August 16, 2016

X’s and Aaarrrgh’s

DIY kids tic tac toe game with bean bags | Happy Okapi

I was ordering some fabric from Fabric Spark the other day and had a quick look around the site while I was there, and came across these adorable pirates from Makower. I had no idea what I would use them for, but as a typical fabric addict, I quickly talked myself into the purchase, figuring I may as well throw in a half yard because I’m paying for shipping anyway.

They arrived pretty quickly and as I was gazing at the fabric, an idea popped into my head. Don’t you just love it when that happens?! I decided to make them into bean bags and create a tic tac toe game with them. The x’s would be the skull and cross bones, and the o’s would be the pirate faces, or “aarrgh’s” if you channel your inner pirate.

This was such a quick project. The white border is 1/2″ wide, so it left a 1/4″ seam allowance for each bag. I made sure to pair up one skull and cross-bones with one pirate face for each bag, and made 10 bags, enough for either team to win.

Originally, I was going to use actual dried beans, as I’ve done with previous bean bags, but I had visions of my outdoor loving boys sneaking the pirates outside and ending up with stinky bags, so I decided to opt for the poly pellets. I used my 50% off coupon at Michael’s for a 2lb bag, and it was well under $10, with lots left over.

For the board, I used a foam core board (again, from Michael’s with a coupon), and washi tape.

The game was such a hit! My boys refuse to call out “Aaaarrgh!” when they win, but that doesn’t stop me. Of course, you can make your own set with any 2 different ideas, but the pirates came in the perfect size, already measured, making it extra easy. Once they were done with tic tac toe, they set up some buckets for a bean bag toss and I was so pleased that they found a double duty for the project.

Swoon Dallas

My son went to a summer day camp earlier this month and each day he needed to bring a towel and change of clothes, plus a few extras. It was a tight squeeze in his Not-So-Tiny Explorer, so I decided to quickly make him a Dallas. I asked around the internet and determined that the medium would be the right size for him (he’s 7). Since I decided fairly last minute, I skipped the exterior and interior zippered pockets to save some time. I chose Libs Elliott’s True Love fabric from Sitka Fabrics, and love that it turned out to be gender neutral and fun. If you are looking for a quick sew for an overnight or weekend bag, Dallas is a great choice!

August 11, 2016

DIY-Crush Link Party, Week 45

It’s Thursday! And you know what that means… PARTY TIME!

We’ve got a guest host this week: Annalee from The Salt Water Blog has joined us to spread some party cheer. Welcome, Annalee!

You can follow her here: facebook // instagram // pinterest

Let’s get on with the making (or breaking) of stuff, shall we?

À la prochaine,

It’s Thursday Again and the Party is On!

As usual we had lots of sites to visit and some great projects and tutorials to peruse (True confession: I started to hate the word “peruse” when everybody thought it was a good idea to send out their résumés “… for your perusal.” … Ok, tangent over. Focus!) They’re all still here for you to peruse as well: Week 44.

Domenica picked this free potholder tutorial from Radiant Home Studio. She explains how she decided on such a luminous blog name, plus she has lots of other great sewing/crafting inspiration. Go go see her and learn something fun.

I’m not sure if I fell in love with this leather dog sofa tutorial by Redo It Yourself Inspirations or the gorgeous doggie. If you know me, you probably guessed it’s the dog, and you’re probably right. But honestly, the DIY project is pretty amazing and I’d make one myself if I could be trusted with power tools — or had a dog.

Denise’s favourite post from last week is this Chippy Glam Dresser Makeover. She can barely contain her excitement over its beauty. Do you hear that, Lolly Jane? Denise loves your dresser!

Your turn! Comment below with which project was your fave.

Guest Hosts

It’s good to keep secrets — most of the time. This is one of those times when we really don’t mind if you tell everyone and their grandma’s custom kitchen sink about the party. Come back next week for a “heapin’ helpin’ of our hospitality.”

DIY bloggers, do you have a few extra minutes and a little bit of blog space to spare? We are always looking for guest hosts for the weekly party. Would you like to be a part of Party #46, starting on Thursday, August 18? Yes? Ok, please leave a comment with the link to your blog and I’ll contact you with details.

This Week’s Link Collection

///By linking up you are giving us permission to visit your blog, pin/share images from linked up post and link back to you///

An InLinkz Link-up

What is a link party?

It’s like a weekly roundup of helpful posts. Link parties like this one are a place for bloggers to share links to their posts that fit the theme. And readers who are searching for information on that theme will be able to find several resources in one place.

DIY Crush opens a new “link-up” every Thursday evening and bloggers are invited to submit their posts. Incorrigible DIYers of all sorts can find new inspiration and tutorials for their next project by checking out the posts and articles.

How does this work?

For blog readers and inspiration seekers, all you have to do is check the listings above, or go to DIY Crush each week to see what’s been added. You can also visit the Pinterest Board where we save all the links. And then off you go to replicate what you see!

For Bloggers:

1. Please grab this image and install it somewhere on your site.* Link to www.diy-crush.com:

(or, if you’re not sure how to do that,
you can link to DIY Crush with a text link)

* This is a requirement, not an option. One of us will check.

2. Grab the link to your DIY post and head down to the bottom of this post to submit your link.

Posts that are invited to the party:

free craft tutorials & patterns
pattern reviews (can include links to the pattern for purchase)
decoration with small list of how you did it
recipes for foods that are also kids friendly (no alcoholic recipes please)
business/blogging tips
money tips for SAHM’s and WAHM’s

Posts that are not welcome to this party:

shops
giveaways
spam sites
products for sale
adult content

3. Spread the word, any way you like. We love party crushers!

4. If your site and post check out, we pin your link to this Pinterest board, which will bring you extra exposure!

5. Consider joining the party as a guest host. It’s not a lot of work, we promise.

6. The hosts and guest host each pick a favourite DIY to be featured the following week.

Hosts

Guest Host

We are welcoming guest hosts to join us and party along! ***If you are interested in guest hosting a week, please leave a comment! We’ll get back to you with details.

Permanent Co-Hosts

Marsha from Seam Of My Pants, a whole new world of silly sewing and cockamamie crafting

Domenica from Easy Sewing For Beginners, a blog full of tutorials, projects and videos!

Please follow your hosts:

DIY Crush: blog // facebook //twitter // pinterest // youtube // google+ // instagram

Easy Sewing For Beginners: blog // facebook // twitter // pinterest // youtube // instagram

Seam Of My Pants: blog // facebook page //twitter // pinterest // facebook group // instagram

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

We will pin every instructional post but won’t be able to comment on every one. If you are one of our favorites, we will comment to let you know!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Tags: link party, rustic sign

August 4, 2016

DIY-Crush Link Party, Week 44

Oh come on! Another week gone by and I still can’t account for what I’ve done with any of it. Here we are back at Thursday, and ready for the next DIY Crush link party. My tester skirt isn’t done, the messenger bag isn’t done, the patchwork cross-body wallet isn’t done, the curtains for my cousin aren’t done, dinner is overdone (oops!) … I’m pooped so I know I did something. Unfortunately, that won’t help me one bit when I fail to provide an alibi for my whereabouts.

Anyway, go check out the featured projects from last week, and see the new DIYs that came in this week. While you do that, I’m going in search of the missing week of my life.

À la prochaine,

It’s Thursday Again and the Party is On!

Before you even think of reading about the featured posts from last week, you should see all that we had to choose from. They’re still there: Week 43.

Have you heard that old expression, “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach” or is that something only Jamaicans say? It means you put too much food on your plate and you can’t eat it. Normally, that’s figuratively how I do projects. Pile ’em on! But I reinterpreted the meaning when I had to pick a DIY favourite this week. You see, my eyes loved the beautiful results of one project but my belly got excited when I saw all those recipes for peach desserts. Oh man! Did they look yummy! but I knew I didn’t stand a chance of replicating all that goodness. I went with the visual impact of the moo-moo sign, after I allowed myself a little bit of slobbering.

Here’s that handsome DIY Rustic Sign made with love by a daughter (and hubby) for her dad. If only I had a ranch. The blog, Pursue Your Project, is a new guest at the DIY-Crush party. They feature some inspiring cooking, crafting and lots of other DIY projects.

Domenica picked this free pattern for a watermelon softie from Coloured Buttons. Her explanation about how she came to this blog name is fabulous!! She also tons more free softie patterns.

And Denise’s favourite post from last week is a tutorial on how to decorate monogram letters. This one is from The Craft Blog Stalker, a blog she visits often because they feature many great tutorials and recipes.

Now that you know which ones we picked, do you love ’em or not-so-much-love ’em? Which ones would you have picked as your favourites?

Guest Hosts

DIY bloggers, do you have a few spare minutes and a little bit of blog space to spare? We are always looking for guest hosts for the weekly party. Would you like to be a part of Party #45, starting on Thursday, August 11? Yes? Ok, please leave a comment with the link to your blog and I’ll contact you with details.

This Week’s Link Collection

///By linking up you are giving us permission to visit your blog, pin/share images from linked up post and link back to you///

An InLinkz Link-up

What is a link party?