Crafty Tutorials

Toddler Tip: Making Tiny Tablecloths

May 30, 2013 By Kayla Aimee

toddler tables, how to make a toddler tablecloth
Here is a quick little tip of something that is working well for us right now. I love this little white toddler table that we got for Scarlette (it’s this one from IKEA) but I did not love the thought of continually scrubbing crayon and sharpie off of it. I don’t even know where she finds the sharpies, y’all. I think I have them all under lock and key and then I turn around and there is a trail of blue marker all the way down the hallway and she’s sitting in her floor furiously drawing on the screen of her magna doodle with it.

And when I asked “Scarlette! Why did you do that?!” she answered without pausing “Well, I needed da cuhwor bwue.”

Okay then.

We also do afternoon snack time at this table and I did not relish (see what I did there?) the thought of scrubbing sweet potato off of it because that stuff dries like cement. Plus, Scarlette is not quite adept with utensils and thus, I find remnants of food everywhere. EVERYWHERE.

I picked up this oilcloth tablecloth for a regular sized table on clearance at Target after Valentine’s Day. I paid thirty cents for it, which makes me happy every single time I look at it because, well, it doesn’t take much to excite me y’all.

I cut it into quarters and then taped the raw edges under with duct tape. I’m very high-tech when it comes to my DIY projects, obviously. Then I used a little bit of removable putty on the edges of the table to keep it from moving (aka to prevent Scarlette from repeatedly throwing it in the floor.)

So now she can scribble outside the lines or spill maple syrup everywhere and the oilcloth makes for a super quick clean up since I can just swipe it with a wet rag. And when it gets ~~a bit~~ a lot raggedy I just replace it with one of the other pieces I cut.

This last picture slays me because that is what happens ALL DAY LONG. She puts one finger out at me and says “NO WAIT MOMMY! NO WAIT! I NEED *insert hilarious request here*” Also, we have no idea why she now calls all headgear “cowboy hats.”

When I was trying to get a couple of photos to share with y’all, Scarlette said “I WEAR DA COWBOY HAT EAYURS! I TAKE DA PITCHERS!” and then she ran to her toy chest, put on her bunny ears and posed like this:

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17 Comments Filed Under: Crafty Tutorials, DIY Tagged With: so easy, tiny toddler table

Scarlette’s Play Kitchen Makeover (aka Mommy Gets Crafty)

March 21, 2013 By Kayla Aimee

If you follow me on facebook or twitter then you know that I picked up this KidKraft play kitchen on clearance at Cracker Barrel this week. We visit Cracker Barrel often for lunch dates with my dad and Scarlette has been obsessed with the model they had out on the floor. We had planned to make a DIY play kitchen this summer but when I saw this one was hugely discounted I snagged it because it’s small size was perfect for our space.

Pink and purple just isn’t my thing though and I thought it would be fun if I gave it a little makeover so that Scarlette’s play kitchen could match our actual kitchen (here’s a peek at it.) Since it needed to be assembled, I figured that painting it wouldn’t be too difficult. I used some of my Making Memories acrylic paints and some Krylon Short Cuts spray paint to change it from pink/purple/teal to teal/red/silver. Here is an awkward photo of me painting:

Here is another awkward photo of me. You know, just in case you needed to laugh today. And here is the play kitchen before it’s makeover (taken of the box) and after (in terrible lighting, sorry!):

And here is what Scarlette thinks about it:

She loved it. Her reaction was better than Christmas morning. I told her that I had a surprise for her and when she saw it she said “MY TITCHEN! MY PRIZE! OH BOY! OH BOY!”

Here is what I changed: I added some little command hooks underneath the microwave so that she can have some extra storage space. I also took the kitchen timer from Anthropologie that I’ve had forever and attached it to the front cabinet. Scarlette loves that timer and is always trying to take it off the fridge so I figured that she would like to have it in her own kitchen. This is what happens when you have kids. You give them your nice stuff from Anthropologie. And your cute Jenni Bowlin box. And your figure.

I cut some shelf liner to back the microwave and oven doors so that they look fun when you open them. I made the curtains from an old dress of Scarlette’s but I am a terrible curtain maker so I am going to have a girlfriend whip some teal ones up for me. I picked up the little bowls in the kitchen section at Target on sale for $2. Other than those, I just cleaned out some empty canisters/boxes from our pantry for her to play with. Like girl scout cookie boxes. Every kitchen needs thin mints, that’s what I always like to say. And turns out, our measuring cups make perfect “pots” for using on the pretend stove.

I decided to give her a little chalkboard space in place of the pretend keypad so I just cut out some chalkboard contact paper and used my corner rounder on it. I had planned to switch out the handles for something a little sleeker but then decided against it because I wanted to keep the costs down and Scarlette thinks the plastic ones are “pwetty.”

I’m really happy with how this all came together. I spent $40 on the kitchen and $7 on supplies since I had most of the things I needed already so my total cost came in at under $50. For a brand new wooden play kitchen, I am pretty stoked about that. (And if you’re looking for one, some readers have told me they were able to get the floor models at an even bigger discount. Like, twelve dollars. Seriously!)

And because it’s just so stinkin’ cute, here is Scarlette’s reaction when she saw it for the first time ♥

17 Comments Filed Under: Crafty Tutorials Tagged With: making pretty things, play kitchen makeover

I Heart Stamping (AKA Making Cardboard Tube Heart Stamps With My Toddler)

February 1, 2013 By Kayla Aimee

Scarlette is learning about hearts right now so I’ve been collecting some activity ideas for the month of February. I saw this cute project on Pinterest about using cardboard tubes to make heart shaped stamps and thought it would be fun to try.

Plus, then I could be all “See! We are TOTALLY using all of the toilet paper tubes!” to Jeff because I might be a bit ridiculous about collecting them for our craft projects. He’ll try to throw one out and I’m all “NOOOOO!!!” as I dive in front of the recycling bin to intercept it. Probably I should be playing in the Superbowl this weekend. I’m very good.

Honestly, it was a bit hard to make the heart shape transfer as well as the example I saw (I’m totally convinced that there is a pinterest conspiracy where people make stuff and pass it off as the work of a toddler) but Scarlette loved this craft (no pun intended) so all is well. In other news, we’re pretty sure that Scarlette is a lefty.

We did things a little bit differently than the original instructions so here is what worked for us:

I really need to invest in some tempura paints because my making memories paints aren’t washable, although they are super cute. You just bend the cardboard tube into a heart shape and then use some tape to hold it in place. I also use the tape to keep the paper on the table because someone who shall remain nameless likes to throw freshly painted paper on my floor, SCARLETTE.

Also, vintage SIStv gaffer tape for the win!

I made a heart shape on both ends of the tube because Scarlette kept flipping it around and dipping both ends in the paint.

Then I just let her stamp like crazy. Also, it is impossible to do a craft like this one without singing “My Heart Will Go On” if you are me. I was all “Every day in February, we’ll stamp things, with pa-int. That is how we will learn about hearts. Near, far, right where you are, you will stamp with these hearts and these hearts will go onnnnn and onnnnnnnn.” I’M TEACHING HER VERY IMPORTANT THINGS, Y’ALL.

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3 Comments Filed Under: Crafty Tutorials, Scarlette School, Toddler Activities Tagged With: how to make heart stamps, toddler crafts, valentine's day is coming yo

A DIY Holiday | Color-A-Magnet Personalized Gift (+ Free Printable Template)

November 29, 2012 By Kayla Aimee

Since I had a batrillion leftover magnet sheets from my calendar project, I tried to think of lots of different ways to use them up. I decided to make personalized photo magnets that Scarlette could color on and that I could include in our Christmas cards for out-of-town relatives.

Basically I just made a little template in photoshop, printed on heavy cardstock and then stuck that to the sticky side of my adhesive magnet sheets. Then I let Scarlette color or paint with glitter paints on them. She doesn’t quite grasp the whole “color inside the lines” thing yet since we’re still working on things like “how to hold a crayon” and “no feeding glitter paint to Lucy Dog” so I taped the discarded wax paper from the magnet sheet over the areas I didn’t want her to color on (like the photo of her) and then removed it when she was finished. (I used washi tape and it just lifted right off!)

After she colored on them I cut them out and used my corner rounder on the edges. I’m currently involved in an intense love affair with my corner rounder.

Here is what they look like before and after she colored them in:

Probably she is going to be the next Picasso, am I right or am I right?

I made a few others using some of my favorite digital kits to make them a little more fancy. But if you want to try it out, I made the above template in a layered .psd file so that you can add your own photos/names. It’s super easy and as you can see from the photos above, Scarlette really likes coloring on anything (the walls, Lucy Dog, the pants I left to dry over the back of a chair in the den…) so she seemed to have fun doing it, even if it really might work better for an older child.

Click this link to download the free magnet template: KA Magnet Template

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5 Comments Filed Under: Crafty Tutorials, Free Printables, Free To A Good Home, Tutorials, Uncategorized Tagged With: diy mangets, free printable, handmade holiday

How To: Make A Rolled Paper Christmas Tree

November 26, 2012 By Kayla Aimee

One of the most popular tutorials on this blog are my paperback Christmas trees. And inevitably when this time of year rolls around I get a lot of requests for a tutorial on the rolled paper tree that is shown in the photo. I included the instructions for that tree in a class I taught a few years ago so until now I haven’t made it available publically. But since I no longer teach it, I decided to post it here for those of y’all who asked!

This is one of my favorite projects. I will warn you, it is not a quick project but it is easy and cute. I made these three years ago and with proper storage they are still holding up really well- I put them out every holiday season! Forgive my photo quality, this project was made way before I had my fancy camera.

Here are the supplies you’ll need to make the tree:
One styrofoam or floral foam cone shape
One paper back book (you could also use patterned scrapbook paper for a colorful version)
Straight pins or brads
Dry adhesive (I use Glue Dots or Terrifically Tacky Tape for this project)
Glue
A pencil
Glimmer mist or glitter spray (optional)

Here is what you will need to make the star:
Wooden star OR paper star as shown in the How To Make A 5 Point Paper Star video
White glue (I am using the Martha Stewart Glitter Glue w/Brush because it’s AMAZING)
Glitter (I am using a mixture of Martha Stewart TINSEL glitter in Brownstone and FINE glitter in Smoky Quartz)
Paper Sealer

STEP ONE: Start with a cone shape like this one. Using straight pins, attach book pages to the form, wrapping them to take the shape of the form. It’s okay for them to overlap messily, this step is just so that you don’t see any foam peeking through. Also, you’ll notice that I used brads instead of straight pins. That’s because I own 2,485 brads that were just taking up space in my scrapbook room. They work just as well as straight pins and since I had more brads than straight pins, using them up meant I didn’t have to spend extra money buying straight pins and I de-stashed a bit.

STEP TWO: Cut some book pages or pretty scrapbook paper into one to one and a half inch vertical strips. You can choose the size of your strips, just know that the smaller you cut them, the longer this project will take (trust me on this, y’all!) You don’t have to use book pages, you could use sheet music or some fun, holiday themed patterned paper. Just make sure that whatever paper you use is double sided.

STEP THREE: Cut the strips horizontally. You can choose your length here also. I didn’t measure, I just cut the vertical strips into thirds.

STEP FOUR: Starting at the bottom of your piece of paper, roll the end of the paper around the pencil. You want to make at least one full roll and then go about another half roll after that. If you want really curly trees, make tighter rolls, rolling around the pencil at least twice. You can roll about two pieces of paper at a time, any more than that and the curl doesn’t take. Trust me on this.

If you want very tight curls that look a bit loopy, lightly mist your paper with water from a spray bottle before rolling. Another fun idea would be to brush the edge of each rolled piece of paper with glue and then dip in glitter so that just the edges sparkle. I want to try this but my husband has currently placed a moratorium on my excessive use of glitter

Pay attention to the text on your strips, you want all of your text facing the same direction so don’t accidentally roll any backwards or upside down. Learn from me, Grasshoppers.

STEP FIVE: Using a straight pin or brad or dry adhesive, attach the top of the strip to the base of the form. You’ll want to pin the pieces to the form in a circular pattern, starting at the wider part of the base and working your way up. It’s important to vary each piece slightly in height so that it doesn’t look too uniform. Also, be sure to overlap each piece slightly.

Don’t worry about the fact that you can see the brads/pins right now. You’re going to place the next layer over top of it, so that it hides the brads. When layering, place the new piece so that it falls between halfway and a quarter of the way over the piece below it. This will hide the brad AND help the tree look fuller.

Also, occasionally pin two pieces of paper with one brad, to create more texture and break up the look a little, as shown below.

STEP SIX: After you’ve worked your way to the about an inch or so from top of the tree, use dry adhesive or double sided tape to create a circle around the top of the tree.

This is where you will press your final circle of curled papers, so that there are no brads showing at the top!

STEP SEVEN: For the very top of the tree, take one full strip of paper and cut it in half. Roll each end of the resulting strip. Lay one strip over the other so that it looks like a plus sign (+). Put some glue on the top of the form and about a quarter of an inch from the top of the form. Lay the strips (still holding them like a plus sign) over the top of the form. At this point, I use some string to tie around the top of the form. This will hold those final two strips of paper in place until they dry, like in the photo below.

STEP EIGHT (OPTIONAL): Spray the tree lightly with Glimmer Mist or glitter spray!

Now let’s make a star for the top of the tree:
You can use a purchased wooden star OR you can make a star from paper, just watch this video for instructions on how to make a 5 point paper star. If you make the paper star, be sure to spray it with a paper sealer so that it hardens.

Brush white glue liberally all over the star. Dip the star in glitter. I mixed together the Martha Stewart glitter mentioned above because the tinsel glitter gives it a festive look.

If you use a wooden star, you’ll need to glue it to a small stick and push that stick into the center of the top of the form. I used the paper star because then you can push a pin through the back of the star on each of the bottom points to attach it to the form with no visible seam!

Fun right? Okay so yeah, my fingers hurt. But such cute trees! And a great way to use up tattered old books. Here is a picture of it in my house this year, three years after I made it- you can see that it has held up pretty well, I just need to give it a little facelift and re-roll a few pieces!