Valentine's Day

I hope you had a good Valentine's day.

We celebrated with a party at the library and a quiet dinner at home. 

Chinese New Year

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know, Chinese New Year was last week and today is Valentine's Day.  But, I just wanted to post these photos because hubby, Chuck, and I celebrated the New Year with family members that we love very much.  (And isn't love what today is all about?).

Hope you have a wonderful day enjoying the company of loved ones.

(I didn't have my camera on me, so special thanks to Esther for taking these photos on her i-product.)

Make Eggshell dolls

During a recent trip to our library, I found a couple of old craft books showing how to create dolls from eggshells.  I'd never seen this type of craft before, so I was super excited to try it out.

If you're like me, you have a thing for Matryoshka dolls... and fairy tales.  (Random tangent time:  As a kid I used to read tons and tons of fairy tales.  Magical powers? Fairies?  Elves? Yup. Yup. Yup.  I loved it all.  This love for fairy tales ended up morphing into a love of science fiction and fantasy novels later on... but I digress.)

 Here are my results:

Make Eggshell Dolls

I had fun making them... but I had way more fun decorating them.  In my opinion, painting cute things is the best part about crafting.

If you'd like to make your own eggshell dolls, read on!

DIY Cardboard Whale Tissue Box Holder

Once again, I fell in love with something that I saw on Etsy:  a whale tissue box holder.  Although he was super cute, I couldn't justify spending the money.  So... I crapted my own.

Would you like to make your own whale tissue holder?  If so, read on!

Materials:
- Pen
- Ruler
- Exacto knife
- Scissors
- Tacky glue (I used Aleene's)
- Packing tape
- Paint
- Paint brushes
- Mod Podge
- Foam brush
- Cardboard  (<-- Crap!)

Directions:
1. Measure and cut out
- 2 pieces of rectangular cardboard, 3 3/4 inches x 9 1/2 inches 
- 2 pieces of rectangular cardboard, 3 3/4 inches x 5 inches

2.  Cut out the shape of a whale tail from a piece of cardboard.  Cut out a small slit at the end of your tail.  Cut out a similar slit in the center of one of your smaller cardboard pieces.  Make sure the tail slides snugly into the rectangle.  

3.  Glue your four rectangular pieces together to create the sides of your tissue box holder.   (I used tacky glue and packing tape to securely attach the pieces together.)  Then, slide the whale tale in and tape it down as well.

 4.  Measure the top of your creation and cut out another rectangular piece of cardboard to place on top.  Cut out a rectangle where your tissues usually come out.

(I made my top rectangle 5 inches by 9 1/2 inches.  It was slightly too narrow, but I used it anyway because I ran out of cardboard.)

5.  Paint your box.  Then, give it a couple of coats of Mod Podge to protect your paint job.

Enjoy!

Little Masseuse

Baby Chuck heard that Nana liked getting massages, so he's practicing for when she visits us this April.


0202131323 from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.

Anti-acne Honey and Cinnamon mask

Dear Acne,

Consider this mask my anti-Valentine.
Please don't be mine.



No love,
Leslie




Once again, I was inspired by beauty guru Michelle Phan. (To watch her video, click here.)  She made a warm mask made from honey and cinnamon that I had to try.  Apparently honey has antibacterial properties and cinnamon stops bacterial growth... so I thought this mask would help get rid of my stubborn acne.  (Boo bad skin!)

Ingredients:
- 3 T honey
- 1 T cinnamon

Directions:
1.  Mix honey and cinnamon together.

2.  Place mixture in the microwave for 20 seconds.  When warmed, it resembles melted chocolate.

3.  Use a pastry brush to paint it on your face.  (Or, just dab it on with your fingers.)  Wait 10 minutes.  (Watch out!  The mixture will drip.)  Rinse it off.  (Note:  Don't rub your face too much while you rinse. Otherwise the cinnamon scratches you quite a bit.)

Does it work?  Well, it's now been a week since I've tried the mask and sadly I haven't seen much improvement.   Boo!  However, I did enjoy trying the mask out.  It felt lovely and warm on my face, so I felt like I was having a spa experience right at home.

Have a great Monday!

The Snowy Day

This morning we woke up and found ourselves in a snowy wonderland.

DIY Eggshell Sidewalk Chalk

Yes. You read the title correctly.  Last week I tried making sidewalk chalk out of eggshells... and it worked!  Here's the proof:

DIY Eggshell Sidewalk Chalk

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support! 

DIY Band- Aid heart nail stencil

I may not look like a girly girl on the outside.

I don't wear makeup.
My daily outfit usually consists of a pair of jeans and purple Converses.
My hair is usually in a ponytail or messy bun because I haven't gotten a haircut in over a year.

But here's a little secret- I'm a bonafide girly girl on the inside.

I dream of wearing sparkly shoes, bright red lipstick, and lovely polka dot vintage dresses with peter pan collars.  I'm also an unabashed fan of YouTube beauty gurus.  I could spend hours watching them talk about beauty and fashion products.

Strange right?  Hopefully one day I can figure out how to balance out my inner girly girl with my outer plain jane.

Anyway,  I just brought this up because I wanted to show you a neat trick that I learned from the mega talented Michelle Phan.   Did you know that you can use band aids as nail stencils?    (Click here to watch her tutorial.)  

Directions:
1.  Cut off the two end bits from the band aid.  Toss out the middle white pad.
2.  Fold each end bit in half and cut out a tiny heart.  Make sure the heart is smaller than your nail. (This was surprisingly hard for me to do.  I had to cut up a lot of Band-Aids to get two hearts small enough to fit my large thumbs.)
3.  Stick the Band-Aid to your nail and rub it to make sure that it's stuck on tight.
4.  Paint over the heart.
5.  Take a deep breath and quickly rip the band aid off.

Voila! Enjoy your hearts.

Make marbled paper with shaving cream

Look at what Baby Chuck and I made the other day: 

No, it's not a Rorschach test.  It's a piece of marbled paper.  And guess what?  We made the marbled effect using shaving cream and acrylic paint.  Pretty right?  I think we'll use it to make some Chinese New Year envelopes... or hubby's valentine.  I'm not sure yet  Hmm..

If you'd like to make your own marbled paper, keep reading:  (Original recipe found here)

Materials:
- baking tray
- heavier weight paper (we used watercolor paper, but I think card stock would be good too)
- craft paint (or maybe food coloring would work too?)
- shaving cream (white foam kind)
- old towel
- ruler/ unused credit card

Directions:
1.  Prep your area and child.  Decide where you want to do the activity.  Set up the materials beforehand.  Cover your work area with something to protect it.  Decide where you want to place the papers to dry.  Place a towel near you so that you can easily wipe your hands. Place your ruler / unused credit card near you for easy access.  (This is a pretty messy activity, so I recommend you plan things out first.)

2.  Make sure your piece of paper is smaller than the baking  tray.

3.  Spray your shaving cream into the baking tray.  Use your hands to smooth it around so that you have a nice even layer.

4.  Add in random lines of craft paint.  (We chose reds and yellow, but you could do all sorts of colors if you want.)

5.  Use your fingers to swirl the paint around.  (Note- You don't want a big blob of color.  It looks prettier with swirls).

6.   Place your paper into the tray so that it comes in contact with the shaving cream/ paint mixture.  Lift the paper up.  Wipe the excess shaving cream off the sheet with your ruler/ unused credit card.  Don't let the shaving cream sit too long on the paper, otherwise your paper may get soaked and rip.

(Isn't it neat?  Any parts of the paper that came in contact with the shaving cream will remain white while the parts that came in contact with the paint will get colored.)

7.  Let your beautiful sheets dry.  (Added bonus:  They'll smell shaving cream sweet.)

(Sorry I didn't take any photos of the process.  Chuck and I had fun doing the activity, but I had to keep a close eye on him so that he wouldn't eat the shaving cream.... or wipe it on himself or our couch.)


Update:   I ended up making Chinese New Year envelopes out of the paper.  They're unexpected, thrifty, and lovely.

My discarded bits

While chopping up the fruit and veg for last Sunday's salsa and guacamole, I was struck by how beautiful my discarded bits were.

Super Bowl XLVII

 

The game was ah-ma-zing.

Go Ravens!

Crapty marshmallow poppers

Did you watch the game? Wasn't it a nail biter? I'm a once-a-year football watcher and even I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Since it was Baby Chuck's first Super Bowl experience, hubby and I tried to make the experience special. We were going to have a small Super Bowl watching party, but then hubby ran into a couple problems at work... and we had to cancel. So we ended up watching the game, just the three of us.

To help make the game a bit more toddler-friendly, I crapted these marshmallow poppers. We had fun using them to shoot marshmallows across the room and at our crapted field goal.

Materials:
- Exacto knife / scissors
- Yogurt container
- Balloon
- Packing Tape
- Marshmallows

Directions:
1.  Cut out the bottoms of your yogurt containers.

2.  Cut off the top of your balloon (about 1/2 an inch), and then tie the other end into a knot.

3. Stretch the balloons over the larger opening of the yogurt container.  Use packing tape and tape the balloon down to the yogurt container.

4. Enjoy your poppers.

Now, to shoot your poppers, just
1.  Drop a marshmallow into your popper.
2.  Pull the knot back to stretch out the balloon.  Let the marshmallow roll into the indentation created in the balloon.
3.  Aim
4.  Let go of the knot and watch your marshmallow soar.

(Alternatively, you could also just use the popper to shoot air balls at each other.  It's amazing how strong these little guys are!)

Can you see the little white circle above the truck?  That's not an unidentified flying object.  It's a marshmallow!

What's up Chuck?

Hooray!  It's finally the weekend.  Do you have any fun plans?  We're aiming for a nice, relaxing weekend.  Now, for those of you who miss seeing Baby Chuck's little face, here are some recent photos.  

Currently, our funny little guy enjoys...

wearing daddy's shoes

and eating ketchup... sans fries. 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

One word: Try

This year, instead of coming up with a list of New Year's resolutions that I will undoubtedly forget by March, I'm participating in the One Word 365 challenge.   This challenge asks people to choose one word that "sums up who you want to be or how you want to live.  One word that you can focus on every day, all year long."

I first heard about this challenge from my friend Lisa, who chose the word "kneel." She beautifully describes how she wants to "kneel in prayer, kneel before God as a broken person, kneel before others with my heart wide open, kneel in service to those in touch of love and kindness, kneel before my writing to encourage others and encourage justice."

Gosh, just reading her words send shivers through me.

After a lot of thinking, I'm choosing the word "try."  I don't want to live this year wishing for things to happen or hiding from life because I'm too afraid to fail.  This year I'm going to push myself to step out of my comfort zone and try new things.

So, here's to trying, failing, and living.

*Gulp* We'll see how this all works out.  Life suddenly feels very exciting and a scary all at the same time.

Would you like to join me in this One Word challenge?  If you could choose one word to influence your life for an entire year, what would it be?  Why?

(Keep me accountable, ok?)

Make a cardboard guitar

Whenever I play the guitar, Baby Chuck seems keen to join in.  He pulls on strings, turns the tuning keys, and inevitably drops picks (and possibly raisins- ick) into the body.  I figured he'd like his own guitar, so I made him this black and white cutie.  It's the size of a ukulele.

(Why cow print?  Well, whenever we ask him "What does a cow say?" he responds "Mmm mmm."  Then we always cheer because that's close enough for us.)

Want to make your own guitar?  Read on!

DIY Cardboard KidsGuitar

(Disclaimer:  I got the template and directions from Make It and Love It.  They wrote a really comprehensive set of directions packed full of lovely photos.  Check out their post for detailed directions and cute kid pics.  I'm posting up this set of directions because I did things slightly differently.)

(Disclaimer 2:  This project takes a long time.  Crapting helps me to relax, so I didn't mind.)

Materials Needed to Make a DIY Kids Guitar

- Already cut out and assembled guitar template (follow her directions on how to resize, cut, and assemble pieces)
- Exacto knife
- Aleene's tacky glue (you'll need something stronger than Elmer's, hot glue didn't quite work for me)
- Scissors
- Nice cardboard (no bends or stains) <-- crap
- Ruler
- Drill
- Paint, paint brushes, Mod Podge
- 4 jumbo 7 inch rubber bands (purchased at Staples)
- 2 paperclips (I used jumbo sized ones, but I think 1 inch ones would work too)
- heavy books

Directions to Make Your Own DIY Cardboard Guitar:

1.  Trace and cut out 4 guitar pieces out of your cardboard:

• 3 full length guitar cutouts (with holes cut out of the center of them)
• 1 body only guitar cutout (cut your template at the dotted line and just trace out the bottom portion)

2.  Glue together two of your full length guitar pieces.  Now you have a nice sturdy  base.  (You don't want your rubber bands to bend the cardboard.)

3. Cut out 4 rectangles out of cardboard:

• 2 larger rectangles- approximately 3 inches x 1/4 inch
• 2 smaller rectangles- approximately 1 3/4 inches x 1/4 inch

4.  Glue your two large rectangles, one on top of each other, about 1 inch below the cutout circles on your previously glued together guitar cutouts.  Glue your two smaller rectangles, one on top of another, around the neck of your previously glued together guitar pieces.

5.  Now it's drilling time. (Aka- Time to call hubby because drills totally freak me out.)  Drill four holes approximately 1/3 inch below your larger rectangles and about 1/2 inch above your smaller rectangles.  Honestly, the measurements aren't that important.  You can just eyeball it.  Just make sure that (a) your holes are evenly spaced and (b) four rubber bands could potentially be strung from one set of holes to the other.  Oh yeah, when drilling the holes on the head of the guitar, try not to place the end holes too close to the edge of the cardboard.  Otherwise your rubber band will periodically slide off...

6.  Now it's painting time (Aka- Let's get funky and creative!)

• Completely paint one side of the smaller guitar body  (I painted it cow print)
• Completely paint one side of your glued together guitar cutouts.  (I painted it red and cow print.) 
• Paint the neck of your third guitar cutout (That's the only part that will be showing in your final product

Once your paint dries, apply Mod Podge to protect your lovely work.  Let Mod Podge dry.

7.  You may notice that your cardboard starts bending.  This isn't good because it will prevent your cardboard pieces from properly sticking together.  Don't worry!  Just use some heavy books to flatten your cardboard out.  (Sadly, my two previously glued together guitar pieces were coming undone.  I reattached them by squeezing in more glue between the crevices.)  Let glue dry.

8.  Now let's string the guitar!  Cut your four jumbo sized rubber bands to make four long strands.  Double knot each rubber band to a paperclip.  Then, string your four strands through the holes in the neck of the guitar.  Pull to make sure that your paperclip sits flush against the cardboard.  Pull those strands down one by one through the holes in the body of your guitar.  Double knot the strands to another paperclip.  (I had some problems tying my middle rubber bands to the paper clip, so I just double knotted them to each other.)  Trim all your excess rubber band bits.

9.  Make four small indentations in your cardboard rectangle bits (on the front of the guitar) to keep rubber bands in place.

10.  What? Aren't we done yet?  No way. Crapting is not for the weary. Time to cover up the ugly rubber band ends and paper clips.  Spread a thick layer of glue on the back of your newly strung guitar and glue on your third full guitar piece.  Make sure the painted neck is shown.  Apply pressure to make sure the pieces stick together.  Then, glue on your small guitar body on top of that.  Again, apply pressure.

11.  Note:  I found that my pieces wouldn't stay glued together because my jumbo paper clips were pretty thick.  If you find yourself with this problem too, you may need to cut out two "wells" in your cardboard so that the paperclips have a nice place to rest.  Then your cardboard pieces should sit nicely together.

12.  Enjoy and rock out.

And here are our two new cardboard instruments:

(Click here for directions to make a cardboard rattle-drum.)

Phew.  I'm exhausted.  Time for bed.  Goodnight!

Make a rattle-drum

Chinese New Year is quickly approaching.  To help get us in the mood, I made this rattle-drum for Baby Chuck using directions I found in a book of crafts. Do you like the black and white?  I chose those two colors to give it a modern look.

DIY Musical Instrument:  Cardboard Rattle-drum

Wanna make your own?  Here's how I did it.

Weird, wonderful snow dough

What does the weather look like in your area?  Around here it's been wet and cold.  Ick.  We had a bit of snow last week and then yesterday it ice-rained.  Ick ick ick.

As you can probably guess, Baby Chuck and I have been staying in quite a bit.  To battle the stir-craziness, I've been crafting and crapting things for him.

Feeling inspired by the snow, I made snow dough by mixing 2 C of cornstarch and 1/3 C of vegetable oil.*   The resulting dough was velvety soft and crumbly.  (Hubby described it as having the consistency of wet sand.... except that it's dry.)

Everyone had fun playing with it.  I enjoyed making "snow balls" and Baby Chuck liked crushing them with his tiny fists.  


Ooh.  I see a patch of sunshine.  Ok, we gotta enjoy it before it disappears.  Hope the weather is nicer where you are!

(*Sorry.  I had a brain fart and completely forgot where I found this recipe so I can't properly cite it.  Big thanks to one nice blogger.)  

We ♥ music class

You know when you're in the middle of doing something you love.... and you just don't want to stop because you love it so much?  That's how I feel during our weekly music classes.

Seeing the kids' responses to the music just makes me so happy.

Music time from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.

Special thanks to quick thinking Elizabeth for capturing this special moment on her iPhone.