My sister makes come follow me lesson plans. I begged her to let me make a printable for one of them, and this is the one! It’s in my etsy store, check it out!
And cuteness sticks to these kids!
And command strips come off your wall easily without damage (they’re included!)
And I can’t get over how cute these kids are! Head on over to @modernfarmhousefamily to check out this adorable family.
But seriously!! How cute are these kids. And how talented is the photographer!! In love.
❤ ❤ ❤
How to make a custom baby blanket.
First, have a conversation with your neighbors who are having a baby girl!! Maybe one like this:
Me: Have you chosen a name?
Him (excited!): Yeah! Lyra!
Me: Is there meaning in it?
Him: Yes. We’re both into music. In Latin, a Lyra is like a harp. My wife is into astronomy too, and Lyra is a really cool constellation.
My brain: This. Needs. To. Be. A. Blanket.
First, paint some outer space textures.
Then pull out your tombows and do some lettering. Do a lot and write “nope” next to the bad ones.
Next, pull it all into Adobe CC to isolate your shapes, colorize them and create a repeating pattern. Save as jpg.
Headto spoonflower.com to order the fabric. Sew the edges, run through the wash and bam.
I had one bag of frozen breast milk left. Three ounces of a drink, but it represented a year of breastfeeding my first babe, and two years of breastfeeding my second babe. All the emotions. Lots of moms make jewelry from milk to commemorate this achievement. That’s not quite weird enough for me. In fact, the paintings I make with breast milk aren’t even weird enough. What’s weirder than milk jewelry and painting with breast milk? I made glue with the proteins from my last bag of milk. Milk that my body made to feed my beautiful babies. Then used the glue as papier-mâché to build a topographical map of Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. The place where I discovered my strength. Continue reading “Making Glue with Breast Milk. It’s weird, I know.”
The youtube vortex sucked me in, and I ended up watching this video:
And, like always, I thought, “I NEED to try this!” So I did. First attempt = disaster. But I learned SO much. Only use a little bit of paint in the resin. Background colors can show up. Extremely level/flat is insanely important in the drying process. Work fast. If the first (or second or third) layer looks terrible, you can pour additional resin coats on top.
I decided to experiment and combine paper maché with resin. Sometimes the stars align, and mixed media projects come together nicely. This was one of those times!
I ended up with a 3d topographical map of Antelope Island in Utah. I shipped it off to my pops for father’s day. He recognized Frary Peak right away. 🙂
And now I can add 3d land-form sculptures to my resume. Which island should I do next?
Continue reading “Resin Art: Antelope Island in a 3d Topographical Land Sculpture”
But I’m gonna leave this here anyway. You know, just in case there is someone out there who does.
Available in my RedBubble shop. Helps a NICU baby get human milk. 🙂
You know the drops of breast milk left in the pump after you pump? I paint with them! The latest designs:
The best part? For every craft you buy from EmIsCrafty, you help a NICU baby get human milk.
Your turn! Go paint with milk (cow, breast, goat, whatever!) It’ll be white on white, hard to see, but you can do it! When your masterpiece is complete, bake it up (400 for 3-5 minutes), and share your art! @emiscrafty #emiscrafty
Check out these creations from miss Lila and Hannah, age 7 & 4!
Want to see all the things I’ve painted? Check out my etsy shop full of greeting cards!
Made for a friend going through a rough patch!
Meet Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, hand-painted by yours truly (with a little help from the 3 year old).
You guys! Sue is one of the cutest people I know, and she is making one of the cutest (and actually useful) products ever. Her company is called “Love, Molly Sue,” and she makes a molly dolly with a matching dress for your baby. She is on etsy, facebook and insta. This pear combo is my fav, look how freaking adorable!
She’s giving us a molly dolly & dress combo to giveaway to one of you (details below and on facebook)! We asked her a few questions so you can get to know her a bit before you enter. Meet Sue, crafty owner of “Love, Molly Sue”
How did you get so crafty?
Well if you know my family my mom and sisters are queen of DIY. I grew up with home made everything and we were always starting or in the middle of some project or another, so thanks to them I learned the art of starting projects! Now if I could just finish more….
If LMS could talk what would she say?
Haha the LMS at our house would probably be crying all the time, they are constantly getting sucked on, dropped, thrown, etc. but hopefully they would be as in love with their little mamas as they are with them. I love seeing my Molly sneaking hugs and kisses from her dolly.
Okay, the hair on these dolls is the cutest! How did you come up with the top knot??
Well before LMS came to be, I had this fantastically trendy friend I was making a baby shower gift for and her hair was always in a top knot, so I guess she was my inspiration. I LOVE to make the Dolly’s similar to their little mamas and since I didn’t know this little mama yet I modeled it after my friend.
Is adulting what you thought it would be?
Umm am I adulting?? Ha, I keep asking myself when I grow up as big as my mom and dad will I be an adult yet? But really, some days I own adulting, and some days (like yesterday) me and my Molly just lay on the ground and cry because adulting is too much.
Glue gun or sewing machine?
Oh heavens sewing machine! I think if I could I would sew everything, wood, plastic, paper, grass.. Glue guns are so messy and I always leave with a burn or ten.
If money were nothing what would you spend your free time doing?
I would adopt 100 pretty babies. That has been a dream of mine ever since I found out my next door neighbor was adopted 20 years ago, and I honestly have wanted to leave my mark on the world through adoption. It wouldn’t leave me with much free time, but I could just cry thinking of all the babies I could love that don’t get the chance other wise.
What motivates you?
Well currently the prospect of going back to work haunts me into working as hard as I can! But really, since having my Molly girl it has been such a struggle to find cute affordable clothing and toys, so we just started making them and wanted to share the love!
Isn’t she adorable?
Giveaway details:
Two steps to enter:
- Like or follow “Love, Molly Sue,” on etsy, facebook or insta.
- Head over to my facebook page, and tag a friend in the comments who would LOVE an LMS doll. The more you tag, the better your chances!
Winner receives a molly dolly dress combo. Shipping free to USA. Winner announced Tuesday, Sept. 6. Good luck!
Dear Tacky Gold Dated Frame,
You’ve been repurposed. Which is much better than replaced. Replaced means you’re making friends with the diapers and watermelon rinds in the dumpster. Repurposed means you get to move from random stranger’s house to ours and make friends with the snot that’s wiped on the walls, and the hanging plant that has somehow managed to stay a little bit green. All it took to repurpose you was:
- Cheap black spray paint (the dollar store type – but this would work too)
- Sand paper (the dollar store type – but this would work too)
- Some twine (the dollar store type – but this would work too)
- Clothespins (the dollar store type – but this would work too)
Thank you for being a solid foundation, and beautiful pattern, and for being cheap. 🙂 I really like how you turned out! I’m so excited to rotate pics of my cute family through you! And since I didn’t buy this, it’s like I saved $60 🙂 You’re amazing!
Love, Em.
There I was. Staring at 2 babies, thinking I should entertain them. Staring at the rain outside the window. Staring at the blank walls of my house, which have been that way for 3 years.
That was all it took. I had an old art canvas I’d purchased at an art show. I had lots of paint and brushes on hand. I had a baby that loves, loves, loves to paint. I had an hour before bedtime. Time to repurpose that canvas! The excitement set in, and we got started.
Thank goodness she loves bathing as much as painting.
Amazingly, we had all of the supplies on hand. Here is what we used:
- Acrylic Paint – like these, or the little 99 cent bottles from the craft store. We used 3 blues, 3 burnt-ish colors, white, gold and silver.
- Paint-brushes, or tore-up old sponges.
- Blank Canvas (hit up the thrift store!)
- Glitter! Usually available at the dollar store.
- Polyurethane Spray (optional – holds the glitter on so it doesn’t end up everywhere.)
- World Map Pattern, which happens to be available in my etsy shop.
Here is how we did it:
Close-ups of glitter and patterns and brush-strokes:
It was serendipitous that the existing veins ended up looking like mountain ranges. Let’s pretend they line up with real ranges. Such a fun crafty project!
I have a conversation with my husband here and there. It goes like this:
Me: Next time there are a few drops of breast milk that are going to go bad, save them. I have some new paint ideas.
Hubs: Yes mamm
This is a weird conversation to have, right?
WHY!!? One night, I learned you can paint with milk. Then between my husband’s innovative mind, and my own crazy (or maybe just sleep-deprived) mind, we decided to try it with breast milk, and it turns out it works just the same! Ask your grandma and aunts if they ever painted with milk, it seems to have been a popular day-care activity back in the day.
How do I paint with milk? I grab milk, (the drops left in the bottle after I pump are enough), grab a brush, grab some paper and go. It’s white on white, but when thrown in the oven for 4 minutes at 400, it turns this beautiful golden color. Then I load it into photoshop, change up the colors, move everything around, and send to a printer.
What do I paint with the few drops of milk that will no longer nourish my baby? Greeting cards. But it gets better: every sale helps a NICU baby get human milk. Check out my etsy shop, with cards, felt walls and more fun crafts.
This is my latest card creation. A spring-time ‘Hey There’ card, perfect to say hello, I miss you, what’s up, thinking of you. Also great for that birthday party you forgot to get a card for because you were busy being a mom. I feel ya.
I don’t know why, but it’s WAYY more fun to say ‘gracias’ for all the things than ‘thanks’ for all the things. See:
So in favor of screaming ‘Gracias’ and having more parties with pinatas, here are my favorite ‘Gracias’ thank you cards on etsy:
It’s penguin awareness week! Well, at least at the Living Planet Aquarium! To celebrate, we made an ocean with … you guessed it – FELT! These felt walls are such fun toys for my kids. It’s great entertainment for both of us, and easy for me because there’s minimal mess!! Much better than the day I attempted a mess-free activity. 🙂
We ended up with over 40 pieces! Ocean life, sea shells, eyes and bubbles. Lots of bubbles. Not sure what it is about toddlers and bubbles. Blowing bubbles might account for over 50% of the job description of mom. Turns out felt bubbles are almost as cool.
My oldest is starting to tell stories with all the sea life. Some days the jellyfish likes the shark, others not so much. It’s magical.
So, how does this magic all come together? The felt scenes stick to the wall with a few command strips (included). The easy-to-move felt pieces stick right to the felt wall. The pieces are so easy for toddlers to play with, and it’s amazing to see them use their crazy wild imaginations. I love watching my babies re-arrange their underwater world over and over.
SPECIAL!! If you use code ‘penguin’ you’ll get 5% off AND a free felt penguin to swim through your ocean!
Promo code valid through Feb 29, 2016.
The BreastCardEver helps NICU babies get human milk! Read all about the BreastCardEver.
Printable also helps NICU babies get human milk! Read all about the cause.
Have you ever asked yourself if you should use oil paint, a sharpie, or breast milk to make art? Wait, you haven’t? Oh. Well, I realize this is a little weird! It’s kind of an extreme form of art. But it’s okay! Because it’s all going to a greater cause: getting human milk to NICU babies in need! Buy a card, feed a baby.
Still want to know more about the BreastCardEver? Read the FAQs! Then buy a card today from my Etsy shop!
I’m a little nervous to put this into the universe, but it’s so awesome, I have to. Go easy, haters.
I learned that you can paint beautiful things with milk. And since I love making prints without a computer, I was totally going to do it. Then my genius hubs said “Would it work with breast milk?” Continue reading “I Used 1/4 Teaspoon Breast Milk to Make a ‘Thank You!’ Greeting Card”
How to build an inexpensive canvas print.
Step 1: Have cute kids.
Step 2: Find an amazing photographer like Sara Lleverino. Continue reading “DIY Inexpensive Canvas Print”
Utah’s Spiral Jetty, so pretty!
My pops is a big outdoor guy, always takes us on fun adventures. So for a gift, we made him some art to put on his wall. He always pretends he likes our art, even when it’s horrible. 🙂
Em is Crafty 