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Thursday, February 24, 2011
And the winner is....
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Thursday, February 17, 2011
CSN Stores Giveaway!
This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering! I'm so excited to have my very first giveaway! CSN Stores has offered to give one lucky reader a $25.00 gift code to use in any of their 200 or more online stores, where they sell anything from swingsets to home decor. Seriously, they have everything!
To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment with either your email address or a link back to your profile that contains your email address. For an extra entry, become a follower of Cutesy Crafts, and leave another comment telling me that you have done so. All comments must be posted by next Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 12:00 noon PST. Winner will be chosen at random. Contest is open to USA and Canada residents only.
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Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Fishing Quiet Book Template
Click here for a template of the Fishing page of Evan's Quiet Book.
I cut two waves. One is a background wave that is completely sewn on, and the other is a pocket to keep the fish and rod in. The rod is made from half a cooking skewer. I have seen them made from unsharpened pencils as well. Currently each of the fish has a paperclip sewn into it that peeks out of it's mouth. Now that I have these
super strong magnets from Amazon, I will be putting a magnet inside each fish and using a paperclip or lanyard hook for the end of the pole. That is, if the magnets aren't so strong that the fish start to stick together.
super strong magnets from Amazon, I will be putting a magnet inside each fish and using a paperclip or lanyard hook for the end of the pole. That is, if the magnets aren't so strong that the fish start to stick together.
The templates are for 9x9 inch pages. Make sure to leave at least a quarter inch border when you sew your pieces onto the page, otherwise when you sew other pages to the backs of these, the stitching will go through them. Leave at least a half inch on the side that is going to have the holes for binding the pages together.
Cutesycrafts is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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Friday, February 4, 2011
Evan's Room Makeover Tutorial
I'm so glad everyone likes how I painted Evan's room with the magnetic road. I love reading all of the comments! I've put together this tutorial to show you what I did. To see the whole room, click here.
I'm going to apologize in advance for this product heavy post. I never want to be one of those blogs where you can't tell where the advertising stops and the blog post begins. I do however want to show you the products that I purchased for this project, most of which I purchased on Amazon. That being said, I have become an Amazon Associate, meaning that if you click any of my product links and purchase the product, I get a commission to help me fund further craft projects. Don't hate me for it OK? :)
Now onto our project!
Materials (with product links):
-1 gallon blue paint
-1 gallon green paint
-1 quart white paint
-1 quart magnetic paint (Wall Magnetic Paint - Magprime-1 Qt Wall Magn Paint
or Rust-Oleum 247596 Magnetic Primer
)
-large roller
-small roller
-any other brushes, drop cloths, buckets, or paint trays you find necessary
-tape (Frog Tape 82011 Pro Painters Masking Tape, Green 1-Inch by 60-Yards
)
-laser level or long regular level
-ruler or tape measure
-pencil
-1 inch flat head paint brush
-wooden cars
-magnets (Magcraft NSN0573 3/8-Inch by 1/8-Inch Rare Earth Disc Magnets, 30-Count)
-hot glue gun
-fabric scraps (felt and other)
Step 1: Put up your tape - Figure out how high up you want your road. I used the bottom of the window as a starting point. Make sure to check both sides of the window... mine was not level for some reason, so the taping on one half of the room was a little closer to the ground than the other half. Annoying right? But you can't tell. The distance between the top of the higher piece of tape and the bottom of the lower piece of tape is 7 inches. I used a laser level to get everything really straight and marked it with a pencil. You can use something else, but it may be more difficult.
***The dotted line - I forgot to include this when I did the project until later. Now, however would be the best time. There are a couple of ways to do this part. If you want to get it done quickly, you can just put up a third strip of tape in the middle and seal it the same as the others. If you are a perfectionist, then you can attempt to cut small strips of tape and space them evenly across the middle of the road to create the line. Keep in mind that you will need to seal each one (see step 2). I opted for the easier method. See a photo in step 4.***
Note: I started my project with white walls. If your walls are not white, you will want to paint the area that is going to have the road on it white and let it completely dry before you start anything. Check the tape manufacturer's suggestions on how to use tape on newly painted walls.
Step 2: Sealing the Tape - The green tape you see is this stuff called Frog Tape. This is the first time I have ever used it, and it worked surprisingly well on my textured walls. It's treated with something that seals the tape when it gets wet with paint. Be sure to follow the instructions found here. I would do this even if you don't have textured walls. It gave me some really great lines!
As per the Frog Tape site's instructions, push the tape into all the "nooks and crannies" on the wall. They recommend using a 5-in-1 tool to press it down, but I found that started to scrape the tape. I used my nylon pan scraper from pampered chef instead. LOL! It worked really well. If you don't have one you can find something else around the house. You need to get really up close and personal with your wall. I can tell the parts where I got lazy and did not push the tape into every nook.
Next, you want to take a white paint that is the same or close to the color of your white wall and use a brush to paint along the edges of the tape. This will activate the tape sealer and prevent the colored paint from seeping through. Let it dry completely.
Step 3: Paint your colors - Once your white paint is dry use your paint brush to paint over it again with the color you are going to use, then fill in the rest with your large roller. See the picture below. Do the same with the green.
Step 4: Magnetic Paint - Here you can see the third stripe of tape for the dotted line. Make sure to get your paint mixed at the store before using it. Shake it and mix it up again really well before and during painting. If you don't mix it well, all of the metallic paint will sink to the bottom of the can, and you will get bad results. Take your small roller and paint 3 coats, letting the paint dry between each coat. Follow the instructions on the can. Since this is a primer, I was going to paint a gray paint over it, but I liked the asphalt look. You can do what you like.
I used a magnetic primer called Magprime for this part. It had fewer, but better reviews. There were no stores in my area that sold it, so I had to purchase it online. Really lame since the shipping cost about as much as the paint. You can, however, try another product by Rust-Oleum. It got mixed reviews, but they have recently come out with a new formula that is supposed to be stronger. Check your local hardware store if you want to go that route, that way you don't have to pay shipping. Just make sure the can says it's their new, stronger formula. You can also buy it on Amazon and get free shipping if you have Amazon Prime (I have a free trial so I can get some amazing diaper deals, but this isn't the blog for that).
***Important note about the paint: It does leave it's own "texture" on the wall because of it's thickness. The can said to smooth with a foam brush while wet, which I neglected to do. This may have been the reason for this texture. I still think it looks good, but if we ever want to paint over it, we may have a problem. Do your own research and try a bit before you paint the whole wall to see if you are OK with it. The can says that you can paint over wallpaper with it, so maybe that would be a good option for you. Again, you would have to test this out.***
Step 5: Pull the tape off - This was my FAVORITE part! The Frog Tape site says to use a blade to do this, but I did not find it necessary. The lines were so straight!
Cut 2 pieces of felt to cover the spots where the magnets will be touching the wall. Use the hot glue gun to glue these on as well. This protects the pocket of fabric and the wall when your kids "drive" the cars along the road. If you want to be extra crafty, you could sew the magnets in between the felt and the fabric. That way there would be less chance of your kids getting hold of them too.
The result is not pretty, but no one is going to see the back anyway right?
So that's it! Evan loves his new room and even drives his toy cars along the road on his walls. I think this would be a cute thing to do even if I didn't use the magnetic paint!
Cutesycrafts is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Like what you see? Don't miss a post, click here to subscribe!
Now onto our project!
Materials (with product links):
-1 gallon blue paint
-1 gallon green paint
-1 quart white paint
-1 quart magnetic paint (Wall Magnetic Paint - Magprime-1 Qt Wall Magn Paint
or Rust-Oleum 247596 Magnetic Primer)-large roller
-small roller
-any other brushes, drop cloths, buckets, or paint trays you find necessary
-tape (Frog Tape 82011 Pro Painters Masking Tape, Green 1-Inch by 60-Yards
)-laser level or long regular level
-ruler or tape measure
-pencil
-1 inch flat head paint brush
-wooden cars
-magnets (Magcraft NSN0573 3/8-Inch by 1/8-Inch Rare Earth Disc Magnets, 30-Count
)-hot glue gun
-fabric scraps (felt and other)
Step 1: Put up your tape - Figure out how high up you want your road. I used the bottom of the window as a starting point. Make sure to check both sides of the window... mine was not level for some reason, so the taping on one half of the room was a little closer to the ground than the other half. Annoying right? But you can't tell. The distance between the top of the higher piece of tape and the bottom of the lower piece of tape is 7 inches. I used a laser level to get everything really straight and marked it with a pencil. You can use something else, but it may be more difficult.
***The dotted line - I forgot to include this when I did the project until later. Now, however would be the best time. There are a couple of ways to do this part. If you want to get it done quickly, you can just put up a third strip of tape in the middle and seal it the same as the others. If you are a perfectionist, then you can attempt to cut small strips of tape and space them evenly across the middle of the road to create the line. Keep in mind that you will need to seal each one (see step 2). I opted for the easier method. See a photo in step 4.***
Step 2: Sealing the Tape - The green tape you see is this stuff called Frog Tape
. This is the first time I have ever used it, and it worked surprisingly well on my textured walls. It's treated with something that seals the tape when it gets wet with paint. Be sure to follow the instructions found here. I would do this even if you don't have textured walls. It gave me some really great lines!As per the Frog Tape site's instructions, push the tape into all the "nooks and crannies" on the wall. They recommend using a 5-in-1 tool to press it down, but I found that started to scrape the tape. I used my nylon pan scraper from pampered chef instead. LOL! It worked really well. If you don't have one you can find something else around the house. You need to get really up close and personal with your wall. I can tell the parts where I got lazy and did not push the tape into every nook.
Step 3: Paint your colors - Once your white paint is dry use your paint brush to paint over it again with the color you are going to use, then fill in the rest with your large roller. See the picture below. Do the same with the green.
Step 4: Magnetic Paint - Here you can see the third stripe of tape for the dotted line. Make sure to get your paint mixed at the store before using it. Shake it and mix it up again really well before and during painting. If you don't mix it well, all of the metallic paint will sink to the bottom of the can, and you will get bad results. Take your small roller and paint 3 coats, letting the paint dry between each coat. Follow the instructions on the can. Since this is a primer, I was going to paint a gray paint over it, but I liked the asphalt look. You can do what you like.
I used a magnetic primer called Magprime
for this part. It had fewer, but better reviews. There were no stores in my area that sold it, so I had to purchase it online. Really lame since the shipping cost about as much as the paint. You can, however, try another product by Rust-Oleum. It got mixed reviews, but they have recently come out with a new formula that is supposed to be stronger. Check your local hardware store if you want to go that route, that way you don't have to pay shipping. Just make sure the can says it's their new, stronger formula. You can also buy it on Amazon and get free shipping if you have Amazon Prime (I have a free trial so I can get some amazing diaper deals, but this isn't the blog for that).
Step 5: Pull the tape off - This was my FAVORITE part! The Frog Tape site says to use a blade to do this, but I did not find it necessary. The lines were so straight!
Step 6: Separate the dotted line - I painted a 1 inch square with the magnetic paint every 3 inches along the middle white line. I used a 1 inch, flat head brush that I had from an art class that I took a while back. It's not perfect, but you can't tell unless you look very closely.
Step 7: Make your magnetic cars - You should be able to pick up these wooden vehicles at your local craft store for less than a dollar a piece.
If you do not buy anything else online, you will at least want to buy these Rare Earth Disc Magnets. They are so crazy strong! I couldn't even get them apart when I first opened the package. Be very sure NOT to let your kids play with the magnets. If swallowed, there could be some serious consequences. I have taken some extra precautions on the assembly of the cars to try and keep my kids from having access to the magnets, but you still need to use your best judgement on how much supervision your children need with them. My baby girl is still under age 3, so I am sure to supervise her when she plays with the cars.
. They are so crazy strong! I couldn't even get them apart when I first opened the package. Be very sure NOT to let your kids play with the magnets. If swallowed, there could be some serious consequences. I have taken some extra precautions on the assembly of the cars to try and keep my kids from having access to the magnets, but you still need to use your best judgement on how much supervision your children need with them. My baby girl is still under age 3, so I am sure to supervise her when she plays with the cars.
Use your hot glue gun to glue two magnets to the back of each vehicle. Cut a scrap of fabric, turn under the edges so they don't fray, and hot glue it over the magnets. That way, if the magnets fall off for some reason, they will be inside this pocket of fabric.
So that's it! Evan loves his new room and even drives his toy cars along the road on his walls. I think this would be a cute thing to do even if I didn't use the magnetic paint!
Cutesycrafts is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Like what you see? Don't miss a post, click here to subscribe!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Evan's Room Makeover
I have been so anxious to post this little project, and it's finally done (or at least I'm just pretending I don't still have some touch up left to do). We just bought our first house a few months ago, so I have been busy painting the white walls just because I can. I wanted something really fun for Evan's room. He's really into cars and any kind of transportation. Little by little I have been inspired by the things we have gotten for his room.
Inspiration #1: Evan's Ikea bedding
Inspiration #2: This car play rug that I bought here
on Amazon a couple years ago. Evan LOVES to drive his millions of cars on it!
Inspiration #3: These wooden vehicles that my mom bought at the craft store to cover up some blemishes on his dresser.
Check back in the next few days, and I will be posting step by step pictures on what I did to create Evan's transportation themed room. edit: Click here to see the tutorial.
Cutesycrafts is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Like what you see? Don't miss a post, click here to subscribe!
Inspiration #1: Evan's Ikea bedding
on Amazon a couple years ago. Evan LOVES to drive his millions of cars on it!
So, I color matched the green and blue from his bedding, took the idea of the road from his carpet, and bought some more wooden cars to drive on the road. And ta da!
And the now for the best part... remember I was telling you that I was working on a project with magnetic paint? The whole road is painted with it, and each of the cars has magnets on the back so Evan can move them around the room! Awesome right?
The next part of this makeover is going to be somehow making street signs to hang on the walls. I looked into buying real ones, but they are way out of my price range, especially the rest area sign that I want for above his bed. Won't that be cute?!
Cutesycrafts is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Like what you see? Don't miss a post, click here to subscribe!
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