Crafts

Chores in our house can be quite a struggle with the oldest two. By oldest two I mean Belle and Daddy ;). They need some reminders to help them know what is expected of them when helping out and how often it actually needs to happen. With this in mind I went on a Pinterest hunt for the best and easiest chore chart. I found one! Not the "easiest" shall we say. However, I was so excited about MAGNETIC PAINT, that it just had to be done.

Here's the paint!
20 bucks at Lowe's... DON'T DO IT! But we will get to that later.

So I proceeded. Painted the clipboard with the magnetic paint and the sides with some craft paint.






Then I used a hot glue gun to glue scrap booking paper to the sides. This too, was a gigantic, frustrating, disaster. I needed to use both of my glue guns and go back and forth as each one "cooled". Hmmm, maybe I should invest in a more expensive glue gun ;)

 

See the mess! Definitely did this while Thing 3 was taking a nap. I could only imagine the mischief. So I did eventually finish and was SO PROUD OF MYSELF.

 However, it was short lived, because the next morning none of the magnets stuck to the clipboard anymore and needless to say I was a little mashugana! I could have saved about an hour of time and 30 bucks on paint and magnets. So I went back to the tried and true method of Velcro, yep VELCRO! So disregard the first set of directions. Glue or just regularly paint the clip boards and put Velcro on the boards, stickers and chores. Simple and cheaper. Live and learn, I guess. :/

 

As you can see, they are finished, up and are in full effect. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are definitely looking at them and love to move their smiley face. Daddy could care less, but at least the "reminder" is there. While he doesn't like to move his smiley face, it's still working ;).  Unfortunately, as you can see, Thing 3 also loves to take the smiley faces. We have regular games of hide and seek during the day trying to find them. #OperationDaphneDestroyinFullEffect

So I have heard many complaints about Pinterest... Oh poor me, it makes me feel like an inferior mom, I'm not super mom, I pin all of these things but I'm not going to do any of them. Really people, read a book if you're that bored that you are just pinning for the sake of pinning.

For me personally, Pinterest and I have a certain love affair. Yes, there are some things I know I will never get to. Yes, some are just dreams. Yet, most importantly, Pinterest for me is like viewing a small window into someone's deepest desires and if you're paying attention you'll find birthday, Christmas and other small things you can simply do or make to brighten someones day.

That is where this craft came in. Once again, Ms. Andi Wilder pinned something on Pinterest and voila her Christmas present was born. After hers was done I got quite a few request for more. So I figured I'd just write how to do it yourself. Man her awesomeness seems to revolve around my posts so far. The original pin on Pinterest was from http://creativegeniusart.blogspot.com/. I just simplified and took the idea so I could make it on my own and quite a bit cheaper.

Here's how a couple of them turned out. As you can see the words can be altered for a many number of things to reflect the family, team or event.

What you will need
Canvas
Acrylic Craft Paint
Paint brushes
Cup of water
Ribbon
Clear Acrylic Gloss Coating

 Also, if you don't have an easel a dollar store table cloth works FABULOUSLY!

Now a couple of these items are a bit expensive (well expensive for my thrifty self). The canvas can cost quite a bit. The secret is to not just shop at one store. Different craft stores have different marked prices. For example you can buy a 5 pack of 16"x20" canvases at Michael's for 19.99 (about 4 bucks a canvas), however, with their weekly 40% coupon, that brings it down to $12 (about 2.40 a canvas). Same with the Clear Acrylic Gloss, $5.99 at Hobby Lobby, with the 40% coupon, $3.60. Every little bit counts right?

To start the process you get the three main colors of the team and paint the entire canvas one color.

Here is the beginning of two, one for the Giants and one for the Steeler's, both for family members. When painting with Acrylic paint, remember that water can be used to help spread paint over the canvas and can save a lot of time and paint. Don't use too much, just dip your paint brush occasionally in the water. Also, remember to paint the sides! Takes about 20 minutes to dry.


Once those are dry, time for step two!

I like to use the second main color to make the heart and team name. I place those first so that I can see the spacing for the rest of the sign. After that it's time to fill in the rest of the words. You can have people choose what they want it to say or use what you think they would like.

You can see the hardest part can be the spacing. As there are two Giants teams one for baseball and one for football I thought this was good opportunity to find small fill-ins. Little things such as a football and hearts are great when you don't get the spacing exactly right. It doesn't need to be perfect!

Almost done!!! This process generally takes me about 30 minutes, then it takes about 30 minutes to dry.

Final steps: you will need a staple or glue gun. I found the staple gun by accident when I was trying to figure out how to add a hanging element. My husband probably had it hidden from me for a reason as now we have some new upholstered furniture around the house as well. Power Tools are FUN! Safety warning, do not use around the "things".

The gloss needs to be sprayed in a garage or outside, holding the can about 6 inches from the canvas and spraying evenly. It then needs 24 hours to dry.

The next day when the canvas is dry attach the ribbon. At the top of the canvas tie a knot in the ribbon, making sure they are the same length on both sides.

Once the ribbon is attached at both sides, pull the ribbon together in the middle and make a simple double bow knot. Feel free to cut away any excess. Always better to have more ribbon than less.

TA DAH!!! As you can see the ribbon is strong enough to hold the sign up, or one can simply let the ribbon dangle and hang it by the canvas.

Here are the final two which only took me about an hour to make, plus a day for dry time. If I can get it done with the "Things" in my house, I have hope for you too! So next time you are wandering through the world of Pinterest, try not to think of all you can't get done for yourself but think of all you can do for someone else!