Day 4 of Summer.... not so much a project...

there is no craftiness going on for the next week, cause it's all about this little guy. a serious change in dynamics in this house :]

jeremiah's birthday....

will be tomorrow!! so, with that said, i'll not be staying up to post tonight :[ nor will i be posting for a couple days while i get used to having 3 little bugs ruling the roost. i do have a summer project that we did today, and i do have lots of crafty pics to post from the last few weeks, but i'll have to play catch-up after baby J arrives- you know, in all my spare time :]
until then... peace out.

Day 2 of Summer... game day

Today we tackled another rainy summer day with THIS, a personalized checkerboard game for david and matthew :] Truth be told, I did most of the work, but the boys helped here and there, which made it fun for all three of us. 

I started with a plywood board- 14 in x 14 in. It was slightly bowed, so I hated to use it for a cake board, but it's perfect for this. A little paint, scrapbook paper, wooden nickels, modge podge... and voila! 

I painted the edges  and back with green acrylic craft paint, then modge-podged a 12 x 12 piece of green scrapbook paper to the center. I forgot to take a pic of the polka dot squares, but basically I took a printed piece of 12 x 12 paper and cut it into 32 1 1/2 inch squares, and glued them on in a checkered pattern. That was the trickiest part :] And then I covered the entire board with another layer of modge podge and set it aside.

While I tackled the board, the boys painted their wooden nickels. I gave each of them 15. You only need 12 per person, but I know my kids will lose one or two of these. After they finished painting, I stamped one side with their initial, and the opposite side with a crown, and sealed them with a coat of modge podge.

I grabbed a couple scraps of fabric and some hemp cord and made this tiny drawstring bag for their checker pieces. I have pics for a tutorial, but felt sort of weird posting it since I really had absolutely no idea what I was doing and probably did it wrong :] 

So, once again we fight to conquer rainy days in a house where my husband works and loud noise is more than a nuisance... I think this one will come in handy for a long time!!

Day 1 of Summer... we made it... whew.

Ok, so after ages and ages of nada on my blog... I have returned :] Here's the plan, one day this week I'll update you on all the craftiness I've been crankin' out the last few weeks as I've tried hard to cope with baby #3 hangin' out in my belly in no hurry to make his appearance. I might even do that tonight, we'll see. But what I think is totally feasible for now, and hopefully even after baby arrives, is documenting what we're doing with our summer. Today was the official first day, since David finished school Friday.
I do not like the thought of my children hanging out in the house watching Diego for hours on end, and one can only handle so many popsicles before the Texas heat puts you into a sweaty coma. My remedy= signing up for the summer reading club at our local library, and plenty of crafty nonsense :]

Today began with my boys pilfering thru my box of fleece scraps for the makings of their very own library totes. I usually carry a basket for them to fill up with books, but with my prego belly and impending package- I figured I'd better come up with a better solution. It's amazing how much kids love having something... anything... of their own. It's empowering for them. David chose a shade of blue with a red letter, Matthew chose brown, yes brown, with a lime green letter. My boys are as different as they come :]

I cut out their bags, each one consisting of a large piece to be folded in half as the body of the bag- 14x28 in, and 2 straps that I would also fold in half for reinforcement for all the heavy toting- 2x17 in. In truth, I messed up somewhere along the way, I'll leave out the details. But I had to cut the body down, and it ended up being only about 11 in wide, which worked out nicely in the end.

Then I cut out their initials. I know, J is confusing, as David starts with a D. But... my 2nd grade- almost 3rd grade- child is always reminding me that his real name is Justin. So fine, a J.
I punched pilot holes with a hole-punch, positioned the letters on their respective bag bodies, pinned them in place ,and used a skinny knitting needle to make holes all the way through. Then I armed each of my children with a blunt yarn needle and contrasting thread. They LOVED "sewing" their letters on. And while it didn't suit my perfectionist fancy all that well, it was worth it to see the accomplishment on their sweet faces.

I finished off the bags pretty quickly, folding the straps in half and sewing about 2 inches from each end, then pinning and attaching them. I just straight stitched up the sides of the bags. The boys were so proud of their bags. Super quick project + super fun trip to the library = two super happy boys :]