Meet Piper, the DIY STEM computer kit for kids

As a parent, I’m always looking for toys that aren’t *just* toys for my kids. I want toys that inspire learning, ones that will resonate with the kids, and mostly I want toys that won’t get abandoned as soon as the shiny luster wears off. Well parents, I found the holy grail of presents for … Read more

DIY budget custom fireplace mantle

Before and after fireplace Affiliate linksBack in 2007 we bought our house from a local builder and got to make numerous choices, but the basic house design was fairly set and didn't allow for many changes. This means that our house has very little built-in "character".

The good part about that is that we got to create our own "character" as the years went on, but the bad part is that it sometimes takes a decade to make my visions come to life. Some stuff was easy, like having the builder agree to do wainscotting throughout the main floor or adding a simple pressed tin backsplash instead of learning how to lay tile. But some things seemed easy and instead became a project… like my mantle I had been dreaming of since we first moved in. Fireplace before 2

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American Girl fans: DIY Tenney and Logan inspired tin drum craft

DIY Tin Drums inspired by American GirlAre you as crazy excited about American Girl's new contemporary dolls, Tenney Grant and Logan Everett, as we are? We've literally been counting down to their release for months, and we're so thrilled they are finally here. To celebrate their release, we came up with a Tenney-and-Logan-inspired DIY project to make a tin drum so you can start a band just like they did.

I'm going to walk you through the steps to make your own drum, including two handy little printables you can use to add logos to your American Girl-inspired drums.

To start with, you will need to gather your supplies: 

2 large tin {or tin-and-cardboard} cans – we used milk substitute tins, but you could repurpose coffee cans, formula canisters, powdered drink containers, or whatever else you have on hand.

2 long threaded rods (or bolts), 8 nuts, and 12 washers – for securing the drums together

2 printables – for covering the cans {you can download those below}

Scissors, tape, ribbon, and a small drill {optional, you can use scissors if your can is thin enough} Tenney Drum supplies

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The best snow ice cream recipe

Kids with snow ice creamOn our last snow day, we experimented a bit to find the best snow ice cream recipe anywhere. With only a few ingredients and almost no time to mix up, it's a perfect snow day activity for kids. Snow ice cream baby
Here's what you need:

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DIY kids cape from an old prom dress

Old prom dress before and afterHave an old prom dress hanging around? Why not turn it into an awesome fancy cape for your little one {or for yourself, if you're looking to make a capelet}? I had honestly thought I purged all my old prom dresses when we moved into this house, but I discovered them tucked away in my daughter's walk-in closet while we were doing our winter cleaning. Since she has the only floor length hanging bars in the house, I remembered I had stashed a few of my nice dresses and my wedding dress in there, but I hadn't realized that there were some prom dresses mixed in.

I donated two of the prom dresses, but one of them was so out of date that it was just begging for a little DIY inspiration. I knew immediately that it would make the perfect dressy cape for my kiddos to play pretend in and the layers would add a level of drama that the kiddos would adore. 

Of note: I don't claim to be the best seamstress around, and my sewing skills are basically limited to alterations and simple decor items, but even I could see the potential hidden in this 90's-style strappy number. While your DIY will depend a lot on what kind of material and length of gown you are working with, hopefully you can use this as a rough guide for a simple sewing project. Sewing at midnightReady to get started? Great!

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The perfect Christmas gift: The new and improved Lundby Dollhouse

Lundby house at Christmas square
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As parents, we categorize toys into four main groups:

  1. novelty toys that are fun for a bit and then get abandoned within hours
  2. toys that kids play with for days and then ditch before they have even been in the house a month
  3. toys that don’t get played with every day but are still returned to month after month
  4. and, finally, those special toys that are an essential part of play nearly every single day, year after year.

As you can imagine, there are lots and lots of toys that fall in those first two groups, and not so many that fit in the third group. As for that fourth group? It’s like a rare unicorn and you never know when, or where, you will find it. Lundby dellightsFor us, the Lundby dollhouse is one of a handful of toys that squarely fit in that fourth group without ever wavering. From the moment the kids opened the Lundby dollhouse all those years ago, they were hooked. And then, with all the redecorating, DIYs, and crafting we have done on it throughout the years, the Lundby dollhouse just kept getting more and more beloved as we all added our personal touch to the house. Lundby mom and daughterSo, when we got home from Boston and were greeted with a huge package from Lundby that contained a brand new Lundby dollhouse, the sideboard/TV set, and the awesome Lundby remote, it was declared as the best.day.ever. Ever since we saw a sneak peek of the newest Lundby items on social media and got wind of the remote, I was dying to try it out.

 

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Easy DIY picture frame monogram wreath

Wreath on doorI've been looking at the door and thinking I needed a new wreath for a while now, but every time I would see one in stores I would do that thing where I would talk myself out of it, convincing myself that I would make one instead. I finally made it to the craft store last week and was kind of bummed at the wreath form selection. I didn't love the green or white styrofoam mold, the hay-looking wreath is not really my style, and the wire ones weren't right for the wreath I had in mind. So, I ended up leaving the store empty handed {you know, besides the bags of crafts supplies I bought for my 200 other projects I'm perpetually working on}.

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Side yard hopscotch with DIY stepping stones

Sponsored post Hopscotch in side yardI've been debating for years about what I wanted to do with our skinny side yard. We need to leave it unobstructed because it's the main pathway to our backyard, but I hated that it would turn into a wet and muddy mess every time it rains. Doing stones of some sort that you could walk over, wheel barrow over, and also keep the side yard from getting swampy made a whole lot of sense, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. That was until I visited Swansons Nursery in Seattle and started talking to their team about what made sense for a marshy yard. WP_20160521_16_45_24_RichWe decided we needed to dig the side yard down, add a weed barrier, and then add sand and fill dirt along with some stepping stones. After that was complete, we could add some ground cover plants that would help with drainage and keep the side yard from turning into a mud pit.WP_20160521_14_16_52_RichInspiration really struck when I started filling up Swansons` boxes with plants and ground covers and realized that the box I was loading them in was the perfect stepping stone size.WP_20160521_16_36_49_RichMore specifically, they were perfect hopscotch size. If we made our own hopscotch stones and laid them in our skinny side yard, we could actually utilize the space better to make it a play space as well as a pathway. With a smaller, urban yard I'm always looking for ways of maximizing space, and making it dual purpose is always a win. Plants ftom Swansons

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