9 steps to a clean house

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Monogram T-shirt using Freezer Paper {Handmade Holiday}


My 6 year old made little monogram PJ shirts for his siblings this year. He is super proud of them and had a great time making them. The shirts were easy to make and inexpensive. I got the two white shirts at Walmart for $2.50 each and the little girl blue one for $4.


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Paint Chip Bookmarks {Handmade Holiday}



Do your kids give each other gifts? Our older kids that can earn money buy their little brother and sister something and I help the little ones make something. We used to give the kids a set amount of money and take them to the store to pick stuff out but that is expensive if you have 4 kids and I don't think they learn much about giving if they are spending your money!

Our youngest is 3 and this year she made bookmarks for her brothers. We made some out of glitter paper and a few out of leftover paint chips. You could use cardstock or any kind of stiff paper. She helped wrap them (in bright pink birthday paper LOL) and is so excited to give them to her brothers.

I'm going to let the pictures explain themselves today. My kids are all out of school and I want to go do something fun with them!


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Jane Austen journal bag {Handmade holiday}


Are you a Jane Austen fan? I am! Love her books and the movies made from them. Whenever my husband deploys I always spend the first day watching the really long Pride and Prejudice and sulking. Then the next day I suck it up and continue on with life.  My sister in law loves Jane Austen too and I found this cute little 5 year Jane a Day journal for her.  5 year journals are the BEST thing for busy Moms.  There is only a spot to write a couple lines everyday.  No pressure to write tons! The little bag fits a kindle too so it would be a fun little bag for that as well.


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Ana White Doll Bunkbed {Handmade holiday}


This is one of my favorite things we made this year. My husband and I built an Ana White Doll bunkbed for our daughter. I love it so much I kind of want to keep it for myself.

My biggest tip is to paint the boards after you cut them but before you assemble the bunk bed. The building wasn't too bad but painting between all the little slats took forever. Especially when I had to do it at night in the freezing cold garage so it stayed a secret. The paint is Behr's Refreshing Pool.

The adorable doll my Grandma made for her. My Grandma is SUPER talented and made me a very similar doll when I was little.  The doll pillow and blanket tutorial I posted yesterday.


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Doll Quilt & Pillow Tutorial {Handmade Holiday}


Do you have a little girl on your Christmas list?  I know lots of little girls that love baby dolls and can always use some blankets to wrap their baby up.  So today I have a little tutorial for a doll blanket and pillow!  This is a great starter sewing project since it's all straight stitching and pretty basic.


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Craft kit in a Jar {Handmade Holiday}


So excited to show you the little craft jars that I made for my nieces! These were so easy and inexpensive since most of what I used to fill them came from my craft room. They would be a make a great little stocking stuffer too since you can choose the size.


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DIY Road for Play Cars {handmade holiday tutorial}

Are you almost ready for Christmas? Only 13 more days! I made a cute little felt road for my car obsessed nephew and I'm so excited to show you how to make one too! Including the cars this project costs about $10. Less if you use fabric from your stash! This would be such a fun toy for airline travel or even for keeping quiet during church.


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Simple Stool {Handmade Holiday}


The little kids art table that we built a few days ago needed a spot to sit.  So we built a simple stool using Ana-White plans.  It's perfect for kids but is also a great height for resting drinks if you have an adirondack chair on your deck or even as a plant holder for the front porch.  I painted it my favorite Aqua-Refreshing Pool by Behr.  My favorite part was that it was free since we built it from scraps!  Are you building some fun Christmas surprises?



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Book Bin {Handmade Holiday}


One of the things I love about building gifts is that you can afford to give something nicer than you could afford to buy. My family chooses names and I have my brother who has 4 kids. So my husband and I built them all bookbins.  We used Ana White bookholder plans and built the large book holders.  I spent $18 on wood so each book holder is about $4.50!

They turned out so cute.  I personalized them with vinyl letters cut out with my silhouette machine.  I even added a little magnetic strip that I got at Ikea to my nephews for cars and trains (the matchbox cars have to be completely metal for them to stick).  Now they will have a little spot by their bed to keep their favorite books.


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Kids Art Table {Handmade Holiday}


My goal this year was to have a desk for each of my kids.  I really think it inspires creativity and encourages art activities if kids have their own special spot. So we built our preschool daughter a little art table using Ana-White kids table plans.

The only changes I made to the original table was adding 1x3 stretcher to the bottom of the legs for additional stability.  We had to buy a 2x2 for this project but everything else was scraps.  The top is all 1x3 and 1x4 scraps.  Total cost for E's art table was $3 for the 2x2.  I would guess that if you had to buy all the wood it would be $10-15 which is pretty great deal for an all wood table!

I painted the table with 2 coats of Dover White from Sherwin Williams.


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Trug {Handmade Holiday}

Since I love handmade gifts so much I decided to do a little handmade holiday series. Just a few ideas that we are making. This week is all stuff to build! All the projects cost less than $10.

To start the week off I have a cute little trug. Built with plans from Jaime at That's my Letter. It was built from scraps in our garage but if you bought the wood specifically for this project it would be less than $10! I painted it with the leftover paint from the skateboard desk, the color is Corsair by Better Homes and Garden.  The name is just white vinyl cut out with my silhouette with polycrylic over the letters.  My nephew is totally into Handy Manny and loves to haul all his treasures around so I think he will love it!


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Christmas Tree {ruffled garland tutorial}

I'm getting so excited for Christmas especially as I get more of the work done! I feel like it's hard to be the Mom and still enjoy the holidays. It's hard to get all the decorating and shopping finished plus orchestrate all the traditions and still feel fun and relaxed.


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Simple Wood Christmas ornaments {Christmas tutorial}

I have this problem every Christmas. I pull out ALL the Christmas boxes with the intention of just setting it all up and then after I get it all unpacked I decide I hate it all and want to make new stuff. Last year it was a bunch of Salt dough ornaments.  This year it's wood. So here is a simple tutorial so you can make your own.


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