DIY Canvas Truck Art

My son is a little bit obsessed with trucks at the moment.  So, I decided to make him a picture of a truck for his bedroom.  This was also an excuse to try out my new toy that I mentioned in my last post.  I bought myself a Silhouette Cameo machine.  I had wanted some kind of a tool that would cut various shapes and images for a long time now.  My sister-in-law recommended that I check out the Silhouette, and after doing some research on the machine I just had to have it!  My husband is rolling his eyes right now I am sure, but that's okay!  Look at the cool stuff I can make with this machine!  And all at the touch of a button!  It's awesome.  This was ridiculously easy to make and I love the way it turned out!  Plus, I can change it up whenever my son decides to have a new obsession...which I am sure will happen any day now.

Here's how I made it:  I bought two 5x7" white canvases from Michaels, taped off an inch on one of the edges of each of the canvases, and painted each section navy blue.  I cut out the truck from my silhouette and used 2 sided glue tape that I have for scrapbooking to stick them to the canvas.  Then I simply decided how far apart I wanted the two pieces to hang from each other and stuck two nails in the wall.  Done!  I love how easy this was and the graphic look of it.  

DIY Growth Chart

My first project started off as a wooden growth chart.  I thought it would be a perfect idea since we know we won't be in this house forever and we don't know what the future will bring.  The idea that we can take this with us wherever we go is perfect!

I had a piece of leftover wood from the kitchen command centre that I posted about earlier, so my plan was to use this wood.  I was nervous to start painting it because I didn't really have an idea for how I wanted the growth chart to look.  Once I finished painting it...I didn't like it.  So off I went to Lowes to pick up another piece of wood for round two!  This time I discovered a 6' x 1' pre-sanded, ready to go, piece of pine for around $15.  Once I had a better game plan, I gave it a few coats of paint, measured out the measurement marks and painted them on, and printed out the vinyl numbers with my Silhouette machine.  I am very happy with the finished product.  It cost me about $30 to make versus the Pottery Barn growth charts that look very similar, but are made of MDF and go for $89!  Plus, I had fun doing it!  :)

And don't worry...I still used the first piece of wood that I painted.  You'll have to wait and see what I turned that into!

Little Boy Room Makeover!

Just recently I became very excited about redecorating my son's room into a "big boy" room.  He has been growing so fast and is developing more and more into a little boy, so I decided his room should reflect this.  As much as I wanted to paint his room, I resisted the urge.  I have decided not to paint any of the rooms in this house (even though they are all white), since we are renting and I don't want to deal with the cost or the hassle of asking our landlord.  So, I had to figure out other ways to inject some color and fun into his room.

Easter Egg Hunt!

Last weekend we held a little Easter party for our son a few other little ones. I had so much fun putting it together!  Now that my son is old enough to notice or really care about any holiday, I thought I would make it fun for him.  I sent my husband and son out for some groceries and while they were gone, the Easter Bunny came!  The look on my son's face was priceless when he saw the decorations and the "bunny eggs" in the backyard.  The difficult part was keeping him inside while we waited for our guests to arrive!

I made some bunnies and eggs and put them throughout the garden.                                             The kiddos loved them!

      

   

          Easter garland  

Kitchen Bulletin Board/Chalkboard

Our kitchen is a room that I struggle with a lot.  We are used to an open concept kitchen and this one...isn't.  However, one advantage to this is that there are a lot more walls than I am used to.  We are currently renting our house, as our move here is temporary, and on one of the walls there were three plain and faded bulletin boards.  I used these boards a lot to tack anything and everything to, but  I wanted something that looked a little bit nicer and made better use of the space.  I also found a can of chalkboard paint in the basement and I really wanted to try it out!  

So, off I went to my new favorite store (Lowes!) to buy some supplies.  I started with a 2.5' x 4' sheet of wood.  I recommend not buying the very cheapest wood possible here, as I did.  My goal was to make this as cheap as possible, but the wood that I bought warps a little bit and doesn't lay as flat against the wall as I would have liked.  I used this sheet of wood as the back to the entire thing and as the base for my chalkboard paint.  I first laid out the three sections that I was doing (2 bulletin and one chalkboard).  Then I primed the middle area and painted the chalkboard paint on top of that (as per the instructions on the paint can).  Since my primer was white, I also painted the edges of the big sheet of wood because I didn't want the wood color showing once I was finished putting the trim on.  

Next, I purchased enough trim to go all the way around the edges of the board.  It took two of the long pieces of trim from the store.  I opted for the trim that isn't really wood, it is made of some other material, but it is already white, so I didn't have to worry about painting it afterwards.  Since I don't have a mitre saw to cut the angles I needed to make the frame, I bought a $16 clamping mitre box set from Lowes as well.  I figured I would need this down the road for future projects, so it was worth the investment!  I also bought one length of very thin trim that I used to divide the sections of my bulletin boards and chalkboard.  Once my frame was cut out and the dividers were cut to size, I simply adhered them to the base with LOCTITE, an all purpose interior construction adhesive that dries clear. 

The last step was to put the cork in the two side sections.  I bought two packages of the cork tiles that Lowes sells and glued them down to the wood as well.  You can also find rolls of cork that probably would work as well, but I found them to be too thin for what I wanted, so I opted for the tiles. 

Then I bought two heavy duty frame hangers that you screw into the back of the board to hang it up.

Viola!  A beautiful kitchen "command centre" (as my sister-in-law calls it!).

Before:

After:

Little Helper Stool

Welcome!  As a new blogger, I am not really sure who will be reading my posts...so I am a little bit nervous to start writing!  Be gentle on me.  ;)

Rather than ramble on about things, which I am not that great at doing anyway, I am going to jump into my first DIY project!  I've been working on a lot of things around here recently, but instead of sharing all of them at once I will start with my very first project.  A "little helper" stool (also known as a learning tower) for my son.  Although it is my very first project, and I have learned a lot since completing it, I think it is still the best thing I have ever made!  We use it every single day and the cost to make it was under $25.  Aside from the cost, the opportunities that it has provided for my son to learn and help in the kitchen is priceless to me.  I love that he is able to look while I am cooking on the stove or that he can "help" me make muffins.  Also, since he is getting so big it is a great help for washing his hands in the kitchen sink (he is just too short for using a regular stool and too heavy to lift up to the sink!).  

I had my eye on this "little helper" stool for a while and really wanted to try and make it myself.  I was a little bit nervous because it involved using power tools...but I went for it and it paid off!  I LOVE this stool!  My son LOVES this stool also!  To be honest...it probably took me 5 times as long as it should take someone to make it and multiple consultations over the phone with my Dad, but once I finished it, I was so proud! 

The stool is fairly easy to make as it begins as an IKEA stool and you simply add onto it.  I found the detailed instructions on a "IKEA hackers" website.  I followed the instructions exactly, and only needed to do a few slight modifications to the lengths of some of the pieces of wood along the way.  One tip - if you are a complete novice at using power tools, like I am...if you've never used a drill bit that creates 5/8" holes before - it is very important that the hole is straight!  Otherwise the dowel won't go straight through the two pieces.  I learned this the hard way!   I also used wood glue in addition to the screws, and after seeing how much this thing gets used and how my son handles it, I am glad that I did!