Ikea hack: Ikea Knuff magazine file upgrade

 I made these for my son late summer to help him organize his school stuff. The color matches his desk (http://thefeverishfeltist.blogspot.hu/2012/09/redecorating-upcycling-old-desk-for-kids.html). The theme he chose was space, and Á asked that his favorite softy Biscuit the dog be included.

 I added speech bubbles so we can label each...

but since the use of the boxes may change (as he just started school) I only wrote the labels on post-it notes. I can paint a permanent label on it when the time comes.

Paper Easter Eggs

 We made these eggs one evening with my sister-in-law from three sheets of thin card using zigzag scissors and a star shaped hole puncher and a glue stick.  We made about 16 eggs and could have made many more if we had the time. The whole project cost under one euro to make.

I wish the pics were of better quality, but the weather was incredibly bad this Easter.

Easter bunny painting

 I bought some oval shaped plywood at a craftshop a while back and decided to paint a decoration for Easter. Initially I planned to use it as an egg, but then I remembered that my friend Anna gave me some tiny wooden Easter eggs and wanted to incorporate some of those too.

I used acrylic paint and varnish and hot glued the ribbon to the back of the wood.

Embroidered Easter tablecloth

 The mother of one of my parent's friends taught be how to do embroidery when I was in elementary school. I have made a few pieces since then mostly smaller tablecloths and canvas bags but it has been a while. This year I  wanted to make an Easter tablecloth. First I looked online for a good pattern, but since I do not really like doing cross-stitching I found very few options, and none that I particularly liked.
In the end, I came across an embroidery kit at ALDI, and bought it. Overall I am very happy with the kit, and managed to finish it just in time for Easter!

A closeup of the design

More Plyssa beads fun: Star Wars StormTrooper coaster Diy

We used purple beads instead of grey, because plyssa doesn't come in grey

 My 7 year old made this uber-geeky present for his dad's nameday. I found the design here http://floresdecelofan.blogspot.com.es/2011/12/posavasos-soldado-imperial.html. We were able to finish it in about one hour with him putting the beads on the thingy, and me giving the directions.

I was really glad my son was able to make something that is actually useful, functional that my husband can use at work every day!

Needless to say, our senior Star Wars fan was over the moon!

Angry Birds coaster from Ikea Pyssla beads

My older son is a huge angry birds fan, and while we do not let him play much, it is something that seems to be constantly on his mind. He brought home clay angry birds from pottery class and also likes to draw them...

I was cleaning out the kids room last week and found a jar of Pyssla beads from Ikea. A got it about two years ago, but we only used it once. I was planning to give it away, but my son was onto me before I could get them out of the house.

So I went on pinterest and found some cool patterns we could do. We made one for my husband (will blog about it later), and then we made an Angyr birds one I found the pattern here http://pinterest.com/pin/157766793168664287/  the idea is from this blog http://pat2811.over-blog.com/categorie-11071900.html they have tons of other patterns. I chose this one, because pyssla beads do not come in peach color as the hama beads do and this pattern only used white

Work in progress

 My printer was out of ink so I copied the pattern onto paper, and then gave directions to my son on how many beads he needs and which direction he should lay them down. I found this is a good activity to practice not only numbers but directions, and the combination of the two. Eg. "From left to right, please put two black ones then 4 blue ones and then one black one." So kids can also practice remembering a sequence of instructions while being crafty/artistic. You can go as slowly or fast as needed.

My younger son enjoyed playing with the beads, scooping them up and pouring them into different containers.

Knee Patches DIY 1: Cordrouy Monster Patches

 An increasing  number of my 7 year olds jeans' knees have become threadbare. Rather than trying to change his habits, but not wanting to buy new jeans every month I have been thinking of different types of patches that would appeal to him. (And make me look less cheap and more creative...:) ) This is project number one. My somn liked it so much we wore it to school the next day!

Cordrouy Monster Knee Patches DIY

 

My grandma sewed the corduroy patches onto the jeans. She first sewed around the edge because cord tends to fray. We ended up puting smaller circles above the head because there was a small hole above the knee as well.

 I painted the faces on with acrylic painmt. Because of the texture, I had to go over each feature a number of times, somemes using a thin brush to get the paint in between the gaps.

My son sporting the knee patches!