Wire photo frame

I've got a weird relationship with Pinterest. I don't go on often, but when I do, I pin, pin, pin. I feel like I'm a Pinterest binger, and it's frustrating because I feel like I never make any progress with the things that I've pinned (although some of my pins, like on my "For the home" board, are for a home in the future and I can't actually act on those yet - but still). I've made a conscious effort to make more of the recipes I've pinned and have had success with several.

A few months ago, I decided that I'd kill two birds with one stone - I needed a different way to display some photos, and I wanted to create from one of my crafty pins. The thing about the photos, though, is that I have plenty of frames, but I wanted something that would give me an easy way to switch things up and display multiple photos without putting more holes in the walls.

I kept putting this project off because I was worried that I wouldn't find a frame that would work. I knew I wanted something sturdy and large, but I wasn't sure exactly what shape or size I wanted. I finally just set out on a frame-finding mission, and on our first stop Elle and I had success.

We were at a Goodwill outlet store, so the frame, which was marked $9.95 and actually housed a nice, matted print, cost me $4.97.

We had just enough time before Elle's nap to hit up Michael's and buy white spray paint and mini-clothes pins. I bought the multi-colored ones because I thought they'd be cute and less work than painting them all one color.

Then it took me a year to blog about it.

As Hurricane Isaac made its presence known in the Tampa Bay area, I started in on the project. Which was stupid because I needed to go outside to spray paint the frame, and the wind and rain were kicking up.

I measured the inside of the frame to figure out the spacing of my three wires - the height was 21" inches, which was perfect for three rows with spacing between to house 4" x 6" photos. I had screws on-hand that worked perfectly, and when I was done with the screws I decided to take a chance and brave the elements.

Luckily, I caught a break in the rain, so I spray painted the frame, and it was dry when I had a chance to finish the project off later that night. I had bought wire at Michael's that I ended up not using because it was too thin, but I had some wire from a picture-hanging endeavor earlier this year, and it worked perfectly. I wrapped the wire tightly around the screws, trimmed the edges, and ta-da! Finished product.

The next night I hung it up and put some photos on it, and Elle loves looking at them and has even noticed when I add or move some of them (like to accommodate photos of Wesley, too!). Overall, a Pinterest win.

Canvas toddler art

Oh, hi! I'm cleaning out some of my blog posts that have been gathering dust in draft status. Want to see something we made almost a year ago? OK, good.

One of my friends from the Mommy/Baby group we attended when Elle was an infant posted a photo on Instagram that inspired me to unleash Elle's inner Picasso. I had been plotting my own craft, and she was interested in "Mommy's project," so while we were at Michael's picking up my final supplies, I grabbed a few things for her.

The materials and actual process are simple, it was super cheap and Elle points out "I made an 'E'!" on a regular basis.

My friend used a large canvas to capture her daughter's nickname, "Mac." I went with smaller canvas for a simple initial but took advantage of a two-for-one canvas deal, so I can craft with the other 8 x 10 canvas in the future. I taped off an "E" using blue painter's tape that I had, and then I stripped Elle down to her diaper and let her go to town. I bought pink and green acrylic paints (on sale!) to match the basic decor in her room. I was going to have her do one color, let it dry, then follow up with the other color on another day, but at the last minute I decided that it might be more fun for her to mix the two colors.

I gave Elle two foam brushes, which she used for part of the time, but the majority of the artwork was created with her hands. The middle stroke on the E got some heavy paint action (and subsequently seeped under the painter's tape Elle was very intent as she painted, and she was super excited to see the results the next day after I peeled off the painter's tape.

 
I hung up the E over her changing table, and Elle loves to look at it. She always tells me it's pink and green, and I love that she created some of the coolest art in her bedroom.

Crayons are my therapy.

My previous job was one that required a certain amount of artistic perspective. My current job, while challenging in some aspects, is very much procedure-oriented, and my creative side isn't exactly necessary on a regular basis.

This void has recently been filled by one of Elle's current favorite activities: Coloring.

Most evening, I hear the call: "Mommy, come draw 'if me. Come color 'if me. Can I have my crayons please?"

I LOVE this time together. I love Elle's careful selection of what coloring book we'll use, what color she suggests I use (although it can be maddening when she gives me orange for the third time in the row or insists I color with white crayon), her interest in what I'm doing. I laugh at her praise: "That's good coloring, Mommy!" I appreciate her curiosity regarding every animal or character in the coloring book. I enjoy the narration of what she's drawing on her blank pieces of paper. I adore that she thoroughly enjoys this quite simple activity.

Diaper-only and sunglasses indoors: Signs of a true artist.

And I love the chance to take a few minutes and just breath, color and create. As silly as it may sound, I feel like the choosing of the picture I'm going to color and the crayons I'm going to use are a creative outlet at the end of a long day.

I colored when I was younger but was never really interested in it after that. I know some adults *ahem: my sister* who have always been drawn to a coloring book and box of crayons. I now feel like I can relate on a certain level.

For the most part, Elle gives me complete creative freedom, allowing me to give high-lights and low-lights to princesses that are dressed in the boldest of colors:

But sometimes, she's strict in her art direction, and we end up with purple cats with green spots:

I've learned to pick my battles with this little girl, and the coloring books? Not a battle worth fighting.

Painting in the bath tub

Florida has been extremely soggy lately. (Thanks, Tropical Storm Debby!) It has been hard trying to come up with ways to break up our days without breaking our bank account. Even though it's ridiculous hot outside, I'm a big fan of going for walks or to the park or to the pool with Elle - all things that are impossible to do when it rains for hours on end. When it is too hot to be outside, we typically hit the pet store and the bookstore for cheap/free entertainment, but with the winds and storms this weekend, I didn't really want to venture out except for essential trips (like to get groceries).

Enter the need for some new activities. I pulled out the cloud dough after lunch, and Elle went to town, sifting and digging and making it "snow." Before her bath, though, I tried something new - bath paint.

I had read a few blog posts about bath paint, and many of them used shaving cream. I wasn't sure if that would cause stinging if it got in Elle's eyes, and although most of the bloggers said the "paint" came right off their tub and tile, I didn't want to take any chances. I had a small bottle of clear body wash and bought the food coloring when we braved the elements and hit the grocery store. I didn't really have containers to store the paints in, so I only made a quarter of the recipe so Elle could use it all in one sitting.

I gave her neon green and purple paint and a foam brush. I plopped her in the tub and showed her what to do, and little girl turned in to a bath tub Picasso. She was very serious, painting for 20-30 minutes, including her legs and hands. She used the foam brush for a while but also utilized her fingers to mix the colors and paint. The clean up was super easy although smelled quite soapy :)

Popsicle puzzle fun

A few months ago, I pinned some toddler activities to a board on Pinterest, and it hit me that for as many things as I have pinned, I haven't really done much with them. I decided to change that by making something that would be ideal for a trip that we were taking this past week, and it felt so good to be creative. Elle kept saying "Mommy's caft" (craft), and this was about as easy as could be.

I made four puzzles - two for my friend Meghan's son, Ryan (below), and two for Elle. My thought process was that these would be distracting on plane rides, yet not be too heavy or take up much space, and also not be so time-intensive or fancy that a lost piece would be the absolute worst thing ever.

Tim reported that Elle loved the one I made of the three of us (above) and enjoyed it on their flight together to Ohio. She kept looking at the pieces saying "Mommy," "Daddy" and "Elle Belle,"  and more significantly, it kept her occupied.

I used a tutorial that I found here, and I've noted a few things I learned below.

I used wide popsicle sticks that I bought at Michael's. I followed the advice of a few other tutorials and discarded any sticks with warps or curves that wouldn't allow the pieces to lie flush against each other. I taped the popsicle sticks together tightly. This was fine, but next time I won't put them together so tightly because it was hard to use the Xacto knife to cut them apart later on. Just a little bit of breathing room would have helped immensely.

I thought two layers of Mod Podge would be better than one - I tried two on the photo puzzle above, and I ended up with bubbles. One layer on the rest? Worked fantastically.

After the Mod Podge dried, I flipped them over and cut through the slats. I used an old cookie sheet covered with some folded over parchment paper. As I mentioned above, the sticks were extremely tight and it was hard to slice right down the space between the sticks and through the photo. I found it extremely easy to cut little slivers of popsicle stick off. Cuts that were exactly clean or on areas that hadn't glued down well ended in small parts of the photo tearing off of the stick it was supposed to be on. But hey, it was my first attempt and the puzzles were for toddlers - I figured the thought counted more than perfect images.

Aside from the Mod Podge drying time, these puzzles took about 10 minutes to do. I had the Mod Podge from other crafts, the 5x7 photos cost just a little more than $1, and the package of popsicle sticks will make at least six puzzles and cost less than $3. Hello, fun, personalized, easy, inexpensive craft. We'll be good friends.

I had Tim test one of Ryan's puzzles. He passed.