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DIY Stamped Dish Towels

These simple stamped dish towels are my favorite kind of craft: it's simple, useful, and kids can help create it!  These would make an excellent hostess gifts, so whip up a few this weekend, tie one around a bottle of wine or fancy olive oil and present it to your Thanksgiving host!  This post originally appeared on This Heart of Mine which is an awesome blog that you must follow of you don't already!        

In our family we try to avoid using paper towels, which mean we go through lots and lots of dishtowels.  I like the large lint free flour sack style ones the best.  I get them for a great price at Target and Amazon*, but all white dish towels can be a bit boring.  Luckily, it doesn't take much to make them look like a million bucks.  You can design your very own tea towels with a little fabric paint and some ordinary kitchen items.  

It's easy, it's fun, and the results are beautiful!  After this little project my kitchen was instantly cheerier.  Anything that can make you smile while drying dishes is a win in my book.  And if you can part them, these would make wonderful gifts.   

To Make Printed Tea Towels You'll Need:

- Flour sack style dish towels (I like these*)

- Fabric paint (This brand is the best*)

- Painters tape

- Kitchen items that will make cool designs (such as jars, cookie cutters, and berry baskets)

How To Create Custom Dish Towels:

1. First wash and iron your towels.  Then go on a scavenger hunt in your kitchen for things you think might create cool designs.  Kids love helping with this part.  We ended up with a jar, a ravioli cutter, a whisk, and a berry basket.  

2. Place some paper on a table to protect the surface and then lay one of your towels down, taping the corners so that it is pull tight and smooth.

3. Pour some fabric paint onto a paper plate and dip your object into it.  Stamp once on a piece of paper to make sure you don't have too much paint and then stamp your fabric.  

4. This is the fun part, watch your kids light up when they discover the cool shapes they can make!  Keep dipping and stamping until you have a pattern you like.  If using multiple colors allow the first color to dry before applying the second.  

5. Once dry, heat set your fabric paint with a hot iron.  That's it!  Now your ready to dry dishes in style!  

I hope you and your little ones have as much fun making these as we did.  Happy Crafting!

If you're looking for creative things to make with dish towels, check out these harvest aprons and garden kneeler!  

* Affiliate link, if you click these links and make any purchase on Amazon, I get a tiny commission, thank you so much for your support!

Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude

The wants: they travel in the air, through the net, and into the mailbox.  Catalogues, pinterest boards, ads, instagram accounts, they all contribute to a false feeling of need.  A desire for more: more clothes, more travel, more toys, more time to create. The wants hit our house hard and fast recently.  

Instead of being grateful for two shows, Jude wanted a third.  He asked and begged for things at every store.  There didn't seem to be enough stuff, privileges, or attention to quench his desires.  And the grown ups weren't doing much better.  I found myself wanting to shop more.  Pining for the money to travel and expand our house.  Wanting more and appreciating less.  I noticed that focusing on want makes you more apt to complain.  It is a formula for dissatisfaction.  

Luckily, the anecdote is simple and free.  You can treat a case of the wants by cultivating an attitude of gratitude.  Once we started focusing on the haves instead of the have nots we all felt a whole lot better.  Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with striving for more, but it also never hurts to appreciate what you already have.  If you'd like to try cultivating gratitude with your family, here are a few things that have worked for us.  

  

6 Tips for Cultivating An Gratitude

1. Keep a gratitude journal. This is a habit that I work hard to keep (I had fallen off the wagon big time).  Taking just a few minutes each day to list five things you are a grateful for can really help quell anxiety and place a spotlight on the things you cherish.  Any type of notepad will work but I've got a free printable if you'd like to make it extra special.

2. Play three best things.  At dinner each night we go around the table and share three highlights from our day.  This simple activity has been a lot of fun for us.  It allows us a special window into Jude's day at kindergarten and he helps us guess what Ronan would say which often hilarious and sweet.  Plus, my husband and I tend to vent to each other about our days so this is a great time to hear what went right!

3. Practice random acts of kindness.  This can be as simple as smiling at people as you pass them on the street.  Or striking up a friendly conversation in line at the grocery store.  Maybe you have enough cash to buy the person behind you a coffee.  Spreading happiness makes you feel glad to be alive.    

4. Be charitable.  Volunteer your time and give to those in need.  Nothing makes me more grateful for all I have than truly recognizing those who go without.  It can be painful to think about, but helping, even in small ways, is a great way to build thankfulness.              

5. Write thank you notes.  Do you ever think about that teacher who helped you see the world differently?  Do you appreciate how your parents are always there to lend a hand?  Does the continued support of your best friend put a smile on your face?  What if, out of the blue, you wrote them a thank you note?  I'll be honest, I haven't tried this one yet, but I plan on trying my best to write one once a week.  (If you'd like to join me, follow on instagram and look for the hashtag #52thankyous, coming soon!)   

6. Avoid your triggers.  Scale back your social media participation, put those catalogues straight in the recycling bin, go for a hike instead of a trip to the mall.  Try to recognize what sparks the wants for you and your family and do your best to avoid them.   

I hope these tips help you feel a little fuller and happier this holiday season and beyond.  I am so very grateful for my readers.  Thank you for visiting my little home on the web.  

P.S. - I created the above image as a free printable.  Simply save it to your computer, print, and enjoy.  (As always all free printable are for personal use only, thank you!)

Autumn Gliders: A Simple Fall Kid Craft

California isn't exactly known for it's fall foliage (although the vineyards put on a pretty gorgeous fall display), and this year has been extra strange with the drought and Indian summer weather, but autumn has finally reached us and the tress have stopped trying to bloom and decided to put on a different show instead.  To celebrate, the boys and I went a long walk around the neighborhood, enjoying the crisp air and loading the stroller with pretty leaves.  Just when I thought we had done just about everything there is to do with fall leaves, Jude came up with this awesome new idea (and a few others we will share soon) to create fairy planes.  This is such a great way to take the fun of throwing leaves and make it last long after the pile has been raked up.  This craft is easy, fun, and great for all ages! Keep reading to learn how to make your own as well as a fun list of other fall leaf crafts!    

How to Make Fall Leave Airplanes

All you need to make these fun fall gliders are a piece of paper, a collection of fall leaves, and a glue stick. 

Start by folding your paper into a simple airplane.  Next select pretty fall leaves that fit on your airplane.  Rub the back of each leaf and apply it to your plane.  Over lap makes for a pretty effect but be sure you don't weigh down your plane too much.  Your plane can be decorated as completely as you'd like.  Below are a few examples of what your finished product might look like depending on the age and enthusiasm of the crafter.  

Let your glue dry a bit and get throwing!  We were surprised at how well they flew!  Jude had a blast imaging little fairies and sprites going for a ride on their special gliders.  And when they land in a pile of leaves, they blend right in!  I hope you have as much fun making and playing with these as we did. 

Looking for more fun things to do with fall leaves?

Make a cool mask!

Press them into pumpkin spice playdough.

Preserve them the easy way!

Everything is better with glitter!

Make leaf stick puppets.

Wishing you a beautiful autumn!!

Handmade Halloween 2015

I know we've all moved on to talk of turkey and handmade holiday gifts but I HAD to share the boy's Halloween costumes and this is the first chance I've had!  

First a funny story.  Did you ever have a movie you watched when you were little that you were both obsessed with and terrified of?  For me it was The Never Ending Story.  Well, I accidentally introduced Jude to his version, Spiderwick.  We had enjoyed a Spiderwick book at the library and while I usually watch the movies before I share with him, I thought it would be okay.   Holy smokes, that's an intense film!  Anyway, fingers crossed he's not scarred for life, but he really enjoyed the movie even though I kept asking if he'd like to turn it off.  All this to say Jude knows I'm kinda anti-Spiderwick, but there is a huge cool gryphon in the film.  You need this back story for our costume conversation to make sense.

"Jude do you still want to be a polar bear for Halloween?"

"Yes!"

"Okay cool, maybe brother could be a snowy owl."

"I want to be an owl."

"Okay."

"Or how about an eagle?"

"Totally."

"I don't know why you won't let me be a gryphon!"

Challenge accepted.  

After seeing how cute Ronan looked in the Viking hat I had made years ago his costume concept was a no brainer.  And so this year we had a gryphon (griffin?) and a Viking.  Want all the DIY details?  Keep reading for the how-to's and lots more pictures!