The Gift of Adventure

Today, I will be sharing with you a gift idea. Every year, my family has a Pollyanna exchange at Christmas time. This year to keep things interesting, we chose Pollyanna’s as couples. This gift was a wonderful Christmas present but could be given year-round at a Bridal Shower or to your partner this Valentine’s day!

The concept of the gift Is simple—I sat down and brainstormed 8 mini adventures my sister could go on with her fiancé and 8 more adventures that she could do with her fiancé and son. We had a spending limit of $100.00 a couple so there isn’t anything in here that is bank-breaking. In some cases, the gift pays for a small portion of the date, all of the date, or the date is something that is largely free. I made sure there was a variety of activities—funny adventures, physical challenges, food-related, artistic… something for everyone to enjoy.

I started the gift with the carrying case. This helped to set the restrictions and realities for what we could accomplish. I purchased an Extra Large IRIS Photo and Craft Keeper, 16 individual 4x6 cases within at Michael’s (with a coupon!!). I knew I needed to make each adventure fit in to a 4x6 photo case and I needed to have 16 in total. Maureen has a ton of printed pictures so I was confident that she would use the case even if she dismantled the adventures. I did choose options that you can keep doing over and over again (aside from the couple needing to purchase more items), so she could use the case for years to come as well.

Coming up with gifts that would fit into the case—that was the fun challenge for me! Take a look at the printable (link below) that I have included in this post for more information. I have the date descriptions, what I included in each case, and the case labels for each all ready for you to peruse -- you can make your own!

The Gift of Adventure - Printable!

On a side note, my sister is an avid scrapbook enthusiast. I included Project Life cards, embellishments, and photo challenges in most if not all of her cases. If the person you are gifting this to is not a fan, it is best to leave that out and use the expense somewhere else. I recommend hounding your local Groupon and Living Social pages for deals. There were quite a few we looked at but passed up for other adventures. Do you know someone that wants to ride a Segway on an obstacle course or get family photos taken at Picture People?

Lego Week: Creationary Review!!

The geniuses at Lego created a game titled, "Creationary."  It is just like "Pictionary" but you build objects with Lego blocks instead of drawing pictures.  This game is for ages 7 and up and is definitely fun for the whole family!

Inside the box, you will find several shapes and sizes of Lego pieces!  There is a variety of colors as well.  There are also three difficulty levels you can play.  For the easiest creations, choose the single question mark cards to play with. 

Some of these cards and categories are quite challenging.  The categories seem to be transportation, buildings, nature, and tools.  Depending on your skill level with the use of Lego blocks, your results will vary greatly!

 My seven year old made this creation:

He drew a "?" card (which is the easy cards) and rolled the dice that chooses your category.  The dice gave him the "building" category in red.  He thought the greenhouse SOLD plants.  The "man" is working at the register.  Those little buttons are plants :)

Just for fun....I looked on Instagram under #creationary.  You should check that out!  There are so many creative builders out there that really know how to use Lego bricks and build masterpieces.  Way to be crafty!

Personally, I am a fan of the game.  You can only improve on your building skills and people of all ages will have fun playing together.  You can't take yourself too seriously with this game.  I am not as skilled as many "Creationary" players, but it was nice to be creative while spending quality time with my son laughing at how silly I made a row boat look with Lego pieces. Good times and family fun!  Enjoy!

DIY Eclectic Alphabet Wall Art: Part 1

Let me have an honest moment with you, readers. I have lived in my house for over 5 years now and though I love DIY and art, there is not a single nail in my walls. It is a point of frustration for me that I am determined to remedy soon (and more on that later!).

When I was pregnant with my daughter (2 years ago), I was inspired by all of these lovely images I found all over the internet of eclectic alphabets hung in children’s rooms. My partner is not a fan of eclectic style but to my shock and amazement, he told me it was a great idea when I said I wanted to make letters to coordinate with the baby’s room. Honestly, I think that deep down he thought it would be a project that I would never finish. Well, joke is on him now! I applied my last coat of purple to the final letter last week and hung them all on the walls of my daughter’s room yesterday!

There is some great variety here so take a look! I would love to tell you how I made them—it might inspire you to create a few of your own as well. You don’t have to do the whole alphabet. Consider doing your street name in the front entrance, your family name in your living room, your child’s name in their bedroom, or your favorite creative word in your craft space!

A: Picked this one up at Home Goods. It was originally silver and designed to sit on a shelf. A healthy coating of green and the latticework of the metal shines.

B: I bought the letter and the canvas at Michael’s. The canvas is a part of a 10 pack of 8x10 value canvases. I wrote the uppercase B in pencil lightly and free hand then filled it in with purple acrylic paint. The lower case B was white and I spray painted it green.

C: My mom made this one! First, she used Spellbinder's to cut the flowers out of paper. Taking chalks, she colored the petals and adds a pollen accent on the middle with a Copic Marker. The flowers are hand painted with stickles on the inside for the touch of glitter every little girl needs.

D: This is a cardboard letter I got in the clearance section of Michaels—25 cents! I painted the letter purple then took purple glow-in-the-dark puffy paint and drew the scrolling design by hand. This letter was inspired by this pin!

E : This is a pretty heavy pre-made letter. I bought it at Marshall’s. It’s a dark brown that I did not alter in any way. 

F: This one was fun to do! I started with two different weights of jewelry wire, a print out of the letter “F” in a font that I liked, and a can of purple spray paint. Bend the heavier weight wire to trace the outline of the letter that you have printed. Overlap the ends and twist off. Mine ends in the straight, flat area of the top of the F so that it is in a strong place for support. Next, twist and wrap the thin wire in and around the letter outline. I was going for a "scribbled" kind of look but you can certainly wrap in a more uniform pattern. This step, I used several lengths of wire so that the wrapping was easier. Just do your best to tuck in any sharp ends. Next, spray paint the letter whatever color you desire. This letter was inspired by the string art you see all over the internet these days... just with a different nod to it!

More letters (and better pictures, I swear) to come! Stay tuned...

Check out:
Link to Part 2 (Letters G to M)
Link to Part 3 (Letters N to S)

Link to Part 4 (Letters T to Z)Link to Part 5 (Arranging and Hanging)

 

Family Christmas Mini Album- Scrapbook Tutorial

I have to confess my addiction for scrapbooking and paper crafts. It is my favorite hobby and I'm perfectly content gluing pictures and paper together in my little free time. When I want to feel like I got a lot accomplished and actually finished something, I work on mini albums. I wanted to share one with you today! After deciding what I was going to do, it took me about 2-3 hours. 

I always start with a challenge. Right now, I've been trying to work on this large pile of 6 x 6 paper pads. I love buying these because they give you bits of an entire collection but for a much lower cost - and it all goes together! Apparently I've been neglecting them so I want to make sure I use them in all of my upcoming projects. Today, I picked an old Christmas paper pad from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Collection. 

I used my Canon Selphy to print out pictures at a smaller, 3 x 4 size using an app called Pic Frame on my phone. 

There are a ton of chipboard mini books out there. Here are some examples of different shapes and brands. Most of these were around $1.00 - $3.00. I'm going to be using that Crayola one in the shape of a house.

Most of my Christmas supplies were still out in a bin from when I made the Activity Advent Calendar so I just pulled out some stickers and die cuts from the bin to use on this project. I'm determined to finish this stash up! I also took out scissors, an Xacto knife, strong adhesive, some distressing ink for the edges of the paper, a hole punch, and a nail file. 

First, I ran the adhesive over the chipboard. Then I took a sheet of the 6 x 6 paper and stuck it right on top. I flipped the chipboard over and used the knife to cut all around it. I used to be terrible with the knife but it gets much easier with practice. I used the nail file to file any imperfect edges and the hole punch to punch the hole on the top of the house where the binding clip goes. I then distressed the edges of the paper with ink to give it a complete look. After the papers were on each page, I put pictures and stickers wherever I felt it looked nice. 

Here is my completed project: 

Hope you enjoyed the mini album and take a chance making your own!