Scrapbook Paper Collage Canvas Art ~ Zebra & Elephant

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My daughter and I made more collage canvas art pieces featuring jungle animals. (You can see the hippo and tiger that we made before HERE.)

First, we did a purple elephant on an aqua background.

Then, she changed her mind and did a zebra on a pink background. The ribbon on the edges has polka dots.

One thing we learned is that using larger pieces for the background reduces the bubbles. 
All it takes is a canvas, some mod podge, bits of scrapbook paper, ribbon, and a little paint for the details. These are pretty easy to make and it is definitely a project worth trying with the kids! 
 Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Mustache Pillow and Sparkly Pink Pillows

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More pillows! That seemed to be the thing this year. I had an idea to make a huge mustache pillow for my daughter. I had some gray dot minky that I hadn't used for what I originally intended- an elephant taggy blanket- so I used it for this project instead. It goes perfectly with the gray walls and trim in their bedroom!

The back is a fun arrow print in coordintating colors that I knew my daughter would like. I figured cotton on the back would make it a little sturdier. I wish I had used a better quality cotton, though, because it ripped when I was stuffing it and I had to fix that. :/

The other pillows I made are for my daughter who LOVES all things pink and sparkly! 90% of her Christmas wish list was sparkly, which she pointed out with an asterisk and side note. :) One pillow is made from a performance lycra fabric- it was surprisingly easy to sew! The other is a pink sparkly satin.

I used a walking foot to sew these and made envelope closures for the back. They really only took a few minutes to make.

Both gifts were very much appreciated. I thought it was nice to make something fun and frivolous instead of something practical. You are only a little girl once!
There is a funny story to go with the pink pillows...
When I got the fabric, I was Christmas shopping with my husband and took him along to Joann's... again. He was a good sport and I left him at the cutting counter with the cutting instructions while I went to go look for something else. Well, he was not too thrilled to be left alone to get sparkly pink fabric cut. I think that makes him a good dad to his many little girls. :) He then helped me search several mall stores for a reindeer Beanie Boo. I don't care what it looked like- that is proof of a real man, right there. :)

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Valentine's Day Home Decor

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Please don't think I am actually early for something.

These are actually pics of my Valentine's Day decor from last year. We did some renovating last year shortly after I took these pictures and I haven't found a new spot to decorate yet.

I love my old barn window frame and I always have it decorated with some of my favorite black and white photographs of each of the kids. They have been hanging around for a few years now and are starting to curl up.  I just used red baker's twine and mini clothespins to hang them.

I made these LOVE blocks with some scrapbook paper and trims mod podged onto 2 x 4 scraps.

I made the tray, too. It is a metal serving tray from Dollar Tree with aqua paint on the edges and chalkboard paint in the center. The paint chips easily, so if you try this, be careful!

Last, the girls and I made this cute wreath for the front door. Red glitter paint was used to freezer paper stencil hearts onto burlap. I cut them into triangles and used jute to hang them across a grapevine wreath I already had. 

I love the pops of color these decorations add to the cold, winter months. The $1 tray was my only expense, too. I need to figure out where I am decorating this year because it has been so dreary and I could definitely use something cheerful around the house! 

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

Scrapbook Paper Collage Canvas Art ~ Hippo and Tiger

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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...

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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!
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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...

Ana White Farmhouse Twin Beds

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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...

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