31 Pins: Day 9

Original pin:

I was looking through my pins and found this one.  I totally forgot I had pinned it and had not noticed it in my recent scroll-throughs.  It is fall, and I have an abundance of wax, so it was perfect. 

Elli and I went out searching for leaves around the yard this afternoon.

We found a few types; different colors. 

Then came time to wax them.  I had to process the wax first (click the link to view an earlier post on this topic).  Then I lightly coated each leaf in a layer of beeswax.

 The results:

I asked Elli to go find a stick we could tie them onto, and she kept coming back with tiny twigs. :)

Eventually, I had to go and help.  I found the perfect stick right at the edge of the brush.  I cut unbreakable thread at different lengths, and tied the leaves onto the stick.  We just happen to have "hook and loop tape" at the top and bottom of our door glass, so I tied some fabric bows across the stick and attached a few pieces of hook and loop tape to the fabric.  Perfect!

I am very happy with the final outcome.  Since they are dipped in wax, they are supposed to retain the fall colors.  We shall see if that is the case!

View from outside.

This was a fun, seasonal pin that got the kid(s) involved and used up materials I already had on hand.  

Difficulty rating: Moderate (using raw beeswax is interesting)

Expense rating: FREE for me :)

Check out the other days by clicking the blog title at the top of the page and scrolling down!

31 Pins: Day 6

I am cheating on this one a little... there is no original pin.

I am the original pinner!

My Great Aunt Mary Ann (my kids' "Really Great Aunt") informed me of a great clearance sale at the Family Dollar.  They had fun place mats for $0.75 and tons of other cheap stuff.  We racked our brains to try to think of something we could do with them.  And I came up with a tool belt for kids. :)

The results:

I folded the placemat lengthwise not quite in half (leaving a couple of inches at the top).  Then, I sewed 4 lines in the bottom part of the fold to make 5 pockets of different sizes.

For the belt, I found an old cloth belt from a pair of pants I was not using and sewed a big zig zag across the top of the tool belt.  It ties in the back.

I grabbed a few art supplies at Walmart and am giving this to my niece for her birthday tomorrow.  Shhhhh, don't tell!

Elli tried it on to make sure it works.  Definitely some growing room!

Expense rating: CHEAP

Difficulty rating: EASY (if you remember to make sure the sewing machine is threaded correctly. :P )

31 Pins: Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of 31 Pins in 31 Days!  This week is super busy with making gifts, getting ready for our next MOPS meeting, and of course real life (complete with sick child!).  I figured I would work in the things I NEED to get done into the repertoire of this blog focus.

SPOILER ALERT for any mom in our local MOPS chapter: We will be doing this on Saturday!

Original pin:  

This blogger created a very special gift for her readers... a 20-some page long list of conversation starters/questions for families (including images to paste on to your container of choice)!  I downloaded the PDF as soon as I found it and am using it for our craft at the meeting.  Click the image to head to her page.  There are something like 220 starters, so you can print as few or as many as you would like.

The results:

I ended up cutting out the starters and laminating them, then cutting them out of the lamination sleeve.  I used a half pint jar with a lid and ring.  I mod podged the image to the lid and then added more mod podge on top.  Immediately I screwed on the ring so it would stick to the glue.  My 3-year-old and I then hot glued some buttons around it to make it look prettier.  

I think this will be good for all ages, and is especially fun at dinner parties with friends and family! :)

Difficulty rating: EASY

Expense rating: CHEAP

Did you pin something that you have been dying to try?  If so, what??

Day 1