a kitty container

I found this very cute upcycling project here. You just use good, sharp scissors to cut a empty 1.5 l fizzy bottle to shape, paint the outside, let it dry and draw on features. This one is M's. I'm going to use the same idea to make T a bear one. I'll paint it brown and cut the ears as half circle shapes. You could do a monster, pigs, rabbit- any animal really.

DIY clothes hanger

I've been meaning to make one of these for a while as lately M has decided that she'd like to wear dresses more often. The kid's rooms don't have wardrobes. I've had her dresses folded in the top drawer of some drawers that hold their dress up clothes- not ideal. It was a very easy process and didn't cost me anything but my time. The pictures pretty much say it all but here's the steps anyway:

1. Find ( or on my case- saw off) a tree branch.
2. Cut the smaller branches off it, leave some longer if you like.
3. Paint it white with 2 coats of paint. I used left overs from test pots.
4. Put some hooks into the ceiling ( or in my case put some small nails in the picture rail).
5. Tie a very long length of fishing string to each hook.
6. Tie the bottom part fishing string to each end of the branch- try and get it level-ish and then tie it firmly.
7. Hang clothes on, step back and admire : )

I thought M might like to hang some of her necklaces on the smaller branches and her bags on the ends. 

so simple and cute

scooter stand

I've seen these at schools lately as lots of them are having ' wheels' days or letting kids ride scooters at school every day. I'm guilty of filling up our garage with all sorts of 'stuff' so thought I'd attempt to tidy up a bit by making us a scooter/ bike stand. I've had some little blocks of wood aside for a while, I wanted to sand them up and make these, found here on a brilliantly clever blog called mermag: mermag.blogspot.co.nz

 

but it hasn't happened ( yet!). The photos pretty much explain the steps. I had to cut open our nearly finished tube of liquid nails with a craft knife and use a stick to apply it- can't let it go to waste!

my helper, I soon realised I wasn't going to be able to hammer a nail through the cubes!

so out came the liquid nails- love the stuff!

I sort of guessed the spacing, the wider ones could be for bikes.

I painted it white while the kids slept

and today they added colour

in use; much tidier ( I'll sweep the garage later!)

with the leftover liquid nails, M asked if we could make her a pink camera

say cheeeeese!

art storage

I thought I'd share how I store the kids creations. I can't bring myself to throw many out. They're either on their bedroom walls, the fridge, their pre school books, given as presents or even used as wrapping in order to save throwing them away. The 'special ones' I keep in clear files. I have an A3 for them each and an A2 one for them to share. They're both refillable so I'll be able to add to the books as the 'collection' grows.

fun storage

My boy and I were home alone today. I have seen this idea on one of my favourite blogs here:

http://www.lilmagoolie.com

and wanted to try it. Here's the link to the source too, their photo and a few photos of the jars we made- really easy- just glue paint and fill. I think I'll use brighter colours next time!

playful storage