DIY Soft'n Slo Squishies & Paint Markers

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Squeezed many times after two coats of Soft'n Slo paint markers completely dried over two days. 

 My 11 year old daughter has been on the crazy-for-squishies train for a couple of years now.  She may even consider herself somewhat of a squishy expert.  That being said, she and her twin brother own several Soft'n Slo squishies, and have been very pleased with them.  They have held up for months before beginning to show signs of being lovingly squeezed over and over again daily. Since this brand of squishies has been pretty dependable overall, I was excited to see DIY Soft'n Slo squishies and paint markers at our local craft store. I purchased one of every style of blank squishy I could find, plus both packs of paint markers (regular colors and brights) as a gift for my daughter.  Our daughter is a crafter at heart, and was so excited to receive this gift bag full of DIY squishies supplies.

Did the Soft'n Slo DIY Squishies & Paint Markers Meet Our Expectations? . . .

The blank squishies felt like the same great quality my children have come to expect from Soft'n Slo.  Unfortunately, the paint markers did not perform as well as we would have liked.  The freshly painted squishies looked amazing with very good coverage. After we allowed the paint to dry for a few days, however, there appeared to be spots where the paint did not adhere to the surface of the squishy.

Squeezed twice after single coat of Soft'n Slo paint markers dried for 4 days.

 I suggested to my daughter that she try adding a second coat of paint.  After allowing the second coat to dry for two days, we found that there were still spots where the white showed through.

Unsqueezed after two coats of Soft'n Slo paint markers dried over course of two days.

 Next came the squeeze test.  When we squeezed the squishy several times, the paint began to crackle and flake off.  What would have been a beautiful one-of-a-kind squishy, did not end up being the masterpiece my daughter had hoped for.

What will we do with the remaining blank squishies?

We still love Soft'n Slo squishies, but the markers were just not the same quality we have come to expect from this brand.  The blank squishies are great though, so what we will likely do is to try painting them with puffy fabric paint.  This type of paint comes in a wide variety of colors and is made to be flexible.  If that goes well, maybe my daughter can try to salvage her cake squishy or perhaps repaint other squishies to give them a makeover.
Two Soft'n Slo squishies our children received as stocking stuffers.

Two Soft'n Slo squishies our children received as stocking stuffers.

What kinds of squishies are your children's favorites?

Tell us in a comment here.

Craft with Glitter Fabric Paint Pens on Denim for DIY Back-to-School Fashion Fun

Thank you to Oriental Trading Company for providing some of the supplies used for this DIY back-to-school fashion craft.  All opinions expressed are my own.

In some parts of the country, the first day of school has already arrived, but where we live, we still have a few weeks of summer vacation left.  This is usually around the time our children start to get bored.  Well, a fun craft is always a great boredom-buster.  Check out our latest craft idea and see how easy it is to get creative!

My 10 year old daughter is very much into bling.  She loves graphic tees, emojis, and expressing herself with what she wears.  That's what inspired me to turn this basic denim jacket (that's been hanging on the same coat hook since last fall) into something she'll reach for first when choosing a jacket to wear to school.


Decorating Denim with Glitter Fabric Paint (and Charms) . . .

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

plain denim clothing item

glitter fabric paint pens

round cans, cups, bowls of varying sizes

rhinestone heart charms

sewing needle

clear or invisible thread

scissors

craft sticks (optional)

THINK about what you want to put on your denim item.  Then decide where each design will go.

Want to add an EMOJI?  Lay your item of clothing out smoothly on a flat surface.  Then place a can or a cup down where you would like to add the emoji.  Use the glitter fabric paint pen in the desired color and carefully add dots around the can or cup to create a perfect circle.

What kind of EMOJI?  You can find all sorts of examples of emojis online.  My daughter requested a cat and a girl with sunglasses.

TIP #1: Keep in mind that the glitter paint looks much lighter when first applied.  The glue that looks white now will dry clear, leaving only the color of the glitter behind.

Want to add a PEACE SIGN?  Again, use a stencil to create your circle based on the size you want your peace sign to be.  We used a large bowl to create the design on the back of my daughter's denim jacket.

Use more than one color!  To make your designs pop, use more than one color.  You can create your design with double lines, like we did with our peace sign pictured below.

TIP #2:  It's okay to create your design freehand.  My daughter thinks it adds an artsy look to her jacket.

Express yourself!  My daughter loves art, so I added a pencil doodling a heart on one of the jacket sleeves.  My daughter also loves Taekwondo.  That's where the "Peace - Love- TKD" came from.

Say it with WORDS!  In addition to the words on the back of the jacket, I also added my daughter's name down one sleeve.  I also added the word "art" on one shoulder above the pencil.  Again, I used two colors for all the text.  Simply choose your main color to dot out your words.  Then go back and use a contrasting color to add dots in between the existing dots.

TIP #3:  I found that the silver glitter fabric paint did a great job offsetting almost any color, so I used it as my secondary color throughout many of the designs.

What happens if you GOOF?  If you make a mistake with these glitter fabric paint pens, you can carefully lift the paint off with a tiny piece of paper towel.  There may be a hint of glitter left behind, but it usually isn't noticeable.  If it is, then you can always paint over it.

Add paint effects!  Since my daughter is very artsy, I thought I'd add an abstract paint effect to the back of her jacket.  This was super-easy!  I just put 3 or 4 dots of paint on the end of a craft stick (as shown below).  Then I would tap the paint around on the fabric.  Next, I used the craft stick to spread and smear the paint around.  I repeated these steps using red, silver, and blue glitter fabric paint until I was satisfied with the way it looked.

Add some BLING!  If you'd like to add a touch of hardware to your denim item, you can sew a few charms on by hand.  I chose to add 3 heart charms to the points of each chest pocket on my daughter's denim jacket.  I let her pick the colors of the charms.

Check it out!  My daughter can't wait to wear her new and improved jacket to school this fall!

What designs do you think would look awesome on denim?

Let us know in a comment here.

Like this craft idea? Pin It for later . . .

Easy Spooky Zombie Head & Eyeballs Halloween Centerpiece

Thank you to Oriental Trading Company for providing most of the supplies needed for our DIY zombie head Halloween centerpiece.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Our children will be 12, 9, and 9 in a few months.  Our oldest decided that he's too old to go trick-or-treating this year.  That's why I decided that we better squeeze in as much Halloween fun as we can before they are too old to enjoy Halloween the way only kids truly can.

Zombies are all the rage these days, whether you're 8 or 80.  Checkout this easy Halloween table centerpiece I made with a few Halloween supplies from Oriental Trading Company!

What you'll need . . . 

Zombie Head Centerpiece

zombie punch bowl

latex monster hands

strong double-sided foam tape

big bags of assorted candy (red and pink preferred)

Bowl with Eyeballs & Floating Candles

floating candle bowl

eyeball erasers

3 red tealight candles

rat prop

Table Coverings

orange tablecloth

stretchable black web

Scary Hands Holding Zombie Head Candy Bowl . . .

This candy bowl will be super-easy for you to make because we have done all the trial and error.  All you need to do is attach the latex monster hands to either side of the zombie punch bowl so that they look like they're holding the head.  We tried hot glue, white glue, model glue, and a tagging gun and could not get the hands to attach securely. What finally worked is double-sided foam tape.  I highly recommend that you use permanent double-sided foam tape because the non-permanent kind we used still allowed the hands to detach now and then.

If you are careful in the placement of the foam tape, then it will hardly be visible at all.  You can also make it so that a person can put their hands inside the monster hands to hold the candy bowl for trick-or-treaters to help themselves to candy for some spooky fun.

Speaking of candy . . . we used two big bags of assorted candy (85 pieces each) that had mostly red and pink wrappers.  I removed the small handful that were other colors so that only the zombie brain-colored ones remained.  This punch bowl can hold a ton of candy.  My two bags only filled half of the head, so I placed a plastic food container upside-down at the bottom and stuffed some paper around it to help the candy reach the brim of the bowl.

Bowl with Eyeballs and Floating Candles . . .

The eyeball erasers from Oriental Trading Company come in a set of 24, which was the perfect quantity for this project.  We had enough to put in the bowl and to scatter around the centerpiece.  The erasers are flat on one side, so the eyeballs remained stationary with the pupils facing up even in the floating candle bowl filled with water.

As for the candles, I just used tealights I already had in the house.  You can certainly purchase small floating candles, but the tealights worked just fine for us.  If you are using tealights, you'll need to carefully remove them from the plastic cup.  Be sure to check that the metal disc on the bottom that is connected to the wick has at least a thin layer of wax over.  If the disc is not covered, then water might get up through the center of the tealight.  Before placing the tealights into the water, trim the wicks to 1/4" tall.

Halloween Table Covering . . . 

For an easy Halloween backdrop for our centerpiece, I layered a stretchable black web over a vinyl orange tablecloth.  The web was not what I was expecting.  I pictured something more stringy, but this web worked out fine.  It was sticky just like you'd expect a web to be and even came with a handful of spiders designed to hook onto it.

Let's talk candle safety! . . .

PLEASE DO NOT leave candles unattended while they are lit and do not leave your children or pets alone with the them.  Also, DO NOT place anything, including decorations, close to or over the edge of the floating candle bowl.  The candles float around with the slightest air current.  I placed the rat prop next to the bowl to make the centerpiece more interesting, but had to remove it shortly after I lit the candles because one of the tealights floated right over to it.  Remember, Halloween is not just about having fun.  It's about being safe as well!

For more Halloween inspiration, be sure to visit Oriental Trading Company's Halloween section!

If this Halloween centerpiece looks fun & easy, Pin It for later . . .

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'Brilliance Award' Winners are Top Choices for Creative Gift Ideas for Children This Holiday

Thank you to Brilliant Sky Toys & Books for providing two award-winning toys and a book for us to base this review upon and for providing an additional product for our giveaway prize.  All opinions expressed are my own.

In my experience as a parent to three children (and having once been a child myself), toys that encourage creativity and flex the imagination often make the best gifts for children.  Brilliant Sky Toys & Books, a specialty retailer that caters to children and their imaginations, has recently announced which toys would be honored with the 2014 Brilliance Award.  The list includes toys for toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary-age children and range in price from just $9.99 to $39.99.

Why do I trust Brilliant Sky Toys & Books when it comes to gift recommendations?  Although there is not a store location in my area, I've heard ravings about this toy store from friends and I love the content on Brilliant Sky TV and on the Brilliant Sky Toys & Books Blog, where you can read more about this year's 10 Brilliance Award winners.

And the 2014 Brilliance Award winners are . . .

• Squigz Starter Set (24 pieces)
• Plus-Plus Mini-Basic (480 pieces)
• Lottie Dolls
• Doodle Quest
• Create Your Own Storybook
• Super Stadium Baseball Game
• LoopDeLoom
• Sew Cute Sets
• Illustrated Adventure Stories and Illustrated Fairy Tales
• Paint Your Own Porcelain Bowls

I was thrilled to give my children a chance to experience three of these award-winning toys and books.  Although it was difficult to choose, I felt like the LoopDeLoom would be a well-loved creative toy for my daughter and I was right!  I also correctly predicted that all three of my children would very much enjoy the Paint Your Own Porcelain Bowls craft kit and the Usborne book of Illustrated Fairy Tales.  I knew these products would be a big hit because both the LoopDeLoom and the Paint Your Own Porcelain Bowls kit produce a final product our children could keep and enjoy forever if they wished.  And, fairy tales are magical stories meant to be enjoyed again and again.

Giving our children a creative outlet is such an important thing.  Even our 7 year old son, who does not usually show much interest in art, enjoyed painting his ceramic bowl.  He did not show the lack of patience he normally would.  Instead, he painted very deliberately and carefully.

Another Brilliance Award winner that helps children develop patience, as well as further develops fine motor skills, is the LoopDeLoom weaving kit.  Although this toy is recommended for children 8 years and older, our 7 year old daughter was quite adept at it.  At first, it seemed like it would take forever to finish, but after a little while, she could see her progress.  The best thing about this craft kit is that it takes concentration and is an enjoyable, yet quiet, sit-down activity.

The Usborne Illustrated Fairy Tales is a wonderful book with beautiful illustrations.  Our daughter will sit and read one fairy tale after another.  She also loves to reread them out loud to her twin brother at bedtime.  I have such fond memories of reading fairy tales and having them read to me as a child.  I'm happy to see my children experience the same magic.  I am definitely going to look into buying this book's counterpart Usborne Illustrated Adventure Stories for Christmas this year.

You can find all these award-winning children's gifts and many more quality children's items at Brilliant Sky Toys & Books.  If you have not yet visited your local store, be sure to bring your children soon to enjoy the hands-on experience, child-height shelves and displays, and the superior personalized customer service.  You can check for the closest store location here.

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This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. A random drawing will be held shortly after the contest closing. The winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

Easy DIY Mod Podge Glitter Sand Easter Eggs Craft

Thank you to Oriental Trading Company for providing the glitter sand and additional craft supplies for our Easter craft tutorial.  All opinions expressed are my own.

If you've dyed and decorated hard-boiled eggs before, then you might be familiar with the slight feeling of sadness when it's time to discard your beautiful works of art.  On the same note, you might wish that you could display your beautifully decorated eggs all throughout the Easter season instead of hiding them in the fridge.  Having felt this way many times year after year, I decided to decorate some eggs that can be left out to be enjoyed during this year's Easter holiday and can be used again for years to come.

Today's Craft Project:  Mod Podge Glitter Sand Easter Eggs

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

basic plastic Easter eggs (any size)

glitter sand assortment

Mod Podge

craft sponge or brush

shallow trays or bowls (one for each color of sand)

wax paper (optional)

Step 1.  Be sure your plastic eggs are free of dust and hair (they tend to hold a lot of static).

Step 2.  Apply Mod Podge all around the edge of an opened egg.  Then close the egg tightly and hold in place for a minute or two until the glue sets.

Step 3.  Pour one color of glitter sand into a clean empty tray or bowl.

Tip #1:  For a uniform effect, use sand that is similar in color to the plastic egg you wish to coat.

Step 4.  Holding your egg with the tips of your thumb and index finger, apply Mod Podge to the entire exterior of the egg.

Tip #2:  Cover as much of the egg's surface as you can, then place the egg on its side into the tray containing the sand.  Carefully apply Mod Podge to the two spots where your fingers were holding the egg.

Step 5.  Using your finger tips, gently roll and turn the egg until it is completely coated in the sand.  Then place it on wax paper to dry.

Tip #3:  Your finger tips will get coated in glue and sand, but that's a good thing.  Once your fingers are coated in sand, you will be able to hand the egg without taking sand off the surface of the egg while the glue is still wet.

Step 6.  Once the glue has dried, gently brush any excess sand off the egg.

Once you have enough eggs, you can display them however you like.  I used a large silver tin pail decorated simply with ivory jute cord and a glass butterfly pendant.  They would also be perfect to display in your favorite basket, on a mantle, or as part of a tablescape.  You could even use them in an Easter egg hunt or as party favors.

I should also mention that I experimented with mixing the remainder of the blue, yellow, and light green sand together with white sand.  I used the mixture to coat a variety of different colored eggs.  The results varied depending on the color of the bare egg.  I was happier with the results using the lightest colored eggs.  If you experiment with this, be sure to let me know what you think!


If you like this easy Easter craft, be sure to Pin It for future reference:

The eKids' Disney Creativity Studio Stylus & App for the iPad is Our Son's Favorite Birthday Gift This Year!

Thank you to eKids for providing a complimentary Disney Creativity Stylus sample for us to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are my own.

My son, Quinn, is very artsy. He loves anything crafty and can literally spend hours drawing, coloring, cutting, pasting, and creating. For his 7th birthday (on January 22), his dad and I were looking for something fun, different, and creative that we could get him, so when we were offered the Disney Creativity Studio Stylus, I knew it was the perfect present for him.

With the Disney Creativity Stylus, real Disney artists help turn your child’s iPad into an art studio. The app is free to to download via the code included with the stylus. The app itself is really easy to use and the instructions are very clear and the stylus comes out of the box ready-to-use and is also pretty simple and straightforward - just turn it on and it’s ready.

This app has a handy up/down button that you can use to change the width of your pen strokes and it even has a “magic mode” effect when you shake the stylus 3 times.   Doing so transforms your writing into a rainbow. The app has a free writing mode, learn to draw your favorite Disney characters section, and activities such as connect the dots. Plus, it has a whole array of “utensils” to choose from such as paintbrush, spray paint, markers, calligraphy pens, chalk, and more.

When Quinn saw his Creativity Studio Stylus, he was really excited. As soon as his party was over, he downloaded the app and started drawing. At first, his drawings were almost unrecognizable, but after just a few days they were much better, and now they are pretty good. He loves that he can save his work to go back and look at over and over. He also loves trying out the pens, stamps, and other fun things and is so glad he got it. He says it’s his favorite birthday gift this year. Since we homeschool, we have also used the Disney Creativity Stylus in our homeschool as art class.

We are very happy with the Disney Creativity Studio Stylus and how it’s easy to use, well made, stores away easily in it’s protective case, and is really fun. It certainly suits my little artist and I’m glad he has it. You can learn more about the Disney Creativity Stylus and purchase it from eKids, Toys"R"Us, and Amazon.com for $49.99.

The First Impressions Complete Art Studio Set is the Perfect Gift for Young Artists

Thank you to Jerry's Artarama for providing a complimentary art supplies sample for us to base this review upon and for providing a gift card for our contest prize. All opinions expressed are my own.

In our homeschool, we use an art curriculum that suggested we use supplies from the website Jerry’s Artarama. Therefore, when we were offered an art set from that site, I was really excited to try out their products. We were sent the First Impressions Complete Art Studio Set For Kids which includes 24 transparent watercolor cakes, 24 assorted colored pencils, 15 assorted oil pastels, 10 water-based markers, 2 plastic trays for color mixing, 1 artists’ paint brush, a pencil sharpener, and vinyl eraser, which all stores away neatly in a sturdy, clear plastic case.

Both my kids love this set, even though my oldest son (12 years old), Avery, isn’t as much of an artist as his 6 ½ year old brother, Quinn. The set is really nicely set up and includes everything they need for art in our homeschool, so they love sharing and having everything they need stored away nicely in this case. The supplies themselves are high quality - much nicer than you can purchase in most retail stores - so that’s another plus. It has really taken their art to a new level and I love seeing their creative juices flowing when they use this set.



The assortment of colors is great and all of the supplies have vibrant, deep, and beautiful colors. Avery really likes the colored pencils because he says they are “easier to use” but Quinn particularly loves using the oil pastels because he can blend and overlap them to make more color depths. I cannot say enough good things about this set and how happy we are with all of the supplies included. I have already recommended this kit to several other homeschooling families and look forward to purchasing more art supplies from Jerry’s Artarama in the future.

The First Impressions Complete Art Studio Set For Kids can be purchased here at JerrysArtarama.com. Usually it retails for $39.95 but it’s currently on sale for just $19.99!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. A random drawing will be held shortly after the contest closing. The winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.