From T-Shirt to Self-Tying Paint Smock 2.0

From T-Shirt to Self-Tying Paint Smock 2.0

Posted on by Mama

paintsmockSince we are in the throes of Vacation Bible School prep, I decided to pull out one of my favorite VBS posts from my first days of blogging and repost it here today. I think it’s just awfully clever (yes, I say so myself) and has proven very useful. This  post was first published on August 6, 2013.

Okay, so it’s not often that I have a completely original idea, so here’s one for the books. . . or the blog, or however the saying must go in today’s electronic age. It’s not like it’s an earth shattering discovery or anything, but it sure did make last week’s VBS painting projects much less messy.

I picked up several extra large t-shirts from my Mom’s church for a buck each and planned to use them as paint smocks, but I didn’t think the children would appreciate us pulling them on and off their heads each day so I started thinking about an easy way to make them into backwards vests that somehow stayed on their little bodies. I wanted them to have ties in the back, but I just didn’t have the time or gumption to do a sewing project involving that many shirts.

Suddenly the thought occurred to me that perhaps there was a way to cut the shirts themselves so that they would be equipped with built-in ties, and that’s when this idea was born (now if I’m the last VBS craft girl on the planet to ever think of this, please tell me now so that I’ll stop being so darn pleased with myself).

Materials:

  • good pair of scissors (I keep a couple of pair just for material)
  • t-shirt

cuthereDirections:

  1. Lay the t-shit flat on a hard surface with the back facing up.
  2. Cut straight up the entire back of the shirt from hem to neckband.
  3. Flop the shirt over to the front and cut a slit just through the center of the neckband.
  4. Then cut around the neck band toward the back of the shirt on both sides, stopping about an inch and a half from cutting off the entire neck band on each side.
  5. These little flapping pieces of neckband will now be your ties.

Just have your child(ren) put on the shirt with the open slit at the back and use your two pieces of neckband to tie a loose knot at the top. That’s just how easy it is to make a mess-saving painting smock.

 

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Pitching a Tent in the Great Indoors

Pitching a Tent in the Great Indoors

Posted on by Mama

indoortent

You might be a redneck, or just testing out new camping cots; but any rate, yes, that is a full-size tent in the middle of my living room floor.

My husband and I have been talking about camping with our four-year-old son for several months now and ventured upon an outdoor sale at the local sporting goods store that quickly resulted in a “test run” of our new sleeping arrangements. When my husband suggested we set up the tent to make sure the new cots fit, I thought he meant outside somewhere. Nope, here’s proof that we indeed camped in the great “indoors” last week. I have to say, the facilities were top notch — super clean, lots of toilet paper and hot and cold running water!

Cashing In on the Rain with Perfect Patina

Cashing In on the Rain with Perfect Patina

Posted on by Mama

numberpots

This year’s rendition of the house number pots is going strong and the pink and white Impatiens seem to be loving their location on the new front deck. I also think the serious rains we had the entire month of May helped the moss grow up the sides of the pots. Just look at that patina!

While I’m loving the look this year, it almost didn’t happen. I knocked over a pot while rearranging earlier this Spring and took a big ol’ chip out of the “3” pot. I was so sad and thought it might be the end of this fun tradition, but decided to glue the thing back together and call it “character.”

If you’re interested in reading how these pots first came to be and how to make your own, visit my earlier post “House Number Pots are Easy and Inviting.”

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