Magnetic Bobby Pin Tray

Do you lose all of your bobby pins? Or is that just me? I swear! Or I want to! Where do they all go????? I remember very religiously always taking them out of my hair while in my bathroom...well almost religiously. 

Almost religiously should only lose me a quarter of my bobby pins, not all but one or two. Seriously, I think they are marching away and laughing at me from all the hidden crevices around my house.

So rude.

Feeling my plight, or annoyed at my need to keep buying more, Hubby came home from his favorite tool store with a solution. He brought me a silver magnetic tool tray. The manly tool purpose for this tray is to hold screws, nails, and other construction bits. He felt rather like a genius exclaiming that he bought it for my wayward bobby pins.

I couldn't deny he was a genius. However, the style of the said tool tray was a little lacking. It was just a plain silver tray. Blah. I can't blame the man though. Function over style is always his motto.

I like both style and function, so I had to pretty up the little boring magnetic tool tray.

A little spray paint and some vinyl and well, hello there gorgeous.

I cut out the hello from vinyl. I put it in the middle of the tray before spray painting. Then I spray painted several coats. I peeled off the vinyl after about 30 minutes of my last coat of paint. Do not let the vinyl stay there until the paint completely dries or the removal of the vinyl will also remove some paint. Wait about 24 hours before you use your tray.

Then load that beauty up with all the bobby pins you can find...or the ones you just went out and bought.

Now my bobby pins happily sit in this gorgeous little tray in my bathroom. I am happy to report that I haven't lost hardly any (let's be honest I am still probably gonna lose one or two in my purse). Seriously guys this is the easiest, cheapest, and quickest little project.

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Breakfast Command Center Tray {Project Pantry}

I have a project list two miles long. The list is more than a little overwhelming and a whole lot too much for the budget. Instead of getting all tragic about it I just pick one smaller project and I bust it out making my list just a bit smaller.

My smaller project as of late is a little pantry make over. I am calling it Project Pantry. I know. I am pretty original. It is a gift.

There has been painting and more painting. I have gathered containers I already owned and then bought some new ones. I only have a little bit more work to do. Then I can show you all my all prettied up pantry.

Today, I want to give you just a little sneak peak of Project Pantry. Well, this will be a second peak if you follow me on Instagram (go on and follow me @larissa_anotherday) because I already gave one over there.

One of the biggest messes in our pantry was all the breakfast stuff.

My solution was to organize all the breakfast stuff onto a Breakfast Command Center Tray.

We had a miraculously warm and sunny day which gave me the opportunity to spray paint some stuff. I had an old TV tray just taking up space. It was just the right size to hold some cereal boxes.

So it got spray painted.

Then it got fitted with all our breakfast favorites. We have cereal boxes nicely stacked side by side. Packets of instant oatmeal and granola are nicely stored in clear containers. Just grab some bowls, spoons, and milk and breakfast is ready.

When breakfast is done, I can just put the tray back into the pantry. Where it patiently waits and sits until the next morning breakfast rush.

Be on the look out for more Project Pantry coming soon! Eek! Can you feel the excitement?!?

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Kid Airplane Wings: Tutorial

I made these super fun airplane wings for my Little Men a few weeks ago. They went along with the Disney Plane's Sweepstakes, which is still going on friends! Head on over and leave a comment to enter to win a Fandango $100 Gift Card.

They have been so excited for Planes to come to theaters. I thought it would be fun to make something for them to celebrate the movie...

...maybe I should let them wear them to the theater. I am sure the other people would really appreciate tiny arm airplanes flying around the theater.

This was a super easy, done in a day, kind of project. The wings can be made with just a handful of supplies, a lot that you might just have on hand.

By the end of the day you will have happy little fliers zooming around your house.

Or zooming around the park.
 

Or if you are brave, maybe even a movie theater.

 Here is how you can make your own set of Kid Airplane Wings-

What you need-

tri-fold display board (one board will make 2 sets)
painters tape
spray paint
duct tape

Cut the sides off, that will be one set of wings. Then cut the middle piece exactly in half, that will be another set of wings.

Working with the non white side, measure you kiddos arm span (from the armpit to the tip of the fingers) and add 3 inches. Make the mark in the middle of the short distance.

Draw an oval shape from one side to the other going through the mid point you just marked.

Cut out with an exacto knife. Then use this wing as the pattern for your other wings. Repeat the cutting process for each wing.

Flip the board over and now work with the white side.

Using painters tape, mark off stripes in any pattern you like. The tape will be where the white stripes show up.

You can go from side to side. You can make little stripes. You can make a big stripe by overlapping the painters tape. You can go from the tip of the wing running down the middle. Basically have fun making the stripey wing of your dreams.

Now is the fun part. Spray paint. Who doesn't love spray paint???

I chose classic colors that were perfect for airplane wings. I sprayed each set a different color. Apply the first coat pretty lightly. Then go back with heavy coats until they have the coverage you like. The coverage might depend on the color. 

The red paint went on gloriously and covered completely with two coats. The green paint took several more to get the coverage I wanted.

I used duct tape for the arm bands.

For 1 wing, here is what you will need:

4- 12" strips
4- 8" strips
4- 5"strips

For the upper arm band, you will use the 12" strips. Lay two sticky side up. Then place two sticky side down onto the strips already laying on the table.

For the lower arm band do the same thing with the 8" strips.

Place the upper arm bands about 5-6 inches from the top, making sure it is in the middle. You will want to tape them on with 2 of the 5" strips. Make sure to tape them on in an arch big enough for your child's arms to go through.

Then have them put it on and measure where to put the lower arm band.

Stick the lower arm band on with the 2 other 5 inch strips.

Repeat for all of the wings.

Really secure the arm bands well. The rougher they play, the more tape you might need securing them on.

Now all you have to do is slip them on and let them fly around until they request to land.

This is a super easy project and is an unbelievable fun thing to break up a Summer afternoon.

Just another reminder--

Don't forget to enter the Disney's Reach Your Dreams and Have Courage

Sweepstake for a chance to win a $100 Fandango gift card.

Sparkleville: A Christmas Village Revamp How-To

A little Sparkle at Christmastime is always a good idea.

I love little Christmas villages. I remember when I was younger, there was this one house that we would go to as a family. This house was insane with Christmas villages and Christmas trains. Now, we didn't know the owners of the home at all. In fact, most of the people that walked through their home were unknown to them.

The house seriously opened up at Christmas time to have merry strangers partake in the wonder that was their house turned Christmas village. 

I was enamored by the different vignettes. It was like I was a friendly giant coming down from my beanstalk to welcome in the yuletide with them. I still remember my favorite scene. 

There was a little neighborhood that had a small mishap. It would seem that a group of holiday adventures decided to take up their hot air balloon even though the weather was not favorable. Alas, the hot air balloon did not make it far. As luck would have it, the hot air balloon couldn't keep its altitude and it crashed right into the top of a sweet little Victorian house.

The balloon was literally embedded in part of the roof.

My curious mind was amazed that the balloon had actually made a hole in the roof. Then logic came sneaking in and figured that perhaps the sweet Victorian house had some how broken, so the owners of the Christmas village ingeniously came up with the little story of a hot air balloon crash to hid the broken roof.

Crazy how some things stick with us.

While I still love the little villages, they don't really fit in with my holiday decorations.

That is until now. 

A light bulb went off. Spray paint. Sparkles. Spray paint AND sparkles.

Ah, yes. Perfect.

This project is so easy (minus the vacuuming up of all the loose sparkles). With spray paint in whatever color you want and sparkles to match, you too can have an Sparkleville for you own home.

You simply need:

cheap Christmas village houses

spray paint

coordinating glitter

mod podge

clear acrylic coating spray

I got my little houses for a buck at The Mart. Sweet and simple.

I chose red. 

I lucked out that the glitter I wanted was on clearance at Michael's. Miss Martha has a wonderful variety of glitter to choose from, but then again did we expect anything less from her?

In a lot of places, it is starting to get too cold to spray paint. If you have a sunny day, even if it is a little chilly, seize the day and spray...

Hahaha...I think I might need that on a t-shirt!

Put the houses in a shallow box.

Spray a very quick and light coat first.

Let it set for about 10 minutes. Go back and spray a slightly heavier coat.

Let is set again for about 10 minutes. Repeat with more coats until heavily covered and you can see only a little of the original paint.

Since you are covering them with sprinkles the coverage does not need to be 100%.

Let them dry for 24-48 hours.

Lay out newspaper and get ready to mod podge.

Starting on the roof, and working in sections, apply the Mod Podge.

Then sprinkle over a generous dose of glitter. Move and gently shake the house around so that the loose glitter covers the Mod Podge. 

I gathered the loose glitter into a pile and then picked up small mounts with my fingers to ensure coverage was complete, and to make sure I didn't waste glitter.

Your hands will be a hot mess.

Repeat with each side. Go over areas that are not covered as well.

I was able to cover six small houses with less than a whole bottle of glitter. Make sure you are aware of how much you have used, how much is on the table, and how much you have to cover.

Let the newly glittered houses set out for a day. The glitter will still be loose, so be careful.

No sneezing around the houses...learned that the hard way...

Once they have dried, take them back outside.

Evenly coat each house with a clear acrylic coating. This won't ensure that there won't be some glitter that will still come off, but it keeps most of it in place.

Now you have a perfectly splendid Sparkleville all your own.

I promise you will love how the light catches on them. They are so sparkly I want to swoon. I have half on my mantle and I have the rest in my kitchen. I kind of want more, but alas that would probably be sparkle overload.

...if there is such a thing...

Enjoy, I hope you have fun making your own sparkle Christmas village.

Linking Here:

Lil'Luna, Ginger Snap Crafts, Someday Crafts, Southern Lovely,
Simply Kierste, The 36th Avenue, Whipperberry, Tatertots and Jello

SPLASH Art Tutorial

The Little Men's bathroom needed a little aesthetic help. In our recent housing face lift this room was left completely bare and white. I just couldn't have that, but I didn't want to do something major that would be permanent or that would take me a long time to accomplish.

Enter my three favorite things...

spray paint

blank canvas

my Silhouette (this project can totally be done without it too, just keep reading)

I had these canvases already. They were different sizes and one was flat.

I picked three colors to pull from the new hand towel above...again thank you Target.

Using painter's tape I marked a 1/2" border. I totally eyeball it...most the time it works out for me...wait till the end to see if it did...

Your shape can be done many ways. I cut out a stencil using my Silhouette.
You could also use white vinyl and just make a sticker shape to adhere, like I did here and here.
You can also simply use a sticker or trace your shape onto contact paper.

Place stickers where you would like them. I added a word on the largest canvas.

Spray painting time. Spray a light coat to start. Then you can go back in about 10 minutes and spray a slightly heavier coat. Continue until it has the coverage you want. Be patient. If you aren't and you go all hog wild with the paint there will be some leakage.

Yes I was a little impatient and I sprayed too heavy, too quickly...have I mentioned I am short on time as of late...

After only a couple of hours you can peel of the tape and your stickers.

I know you will have much straighter edges than I do...poor shark and his crooked edges. Even with his askew border I still love him.

They turned out great for a quick afternoon project. They look great in the bathroom. My Little Men totally love them.

Sharing here:

Blue Cricket Design: Show and Tell Wednesday