Handmade Birthday Invitations

Last year we made O's birthday invitations using dot painter art, and this year we are using salad spinner art :) We had lots of fun painting the paper for the invitations. We mixed up watery powdered tempera and either splashed it into the salad spinner using a paintbrush or poured a little bit in on the paper.

Here are our finished papers.

I finally finished the invitations, and now we have to deliver them. I'm a little worried that they won't hold up in the mail since I used a glue stick to put them all together, and I'm just stapling them and putting the addresses on the outside. We'll probably hand deliver most of them, which is more fun anyway!

Magnetic Artwork

I always take pics of O's artwork since she gives most of it away to her grandparents. I made the artwork magnets by printing wallet sized pictures of her artwork on magnetic paper and cutting them out. O was excited to see her miniature artwork when she woke up from her nap today :) I think these magnets will make fun gifts for grandparents!

Our Family...In Miniature

Here's another one of O's handmade birthday gifts. I really did not enjoy painting these dolls, and I'm so glad to be finished! I painted the four of us (Elliott, O, Little Kicker, and me) and my niece, M. I'd love for O to have dolls representing the rest of our immediate family, but I'm not looking forward to painting them :)

An Old Suitcase Made New!

I decoupaged this old thrift store suitcase for O months ago using an old, torn up children's book (our favorite book from when we were children). My mom was glad to see the very used and torn book being put to good use :) This was a fun project that is one of O's handmade birthday gifts.

I decoupaged the inside of the suitcase using scrapbook paper. Check back to see how the suitcase will be used :)

Cloth Baby Shoes

My mom and I made this pair of shoes for Little Kicker last week while O and I were at her house. It was a bit more complicated than we expected, and it took FOREVER! We both said this would be the first and last pair of shoes we made, but we were so pleased with the end result that I've already picked out the fabric for 2 more pairs of shoes. My mom also thinks we should enlarge the pattern to make a matching pair for O. You can find the pattern and directions here.

A Pseudo Pillowcase Dress

I've been wanting to make a pillowcase dress for O since last summer, and it was so easy that I wish we'd done it sooner. I'm calling it a pseudo pillowcase dress since we didn't actually use a pillowcase to make the dress :) To get the measurements for the dress, we held the fabric up to O and decided that we wanted it to be 18 inches long with a 2 inch hem. We wrapped the fabric around her to get the width :) We then followed the directions on Maya Made for cutting out the arm holes and hemming the arm holes and neckline. For the ribbon, we decided to deviate from the directions a bit. We used 2 ribbons and tied them at her shoulders. I keep saying "we," but my mom really did all the work. I was just the supervisor :) I think that new pillowcase dresses and lazy days skirts will be on my Spring to-do list each year for my girlies!

O's Library Bag

I've wanted to make a library bag for O for a while, and I finally decided what to put on it. The bag came from Hobby Lobby (it was 50% off and only cost 2 dollars!). I printed the word "read" in my chosen font and size, cut out the letters to use as patterns, cut the letters from fabric, and appliqued them to the bag. The bag has 3 pockets on the other side which will be perfect for booksmarks, a book light, and O's library card (when she's old enough to get one!). I'm very happy with the result, and I'm looking forward to more applique projects!

How to Applique...A Tutorial

1) Trace your pattern on the applique paper. I use Steam a Seam 2 and LOVE it!


2) Peel off the backing and place the pattern on your fabric. Press firmly so it will stick to the fabric.


3) Cut the pattern out of the fabric.

4) Peel the paper off the back of the pattern and place it on your t-shirt.


5) Iron the pattern for 10 to 15 seconds twice or follow the directions that come with your applique paper.

6) You're finished! Show your child her new shirt and enjoy her excited reaction!

Toothpick & Styrofoam Printing

The idea for this activity came from Young at Art.

I saved a take-out container for O, and she "decorated" it using a toothpick.
After she was finished making her design, she painted it.

We then we pressed a piece of cardstock over the painting and pressed down evenly.


O enjoyed this activity, but she wasn't nearly as interested in it as I anticipated. It just couldn't compare to the butterfly prints that we'd just completed :)

Painting with Ice Cubes

O and I made ice cubes for painting last week and finally painted with them on Thursday.
1st O poured water into the ice cube tray

Then she squeezed in the food coloring. She had a lot of fun mixing colors. We put straws in the ice cubes to use as handles while she painted.

We put the ice tray in the freezer and forgot about it for a week. I finally remembered, and O had lots of fun painting with her ice cubes :) She painted on posterboard with the shiny side down. You need thick paper since the ice cubes melt and things get quite watery :)

After she was finished, I put the ice cubes back in the freezer to save for another hot day!

Hammered Leaf Prints

O LOVED making hammered leaf prints this morning! (She loves anything involving a hammer. I guess all those hours spent with with Elliott fixing boats and cars have paid off!) To set this activity up, I found an old board in the garage (there's a never ending supply out there!), 2 tacks, and strips of an old sheet. I cut the sheet into small rectangles and tacked them to the board. O and I collected leaves and flowers this morning after our morning swim. To make the print, place the leaf or flower under the cloth strip (the leaves worked better when they were upside down), cover the leaf with the fabric, and hammer the leaf! It smells like freshly cut grass as you hammer :) We took turns hammering, and we were happy with the results!

Art for her Sister

O was very excited when I asked her to do a painting on canvas to hang in her sister's room. Here's her masterpiece! I'm planning on having O and M (my niece) do several paintings to hang in the baby's room. They both seem very honored by my request :)

Resist Painting Silhouette

After seeing this great idea, I knew we had to try it! Since I'd already made a silhouette of O for Elliott for Father's Day, I just traced around that silhouette on contact paper and cut it out. I then pressed the contact paper silhouette onto an 8 x 10 canvas, and O painted. Instead of watercolors, O painted with tempera paint. She really enjoyed herself, and I was surprised by how into it she was. She was kneeling down to get eye level with the canvas as she painted :)
I am so happy with the end result, and I think painting will make a great birthday present for O's Guh-guh! I am also looking forward to trying this same technique with handprints, which would make great Christmas gifts for grandparents!

O asked to do more sticky paper paintings, so I cut out another silhouette on Thurday. This time we used both pieces of the contact paper, and we are so happy with the results!

Here are the paintings before I pulled off the contact paper.

Here they are after removing the contact paper.
Elliott really likes this one...good thing since it's going to be his birthday present!



O wants to hang this one in her sister's room :)

I am also really excited about turning these paintings into scrabble tile pendants!