Chillin' with My Peeps Stenciled Shirts

I was in the middle of about four other projects, when I had this idea for Easter shirts for my girls this year.  I am someone who is easily suckered by seasonal items at the store.  Before, it was mostly candy and decor, but now that I have kids my little love of all things holiday reaches into clothing as well.  This year for Easter, I wanted to make dresses for the girls (which are almost done!), and I got to thinking about other kinds of holiday-themed clothing, which is when I had the idea for these shirts.

Admittedly, the idea wasn't entirely my own.  I first saw it as a wood craft, but thought the concept could easily be really cute for Easter shirts.  Plus, I was able to use things I already had on-hand, so I didn't have to spend a penny on these.

My method was the same I have used on my stenciled shirts in the past, using vinyl cut on my Silhouette as a stencil.  It works pretty well, although I'd love to try their stencil vinyl or freezer paper.  I tried cutting freezer paper on my Silhouette a year or two ago, and it didn't work at all, but now that I have new mats(yes!) I am thinking it might work after all.

After I designed the graphics and cut the vinyl, I put the vinyl on each shirt and used my fabric ink and brushes to paint the shirts.  I had to do three coats of the white, which was a little bit ridiculous.  Once I was done painting in the stencil, and I pulled off the vinyl and let the paint dry.  For the eyes and noses, I dipped the other end of my brush in brown fabric paint and dabbed it on.  To make sure the ink was cured, I baked each shirt in the oven for one minute at 350 degrees.  This was mostly for the silver paint, since it doesn't cure just by air drying.

If you'd like the Silhouette .studio cut file for these shirts, just leave a comment with your email or send an email to audzipan at gmail.

Linked: Craft-O-Maniac, Skip to My Lou, Sugarbee Crafts, Shwin&Shwin, Tatertots & Jello

Play Kitchen Redo

Anybody recognize this?  I posted the before photo of this play kitchen way back last summer.  I put off redoing it for a while, because I knew that it would be a bit of work and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it yet.  About a month before Christmas, I decided that it would make a great gift for my young daughters, along with some play kitchen accessories.  I had some leftover paint from the green stripes in my daughter's bird bedroom, my mother-in-law gave us the neato spoon and rolling pin drawer pulls, and my parents provided the metal bowl "sink", copper "faucet", and other knobs.  I already had all the supplies for the vinyl burners and utensil decals.  The only money we spent was on the toys to go along!

Once again, this is what I started with:

It was really in pretty good shape, just a little boring.  The drawers and some of the doors were stuck together, and one of the handles was missing.  Also, I don't know if you noticed, but the handles on the top doors were installed on the top instead of the bottom.

My brother helped me install the sink, which is a metal bowl that we set in the counter top and secured with screws.  I painted the whole thing with an angle brush and a mini roller, which gave it a really nice finish.  We only had five of the cool drawer pulls, so we had to find a sort-of matching pull at Lowe's.  I used my Silhouette to cut out the purple vinyl decals.  I just did a bunch of circles for the the burners and found an image online for the kitchen utensils.  I also did an "H" and "C" for the knobs by the faucet.

I really love how this turned out!  Both of my daughters (1 and almost 3) love playing with it.  The kitchen toy sets from IKEA fit perfectly, plus they got some other fun kitchen toys from our families.

 Thanks to everyone who helped get this together in time for Christmas-- my brother Clark, parents on both sides, and mostly my awesome husband Chris.  I've got him working on an Ana White headboard now.  It just needs some stain and clear coat, then we'll be ready to install!  Also, I am working on a new look for the blog for the new year.  Check out the watermark on the photos in this post for a little preview.

Linked: Tatertots & Jello

Chalkboard Calendar

I went to a neighborhood fundraiser a few months ago and came home with this chalkboard calendar vinyl from my friend Amie at Willow Creek Signs.  I knew right where I wanted to put it, but I had some qualms about putting the vinyl directly on the wall.  Now, I know that vinyl doesn't damage your walls, but here's my biggest problem:  I love to redecorate.  And, the truth is, I really can't commit to something like vinyl directly on the walls.  I also know that it's removable, but you can't reuse it.  With all that said, I used my vinyl to create this calendar board for the sad and lonely giant wall in my laundry room:

Best part about this project?  I already had everything for it on-hand.  Plus, I did every bit of the work for it myself.  Cutting, sanding, painting, drilling the holes, applying the vinyl; you name it, I did it.  One of my favorite parts of the board is the jute cording detail.

It was one of those ideas that just randomly came to me, and I love it.  As far as writing on this chalkboard calendar, I wanted to use something besides chalk that was a little bit more permanent(we're talking wet-erase here) and a little bit less dusty.  I love the look of the Liquid Chalk Markers, but I can't really justify spending more on the markers than on the board itself.  I can't find these sold as individual markers online or in retail stores at all.  Let me just say, dragging a husband, toddler, and baby around looking for these was kind of a nightmare.  I tried craft stores and office supply stores with no luck.  However, I happened upon a suitable alternative for the time being (until I can get a set of Liquid Chalk markers for my birthday or Christmas) at Shopko, of all places.

Expo Neons!  The only reason that I tried these was because the package said they worked on black surfaces.  I'd say they do a decent job.  Since I am writing on chalkboard vinyl, which is not as smooth as a dry erase board, they act like wet erase markers instead of dry erase.  Cha-ching!  Exactly what I wanted.  It will be interesting to see how they work in the long run, but for now I am pretty pleased with them.

This photo is to give you a better idea of the scale of the chalkboard compared to the rest of the room.  The laundry room is still a work in progress, but I am happy I can already use the calendar.  I hope to paint the laundry and hall before it gets too crazy with holidays and such.  The color I am wanting is Velvet Slipper by Olympic.  It looks a little bit dustier in real life versus the color on their website.  I think my husband is ready for another painting experience. . .

Etched Numbered Glasses

This morning I am going to tell you a little bit about a project I recently did. First off, I'll give you a little bit of background info.

1. There are currently four adults and four children living in our house.
2. My wedding set of glassware is down from 18 pieces to 9.
3. The dishwasher runs a lot around here, and the top shelf is usually the fullest, packed with plastic kids dishes and bottles.

In an effort to keep me from having to do the dishes every five seconds, I thought of an idea to help us remember whose glass belongs to whom.

This project required the use of my digital cutter, some pieces of vinyl, and some etching cream. I used the cutter to cut the numbers in the vinyl. I pulled the actual numbers out of the vinyl, then I put each vinyl piece on each different glass and used the vinyl as a stencil for the etching cream.

Overall, the whole project took me about an hour. I am super pleased with the results. The etching is subtle enough that it isn't totally obvious at first, and now I always know which glass is mine!