How to Make Your Own Map Pennant

Slowly but surely, I am working to add more "big boy" personality to my four year old son's room.  You can read about our recent transition from nursery to toddler room here.  I really like the look of a fun pennant in a child's room.  I decided to make my own from materials I had on hand.

Materials:
Old State Road Map
Twine
Template (A Pirate Pennant from a Birthday Celebration)


How To:
I just unfolded my road map and then traced the outline of the template five times with a blue pen.  I then cut small slits on each side of my "flags", so I could slide the twine through.  I hung the pennant with some washi tape and called the project done.

The great thing about this project is how easy and versatile it is.  You can use any heavy weight paper (card stock, scrap book paper, posters, etc) to make your own personalized banner.  If you have a good template, this project only takes about 15 minutes.

Have a great day!

-Laura-

DIY Felt Play Kitchen

Continuing in my attempts to make homemade toys, here is a super simple "play kitchen" that can be whipped up in less than a 1/2 hour. You can see the play campfire set I made out of felt a couple weeks back, here. 

Materials:

Felt Squares,  (white and gray that I had on hand)

I just took one sheet of stainless steel gray felt for the base of my stove top.  I sewed on white felt circles in a swirl stitch to mimic burners.  Lastly, I sewed on a strip of white felt at the back to house the dials and clock (which were quickly drawn on with a "Sharpie" pen).  I pulled out a mini "egg" skillet for my boys to use on the mini stove.  The "egg and bacon" are also made out of felt. 

If you cook you have to clean, so I made a "sink" out of an old packaging carton.  I glued white felt to the outside of the carton with with fabric adhesive.  I then glued a piece of blue felt to the inside bottom to mimic water and sewed together a tube of felt for the straw faucet cover.

This project cost me $0, because I already had the materials on hand.  This little "kitchen" set is easy to pack away and travel with.  The hours of fun my boys have already gotten out of this toy is well worth my small investment of time.

Have you made any homemade toys lately?  I would love to hear about them.

-Laura-

DIY Botanical Art on the Cheap

I am currently a big fan of "Country Living" magazine.  I have never thought of my design style as "country", in the gingham curtains sense, but I do love the vintage and classic country designs showcased in this magazine every month.  The April 2014 issue has a great tutorial and link to a free image download for botanical prints.  The tutorial instructs you how to take the botanical prints and decoupage them on to some glass trays.  I didn't have the patience or desire to decoupage, so I just:

• downloaded the images
• printed them at "Fedex Copy"
• and put them in clearance frames found at "Michael's"

I found the two 8x10 "rope" detailed frames for just $6/each.  The "bead" detailed frames were $24/each, but on a buy one get one free sale.  With an extra 20% off coupon, my total cost for frames was just $35 and the print cost for the images was only $3.  My total investment is just $38.  I put these botanical prints on a blank wall in my dining room that was crying for attention.

Here is the link to the "Country Living" site where you can download these botanical images, click here .  If you use these images, I would love to see how it turns out.  Feel free to leave a link to your project in my comments section below.


-Laura-