Month: August 2011

Box Step

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Wanna see what we did with the plaster feet we made?  If you answered yes, keep reading.  If your answer was no, stop by tomorrow.  I decided these feet would look adorable framed in shadow boxes.  I had two sitting in my office, so I gathered other supplies.  Two pieces of foam core, cut to the size of the glass, a piece of canvas (left over from the drop cloth curtain in the laundry room.  I also used a few scraps to cover a lampshade), scissors, Mod Podge, masking tape, labels, Elmer’s glue, and epoxy.

I started by cutting my canvas to size, laying the glass down as a guide, keeping two inches of extra material on all sides.

Then, I Mod Podged one side of the foam core and placed the foam on the center of the fabric, pressing firmly for nice adhesion.

To eliminate excess fabric, I cut the corners of the fabric.  I added more Mod Podge to the back and pressed the fabric down.

With each side folded down, I added a strip of masking tape, just to prevent any shifting.  You could skip Mod Podge on the back and just stick masking tape.

A quick search through my scrap booking supplies left me with two label holders, with brad holders.  I cut two small pieces of cardstock to label each foot.

With my fabric in place, I found the center and marked the holes of the label holder.

Because the foam is 1/4 inch thick, I used a screw to make holes for my brads.

The only problem?  The brads are only 1/4 inch long.  Not long enough to go through the foam.  Rather than a wild goose brad chase, I opted for the easy way out, Elmer’s glue.  A little glue on the brad and another dab in the hole and everything worked out.

Now, it was time to glue the foot molds in place.  Elmer’s just wasn’t going to work, so I used an epoxy.

I didn’t want to clean epoxy off anything, so I scoured the kitchen for a plastic lid and fork to mix on and with.

With the epoxy mixed, I generously covered the highest areas of the back of each foot.

Some areas don’t touch the backing, but that’s just fine.

Other areas touch nicely, but a little of the epoxy oozed out.  Again, not a big deal.

Epoxy takes about 12 hours to set up, so I left the pieces out overnight, but I snapped a few pictures while they dried.

I like the look of the canvas backing, the grains of sand, and the official looking label holders.  Next step, framing and hanging.

So, how much did this little craft project cost?  The plaster cost $7.99 and I had the rest of the supplies.  And, I still have plaster left over for future projects.

What do you have in shadow boxes?  Have a favorite home-made art piece you made?

Rainbows and Me Red Balloons

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Hearts, stars and horseshoes.  Clovers and blue moons.  Pots of gold and rainbows and me red balloons.  As I mentioned, Vincent’s fourth birthday is coming up.  The theme he requested was colored balloons, which made me think of the Lucky Charms commercials.  So I made an invitation to reflect that theme.

A bunch of rainbow-colored balloons, rainbow confetti and a number four with the birthday info.  When I asked Vincent what he thought of it, he said, “Huuuuhh (that was him sucking in his breath) It’s beautiful!”  I love that he’s still pretty easy to please.

For more fun and color, I gathered rainbow-colored envelopes with coordinating mailing labels.

I thought about adding confetti, but decided against it.  That might be annoying for unsuspecting party attendees to have to clean up off their floors.  Our guests have received the invitations and the response has been great.  Though, we have had a few questions about the no gifts policy and the time.  The reason?  Our boys have been showered with love, affection and toys, and don’t need anything.  As for the time, the 21st is Vincent’s actual birthday, but because it falls on a weekday, we decided to host a dinner party.

How do you decide your child’s birthday party theme?  Do you let him or her choose? Or the time?  Have you instated a no gifts policy?  Ever opened an invitation filled with confetti?  Did you think it was cute, or annoying?

Step by Step

Published on by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

Young House Love mentioned Tori Spelling linked to their blog in one of her posts.  I didn’t even know Tori had a blog, or that it had a lot of cute ideas, like making plaster feet.  I thought it was fantastic enough to give it a try.

So, I took a trip to Hobby Lobby for plaster of Paris, but didn’t find any.  I did find something that sounded like it would work, PermaStone.

On my way home from HL, I stopped by the park by our house to steal borrow a bucket of sand.  Then, I took out three shallow baking dishes.  One for Vincent, another for Everett and one more for my cousin’s 18 month old son.  With the wet sand firmly packed, Vincent stepped on his tray.  Nothing happened; it was too tightly packed.  So, I dug up the sand and had him step again, gently pulling his foot out.  The impression was okay, but not great.  So, we tried again.  This time, I pushed his foot down and pressed sand against the sides of his feet and toes.  Finally, a great mold.

Then, we tried this with the smaller kids.  This proved to be much more difficult.  They squirmed more and didn’t really like having their feet pressed in the sand.  We originally planned to cast both feet of each boy, but it just didn’t seem worth the effort.  After getting a clean impression of each foot, I mixed up the plaster.  This plaster calls for three parts plaster mix and one part cold water.  I mixed three-quarter cups of plaster and one-third cup water because one-quarter cup of water was really thick.

I carefully poured the mixture into the sand mold, filling to the top, but not overflowing.

Luckily, the plaster sets up quickly, but we left to dry for a few hours.  When I took the feet out, they were covered in sand.

I gently brushed the sand off, then washed the rest off with water.  A few larger rocks stuck in, like the one at the top of this picture, so I pulled those out, too.

Vincent’s foot is gigantic, but it looks so cute.

Surprisingly, a lot of detail remained.

I over poured Everett’s box foot a little, but it’s close to the real thing.

His pinky toe smooshed slightly when I pulled his foot out of the sand mold, so I pressed the sand down with my finger, hence the slightly outset toe.  I showed Everett, and he thought the little foot was fun.  He wanted me to press the mold against his foot repeatedly.  I have big plans for these little feet, so check back soon to see what happens.

Meanwhile, I would like to know if you make baby keepsakes.  If so, what?  Paintings?  Inked foot or hand prints?  Framed a small outfit?  Lock of hair?

Gimme a Giveaway: Cottage Light Studio Winner

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Helllooo and happy Friday, friends!  Last week, we asked what you do to soak up summer.  Many answered outdoor barbeques, trips to the beach and playing with the kids while they’re home from school.  Our kids aren’t in school yet, and we don’t have many beaches close by, but we do enjoy lounging on a blanket in the back yard, Ben enjoys golfing and we take family trips on the boat.  In fact, Ben’s brother is visiting from Alaska, so we may take a day trip next week, for one last unofficial summer’s end hoorah.

Enough about us, let’s announce the winner.  Random.org chose number 11, Nicole.  Nicole loves the Summer Meadow print and staying out late with the neighbors while the kids play together.  That does sound nice, huh.

Have a fantastic weekend and do something fun.  See you back here on Monday.

Paint Debate

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I’ve considered paint colors for the laundry room and just can’t decide what I want.  Can you all lend a helping hand, well, voice?  Initially, I thought we’d paint the laundry room walls the same pale green color we have in the basement bathroom, with blue accents.

Because our laundry room was nowhere near finished, I added peacock blue accents to the bathroom.

The rooms are on opposite sides of the stairwell, but if we use the same color, I don’t want matching rooms.  Kinda shot myself in the foot on that one.  So, now I’m wondering, do I paint the laundry the same color as the bathroom?  If so, what accent color should I use?  Yellow and lime green, like this?

I don’t want to use pink or purple.  After all, this is Ben’s office, so nothing too girly.  The cabinets will remain white, so brown with lime green might be an option.  The tan floors and canvas curtain have similar tones.

{via}

Maybe adding a pattern somewhere?

Or, I could nix the green paint entirely and go with grey paint and any accent color I want.  I just know we need to lighten and brighten up our windowless laundry space.  I keep going back to two of my favorite recently revamped laundry spaces.  Jen at IHeart Organizing’s laundry room is fresh and fun.  No, I’m not saying this because she’s my friend.  I’d like it even I never met her.

Young House Love’s grellow and pink laundry room is light and airy, without being serious.

What are your thoughts?  Any votes for green walls with yellow and lime green accents?  Green walls with brown and white accents?  Grey walls with any color accent?  What are your favorite laundry rooms?