Art in the Park (with Jell-O)

Finished Project!

Our friend Natalie hosted an amazing "Art in the Park" activity for all our friends and kids. She brought all the supplies to make a great smelling piece of art using Jell-O and glue.

Supplies Needed:

1. Fruit Bowl (click to download)
2. Jell-O in these flavors: Strawberry, Pineapple, Grape, Raspberry, Lime, Lemon, Orange, Cherry & Banana
3. Elmers Glue (or generic brand)
4. Paintbrush for each child
5. Paper cups or other similar item to hold each flavor of Jell-O
6. Paper cup or other similar item to hold the glue

Directions:

1. Print out your Fruit Bowl (one for each child) and have them color the bowl any color they want.
2. Color the stems & leaves of the fruit green.
3. Pour some glue in a paper cup
4. Pour each flavor of Jell-O in it's own paper cup (NOT with the glue and don't mix the flavors). Label your cups! Many of the Jell-O's are the same color, but not the same scent.
5. Take your paintbrush and dip it in the glue cup.
6. Paint ONE fruit at a time (for the orange you can paint both). After the entire fruit is covered with glue, pour the matching scent of Jell-O onto your fruit. Pour any excess back into the cup.
7. Repeat with each fruit until it's covered.
8. Smell and enjoy!

Piano Bag

New Piano Bag

Using the HP Inkjet Transfer Paper, I made a Piano Bag for Hannah. For almost a year she's been using a plain bag and making a personalized bag for her has been on my list for that long as well. I bought this clip art from iStock Photo. I searched Treble Clef and there were so many to pick from! The only problem was, all the ones we wanted were about $8.00 to $14.00 each!! We finally found this one for $2.00, which was something I could live with.

There were free ones on the Internet, but not many that were large enough to give a nice clear, clean image of this size. Here are a couple others that we considered.

• ETC - Fairy Holding a Music Banner
• EDU Pics - Basic Treble Clef

One thing I had to make sure is to mirror image Hannah's name BEFORE printing it onto the Transfer Paper. This way, when you iron your image down, the name is viewed correctly.

Next time I'm going to try using SuperSoft Inkjet Transfer Paper. I heard this is easier to work with and lasts longer. The HP wasn't hard... it's just that with the amount of heat they said to use, it discolored the bag slightly. It does show up in the picture, but thankfully, it's harder to see in "real life". I have read reviews saying SuperSoft lasts a lot longer in the wash than the HP brand. Since I'm not planning to wash this bag, the HP brand will work fine.

Just a note, you can use Transfer Papers for color designs. I just didn't have any color ink for my printer.

Library Bag

Our Bookshelf (at home)

With summer here, we needed a bag for carrying all our books home from our weekly trips to the library. I accidentally spilt hot chocolate all over one of my reusable grocery bags and had to wash it... well, it shrunk (badly!). As you can see it's at least 2 inches shorter than a non-washed bag.

And the cute recycle arrows didn't look too hot either. I decided this was the bag to use for our reading bag.

I removed all the arrows and used HP Transfer Paper to iron a design onto my bag. Next time I'm going to try using SuperSoft Inkjet Transfer Paper. I heard this brand is easier to work. I have read reviews saying SuperSoft lasts longer in the wash than the HP brand. Since I'm not planning to wash this bag (again), the HP brand will work fine.

I searched the Internet for "reading" clip art and found a design that Hannah and I both loved. It's from Karen's Whimsy and only cost .99

I love how it turned out!

There were lots of clip art on the Internet, but not a lot that were big enough to make a crisp, clean 8x10 page. Here's some other artwork that we liked and would work great as a large transfer:

• Karen's Whimsy - More Fairies
• Fith Fath - Girl Reading under a Tree
• WP Clipart - Girl Reading by a Window
• Clipart ETC - Girl Reading at Desk
• Clipart ETC - Girl Reading Large Book
• Elizabeth Dulemba - Reading Fairy

Just a note, you can use Transfer Papers for color designs. I just didn't have any color ink for my printer.

Saturday Pajamas

New Pajamas

A few Saturdays ago, I made pajamas for all the kids. They picked out their own fabric and their own patterns. Hannah picked out green flannel and her pattern is Simplicity 4767. I also included a cute PS I LOVE YOU tag in the back neckline for Hannah.

The boys picked out some Japanese print fabric with McCall's 4678 as their pattern. I was under strict orders that no pictures be taken with them in pajamas.
I knew they wouldn't be happy with the "I Love You" tag, so I made my own. I cut out one of the square kanji's, sewed it and turned it right side out and sewed it in the back waistband. I think it's perfect for them.
Of course, we couldn't leave Twyla out! She is wearing the same green butterfly flannel as Hannah in Simplicity 3883 (with modifications for her size).

I think Hannah's happy with the outcome!

Tie Dye - A list of Video Tutorials

Tie Dye Friends

Our first time creating Tie Dye t-shirts was a lot of fun. We watched several different tutorials from You Tube, and since I have no expertise in this area, I will just list the tutorials we used. From left to right, they are...

1. Sunburst

2. Heart - You really can't see the heart because Tywla (Hannah's kitty) is covering up her shirt. Next time we do this, I'll get a better picture.

3. Bullseye

4. Spider Design - This one didn't come out exactly like the video, but considering it was our first time, I thought we did pretty good.

We used Tulips One-Step Tie Dye Kit and it was very easy to use. A couple other videos are Swirl & Ombre Techniques. The Ombre technique is on my list for our next Tie Dye session.

Crayon Monograms (with Tutorial)

**Update**
(as of 12/8/13)

I am NOW able to make custom templates!
(see instructions at end of tutorial)
However, I am in college full time, so during finals and midterm weeks, I will NOT be making any, but I will do them when midterms/finals are over, so please allow enough time for me to get them done.  Thanks for understanding!

Finished Project!

I found this cute project on Testosterone Times Three and knew I had to make it for my daughter's teachers.
I found some Shadowbox Frames at Walmart for about $8.00 each.

The 8x8 size was perfect.

Using Microsoft Word I made a template and printed it out for each teacher. 

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At the end of the tutorial I have included a link to download each specific letter (A-Z) from Google Documents. You MUST download the files to view the large monogram and fonts correctly (The fonts do NOT look right UNTIL they are downloaded). The fonts used are Batang (for the initial) and Lucinda Handwriting (for the script name).

I have also started a Flickr group.  For those of you who make the Crayon Monograms, I would *LOVE* it if you would post your picture in the group.  It's also my first group on Flickr, so let me know if you are having any problems with it.

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I had lots of crayons saved from the start of the school year (bought at .25 each) and dumped those out to use.
I found that if I poked a hole in the crayon with my exacto knife, that the crayon broke cleanly

and right where I wanted it to.

I printed out a 'test' sheet on plain copy paper and then lined up my crayons the way I wanted, before gluing anything.
Then I printed out my 'good' copy on a thick ivory cardstock.

I filled in my monogram letter with tacky glue and started transferring the crayons. I put tacky glue on some of the crayons directly. I didn't use a hot glue gun, because I always seem to get the "spiderweb" effect. Tacky glue also has a longer drying time, which is a benefit with this project in case you need to move a few crayons around.

I also made sure to break my crayons in long enough lengths so they covered my printed monogram.

I let them dry overnight and then put them in the frame.

I think they turned out perfect!

Hannah wrote a note to each teacher, which I laminated and put on the back of each frame.

The best part was that the teachers LOVED them!

Here is a new picture from Dawn who made an 'S'

Many have asked how to create the 'S' since it's so curvy!

I hope this helps :)

Here are the downloads from A-Z.  These are all made to fit the 8x8 Shadowbox frame from Walmart.

Try the download FIRST, if you can't get it to work or are not computer savvy, then leave a comment WITH your email address, template letter and name OR you can email me at lisainnevada@gmail(dot)com with the same information and I will make the template.

• Mrs. A
• Mrs. B
• Mrs. C
• Mrs. D
• Mrs. E
• Mrs. F
• Mrs. G
• Mrs. H
• Mrs. I
• Mrs. J
• Mrs. K
• Mrs. L
• Mrs. M
• Mrs. N
• Mrs. O
• Mrs. P
• Mrs. Q
• Mrs. R
• Mrs. S
• Mrs. T
• Mrs. U
• Mrs. V
• Mrs. W
• Mrs. X
• Mrs. Y
• Mrs. Z

A Chinese Birthday!

The Birthday Girl!

Hannah decided that she wanted her 5th birthday to be a "Chinese" birthday, which somehow turned into a Kai-lan themed birthday. We used this Kai-Lan Chinese Lantern Template for her birthday invitations. We added a small paper on the bottom with her birthday party specifics and printed them using the font "Bonzai". We asked the guests to bring their invitations to the party to hang as decorations. Which looked great blowing in the (very strong) wind!

Here's the pile to be (hand) delivered!

Our craft was growing wheat grass with a Kai-lan printable to tape on the front. Somehow ours didn't make it home, but that's ok, since we grew wheat grass for Easter.