DIY Growth Chart

I've seen these wood growth charts all over pinterest and at baby expos, but I never like the colours of the ones you can purchase, and they wouldn't go with the wood/decor in our house, so I decided to make my own.

I bought a piece of 10" x 1" x 6' piece of knotty pine at our local hardware store. I stained it with some of the leftover stain that we had from when our house was built so that the colour wood match the other wood in our house. Once that dried I used a ruler, measuring tape, and silver sharpie to make all of the lines. I then printed out the numbers on my computer using a font I liked, traced over it onto the wood so that it would indent the wood and then coloured it in using my sharpie. I let the sharpie dry for a few days and then applied a coat of polyurethane (be careful which product you use or you may be starting over after this step like I had to the first time).

Once it was all done, Grant and I hung it where I wanted it and we plan to start marking Ben's growth yearly on his birthday. I have his measurement from his first birthday so I can add that one to it too!

Cozy Coupe Batmobile

I've seen this idea all over pinterest and knew I had to make one for Benjamin. This whole project was really cheap to create. I bought the cozy coupe at a garage sale and then just had to buy some black spray paint (I think one can was enough) and the batman decal (which I purchased on ebay at Doctor Decal).

Ben is still too little to use this by himself, but he sure loves sitting in it while we push him around!

Upcycled Tires

Ben is a huge climber so I thought I would make a fun project that he could climb. I decided to spray paint some tires in fun colours and stack them various ways every time that we pull them out for him. He loves to climb them and down the road, when he's older, I'm sure he'll love using them as an obstacle course somehow.

This was super easy to do. I went to a local tire shop and got different sized tires from their garbage pile, spray painted them with primer and then with the colour.

Personalized Hanger

A good friend of mine recently got married and seeing as I got her lingerie for her bridal shower, I wanted a nice way to present it. I saw these gorgeous personalized hangers that you could buy on etsy but they were ridiculously expensive once shipping was added on, so I thought I would try it out on my own!

To make it, I bought wooden hangers and drilled a hole on both sides of the hanger for the wire to sit it. I used 12 guage wire and sketched out a design on paper before trying to experiment with the wire. Once I had a design I liked, I copied it using mostly just my hands and needle-nose pliers to tighten up some of the loops. I tried doing her last name countless times, but I just couldn't get it to look good, so I opted just for "Mrs." Once the wire was arranged, I cut it down to size and super-glued each end into the holes.

I think it turned out pretty well, would have been nicer to have the new last name, but to pay an extra $30 for it on top of the lingerie and other gifts was just too much for me!

Been a Long Time...

It's been a long time since I've posted to my blog. I've made only a few paper crafts in the last while and never got pictures of them before giving them away. I have missed crafting a lot and have decided to try to do at least 1 project a week. My blog will change a bit though because I'm not just paper crafting (partly because I am no longer a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, but also making several DIY projects for around the house and play items for Benjamin.

I will start off with this peacock yarn wreath that I made for the front door. It was super easy to make and I made the whole thing while watching an hour long tv show!

Using a 16" wreath form, I wrapped the deep purple yarn around it tying it at the back to start and finish (I did this after painting the monogram so it would have time to dry). The tighter together you wrap the yarn, the better it looks. Then I just used my glue gun to adhere the feathers and monogram where I wanted them. Super easy. The feathers normally sit a little nicer, but it's really windy out today!

More of Ben's Thank Yous

This is the other card that I made several of to use as thank yous for all of the wonderful gifts that Benjamin received from friends and family.

I love this baby prints set and finally got the chance to use it! The handprint panel is raised up on dimensionals too.

Stamps: SU Baby Prints, Thank You Kindly (retired)
Ink: SU bashful blue, not quite navy
Paper: SU ww, not quite navy, maine blueberry dsp (retired)
Brads: SU 3/16" night of navy
Misc: SU dimensionals

Benjamin's Animal Thank Yous

Benjamin has been quite the spoiled little guy! We have SO many thank yous to write. Here are some of the thank you cards that I made.

I used the retired stamp set Fox & Friends because it is one of my favourite Stampin' Up! sets for baby cards because the animal images are so cute!

The designer paper I used is the long since retired Maine Blueberry because the colours really say baby to me and I haven't liked any paper for baby cards as much since! It's hard to tell in the photo but the animals are raised up on dimensionals - I think dimensionals are one of my favourite things to add to a card!

I'll post a set of pink baby thank you cards that I made like these cards in the next week or so. I made them for a friend of ours who was due 2 weeks after us and after seeing how many thank yous we have needed I thought it would be a great part of our gift!

Supplies

Stamps: SU Fox & Friends (retired), Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Versamark

Paper: SU ww, certainly celery, bashful blue, maine blueberry dsp (retired)

Ribbon: SU 1/4" bashful blue grosgrain (retired)

Misc: SU white embossing powder, heat tool, dimensionals