Lego Head Party Favor Tutorial

As party favors for the Lego movie birthday party I decided to make my own lego heads out of baby food jars.  We drew on faces from the movie and filled them with lego candy building blocks.  They were very easy and fun to make.  I like how they turned out.  Here is the DIY Lego head party favor tutorial using baby food jars.

Materials Needed:

baby food jars

yellow spray paint

black permeant markers

lego building block candy

1) The first step is to eat baby food.  Seriously, we bought stuff my one-year-old would eat and fed him a lot of these for two days.  Then I ran them through the dishwasher and peeled the paper and sticky stuff off.  Some of the sticky gunk was hard to get off but I just soaked them in hot water and scrubbed with a rag and it wasn't too difficult to get off.

2) Next I laid them out upside down and spray painted the bottom and sides.  I also laid out the tops and spray painted them.  Do not get very much paint onto where the top screws on.  It makes it hard to put the lids on when they are painted.  You might even want to just spray paint the entire thing with the lid on.

3) Then put the lids on (if you haven't already) and spray as many more coats as you need.  Make sure the lids are on so you don't get any of the insides painted.

4) Open them up and fill them with candy.  The only place I could find the lego building block candy was in the bulk section of Winco.  Or online, but I didn't have time to buy it online.

5) Lastly draw your faces on and you are done!  I picked faces from the movie.  I also did a pencil first.

Later during the party I let each of the kids pick one and draw their own face on the back.  The kids loved it!  Just be careful because the paint does scratch off the jars pretty easily.

Tada!

Lego Birthday Party Invitations Tutorial

With the Lego movie coming out on DVD right before Tucker's birthday he decided he wanted the Lego movie to be the birthday party theme.  I'm a big fan of DIY and invitations are no exception so Here are our handmade lego party invitations.

They were supper easy to make.  First we just cut out the right size construction paper.  Next we cut out little foam squares.  Then we cut out circles and glued it all together.  The circles were the hardest part and so if you have a large circle punch I would recommend using that.

Next we printed what they would say on the inside on regular paper.  I blurred our address because I didn't want to post it on the internet.  We wrote, "Celebrate and build memories."

Lastly Tucker wrote the names of the kids he wanted to invite on the cards.  These only took us a couple hours to make and we already had everything we needed.

I know it can be more work to make the cards, and I don't think we will always do it this way.  But it was a fun craft to do together and I think they are much more personal then store bought invitations.

Sticker Nail Review and Tutorial

I love love love my Jamberry Nails!  Sticker nail polish is just such a great idea.  You can get amazing designs that you would never be able to paint yourself and the best part is that they don't chip.  I waited a long time to write this post because I really wanted to test them out.  Mine lasted a full three weeks and then I took them off because I felt like my nails were growing out too much.  At first I was scared that they would fall off.  Like maybe when I got in the shower, or when I took off my toe nail polish, but I never had a problem.  If you want to buy some or are even thinking about being a consultant go here to my friends Julie's site and she will help you out.

They took a bit longer to put on then just painting your nails but they last way longer so I thought it was worth it.

I haven't done a tutorial in a while so I thought I would turn this into one.  Here is my video tutorial on how to apply sticker nails.

Frozen's Elsa Braid Tutorial

At first I felt a little silly doing a tutorial on a french braid but my girls are always asking for "Frozen hair,"  so I thought why not?  Elsa's braid from the movie frozen it basically just a loose french braid with lots of teasing on top.  The day I did my hair like this for the tutorial I went to my sons first grade class and several of the girls commented that I had hair like Elsa.  It's funny to me because a year ago everyone just called it a french braid.  Anyway, below is the tutorial and step by step instructions.

Watch the video to see how I did it.

1) Tease your hair!  And use hair spray. Elsa's hair is huge on top, so this is a must.

2) Use bump its to keep it looking big throughout the day.

3) Start a loose french braid just above the ears.

4) Once all your hair is added pull it over your shoulder to the front and continue the braid.  Use Hair spray to give your hair texture.

5) Put a rubber band on it.

6) Gently pull on the braid to make it look thicker.

Foaming Paint Tutorial

The kids saw me painting the rose picture and wanted to paint too.  So instead of regular paint I made some foaming or exploding paint for them.  It was so easy and they loved it.  The best part was that I already had everything.

Materials needed:

Water

Flour

Baking Soda

Vinegar

Food Dye

Paintbrushes

paper

Spray bottle

I used a muffin pan to mix the paints into.  I don't have an exact recipe.  Just fill up each spot to 1/3 to half way full of water, depending on how much paint you want.  Then do equal amounts of flour and baking soda in each one.  I probably did about 1 tablespoon each.  Then a couple drops of food coloring.  It makes a puffy kind of paint for the kids to work with.  Then once they are done they get to do the fun part.  Spray their pictures with vinegar (I actually filled the spray bottle with half vinegar half water) and viola they foam up.

The more paint you put in one spot the more they foam.  So make sure you are generous with the paint in you picture.

Once all the kids made several pictures I let them spray the remaining paint.  This was probably their favorite part.

Our best paintings are on the top row of the wall.

I took nice pictures of the kids paintings but accidentally threw most of them away and deleted the pictures off my camera.  Oops.  Later after I realized my mistake I quickly took this picture with Tucker of the only two we had left.

The pictures didn't stay foamy, but I knew they wouldn't.  I just let them dry and hung them up.  If you spray too much vinegar than the paper turns yellow so beware of that.

Chore Chart Tutorial

Ever since Tucker started school I loved using a chart to help him get ready.  It started with just little drawings on paper that showed what he needed to do.  It completely eliminated me telling him over and over again what to do in the mornings. But lately I have been slacking and his paper is long gone.  I was recently inspired by a friend to give my children chore charts so I combined the two.

I made the kids clip board chore charts with a dry erase marker so they can be in charge of checking their own things off.  I made two columns, one for in the morning and one for after school.  The kids know that right when they wake up they need to start working on their charts.  And if they finish before it is time to go then they can play.  Even Scarlett loves marking her stuff off.

A couple things I love about these charts:

1. I just printed in regular paper so it will be really easy to reprint and adjust their chores as needed.
2. The kids are in charge of checking it off and at the end of the day I give them a smily face if they completed everything.  This way it gives them responsibility but they know that I'll be monitoring.
3. The dry erase markers are attached so they wont get lost.
4. The pictures because while Scarlett isn't old enough to read she is old enough to have chores.
5. They only cost about $2 each to make.

Last week I did help them a bit to get them used to the whole thing, but they know that now that school is back on they need to do it on their own.

Materials:

clip board

paint

card stock/printer

plastic page protector

dry erase marker

string

1) Get your materials ready.

2) Tape off the metal part and paint your clip board.  I used both wall paint and spray paint.  Both worked well and I'm sure craft paint would do great too.

I wanted to get the kids involved in making these so I let them paint their own.  they loved it.  The only problem was Tucker knocked over his paint so now we have a big blue spot on our porch.

3) Make your chart.  Mine are 7" by 10" and I just put together free clip art I found off the internet.  It would probably be easy to do in word although I used photoshop.

Penelope's morning: 

Prayer

Breakfast

Make bed

Brush teeth

Get dressed

Get her school stuff ready Hair

Afternoon: 

Put school stuff away

Wash hands

Pick up clothes

5 minute house clean up

Set the table 

Reading

Scarlett's is very similar except she doesn't need to get her school stuff ready or set the table.

Tucker's Morning:

Prayer

Breakfast

Make bed

Brush teeth

Get dressed

Get school stuff ready

Work on Spelling

Afternoon:

Put school stuff away

Wash hands

Empty Dishwasher

5 minute house clean up

Homework

Reading

I Also added a few chores in the bottom part that I am supposed to check off.  Those chores only needed to be done once a week.  So Tuesday is bathroom day, Wednesday is laundry and Thursday is clean and vacuum room day.

4) The next step is to either laminate your charts or put them into pocket protectors.  I did the protectors because we had them and I know it will be easy to switch them out.  Because my papers were smaller than normal paper I just folded the edges of the plastic back and taped them behind.

5) The last step is to tie on the marker and hand them up.  At first ours were hung up and they kept getting moved around the house and in the way.  Having a designated spot is a must!

I love the the kids new chore charts!

3 Ways to Wear One Necklace Chain

Have you seen those necklace lockets that are becoming so popular?  I just got one and I love it!  But, me being me I'm always trying to get the most out of my money.  And because I couldn't decide if I should buy a short or long chain I found a way to wear both with only buying one.  I can actually wear the same chain and make it short medium or long. All  you need is a toggle clasp.  Check it out.

The necklace chain is 32" long.

1. In the first picture I looped the chain through the toggle and then around my neck again and back through the toggle.  This is the shortest version.

2. For the medium length I looped the chain around my neck twice and then through the toggle at the end.

3.  This one is pretty obvious but I just wore the long chain around my neck and through the toggle one time.

It is so simple I feel silly to be so excited about it.  But I just love when something has more than one use and saves me money!  If you like it too please share the post with your friends.  It is too good of a trick to be kept secret.

The Long Pony Tail Tutorial

It has been a while since I've done a hair tutorial.  I instantly fell in love with this type of pony tail I knew I had to share how its done.  Doing your hair this way makes your pony tail look very long.  It adds about 4 inches to the length of a normal pony tail.  And it is so easy!

My normal middle of the head pony tail ends about at my shoulders.  But check out the picture below.

I wanted this one to be extra fancy so I teased my hair and added a bump its.  I then did a small braid in the front and curled the ends under.  You do not need to do this I just felt like it.

Next I pulled the top half of my hair up into a high pony tail.

Here is the back.  Sorry the wind was blowing and I took these outside.

Lastly take the remaining hair and put it into a low pony tail.  Thats it!  You now have a really long looking pony tail without having crazy long hair.

Family Portrait Tips and How to Take Your Own

Christmas is still a couple months away, but it is time to get your family pictures done.  You want plenty of time for editing and also printing holiday cards.  I also think it is best to get them done before the weather turns too cold and you have to deal with red noses.  So I put together some tips on how to dress and even how to take your own family photos.

1. No more matchy matchy. Think coordinating colors and not matching or the same color.  I like to pick about three colors that look nice together and then go through our clothes and see what I can come up with.  For example, don't all wear a blue shirt and dark pants, that can look ok, but it gets boring.  Instead one person can wear a blue shirt and maybe another wears blue jeans and the next person has a blue scarf on.

Patterns and layers also look good.  Layers look nice and they can keep everyone warm outdoors without having to wear coats.  But beware of putting your kids in new clothes that are too big.  I always buy my kids clothes a little big so they can grow into them.  For pictures you want the clothes to fit just right.

Don't be afraid of over accessorizing.  Even if you want your family pictures to be casual a bow on a little girl or a necklace can really add a lot.  On the same note women often ask about make up.  I recommend wearing a little more than you normally would.  Lipstick, mascara, and blush are so important because they define and ad shape to your face.  It makes a big difference in pictures.

Last year we did black, white, yellow and gray.


2. Get close. Family pictures look nice when everyone squishes together.  Sometimes it seems awkward but it creates the happy family feel.  I'm always telling people to get close and then to get closer.

3. Simple background. This next picture shows a very simple background.  With family pictures the family should always be the focus and you don't want to distract with the background.  A simple brick wall can work wonders.

4. Bribery I totally bribe my kids during and after pictures.  It makes a huge difference when the kids are prepped and know what will be happening.  I tell my kids that we are going to sit and take pictures for a long time and if they listen and do a good job then we can go out for ice cream after.  Sometimes they need a reminder during the pictures but it usually does the trick.  I even give out treats during the pictures, this is especially helpful for younger kids.  Smarties are great because they are fast to eat and they don't make a mess.

5. Be Creative One year I knew we weren't going to be able to get everyone looking at the same time so we had some fun and did them one at a time.  They are your family pictures and not all families are the sit and smile type.

6. Zoom In. This is especially important for Christmas cards.  People want to see you and not much else.  Fill up the picture with faces.  Anything waist down is usually not needed.

7. Do it yourself. Get out the tripod and do take your own.  I took the above picture with a tripod and remote (self timer works too).  The most important thing when taking your own pictures is to turn the flash off.  You need lots of natural light so find a shady spot outside and start clicking away.

Now that your pictures are taken you just have to upload them to Tiny Prints to make your own holiday cards.  It is so fun and easy to pick out your prints.  Stop by tomorrow for more info and Christmas card examples.