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We have a super fragile advent calendar that is really awesome and just like the one I had when I was a kid, but it hangs high on the wall and the pieces are really tiny so I have to end up doing it for the kiddos and that's not fun for them, so I decided they needed one just for them. I was eyeing these ones at Pottery Barn:
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| $89.00 |
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| $99.00 |
I was thinking two things when I saw these:
1. SUPER cute! But, they both look like they're made out of felt and they're so expensive!
2. I can TOTALLY do that! (Or something similar.)
So, off I went to scrounge up some felt from my felt shelf in the garage. I made the entire thing out of felt (my new best friend) and I think it turned out really awesome and it's just perfect for L and E. They both love it so far and can't wait to start opening all the little felt envelopes on the 1st. I filled each envelope with different activities to do for the day and in some envelopes I put mini candy canes, one for each kid. So, let's get started:
What you'll need:
2 24px pieces of felt for the background: one measuring 25" x 35" and one measuring 23" x 35" (I chose white and green)
1 long dowel 26" long
Dowel caps
Big Shot/Big Kick
Bigz Alphabet Simple Letters Die
Bigz Scallop Envelope Die
Bigz Bear Die
Bigz Beary Essentials Die
Originals Beary Merry Die
Creatology Peel and Stick Felt Numbers
Creatology Peel and Stick Snowflakes
Jeweled Brads
Hot glue and gun
Assorted colors of felt
Red Ribbon
1. Start out by cutting all of the pieces for your bears, envelopes, letters, and then assemble all with hot glue.
2. After you assemble the envelopes, place your brad in the envelope where the top of the envelope will fold over so that you can use it as the enclosure. Then, with a very sharp pair of scissors, cut a small slit in the flap so that you can fit the brad through the hole and hold it closed.
3. Lay your two large pieces of felt on top of each other and glue together with hot glue.
4. Lay out all the envelopes and place your bears and family name all on the felt and position it so that it looks perfect. Then, pick up one thing at a time and adhere it with more hot glue. Use your peel and stick numbers and stick those on to the felt underneath the envelopes.
5. I freehanded a Christmas tree and then cut that out of felt and placed it at the bottom of the advent calendar. I also decorated the advent calendar with some peel and stick snowflakes I found at the craft store.
6. After your all done gluing the felt pieces down, assemble the dowel and the dowel caps and then fold the top of the advent calendar over the dowel and glue down.
7. Lastly, tie a piece of ribbon to the dowels and hang in the perfect spot.
E went from a crib this year to her "big girl" bed and the Mr. and I have this notion that our children will move out with the furniture we bought them as a child, so we spring for the best quality you can find and where else to get the best quality, but Pottery Barn? So, we spent a pretty penny on her furniture, but I could NOT be any happier with it! I, seriously, love her room. It's on the main floor, so sometimes I go sit in there and "chill" sometimes and I'm still able to hear the kids playing in the living room. I wanted to give you a little tour of what we have so far,...
Here is the view of her room right when you walk in. (I'm standing in the doorway.)
And when my mom saw it in the store, she decided she could make it instead. She cut out (with her Cricut) a gazillion butterflies and we ended up with the butterfly chandelier you see above for a fraction of the cost. She also cut out butterfly wall decals using the same butterfly image and contact paper for us and I applied them on the wall like a swarm of butterflies flying around E's room. I'm really happy with the way it all turned out.
Here's another shot of her pretty bed and her butterfly chandelier. I decided to go with cafe style shutters in her room and roman shades for the top half of the windows. our neighbors are very close on all sides and I thought this would give her privacy while still being able to let in a lot of light. Or, she could shut both the shutters and the roman shades and it gets very dark in her room for nap time. When I'm convinced E won't electrocute herself on the lamp she has on her dresser, I'll put that on her nightstand along with some other girly knick knacks.
After our daughter got a major bedroom makeover, I decided that her brother needed a little sprucing up in his. It's been a slow process, but one thing that he loves about his sisters bedroom is her awesome butterfly chandelier. So, he placed an order with his mother (me) for a similar one, but he requested "TRUCKS!"
I said, "Yeah! I can do that!" And I got to work,...
What you'll need:
Metal ring
Wooden shapes including Trucks
Wire
Leather Craft Lace
Spray paint
Hot glue gun
Hook for screwing in to ceiling
Drill
1. Prime and paint the wooden shapes and the metal hoop.
What an awesome day we are having here in Orange County, CA! The air is crisp, there is a cool breeze, and the sun is out to play! I love it! We have had some rainy days lately, and I love those too, don't get me wrong, but I love those days when you can totally tell that it's AUTUMN outside! Well, as much as you can here in So Cal. It's not like we really have too much of a season change in any direction.
We have been so busy in general the past couple weeks, but we were especially busy last weekend with birthday parties! I love em', because we get candy, cake, BBQ's, and lots of good friends to share it with. For one of my dear friends, I made a ribbon mobile for her daughter's birthday gift. A couple months ago, I was inspired by this mobile from Pottery Barn Teen:
It is so stinkin' cute (as are most things out of that darn catalog), but for $70 I told myself, I can totally do that! Also, it only came in the purplish color you see above. My friends play room is a mixture of pink, green, and white and she sort of has a polka dot theme going on, so I decided to go for it.
After a couple weeks and many trips back to the craft store for more ribbon, I finally finished and this is what I ended up with:
I just bought two metal rings from Joann's and spray painted them white. Then I cut all my ribbon to 27 inches. I measured my rings around so I knew how much room I had to work with the ribbon placement. Then, I laid out my tape measure and placed all my ribbon along the tape measure and moved different pieces around to I had the look I wanted. After that, I took my hot glue gun and put a tiny dab of glue on the end of each ribbon and wrapped it around and glued it to itself. After a couple hours,... Viola!
Then, I took the clear line that you use for jewelry making and tied 4 strands onto each metal ring and then gathered it at the top and tied a knot. To hang it from the ceiling, you just have to buy one of those small hooks that has a screw on the end and twist that little guy up in to your ceiling and there you have it.
My friend absolutely loves it and I loved making for her!
Click HERE to see where I'm linking to and don't forget to join in on the fun!
