Bits and Pieces of the Better Life

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Ruler Growth Chart

No doubt you may have seen this somewhere before. I found my inspiration on Pinterest. They were PB knock-offs. Truth be known, when I found the PB original, I preferred the knock-offs! They were cuter and more rustic looking, in my humble opinion.

So, I set out to get my wood and make a memory for our family.

Buy a nice smooth finished 1x8 6ft. board.
Next stain the board the color of your choice (mine is Minwax Provencial).
After your stain dries, place a sawtooth picture hanger on the back top center of the board.
Hang on the wall where you would like.
Using a tape measure, measure from the floor up on your board (while it is hanging on the wall) and mark the first inch where the tape meets the board and each inch up to 1 foot.
Next take the board off of the wall and lay on floor or flat surface to make your work easier. Line your tape measure back up and continue to mark each inch and foot mark throughout the entire board.
Then paint your lines and numbers. (I used a ruler to have straight lines and a Sharpie oil based paint marker. I marked each inch mark 1.5 inches long and each foot mark 3 inches long. Lastly, I added the numbers with a stencil.)
Then re-hang your ruler and to avoid it being loose, moveable, or swinging on the wall place a 3M command Velcro fastener to the back on each side.
The ruler is accurate and can be used while hanging. To mark a child’s growth you can write on the board with a Sharpie on the front, side, or back.

It is my new favorite 1 year old gift to give our friends with a small toy, of course.

Where I’m sharing:

Skip To My Lou

Under the Table and Dreaming

Just a Little Creativity

Living Life Intentionally

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

My Repurposed Life

Lolly Jane Boutique

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Positively Splendid

Adventures of a DIY Mom

I’ve been featured here:

Hookin' Up with House of Hepworths

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Train Table

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We have officially entered our train phase!

We contemplated a train table this past Christmas, but didn’t think we were ready yet. My how things change quickly with a little one growing. We suddenly are ready and run around the house singing “Chuggington…..” and yelling “Ride the Rails.”

I found a blog after wasting some time on Pinterest that I really liked. Lindsay at Country Girl Home.

First, I found her entry and loved it knowing it was exactly what I wanted (more to come on that later). As I began to wander around her blog I found the cutest train table that she built her little ones.

So I am not proud or always innovative, just crafty! Why fight something that you already like, right?

Here is our version.

We built the frame very similar.

Our wood buy list:

2 – 2x4 8 ft. long (doubled up and used for legs, because cheaper than 4x4)

2 – 1x4 6 ft. long (for frame)

1 – 2ft. x 4ft. 1/4 inch smooth finished plywood

The table was built by screwing 2 2x4’s together at the top and the bottom as shown in the pictures above. I then turned the screws to the inside of the table and screwed each side of the frame to the legs with two screws just as the arrow shows in the picture above. I made sure to drop the top of the legs 1.5 inches inside the frame to allow for a lip on the table when completed.

Then I took a pencil sketched some flowing lines to paint a road, lake, river, and hills.

Acrylic paint from Michael’s and a foam brushes made this so much easier than it was in my mind. I sealed the top with a satin varnish in the same acrylic paint line. I am so glad that I did this to withstand the wear of trains and cars as well as making the table top wipeable!

Then to place the top on the table frame, it was simply set inside the frame with Liquid Nails placed on the top of the legs to hold it all together.

I have been shocked how much attention this little table gets and how much fun it gives!

Where I’m sharing:

Skip To My Lou

Under the Table and Dreaming

Just a Little Creativity

Living Life Intentionally

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

My Repurposed Life

Lolly Jane Boutique

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Positively Splendid

I’ve been featured here:

Just a Little Creativity

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Gift of Sweet Memories

Handmade gifts…..I love them!

Personalized canvas art….oh so simple.

We have two grandparent birthdays right in the middle of the holidays season so we have to think of gifts for several occasions.

Our grandparents love handmade gifts.

Shhh, don’t tell them I shared…..but it is really sweet when grandpa or grandma gets a picture made just for them and the other gets jealous and puts a request in that they would love something like that.

We recently went to visit and little guy was able to take his first ride in the boat on the coast. Grandpa and Grandma love to fish and crab. So what better to give Grandpa than the memory of this little guy doing something so special with them.

How did I do it:

Paint the canvas a solid complementary color.
Print pictures. (I used a 8x10 and 4x6)
Choose a scrapbook paper that works with your theme and rip the edges back to front. This will leave white edges around your paper.
Ink edges of paper is desired.
Mod Podge paper onto canvas and coat once on top.
Mat pictures on cardstock and embellish.

This can easily be done in a day.

Allow each wet step 15-20 minutes to dry.

(I placed 8x10 flat and used foam adhesive to raise the 4x6. I found 3 coordinating fibers and stapled to each side of the picture tying a bow where they met on the front. “Precious memories” was a rub-on. I made two tags with some journaling and again adhered with foam adhesive to give dimension)