It's so hard to believe I first shared the personalized alphabet book I made for my son 7 years ago. It's been an extremely popular post ever since so I thought it was time to bring it out of the vault. And with all the options out there for creating photo books now, it couldn't be easier to do! But it can still be surprisingly hard to think of something that's salient to your child for each letter - I'm hoping sharing my picks might help. Please enjoy and let me know if you … [Read more...]
Handmade Halloween: Make Spider Sack Decor with the Kids
I'm so excited about this Halloween project, it turned out even better than I'd envisioned. It's the quintessential MPMK project - easy enough for kids of all ages to get in on the action and the finished product is a decidedly stylish take on traditional Halloween decor. And did I mention how inexpensive it is? … [Read more...]
A Monster Cake Absolutely Anyone Can Make (I Promise)
Isn't this little guy cute? If you're a regular reader here than you know that my oldest is an October baby - this is the friendly monster cake I made to celebrate his 1st birthday and I think he'd make a fabulous addition to any Halloween parties you may have planned. I know he looks fancy but he was actually very, very straight forward to make. In fact, this was only the third or fourth cake I've ever baked and those that came before were nothing fancy, straight-from-the-box Duncan … [Read more...]
DIY: Photo Valentine Favors
It's that time of year again - time for the kiddos to get creative and show some love to their classmates... and possible neighborhood buddies, family members, etc. Kristin's here today sharing her template for personalized favors - a simple trick for producing something fancy with minimal effort. We're also debuting something new this week - questions of the day. Today we want to know: do your kiddos share Valentines with family or just classmates? Share your tradition in our comments … [Read more...]
How to Make Removable Wall Paper
My friend Allyson from Day to Day Wonderments recently completed a project that was just too good not to share! She, like many of us, is a renter and not allowed to change the paint color or wallpaper her home. But she LOVES the look of wallpaper, don't we all? Enter a creative solution to an annoying problem. Allyson created fabric to look like wallpaper and starched it to her wall. Once they move, all they have to do is wet the walls and peel it off without doing any damage to the wall or … [Read more...]
Letting the Kids Color on Fabric
Contributor Allison is back today with something very cool. DecoArt sent us some of their new and a bottle of basecoat to play with and I, in turn, sent it along to Allison to see what her and her boys could come up with. The results are pretty fantastic. I'm all about getting my kids involved so this project was their creation. I love creating (and getting) handmade gifts and I try to pass that love along to my kids as well. We decided to make a placemat/playmat that our younger … [Read more...]
Father’s Day Craft
So remember last week when the Elmer's Craft it! giveaway began? Of course you do, entries have been nuts - apparently you guys are really excited about possibly being one of two winners of $250 worth of craft supplies (you can still enter here by the way). Well, I promised I'd be sharing what I've been up to with my shiny new box of supplies and today's the day. I thought it would be fun to challenge myself not to spend any money on additional materials (not too hard … [Read more...]
Elsewhere: A New Art Technique to Try
I'm guest posting at Whip Up today with one of my favorite new art techniques: block printing with yarn. This one is truly appropriate for all ages. Our first go at it was a fascinating experience for C (he couldn't believe he was actually allowed to paint on a few of his blocks) and a successful attempt at DIY modern art for me. Head over to Whip Up for the full tutorial. P.S. Looking to simplify in 2013? Bonus: Use the code JANUARY for 10% off the PDF file through the end of … [Read more...]
DIY Paint Chip Birthday Banner
I've already told you guys my little S turns 1 this month. Of course we couldn't let that momentous event pass without a proper party. I'll be sharing lots of details with you in the next few weeks, starting with today's DIY paint chip birthday banner. You may remember when I debuted my paint chip Easter garland, I mentioned that I had a few more paint chip projects up my sleeve. That little post ended up going viral (thank you all so much for over 1,000 facebook likes!). … [Read more...]