Hip Hick Chick

A little pantry crafting....

2010-01-28T13:28:00.000-05:00

I admit it....I have become a little obsessed with making art supplies from things in my pantry. I get all excited every time I find a new recipe or empty a new little jar! My husband has been laughing hysterically at me ever since he caught me going through the recycling bin and pulling things out. "I can USE this" I yell at him! I am turning into my father a little bit in that aspect, I think!

Today, we decided to make home made water colors. I cannot get over how quick and easy this was!

You will need:

*Liquid food coloring

*3 teaspoons light corn syrup

*6 tablespoons cornstarch

*6 tablespoons baking soda

*6 tablespoons white vinegar

(*Adorable helper, though not required, a huge plus!*)

Combine cornstarch, baking soda, vinegar and corn syrup in a bowl---get ready to witness a little science experiment---it fizzes and foams!

Pour into small containers. You can use whatever you want for this! We used an old mustard jar, and leftover crayola paint containers. If you want to make small amounts, lids and egg cartons (the styrofoam ones) would work well.

Add food coloring--as much or as little as you would like. We decided this go around that we would just do primary colors. We tried stirring with toothpicks at first, but realized that shaking worked better

Adorable helper #2 (who previously wanted nothing to do with the recipe, came running when she saw shaking involved!)

Allow the paints to dry, or cover to keep them moist.

Ta-Da!

They really do work! I tried them out! Add this to our list of things we will NEVER buy again!

Just Spreading the Love....

2010-01-21T16:01:00.000-05:00

I know it's early, but the girls and I have already started on some Valentine's Day crafts. We take any excuse we can to paint with pink and purple!

On Tuesday, we did a little "Head Over Heels Craft"

Here is what you need:

Paper cut into a heart shape (I recommend choosing Valentine-ish colored paper) and washable paint

I found that clipping the heart to a piece of cardboard helped keep everything in place when it was time for the footprint

I covered the floor with an old vinyl tablecloth and put my eager little artists on the floor

Dip the child's foot into the paint and press on the heart shaped paper. The final result looks like this:

Now, we could have stopped there, but the girls wanted to paint some more, and who am I to stop the creative juices? Next I got some cardstock and cut out slightly larger hearts and let the girls go to town painting them however they wanted:

The final result turned out like this

When everything is dry, attach the 2 hearts to each other. Write "Head Over Heels For You" on the construction paper heart. Emily and I had a very long conversation about where we should display our newest art. She insisted that since it said Head OVER Heels that we should hang the hearts up high. No problem....I think I found the perfect place:

All I did was punch a hole in the cardstock and loop some silver ribbon through. Voila! Done!

Now, onto today's craft. Do you ever have those ideas that sound so perfect in theory, but when you are in the midst of the activity, you think "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!" That was today's craft.....it just didn't turn out as I was hoping, but the girls had fun and that's all that mattered!

For this texture art, you need a bunch of random materials-All of which you probably already have.

We chose buttons, noodles, leftover hair grippies that I don't use anymore, crumpled up tissue paper and some twine. You are going for a bunch of different textures!

You will also need

A hot glue gun and toilet paper roll! I keep all used paper towel and toilet paper rolls--they are very handy craft materials!

Next, let your child pick through the bucket for what they want on their texture roll...this is a good time to practice counting for the younger ones and a good time to talk about how different things feel.

Once they have chosen what they want, the ADULT needs to hot glue them onto the cardboard roll

Before we started the craft part, we had lots of fun playing with these. I asked the girls to think of different things to do with them....they became microphones, telephones, pirate looky things (nice technical term there!). Emily even acted like hers was a mustache!

Next, give each child a paper plate with some paint on it. Show them how to roll the tube into the paint and then roll the tube on the paper. Explain that it will be bumpy--almost like driving over train tracks

It did end up being a little messy...make sure you have the wipes or wash cloth near by!

Now...after doing this, I have some advice....don't do the tissue paper--we ended up pulling that off because it just soaked up a lot of paint. Start with just a little bit of paint-you can always add more. I think I had too much paint out.

Charlie (who is 18 months old), really just bounced hers on the paper more than rolling it, and that is fine! Let the kids be the boss! Emily (4.5) really got the concept and had a good time with it. Allie (almost 3) did a little of both-bouncing and rolling! Here are our finished papers:

After they dried, we went back and tried to see if we could pick out different items that were rolled onto the paper. The buttons were easy to pick out-others you had to look for a little harder!

So yeah....they didn't turn out exactly how I had imagined, but like I said, the girls had fun and we were able to have some good discussion during our art time this morning!

I would LOVE to see pictures of any of these crafts you end up trying! Please share!!

Craft Cabinet

2010-01-19T08:32:00.000-05:00

I came across this post on one of my favorite blogs: No Time For Flash Cards She shows her craft closet. Love it! When we lived at the beach, we had a closet under the stairs that served as my craft closet. It was great to have that stuff right there on the same floor as us!

Now I am lucky enough to have a craft room (our 4th bedroom-the room over the garage) where I keep my sewing machine, all my ribbons, material, tulle, etc.

I hate running up and down the stairs too many times during the day because I always have little feet follwing me, so I cleaned out a cabinet over our desk area in the kitchen and reserved it for craft materials!

We also have a 3 drawer metal cart in the playroom that serves as the coloring book/crayons/markers/some stickers/paper, etc....

I would show a picture of it, but it is a MESS right now!!! I just glanced over at it as I was typing and added it to my to-do list for today!

How do YOU store your kid craft supplies?

Play Dough!!!

2010-01-18T17:25:00.000-05:00

We had a very busy weekend-Emily was a flower girl in Ben's cousin Jenny's wedding! It was a gorgeous wedding, and I will be uploading pictures and video soon!

Because we were still adjusting to being back at home and getting out of the vacation fog, we were slow moving today! I decided that it might be fun to make up a batch of play dough after lunch.

It is SUPER easy and VERY cheap! Most of the ingredients are those that you probably already have in your pantry. Thankfully my neighbor had some cream of tartar that she let me borrow (Thanks Paula!)---I see HUGE containers of cream of tartar in my future! I will NEVER purchase "PlayDoh" again!!!

Here are the directions if you want to try it yourself:

Ingredients:

1 cup salt

2 cups flour

4 tablespoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups water

Food Coloring

In a medium sized sauce pan add the dry ingredients:

Next add the oil and water

Using a wooden spoon over medium heat, stir mixture-it will be liquidy at first

Add food coloring (I didn't have any liquid food coloring-I only had icing coloring, which is sort of like a gel--it did the trick, but I am going to get some liquid food coloring for next time)

Add as much or as little as desired, until you acieve the color you like.

As the mixture begins to heat up, you will notice the lumps getting larger in size and the mixture more difficult to stir-continue stirring

When it is almost 1 big lump and begins separating from the sides of the pan, pour onto counter. Cool for a few minutes.

Once cooled, kneed by hand for a few minutes. Place in air tight container.

(Please excuse the smudge on the container--this has become my crafting bowl-most recently, I mixed shaving cream and glue in it!)

So there you have it! CHEAP and EASY play dough! My girls LOVED making it and will have even more fun playing with it!

Winter Wonderland

2010-01-14T15:24:00.015-05:00

This week, the girls and (plus our new little friend Charlie!) made lots of fun snowflake related crafts...well, 3 snowflake related crafts, not a lot, but still...fun times!

Our first craft was coffee filter and cupcake liner snowflakes. I saw a similar idea on www.notimeforflashcards.com she used cupcake liners and then glittered them up and made a garland. Super cute. I had it in my head to make a lot and hang them from our playroom ceiling, which is just what we did!
I watered down blue tempura paint and let the girls paint the coffee filters and cupcake liners. We gave little Charlie a dot marker and then dropped a little water on her art to make it more transparent.

We used some medicine droppers too to spot the paint here and there

This was a fun craft for all of us

We let the filters and liners dry while we ate lunch. After lunch, Charlie went down for a nap and we began folding and cutting the snowflakes. Emily helped a lot, but I did most of them. After that it was the part that the girls had been waiting for! The GLITTER!!!

Now we have a beautiful winter wonderland playroom! The girls LOVE it! They walk in and say "Oh! It's Sooooo cold in here! It's snowing!!!"

A couple of days later we made shaving cream snowmen. This was a lot of fun for the girls as well. I mixed equal parts shaving cream and glue and the girls painted it on a blue piece of paper. I had drawn snowman templates on the paper and Emily was able to make hers resemble a snowman...the younger girls just had fun painting! It dried with a nice raised texture and looks a lot like snow! We still need to go back and finish them....add buttons and such.

We took a couple of days and just colored and water painted and got back in the organized craft mode today.
A friend introduced me to a great blog: http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/
I am obsessed with it! LOTS of great ideas and the best part?! The are CHEAP!!!
I really liked this idea:
http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2009/12/art-so-easy-toddler-can-do-it.html

I didn't have any canvas on hand, so I went exploring in my basement. I found a white cardboard box and thought "Voila!". I cut the bottom off of it, a piece of the side and there I had my 3 squares. Next, I taped out the snowflake shape

The girls were so excited and jumped right in painting their masterpieces

After we covered the whole square, we set them aside to dry. I started getting lunch ready and I heard the girls talk about their tea party. I was so proud when I looked in the playroom and saw what they had decided (on their own!) to use as their table---just the piece of "trash" that I had thrown to the side! LOVE creativity!!!

Yep! It was the box I had cut up! Made me very happy to see them thinking that way!

Anyway-back to the snowflakes---we removed the tape and outlined it in black, and ta-da!!! Our beautiful artwork!

So, that was our week. Lots of fun winter crafts! I am trying to think of what to do next week....stay tuned!

Baby Sew Chic New Years Sale!

2009-12-30T08:29:00.007-05:00

*~*~*~*BabySewChic is participating in the ETSY MOM New Year Sale! If you buy the itty bitty starter kit, the Little Miss Collegiate Set and the No Snowflakes are alike set, you not only get free shipping, but you get a bonus Valentine's Day set that I will choose for you! This sale runs DECEMBER 31, 2009-JANUARY 3, 2010! After you place your order, please wait for an updated invoice from me before you pay!

http://www.BabySewChic.etsy.com

Do a search for etsymomnewyear to find all the other great sale items from ETSY MOMS!*~*~

Let me see those pearly whites!

2009-12-29T11:51:00.007-05:00

I took the girls to the dentist today. This was Emily's 3rd time and Allie's 1st. At her first appointment, Emily did awesome. No tears, no fighting, perfect. The second time I took her I took Allie with us so that Emily could show her how easy it was. Yeah....it took 3 of us to restrain her. Needless to say, I was a little concerned about how today would go. There were tears, but it went much better for Emily this time.
Then it was Allie's turn.
I never know what to expect from Allie. This is the child that has a screaming fit over the smallest things, but doesn't cry when she gets shots at the pediatrician's office.
She climbed right into the chair like a champ. We go to the same dentist as the Gosselin children (Jon and Kate Plus 8), so the dentist gives sunglasses to protect the kids from the paparazzi...

Just kidding....not about the Gosselin part, they really do go there, but about the sunglasses-they are so the light doesn't bother their eyes.

Allie was very interested in all the tools Dr. Kristin used

I am so proud of my big girl! She did great!

Check out that shiny, cavity free smile!

A little crafting fun...

2009-12-22T19:36:00.007-05:00

Emily was begging to do a little Christmas craft today and I had to improvise quickly. I wanted something the girls could do pretty much do on their own with limited help from me while I cooked dinner.
We decided to make some little reindeer. I thought they could both make Rudolph, but Emily nicely explained to me that "no one ever draws or sings about the other reindeer" Well said Emmmy! :-) Emily decided to do Blitzen and Allie did Comet.

I drew some triangles for the face and let Emily cut them out---she took this job very seriously!

I found some foam that we traced hands on to make the antlers. We chose yellow for a little flair!
The girls colored their reindeer and decorated the faces

Next Emily glued on the antlers

And....VOILA! Our reindeer were complete! Emily did one extra--this time she did do Rudolph because "Mommy, he is the most famous one", but she gave him purple antlers because that is Mommy's favorite color!

So....not a hard craft by any means, but the girls had fun, I got to cook dinner and we have a little extra decoration for our Christmas house!

I'm Baaaack!

2009-12-21T18:12:00.002-05:00

I really am going to try and update this blog again. It's been a crazy couple of months, but I think I am getting back on track! I plan to start posting the fun crafts the girls and I are doing and keeping everyone up to date on the goings on of the HipHickChick House!

That was quick....

2009-06-03T09:57:00.001-04:00

I very quickly set up a blog for Baby Sew Chic!

It is clearly still in the beginning phases, but please bookmark it and check back often!

http://www.BabySewChic.blogspot.com

Okay....so I promise I will update again soon!

2009-06-03T09:01:00.002-04:00

In the meantime, please check out this site and see what I have been busy doing!

www.BabySewChic.etsy.com

I have filled my shop again! I am planning on starting a blog dedicated to the ETSY shop, but who knows when that will happen.

I have TONS of pictures of the girls that I need to add here, and I promise I will do it soon!

Missed Us?

2009-04-28T21:36:00.001-04:00

We have been busy, busy, busy! I have lots of fun pictures to share, stories to tell, and news to spread, but it will have to wait....like I said, we are busy around here!
Just wanted to let you know all is well, and I will be back to update things soon!

Spring Fever

2009-04-05T21:19:00.015-04:00

We have some major spring fever around here! This has officially been the longest winter of our lives. Well, I'm sure I had long winters in West Virginia, but I don't really remember them. We have been pretty much house bound since November. We have had a couple of nice days here and there, but they usually follow a downpour, so it's been too wet to go outside and really enjoy the weather. That changed on Sunday! We all had a great time -Ben cleaned the garage, I cleaned the car, the girls decorated our sidewalk with chalk. Then we headed to the backyard and played on the swing set. We decided to have a little picnic before we had to head inside for nap time.

Allie has decided that she is terrified of swings this year. She is however a big fan of the slide. She thinks she is big stuff now because she can climb up the ladder by herself!

We decided since it was such a pretty day, that we would dye our Easter eggs outside. I got some marbled kits (you mix vegetable oil in the dye--we won't be doing those again--they were slippery little things! Not really conducive to a 3 year old and a 2 year old!), and a sparkly and glittery kit. That one was a lot of fun.

The Sparkle eggs aren't your standard dye kit. Instead, you paint them and then dust them with glitter. So girly and perfect for our girls!

A certain someone thought that she needed a sparkly and glittery hand to go along with the eggs! Clearly, the tradition of the family has been passed down to her..."Accessorize, accessorize, accessorize!"

We are very proud of our eggs. They are now sitting in a pretty nest of yellow Easter grass as the centerpiece of our kitchen table.

It looks like another rainy week is in store for us, but we can make it another 7 days with our memories of smiles...

and bubbles....

and sunshine!

Painting, swimming and Tarheels-Oh My!

2009-04-01T12:29:00.015-04:00

What a big weekend! Emily's room is done! Well---mostly. I still need to get some things on the walls, change her curtains and blinds, but the big part (the painting) is done! Ignore the crazy look on her face here. She really does like the room! :-)

I am thinking about doing hot pink for her curtains. I got new blinds-white wooden ones like the rest of the house, but they are the wrong size. Since I am currently obsessed with wall decals, I will be adding some of those too!

Now the before pictures. Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm sure this color palette worked great for the previous owners, but it just doesn't really go with the flow of our house!

We thought about keeping one of the stars, but ultimately decided to cover them all.

We didn't paint all weekend! The girls started swim lessons! They are taking them at a local college. It worked out great because they offer the parent/tot class (that Allie and Ben are taking) and the Level 1 class (that Emmy is taking) at the same time! Even better---I don't have to get in a bathing suit! :-)

Some of our friends are taking the class with us! Ben has hit it off with the husbands of two of my friends. All 3 guys have 2 year old's that they are doing the parent/tot class with! It was so precious to see these big guys dancing around in the pool with the babies!

Emily is taking the class with a friend also! There were some tears at the first lesson, but I think they will end up loving it! Emily has literally been counting down the days until her next lesson!

And, of course, it is MARCH MADNESS here at the Gravitt house! The girls wanted to show their support for Daddy's favorite team! Even though we are now Pennsylvania residents, we are happy and proud that the Tarheels will be destroying Villanova this weekend!

And the project for this weekend is....

2009-03-28T19:54:00.002-04:00

Emily's bedroom! It is WAY overdue. I mean WAY. Her room is currently mustard, or maybe it's more of a school bus yellow with a navy blue ceiling with stars stenciled on it. Clearly, this was painted before we moved here. Because her room is upstairs and all she does is sleep in it, her room has not been a priority. Well, now she is older and even she (being the hip little chicklet that she is) has noticed that it is tragic. She told me she wanted her room blue. Then she wanted it red. So we "compromised" and her room will be purple-I told her that we were mixing blue and red to get the purple color. It's called "A touch of violet" and is the same color we used in her original nursery in Chester, then again at the beach. It's the only color we have done in all 3 houses!
I have taken the before pictures and will upload them with the after pictures when we are all done.
I have to go paint now! :-)

Hip Hick Chick goes FLY!

2009-03-26T19:45:00.002-04:00

In my never-ending quest to become organized again, I have once again ventured to the FlyLady sight. http://www.flylady.com I looked into Fly Lady before Emily was born and was following her practices. Then I had Emmy and with a newborn, all cleaning schedules went out the window, then we moved (into a hotel), then our home in VA Beach, and then when I was finally ready to get organized again...BAM! Pregnant with sweet baby Allie. Then newborn again, the moving again! I told you...it's been a long 4 years. Anyway-Ben has made it clear that we are going to be here for a while and I have made it clear that there will be no more pregnancies, so it's time to get organized again.
So....now we'll see if I can be hip and fly.... :-)

Problem Solved!

2009-03-22T20:01:00.006-04:00

It's done! My shelf/bench combo are assembled and put up! I love the way they look! Sorry it looks a little crooked---that isn't the shelf...it's my picture taking! :-)

I am thinking I need to put something on the shelf part....not sure what though. Maybe a picture frame or something....who knows. I'll figure something out.

I don't think this job would have been done as efficiently if not for the help of 2 very important people:

Big Thanks to Emily and Allison for keeping Daddy on-track while assembling and watching the NCAA tournament! Multi-tasking at its absolute finest!

I forgot to mention...

2009-03-20T11:57:00.003-04:00

Please comment on this blog! Let me know what you think! Did you see or read something that you like (or dislike-I can handle it...really I can)----let me know!
Thanks!

Mission Organization

2009-03-18T12:31:00.012-04:00

I'm getting there....."there" is back to where I was 4 years ago. Completely organized and put together. It's taken me a while, but hey, give me credit-I had 2 kids in 2 years and moved twice in 3 years. It's been a long 4 years. Good, but long. Anyway-enough excuses---time to organize again.

I have these problem spots in my house. My biggest bone of contention at the current moment is my front foyer. My husband (who I love and adore) seems to think that the floor is the perfect place for his coat. He comes in, throws his wallet and keys on the front table, shoes, hat and coat in the floor, along with his computer bag and that is where they stay. DRIVES ME NUTS. I am working on a solution to this problem now.

I have these 2 things sitting in boxes waiting to be assembled-I have been told it is a weekend project---during March Madness--we shall see how this goes-lets just say I'm not holding my breath.

These will go on the wall behind my front door-I ordered both in black.They are from the Westfield Collection from The Company Store http://www.thecompanystore.com/

LOVE THEM!!!
Some of their prices are a little much for me on some things, but if you have an account with them, they send great coupons and usually there are some good free shipping codes or deals on http://www.retailmenot.com/

In other house news, the master bedroom is coming along quite nicely. Just for a refresher here are some before pictures (Before we painted and the new furniture arrived)

Our old Master was a mess. The furniture was really old (it was mine from when I lived with my parents, and before that belonged to some old woman). Don't get me wrong-it was fine, but it was a full sized bed and we had just really outgrown that. The room just made me angry when I went in there. Not really good for a master bedroom. But since it was upstairs and no one other than us saw it, it wasn't really high on the priority list. That all changed after Ben got his bonus! Yay! We decided the days of the girls having the nicest bedroom furniture in the house were over. We started with the mattress--we found a great deal on a KING and purchased that first. We then started looking into furniture. I found a couple of collections on-line that I liked, and off we went to the furniture store. We ended up getting the Madison collection from Raymour and Flanigan (http://www.raymourflanigan.com/) and we were really pleased with the transaction. I didn't realize you could negotiate furniture prices! We were able to get a king sleigh bed, 2 night stands, a dresser and mirror and a chest for a nice price! Here are some after pics of the bedroom! I chose Restful by Behr-approriate name for a bedroom, no?

We are in love with this room now! I have 2 framed pictures of the girls to hang up (another weekend project, I have been told) and I added this above the bed:

This was our wedding song and when I saw this vinyl decal on ETSY (http://www.etsy.com/), I just had to have it!

So....that is all for now! Hopefully once all the "weekend projects" are done, I'll have more pictures to post!

Officially a 2 year old...

2009-03-17T09:34:00.005-04:00

In every way. And when I say every way, I mean the "terrible two" every way. Allie woke up a few days before her birthday and decided that she was going to break bad on us. The hitting, pushing and all out temper tantrums have officially began. I started time out with her, and let me tell you-her reaction to being put in a corner away from us is Oscar worthy. Girlfriend can really put on a show. Such drama. It's hard for me to keep a straight face during her little performances. This over reacting is clearly a trait that she has inherited from her father! All who know me can attest to the fact that I am always calm, cool, and collected! (Wink, wink)....it's true...Allie is a little Janell, through and through. I am hoping that the fun little phase that we are in now with her trying to beat up her sister won't last too long. Bless Emily's heart, she is so patient with her. It's like watching a little Ben and Janell. One calm and rational one, and one crazy feisty one. I'll let you decide who is who!
Allie had her 2 year check up yesterday. She is 24.6 lbs. and 32 and 3/4 inches long. Dr. Kelly said she looked great. Developing right now track and hitting all of her milestones. She had to get one shot and didn't cry at all, but when the nurse was done, Allie looked her right in the eye and said "You hurt arm!" Just to let her know that she was aware of what had just happened, I guess!
In other news.....I am now obsessing over painting the powder room and the girl's bathroom. I am thinking stripes for the powder room---wide horizontal ones. Ben of course, is totally opposed to this....he has now vetoed 2 of my "visions" for the powder room. I don't' really know who he thinks he is....I am the one with the design visions around here....he just supplies the man power....I need to remind of that apparently! :-) I am pouring over paint samples constantly....Emily is trying to help me out, but her "vision" of a red and pink bathroom just doesn't really fit with the rest of the house. She's still young---she'll learn soon enough.
I'll be back soon to show pictures of my ideas!

The cupcake curse

2009-03-14T21:37:00.007-04:00

IS GONE! I beat it! I successfully baked and iced some pretty fancy looking cupcakes! My original idea of fancy flowers didn't turn out as I had first planned, but instead, I made lady bug cupcakes! Only appropriate since we call our baby girl "Allie bug".

More birthday pictures coming tomorrow....

We had a great time celebrating with our new friends!

Oh......just to prove that the cupcakes were taste tested by the birthday girl----I think it's safe to say she enjoyed them! :-)

Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes

2009-03-12T12:48:00.002-04:00

The last time I tried to make cupcakes it ended in disaster- I almost burnt the house down. In my defense, I was newly pregnant, had terrible morning sickness and had a 1 year old. It's been 2 and a half years since that time, so I am trying again. I have these grand illusions of beautiful flower cupcakes for Allie's 2nd birthday party.

I went to Michael's today and got all the supplies I think I will need. It's not the baking of the cupcakes that is a problem-it is the icing. And like everyone that has a problem with icing cupcakes, I decided to go and add extra pressure--actual decorations! Should be interesting!

Wish me luck!

Venturing into the blogging world...

2009-03-11T21:12:00.000-04:00

Because I clearly have so much time on my hands, I decided to add something new to obsess over. I thought a blog would be a fun place for me to put down some ideas, to share funny stories about the girls and to just pontificate about life....I promise nothing except for my random thoughts! :-)