DIY Chalk Board

It's Back-to-School time...I absolutely love this time of year!  Even when I was in school it was fun, mostly because I love buying school supplies.  Anyway..I thought it would be fun to post this chalk board we made a while back.  My kids have absolutely loved this thing for playing school, my oldest pretends to be the teacher and my two younger kids have learned a lot from her.  I use it when we do preschool with my three and five year old, it makes it fun and a little bit more official.

 I found this cute little bucket in Target's dollar bins...when I saw it I knew it had to be mine but I didn't know why.  It works perfectly for keeping the chalk and eraser...see I really did need it ;)

I think the teacher has been having trouble with a certain boy in her class...he tends to be very wiggly and likes to bring food to class..like that huge bag of chips he's holding.

It ties in nicely with our Airplane Hanger we made last year for hanging artwork on.

These little airplanes go with the airplane hanger I just mentioned, they are a great project for preschoolers.  You can find the tutorial here.

Written Tutorial

Sorry if you are a visual learner but I didn't take any pictures while we were making this, but it is quite simple.

We used an old piece of scrap bead board that was about the right size (1/4" MDF board).  Paint it with chalkboard spray paint, I got mine at home depot. We also had some scrap trim leftover from another project and cut our pieces with straight cuts. Sand any rough edges then glue down to your chalkboard piece with construction adhesive.

Secure with staples from the back (make sure they are short enough to not go through to other side).

I painted my trim pieces afterwards but you could easily do it before, whatever works for you.  I used an acrylic craft paint and did a couple of coats.

Super cheap and easy...or free if you hoard scrap wood like we do!

Patriotic Ruffled Flag Tee Shirt

 It's a little bit late for a Fourth of July tee shirt tutorial but I figure you can where a patriotic shirt all year long so I am posting anyway.  I have been seeing some adorable flag shirts around and I love the idea of a homemade shirt...ok obviously I love the idea of homemade anything! 

 Look at all that ruffly goodness...ahhh.

She is happy with it and feels extra special that I made it just for her!

 

I made these shirts just before we headed off for our family reunion camping trip for a few days and right before our friends came to stay the night with us so I was making shirts and cleaning my house and packing so it could be a little bit scatter brained...sorry!

First off we had a shirt from last year from Wal Mart...you know the ones with the year right underneath the flag so everyone knows how old it is..I don't know why they do that?  Anyway I made a heart template out of paper and placed it on my shirt then traced around the template with disappearing marker.

  Cut out your shape, you now have a really weird shirt.

 I had a bit of Pelon laying around, it is a stiff backing fabric you can use for all kinds of projects.  You can find it at most fabric stores.  Trace around your template on to the Pelon but make it about a 1/4" inch bigger than before.

I have been saving up old tee shirts for a while now and was excited to put them to use finally...I was beginning to look like a tee shirt hoarder.  Cut out one inch strips of red white and blue tee shirt fabric and gather, I have a tutorial for this here.

Now lay your gathered pieces across your heart shaped Pelon and pin them down.  Sew them down to the Pelon with matching thread.

Ok this is where I forgot to take a picture luckily Ashley from www.makeit-loveit.com had a similar project.  Pin your ruffle covered pelon to the back of the tee shirt now carefully sew around the edge...I went around twice for good measure.

 

That's it...enjoy your new ruffled flag shirt!

T-Shirt Refashion

 

We recentlly recieved some hand me downs from a neighbor...

I absolutely love hand -me- downs!  Some of the shirts were too long in the sleeves or too long in the body so I chopped the sleeves to the right length and had enough left over to add some embellishments. 

 

 

 

I added some ruffly flowers around the neckline

 

 

 

And some along the top edge of both pockets...I have never done this before and wondered what type of flower or ruffle to do...I would highly recommend these they are basically just circles tacked on...very easy.

 

 

Now to refashion the rest of them!

 

 

Cut a square fold in 1/4's and round the edge..you now have a circle.

 

 

 

Tack them down with needle and thread...like this.

I

 

I did three in the center and a couple smaller ones on either side.  Once you get them sewed down then you can kind of pull them apart and make them ruffle like you want.

 

 

 

Handle Bar Bag

Ya know those bags that new toys come in sometimes, the clear plastic ones that you don't know what to do with but they're too nice to just throw away?...well I have a simple solution.

We found this bike at D.I. a few years back for my oldest for only five bucks, it was still working great but needed a little make over so we added some new streamers and a bag to the front.  I added some straps and velcro to the bag so we could attach it to the handle bars...now my little girl can take all of her necessities on those long bike rides.  Who doesn't need a pony, rock cell phone and some shades?  Are you in need of a rock cell phone?...if so check them out here.

And if you're in need of some new streamers check out an old project chip bag streamers they are really easy and give an old bike some new life.  And good luck trying to find purple or pink chip bags...we have looked and looked and yellow was the best we could do.

The bag I saved happened to have handles that I cut off and used as straps for my new bike bag.  Just sew velcro to the top and bottom on opposite sides of each strap.  Then sew the straps onto your bag, I sewed a rectangle with an x in the middle for added strength.  If your bag doesn't have straps I'm sure some ribbon would do the trick.

Then strap your new bag on to the bike and you're set to go!

Floppy Sunhat Flop

We have been busy around here with all the fun that summertime brings....reunions, swimming, Oregon Coast, Bear Lake, baby blessing and trying to keep up with laundry and dishes in between. 

I did manage to make this sun hat for my little boy who apparently has an extra large head...can't find a sunhat that will fit the kid!

I am calling it the floppy sunhat flop because it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped....it's a little floppy and a lot puckery.  The fabric I used was a bit heavy and hard to work with, cotton would be a better choice.

He likes it and it does a great job of keeping the sun off so I'm happy!

He's a bit of a cheese!

Sooo since this didn't turn out as I had hoped...I was a little frustrated and gave up on the tutorial, I'm sure there are plenty of tutorials to be found on line if you're interested in making one.

Turn an old Tshirt into a summer hat

Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do with out.

(This is my best attempt at blurring out the laundry in the background!)

My husband was throwing away one of his old t shirts and I held onto it thinking I could make something out of it.  When I stumbled across this tutorial here, I knew I had to make one. It went really fast and I love how comfortable and light it is.