small + friendly

DIY Chicken Coop

Want a coop tour?  Oh, I'm so glad you said yes!  I am more than a little stoked about my chicks' new digs. 

 

 This was a DIY green build through and through.  We spent exactly zero dollars on wood.  All of the wood was reclaimed and generously gifted to us.  I love how the reclaimed wood and modern design gives us a great mix of style.  It's sort of rustic-modern; an eclectic, eco-friendly style that is very much in keeping with the rest of the garden.  

 

 

The predator-proof coop boasts skylights, vinyl flooring, nesting boxes, roosting bars, and ample ventilation.  

 

 

The coop and run were designed by my amazing husband.  He also built the entire thing with the help of my very handy and fabulous father.

 

 

The coop is situated in a spot in our yard that gets only morning sun, the rest of the time it is in the shade, perfect for our warm summers.  

 

 

The run is covered in sand, which makes poop scooping a breeze.  In case you were worried that the run is not very large, please know that my beloved chickens are free-range birds, spending most of their time with full access to our large (for California) suburban lot.  

 

 

Jude and I painted the coop and door (Grenadine by Behr) and sealed the other wood with low-voc sealant.  All of the hinges were purchased at Restore, saving us a bundle and helping a great cause.  

 

 

To save space (and for ease of feeding) Jason made this DIY gravity chicken feeder.  The girls love it and there has been almost no waste (tutorial coming soon).  

 

 

We still need to take a trip to the beach to find the perfect piece of driftwood for a perch in the run.  And Jude insists that we make a sign with lots of glitter.  But so far the girls love their new home and we love our girls.  

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  We hope you enjoyed the tour.  I'd like to take a quick moment to thank my fantastic husband and awesome dad for making such a great coop.   

 

Here's to happy hens in cozy coops!

DIY Decor: Our Instax Wall

I am horrible about printing and displaying pictures.  I take thousands of pictures, and I've only had a fraction of them printed.  I still haven't framed any of my wedding pics, and the only framed picture I have of Jude is in the kitchen.  Yep, it's bad.  It's on my list of to-dos, I swear.  In the meantime, I've finally got some pictures on the wall.  Lots of them.  I got Jason the Fujifilm Instax Mini for Father's Day a couple years back, and I added the wide INSTAX 210 to his collection at Christmas.  We love these little cameras.  The photos have the awesome flattering vintage quality of polaroids.  And while the film isn't cheap, it means we actually have printed pictures.  The printed pictures were half the battle for sure, but then we had quite the collection sitting in a box.  

I decided enough was enough.  I had pinned this image (and quite a few like it) long ago, it was time to create my own photo wall.  Half way through the process, the coolest kids on the bloggity-block did this, and I knew I'd made the right decision (mine isn't quite as cool, but it sure is fun to look at).  Someday, the whole entire hallway will be covered.  I think this would look rad with printed instagram photos too.  

Here are a few tips if you'd like to create your own photo wall:

• After trying a few different products, I found a this to work the very best.  The pics haven't budged, yet I'm not damaging our photos or the wall.  Just a small dot in the middle of the small pics and tiny dots on the corners of the larger ones. 
• Organize your photos by orientation so that it is easy to create a pattern that fills the whole space.  
• Start in the middle and work your way out.  
• Don't over think it.  (This was hard for me.)  It's not supposed to be perfect or overly organized.  

Our tiny hall used to simply be a way to get to the bathroom and bedrooms.  Now it is a destination all it's own.  

Alright, I'm off to get some GD pictures in frames already!

Free Printable Lacing Cards

Looking for a last minute Easter basket stuffer?  Me too!  Honestly, I was looking for an excuse to do a little baby chick photo shoot; and so, inspired by these lacing cards, I made a version that screams spring.  

Want to make your own?  It's super simple; I've even created free printables (featuring two from our tiny flock, of course).  Can you believe the fluffy cheeks on this one?

DIY Chick Lacing Cards

You'll need:

• Download Lacing Card Chick 1 and Download Lacing Card Chick 2
• Photo paper, card stock, or paper and thin cardboard (like a cereal box)
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• String (I used neon mason line) 

How to:

1. Print each chick on photo paper, card stock, or plain paper.
2. If using plain paper (or for stronger cards), glue the printed sheet to a piece of cardboard and allow to dry before continuing.
3. Cut out each chick, leaving about 1/4" of white space.
4. Punch holes all around the edges, spacing them about 1/2" apart.
5. Cut two lengths of string about 3' long.  You can singe the ends to stop them from fraying.  I wrapped a short length of tape around each end to make for easier threading.
6. That's it! Gift, thread, enjoy!   

Happy (Chick) Crafting!

Ball Buddies Pattern Release and Giveaway

I'm bringing (trademarked toys that rhyme with) bopples back.  It's a ball, it's a buddy, it's a ball buddy!

As a child of the eighties, I longed for my own little one to know the joy of a softie that folds up into a ball.  So I set out to recreate this childhood wonder and did it one better:  These softies are hip and handmade.  

And just in time for a little Easter crafting, they fold up into their very own decorated eggs.  The supplies are few and inexpensive, the instructions are thorough and full of pictures, and the pattern is digitally mastered.  

Both patterns are available at Craftsy.  

Get the Bunny Ball Buddy pattern here.

Get the Chick Ball Buddy pattern here.  

Bring joy to a little one in your life.

But wait, it gets better!  To kick off this pattern release, I am hosting a pretty fab giveaway.  One lucky reader will get a handmade Bunny Ball Buddy, and another reader will receive both patterns free!  To enter please facebook, tweet, or pinterest a link to this post or the pattern itself, then leave a comment with a link to your share for a chance to win.  This giveaway will be open until March 18th 8 pm PST.  

Giveaway now closed.

Here's to handmade love!

DIY: Train Table

Jude has had a train set since before he was born.  During an IKEA shopping trip for "baby stuff", my dad and husband filled the cart with only the nursery essentials: all manner of wooden track pieces and accessories.  

For a long time, this epic collection of track and trains lived in a storage bin in the living room.  Every once in while, Jude would get it out and build a grand railroad that would promptly have to be cleaned up before someone broke an ankle. 

 It was fun, but a bit of a hassle for me, and honestly not Jude's favorite thing to play with.  Yet, every single time we visit the toy store, he spends the entire time at the train table.  

Our house, while friendly, is very small.  We don't have room for a traditional train table.  But we do have room for a rad DIY trundle train table!  

We started with an IKEA table top that was headed for the donation pile, but a piece of plywood would work as well.  Jason added four small locking wheels.  

I covered the top in green felt (spray adhesive worked great), and then got to work making a few moveable landscape features (simple shapes cut from more felt).  

The track doesn't slip around on the felt, so there is no need to nail down the pieces.  This way the whole scene can be changed at will, which I love, because for me building the scene is the funnest part!  I added little velcro dots to the signs to stop them from falling over, but everything else stays pretty well as is.   

The best part? The whole thing slides neatly under the bed.  We plan to add a few more felt features (I would really love to attempt something like this), but for now I'm just glad the trains are actually getting played with (and I don't have to keep cleaning them up). 

Here's to tidy trains!  

Secret Message Valentine (Mini Edition)

Last year, I made Secret Message Valentines that where quite fun, but also a bit large and slightly awkward to gift.  This year I refined my idea.  These petite versions boast a free printable and the special addition of a "built in" brush.  (I must credit Creative with Kids for the brilliant watercolor idea.)  

Secret Message Valentine (Mini Edition)

You'll need:

• White cardstock
• White crayon or birthday candle
• Liquid watercolor paint (I used crimson)
• Small paint brushes (these would work well)
• Download Valentine by small + friendly
• Craft knife

Directions:

1. Print out valentines on cardstock, making sure that there is no scaling.  
2. Cut sheet in half horizontally (at 5 1/2") and half vertically (at 4 1/4").
3. Use the white crayon/candle to write your secret message. (Suggested phrases: You are my fav, Let's stay together, I think you're cute, etc.)
4. Fill heart with a layer of watercolor paint (you might need to use a brush) and let dry.
5. Use a craft knife to cut slits for the brush to slide through.  You can place vertical slits on either side of the heart (the brush will slide in horizontally) or horizontal slits on the right or left edge (the brush will slide in vertically).  I like the look of the first option but the latter is best if you plan on mailing your valentine.  
6. Give with love!

Happy Heart Day! 

DIY: Nautical Lighting

These lamps almost never saw the light.  It's a fairly pinteresting story ... Way back when Pinterest was brand new, and I actually attempted the things I pinned, I set out to make a pair of hanging lights for our living room.  I am forever struggling to get the lighting right in that space, and I thought a pair of pendants would be the ticket.  I followed this tutorial, with one major exception: I used (cheaper & hairier) sisal twine instead of the hemp string.  I ended up with two balls of rope that looked like they belonged in a cheesy seafood restaurant.  I trimmed some of the really bad fuzzy bits and spray painted them white in the hopes that they could still work.  They didn't.  That is, until I realized that there was another room in the house that could use extra lighting.

Which room? Why, a certain someone's conveniently nautical nursery, of course.  They put off the perfect bedtime story reading light.  

The moral of this story?  There are no mistakes, only happy accidents.  (And it's worth actually trying the ideas you pin!)

Now if only I could find a lamp for the living room ...

P.S. - Do you follow AT's Homie Awards?  I'd love your vote for Best Family & Kids Blog

DIY: Simple Knit Hat

After lots and lots of little straight knitting projects (and one big one) I finally got up the courage to knit in the round!  This winter has been much cooler than we Californians are used to and those freezing temperatures gave me the extra incentive I needed to wip up a simple knit hat for Jude.  I am by no means a knitting expert, this is my first hat!  But I thought it would be helpful to any other newbies to know what I did (namely which youtube videos I watched).  Once you get the basics down it is really simple!  I'd also like to note that I did not switch to double needles (explained in one of the youtube links) so it really couldn't get any simpler!  

Simple Knit Hat (adapted from this pattern)

You'll need:

- one skein of worsted weight yarn (I used this)

- 16" circular knitting needles (I used size 8)

- stitch markers (I use large safety pins or little hair ties)

- crochet hook or darning needle

Directions:

* Note: This makes a child sized hat.  It is very easy to make a larger or smaller version by casting on more or less stitches (in mulitples of 8) based on gauge (see step 1).

;;lkmiy,mp[uk (I stepped out of the room and Jude decided he "had to" blog)

1.  (Optional but helpful) Knit up a little swatch to test your gauge.  Measure your subject's head and cast on the appropriate number of stiches (in multiples of 8) to get you to that size.  Or simply cast on 64 stiches.  (I went with 72 and it's a little loose.)

2.  Join in the round.  

3.  Knit 2, Purl 2 for about 2" to create a ribbed band.

4.  Knit until your work is about 6" from the cast on edge.  (All you have to do is knit to get stockinette when knitting in the round.)

5.  Decrease (see video at 4:51).  Note: I simply followed the linked video to complete my hat.  Place markers every eight stiches, then on the next round, knit until you are two stiches in front of a marker and then knit those two stiches together (k2tog).  Continue this way until you come to the last 4 stiches, pulling the needle cable out between stiches when things get too tight.  Close the hat up by threading the yarn through those last 4 stitches.  (Pst, I "cheated" and tied a tiny knot.)

6.  Add a pom pom!  Top a little wonking?  Or simply wish to stay "on trend"?  Pom pom to the rescue!  I made one by wrapping yarn around four fingers like this.  Tie that bad boy on and enjoy!  

Here's to new skills and warm heads!