Life Inspired Link Party #2

Welcome to our second Life Inspired link party! Thanks for coming. If you linked up last week, woo hoo! And if you missed it, no sweat. Here are a couple of my personal favorites.

First is the Nursing Cover Repurposing from Crafted by KatieB. I just love that she did this for a friend who wanted to do something special with her cover, rather than just have it in a drawer (like all of my baby stuff is!). I'd like to add she entered a really awesome chevron quilt too that I might be slightly jealous of :)

I love a good bargain. Tammy from The Colored Door got this awesome drink cart for $2 at a garage sale. Score! A little paint later, it's fab! I love that color too. Two. Dollars. What!?

And, if you're wondering what the rest of the girls have been up to, head on over to their blogs and check them out. Seriously,they put me to shame! 

Popsicle Printable from Megan at Balancing Home

Wreck it Ralph Party from Alex at Poofy Cheeks

A little upholstery job from Katie at Sew Woodsy

30+ Kids Craft Ideas from Courtney at Sweet C's Designs

Now get to linking and grab a button! I can't wait to see what you came up with this week :)

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How to Make a Glow in the Dark Kids Mobile

This is a sponsored post written by be on behalf of Plaid Kids Crafts and Blueprint Social. I was not paid to write this post but was provided products. All of my opinions are my own.

This summer I get to be part of the Summer Kids Crafting Street Team. That means I get to show you some really cool projects and products to keep the little ones entertained this summer. This week the kids and I made glow-in-the-dark mobiles for their rooms thanks to Plaid Kids Crafts and using only a few supplies.

Supplies

• Craft Paint - I used Apple Barrel neon and glow-in-the-dark paints, but any paints you have are fine
• Plaid Glow-Away - This is what is really going to make everything glow
• Small Wood Crafts - I got these in the craft section and they were all really cheap... averaging 50 cents a piece.
• String
• Wood dowels (or sticks from your yard!)
• Hot glue
• Drill
• Anything else you'd like to decorate your mobile with. I used stencils and Mod Podge too.

Step 1
Set the kids free painting their wood pieces in a paint-friendly area. Plaid craft products are safe for kids so you can really let them go wild. We headed outside on the porch even though it was raining. Quite relaxing actually :)

I find using paper plates is the best way to give the kids paint. Easy clean up! (Note the rain, ha)

 They had so much fun painting all their pieces. We had a mix of 2-D and 3-D shapes. (Did you catch my Starbucks there?)

We used Plaid letter stencils to put their initials on a few pieces too.

Step 3
Add Glow-Away. Once the craft paint was dry, we coated everything in the Glow Away Gel.

It does dry a little milky/chalky, but the glow factor is worth it.

Step 4
Drill holes. Once the Glow-Away was dry, we drilled little holes in all our pieces to tie the strings to. You could probably get away with hot gluing the strings to the pieces too if you don't have a drill. Either way will work.

Step 5
Glue your sticks together. I crossed my 2 sticks and hot glued them in place. Then I wrapped the joint in ribbon and hot glued that too.

Step 6
Add strings to all the pieces and tie them to the sticks. Try and balance the weight as best you can. This will help the mobile hang straight.

Step 7
Add a string to the middle and hang. It was pretty easy to get it to hang straight by sliding the pieces down the sticks until the weight was distributed evenly.
By day...

By night...

And, they both couldn't wait to turn their lights off last night and go to bed to see their creations glow! I realize that won't last, but I will enjoy it for now! How cool :)

If you're looking for more summer kids crafts, connect with Plaid and be inspired.

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How to Make a Pirate Treasure Map: Inspired by NETFLIX Families

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Netflix.

It's summer time! For many families that means summer vacations, time with family and friends, and lots of relaxation. It also means lots of time home with the kids, and parents looking for activities the keep those little minds and bodies occupied. At my house, we swim, play outside, build forts, have picnics, shop, cook, and do crafts (not all in the same day... well maybe with a lot of coffee). We also stream Netflix to mix things up for family movie nights, long car rides, when the kids need down time (lord knows they refuse to nap!), or even to spark some imagination... Which leads me to the Pirate Treasure Map we made!

Netflix.com/families is new, available to members and non-members, and has lots of new categories we've been into lately. Some of our favorites are TV for Curious Kids–such cool age-appropriate sciencey stuff there, Are We There Yet?– good for long car rides, Quiet Time– when they just won't nap anymore, Get Ready for Preschool, and Family Movie Night. And there are no annoying commercials, all for $7.99/month.


This particular week Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Tinker Bell were the kiddos choices and got them talking about adventures, and pirates, and treasure, and all fun stuff you get to think about when you're a kid. ("Mom, could we fly if we had pixie dust?") My 3 year old has an official Jake pirate set from his birthday but the map it came with was flimsy and paper and didn't even last a week (lame). So he asked if we could buy another one. That's when I thought I could probably make one even better than the original. Here's what ya do.

Here's how to make the Pirate Treasure Map:
Supplies:

• Large sheet of paper - mine was 17" x 11" copy paper
• Scrap of thin light-colored solid fabric, same size as your paper
• Markers
• Water Colors (maybe some other paint if you have it)
• Wash Out for Kids Mod Podge (or regular, but the kids one washes out of clothes easy)
• Lighter or Candle - this part is for the parents... don't set your kid free with fire!

Step 1
Seal your paper and fabric together. Paint your entire sheet of paper with Mod Podge. Then smooth your fabric on top of that, removing bubbles. Don't worry if it doesn't match up exactly on the edges. Then paint another layer of Mod Podge over the fabric to really seal the deal.

Your paper and fabric should be glued together now.

Step 2
Paint it up.
When that is dry, paint your paper with a mix of mostly brown, black, and a little yellow and orange water colors. Make it really watery and add more paint towards the edges so it gets darker as you go out. Let that dry.

Since that wasn't as dark as I wanted, I got some black acrylic paint and rubbed it around the edges with a paper towel.


Step 3
Create your map.
Print out, use stickers, draw, cut out from magazines, etc. any images you think would work on a treasure map. Skulls, a compass, a treasure, palm trees, pirate ships, whatever. Mod Podge those suckers around. If you're feeling artsy, you can draw some trees, or mountains, or water.

Step 4
X marks the spot.
Connect all your images with a swirly dashed line and a big X where the treasure spot is. I drew mine with a red marker. (you might have to wait for the Mod Podge to dry) I also added a little detail via squiggly lines with a sharpie.

Step 5
More paint!When everything is dry, paint over it again with your water colors to blend everything and make it look old. The more wrinkles the better!

Step 6
Feel the burn!
Okay, you don't feel it, but the paper should. Burn the edges. I'm pretty sure you get it but, this step is not for the kiddos! I stood over my kitchen sink in case I needed to quickly extinguish my map (or myself). I used a lighter and slowly burnt the edges of my map all the way around. I just lit it and pretty much blew it out immediately, section by section. Sorry, no pics of the process... couldn't burn, hold, and take pics without lighting myself on fire. lol

You might want to brush off the ashes a bit... a little messy.

Now roll 'er up and congratulate yourself on making one durable (seriously, I tried to rip it.. can't) pirate map good for many adventures to come!


Arrrrrrrrrrrrr! Shiver me timbers that's a nice Pirate Treasure Map!

And, I had to leave this one in. Big sister totally annoyed that her little brother gets the spotlight for a moment. Keeping it real!

So next time you're looking for a little creative inspiration for your summer time family crafts, consider Nextflix.

Netflix.com/Families is a new destination designed to meet your family’s summertime entertainment needs. On Netflix.com/Families, parents can find lists of movies and TV shows for all kinds of special summer moments.

Visit www.Netflix.com/Families for more information on the best ways to stream as well as videos from families using Netflix.

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Life Inspired Link Party #1 + Cricut Mini Giveaway!

Guess what? I wrestled my way in teamed up with a great bunch of bloggers for a new Wednesday link party, Life Inspired. So glad you're here! Let me introduce everyone...

First off we have Katie and Jon of Sew Woodsy who are a husband and wife DIY team (and my friends in real life) that are documenting their adventure as homeowners. They share budget friendly tutorials and decorating ideas. They have recently been working on a patio refresh so you will find lots of great ideas for your outdoor space.

1. How to Create Outdoor Potted Flower Arrangements
2. Placemat Board Games
3. Aluminum Can Succulent Garden

Courtney from Sweet C’s Designs. I've been cruising around her blog lately and I am already seriously impressed with her skills in the kitchen. She is a mom to two (moms of 2 unite!) and when you stop by her blog your mouth will water over the recipes and her gorgeous photography!

1. One Pot Chicken Risotto
2. Cheddar and Pepper Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken
3. Skillet Fries

Next up is Megan from Balancing Home.  Megan lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their three kids. She was a teacher before deciding to stay at home with their kids and she blogs about home décor, DIY projects, kids projects and shares printable too!

1. Nursery Art: Gallery Wall with FREE Printable
2. How to Make Mini Burger Cookies
3. A Gabba Gabba Dance Party

And, Kelsey is the one behind the blog and shop Poofy Cheeks. She quit her ‘real’ job in November after having her daughter to stay at home with her three kids ages 5, 4 and 8 months. When she is not chasing her kids around she is creating, cooking or blogging.

1. Homemade Bacon Egg Cheese Muffin
2. Wreck it Ralph Root Beer Float Stand
3. Dollar Store Silver Wear with Washi

Such a great group! So, we got together and created a place for you to link your projects, share inspiration, and find some too. If you created it, we want to see it. And, to celebrate our first ever Life Inspired link party, our friends at Cricut provided us with a Cricut Mini to give away! (so go enter!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can link up your projects until Sunday, and the giveaway is open for a week. I can't wait to see what you have to share!

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