My daughter is 4 this year. This year I promised her that she could have a garden of her very own. We have selected our spot outside & are getting ready to prep the area. I let her pick the seeds that she wanted to grow. She picked 2 flowers & 2 vegetables.
We love clay & play dough projects in our house. My daughter just can’t get enough of it. We make new dough every week, sometimes even a couple of times a week. We are just about settled into our new home, but are still missing pictures on our walls. I thought it would be fun for us to make some homemade frames together.
We started with a simple clay recipe.
2 1/2 cup of flour
1 1/4 cup of water
1 cup of salt
1 Tbsp of oil
1 Tbsp of cornstarch
Mix all the ingredients together & then knead with your hands. My daughter always loves this part. You may need to add less or more water.
Roll out your clay.
Cut a few long strips out of your dough & then cut into small squares.
Cut out a shape for your frame & then cut out the inside window. Use a photo as a template to know how big to cut your window.
Lightly wet the top of your frame. Press the squares on top until the frame is covered. Press the squares in enough so that they stick. For my frame, I etched designs in with a toothpick. Since Mother’s Day is nearing, I thought that a Mother’s Day themed frame would be a good choice. Mai chose to draw in her designs after.
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Bake for 1 hour & then flip your frame & bake for another hour. Depending on the thickness of your frame, you might need more or less bake time. When hardened, remove from the oven & let cool.
Paint your squares with acrylics or glaze.
After the paint dried, Mai used a marker to draw in her designs. She wanted to write letters & numbers on hers.
Glue yarn or a ribbon to the back to hang & glue a picture to the back. (We used crazy glue. Let adults apply crazy glue.)
My daughter was so proud of her finished project. She asked that both be hung in her room.
Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.
We wanted to do something special for my mother-in-law aka Nana for Mother’s Day. Mai & I had some different ideas of crafts we could make for her Nana for Mother’s Day, but then I came across the most fabulous idea on Pinterest. I could not find the original source to credit it, but found it on a greatest gift ideas list from Tips From A Typical Mom.
It was so beautiful, I knew I had to try it.
All you will need is a camera, wooden letters and a frame.
We only needed to buy the “N’ & the “A”. They were in natural wood & only cost a few dollars each. I bought the frame while I was there too.
I told Mai that we were going to make a special project for Nana & she was excited. I gave her the letters & asked her to do a number of different poses for me. She did a great job for her Nana. She hammed it up and lit up the camera with her dimply smile. We took about 50 pictures & picked the best 4 from the bunch.
I cropped them & changed them to black & white & arranged them in the frame.
The project came out beautifully.
My mother-in-law absolutely loved her gift.
Mother’s Day might be over, but this is a great gift idea for any occasion & you can change the lettering to spell any word that you would like. I have even seen this done holding words instead of letters to spell out a message.
Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.
