pinterests projects continue

summer is the perfect time for pinterest projects..i think i shall miss all this free time :)

i've pinned so many projects that i want to do - will i ever have enough time? while i do have some time, i've taken advantage of both some mommy & kennedie projects as well as some classroom to do's. the most recent creations for my favorite big girl have been sidewalk chalk paint & a double-sided felt board w/pieces.

the sidewalk chalk paint was SO easy...cornstarch & water (equal parts of each) & food coloring - that's it! it took like 3 minutes to throw together, with kennedie's help of course, & kennedie had 6 colors of paint that lasted her about 30 minutes - she LOVED it!

next up - a double sided felt board with lots of fun pieces for kennedie to do with as she pleases!

i got the idea from a friend, who saw it on pinterest, & it too was super simple. it just takes a variety of colors of felt, scissors, a pieces of cardboard (i used the back pieces of a notebook pad), & sewing skills or in my case - a hot glue gun :) (because that's how i roll). i took two solid colored pieces for each side, placed the cardboard piece in the middle (it took a little trimming) & glued them just around the edges of the cardboard to each other - so the glue was just on the felt for the most part - that made the board more stable. for one side i cut out shape pieces for a 'house' scene - large square & triangle for the house, a small rectangle & 2 squares for the door & windows, two skinny rectangles w/circles for 2 trees, a sun, & 2 or 3 clouds. for the other side i cut out pieces for faces - like a mr potato head :) i cut out one circle for the face - one set of eyes, one set of shades, 2 different shape noses, 2 different lips/mouths, & so far one hair piece (i need another color felt - yellow probably for another hair piece) - i didn't take pictures of the process - but kennedie really enjoyed making her own designs with the shapes!

 my next project was crate seats for my classroom. there is a variety of these seats all over pinterest - some used buckets but i thought the crate style would be more suited to my kinders. they serve double duty - a seat + storage - which is much needed in my classroom. they are pretty easy & i'm getting better at it as i go along (i've done 4 so far & am planning to have 6 total for my room + 2 for kennedie's play room) materials: plastic crates, plywood cut into pieces that will set inside the crates (if you take a crate with you to home depot/lowes - they will cut it for you - though i had to have tommy round the edges/corners so they didn't fit so tightly - glad he's a shop teacher!), foam (i got a roll from wal-mart - i actually had to go back to get another), fabric - my rough calculations are that 1 yard will do 2 seats, ribbon & a loaded staple gun. 

to make: cut the fabric a bit larger than the wood - i usually give myself about 1-2 inches on all sides, then cut 2 pieces of foam - one the size of the wood & the other about an inch smaller all around. place the smaller piece of foam down first with the larger one on top, then cover with the fabric & pull tight (really tight) around the edges of the wood & staple (i start with the ends & then do the sides). last take a piece of ribbon, fold in 1/2 & staple to one of the ends - this will serve as a handle or tab to lift the seat to get to the storage :)

 so, these are my most recent endeavors in the crafting world - pretty successful for the most part. these make me wish i had the space to have a crafting room in my house - imagine the possibilities :) one day...