Rustic Chicken Wire Photo Display

I think my 17yo son inherited some of my crafty genes. When I took him school shopping he asked to go to craft stores to get inspiration for his girlfriend's birthday gift. I didn't mind. ;) They are renovating her bedroom, so he wanted to make something for her new room. He combined inspiration from a few different pieces that we saw, made a small tray for a practice run, then built the final product.

He chose the paint colors (the aqua will match her decor) and did everything by himself. The back of the display is made of plaster lath so it has a rough texture that looks really rustic when painted.

His sisters also wanted to make something for her birthday. They insisted that I was not allowed to help them, but somehow blamed me when things didn't work. (You can't hot glue shells to wet sand!) On the third attempt, after much fighting and drama, they finally succeeded.

Hopefully she likes to decorate with pictures. :)

Mod Podge Toy Doghouse

My parents have a great tradition with the grandchildren. When they reach a certain age, they are treated to a birthday dinner out/shopping spree/sleepover. My kids really enjoy it. They love having some one on one time with them and getting a break from their siblings! Last year, my dad helped my 9yo build a toy doghouse for some stuffed animals she chose on her shopping spree. She brought it home to have me help her decorate it. We finally got around to it a year later. I am going to let her tell you about it!

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Hi! I'm Lydia. I have 2 stuffed dogs named Sky and Rose. My Pappy and I built a doghouse for my dogs.

 

Then, my mom helped me decorate the doghouse and it was looking pretty good! First, I decorated the roof. We punched circles out of scrapbook paper. Then, we used Mod Podge to glue them on the roof.

 

Some of them stuck out over the edge so we had to sand them off.

 

Next, I painted the outside of the house red and the inside aqua. Then, we cut out windows, flowers, and butterflies from the leftover paper. We used Mod Podge to put them on, too.

 

Last, Mom painted grass, stems, and leaves on the sides of the house.

My doghouse turned out beautiful!

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Thank you, Lydia! The before and after is pretty impressive. I was glad that we could work together on this. It is sometimes hard for me to let go of my perfectionism and let the kids have control of the craft projects. She did a great job!

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Washi Tape Organization

My daughter has decided that she hates blogging today, so I am going to finish the post for her. It is all about getting organized with washi tape.

Washi tape can help to get things organized in a fun, cute way. My mom made her own tabs in journals to create sections by folding a little washi tape on the edge of the page.

My mom also uses washi tape in her planner, and I use it on my calendar to mark important dates.

My sisters and I also used washi tape to mark the phone/tablet chargers so that we know whose is whose. Charger theft is a very serious crime in our house.

I have my own little "classroom" and the freezer door is the dry erase board. Many real teachers also use washi tape to create sections on blackboards or dry erase boards.

I also made a bunch of washi tape clothespin magnets. If you have washi tape that is about the same size as the clothespins it doesn't get any easier than this! Just put a strip of washi tape on the front and an adhesive magnet or two on the back.

I also made these organizers out of one of my shotgun shell boxes. The animal print is actually duct tape, though.

Thanks for taking your time to read this post!

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You can see all of the Washi Week 2017 posts HERE.

Washi Tape Fun

(Washi Week 2017 is a blog series by Halley, my 13yo daughter.) Hello there! Welcome to day three of washi week, and today's topic, washi tape fun!  I apologize that this is a day late a storm knocked out our internet:( There are so many fun things to do with washi tape. It doesn't have to serve a purpose. As long as it's cute, it is worth making!

These are American Girl doll-sized folders and textbooks. The washi tape not only holds them together, but it makes them cuter, too!

A better view of the insides...

For Operation Christmas Child last year we made play scenes out of Altoid tins. The washi tape just made the outside cuter. You can read more about them HERE.

Here are some scrap-booked picture frames that only need a little strip of washi tape make them look cute. Tapes with phrases on them are my favorite to use for things like this. (See more frames HERE.)

The star box below was taken from my mom and washi taped with a set of washi tape I had bought.

As you can see, my sisters ruined it by drawing all over the top of it.

There are so many different thing to do with washi tape, these are just a few. So here is a list of some more ideas I have tried:

• Washi tape popsicle stick bracelets
• Washi tape covered staplers
• Washi tape on pencil sharpeners
• Hanging things (walls, lockers, etc.)
• Sealing notes
• Covering books

There are plenty more, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

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Thanks for reading my post, I hope you liked it. Be sure to stay tuned for tomorrow and if you haven't already, please read the previous posts from this week. You can find them all HERE: