Minecraft Halloween Costume

I was DELIGHTED last year when in October, my son wanted to be Steve from Minecraft. You have to understand, the previous 4 years, he always wanted to be some version of Sonic, and quite frankly, I was running out of ideas on how to make another version!

I found a number of ideas on Pinterest, but this one really inspired me!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-No-Sew-Soft-Foam-Minecraft-Armor/

I found a bunch of boxes at work that I could use to make the body and arms. I painted them blue and let them dry.  I then raided the blue and gray paint swatches at my Home Depot and I glued them randomly to the boxes, My hubby cut out the head and arm holes next,,,the final step was finishing all of the edges with black duct tape.

My son already owned the Steve head and the diamond sword, so the costume was complete! All he needed was jeans and a light blue shirt.

He turned out to be a pretty cool Steve and got a TON of compliments!

A Minecraft Birthday Party

 My son is a huge fan of Minecraft. So for his Birthday last year, we had a Minecraft birthday party at a campground. I tried using all the printables on Pinterest, but they were not printing correctly. I purchased posterboard with "ghost lines" and made my own labels for snacks...

 

 We used my son's Minecraft swords for additional decorations. We had a lot of pretzels for snacks! The brick ones were labeled, "Trap Door." Veggie Straws were labeled, "Sticks." I used gold covered chocolates as "Gold," I purchased the confetti poppers and labeled them "TNT." Red grapes were labeled, "Redstone." I found some cheap lime green plastic cups at WalMart and I made creeper faces on them with the help of electrical tape and my son,

 The cake was easy! Simple rectangle cake, then I had my son use Hershey candy bar pieces to create another creeper.

 Overall, I would say it was a success! He was a happy boy!

 A big hit was the Steve head he received as a gift...

 They would wear it and then the battles with the swords began!

It was a very memorable, very fun birthday!

Shell Memory Frame

This post is going to be short and sweet. With all of the shells that I collected in Florida, I used ideas from Pinterest to create this nice memory. I took a cheap frame from Goodwill and white washed it. While at Goodwill, I picked up some fake pearl necklaces and shiny marbles. I then, just glued away! All the shells were cleaned and ready to be hot glued, but adding the pearls and marbles added something more!

Fast, easy and a lasting family memory!

Painted Garden Window

I also wanted to give my mom something to tie her garden books (see previous post) to her garden...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/30317462/sample-painted-windows?ref=sr_gallery_19&ga_search_query=painted+window&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_ref=auto1&ga_search_type=all

https://www.etsy.com/listing/159054701/garden-library-cicero-quote-a

I used these two pins as inspiration...I collect things for future crafts. Last summer, a church was giving away windows so OF COURSE I grabbed a bunch. Every day, my husband complained about them and the fact that I wasn't using them. I decided to try my hand at painting one. I am not an artist; however, I am pretty fearless so I went to Fleet Farm (I work at Home Depot and know that we do not have paint for glass) where I found paint for glass. Little containers for like model cars and things. So I jumped in and tried to mimic the painted window while incorporating the quote.

 The hardest part was waiting for the paint to fully dry between steps. I am not patient and I am used to quick drying latex, but I did it...

 For not being an artist, I thought it came out pretty nice...

And Mom loved it!

Books for Mom's Garden!

Garden "Books"

http://wasbella102.tumblr.com/post/61762198667/bricks-painted-to-look-like-books-in-the-garden

I was inspired by this Pin last year. I decided I would give it a try! My mom loves her garden, and I thought it would make a great birthday gift for her! I went to Home Depot and bought a variety of paving stones. I brought them home, cleaned them and allowed them to dry for 24 hours.

I used Exterior Behr Marquee white semi-gloss paint and painted the "pages" of the books (3 edges). Once they dried, I used any and all exterior paint I had in my garage to paint the covers of the book.

Then, came the tough part. I spent hours at the library looking for copies of some of my mom's favorite books. I checked them out and brought them home. Then, using paint markers, I tried to replicate the covers/font and edge to the best of my ability. Once I finished, I let them dry, then sprayed with a clear protective coating.

 I think they turned out great!

And my mom loved her gift!