Easter chalkboard art printable

So, do you ever think you'll be able to do something (that looks easy!), just to give it a try and fail miserably? Well, that's what happened with this project. I've seen so many cool hand-lettered calligraphy printables around lately and I thought, why not make one of my own? Apparently I forgot that my handwriting stinks and I'm completely art-challenged, because I bought myself a little calligraphy pen and went to town trying to create something beautiful for Easter. (Keep reading for printable.)

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simple circles Christmas tree canvas

***I'm over at the Ribbon Retreat blog today, sharing a tutorial for DIY Christmas ornament fabric wall decals. Hop on over and give it a look!***

Interested in a super quick Christmas decor project? I made this graphic Christmas tree canvas using scrap fabric and a little Wonder Under in less than 20 minutes. It's very simple, but it's still a fun addition to my holiday decorations.

It's so easy it would be a great project to work on with the kids. Here's what you need:

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Christmas subway art {free download}

Christmas decorations start going up the day after Thanksgiving at our house, and this year I decided I needed a few new decor items. Since I love subway art I put together a Christmas sign with the Bible verse that begins "For unto us a son is born" from Isaiah. I played with fonts and sizes for a while until I came up with a combination I was happy with in gradually darkening gold (gold and turquoise are my current Christmas colors). I also made turquoise and red versions, and all three are available for free download at the end of the post.

I like having something that speaks to the true meaning of Christmas in a central location in my home.

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fall leaf wreath {kids can do it!}

Years ago we spent one year in Madison, WI. We loved many many things about Madison, but one of the best parts was quite how beautiful the fall leaves were - there were reds of every variety, bright, deep, rich, etc. My oldest three boys were all between 2 and 4 years old, so I was always looking for simple activities to do with them. One day we took a walk and collected the prettiest leaves we could find, then came home and glued them onto an inexpensive wreath form. Our leaf wreath lasted beautifully for weeks and the kids loved that they'd helped decorate our home. That was seven years ago, and we made leaf wreaths again yesterday morning before church.

You don't really need a tutorial for this - it's pretty darn simple - but I do have some tips, so read on.

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stuffed animal swing {DIY hanging toy storage}

***You may have seen this project a few weeks ago at So You Think You're Crafty - if so, just scroll down for the tutorial***

I've spent some time hunting for a good organization system for my boys' stuffed animals. I've seen hammocks which hang in a corner of the room (won't work because there's no free corner in their bedroom) and large custom built stuffed animal zoos ($200+) and bookshelves with dowels running down the front so kids can stuff all their toys inside (it keeps them off the ground, but looks almost just as messy). I finally came up with a hanging storage solution that is pretty inexpensive and can be easily put together in an hour or two. It's simple enough that the kids can help with most of the construction.

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huge statement wall bulletin board for under $20

You may have seen this project up last week at So You Think You're Crafty - scroll down for the full tutorial!

Years ago (when digital cameras weren't the norm and we actually printed out all our photos) my husband bought a bulletin board and covered it with photos of the the two of us and our son as a birthday gift for me. He made a collage with the photos, covering every inch of the 2x3 ft board. We hung it up in our apartment and I loved looking at it. Ten years and four moves later and I have no idea where that bulletin board has gotten to, so I decided to recreate it, on a supersized scale. 

My bulletin board is three feet high and seven feet across, and fills up most of the wall behind our kitchen table. It's huge, but the board itself is made from a lightweight building supply you can find at any hardware store and it only cost $11.

Interested in the full how-to? Read on.

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easy patterned paper pumpkins {kids can do it!}

I'm not a big holiday decorator. In fact, other than Christmas, I don't really decorate at all. The thought of cleaning everything up and packing it away after the holiday is generally enough to deter me from buying or making anything cute, but I know my kids wish I would decorate at least a little. (I did make one Halloween decoration already this year, you can see it here). So I set out to find a few things the boys and I could make together to Halloween-ify the place. These easy patterned paper pumpkins fit the bill perectly.

I originally saw the idea and instructions here, but their pumpkins were made with plain orange paper and required paper that's 15 inches long. I figured pumpkins would be cuter with patterned paper in different Halloween-y prints (and they are!), and I made three different sizes of pumpkins, all using standard 12x12 inch scrapbook paper.

Easy photo directions are below, but here are a few tips to begin with:

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once upon a midnight dreary... {halloween decoration}

If you visited So You Think You're Crafty last week, you saw my entry into the Halloween themed competition, but I'm sharing it here today along with some instructions for printing and mounting a large b&w print. 

When I was ten or eleven years old, my parents bought me a paperback copy of The Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. I started with "The Tell-Tale Heart" and by the time I got to the end of the story I was completely hooked. Seriously, it was cool. A guy murders an old man, buries him beneath the floorboards, and then is driven crazy when his guilt tricks him into thinking he can hear the dead man's heart beating beneath his feet. Awesome, right?

As I got a little older I started to appreciate Poe's stories and poems for more than just their macabre coolness. I liked that Poe could be creepy without actually being gross, and I began to fall in love with the language. Enter "The Raven":

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotte lore..."

For my Halloween-themed craft I designed a 24x36 inch print that showcases the eerie poem "The Raven." I used antique fonts and a variety of free digital brushes (tree, bird, ink splat, watercolor, and distressing) to create a literary art piece that makes a perfect Halloween decoration. 

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