (cuter if you use a fun mold, but we're going for free here)

put it in a sandwhich baggie with some more old scrapbook paper stapled on top

and you've got 20 completely free little christmas happies that will occupy 5 year olds for approximately 3 minutes.

i love spraypaint

before - cute but definitely not for our little guy

after - a lot of spray paint and a little shade make-over and i'm liking it. a little jonathan adler-ish? no? oh well, that's about as close as we're getting :)

a happy thanksgiving...a little late

have i mentioned how much we love having people come see us? it's really just our excuse to drag somebody to the city, show them all our favorite places, and then force them to try out some new part of the city that we've never been to before. we're nice like that.

well, since we couldn't make it home for Thanksgiving (for the first time - so sad) my parents made the trip up to see us! we, of course, drug them to the city not once, but twice as well as taking them to my school, my first trip to babies-r-us, and the land of nod outlet! plus i let my mom cook us thanksgiving dinner :) don't you want to come see us!

on the first day, we took the train into the city because it's just a fun experience

and then rode the water taxi - one of our favorite little things to do. it was cold, but so thankful it was sunny both days we walked around! much better than right now...

we walked over to Navy Pier for lunch - one of our favorites

and even made it almost all the way down to the end this time

me and my dad rode the ferris wheel

and had fun getting freaked out at the top

then we went over to the John Hancock building and actually went in this time!

i think it's the 2nd tallest buildings in the city and has awesome views because it's right in the middle of downtown

all the christmas lights were up on michiagan ave, so everything was especially pretty

on black friday, instead of braving the crazy people at the stores, we braved the crazy moms-with-strollers at the Science and Industry Museum. despite crazy-people, the museum was awesome. they had a huge christmas-around-the-world exhibit with tons of beautiful trees decorated.

one of the coolest exhibits they had was of the development of babies before they're born, week by week. it was quite fitting for us :) so absolutely amazing

we finished the night with awesome food and a last trip to the egg.

we had lots of fun and between baby furniture, early christmas presents, and multiple trips to the grocery store, they left our apartment a lot more full than when they came. so thankful. now we're just counting down the days until we can get home for christmas!

sewing paper

does it get any easier than that? i think not.

for my classroom, i needed some bright, cheap, & easy decorations. and cheap.
so what's cheaper than free paint chips? i also threw in a pack of cardstock and ended up with lots of fun stuff to hang on the walls that i'm pretty sure no one in my class has noticed except for me. but it makes me happy, so that's all that counts, right?

easy peasy - cut out shapes

string them through the sewing machine

and walla! fun little banners

oh how i love easy projects