paint

Back to School Amazon Coupon Codes- Save up to 50%!

Abby H.

I love good deals. I recently stumbled across a few great deals on Amazon on back-to-school essentials.

As someone who works in a school, this is my number one deal- 72 Pack Black Whiteboard Erasable Markers at 50% off with coupon code 50T375GI. (deal ends 8/9/2024 at 11:59PM PDT)

I have already ordered this one- The charging cables in my house are out of control. Electronics Organizer bag 9.45″x7.09″x3.94″. 50% off with coupon code 507ITYG2. (deal ends Aug 11, 2024 at 11:59 PM PDT)

Daily and Weekly Planners in various pastel colors 8.4’x6.4″ 40% off with coupon code 40Y873CB. (deal ends 8/13/2024 at 11:59 PM PDT)

Sticky Notes – 12 Pads, 3”x3” – Colorful Self-Stick Post Notes 50% off with coupon code 50IOUFN5. (deal ends Aug 14, 2024 at 11:59 PM PDT)

Acrylic Paint Markers– These are awesome for painting rocks among other things. Two varieties 50% off with coupon code 50Q1I3IN. (deal ends Aug 17, 2024 at 11:59 PM PDT)

Acrylic Magnetic Whiteboard Acrylic Calendar, Monthly and Weekly Calendar – 16″x12″ Size- includes 6 Color Dry Erase Markers.   50% off with coupon code 50N7O8VA. (deal ends 8/18/2024 at 11:59 PM PDT)

Talk Back: I love hunting for good deals- If you are looking for a deal, please let me know- I’d love to help!

Gift Ideas for the Creative Person in Your Life

Abby H.

With the gift-giving holidays coming up, I’m trying something new this year. I’ll be posting several gift guides with different themes. These themes are based on the people I shop for, and you probably have some similar people on your gift-giving list.

I’ve been scouring the web looking for different, fun gifts for the creative people in my life. I’ve found some pretty good deals and gift ideas.

First off is Craftsy. I love Craftsy. They have all sorts of video tutorials for sewing, baking, knitting, painting, drawing- You Name It! They have a great deal where you can have unlimited access to over 1,500 instructional video classes across more than 20 categories, Craftsy has something for everyone to enjoy. Plus, with Craftsy Membership Sharing, you can share your membership with up to three of your closest friends or family members at no additional cost to you or your guests. With this special offer get Craftsy Premium Membership for ONLY $2.49 for your first full year. 

I’m getting my mom a Craftsy membership- She loves watching craft videos on Youtube, and I feel like this takes it up a notch.

Next up are the gifts for the person who loves to draw and color. Bitty Bird loves to color and she loves alcohol markers. She has a small 20-color set she bought with her allowance earlier this year, but she’s been eyeing the marker sets from Ohuhu. I’m not sure which set I’ll buy her yet, but it will be her “big gift” of the year. One thing I love about Ohuhu markers is that they sell ink refills for them!

If you have a little artist in your family, Ooly has a great gift guide for this year.

They have gifts for every little artist on your list:

If you’ve got a more serious artist or creative type on your list, Blick Art Materials is a great go-to. From acrylic paints to tie-dye supplies, Blick has an amazing selection of creative supplies. Currently, there is a coupon code for free shipping too! Free Shipping for orders $49+. Use promo code CFEZ.

Black Friday Big SaleFor the Lego/Brick builder in your life, Let Bricks has some cool MOC’s (MOC stands for My Own Creation) on sale.

Let Bricks has its own Gift Guide with lots of great options for any budget.

I’ve already got a couple sets picked out for the special builders in my life.

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Ooly: Awesome Gifts for your Little Artist!

Abby H.

Recently our friends over at Ooly sent us a little box full of creativity. The kids and I love to do art, make stuff, and express our creative sides. I was stoked to receive the Rainbow Sparkle Glitter Markers, and Chunkies Paint Sticks.

Margaret and I had a blast! The glitter markers are incredible. The glitter is very fine and sticks onto the artwork, even after the marker ink has dried. We colored and colored, without any loss of color or glitter coming from the markers. Parents, I repeat: There is NO glitter transfer!!

And the Chunkies? Perfection. She loves to paint, but I don’t love the setup and mess. These Chunkies solved my problems and let her express her creativity with paint. She loved that the paint dries quickly, and it didn’t get all over her hands (issues that we’ve had with other brands of paint sticks).

Ooly has art supplies for any level of an artist, in several mediums. If you haven’t embraced your inner artist, but love planners or journaling, Ooly has you covered too. They have a pretty extensive of cool journaling and planner supplies!

They’ve put together a Gifts under $20 section, which is perfect for holiday gift exchanges, as well as 8 Bonus Boxes. OOLY’s Holiday Bonus Boxes offer an array of goods to keep you crafting, drawing, painting, and molding. Find the one that’s just right for you and bring your vision, story, or design to life! I’m picking up a bonus box for each of the kids for the winter holidays. I know the kids will love the freedom and creativity each bonus box brings.

And shopping with Ooly gets even better- Now through November 7th, score a free set of Stampables Scented Double-Ended Stamp Markers with any purchase of $60+. Details can be found here.

Disclosure: Ooly sent us samples to try without an expectation of a review, however, once I received the markers and paint sticks, I was so excited to share them with you, I jumped at the chance to share their deals. I love supporting local companies!

 

Crafts and Fun DIY with Dollar Tree!

Abby H.

Wednesday is the last day of school for us. And we’ve got two weeks of fun and frolic before summer school starts, so that means it’s time to bulk up our craft supplies and try out some new crafts.

Dollar Tree does not disappoint. Since they’ve increased prices to $1.25 per item, I’ve seen a huge increase in the quality and variety of craft items, including cotton fat quarters, which are great for all sorts of sewing and crafts.

If you are looking for some ideas for fun, inexpensive summer crafts, check out the Dollar Tree Blog here.

I picked up one of their bottles of dye for tie-dying, and I took pics for Instagram. I’ll post a final pic this morning. Overall I’d give it 5/10. I chose dark purple, and it came out more of a wisteria color. There is a lot of fading, but if you use some of my tie-dye tips here (especially the washing soda pre-soak), you may have greater success. Colors available include Green, Pink, Purple, Red, Turquoise, Yellow.

And I made this cute sign the other night. All the supplies came from Dollar Tree!

The wooden sign, The butterfly stickers, one of the colors of paint (white), and the black permanent marker I used to outline the leaves.

All told, this craft cost less than $6 and I have a cute welcome sign for the front door.

There are all sorts of fun crafts available at Dollar Tree! I’ll be posting more of our crafting adventures on Instagram this summer, if you see a craft that interests you, please comment and I can do a tutorial!

 

Host a Paint Night Party on a Budget with Dollar Tree!

Abby H.

Looking for a fun, frugal night in?

Check out this great idea from our friends at Dollar Tree!

Host a Paint Night Party- Dollar Tree has everything you need (except the wine!) to host a sip and paint.

Shop in-store or online- You can order online and have it shipped to the store for free (hooray for saving money on shipping).

 

Fall and Halloween Crafts at Dollar Tree!

Abby H.

Fall is right around the corner, and that means it’s time for Fall and Halloween crafts!

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my post last week. Many of our local Dollar Tree stores are well stocked with Harvest, Halloween, and Dia de Los Muertos crafting supplies.

I love the paintable skulls, and the large wooden cutouts (I got a pumpkin).

If you are looking for some craft ideas, check out the Dollar Tree Blog. They have some cool ideas, I love their wreath ideas!

I’ll be posting pics when I get my wooden crafts painted. Make sure to check out my Instagram account for lots of crafts and other fun stuff!

 

 

 

Holiday Crafting on a Budget with Dollar Tree!

Abby H.

I am a big fan of homemade gifts. This year the kids and I are making most of the gifts we will be giving, and thankfully, Dollar Tree has all sorts of craft supplies to help us out.

Our local Dollar Tree has a great selection of craft supplies: Wooden cut-outs, acrylic paints, decals, stickers, wreath making supplies, glitter paint, gems, beads, you name it.

This week we have been painting Christmas Tree Ornaments.  We’ve got a bunch of acrylic paints in our craft cubby, and I let the kids go wild.

Over the weekend I painted laser-cut pineapples and a laser-cut pineapple light- all from Dollar Tree. As part of our holiday crafting, the kids are I are making a photo frame- We painted it, the next step is to trace and paint their hands on it.

If you are on a budget and wanna get crafty this holiday season either to give as gifts or to decorate your home, check out Dollar Tree either online or in-person (following all social distancing regulations for your area).

Tissue Paper Stained Glass Craft

Abby H.

IMG_8180.jpgThis is a variation of a craft I did as a kid, and I have done with my kids! It’s very simple, as kids as young as about 2 1/2 can do it with help. This is the project that Margaret and I worked on as part of our most recent Craft Morning.

You  (and your kids) can make this craft as simple or complex as you would like. Since Margaret was helping me, we decided to go simple. We used an Ikea picture frame, but you can use anything clear and glass (or even plastic). It’s really fun to do this craft with a clean baby food jar with the label removed. You can put a battery operated tea light into it to make it a “stained glass” candle holder.

To do this craft, you’ll need:

(All of the Amazon links above are affiliate links- I *might* earn a commission if you make a purchase from one of these links).

  1. Clean the glass or plastic and dry it.
  2. If you’ve got a wooden frame, paint it with acrylic paint and set aside to dry. I also used Posca Paint Markers to paint the frames. Discard the piece of cardboard/backing.
  3. On the exterior of the pane of glass or whatever you are using, draw or place the “panes” using  Glitter glue, black tape, paint markers, or washi tape. Once completed and the medium is dry, it’s time to do the stained “glass”.
  4. Carefully coat the side opposite the one that is “paned” of your glass or plastic with Modge-Podge. Use a foam brush.
  5. Apply the tissue paper pieces to the Modge-Podge coated surface. Make sure to cover the entire surface with Modge-Podge and tissue paper. To have a darker color, apply multiple layers of the same color of tissue paper.
  6. Once complete, set the item down to dry, wet side up.
  7. After the item is dry, trim off any excess tissue paper that is sticking up.
  8. Spray the side that has been Modge-podged with Clear Spray Paint/Sealer.
  9. After it has dried, put the glass into the picture frame and secure the glass in with the metallic tabs- if that is not an option, you may hot glue the glass into the frame.
  10. Secure a ribbon to the back of the frame (you can hot glue a ribbon) and hang in a sunny place.

Here are a few that Margaret and I made for her room:

We may be making these for Mother’s day for some family members. I’d love to see what kinds of crafts you and your kids do!

Our next Craft Morning will be February 19th. We’ll be painting and hiding Friendship Rocks. If you are in the San Diego Area, you are welcome to join us!