DIY Monster Themed Birthday Party

My baby was turning one, so I had the difficult decision of what to do for his party.  I knew I didn't want to do the same theme that I did with my first, so off to Pinterest I went.  No themes stood out to me but I finally decided on a Monster Party.  

We decided to go home to Kansas and do a party with family and have another one at our house a week later with friends and our local family.  For the parties I made the invites, thank you cards, birthday banner, monster magnets and coloring books for the monster goodie bags and monster party hats..  My MIL went all out and got monster hats and napkins.  My SIL even made a kick ass monster cake and smash cake.  I reused the hirchair banner that I made for my first (another pinterest find).

All of theses items were super easy to make.  I found all my monsters for free at mycutegraphics.com.  I found a card design that I liked and made it myself using InDesign.  For the party bags and hats all you need is a sharpie and some googly eyes.  The magnets were also super easy.  I saved bottle caps of all sizes and painted them, then added googly eyes and feathers for hair.  I added cardboard to the back of the cap to make if a flush surface and then added the magnet.  To make the highchair banner all you need is some ribbon and a hot glue gun.  I cut the ribbon to fit my highchair and then hot glued ribbon of varing lenth and width to the back to the ribbon I measured for the highchair.  I attached the highchair banner with some scotch tape.

Theme parties can add and Pinterest can be overwhelming.  It will save you money to make most of the items yourself and remember it doesn't have to be perfect or a lot.  A little decoration goes a long way.

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-Jill

Breathable Baby Blanket { Free Crochet Pattern }

This is a breathable baby blanket. I wrote the pattern from a blanket that I was given and haven’t found the pattern online anywhere. It is quite large and can be made smaller by chaining less in intervals of 5 or larger by chaining more in intervals of 5. CH 2 counts as first DC in each round

Finished Dimensions:
Approx. 3 sq ft

Supplies: 3 skein 
Size 4 mm (G) hook

Abbreviations: 

CH-chain
DC-double crochet
SL ST-slip stitch

Instructions: Round 1: CH 156
Round 2: DC in 3rd CH from hook, DC 152, CH 2, turn (153)
Round 3-4: DC 152, CH 2, turn (153)
Round 5-74: DC 4, CH 2, skip 2 stitched (repeat 24 times), DC 8, CH 2, turn (153)
Round 75-77: 152 DC, CH 2, turn (153)
Round 78: DC 152, CH 1, turn (153)
Round 79: SL ST 152 (153)

Enjoy!

-Jill

Awesome Kids Room DIY Clock {Teaching Time}

I noticed that my cousins didn’t know how to read a clock until they were in middle school and I didn’t want that happening to my boys, so I decided to make them clocks to match their bedrooms.

Supplies

clock movement kit

round wooden clock

black sharpie

paint chips

pencil

spray paint

printed number 1-12

scissors

mod podge

foam paint brush

Clock

First you need to spray paint your round wooden clock.  Next you will need to trace your printed numbers onto your paint chips.  Next using your black sharpie write the number onto the paint chip.  You are now ready to cut out your numbers.  I chose to make pows for the 12, 3, 6 and 9.  To do this I just randomly drew them with my pencil and then traced the number onto the pow.  Then I colored number in and outlined the pow.  You can do any shape you want or just make these numbers like the rest.  Next I placed all my numbers and pows on the clock and tried to evenly space them.  Now you are ready to mod podge.  Once the mod podge is complete install the clock movement kit, add a battery and hang.  I had to hot glue my kit onto the back of the round wooden clock since it wasn’t tight enough.

How to Mod Podge

I use a matte finish mod podge and start by applying to mod podge to the back of the numbers and applying them to the wooden clock.  Once all numbers have dried I put a layer of mod podge on the face of the clock

-Jill

Don't Be Intimidated: Crocheting

When I was 8 months pregnant with my first son I wanted to crochet him blanket so he could sleep with it without me worrying about him suffocating.  My problem was I had never crocheted before.  I thought myself to knit scarfs when I was in college, but I hadn’t kept up with it.  My friend talked me out of learning due to the fact that I was trying to become a licensed landscape architect and about to take my last exam, which I passed and probably wouldn’t have if I learned to crochet.  Christmas came around and my son was 4 months old.  I bought him a cute crocheted hat off of ETSY like I did for his birth announcements.  The hat cost about $25 and I decided then that I was going to learn to crochet because it had to be cheaper than buying them.  In January I taught myself to crochet hats and soon my friends were asking me to make hats, blankets and shoes for them.  I eventually opened up my own ETSY shop, Hats and Knit Knacks.  

Crocheting is really easy with practice and I taught myself how to crochet from youtube videos.  I first found a video that I liked and then went and bought the supplies.  What I have found is that most yarns and patterns use a G Hook (4.0 mm).  So that is what I started with.  I went to Michaels and bought 1 skein of yarn and a G Hook.  This way you aren’t spending a ton of money on an entire kit if you don’t like it.  I eventually went back and bought a set of hooks and have added larger hooks when patterns required them. Here are some of the videos I used.  

Basic Double Crochet Hat with Ears

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNeSZkUpWkM&feature=related

Granny Stitch Hat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1SBPeCw8YI&feature=relmfu

Puff Stitch Hat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8lLMHpt1Sw

A great site to find patterns is ravelry.com  Some patterns are free and some aren’t.  You can usually find what you are looking for free, but you will need to know the crochet language.  A list of terminology can be found at Lions Brand http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?dictionaryOfAbbreviations=1

I hope you find this information helpful.  Just remember it may not come easy.  My first hat probably took me 8 hours to make.  I was yelling at my husband to turn the tv down and to be quiet.  My stitches also did not look like hers in the video.  It takes practice to crochet evenly and tight.  My first  hat was more of a bowl and couldn’t fit anyones head.  I can now make a hat in an hour or two depending on the detail and size.

Happy Crocheting!

xoxo

-J

DIY: Decorative Comic Book Letter

I love Pinterest and wanted to make some cute comic book letters for my boys.  When clicking on all the links it was very hard to find directions that I liked all in one place.  I had to sift through all the letters to find directions, while finding easy ones were even harder.  Here is my own version of how to create a 3-D letter and how to mod podge the comic onto the letter.

Supplies

metal ruler

cutting board

masking tape

x acto knife

scissors

stiff cardboard box (diaper box)

flexible cardboard box (cereal box)

pencil/pen

mod podge

foam paint brush

comic book

2 printed letters

3-D Letter

First you need to choose a font for your letter.  A font that has a flat bottom works the best for curved letters.  I use Aerial Black.  If you don’t have Aerial Black, use Aerial and make it bold.  I make the font 700-800 point.  This fills up an entire 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.  You can make the letters uppercase or lower case.  You may also need to print landscape versus portrait for some letters like m.  Print two copies of the letter of your choice.  Tape the paper to the stiff cardboard and cut out.  If your letter doesn’t have a flat edge on the bottom like s, make sure to cut a small straight edge on the bottom so the letter can stand up.  If your two letters do not match exactly don’t worry you will never be able to tell once it is assembled.  Next you will need to cut strips of cardboard of equal width from the stiff and flexible cardboard.  I use my rule width as the width for the strips so no measuring is required.

You are now ready to assemble your letter.  Cut the strips to the lengths needed.  I use the stiff cardboard for the base and the flexible cardboard for the curved edges.  Tape the letter together.  It should now be able to stand.

Selecting your Comic

When I select my comics I try to find ones that have lots of images of my character.  Make sure the images don’t all fall on the backs of another as you can only use one side.  It is also very difficult to find two comics that have the same illustrations, so one comic book per letter is best.  Now that you have your comic you need to take out the staples and select the pages/images you would like to use and cut them out with your scissors.  I use my 3-D letter to trace onto the back of the images I am using for my cutting guide.  When doing the sides you will want to make sure you cut those strips a little larger so you can wrap the edges of the letter for a seamless look.  

How to Mod Podge

I use a matte finish mod podge and start with the sides, then do the front and last the back.  You do not need to make the back perfect since no one will be seeing it, just make sure all the cardboard is covered.  To mod podge the letter you brush on a coat onto the back of the comic and stick it to the cardboard.  Once all sides are done and have dried add two to three coats of mod podge.  Make sure you brush in the same direction so your strokes all look the same and allow the letter to dry before adding the next coat.  You can mod podge anything.  I also did the light switches in the boys rooms.

Enjoy!

xoxo
-J