DIY Children’s Artwork Canvas Tote Bag

May 6, 2016September 19, 2016 / ProjectMom / Leave a comment

DIY Childrens Artwork Canvas Tote Bag

Homemade gifts are the sweetest and it doesn’t get much more adorable than children’s artwork – so this year for Mother’s Day, I worked with my sister in-laws to have each of the 8 grandchildren create a special piece for their Nana.

Each drawing/painting was created in a square format. I then took a photo of each masterpiece (Note: For best results, shoot outside in full sunlight), and used Diptic to group the photos into two sets of four with equal dimensions. This app also makes it super easy to create a fun colorful border, complimenting the kids’ artwork.

Children's Art for Nana - Mothers Day DIY Canvas Tote 1of2 copy

Children's Art for Nana - Mothers Day DIY Canvas Tote 2of2

After combining the artwork into two collages, I printed each as a MIRROR IMAGE onto Fabric Transfer Sheets, then ironed them onto each side of a Canvas Tote Bag. (I stress “mirror image” because, regardless that it’s clearly on the instructions, I have forgotten this step on numerous occasions – trust me, you’ll want to save yourself the frustration)

Voila! Straight from a child’s heart and imagination… A one-of-a-kind, reusable tote, made especially for Nana. 🙂

“Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.”

To all the amazing moms out there – you are loved and appreciated today and every day… Happy Mother’s Day!!

Save

Teacher Appreciation Coloring Page

April 26, 2016March 15, 2022 / ProjectMom / 3 Comments

Teacher Appreciation Coloring Page Free Printable

It’s time to celebrate our real life superheroes – teachers! With Teacher Appreciation Day just around the corner, I wanted to come up with something the boys could give to their teachers at preschool. I thought it would be nice if they had a hand in creating it with their own personal touch – so I designed a coloring page with an option to add a statement about their teacher/classroom.

Click HERE for my FREE Printable Teacher Appreciation Coloring Page.
Click HERE for more options on my Etsy Page.

Looking to give your teacher a little something extra? Below are some fun ideas:

Colorful Pencil Personalized Notepads:
Flower Pot Amazon Gift Card:
Sticky Note Dispenser:
Tape Dispenser:
Apple Personalized Notepads:

Thank you to all the hard-working teachers! I appreciate your dedication to making a difference, while inspiring curiosity and knowledge that ultimately shapes our children’s future.

“It takes a big heart to shape little minds.”

Paw Patrol Family Halloween Costume

February 15, 2016September 1, 2020 / ProjectMom / 10 Comments

Since my Ghostbusters Costumes / DIY Proton Pack has been receiving the most amount of blog traffic, I thought I’d throwback to 2014 and share details on how I made our Paw Patrol Halloween costumes as well…

With Jacob’s obsession for the color red, it was no surprise he wanted to be Marshall the fire pup! I purchased a toy fireman hat and red t-shirt from Amazon. After cutting off the sleeves to the t-shirt, I sewed on arms and made pants by using white fleece fabric and attaching black felt spots with Stitch Witchery (a no-sew/iron-on fusible tape – LOVE this stuff!). I hot glued ears to the helmet, added a collar with yellow strapping, and finished it with the final touch of his pup badge (from the Action Pack Pup & Badge toy) and Paw Patrol hat sticker (printed on sticker paper).

Evan wanted to be “Rubble on the double!”, so I purchased a toy construction hat and yellow t-shirt. I cut off the t-shirt sleeves to sew on arms, and made pants by using fleece fabric. I created his ears with the same fabric, and gave them dimension by using Poly-fill and pipe cleaners. After attaching the ears with a glue gun, I added the Paw Patrol hat sticker (printed on sticker paper). Using black strapping, I added the collar and attached Rubble’s pup badge (from the Action Pack Pup & Badge toy) to the shirt.

It was only appropriate for Avery to be Skye (this was before Everest was introduced), so I purchased pink aviator goggles, sewed ears using fleece fabric stuffed with Poly-fill, then attached the ears by sewing them around the goggle straps (leaving flexibility for all sizes to wear – even adults!). I already had a pink aviator-style hat from GAP that worked perfectly (it is now sold out, but Amazon has a similar one), and I kept it simple with a pink long-sleeve onesie and black pants. And of course, can’t forget the pup badge!

As male leader of the pack, Cory dressed up as Ryder, wearing a red puffer vest that I found on Amazon (the exact one I used has since been discontinued but they offer other options as well, like this one). They also offer kid puffer vests, (option #2) as well as fleece vests for a lower cost option. I used white, yellow and blue duct tape to create the illusion of Ryder’s vest and added a badge (printed on sticker paper) for more authenticity.

Don’t lose it, re-use it! I decided to be Rocky, so got myself a green shirt and trucker cap. Creating simple ears using felt, I attached them to the cap with hot glue, then added the Paw Patrol hat sticker, and attached Rocky’s pup badge to my shirt.

It’s Paw Patrol, we’re on a roll!!…

Over a year later, the boys still cram their heads through these 2T neck holes, just so they can team up and pretend to save Adventure Bay!… Pretend play at it’s best.

Related: DIY Lion Guard Costumes

DIY Super Hero Valentine’s Day Cards

January 28, 2016April 26, 2016 / ProjectMom / 4 Comments

DIY Super Hero Tattoo Valentines Card Banner.jpg

It’s that time of year – spread the love by giving thoughtful cards to your friends, family and classmates!

While Valentine’s Day cards are nice – As a toddler, receiving ones with little favors (glow sticks, stickers, candy, etc.) are much more enjoyable, so I wanted to make something fun for the boys’ friends. With Evan being really into Batman right now, I created these Gotham City inspired cards and stapled on Batman tattoos I found at Party City. (Note if purchasing this specific tattoo pack: The label states “16 tattoos” which is essentially 8 perforated squares, with 2 tattoos each – so you can make 8 Valentine’s Day cards per pack)

DIY Batman Tattoo Valentines Card Download FREE printable HERE.

For Jacob, I stuck with the super hero theme, but included Avengers tattoos.

DIY Super Hero Tattoo Valentines Card Download FREE printable HERE.

Stay super and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!!

Follow me on Pinterest and Facebook for more fun and creative ideas!

Constellation Sticker Craft

January 18, 2016February 1, 2019 / ProjectMom / 1 Comment

All things outer space has been a huge interest of the boys lately. They enjoy star gazing, identifying planets in the sky, and were thrilled to see the Super Blood Moon this past summer.

12032754_10153476110412415_9065535462831191832_o

Although it would be amazing if the moon were really that huge, it’s enlarged for effect 🙂

Jacob’s favorite thing to wear are his constellation pajama pants (as seen above) and he’s always asking us to point out the Big Dipper, especially after reading Touch the Brightest Star – one of his favorite interactive books, where you trace the Big and Little Dipper with your finger as part of the story. (Great book for any toddler’s bed time collection!)

I wanted a fun way to teach them the basic constellations, and ones that are easy to spot in the sky, so I came up with the following craft worksheets…

Click on individual worksheet above for FREE printable, or HERE for pdf with ALL Worksheets.

First I had the boys place star stickers on the grey dots, then using the picture as reference, draw lines to create each constellation.

After learning the constellations, the boys got creative with their worksheets – connecting the dots without stickers, outlining the constellation in all star stickers, putting other stars in the sky, tracing the letters to spell the constellations, etc. I enjoy watching them explore whatever materials I give them. It’s fun when they think outside the box and come up with new ways to do things… A great hands-on way to learn while using imagination and creativity!

“Don’t wait for the stars to align. Reach up, rearrange them the way you want them to be. Create your own constellation.” – Pharrell Williams

Save

DIY Disney Autograph Memory Book

January 12, 2016April 4, 2020 / ProjectMom / 16 Comments

The beginning of winter in Chicago can be quite exciting – the anticipation of snow, holiday season cheer, ringing in a new year… then BOOM – January rolls in and the magical part of winter seems to come to a screeching halt. Next comes months of frigid cold, making it seem as though spring is an eternity away. For me, winter sanity is planning something to look forward to – like a nice warm vacation.

We decided to book a trip to Florida and try our hand at Disney World for a few days. Cory and I have both been to Disney World when we were little, but this will be our 1st trip as parents… Although all the information for planning a “WDW” vacation can be overwhelming, and some websites even require a secret decoder ring to figure out their acronyms, I find most advise has the same staple suggestions. One of these recommendations is to be prepared with an autograph book for character photographs and signatures.

The Disney Store sells autograph books anywhere from $8 to $20, and customizable books can be found on Etsy for up to $75 (you read that right – SEVENTY FIVE!) To sell me on $75 I’d hope for them to be encrusted with princess jewels or sprinkled with Tinkerbell’s fairy dust, but my guess is they are not… I understand some Disney enthusiasts might be willing to fork over that kind of cash for a memory book, but I have 3 toddlers who – to my best guess – will develop stage fright and not even get close enough to the oversized, slightly terrifying characters for me to snap a photograph, let alone ask for an autograph… Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about keepsakes. But if I can create a quality, personalized version myself and save money, I’m definitely going to choose that route.

To keep the cost of their autograph books at a minimum, I scoped out Hobby Lobby’s 40% off Art Pads & Sketchbooks sale and purchased 6″ x 6″ Master’s Touch Wire Bound Sketch Books for $2.99 each. Here is a similar Wire Bound 6″ x 6″ Sketch Book from Amazon.

I created my own image featuring the kids’ favorite characters/movies…

Click HERE for editable PDF (accurate print size for above sketch book) or HERE for jpg format.

I then personalized each cover using a free New Waltograph font I found on Fontspace.com.

If you have a Mac — After downloading the New Waltograph font, you can open the PDF file in Preview and follow the below steps to add your text:

Step 1: Select the Edit button from the toolbar at the top of the Preview window.
Step 2: Select the Text tool .
Step 3: Select the color [white], [Waltograph] font, appropriate size – I used [48 pt], and [center] alignment.
Step 4: Click on document and type name / text. Note: You may have to do this a few times to get accurate placement.

Printing the images on card stock looked fabulous, but for an extra crisp result – I had them professionally printed online using matte photo paper (Note: Maintaining image size to scale is extremely important). I then trimmed the images with a paper cutter (leaving a white border) and used spray adhesive to attach each design to the kids’ autograph book covers.

This photograph shows image printed on card stock.

We are now prepared for character autographs… Take us to the mouse!

WANT MORE COLOR OPTIONS?? SEE MY NEW POST!!
DIY Disney Autograph Memory Book – Multiple Color Options

Follow me on Facebook or Pinterest, for more fun and creative ideas!

“Today’s special moments are tomorrow’s memories.” – Genie, The Return of Jafar

DIY Milk Bottle Holiday Candy Gift

December 16, 2015January 11, 2020 / ProjectMom / Leave a comment

I’ve always thought Mason jar gifts are super cute, so I wanted to create something similar for the boys’ teachers this year. I decided to steer clear of any gifts that give the gifted a task – such as “here are some ingredients, now go bake cookies!”… Let’s be real, if a teacher is on “break” that last thing I’d want to do is give her something that requires additional work . That said, I chose the traditional route of candy. Most everyone loves chocolate, right?

I included the following festive assortment:

Holiday M&Ms
Kit Kat Holiday Assortment
Andes Mints
Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffles
Soft Mint Candy

I found these adorable plastic milk bottles at Jo-Ann Fabric for 1/2 off (Score!). They have since sold out, however you can find similar ones HERE on Amazon. Two of the teachers have preschool aged children as well, so I thought they might be interested in re-using the milk bottles. I bought one for myself as well, and plan on using it for “Santa’s Milk” to be left out on Christmas Eve with the cookies.

I’m usually not a fan of puns, but I came up with this “sweet” saying for the tag, so decided to run with it…

FREE Printable

The boys helped me fill the milk bottles with candy, and signed the back of the tags with their name (Note: Leaving the straw in the bottle while stuffing the candy in, avoids you from having to stab through the candy pile later)… Hopefully their teachers enjoy the candy as much as we enjoyed the pieces we taste-tested (for quality purposes of course).

Follow me on Pinterest, for more fun ideas!

“Chocolate comes from cocoa… which is a tree.

That makes it a plant.

Chocolate is salad.”

Stained Glass Sun Catcher Ornament

December 11, 2015September 26, 2016 / ProjectMom / 2 Comments

‘Tis the season for Christmas crafts!

Stained Glass Ornament 2

We decided to make these beautiful sun catcher ornaments, to look like stained glass. They make great window decorations and help set the mood for the season. A super-easy, no-mess craft, perfect for all ages!

1st a little prep-work to get the project ready…

Click HERE for free printable.

Print this ornament shape (provided above), ideally on card stock, and cut out the CENTER of the ornament frame with an X-Acto knife or scissors.

Prepare colored tissue paper by cutting them into squares, strips and/or shapes. For toddlers, squares are perfect. For older kids, shapes would give them the opportunity to experiment with more complex designs (Example: A star in the center with stripes in the background, etc.)… NOTE: I separated the tissue paper squares into coordinating cup colors for easy selection. I’m not pointing this out to show how overly organized I can be, I’m sharing this to display one of the MANY ways I’ve re-purposed the cups provided in our Easter egg dying kit. Great items to save and reuse!

Adhere a piece of contact paper to the FRONT of your pre-cut ornament print-out, covering the entire ornament frame. Lay the paper down, sticky side up, onto a table. (I ran out of contact paper and discovered that clear packaging tape works as a wonderful substitute!) Now it’s time for your little artist(s) to decorate their ornaments. Have them select their tissue paper pieces, and press them down onto the contact paper.

When your ornament decorating is complete, seal the back with another piece of clear contact paper. Trim around the outside of your ornament frame and tape or hang your masterpiece in a window to enjoy the beautiful stained glass colors!

Follow me on Pinterest, for more fun ideas!

“People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” – Elisabeth Kubler Ross

Fall Leaf Lantern

November 15, 2015February 7, 2016 / ProjectMom / 3 Comments

While it can be difficult saying goodbye to long sunny days of summer, there are several things that help me embrace fall with open arms: sweater weather, boots, apple picking, Halloween, pumpkin spice, and of course the beautiful foliage. Thank you autumn, for one of nature’s best free kid toys – leaves! To bring some of these enchanting colors indoors, I decided to create fall leaf lanterns with the kids.

SUPPLIES:
– Cardboard Goldfish Carton (or 1/2 Gallon Milk Carton)
– Box Cutter and/or Scissors
– Flameless Candle
– Contact Paper
– Hole Puncher
– String
– White Duct Tape (Optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: Collect leaves.

Step 2: Using a box cutter, cut 4 rectangular sections out of each side of the carton.

Step 3: (Optional) Use white Duct Tape to cover print on the carton.

Step 4: Using scissors, cut contact paper into 8 rectangles that are just larger than the sections cut out of the cartons (my rectangles were 10×15 squares).

Step 5: Adhere contact paper rectangle, sticky side out, onto the inside of each side of the carton and reinforce sections by taping each inside edge and corner.

Step 7: Gently press leaves on each side of the carton’s contact paper sections.

Step 8: Use remaining 4 sections of contact paper to cover each side of the carton, holding leaves onto the lantern.

Step 9: Hole punch top of carton and tie string as a handle for the lantern. Create Duct Tape tab to hold lantern top closed.

Step 10: Insert flameless candle.

Follow me on Pinterest, for more fun ideas!

Room on the Broom Inspired Scavenger Hunt

October 30, 2015February 8, 2016 / ProjectMom / 1 Comment

A family friend bought us a copy of Room on the Broom last year and the boys could not get enough. They wanted to read it over and over again – for MONTHS!! And they still love to read it. The book is extremely clever with captivating illustrations and super catchy rhymes. Since they loved the book so much, I also purchased the DVD (which is AMAZING as well – and great for bringing imagination to life). If you don’t own this book, I highly recommend adding it to your personal library.

As we read the story or watch the DVD, the boys love pretending to throw items into the cauldron (lily, cone, stick, bone). Sometimes they come up with their own ingredients (acorns, leaves, etc.). I was looking at our Halloween candy bowl (which happens to be a witches cauldron) and came up with the idea for an activity to engage them in the story even more…

I created scavenger hunt cards with cauldron ingredients, printed them on card stock, and cut them out.

Room on the Broom Inspired Scavenger Hunt Cards

Room on the Broom Inspired Scavenger Hunt - Cauldron Ingredients Cut Out

Download FREE Printable HERE.

Note: I chose the strength of card stock and reinforcement of laminating them with contact paper because Avery crumpled up the 1st set I printed on regular paper (which the boys were not very happy about) . I’m sure older children would handle regular paper or card stock just fine.

I then placed the scavenger hunt cards face down, onto a table, next to the witches cauldron. The boys took turns selecting a card, then running off to gather their ingredients (which were scattered on the ground or hidden in a separate room)… Great for burning off the incessant toddler energy!