DIY crafts

DIY Re-upholstery Magic!

18:49 Natalie Karine 0 Comments

Hi folks! I hope everyone is enjoying these first days of summer! I took last weekend to catch up on some projects that I've been putting off. So what was first on the list? Covering up that old pink bench I had in my bedroom! Now my vanity has a beautiful bench with velour flowers and birds on it! Hooray!

 Reupholstering an old chair can give It an instant facelift and can be pretty easy - providing it's a simple chair with a cushion with a frame screwed to it.

Here's how I did it with an easy reupholstery tutorial for chairs!

My little bench before! A boring light pink... face-life time!

Step 1: Unscrew the cushion from its frame.

Step 2:  Remove all the old staples.

Step 3: Cover with new fabric. Make sure you cut the  piece big enough to bring over the edge and under the cushion. Secure with new staples (I used some that  were 8mm tall). Begin by stapling fabric to the frame  at the center point of each side, pulling tautly as you  go (you should make a cross pattern + ).

Step 4: Attach back to frame with screws and admire! You're done!

School/kids crafts

Bird masks!

16:20 Natalie Karine 0 Comments

Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying the beginnig of summer!

This Friday is our summer concert at school and one of the songs we're singing from our French and English repertoire is "Kookaburra", an Australian Folk song. So we decided that all the kids should wear little bird masks and be kookaburra birds! THEY LOOK SO CUTE!

Wanna make one? You'll need:  ★ paper plates ★ feathers ★ construction paper ★ pipe cleaners  ★ white glue ★ scissors  ★ crayons ★ hot glue gun

Step 1: Cute the plate in half and cut out two eye holes.

Step 2: add a beak!

Step 3: decorate!

Add 2 pipe cleaners on either side (with hot glue) and adjust to the child's head! You're done!

Oh! and here's what a real Kookaburra bird looks like...

School/kids crafts

HANDmade enveloppes!

09:05 Natalie Karine 0 Comments

As promised, here is our 3rd Father's Day hand-themed craft!... HANDmade enveloppes! First came the handprint cards, then the Shrink Art hand keychains, now some envelopes to wrap up our gifts! So why not continue the hand theme by tracing the outline of a hand and coloring it!

Want to make you own envelopes? Here's an easy template! You can even use colored or patterned paper and make them the size you need!

I hope all the Dads have a great day today... and love their gifts we made at school! xo

View of the enveloppe before folding and gluing!

And look! I used the handmade wrapping approach for  my dad's gift! A handmade giftbag! I just traced this image on a plain kraft paper bag! BAM!

School/kids crafts

Shrink Art Hand Keychain!

18:29 Natalie Karine 0 Comments

SHRINK ART! I looooooove this product!

You can make an artwork, cut it out any shape you like, and then shrink it in the oven! It becomes way smaller AND thicker than the original! AMAZING!  To continue with our Father's Day hand-themed crafts, we made tiny hand key chains for Dad! Oh, and the kids loved their "tiny shrunken hands"... I'm pretty sure they thought I was a magician! 
Simply draw with permanent markers or coloring pencils and shrink in the oven at 325F! Don't worry if it curls up. It takes about 2 minutes and it usually flattens out by itself. Here are some more complete instructions. 

Shrink art! You can find it (or a variation) at your local craft store!

Trace out the child's hand and ask them to color them in using markers or coloring pencils!

Draw with permanent markers or coloring pencils and shrink  in the oven at 325F! Don't forget to punch a hole before shrinking!

Turn it into a keychain simply  by adding an inexpensive  keyring!

So tiny compared to the original hand! Awesome!

DIY cards,

Hand Print Cards!

17:54 Natalie Karine 1 Comments

Father's Day! It's coming soon!

At school, we decided to go with a hand theme! Why not? Kid's hands are so cute and tiny... and they grow up so fast!

So here is the first of three hand-themed crafts.... Hand print cards! All you need to do is paint a hand (don't forget to use washable tempera paint!) and stamp it on beautiful paper! Fold and voilà!

So cute! Stay tuned for more crafts for Dad!

Step 1 : Apply paint on hand!

Step 2 : Stamp it! tip: fold the paper before so it's nice and centered!

Step 3 : admire!

You can even add details with coloring pencils once it's dry!

Don't forget to add a cute message inside!

School/kids crafts

Paper Kites!

17:41 Natalie Karine 0 Comments

We were looking for a new craft to decorate our windows at school, so I decided we needed kites. Then my co-worker suggested we turn them into "stained glass" using tissue paper!!! Now we have beautiful kites that catch the sun's light! So pretty and perfect for summer!

Materials:
   ☁ Cardstock or heavy cardboard
   ☁ Tissue paper
   ☁ Crayons
   ☁ Glue
   ☁ Scissors
   ☁ Scotch tape
   ☁ Yarn and ribbons

Instructions: Cut ou a simple frame, making sure you leave two triangle shapes! Encourage the kids to draw on it making patterns!  Then carefully apply some glue and lay some tissue paper down. You can use different colours!

Add a some yarn and ribbons for the tail and secure it with tape!

So pretty hanging in the sunny windows at school!

Wanna make a paper kite that actually flies? Try this one... made with a paper bag!

School/kids crafts

Paper Elephants!

09:48 Natalie Karine 0 Comments

Elephants! We've been exploring the continent of Africa at school for the last couple weeks, so we decided to make these beautiful paper elephants for craft last week. They turned out so great!

Wanna make some? All you need to do is fold a piece of heavy paper (cardstock) in half and trace the elephant onto it, (check out the stencil at the bottom of the page) making sure the back and the top of the head touch the fold. then cut it out and decorate it! We let the kids do whatever pattern they wanted and they all turned out so neat... and psychedelic! AMAZING! ♥

Wow so pretty and colourful!

They can stand up too!

One of my favorites!

Stencil

Balcony makeover!

09:29 Natalie Karine 1 Comments

This nice weather doesn't last long enough! So I decided to enjoy it as much as I could... on my balcony! I get so much joy from just having a cup of coffee in the sun in the morning or reading a book  at night. So I decided to make a few adjustments and make it pretty!

Oh and my cute balcony is even featured on my friend Mariel's super duper blog, The Very Notion! Thanks lady!

Here's what i did...

Little flag banners... check out my tutorial!

Table cloth cut from some vintage fabric! And some cute weights from the dollar store so that it won't fly away!

Throw pillows for my bench!

A "container garden!" Veggies and herbs growing! Want tips on how to make an edible garden? check out this link!

I found a wicker shelf at a garage sale for $5 and spray- painted it red!

Look at my tomato plant! It's getting huge!

I hope you're enjoying Spring! xo