DIY LEGO Planter Project – fun to make with kids!

July 19, 2016 | Posted by Chelsey

I really love watching my oldest daughter grow up and turn into a human. She has her own opinions (that she shares with us A LOT) and her creativity grows everyday! Sometimes I just sit back and look at her and think, “How did she come up with that?” Anything related to creativity and art she is into, and that makes it so fun for me because I’m the also into those things. So, when I was sent a box of LEGO® Classic and challenged to use “out of the box thinking”, I knew we could do this. The Upright Citizens Brigade teamed up with LEGO to encourage kids, parents and families to “don’t think” and let your creative juices flow.

I opened up our box of bricks and told my daughter to just start building a tower and a creative idea would come to her eventually. This was a “warm up exercise” tip the Upright Citizens Brigade gave to get the creative juices flowing, and it worked! The tower building lead to her deconstructing the tower and organizing the bricks by color in a muffin tin. She was frustrated that she couldn’t find the exact color she wanted and this was her solution (she loves organization).

Once all of her bricks were organized by color, she was ready to go. Another tip the Upright Citizens Brigade gave was to “Build your world”. I told my kiddo to look around the house and see if there was anything in the home she might want to build. It didn’t take long for her to tell me she just had to build a planter. She’s recently been very into growing plants (she spent her allowance on this Venus Flytrap a couple months ago) and she thought it would be fun to make her own planter with these bricks! Don’t worry, we didn’t plant the succulents directly into the LEGO planters. They are just dropped in so we can play with the LEGO bricks again later.

SO, that big long story brings us to today’s DIY that is brought to you by, my daughter.

DIY LEGO Planter Project

Supplies needed:

LEGO Classic bricks
Small planters (we used baby food jars)
Dirt
Succulent plants

Directions:

STEP 1: Separate the LEGO colors in a muffin tin. This will help you pick out the colors easily while you build!

STEP 2: Measure the small planters you’ll be planting the succulents in. This will give you an idea for how big of a hole you need for the LEGO planter.

STEP 3: Begin to add the bricks around the edge of the planter and leave enough space to fit the planter into the hole.

STEP 4: Drop your planted plant into the LEGO planter, and you’re done! When you’re ready to play with these bricks again you can just take the plant out and tear apart the LEGO planter.

To get a better idea of how we built our planters, check out this video we made!

If you need a good laugh, you can also check out this funny 60 second video of the Upright Citizen Brigade building with LEGO Classic bricks.

LEGO Classic gives builders a “no instructions necessary” building experience providing inspiration that highlights the possibilities of open-ended building to inspire endless play. Ten sets, ranging from $16.99 to $59.99, make the perfect solution for gift-givers or for families looking to add to an existing LEGO collection or inspire their child to try building.

What will you build?

– Chelsey

P.S. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Tags: clever girls

Categories: Crafts and DIYs for the Kids, diy

Coat Rack Makeover for $15!

July 12, 2016 | Posted by Chelsey

Coat Rack Makeover for $15!

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m on a mission to makeover our front entry. I’ve already added some artwork and a cupboard shoe rack, but I still have more work to do. On my front entryway makeover to do list: paint the door, paint the walls, tear out the ugly pink tile (it’s the worst and was installed OVER hardwood flooring), and add a coat rack. Removing the tile and painting the walls and door will have to wait for a while, but I can add a coat rack. We don’t have much room in the entry and I needed a coat rack that can fit on the wall right behind the door. I didn’t want to spend too much on the coat rack and that left me with some plain and boring racks to choose from. Eventually I found this little inexpensive plain white wall coat rack and decided to make it over! I have a TON of spray paint, so it was right in my budget.

I think the coat rack turned out great, so I shared the whole DIY on the Better Homes and Gardens blog. Did you notice two of the hooks are yellow and the rest are gold? I’m hoping those two little yellow hooks will help remind my 6-year-old to hang up her coats… instead of throwing them on the ground EVERY time she comes in the house. Every time.

Supplies needed for this coat rack makeover:

inexpensive wall coat rack (I found this one on Amazon and love it)
primer spray paint
spray paint colors (I went with yellow and gold)
clear acrylic spray

To check out the full DIY, head on over to the Better Homes and Gardens blog!

Final cost: $15 for the coat rack. I already owned all the other supplies to create this project.

I want to see what you’re crafting! You can share a link to what you’ve made in the comments below, or tag me on Instagram with a photo (my user name is @thepapermama).

– Chelsey

P.S. I am a paid contributor for the Better Homes and Gardens blog.

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Tags: paint

Categories: BHG, diy, For The Home, paper mama house

Pretty Gemstone Soap DIY!

July 1, 2016 | Posted by Chelsey

DIY Gemstone Soap!

One of my favorite trends right now: gemstone everything! People are crafting anything they can find into these sparkly creations. So, a couple weeks ago I picked up a gem soap making kit from Michaels and I thought it might be a fun project for my daughter and I to work on together. The kit worked fine, but the soap wasn’t exactly what we were hoping to get. It was hard to get the color to really swirl throughout the soap. We wanted more swirls! Ha! We ended up heading BACK to Michaels and picked up a whole bunch of soap making supplies to try again, our way.

Our DIY Gemstone Soaps turned out so cute! It was definitely a lot more work to create these cuties without a kit, but worth it in the end. My daughter helped with most of it (I did all of the soap melting since that was too hot) and she’s excited to give these away as surprise gifts to her friends. What do you think? Cute?

Supplies:

Clear glycerin soap
Goats milk soap
Soap coloring
fragrance (I used peppermint)
Microwave safe dish or measuring cup
Large plastic cups
Small plastic cups
Knife

Directions:

Step 1: We’ll start the whole process by coloring our soap! Set out about 6 of the small plastic cups. Chop up about 6 one inch cubes of the clear glycerin soap and place them in your microwave safe dish (I like using a measuring cup because it’s easier to pour the soap). Follow the melting directions for the soap. When it’s melted pour the soap into the small cups. While the soap is still in liquid form, add the soap coloring to each cup. The more color you add, the darker the soap will get. I’d suggest creating one dark, one medium, and one light color for the glycerin soap. Let the soap cool for at least 30 minutes.

Repeat this process with the goats milk soap and the same color.

Step 2: When the soaps have cooled pop them out of the small plastic cups. Chop them up and mix together.

Step 4: Drop the chopped up soaps into a large plastic cup and a small cup (this is so you can get a couple different sizes of soap).

Step 5: Chop up about 5 one inch cubes of the clear glycerin, add to the microwave safe dish, and melt. Pour the melted glycerin into the cups with the chopped up soap. This will start to melt your colored soap! Let this cool for at least an hour. Note: if you want the soap to melt together just a little bit more, pop the cup in the microwave for a very short amount of time. If it goes too long the cup will melt and you will have a mess. Don’t do that.

Step 6: Pop the soaps out of the plastic cups. You might need scissors to cut the large plastic cup. CAREFULLY use a knife to cut the soap. Just randomly cut edges into the soap.

When you’re done cutting the edges, your soap should look something like this:

Repeat all those steps again for each different color!

Be sure to check out all of the other Michaels Makers DIY trend ideas on the Michaels blog.

An InLinkz Link-up

– Chelsey

P.S. I was provided with a Michaels gift card to create this post for you. From tie-dyeing to lettering to tassels, pom poms and even unicorns, Michaels has everything you need for the latest and hottest DIY trends!

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Categories: diy, For The Home

Summer Fun Storage Bucket

June 30, 2016 | Posted by Chelsey

Summer Fun Storage Bucket

In our back room you’ll find a cardboard box full of little summer toys. We have open storage in our back room, so I would prefer to store stuff in cute storage (cardboard boxes weren’t cutting it in the cute storage category). That is why I created this Summer Fun Storage Bucket to hold the jump ropes, chalk, bubbles, shovels, and all the other tiny things that my daughter plays with outside. I’m very happy with the final result and I’m already planning to make a “Hello, Winter” bucket to store gloves, ear muffs, and other small winter items.

This summer bucket would also make a very adorable gift for any kiddo. We have a couple of kid birthday parties to head to this summer, and I think this would make the perfect gift with all the goodies inside.

Supplies:

Photo Paper
Empty paint bucket (you can find them at Lowes)
Spray paint (color is your choice)
Clear acrylic spray paint
Hot glue
⅛” thick Latigo Lace leather strip
Free Hello Summer Printable
Goodies to put in your summer bucket (jump rope, chalk, shovel, bubbles, and other summer fun items)

Directions:

STEP 1: Carefully pop out the handle from the paint bucket. Clean any dirt or grease off of the outside of the paint bucket.

STEP 2: In a well ventilated space (preferably outdoors) and wearing a mask, spray the paint onto the the outside of the bucket (following the paint can directions). Let the paint dry for 24 hours before handling.

STEP 3: Print out the Hello Summer Printable out onto the HP Photo Paper. Cut one of the ovals out. When the paint can is completely dry, use the hot glue to adhere the cut out Hello Summer oval onto the front of the bucket. Optional: If you’re worried about the Hello Summer printout getting wet, this would be the time you apply a couple of layers of the acrylic sealer spray to your bucket and Hello Summer image. This will protect it from water.

STEP 4: Grab the leather strip and the bucket handle. Warm up the hot glue gun.

A. Put a tiny dot of hot glue at the end of the leather strip and glue it to the handle. Start wrapping the leather around the handle, adding dots of glue to the leather every couple of leather wraps.

B. Continue wrapping and glueing the leather onto the handle until it’s about 1 – 2 inches from each end. Note: I had two different colors of leather, so I chose to put the darker leather at the ends.

C. Carefully pop the bucket handle back into place.

Add all of your summer fun toys to the bucket and you’re done!

– Chelsey

P.S. I am a paid contributor for the HP Create site.

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Tags: printable, summer

Categories: Crafts and DIYs for the Kids, diy, HP

DIY Meme Cakes – With Free Printables!

June 2, 2016 | Posted by Chelsey

I love a good meme. They are just so funny and a great way to brighten up someone’s day with a good laugh. I don’t know when meme’s really started to appear on the internets, but I do remember the first one I noticed and shared. It was a fuzzy little kitty with it’s mouth open and it said, “I can has cheezburger?” I shared that thing on MySpace. Yup, MySpace. And that was the start of my love for meme’s. Since that time I have shared hundreds, if not more, of meme’s around the Internet and with friends.

To celebrate my love for meme’s, and the start of party time this summer, I created these DIY Meme Cakes! I stumbled across some edible paper at Michaels and this idea popped up in my head, what if I covered cakes in some of my favorite meme quotes? There are so many good meme’s out there and they work perfect on a cake. My black and white cake is covered in random food meme quotes… Well, “This my piece” isn’t really a quote, it just seemed appropriate since I want to eat that whole cake and not share. The little sprinkle cake is covered in Doge meme’s (check out the dog below). It was a little too small to add too much, but I love it. Want to make your own DIY Meme Cakes?

Supplies needed:

Cake
Edible paper (I couldn’t find a link on the Michaels website, but I found them in the store: Wilton Edible Paper Sugar Sheets)
Washed and clean scissors
Printed meme’s in bold font (black and white cake printable, and sprinkle cake printable)
Optional: frosting to use as glue
Optional: misting spray bottle

Directions:

Step 1: Print out your meme’s in bold font. You can use my free printables (black and white cake printable, and sprinkle cake printable), or make your own using a bold font in a word document.

Tip: Make sure the words will fit on the cake before you move on to the next step.

Step 2: Peel and cut out a piece of edible paper. Cut out the letters, but not along the edge. Place the cut out letter onto the matte side of edible paper and cut along the letter with your scissors.

Note: The shiny side of the edible paper will stick to the cake.

Step 3: When your letters are all cut out, let’s start adding them to the cake! The frosting needs to be soft or sticky to work. I also recommend smooth frosting. If the frosting has hardened or dried, you can spritz a light layer of water onto the cake before you add the letters. That will help them stick.

If the letters aren’t sticking (they didn’t stick to my sprinkle cake on their own), use some frosting as glue to attach! It works.

Note: The coloring in the edible paper will start to drip if you put too much water on the cake. If this happens, use a little tissue to soak up the drip. Another note, this paper will harden the longer it’s exposed to the air. Don’t leave them out for too long before applying to your cake.

Okay! You’re done! If you make these cakes, I want to see them. Please. Tag me in a photo on Facebook or Instagram!

FYI: these amazing and pretty cakes were not made by me, because if the were they would be lopsided and sad. Ha! I picked them up from one of my favorite sweet spots in Portland, The Cakery. Seriously check them out.

Doge and I Can Has Cheezburger

Be sure to check out all of the other Michaels Makers DIY summer party ideas on the Michaels blog.

An InLinkz Link-up

– Chelsey
P.S. I was provided with a Michaels gift card to create this post for you. All opinions are my own. From paper crafts, party goods and baking supplies to new outdoor lighting, glass and floral, Michaels is your DIY destination for all of your summer celebrations.

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Tags: michaels, party, printable

Categories: diy, food, Holiday - St. Patricks Day, 4th of July, and Other Parties!, Sweets

Decluttering and Organizing Your Home with Free Printable Sorting Signs

June 1, 2016 | Posted by Chelsey

Trend: Decluttering and Organizing Your Home with Free Printable Sorting Signs

Have you done any Spring cleaning? Will you be having any garage sales this Summer? I know just the thought of organizing the whole home sounds exhausting, but decluttering doesn’t really have to be stressful. I like to start the process with a plan and I try not to worry about finishing it all at once! Where do you begin? I like to start with a room that we use most often and then I set up a little organizing station so I can easily organize the stuff I’m going through while I’m cleaning. I always have a trash bag, donate box, consignment box, and a keep box. I also like to tackle one room at a time. If I don’t have much time I’ll just work on one section of a room, like the closet. I shared some more tips and free printables to help you on this organizing journey on the Better Homes and Gardens blog.

Head on over to the Better Homes and Gardens blog to check out the full post (with sorting tips) and to download my free printable sorting signs! I also made some Sale Arrows for anyone that’s planning to have a garage sale.

I want to see what you’re crafting! You can share a link to what you’ve made in the comments below, or tag me on Instagram with a photo (my user name is @thepapermama).

– Chelsey

P.S. I am a paid contributor for the Better Homes and Gardens blog!

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Tags: organization, printable

Categories: BHG, diy, Free Printables and Downloads

DIY Cat Food Table

May 26, 2016 | Posted by Chelsey

We have this little dog, Mr. Angus. His number 1 goal in his little Chihuahua life is to find food. Whenever he’s not sleeping, already eating, or asking us for food… He’s searching for food. He will actually eat until he can barely walk and he’s in pain. I’ve seen it. He once found his way to a cat food bowl that was larger than him and I found him whimpering by the bowl, on his side with a bulging belly. He survived that, but it’s quite the challenge to keep him from eating the cat’s food. We have two cats that are getting up there in age (one has arthritis), so I needed some sort of table to keep the food away from Angus that wasn’t too high for the kitties to jump up on. I also wanted the table to fit nicely into our small home.

I searched online and I couldn’t find anything that would work for us, so I decided we had to make it ourselves. We made a DIY Cat Food Table and it’s amazing! We made this in the Fall and it works great for the cats and us, plus it keeps our dog away from the grub. Good thing our dog can’t really jump.

It’s very simple to make. We bought all of our supplies from Home Depot (minus the metal cat dish). You’ll need the following to make this for your home:

A birch plywood board cut into: a matching top and bottom size, matching left and right end size, and a board to cover the back (or leave the back open)
Wood screws
Four legs + leg attachment parts
A metal cat dish (needs to have a lip to work for this project)
Paint

Directions:

Note: I’m not sharing measurements for this project because I think everyone will need a different size, depending on your home and pet needs.

Cut your boards to size. Measure the diameter of the dish, minus the lip (the lip will need to catch on the hole you cut). Cut the hole in the top board near one of the edges.
Use wood screws to put the piece together.
Paint the pieces and let it dry completely.
You’re done! We have this little cat table in our laundry room. We ended up securing it to the wall since one of our cats is 20 pounds…. But it works great!

– Chelsey

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Tags: cat

Categories: diy, For The Home, paper mama house