I'm Being Featured!!!

Oh My Gosh! I'm so excited! I'm being featured on a blog!! It's my first time and I am ecstatic!!  If you don't read Knock Off Decor, you definitely should!  There are some really creative people out there and Beckie showcases them and their knock off creations flawlessly!  It is a really inspiring blog and you guys should all check it out!! My feature is supposed to go live tonight at 8:00 p.m., so please stop by and give some love to Knock Off Decor!!

Handprint Canvas Tutorials

So I thought that you guys might want a little tutorial for the adorable handprint canvases that I made.  It is probably the easiest thing that I've crafted, and since I'm still kind of a beginner on the whole crafting scene, easy is good, right?

As I said, this is only part of a bigger "redo", a bigger vision, if you will, and I can't wait to get into more of it, but alas, things are slow going because visions take money and saving is hard! Take my word, it is going to be AWESOME! and I hope you all come back over the next few weeks (or at the most month) to see more!

My inspiration came from Pinterest, which you know if you saw yesterday's blog, and can I just take a minute to say that if you are not on pinterest, you should be.  It is so inspiring, addictive and I love it.  So if you want to be inspired, as well as not forget where you saw that awesome inspiring thing that you really wanted to make or buy, check it out.

In case you missed it, here is my inspiration: a handprint canvas gift kit from Red Envelope.

Disclaimer: I did this as frugally as I possibly could.  There are probably lots of different brands that you can use.  The brands that I used are simply what I could afford. Either way, I think they worked pretty well!

Here are the supplies you will need:

I guess I'll start with what is NOT pictured...that would be the most important part, right?  The canvases!  I used 10 x 10 Artist Canvas from Joann Fabric.  

Next, you'll need paint, brushes, and something to put your paint in...okay, so the little egg crate looking thing is not a necessity...it's one of those things that the Bath and Body Works plug in smell-good thingies come in if you buy more than one.  But they are perfect for keeping your paints separate! 

I used Craft Smart acrylic paint, but you can use whichever brand you want. In case you like my colors, the colors are: Grass Green, Navy, Dark Grey, and Bright Yellow.  

LETS GET STARTED!

Pick your primary paint and your canvas and start painting...

Paint the first canvases, one with each color.  I'm not sure if this is specific to the inexpensive paint that I used, but I had to paint a lot of coats to get the canvas to look the way I wanted it to.  I did not want there to be too many brush strokes on my canvas, I wanted it to be very solid.  (I think it took me about 6 coats of paint!)  If you are an advanced painter, or know more about what you are doing, there are probably some secrets that will help you achieve a solid look without so many coats.  If you have any of said secrets, please comment and let me know!

After the paint is dry on your canvas, you are ready for a handprint. Coat the palm and fingers of your hand with the secondary color for your canvas.  You are going to really want to coat it, especially when your handprint is a lighter color than your base, because unless you are highly skilled in fingerprinting (or in this case, handprinting) you get one shot to get your handprint to really show up!  Now that your hand, or in this case, my 4 year old's hand is coated in paint, simply press your hand onto the desired location on the canvas. Quick tip: You'll probably want to have your other hand in the same position on the back of the canvas, to keep from pressing too hard, but at the same time to be able to press firmly into the canvas.

Voila!! You should have a beautiful handprint canvas!


I hope you enjoy your canvases as much as I have enjoyed mine!  Hopefully you'll come back here for when inspiration strikes again!

I would love to see your canvas creations!

Sneak Peek!

I have a new project!  I am "reinventing" our entryway!  So excited to get started, which I haven't yet, since I'm trying to save up some money and cash in some gift cards to get all of the stuff I want for it...I can give you a sneak peek at one thing that I have done for the space...something I found on Pinterest and recreated for us!

Here is the inspiration:

This is a gift idea from Red Envelope

And here is mine:

So, there is your sneak peek, as well as a little of my ever growing DIY action for ya!

First Day of Pre-K

The first day of Pre-K was on August 30...E has been in "school" since he was 2, but this is the first year that it is recognized as "real".  And honestly, I was a little sad to see it happen!! I don't feel like he should be old enough to be in Pre-K!  Here are a few pics of his first day!

Looking a little nervous

new bag

I was obviously not keeping his attention!

new kicks

new duds

"serious" smile

Cheesy pic!

Welcome to Preschool!

Sweet teacher

Three Amigo's, Musketeers, etc. BEST BUDS!

Miss R, at 7 days and at 21 days

I have finally gotten around to posting the pics from my sessions with this little princess. 

 The first 3 are from when she was 7 days old

 

 The rest of these are from when she was 3 weeks old: