T-Shirt Rug (Update)

Oh Pinterest... You've done it again! This time I found a Kids DIY, t-shirt rug. One afternoon we found ourselves searching a thrift store looking for 12 Boys Large t-shirts.

We gave them a good washing, to remove the thrift store smell, and make sure they were all as small as they were going to get.

This project was for Georgia who is 7, I probably wouldn't do it with anyone younger, unless they are great weavers already.

First we cut the t-shirts into one inch strips off of the shirts mid section. Cutting off the hem, and ending underneath the armpits of the shirts. So you have a bunch of one inch loops.

Then you loop 11 loops over a hula hoop, starting with one at 12 o'clock and 6 clock, then cutting those in half, 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock. Then continuing around the hula hoop in halves. When you start to weave you loop the t shirts through the warps.

The instructions told us to do 11 loops, I personally would have done a few more, so we could have had a tighter weave at the top of the rug. They also say to stop 8" from the hula hoop. We went almost until the edge of the hula hoop. And when we got to the end, I went back in the big gaps between warps and wove little strips in and tied them up at the top to match the warps. To give it s little more stability at the top.

Better instructions can be found on familyfun.com, this is just a brief tutorial to see if it's something you want to commit yourself to! It was a fun and cheap project. I'm actually thinking about finding grey and white t shirts, and making a rug for our bathroom....
(Small pictures from http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/hula-hoop-rug-995304/)

Sprinkler

When we have kids, those are going to be some of the most entertained kids on the block.

Whatever crazy idea I come up with, Drew can make it a reality. Another pinterest find was a PVC waterfall/tunnel. I showed Drew the picture and we were off to Home Depot 5 minutes later. Rounding up PVC and glue.

And voila! Instant fun!

We improved off the pinterest idea, and put a slip and slide underneath the falls. Little kids trying to figure out how to slide provides hours of entertaiment. Both for the watcher and the slide attempter.

Polly enjoyed the never ending supply of cold water.

...Bubbles...

I saw some bubble recipes on pinterest, and thought we would try them out. I had no idea super bubbles were so involved. I got this recipe from an awesome party website: http://onecharmingparty.com/... Check it out for awesome party ideas! The recipe calls for:
5 Gallons Distilled Water (I guess hard water makes the bubbles break easier. So if you have soft water I guess you could use that.
10 Cups Dawn Dish Soap (not antibacterial)
2 Cups Karo Syrup
1 Small Pool
1 Hula Hoop
Let Bubble solution sit over night for best results.

This was a fun activity because kids love adding ingredients, and this was just like a giant mixing bowl. One bit of advice I would add would be to check your pool for leaks before you start. Our first attempt at the bubbles ended with sudsy sidewalks.

After letting it sit over night it was time to test out the bubbles.

It was a huge hit!

We started out standing in the bubble, and moved onto trying to create monster bubbles. We got some crazy big bubbles.

Summer memories made.... Check!
The actual post I got this from is here:
http://onecharmingparty.com/2011/05/27/human-bubble/

Succulents and Savers

A Savers just opened by us, and Drew and I stopped by to welcome them to the neighborhood... And welcome them we did!

I picked up three glass bowls for $0.50. So I started little terrariums.

With a little bit of research I learned you could raise succulents in a bowl without a drain hole if you layer the bottom of the terrarium with gravel. This let's the roots have room to grow and space to dry out. If you don't have gravel the roots will rot in the moist soil. Little FYI for you to put in your Michael Jordan notebook...

I also scored this cute porcelain bowl for a dollar! Perfect for perfect jewelry! How great is my Mother-in-law who sent me this necklace, while Drew was in Houston with them! I love it!

And I love my new Saver neighbor!

Water Bottle Bowling...

with my job I have the best of both worlds... I get to play, bond and love four adorable kids.... And I get to go home and sleep through the night... Smiley face...

Another benefit is I get to think of fun ways to entertain kids. Yesterday we made an at home bowling alley. It started with Drew and I saving our ICE drinks... From Costco... It's flavored sparkling water... And it's Ah...Mazing! I had my Oprah, "wow" moment when we sampled them.... Just kidding... I shouldn't joke about Oprah.... That's sacred....

Then we added food coloring to the water... Probably their favorite part... Each kid picked a color they wanted and they tried to figure out how to make the colors... They did great.... And we had A LOT of purple!

It was fun to watch the color sink into the water. The kids had a blast shaking the bottle, and magically have colored water bottles.

Then we lined up the pins.

And used $0.99 water noodles as bumpers. Not entirely necessary... But added to the overall aesthetics...

Then we got our game faces on.... And it was on!

The whole process produced about 3+ hours of fun...We learned about primary colors and math by keeping score... Adding and subtracting the fallen pins.

And we got really excited when we would knock down the yellow one... Not sure how that started... But it added an extra element of fun....

And Kate kept watch of her flower that got wacked by a rogue jump rope earlier in the day.

Things That Made Me Laugh So Hard... No Sound Came Out...

Mattress sliding at camp... I was the impromptu sled... So scary... So amazing!

These last six are brought to you via pinterest.

Darn that Narnia! That onesie.... kills me! Harry Potter and Mean Girls.... No better combination!

No bath! At all cost!

Oh I thought your paper would protect you! Ha!

...This one is for you Sophia...Just a little sneak peak at what makes me smile, or laugh until I wheeze!

Home Tour Layton

Driving to and from the Great Salt Lake, we were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful houses we saw.

How beautiful are those windows! And the porch is stunning.

The detail on this house is phenomenal. I wondered if it was restored to this, or built new.... We should have stopped and asked.

This modern barn was such a brilliant new twisted on an old design. I love the double door opening... But my favorite part is the attached guest house, or office.... Across the drive way....

Is this beautiful modern red silo.... Brilliant! How creative is that?!

Again, love the windows on this house. Especially how they continued the windows on either side of the door. The top windows are also incredible. The little details that add so much.

I'm always a fan of those pop out windows on top. The colors scheme on this house was perfect!

One thing I can't stand about a lot of houses now is how they make the garage the focal point. Front doors are hidden behind enormous garage doors! Why are people okay with that? Houses like this make me happy. Where the garage, on the left, looks just like the rest of the house. And the garage doors are away from view... Much better. I'm curious about the interior of this house, two chimneys! I bet it could be amazing!