Baby Bumpkins!

Well hello there! It has been quite a long time since I posted, but between PCSing to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio TX to getting ready to OCS to Fort Richardson in Alaska, I have been one busy momma bee! I'm happy to say that I am back, and posting a whole lot more content!

Today's post is going to contain 2 fun activities! One that is an everyday and one that is a fun fall activity!

#1 DIY EDIBLE FINGER PAINT 

My daughter, Boston, is working on developing her hand motions, so I thought finger paint would be super fun, plus she's attracted to bright colors. Most moms would agree that finding a "baby safe" finger paint in stores is nearly impossible, so I resorted to making my own! Here's how I did it and spent less than 6$!

Step one: Buy your ingredients! 2 large tubs of plain yogurt 2.40$ each and Kool-Aid (you can pick and choose your colors) 

Step two: Blend the yogurt and Kool-Aid! I used one cup of yogurt and I poured little by little of the Kool-Aid powder until I got the color I wanted!

Step Three: Let your kiddos enjoy! I recommend putting them outside, but if you're brave then inside would do just fine! I just a dab of each on some paper for my daughter and she loved it! Her little friend AJ tasted it and didn't like the taste so much, so I wouldn't be too worried about them eating it, it's a trial and error type of deal! 

Presto! You have a fun activity for your kids that takes less than 5 minutes, cost less than 6$, and will make some really cool memories for you both! 

#2 BUMPKIN CARD 

Okay, so I totally have to give my good friend Sarah for this idea! This is such a fun activity and makes the sweetest card for daddy and a cute picture for mommy! First you have to work up the courage to paint your baby's bottom like a pumpkin! I used acrylic paint and two sponge like brushes, but I assume any brushes will work. DON'T WORRY the acrylic paint comes off in a few moments with baby wipes and didn't cause any trouble for my daughters skin! 

Take a quick little pic for mommy to embarrass baby with for many years to come! Then you do the CUTEST thing I have EVER seen! I suggest having a friend help you, it's hard to get a good butt print without two sets of hands helping to sit the baby down!

Put your darling baby's butt cheeks on paper! I made this for my husband and he loved it! It's a fun little craft and takes less than 10 minutes! Plus we all got a good laugh out of it! 

Cheap Diaper Alert!!

On March 26th, 2014 at 11:45 am I became the mother of Boston Kay LaFrancois. I had no idea what was in store for me, but I can honestly say this has been the most amazing journey and I'm only one month in!! I thought I had everything figured out about parenting, I thought I knew what to expect, but BOY was I wrong!

I never in a million years really thought about how many diapers I would use, it's starting to burn a whole through my pocket. I HAD to get smarter about buying diapers, so the quest for diaper deals began!

This week I ran into a HUGE sale at Walgreens, which I have found to consistently be the best place for bargains! Everyone's all time favorite Pampers are on sale right now for 2 packs of 42 for 18.99$ which is a great deal! BUT there was an even better deal I found! I'm not too keen on store brands, but I found that the Well Beginnings brand from Walgreens is AWESOME! My little girl has super sensitive skin, so I saw that Well Beginnings diapers are hypoallergenic. So I thought, why not I'll give them a try, and I am SO glad I did. They are so awesome! And get this -- right now at Walgreens they are 5.99$ a pack for 42 diapers!

HOLY COW! They can be purchased online or at the store for this price! Seriously, go out and buy some, stock up, you will not regret it!


Love,
Blakelee

DIY Bows

 

 

Here is the finished product of my latest DIY adventure! I must admit this was way harder than I thought it was going to be, and it took me a very long time to come out with a product I was happy with. I've been wanting to make Boston some bows for while now, I just didn't know how or where to begin. One day I just got bored and decided to go to Hobby Lobby and just GO FOR IT!

 

Materials:

- Ribbon (In Hobby Lobby they have a whole section dedicated to hair bows and headbands and all that jazz. There in a wall of "hair ribbons" in all different colors, so I started with 2 shades of pink, white, orange, navy blue, and red. While you really can use any kind of ribbon, this ribbon really holds a knot well and I recommend using it for toddler and baby bows.)

- Clips (You also have many choices of clips, also found on the same isle in Hobby Lobby. I bought the "alligator mouth" clips for 50 for 3.99$)

- Hot glue gun

- Headbands (If you're making these for a toddler then the headband isn't necessary, but since I am making them for my newborn who won't have hair, headbands are essential.)

 

 

I purchased this 3 pack at Hobby Lobby for 1.99$.

 

 

Step 1: Making the bows.

 

I recommend not trying this unless you have a lot of patience or you're just a bow making queen. I am OBVIOUSLY not a bow making queen. I went through about 10 different tutorials until I found one that was just perfect and easy for me to understand. I am going to provide links for the two tutorials I used most (I hope that isn't cheating).

 

Site 1 This tutorial came in handy because I could try making several different types of bows. I tried tying all of the bows in this tutorial until I found one that I could do the best and was most satisfied with. Some people like BIG bows and some people like little bows, it really just depends on what you want for your child.

 

Site 2 This is a youtube video that really helped me, since I am a visual learner. The bow I used, as a I did further bow research, is commonly called a butterfly bow. 

 

 These are the smaller bows I made.

 

And these are the larger.

 

Step 2: Adding the clip

 

I added clips to mine because I want to be able to change the bows from the headband. I didn't want to waste money and time by just hot gluing the bow to the headband. One, because your infant will most likely out grow the small headband size she we need at first. Two, once she starts growing hair I can use the bows as regular clips.

 

Here is the "alligator mouth" clip I referenced to earlier. I simply glued the clip to the bow.

 

 

TIP: My mom offered a very valid suggestion (which I am in the process of doing) which is to add a small strip of ribbon or felt to the bottom of the clip so the metal doesn't irritate your baby's small head.

 







 Once again the finished product! TADA! I purchased this ribbon hanger at Hobby Lobby for 6.99$ it was less than 5$ after I used my 40% off coupon!

 

Happy Bow Making,

Blakelee

DIY Pom Pom Water Bottles

As you all know I am having my baby shower this upcoming Sunday! My wonderful mother is in charge and has been doing some pretty crafty things, after work tonight I went over to her house and she was making the cutest POM POMs attached to water bottles. I think this craft would be so cute for a baby shower, a birthday party, or any occasion really! The BEST part about this is that it literally takes minutes to make one of these!

So let's start off with the tools you'll need.
- POM POM loom
(These can be purchased at Hobby Lobby, Joann's, and any other craft store alike. They can also be purchased here, on Amazon.)
- Your color choice of yarn

TIP: I will warn you, make sure you purchase the half-moon POM POM makers instead of the donut shaped ones. The donut shaped contraptions require you loop your yarn through a hole each time. With these half moons you just wrap the yarn around the loom.

Step One:
Choose the size POM POM loom you desire to use, then wrap the yarn around until you fill the entire arch of the loom. Pull the yarn tightly to make sure your POM POM is nice and fluffy and full looking.

 

 

Step Two: Cut all the way around with scissors.

 

 

Step Three: Slide a segment of yarn through the arches and tie tightly, then pull to create the POM POM.

 

TIP: Since these were made for tying around little water bottles, I suggest you leave the ends longer on each side to make for easier tying. it's better to have more than less!

 

 

TIP: You will probably need to use scissors to trim the edges of the POM POM to make them more perfect and fluffy!

 

 

Tied around mini water bottles for the shower!

 

 

Credit to my fabulous mother and her best friend Lynda!

 

Craft on, Blakelee! 

 

 

Sneak Peak at the Nursery!

I am 100% convinced that everyone needs to jump on this Hobby Lobby/Michael's/Joann's coupon wagon because I scored some awesome deals today! I spent less than 36$ on everything I got for Boston today! Also, I think I am addicted to World Market.

 

These sweet frames came from World Market and Hobby Lobby. I used the 40% off coupon on the Hobby Lobby frame (the heart) and I paid the full 9.99 for the bird frame I picked up at World Market. The frame just went with my theme way too well. Inside are some pictures of Boston's sweet daddy Ben, as a baby!

 

 

 

I've been searching for bookends for weeks, I even contemplated making my own, until I saw these beautiful over sized birds at Michael's! With my coupons the pair cost me 11.99$! I seriously had the luckiest shopping trip ever today!

 

This bird cage came from Joann's, did you know that they will take Hobby Lobby and Michael's coupons as well?! You can double and triple coupon on one item! I really felt like I was stealing this bird cage, the original value was 59.99$ and I literally paid 18$ and some change! You can get all these coupons from each of the stores websites, Joann's and Hobby Lobby have apps, or you can do it the old fashioned way and print the coupon out before you go shopping!

 

 

Just a small peak at my nursery, I'll be posting more projects soon! AND hopefully the completed nursery! 

My baby shower is Sunday (I'll post pics), but I am so so so busy! I have supplies bought for a few crafts I just haven't exactly gotten around to doing them! Get excited because they involve transforming IKEA blands into trendy items for your home!

Instagram Prints

Today I received the coolest thing I've purchased on the web in a long time, hard copies of some of my Instagram photos! I wanted to make sure my daughter had plenty of photos of Ben and I and also her family! I'm a super family oriented person and I think pictures are the best way to capture memories in the long run. Below you can see my DIY of a frame wall and today I added some pictures to my frame wall! I ordered 24 pictures from Printstagram for only 12$! The prints only took about 4 days to get to me and they are well worth what you pay! I researched for awhile before I chose this website, they have the best quality pictures from what I can tell and you also get more for your buck.

The website is great because you can order posters, single prints, photostrips, and so many more cool products! Buy some here!

Like I said, I purchased 24 prints for 12$ and here are some pictures to give you guys size and quality ideas!

So as I'm going through the photos, I was contemplating a way to hang them on the wall. I didn't want to use tacks or tape, so I settled on this craft glue (which is 100% washable by the way, you can rinse it right off the walls.). I picked it up at Hobby Lobby for a little under 3$

Then I went to gluing them in the frames! I think they are adorable! I made most of the prints of Ben and I (after all we are her parents!) and I made a large frame dedicated to her aunts, grandmas, and grandpas. 

Here's the finished product! I am going to add some letters and more decorative things to the wall this upcoming week! So look out for those! 

I obviously didn't use all 24 prints, so I added some to these cute frames for her dresser. I bought them at Home Goods for 5.99$

TADA! The most awesome way to utilize your Instagram account!

TIP: If you want another way to use Instagram to decorate your home, about a year ago I discovered THIS website that will convert your pics into magnets! 14.99$ for 9! They are so awesome!

Craft on, 
Blakelee

Frame Wall with Chalk Paint

This is my first post on my DIY instruction blog! I decided to start with this project because unlike many other projects I've done this month, I actually photographed each step, so the instructions should be easy. I'm a 22 year old soon to be mom, still attending college, and I just moved. I have to do all my decorating on a budget. I like to think I have a taste for the finer things, but I don't like to pay the price, so naturally copy catting and DIY is my forte.

Let's get down to the crafty biz! My daughter, Boston, is due April 14th. I began working on her nursery about two weeks ago when I moved into my new home. I painted her walls last weekend with two BEHR colors from Home Depot; Charcoal Grey and Ballet Slipper Pink. All of her furniture is white, and this was my first wall hanging project. I started today and I finished today, so this is one of the more simple projects I plan on completing this month.

Let's start with the paint. Chalk paint is all the rage these days, especially Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. The first time I ever used chalk paint, I was naive and bought Annie Sloan's, I paid 12.50 for 4oz of paint. DO NOT EVER BUY CHALK PAINT AGAIN! Thanks to my dear crafty queen Lynda, I learned how to make my own chalk paint for considerably lower in cost.

What you'll need:

- Whatever color paint you desire

- Mason Jar

- Plaster of Paris

- Paint Stir Stick

It really depends on what size object you're painting, but it's better to make less than more, it's so easy to whip up. For my picture frames I used less than a pint of light grey paint my friend had sitting around in her closet. The ratio is 3 parts paint to one part plaster. Ace Hardware near my house sells these awesome multipurpose plastic measuring jars that are .99 cents, and I've seen them at Lowes and Home Depot, but using an old bowl will work just as well. First you pour the one part plaster of paris in a jar, add water, but just enough water to make a thick paste. DO NOT use watery plaster of paris. Second add the 3 parts of whatever paint color you desire and stir with your paint stick. I recommend storing your chalk paint in a tightly sealed mason jar or the paint will turn solid into plaster. SHAKE before using every time! 

TIP: One bag of Plaster of Paris will last you multiple paint batches so you can make as many colors or chalk paint as you like! 

Making your own chalk paint will literally save you SO much money! 

I laid all my frames out on a cardboard palette, they were already painted white. These frames were given to me, but I've done a similar frame wall project and I found all my frames at thrift stores and spent less than 15$ on all the frames. 

I simply put one coat of the homemade chalk paint on all the frames, it took about 20 minutes. The paint literally dried in less than 15 minutes because of the plaster base, but to be on the safe side I left them outside for about an hour. I recommend buying the 1.99$ brushes at the hardware store, because cleaning chalk paint off a brush is just a terrible task I wouldn't wish upon anyone. I also heard that buying really cheap makeup brushes gets the job done perfectly. 

After the frames had dried I sanded them to make them look more shabby chic with a sandblock I picked up at Michael's Craft Store for 3.99$. Regular sandpaper works just as well, but I find this tool really useful when doing smaller objects. The best part about this project is you can sand as much or as little as you want and you will still get a fabulous result! 

BEFORE

AFTER

This is the before and after! I must say I was so pleased with the results and it did not take me long at all to complete the frames, this is definitely a one day project! Here's the finished wall below! 

For other ways to complete this framed wall look, click here!