Valentine's Canvas with Paint & Photo [Kids DIY]

I love home decor that can be easily swapped out for the different seasons/holidays without much thought.  If you saw my post about making a silhouette design from your child's art, you have an idea of the 5x7 wall hanging I have on each side of our door frame between rooms.  I've since decided to swap those out (the silhouette ones being the "most of the time" decor) during special holidays or events.

And since I have about zero Valentine's decor (I've never been much of a Valentine's girl but as I get older I'm starting to appreciate celebrating love in all forms including kids, friends- Galentine's Day etc.) I needed something made fast!  Seeing as my kids are my favorite artists, I opted to let them decorate for me.  So I gave them some 5x7 canvases and here's what we came up with...

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Here's what you'll need:

- 5x7 canvas
- Acrylic Paint
- Dimensional pieces (such as lace, ribbon, fringe, felt or these cute heart shaped pony beads)
- Hot glue gun
- (optional) glitter!
- Wooden heart cutouts
- A photo of your child

How to Make it:

Let your kids (or you!) go nuts.  Paint your design on the canvas, however you'd like.  As soon as it dries, use the hot glue gun to attach the dimensional pieces.  If your kids are little, adult help is required during the hot gluing!

 Keep in mind that you'll be gluing the wood heart in the center so be sure not to place the "lumpy bumpies" in that space. I set the heart on the canvas (not attached) to help keep us from doing this.

After everything is set- grab the photo of your child and using the wood heart to trace, cut out their sweet faces in a heart shape.  Using the hot glue again, adhere the photo to the wood heart cutout.  Then glue the heart (with photo on it) to the center of the canvas.  Easy peasy. 

I know you totally didn't need directions on how to do that but I wrote them anyways.

Now hang them up and enjoy!  I am absolutely in love with all the textures on these.  It's something a little different than a regular painting.  Plus it has photos of the kids on it, so that's always a winner for this mama!

...and another peek of them hanging up.  Gah, I want to paint the room so badly. Anyone else think this is the worst color yellow ever? Makes our house look so drab.

My daughter feels a lot of pride for them and even herself took some photos of them while I was prepping for this post.  Or maybe she just really loves her brother. (tee-hee-hee)

Turn Your Kids Art into an Embroidery [DIY]

I'm so excited to share with you today one of my recent projects. The idea came to me out of the blue and although the craftsmanship needs a little work (I'm still learning) I am so pleased with how it turned out.  Better yet? Since the project was based on a drawing my son made, he was able to present this gift as his own but with materials that will likely last much longer than a piece of paper. #winwin

[Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to products you can use to make this project. Purchasing through these links earns me a small comission at no extra charge to you, which allows me to bring you more new content! Thank you for supporting my blog.]


I have been bitten by the embroidery bug... HARD. I was so excited to begin that I had all these great ideas for projects in my head without really slowing down to learn what to do first (oops). So please don't judge my stitches as they are not perfect and probably not done the "right" way.  They are however full of so much love and it turned out wonderful in the end.



Want to know how to turn your child's work of art into a long-lasting embroidery design?  It's super easy.  Here's how:



FIRST: Have your child draw a design.  I asked my son (4) to draw a photo for his mamaw (my mom). He opted to draw a photo of her with her name at the bottom. [and some other letters and his name because he got excited.]

NEXT: Gather the rest of your supplies.  You'll need a fabric to embroider on.  Muslin or Osnaburg are common ones but really anything with a fairly tight weave that you can still push a needle through works great. Do a litle research to see what's best for your project.

You'll also need DMC floss (embroidery thread), a needle, scissors, an embroidery hoop and a pencil.

TO TRACE the artwork, tape the paper up to a window with lots of sunshine (or anything else that light shines through).  Then tape your fabric on top.  Using your pencil, simply trace your design.

[What I learned: If possible, have your child draw in a dark color. The light blue/green was hard to see through the fabric.  Also- the more they scribble, the harder it's going to be to trace.  Just do the best you can and create an outline, leaving "holes" where there is empty space in the photo]

and once traced...

I moved down the "W" from his original drawing because he kept writing an "M" and then writing another and another until he got it the right way. (because Mamaw ends with a W) but I wanted to use his actual handwriting.  I also left out the extra letters and his name to keep the design crisp and focused on his original drawing.



NOW START EMBROIDERING! Start with an outline and fill in after that. I wasn't really sure how to space my stitches in something like this (since his original lines may have spanned her head to her feet!) but I think it turned out fairly well.

I kept the original drawing next to me so that when I came upon a "hole" I could figure out how the original lines went to keep it closest to the drawing.  It's a little bit off, but again- I'm pretty proud with how it turned out. I feel like the essense of the drawing is still definetly there.

My son gave it to my mom on Christmas and she loved it.  He is proud that his drawing is now framed and can last for years to come in a fun new way.  I'm excited to have actually finished a project and be on my way to learning something new. I couldn't have picked a better project to begin my journey with (this one and another for my cousin were my first, both done this Christmas).

I'd love to see a photo of the drawing you'd love to embroider.  I have a few more of my "favorites" that I'd like to maybe put on a tote bag or something for myself! This would make a GREAT gift for Valentine's/Galentine's Day or for upcoming Mother's Day! Feel free to share your dream project or your completed one on our facebook group or tag Cut, Craft, Create on Instagram in your DIY post!

SMART Goals + GoSili GIVEAWAY!

Can you believe it's 2019? I can't. The years seem to fly by faster and faster.  From the outside, my 2018 probably looked like an amazing year but internally, it was the roughest I've had in memory.  Because of that, I've got a lot of things planned to make 2019 the best one yet.  Call them resolutions, call them goals, call it getting my act together, it doesn't matter. I think we could all stand to make some resolutions in the New Year.

Not a fan of New Year's Resolutions?  I'm neither here nor there on it; but since I'm trying to improve myself anyways, it seems that the start of the new year is a good time to get things in order.

If you haven't heard of SMART goals, it's a simple but powerful way to break down your goals to help you achieve them (because just saying "I want to get this thing done at some point this year" isn't going to happen).  Here's the breakdown:



[Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Purchasing from these links earns me a small commission at no extra charge to you.  This post also contains sponsored product from GoSili. All opinions are my own and are not influenced by the sponsorship.]

"SMART" goals are:

Specific: What is the specific goal you're trying to accomplish? And be specific!

Measurable: How can you measure your success? Think about how you will know when you've accomplished the goal.

Actionable: What are the actionable steps (aka objectives) needed to achieve the goal? Break the goal into smaller steps. List every step.

Responsible: Who are the people that must support this goal? If you need the support of your manager, co-workers, friends, or family, make note of it here.

Time-bound: When do you want to achieve the goal?

To get started, simplify and take time to sit down and think about your goals.  If you want a planner that helps you work through these goals on a weekly and monthly basis, check out the Passion Planner or give yourself a bit of creative space and try a bullet journal.  Get the kids/spouse/partner/roomate out of the house so that you can think without distraction.  Pour yourself a cup of coffee, tea or whatever makes you happy.

Then make a list of all the things you want to accomplish.  EVERYTHING. Big, small. Just write down everything that comes to your mind. At first, it's doesn't have to be specific or realistic.... just get it on paper.  For me I had everything from blog goals to business goals to personal goals (such as being a better person and more environmentally friendly.)

Next, write down smaller more attainable goals to help you reach the larger ones.  For example, as I want to make more environmentally safe choices, I plan to start things like: bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, taking my own reusable straws to restaurants and minimize my consumption of to-go drink cups.

That's why I wanted to share (and run a GIVEAWAY for) my favorite silicone product company GoSili. I personally own a ton of their products and I'm a big fan.  I've talked about them before a couple times (here and here) but these are my favorite pieces yet!  I've started implementing their new travel mug  into my daily life as a way of reaching my New Year goals.

As you can see in the collage photo above, I have the blue dotted cup itself as well as both the travel mug lid and the straw lid (the straws are from the same company too!)  The smaller cup you see my daughter holding is their kid's cup, which we have owned for some time now.


The lids are completely interchangeable within all of their cups so my kids and me can share, which reduces clutter in our home (another goal of mine!).  Each style of lid has a sort of non-spiral threading on it which doesn't screw it on but rather helps seal the liquid within it to prevent leaks.  On the contrary, the lids just press straight onto the cups.

My husband commented that it should screw onto the cup so that the kids can't take it off but I haven't found that to be a problem. Our 2 year old can't take it off and our 4 year old hasn't ever tried.  They seal on there pretty tight, we've dropped them several times and the lids don't pop off!

My kids use the straw lid most often but the mug lid would make a perfect sippy cup top.  Both the kids cup and the adult sized cup are made of a BPA, BPS, phthalate, PVC, and lead free silicone and include a stainless steel ring that helps them keep their shape.  You can actually squeeze them and they flex like carry-out plastic cups except they aren't awful for the environment and can be both microwaved and thrown in the dishwasher (I only use dishwasher items!).

Now when I go run errands in town, I pack myself a drink. In places that will let me, I'm using my GoSili cup instead of their disposable ones.  I've got my silicone straws and I'm ready to make some changes in my life and in the world this year! Something I didn't mean to do but has resulted from this little change is that I'm not only leaving the world in a little better shape than I found it, but I'm teaching my children to do so as well.  If they grow up saying "no" to the disposable world, then they will already be steps ahead of where I am now.  And after all, don't we all want our children to be better than we are?

If being a little more smart with your environmental choices is part of your resolutions, or if you just want to make some changes in your life to reduce waste, join me in the silicone revolution!  While you're getting your plans figured out, why don't you go ahead and enter to win a $40 gift package of GoSili products?  Just enter using the rafflecopter below. Make sure you follow Cut, Craft, Create on facebook and on instagram because I'll be posting a video later this week that you can share to earn 5 bonus entries!) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway