DIY

Photo Books

spaleksicLeave a comment

Print Image 010I have been creating photo books for my kids every year just after their birthday to commemorate the previous year.  It’s a great exercise to reflect on the growth of the kids.  It’s also a great reason to sort and organize those photos that would otherwise get lost in computer land.  I attempt to highlight family trips, holidays, birthday’s and the personality of the kids.  I think that they are a great keepsake, and an update on my parent’s tradition of photo albums.  I also love that my favourite photos of the kids are archived on the Shutterfly website.  Sasha loves that there are books just about him and I am sure in time Logan will too.

Here are a couple of tips I have learned over the last couple of years while making these books.  When I download my camera photos to my computer I save them in folders by the month, so all of the March 2014 photos are saved to a folder called March 2014 (simple right).  Then I sort the photos in each folder and save the “good” photos as MAR 1, 2, 3 ect.  Once I have 12 months worth of photos sorted and edited I upload them to Shutterfly (the website of my choice for photo books).  Naming the photos by month gives me a good shot at getting them in the order that they were taken, and makes the process of adding them to the book faster.  I use Shutterfly because they often have great deals on prints and photo books, great deals like free prints and 50% photo books.  This book cost me $31.50 CAD including shipping.  I ordered this book yesterday and it is already in the mail to me, so it’s also pretty quick.  This is not an ad for Shutterfly, just my opinion.

Below is a link to the most recent book about Sasha.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=wAYt27Vi2YtGbVx8&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET

The Big 5

spaleksic2 Comments

My oldest turned 5 yesterday, and to celebrate I made this cake for gezzert.  It was a little harder than I though it would be.  I printed out the number 5 on regular printer paper and used toothpicks to stick it into the cake.  The frosting was semi-hard at this point so the paper didn’t stick to the cake.  Then I thought I would just shake the sprinkles on and the cake would be done.  Instead I had to spoon them on, and push them into the frosting.  I was wondering if the frosting should still be wet?  But not too wet because the colouring of the sprinkles would run.  If anyone knows a better way please let me know.   Then  I tied water balloons to wooden skewers, stuck them in and voila.  The birthday boy was very concerned that the heat from the candles was going to pop the balloons, rest assured that didn’t happen.  Now who wants cake….

Mobile Magic

spaleksicLeave a comment

For 18 months or maybe longer I have wanted to make a mobile to hang over the crib of my baby. My baby is now a toddler and close to out-growing his crib, but I finally got it together to make the mobile. I have been struggling to come up with a design and have not been inspired. One of the things that has stopped me from making any of the mobiles that I pinned on Pinterest was the baby’s vantage point. Most mobiles I found were made to look at from a standing position, which is fine unless you are planning on being in the horizontal position most of the time. I love the thought of an origami crane mobile but I knew the baby would be staring at the butt of a paper bird, and what fun is that? So after many, many months I was motivated, I saw a mobile that was inspired by Charles & Ray Eames who were fantastic furniture designers.   The design is based on a series of balls, so no worry about the vantage point dictating the enjoyment of the mobile. I can enjoy the mobile standing in his room, he can enjoy it while he is lying down, and it was inspired by two of my design idols. Win, Win, Win.

This was quite an easy project, but a little time consuming because of the time required for the paint to dry between coats. I started with 24-1″ round beads, 3 wire coat hangers, wire snips, a glue gun, fishing line, craft paint and a clear gloss spray paint. I cut the coat hangers into 3 or 4 pieces. I varied the lengths of the pieces to make the design a little more interesting, ending up with 11 wires. Then I glued the balls onto the ends of the wires with hot glue. I filled the holes in the beads with glue, and held for a couple of seconds while the glue hardened. On one of the longest wires I glued 4 balls, one on each end and 2 in varying lengths from the end, this is the top wire which I hung 3 wire sections from. After all of the wires had beads on the ends I painted the balls with craft paint. Spray paint would be easier but craft paint is much more economical, and my four year old helper could participate. After a coat or 2 of paint on the balls, I sprayed them all with clear gloss paint for a little sheen. I used empty upside down egg cartons as props when painting, and they worked really well. After all of the balls were glossy, I started assembling the mobile by typing the wires to each other with fishing line. I made sure to space them so that they didn’t bang into each other. After everything was joined together I balanced the wires, and hung it from the ceiling.

Keep crafting, creating and mobile making.

Toothasaurus

spaleksicLeave a comment

toothasaurusWe had a craft emergency this week at our house.  Alright I am not totally deluded, there is no such thing as a craft emergency, unless a glue gun catches fire and burns down the house.  But we did have an event that prompted the quick crafting of a Toothasaurus.  Sasha announced among tears that he has a wiggly tooth.  I can’t remember the first time that I had a loose tooth, but I guess a pretty natural reaction is fear.  Like Sasha I wasn’t expecting wiggly teeth quite yet, he is a week away from his 5th birthday so it’s the right time but I am in denial of my little person growing up.  After we talked about losing teeth and I reassured him that it’s a totally natural normal thing, we discussed the tooth fairy.  That prompted a browse on Pinterest to see what boy-friendly tooth fairy pillow ideas I could use as inspiration.  That was my plan anyway.  I showed Sasha a couple of pictures of tooth, monster and dinosaur shaped tooth fairy pillows and he decided that a dinosaur would be good.  But not just any dinosaur, the exact same one that I showed him a picture of on Pinterest.  So this is where I apologize to the person whose design I blatantly stole from a Pinterest listing.  In fairness the Pinterest link was to a store and they didn’t have any for sale anymore.  I also used a button as an eye instead of the googly one shown in the picture.  With technology as an enabling partner I printed a couple of pictures of the dinosaur image on card stock, and used that as a pattern.  Not so surprisingly I had everything that I needed to make this little dino in my craft closet, even in the right colours.  Having all of the materials excites and scares the you know what out of me, the hording of craft supplies is a post for another day.

Keep crafting, creating and losing baby teeth.

Etsy – Block Parent Designs

spaleksicLeave a comment

Years ago I opened an Etsy online craft store called Block Parent Designs.  It surprised me when my first orders were in  parts of the US, for some reason I thought that only Canadian’s would buy my stuff.  I have no idea why I though that.  It has been a long time since my site has been active, with 2 little kids and working full-time I barely have time to get dressed everyday, never mind making and selling things online.  BUT because of your overwhelming support I have updated my Etsy online store to showcase some of the items that I have been asked to make recently.   If you should order any of my creations I might just have to make them in my PJ’s, priorities you know.  Thanks for your support.

Here is the link to my online shop https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BlockParent

Ruby’s growth chart
Logan’s Growth Chart
Free knit pattern from http://www.makingalife.me
Free knit pattern from http://www.makingalife.me

Ruby Lina

spaleksic3 Comments

Recently, my four-year old and I hoped on a plane to meet the newest edition to the family, Miss Ruby. It’s refreshing after three nephews and having two boys myself to have a little girl in the family. Don’t get me wrong a healthy baby is always the most desired type of baby, it’s just nice to throw a little pink in the mix. My youngest stayed at home with dad but is showing his excitement about becoming a big cousin by sporting his new “Big Cuz” shirt.

When I arrived my sister informed me that we would be having a photo-shoot, she had pinned some ideas and gotten headbands and tutus, and would I mind taking some pictures. I used to years ago, have the same passion for photography as I do now for crafting. My passion for photography has faded and I now take pictures to document our lives, and the rest of the time my camera sits untouched. So I took my sister up on the photo-shoot challenge. After we had completed the photo-shoot I was questioning why I didn’t do this with my own kids more often.

I don’t remember who had the idea but I don’t mind saying that it was a pretty good one, to take a picture of little Ruby, with her button name sign. Ruby is also sporting a pink knit flower hat, made by moi. Reading is a family hobby, we all share books, and read as much as we can, so it’s only fitting that Ruby start young.

In my mind I think of photography and crafting as two separate hobbies, but on this occasion they meshed together to accentuate the beauty of Miss Ruby.

Keep crafting, creating and celebrating.

Bunting Crazy

spaleksic3 Comments

sasha 2There is something about those little flag banners that sucks me in, I am entranced by them.  Maybe its the colour, maybe it’s the festive feeling, either way I have been inspired to create some for the kiddies bedrooms.  Just before Christmas when the holiday decorations went on sale I was browsing the aisles at my favourite craft store and I saw a kit for a Merry Christmas bunting, for less than $4.00, SCORE.  I brought it home and went to work creating a holiday bunting, like most things I had to add my touch so I swapped out some of the felt it came with and substituted other colours.  I also thought that sticking the letters on with glue was tacky (get it…I know its so bad) so I sewed them on to add another layer of texture.  Once I knew that this little project was a success, I went back to the craft store and bought all of the kits they had, and even suckered my friend to buy one for herself.  Crafting peer pressure.  I switched the felt using some of what came with the kits and substituting the colours that would work better in the kiddies rooms, I also upgraded the ribbon from white to something with a little more character.  I think that they came out pretty good, for less than $10.00 each.  The pictures don’t really do them justice because they are all quite long.

Happy sewing, cutting, and crafting.

Growth Charts

spaleksic1 Comment

When my first son was born we lived in a two bedroom apartment, so tracking his growth old school on a door frame wasn’t going to happen. A paper chart taped to the wall just didn’t have the importance factor that I was looking for, so I came up with this fabric growth chart.  I saw other growth charts that I liked as well but I was also thinking about how easily I could transport the growth chart if we were to move.  The design I came up with rolls up to about 1″ diameter and 9″ long, which also makes it easy to mail.  I have now made a couple of these for all of the important little people in my life.   We started Sasha’s at 11 months as soon as he could stand  unsupported (February 7, 2010) and of course with the second child we weren’t quite so organized, so Logan’s began when he was closer to 18 months.

Logan getting measured for the first time
Ruby’s Growth Chart
Logan’s Growth Chart
Ruby’s growth chart
Sasha’s Growth Chart
Sasha’s Growth chart all marked up

To make a growth chart start with a heavy fabric, for Logan & Ruby’s I used the left over painting drop cloth from the Cross Dressing Christmas tree project, purchased in the paint section of a hardware store.  I cut the fabric to 7″ x 4’11”.  I bound the edges with binding tape, and hemmed the top & bottom edges at the same time.  With the binding tape I made 2″ loops at the top for the dowel.  After the fabric was sewn, I used foam stamps to print the kids names & numbers.  I taped a fabric measuring tape to the fabric to use as guide for stamping the stars.  I also used painters tape to create a straight line for the names.  I had my husband cut the dowels to 9″ and gently sand the edges.  I painted the dowels a corresponding colour to the names, and after they dried, hot glued them to the inside of the binging tape loops.  Using excess binding tape I made a loop to hang the growth chart, and tied a bow and secured the loop/bow with a little hot glue.  The project took me most of an afternoon with drying time.

Happy charting, crafting and creating.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Valentine’s Day Blankets

spaleksic61 Comments

heart 1heart 3

I saw a super cute picture of a blanket with a heart on it so I searched Ravelry and Pinterest for a pattern and came up empty, so I used a plain blanket pattern and incorporated a heart.  This is the perfect Valentine’s gift for my two littlest loves.  I hope they get lots of snuggles in these warm wooly blankets.

You can find instructions below. Enjoy! Check out the knitting tab above for more knitting projects.

This pattern is intended for personal use only. I offer this pattern for free but I request that you do not sell it or any product made from it.

Valentine’s Day Blanket

Materials

  • 18oz (3 balls) Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Fisherman
  • 6oz (1 ball) Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Navy
  • 13(9mm) knitting needles

The Pattern

Cast on 75 stitches.  When introducing the alternate colour (AC) carry the unused yarn along the wrong side.  Wrap it while knitting with the active colour to carry it.  Keep the unused yarn relaxed while carrying it and don’t pull, or the project will become distorted.

Row 1-9: Knit

Row 10: K6, P63, K6

Row 11: Knit

Row 12-26: repeat Rows 10-11

Row 27: Knit

Row 28: K6, P31, P1 Alternate colour (AC), P31, K6

Row 29: K37, K1AC, K37

Row 30:  K6, P30, P3AC, P30, K6

Row 31: K36, K3AC, K36

Row 32: K6, P29, P5AC, P29, K6

Row 33: K35, K5AC, K35

Row 34: K6, P28, P7AC, P28, K6

Row 35: K34, K7AC, K34

Row 36: K6, P27, P9AC, P27, K6

Row 37: K33, K9AC, K33

Row 38: K6, P26, P11AC, P26, K6

Row 39: K32, K11AC, K32

Row 40: K6, P25, P13AC, P25, K6

Row 41: K31, K13AC, K31

Row 42: K6, P24, P15AC, P24, K6

Row 43: K30, K15AC, K30

Row 44: K6, P23, P17AC, P23, K6

Row 45: K29, K17AC, K29

Row 46: K6, P22, P19AC, P22, K6

Row 47: K28, K19AC, K28

Row 48: K6, P21, P21AC, P21, K6

Row 49: K27, K21AC, K27

Row 50: K6, P20, P23AC, P20, K6

Row 51: K26, K23AC, K26

Row 52: K6, P19, P25AC, P19, K6

Row 53: K25, K25AC, K25

Row 54: K6, P18, P27AC, P18, K6

Row 55: K24, K27AC, K24

Row 56-57: repeat row 54-55

Row 58: K6, P19, P12AC, P1, P12AC, P19, K6

Row 59: K25, K12AC, K1, K12AC, K25

Row 60: K6, P20, P10AC, P3, P10AC, P20, K6

Row 61: K26, K10AC, K3, K10AC, K26

Row 62: K6, P21, P8AC, P5, P8AC, P21, K6

Row 63: K27, K8AC, K5, K8AC, K27

Row 64: K6, P63, K6

Row 65: Knit

Row 66-80: Repeat Rows 64-65

Row 81: K6 P63, K6

Row 82-90: Knit

Row 91: Cast off

View of the heart from the back.

IMG_20150305_092605

Happy knitting, crafting and creating.

 

 

 

Family Day

spaleksic1 Comment

In honour of BC’s family day I made this crafty piece.  Our names just happen to work together to make this scrabble like piece.  To create this on your own start with a shadow box (this one is 11×17), or a frame deep enough that you have space for the tiles between the glass and the back.  Then using matte board cut the piece that you are going to glue the letters on to, I took the back of the frame off, traced it and cut it with a utility knife.  Next using letters from a scrabble game I bought at a thrift store, I laid out the names, making sure that there was equal spacing on all sides.  Then using painters tape I made straight lines on the matte board to use as a guide when hot gluing the letters on.  You could draw pencil lines on too, but the painters tape is faster in my opinion.  Next using hot glue attach the first word to the matte board, continue placing painters tape, and attaching letters until all of the words are spelled out.   I taped the blue matte (11×17 frame with a 8×10 opening) using double sided tape onto the matte board with the letters.  Assemble the matte into the frame, and that’s it.  This craft should take an hour or so.

Materials

  • matte board or foam board (cream matte board) in a colour you like
  • scrabble tiles
  • glue gun/glue sticks
  • shadowbox frame
  • double sided tape
  • matte (blue in the example) sized to fit the frame

Happy Family Day, and happy crafting.