Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Paint

I feel bad, because I kinda found this recipe on another blog, but now I can't remember which one it was, so I can't really credit it. Usually I print these things off so that I remember, but I didn't this time because the recipe is SO EASY, I figured I shouldn't waste a sheet of paper in remembering it. (Never mind! I found it. It's here at Smashed Peas & Carrots)

Here it is:

1 cup water

1 cup cornstarch

food coloring

Simple mix the water and cornstarch up real good, then pour into a muffin tin. Then add a couple of drops of food coloring to each slot. The muffin tin makes for an easy way to separate all the colors. Red, yellow, green, blue, don't forget to mix them for even more colors! So simple!

When you first apply it, it may look a bit watery for a few seconds, but let it dry a little and it turns into a pretty cool fluorescent paint!

I love the way it looks when it's all splattery.



Fun summer project (not to mention cheap!)

I'll be linking up at these great parties!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy's Creative Side is hosting a Blogger's Quilt Festival and it is inspiring and amazing to look at all the quilts that people have submitted! Over 600 quilts have been submitted and they are beautiful!

I chose to enter Kiki's Quilt because it was the first one that I submitted and I came up with the pattern myself!

I originally took a quilting class last March so that I could turn my daughter's baby clothes into a quilt. In the end, I chose to buy these beautiful Hunky Dory prints, but maybe some day I'll try a clothes-quilt still!

This quilt really means a lot to me because it was the first that I made for a specific person in mind and, of course, it reminds me of Kiki's baby-hood. Furthermore, it helped me learn a lot more about quilting. I didn't make too many mistakes on this quilt (besides those corner blocks!), and I was so proud that I designed and measured everything myself! (You can find a tutorial for the blocks here.) I realized that quilting wasn't as intimidating as I once thought, and I've been doing it ever since!

I just finished McKinley's big girl bed quilt, so it's a little bittersweet that I have to fold this one up and put it away. But I'm sure we'll get it out many times, and maybe she can even use it for her own baby some day.

I can't believe my little baby is growing up!

 

Definitely click on over and check out all the submissions!

{I'm Blushing} Quilt Finished!

Finished! I made a couple of very bad mistakes in the process of making this quilt, but I'm choosing to ignore them and enjoy my finished product.

I had about 2 yards of fabric leftover, which was not enough for the backing, so I just sewed it to some white fabric to make it bigger. It turned out a little crooked, but it's the back, so who cares, right?

I'm going to work on making a sham to match now. I've never made a quilted sham before, so wish me luck!

My Gift to Myself

Since I love sewing so much, I made sure to take some time on Mother's Day to do a project that's been on my list for awhile--a new apron! It's made from some beautiful Amy Butler fabric that I picked up:



The pattern was free and can be found here. However, I added some pleated pockets to it.

I've got to admit, wearing a pretty apron does make housework a little more enjoyable!

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

Because there was so much going on last week, my son's school is celebrating Teacher Appreciation a week late. But I still started early! Here are some ideas for celebrating your favorite teacher.

I'm the homeroom mom, so I started by asking all the other parents to chip in $5 apiece for a different gift card everyday. I forgot to take a picture of Mondays gift, but we got her a book store gift card, and each child make a tracing of their handprint and wrote why they were thankful for their teacher. It turned out really sweet! I gave her a binder to put all the pictures in.

On Tuesday, we're giving her a plant in a personalized pot (made with my Silhouette). Inside the card is another gift card to Home Depot:

Wednesday, the kids are supposed to give her a big "Good Morning!" and we're gifting her with a "Thanks A Latte" gift card to Starbucks:

Finally, on Thursday (it's only a 4-day week class), I made her a card full of apples that says "You're the best of the bunch!" One of the apples has a gift card to Mardel's attached. In addition, I'll be making apple cupcakes for the class:

 I certainly didn't want to leave the music teacher out, so I made a cute pencil holder full of candy:

I'll be linking up here!

Happy Mother's Day! {Tiered Planters}

For Mother's Day, I made my Mom and Mother-in-law some Tiered Planters with their names and house numbers on them. It's been lovely outside, so it's nice to have a project that I could finish outdoors.

A close-up of the card I cut with my Silhouette. I slit a bamboo skewer to make a little stand for it:

I'll also be giving some homemade satchets and new pictures to the grannies.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day!

{I'm Blushing} Quilt Top

Kiki's been in a big girl bed for nearly 2 months now, however, I somewhat lost my motivation on this quilt part-way though. But now, I'm ready to finish it! All I have left is to baste, quilt and bind!



The pattern is "I'm Blushing" by Natalia Bonner for Moda Bake Shop. I love it! However, I used Holly Holderman for Lakehouse fabrics.