debor026

Day 23/31: We've been working on Erin's room a little bit at a time and today it was time to tackle some wall art. I cut a pile of squares from tissue paper in shades of blue and green to go with her color theme. A heart taped to the bottom of the glass worked as my template so I knew where to glue down the pieces. I started with an outline, filled it in, and then went back and added extra pieces here and there to balance the colors. Just a glue stick, tissue paper, and a frame is all this project requires. I just washed the windows 2 days ago, I swear, but I think that's a bit of a losing battle these days, haha. Anyway, this gives you an idea of what it looks like with the light behind it which is really very pretty. It's a little softer than the colors of the wax paper/crayon stained glass and it's just the thing for the new girly bedroom.

Day 22/31: It's day 22 and I'm working on a big project so today I have progress pics. Husband's aunt had a great big fish tank that she didn't want anymore and now it's my latest DIY. I got it all sanded and ready to paint but the temperature at night has been a bit cold for garage painting so my dining room is the next best thing. There was a very good chance I would get primer on the dining table but if I did I figured it would be a good excuse to sand it down and redo that too so that's okay. So I apologize that today isn't a little more exciting but I'm loving where this project is going and hopefully that means it will be doubly good when it's done. Or something.

Day 21/31: Today I tried playing with a little FIMO clay, some cookie cutters, and the metal punches. I quickly found that wrapping the punches with rubber bands to make the whole word at once was a lot easier than one letter at a time when I got ready to impress it into the clay. And then this (words): Plus this (cookie cutters): Equals a quick thanksgiving ornament:

Day 20/31: I have a small globe collection and I've wanted a world map to go on the wall behind them. I ordered it 6 months ago ( this one ), bought the wood for the trim and then left it in the closet for forever a while. But today I finally did it! I used 4 1x3 boards with brackets screwed into the back to tie them together (just simple corner braces) and I used packing tape to actually secure the map to the boards. I bought the map pre-laminated so I wouldn't have to worry about small child fingerprints and so the tape wouldn't damage the map if I ever take it off. I love the new view from the entry way. Everything is starting to look like it kind of belongs together instead of just all getting tossed in. Even better, it has already been useful a few times for the kids' geography homework. I also have a map like this of the United States to hang on the other wall in this room but for today I will have to be happy with just getting one out of the closet. Did yo...

Day 19/31: I found an awesome tutorial for faux candles (via Pinterest ) and thought it would be a good addition to both the Halloween and the Christmas decor depending on how it is styled. On page 38 of the tutorial someone posted a chandelier they made and I knew that's what I wanted to attempt. The hot glue is applied to the PVC pipe. The best advice I can give you here is don't be in a rush. Start with your long layers, let it dry, and then come back to add then next layer and so on. If you do it all at once the glue will run into itself and won't look as much like drips but will be pretty flat. Everything is spray painted black. I cut out a piece of MDF and spray painted it with layers of black and gray. It's mostly black but the pictures insist on looking gray, possibly because it was still wet when I took this. I had a few eye hooks and some leftover chain in the garage for hanging it and I used glue to attach the pipe to the MDF. The cheesecloth got a bit...

Day 18/31: My little man likes to tell me that his ancestors were Vikings and now he can be one for Halloween. This costume is pretty quick, too. I bought a 2 pack of men's undershirts (size medium), cut off the short sleeves of one of them, and used the body of the other to make new longer sleeves that will be nice and wide. A little elastic sewn into a pocket at the end of the sleeve makes it bunch up a bit like a tunic sleeve. A little fabric that has a hide-like appearance trimmed with fur makes the vest. I topped it off with a hat they already had in their dress up stuff. Getting the perfect fierce face is all up to him, though.

Day 17/31: Each of the kids has gotten to pick the general theme of their rooms. K wanted fairies and butterflies and I made the fairies little, as I imagined a fairy should be. See the first one to the right of the closet? I added three Disney fairies to the room, each on a different wall. They were projected onto the wall with a craft projector using a free coloring sheet I downloaded online. Each one was traced onto the wall with pencil, filled in, and then outlined in permanent marker. The wings were done with a glitter craft paint (and I didn't trace that part with marker but just left the pencil) and the translucent effect came out just the way I'd hoped for. Of course fairies have to have a fairy castle, too. Like I did for the fairies I used a craft projecter to get a graphic onto the wall and then filled it in with paint. Now as her friends come over they can hunt for the hidden fairies that were sprinkled about and it adds a little extra fun.