My Oma is...Coasters from Grandkids

I know it is really early for Mother's Day gift ideas, but if I don't share this now I am going to be too busy and not get it posted in time. So at least this way you have plenty of time to use this idea for yourself.

I had these marble tiles laying around from the many other coasters I have made in the past. The first was the half-marathon bib coaster I made for my husband and the second set was the monogrammed coasters I made for a girl friend who was retiring. I purchased these tiles at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore but you can find them for really reasonable at HomeDepot or Lowes.

My mother is lovingly called Oma by her five adoring grandchildren. As with every family, each child has his or her own special relationship with their Oma. So, I thought what better way to express that unique relationship then to ask each of them to describe their Oma with one word and make a set of 6 coasters with those words.

I love how each description was a representation of each child and my mom knew immediately which coaster was from which grandchild. 

Materials

• Marble tiles (unsealed)
• StazOn permanent ink stamp - This permanent stamp can be purchased at Michael's for around $7 (I believe) and if you use a coupon you can get it for 40% less.
• Vinyl or stickers to use as template
• Sponge brush

Method

There are many ways you can do this craft. I designed and cut the templates out of vinyl with my Cricut, but you can use stickers from the dollar store or even stamps to make them.

I started off by cleaning the tiles with a damp cloth. When I purchased them, they seem to have a powder all over them.

Once dry, I stuck the vinyl directly to the tile. I placed the vinyl in different locations and directions on the tiles so they were more whimsical.

Using StazOn permanent stamping ink in black, I brushed the stamping ink over the vinyl with a sponge brush.

I found it worked best to wipe the brush across the template as opposed to dab it. I waited a minute and did a second coat to get a really dark black.

Here is the one tile I dabbed the sponge on; you can see how the ink bled under the vinyl and didn't give a crisp line. It did not look horrible but not as nice as the others.

Here is one where I brushed the ink across the vinyl like I was painting it on. See much crisper.

Once all the tiles are stamped and all the vinyl/stickers have been removed, you need to bake the tiles to make the stamp permanent and fade resistant.

Don't judge the how dirty my toaster over is...I use it for everything!

I baked my tiles in my toaster oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Once the time was up, I turned off the toaster oven and let them cool in there. They retain the heat for a long time so please be careful.

Also, don't venture too far away when they are baking just in case your tiles do not like to be heated. Just be careful and aware!

I did not put a sealant over the tiles they they can absorb the sweat from cold drinks.

After they were cooled, I put rubber stoppers from the dollar store on the back. I have used the soft felt ones before but found they slid off tables really easily. So these work much better!

I had each of the kids write their names and date on the back of the tiles with permanent markers.

My mom loves them and the kids love to use their own coasters when they visit. The kids have even noticed when Oma was using their coaster, so she now has to pay attention to not use one all the time. Share the coaster love amongst all the grand kids :)

So that is it. Simple, easy, cheap but most importantly personal gift idea!

What do you think..do you see the possibilities with this? Mother's day gift, father's day gift, teacher gifts...really you could give these for so many different occasions.

Stephanie

A Dad is...DIY Wood Quote/Magnetic Photo Holder

As I previously mentioned, I set a goal of making most of my Christmas gifts from scratch this past Christmas; however, I really struggled with the gifts for my husband and my brothers.

I had Pinned something similar to this ages ago (here) that I liked but I didn't know how to create the exact look I wanted.

I was talking with my sister and we came up with the idea of using a piece of old barn board flooring from her barn (built over 120 years ago) to make this. My sister found a piece of wood that was approximately 12 inches wide and lightly planed it to get a smoother surface.

If you, like me, don't have access to old wood, you can buy freshly cut 12 inch wide planks from a local hardware store and distress it to get a similar look. Take a hammer to it, scratch it up, sand it a bit here and there. It is quite easy to do.

We cut 12 inch squares and lightly sanded the rough edges. We loved the imperfections, so we did not sand the top and once we were happy with the look, we sealed it using the same sealant I had laying around and used for the tree stump coasters.

Isn't the color gorgeous!? That is without staining it!

I designed and cut the saying out of black vinyl on my Cricut.  The metal circle was something I had laying around from the Dollar Store (it was used to hold 5 magnets that I purchased). It was originally bright silver, so I spray painted it Oil Rubbed Bronze. Once it was dry, I hot glued it to the wood.

I found pictures I liked of my husband with each of our children. He didn't like how I picked photos of him with his glasses on but we can always change them!

I put metal hangers on the back of the wood so we could hang it, but I prefer standing behind my couch on the table using a plate stand. Either way I display it, I love it!

Since we found all the materials for this project around the house, we were able to make these for nothing. If I didn't have all the materials, I think I could do this for around $10 each (if making a few).

What do you think? I know need to find something equally great for Father's Day!

Stephanie

Fall Pumpkin 4x4s - Decorating on a Dime

My husband went away a few weeks ago for a guys fishing weekend and while he was away I decided to spend the weekend doing crafts. Initially it was to be all Christmas crafts but I decided to throw some Fall items in too.  You know the adage, when the cats away, the mice will play....well in this house it is when Daddy's away, mommy will craft!

You might have seen in previous posts, I have a corner sink in my kitchen. I absolutely love the 4 windows that surround it but I have always had some difficulty deciding what to do on the large triangle shaped ledge behind it. How do I decorate the little nook? I have thought it might be nice to make that my seasonal decoration spot. In the summer I had herbs there, at Christmas I put my ornament tree and at Halloween I tend to put gourds.

I had a left over 4x4s from another craft, so I decided I would cut 1.5 inch  slices off the end of the 4x4 on my husband's miter saw. I have only used this a few times since he bought it so I had to work up a little nerve. So I put on the gorgeous safety glasses he left out for me (why can't they make some that actually fit my small head), plugged in the mighty machine and cut 4 slices of the 4x4. I was grinning from ear to ear after I was done. I ran inside and said to the kids "Look what Mommy just did!" They weren't nearly as excited as I was.

I lightly sanded the rough edges and I painted each piece with a mix of pumpkin orange and burnt umber acrylic paint.

I wanted a deep but not bright orange so this mixture worked well.

I had some large branches left over from the other craft involving the 4x4, so I cut them in 2-3 inch sections. I liked the ones cut on an angle the best.

I hammered in a long finishing nail (I think that is what they are called - the ones with no real head on them) appropriately half way.

 I then pulled the nail out of the 4x4.

I flipped the nail over and hammered the head of the nail into the hole I just made. I honestly don't know if this damages the head of the hammer, but I assumed it was ok. My husband hasn't said anything about it yet, so all is good.

I hammer the nail approximately halfway into the pilot hole.

I took the twig and lined the middle up with the nail.

Hammer the top of the twig until the other half of the nail goes into the twig.

Here are the 4 done. Aren't they cute? I like the ones with the knobs on the twig and the one on the angle. I roughly sanded along the edges with a low grit sandpaper to give it a worn weathered look.

I then cut out of vinyl the words Fall and Boo! on my Cricut. So on one side of the pumpkin it says Fall in white and the other side has Boo! in black. I like the idea I can put these somewhere you can see both sides.

I tied some raffia around the stems and made some curly ques with left over paper covered wire from making the wire pumpkins.

I am very please with how they turned out. The wood has started to dry and it has cracked on a couple of the edges making it look a little more rustic, I like that.

So since I had all the materials on hand, this project cost me nothing.

What do you think? Do you do seasonal decorating?

Stephanie

F-ing Retirement Gift (Part 2) - Monogrammed Marble Tiles

As I mentioned in my previous post, a friend of mine decided to take an early retirement. I struggled with a personal gift to make and came up with monogrammed wine glasses and coasters. See here for the wine glasses.

The coasters I made were so extremely simple, that they have been added to my Christmas to do list. I know it is only August, but I have started my Christmas craft gifts already. I will be posting a few of them very soon so all of you can benefit.

I purchases these amazingly beautiful, white Carrera marble 4x4 tiles at Habitat for Humanity for only $0.40 each months ago to make the runners bib coasters for my husband. I scooped up every single one that was not chipped and almost ran out the door screaming "start the car".

For my girl friend, I decided to do something a little different then a standard set of 4 coasters with 'F's (her last name initial) on them. Instead I made one for each of the members of her family. So when they all are having a glass of wine with 'F's etched on them, they can use their individual coaster with their initial on it so they can keep track of their glasses.

I always wash the tiles before I do anything with them because when you first get them they are almost chalky. So after a good washing and letting the completely dry, I added vinyl cut with my Cricut. I tested out a few different fonts, sizes and ended up liking how these lower case letters looked. The font is a free one called Bell MT and each letter (except the 'r') was approximately 1.5 inches wide and high.

I then added four no slip stoppers (you can get these at the dollar store) to the back of each of the coasters. I have used the felt pads on the back before and I found out the hard way they slide really easily off a table. So these no slip ones are much better.

This next step is completely optional. I sealed the fronts of the tiles with a mat spray finish. I did this so that the tiles would not stain, but if you don't seal them, the tiles nicely absorb liquid when the glasses sweat. So it is completely up to you.

 

 Aren't they cute! So a set of 4 costs under $3.00 ($1.60 for the coaster, $1 for the no slip pads, few cents for vinyl) and a set of 6 isn't much more!

Are you ready for Christmas ideas yet? I will be sharing some very soon so don't be shocked.

Have a great day,
Stephanie

Little Gardner Gift Idea

This time of year is full of birthday parties for us. My adorable little nephew turned three last week and I struggled with what to get him. Between him and his two brothers, they have almost every toy a child could ever want; plus I really like to make gifts for them. So I thought I would make him one of those amazing poufs you see at Pottery Barn so he can sit in his room and look at books. I had a day and a half set aside to make one for him (and probably one for his older brother too) and then a wrench was thrown into my plan. Two back-to-back days spent at the hospital; one with my mom and the other my husband.  Everything turned out fine with both, but I no longer had my day and half to sew. What to do?

Well this is what we (my daughter and I) came up with. Since Brendan loves to play in the garden, especially when his parents are working in it, we thought we would make him his own gardening kit. Even though he is a little young for gardening per say, he still loves to get in there and dig stuff.

We started at the dollar store and got him a watering can, a knee pad and two pairs kids gardening gloves. All three were in his favorite color green. We then headed to our local hardware store and bought a gardening bag that had kid sized tools in it, a small plastic rake (they only had purple), some seeds (pumpkin, tiny tomatoes, snap dragons, etc) and a large pot.

 I created a design on my Sure Cut Alot 2 program to put on his container that said 'Brendan's garden' with a few walking bugs. He hates almost all bugs so I tried to make them as cute as possible. I cut the design with my Cricut out of vinyl (didn't use contact paper this time) so it would stand up outside.

We put all the items into the container, wrapped it all in cellophane with a happy birthday balloon.
 I had really wanted to make a little sign to put in the garden with chalkboard paint, but time was limited so this was all I could do.

 The total price was around $30 ($10 for the tool kit, $6 for the rake, $5 at the dollar store, $6 seeds and $4 for the container) but if I had more time and planned ahead, I could have done it for less. But that is what happens when I wait until the last minute.

Either way I was happy with how it turned out and he seemed thrilled to have the rake and the tools.

I have for many years planted vegetable gardens with each of our kids. They pick the vegetables, plant them, water them and harvest them. Even though we live in a pretty big city with smaller yards, we still feel it is important to grow our own vegetables and teach our kids how to do this. We personally love Tiny Tom tomatoes, larger tomatoes, red and green leaf lettuce, slicing cucumbers and all types of peppers. Do any of you do the same thing?

Perhaps I will share in May how we do our kids gardens. We can't plant outside until May 26th weekend this year, so I will have to wait a couple of months.

Happy gardening,
Stephanie