KiddoCraft - money magnets

Here's a fun little DIY craft project I put together with the kiddos on a rainy weekend. It's a great way to display and use coins picked up from foreign travels and for holding up those reports cards and art pieces on the fridge.

What You'll Need:

• Pair of Scissors
• Magnet - we used the roll variety but the small dots work too. If you go with the magnet dots, you'll need some strong adhesive as well. I wouldn't recommend Super Glue for a kid project, but any craft store should have the right glue to get the job done.
• Money!! I had some coins collected from our trips to London, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The Scandinavian coins have some very cool and graphic looking minting on them.

(looks like Sutter snuck a dime in there too!) 

1. Begin by cutting your magnet strip into sizes small enough to fit on the back of your money. Sutter was super precise about getting them all the right size!

2. Decide which side you want facing out, flip it over and stick your magnet strip to the back! 

3. Voila! Money Magnets. Something fun and pretty to look at in just a matter of moments.

This was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy as the kids like to say.

What's your go-to rainy day craft?

xo,

chelsea

yearning for yarn

A lingering cold and some rather blustery days have me hunting for warm, knit goods.

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I'm dying to learn how to knit an Aran throw

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or perhaps a chevron throw in black and white

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I'm loving the sideways chevron on this coffee cozy

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knitting, felting and braiding - oh my!

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This headwrap is gorgeous and even looks feasible to recreate!

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I'm feeling very inspired to pick up my needles after a summer's departure from them!!

XO,

Chelsea

a friday DIY: painterly shirt

I've said it before, I'm addicted to stripes. I've never met a stripe I didn't like.

Feeling inspired by some of the painterly stripes I've seen out there, I set out to make a DIY version. I'd never worked with fabric paint before (those neon puffy paints from the 90s don't count), so this was a fun experiment.

the summery inspiration from J Crew

DIY Painterly Stripe T

materials needed:
plain t-shirt
fabric paint - make sure you pick the right paint for your fabric
paint brush
ruler or straight edge
tailors chalk
some sort of dropcloth

1. make sure you start with a clean, washed t-shirt. I had an old tar-jay T-shirt that I knew was clean already.
2. Lay out your dropcloth.  You may find it easier to work if you have the dropcloth taped down. I didn't because I'm deathly afraid of ruining the hardwood floors. My landlord put the fear in me when we moved in.
3. Slide a piece of cardboard or paper bag inside the shirt. You don't want to paint through to the other side!

4. Using the tailors chalk and your ruler, make lines to your desired width. I went for about 3/4 " lines with about an inch between each stripe. I wanted some extra space between my stripes so I went wider but you could certainly make your stripes bigger or smaller to get whatever effect you prefer!

5. Start painting!! I was extremely surprised by how quickly the fabric absorbed. The first line was definitely a bit more saturated then I had planned but I started to get the hang of it by about the third line. If I was smart, I would've painted a few lines on some scrap fabric first, but I have zero patience so I just went for it!

6. Wait for the front to dry. Mine took about an hour to dry to the touch.
7. Flip your shirt over and repeat the process on the back.
8. Once both sides are dry, follow your paint manufacturers' instructions for setting the paint. Mine called for ironing for 3 minutes on the reverse side. I decided to keep my cardboard inside while I ironed and I'm glad I did because some excess paint absorbed into it.

9. Turn your shirt back to right side out and you've now got a fun, painted T-shirt that you did yourself for a fraction of the $70 price tag.

I really like the way this turned out. The blue was quite a bit brighter than what the bottle and sample in the store showed. Next time, I think I would like to experimenting with mixing some of the colors to come up with something more custom. I also think this could be awesome with darker T-shirts and lighter colors or some metallics on top.

What do you think?

XO,

Chelsea 

fancy friday - inspirational stalking

This was a week that couldn't end fast enough. I'm lacking inspiration and perhaps I've already mentally packed and left for next week's vacation. Its times like these that I'm incredibly thrilled to know that any needed inspirational boost can be achieved just by peeking into my Google Reader.

Here's what I fancied this week:

Finding this gorgeous blog full of beautiful photos and this pretty lady: http://songoftheexile.blogspot.com/

This fun, springy project to brighten up my sandals: http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2010/4/22/whits-knits-fishnet-anklets.html

More obsessing over pretty macarons: http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2010/04/cherry-blossom-macarons-for-martha.html

Staying on the lookout for fallen trees so I can make these: http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/entertaining/speakers-made-from-a-fallen-tree-113922

I'm hoping this weekend's jam-packed celebrating will bring me even more inspiration. 

I'm looking forward to:

1) a very merry un-Birthday for one little girl turning 3 1/2

2) a private little celebration of "us"

3) laughing, a whole lot. It is, after all, the best medicine

4) some private time crafting, creating, re-making, re-using

5) writing a short letter to the weather in the hopes that it will cooperate for our vacation plans next week

This time next week, I plan to be gazing at this:

(image found at flickr)

What are you looking forward to this weekend? 

XO,

Chelsea

I HEART THURSDAYS

I've had the idea in my mind for a while now to post I HEART THURSDAYS, since I love Thursdays. The brink of the weekend is upon us, but I'm still feeling the productive flow of the week. Thursdays are the days my honey comes home from his 4 day workweek on the road. My workmates always ask why I dress so cute on Thursdays ;)

And of course - I just love the imagery of hearts! I'm constantly inspired by seeing little heart images all over the great crafty world. And the natural world for that matter!

So, February seemed like a better month than any to start the first I HEART THURSDAYS post. Here is today's roll of heart things from all over.


who wouldn't love a latte like this?



this card is just amazing. loving the victorian feel at the little chickadee



a sweet stack of silver love. lilyja's shop has lots of sweet goodies.



heather moore's jewelry is a hefty, but swoonworthy investment


What does everyone else <3 today?

xo,
Chelsea