Scrapbook Paper Collage Canvas Art ~ Hippo and Tiger

The next Christmas gifts were these canvas art pieces my daughter and I made together for her to give to her friends. Since this is her thing, I am going to let her tell you about them while I go make breakfast...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello! I'm Halley, and as my mom said above I will be telling you all about these "Art Pieces".

First of all, I want you to know these were easy to make, and are worth any trouble you go through to make them. We started off by finding an adorable template for the animal on Pinterest. We traced the pieces that we needed onto paper and cut them out. Of course we didn't want an all-white hippo or tiger, so we picked a patterned  piece of paper for both the body and body pieces. (We used scrapbook paper, but you can use anything.) 

We did a collage for the background to make the animals really pop! I suppose it would work with a single piece of paper, but it definitely would not be as cute.We picked 3 pieces of scrapbook paper that  I think complement each other very nicely. We ripped them up into random shapes and used Modge Podge to make them stick to the canvas. We used the matte Mod Podge halfway through the hippo canvas then then decided that  the glossy would just give it "that look".

We again used Mod Podge to attach the actual hippo. Black buttons were hot glued on for eyes and nostrils. (It was very hard to let go of the hippo canvas, by the way!)  We just did all of these steps again for the tiger. The face and stripes were painted on with black paint. We thought we were done, but then we realized there were staples on the side. That was an easy fix- we just hot glued coordinating grosgrain ribbon onto the sides for a clever and cute way to hide the staples.  

Now, I know I'm not very good with instructions but I hope you can translate them and get results as good as ours, and possibly better! Overall this is pretty easy, and guaranteed to make the person who receives it VERY happy! 

Now, back to my oh-so-crafty mom!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you, Halley! I think these turned out really cute! One of her friends LOVES hippos and the other is soon getting her own jungle themed bathroom. These would be really cute for a nursery, but they are also a good kids craft, too. Besides scrapbook paper, you can use tissue paper or fabric. A friend of mine made me one of these and she used rubber stamps to add more dimension and pattern to the background. There really are a lot of possibilities. I was just glad that this was something she could make for her friends.

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Sew Can Do, Monday Funday, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, The Gathering Spot, Carolyn's Homework, The Winthrop Chronicles, Handmade Tuesdays,Your Whims Wednesday,  Weekly Homemaking Party,Create It Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Wildly Original, Thriving on Thursday, Grace at Home, The 36th Party, Freedom Fridays, Feathered Nest Friday, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Craft Frenzy Friday, and Think Pink Sunday.

Ana White Farmhouse Twin Beds

We are just about finished with the girls' new bedroom and I am so excited to show you what my husband made!!!

Beds! Aren't they awesome? He made custom beds for the girls using free plans from Ana White. He used the farmhouse bed plans in a twin size. Everything went pretty well (besides our paint sprayer acting up- but that is not her fault).

There was one change that he made for me. The collage wall was hung before the beds were made and he cut 7" off of each piece to shrink them down so that I wouldn't have to move everything up. I love him! 

They are really heavy and sturdy! Oh, the comforters were from Target HERE- we got them on clearance for under $10.

Oh, and this is the doll bunk bed he made for one of the girls for Christmas. It was made using THIS free plan, also from Ana White.  I am still working on the quilts, but the sheets match the room great! (My daughter picked the fabric.)

Now, I just need to decide whether to paint the door and closet doors white, light gray (like the walls), or dark gray (like the trim). What do you think?

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Sew Can Do, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, Carolyn's Homework, The Winthrop Chronicles, Handmade Tuesdays,Your Whims Wednesday,  Weekly Homemaking Party,Create It Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Wildly Original, Thriving on Thursday, Grace at Home, The 36th Party, Freedom Fridays, Feathered Nest Friday, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Craft Frenzy Friday, Think Pink Sunday, and Threading Your Way

You can see more of the collage wall (with free printables) HERE:

Pink Lemonade First Birthday

My last baby is one year old. 

Yeah, I am tearing up a little just typing that.

Anywho... let's move on now. Since it was our last (sniff, sniff) first birthday I went all out! I have always wanted to do a pink lemonade theme and these silly kids keep going and getting their own opinions about things. This was probably my last chance.

We don't usually go "all out" for birthdays. Just our family and some cake, ice cream, and snacks. A pack of balloons and a little crepe paper if I feel ambitious. This time I put a little extra effort into the decorations, but only because they will be used in her nursery, too. We have parties in our sunroom since it is a large, open area. We actually set up picnic tables outside this time, but I kept the food inside. I just hung some pink balloons and yellow crepe paper (the other kids insist on this) and put some silk daisy bunches that I got on clearance at Joann's and Michaels in some clear vases.

On the windowsill I arranged some pink and yellow items like her first dress (yellow) and her first hat (pink).

I also mod podged some frames I already had and printed out THIS free printable from Daisy Cottage Designs.

I painted some wooden signs, too, just 'cause I am on a sign kick for my etsy shop and felt like it.

Yeah, I am totally redoing that one...

Oh, and each month I have been taking her picture in a washbasket, so I clipped those on the wash line that already hangs out in my sunroom.

For the food I found lemon and strawberry cake mix at the store so I did a batch of each in cupcakes. Of course, I added sprinkles. Gotta' have sprinkles! 

Of course, there was ice cream, pink lemonade, regular lemonade, and other goodies. I also made striped jello in lemon and strawberry.

The most labor intensive thing I did for Hannah's birthday party was to make her a romper. I have wanted to make her one for awhile now and this was a good reason. I got the fabric at Joann's and I actually bought a pdf pattern. I am not going to source the pattern because I was not very happy with it and do not think that it was worth the money. The final product was still pretty cute, though!

I think it is too big, so maybe she will get to wear it some early next summer. The ruffles should be higher, too. Well, I learned some things anyway...

Here it is compared to the very first thing I sewed for her. 

Oh, it is so tiny!!!

Excuse me. I am gonna go cry and eat some more of the leftover ice cream now.

 Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Sew Can Do, Motivate Me Monday, Anything Goes Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, Carolyn's Homework, The Winthrop Chronicles, Handmade Tuesdays,Inspire Me Wednesday, We Did It Wednesday, Adorned From Above, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Not Just a Housewife, Weekly Homemaking Party,Create It Thursday, The 36th Party, Friday Favs Party, Saturday Sewing, Think Pink Sunday, and Threading Your Way.