Guest Posting: Red, White & Blue Roundup

I am hopping around the blog-o-sphere again today.

Jessica at My World Made by Hand is having a Red, White and Blue month long party and I get to party/post over there today.

Come on over for a new Art Adventure.

Fireworks Painting!

Tuesday's Art Adventure: Favorites!

Hello, dear readers. I've actually been on vacation (and a few more days left! Yay!), so I didn't get another Art Adventure done just yet. I thought I would link up some favorite adventures that new followers may not have seen yet. If you are desperate for a new Art Adventure, I will have one tomorrow at My World - Made By Hand where I'm guest posting. :)

If you are stuck inside because it is too hot, make a Textured Paper Collage.

In this adventure you get to make your own textured paper using cheap paper napkins, a little glue and water and something with texture to press the napkins into. Then you get to take your new paper and make a collage and paint. What's not to love?

Or if you can be outside, make your own Sidewalk Chalk Paint.

Take the little stubs of chalk that no one wants to use anymore and smash them up. Mix with water and voila! Chalk Paint! This adventure also include the option of making it completely from scratch using cornstarch.

Another one that is fun and easiest to clean up if you can be outside is Action Painting.

Use watered down paint and shoestrings to paint on large paper. Bonus: learn about master artist Jackson Pollock.

And if you just are going crazy stuck inside trying to beat the heat, Salt Painting.

Paint using watercolors and sprinkle with salt and watch the paint pull away from the salt in pretty ways. It's art and it's science. Perfect for young explorers.

New and Improved Closet

I'm embarrassed to show you this, but you need to see it to understand how bad it was.

My closet. Well, Mateo's and mine. It's not very large. We have an older house that has a larger master bedroom, but it's not connected to a bathroom. We gave our son the actual master so he could have more space to play. The only downside is we have a smaller closet.

I'm 5'5". That shelf is pointless. It's a mess because I had to toss things up there.

So, Mateo took out the shelf and rod and raised them. I can easily reach the hangers and he can still reach the upper shelf. Must be nice to be tall. ;)

Then we got ClosetMaid shelves, and added two to the bottom of the closet.

They are wire shelves which I was against, until I learned that we could line them with cedar planks. (My closet smells awesome now!)

Also, the closet system has the option of a wood trim front, so we added that as well.

Now I can reach all my clothes! And, bonus, actually see them when I am trying to pick out something to wear.

The shelves don't go all the way across to accommodate long hanging items, and also taller boots from the bottom.

So, just forget you ever saw that first picture, okay? And focus on the new and improved closet.

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) Mad Skills , C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Singing Three Birds,  Masterpiece Mondays, Making the World Cuter, Sarahndipities, A Little Birdie Told Me (T) Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, Ten Buck Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Anything Related, Tuesday's Treasures, Strictly Homemade, Show Me What Ya Got, Time to Shine, Show Off Your Crafty Side (W) Wow Me,  Workshop Wednesday, Whassup Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Look What I Made, What I Whipped Up, The Trendy Treehouse, Wicked Awesome Wednesday , Good Life Wednesday, Inspiring Creativity, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) Beyond the Picket Fence  Creative Juice, Somewhat Simple, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's, Thrilling Thursday, (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday, SevenThirtyThree , Lovely Crafty Weekend , Simply Designing, Creative Corner, Tickled Pink 504 Main, Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence, Friday Flair, Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, Frugal Friday, Craft Goodies, I'm Lovin' It, Flaunt It Fridays , Thirty Handmade Days (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

Shower Curtain Painting

I told you yesterday how to make a shower curtain out of a sheet. Today I'll tell you about the image.

I've been seeing dandelions everywhere (and not just in my yard. *cue drum, da-dunch). I particularly loved this image from Persia Lou:

So, that's what I decided would be on my new shower curtain, but I didn't want to paint it because I didn't want stiff fabric. I haven't really used fabric paints much. Anyone know about them?

I've been painting tee shirts with bleach for awhile. And I used the same technique.

I drew the image on the sheet with chalk. I made some changes (you might be able to see where I crossed out and wrote no).

Once I was satisfied, I got out the bleach. Brushes with white synthetic bristles work best. The bleach destroys other brushes. Dip your brush in the bleach and paint.

If you have ever painted with watercolors, it's reasonably similar, the only thing is it takes a moment before it shows where you have painted. It is like watercolor in that you really can't undo it. In that aspect, it's not for the faint of heart.

Unfortunately this fabric bled quite a bit on the stem so it's nearly twice as wide as I painted it. Grr.

As soon as I was done (and paint it all in one go), I washed it to remove the excess bleach/stop it from working.

Next I attempted to add some lime green with fabric dye, but it didn't really work.

If I saturated it enough, it spread too much. So I gave up and rewashed it. I am still thinking about trying some fabric paint because I would like a punch of bright green in the curtain.

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) Mad Skills , C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Singing Three Birds,  Masterpiece Mondays, Making the World Cuter, Sarahndipities, A Little Birdie Told Me (T) Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, Ten Buck Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Anything Related, Tuesday's Treasures, Strictly Homemade, Show Me What Ya Got, Time to Shine, Show Off Your Crafty Side (W) Wow Me,  Workshop Wednesday, Whassup Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Look What I Made, What I Whipped Up, The Trendy Treehouse, Wicked Awesome Wednesday , Good Life Wednesday, Inspiring Creativity, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) Beyond the Picket Fence  Creative Juice, Somewhat Simple, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's, Thrilling Thursday, (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday, SevenThirtyThree , Lovely Crafty Weekend , Simply Designing, Creative Corner, Tickled Pink 504 Main, Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence, Friday Flair, Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, Frugal Friday, Craft Goodies, I'm Lovin' It, Flaunt It Fridays (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop

 

New Shower Curtain

My bathroom needs more than a mini makeover,

but Boy #2 grabbed my shower curtain and used it as a napkin for pizza sauce. Why? I can't be sure, but probably because he thought that would be a shortcut to actual washing. Sigh.

I also got some hair dye on the rug. (Ssshh. Don't tell anyone I color. ;) ) So, that stuff had to go now. I already had a lime green rug from a past set, but I no longer had the shower curtain. A child destroyed that one. Are we sensing a trend? Sigh. Again.

So, I set out to make one. Actually, I'll be honest, I would have bought one had I seen one I liked, but since I didn't I bought a full size sheet.

I measured from the top of the shower curtain to the floor. I hang mine high and want the curtain to reach the floor, so I came up with 79 inches.

I measured and marked my sheet, then I added a inch and a half for the hem. Cut off the extra fabric.

Fold the top edge down half an inch and iron in place. Then fold down an inch and iron again. This will make it so much easier when you sew it. And that's what I did next. If you don't sew at all, you could use fusable tape for this.

Next, I needed to be able to hang it. Many commercial shower curtains have button holes. I don't know how to do this. I thought about learning, but then just decided to use grommets, something else I'd never done.

Mark where the grommets should go.

My cat is so much help, as you can imagine. :)

Typically there are 12 hooks. Oh, by the way, I just used a piece of chalk to make my marks.

Cut a hole, slide the eyelet in from the front side (which is facing down) 

and slide the teethed eyelet on from the back side, settle the front eyelet on the anvil,

and slide the setting handle into the post and hammer like crazy.

 I'd like to tell you they are easy to do, but in truth, it's kind of a pain. Hammer until you think it's good and then keep hammering. I did this on the cement because you need a very hard surface. I tried a board and it wasn't hard enough.

I like the look, but I wonder if button holes would have been easier.

So, now it's a shower curtain. Tomorrow I'll explain how I created the image.

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) Mad Skills , C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Singing Three Birds,  Masterpiece Mondays, Making the World Cuter, Sarahndipities, A Little Birdie Told Me (T) Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, Ten Buck Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Anything Related, Tuesday's Treasures, Strictly Homemade, Show Me What Ya Got, Time to Shine, Show Off Your Crafty Side (W) Wow Me,  Workshop Wednesday, Whassup Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Look What I Made, What I Whipped Up, The Trendy Treehouse, Wicked Awesome Wednesday , Good Life Wednesday, Inspiring Creativity, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) Beyond the Picket Fence  Creative Juice, Somewhat Simple, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's, Thrilling Thursday, (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday, SevenThirtyThree , Lovely Crafty Weekend , Simply Designing, Creative Corner, Tickled Pink 504 Main, Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence, Friday Flair, Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, Frugal Friday, Craft Goodies, I'm Lovin' It, Flaunt It Fridays (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop

Worth 1000 {Tree Lined}

Tuesday's Art Adventure: Marble Painting

It's always fun to paint with unusual objects, so today it's marbles.

Marble Painting 

Our cast of characters (AKA Supplies):

• tempera paint
• painter's tape
• paper
• rimmed baking sheet
• marbles

First, a little prep. Place one sheet of paper on your rimmed baking sheet. I used one that is old, but the tempera cleans right off, so it's not going to ruin it. If you are worried, pick up a cheap one from the Dollar Store. Tape the paper down all around the edges.

This will hold the paper down and make a nice white boarder around the finished painting.

Have your little artist select up to four colors and squirt a line of paint on the edges of the paper, right on the paint, and add the marbles to the edges.

Now comes the fun part. Have your child tilt the baking sheet to get the marbles to roll.

Sometimes the marbles get a little stuck in paint and then suddenly roll. We had more than one marble go flying, so try not to tip too far. :)

You don't only have to go back and forth. Gabe even tried a circular motion.

When your child is satisfied. Take the marbles off (I just toss them in a bowl of water to begin the cleaning). Carefully peel your tape from the edges and set out to dry. The marbles and baking sheet clean easily with soap and water.

Both boys really liked this one. I just did them one at a time, so I only needed one baking sheet.

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) Mad Skills , C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Singing Three Birds,  Masterpiece Mondays, Making the World Cuter, Sarahndipities, A Little Birdie Told Me (T) Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, Ten Buck Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Anything Related, Tuesday's Treasures, Strictly Homemade, Show Me What Ya Got, Time to Shine, Show Off Your Crafty Side (W) Wow Me,  Workshop Wednesday, Whassup Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Look What I Made, What I Whipped Up, The Trendy Treehouse, Wicked Awesome Wednesday , Good Life Wednesday, Inspiring Creativity, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) Beyond the Picket Fence  Creative Juice, Somewhat Simple, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's, Thrilling Thursday, (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday, SevenThirtyThree , Lovely Crafty Weekend , Simply Designing, Creative Corner, Tickled Pink 504 Main, Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence, Friday Flair, Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, Frugal Friday, Craft Goodies, I'm Lovin' It, Flaunt It Fridays , Thirty Handmade Days (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming