Dyed Mason Jars

This started out as a project gone awry.

The idea is a great one, and it looked SO easy, but DANG the drips really don't disappear.

Essentially, you mix water, food coloring, and Mod Podge together, and coat the inside of the jar.  Let the jar dry and voila!  But my streaks really did not disappear.  I let them dry longer, as recommended.  In the oven.  For 2 hours!  No dice. 

So I figured it was too watery and tried a few different tricks.  My jars are really dark, but I LOVE them...

The only spots that are 'drippy' are around the lids, which is fine, because they'll be covered.  By lids.

Here's what a did differently than the instructions:
  1. I used no water.  I mixed food coloring directly into the Mod Podge.  The food coloring was watery enough that it allowed the Mod Podge to roll around inside the jar just fine.
  2.  I mixed the coloring and Mod Podge in a seperate bowl, then poured it into the jar.  Otherwise you end up with white globs on the bottom of your jar.
  3. I kept the jars upside down for the entire drying process.
  4. I let them dry in the oven for 2 hours.  Seriously.

I had a little coloring left over, so I used a paint brush to apply the remaining coloring to some smaller jars.  They're streaky too.  Seems like you really need a very thick coat of this stuff to keep it from being streaky.

Izzy (Jake and the Neverland Pirates) Costume

Little Lady A had 'pirate day' at school this week, and you know as soon as I told her that she knew what pirate she would be.  Izzy, from Jake and the Neverland Pirates of course!

Thankfully we already had the purple pants.  We got a pink shirt at Target and sewed on a few ruffles at the bottom, found brown boots at Target on clearance ($6!) and I cut out some pink ribknit for a bandana.  I do believe, however, the pixie dust was her favorite.  An 8-inch square of yellow fabric, a little ball of stuffing inside, tied with a brown string.  Miss A was in heaven!

Not bad for about $10 and 30 minutes of crafting.

Bug Birthday Treats

My little man turns 3 this week.  THREE!  I was trying to think of something fun to send to his class for a birthday treat and found this candy butterfly idea.  Since there's no reason why butterflies cannot, in fact, be bugs, we made our own version...

The kids helped decorate several pieces of construction paper.  I cut them out, and Elmer's glued the wings together....and for my favorite part...added GOOGLY eyes!

Too fun!  The antennae had to be hot-glued to the construction paper, but that was it for the hot glue.  Who knew Elmer's glue would hold those KitKat bars on there so well? 

Not the healthiest treat, but they're tiny.  And it is a birthday after all!

Easter Bunnies

We made ourselves a little Easter Bunny banner last week.  Idea courtesy of Serving Pink Lemonade  here.

I had some bunnies I'd drawn up for my Easter Applique Bunny shirts last year, so I printed them out and Lady A and I cut them out and glued on some cotton tails.  It's amazing how much fun such a simple project is for kids.  I guess it's more about doing something with Mom than the actual project, eh?

Target Bag

Have you seen these giant tote bags at Target?  I know, it's not something I made.  But why make a giant mesh swim bag when I can buy it for cheaper!  $9.99 and super cute.  Sold!

St Patty's Day Outfits

I had a lot of fun last year with the kids' St Patty's Day outfits.  Unfortunately this year I'm sure the big green day will slip by without any special outfits if I'm to get everything else done I'd like to do.  Of course, that would also mean I need to stop reading all the library books I've got on my Kindle right now....so hard to drag myself away!!!

Last year I printed out a St Patrick's Day coloring page, had the kids color it, scanned it into the computer and then printed it out on the t-shirt transfer material.  They turned out pretty well!  And SOOOOO easy.  Maybe I should do it again this year....

I put a little shamrock on the back and did make the little Miss a pair of pants to go with the outfit.

Stretchies

Have you seen these Shape Stretchies?  Over at Skip to My Lou?  As soon as I saw them I thought they'd be great for my daughter's preschool class when it's my day to go hang with the kiddies.

I saved up my JoAnn's coupons and purchased a yard or two, and it really didn't take much.  I cut three inch strips, which was plenty wide, and made 13 in all (there are 12 kids in each preschool class).

The kids absolutely loved them.  I got all 12 children completely riled up with my stretchies fun, and then left.  Haha! Joke's on those teachers who invited me into the classroom!  You know I left that bag o' stretchies with that teacher...

I wish I'd had the energy to make her a nice bag for these babies, but I simply ran out of steam.  I've got a big quilt project I'm working on, along with a few other odds and ends.