DIY OIL + VINEGAR BOTTLES

We love oil + vinegar around here. Especially balsamic vinegar on with fresh tomatos and mozzarella. Yum! You can make your own customized bottles in no time. 

You'll need some glass bottles (ours were soda bottles - but you can use just about any similar bottle), spray paint, tape and oil stoppers.

Tape it up and spray it down! I went with the striped look so I could see the oil and vinegar in the bottle and be able to tell when we needed to refill them.

We love how they turned out. I think they would make awesome wedding or house warming gifts too!

DIY COLOR BLOCK LANTERNS

We've had quite a few of paper lanterns around lately and I've been experimenting. First up, some color blocked lanterns! Super simple, done in no time, lanterns. You'll need a lantern, a sponge brush (they tend to cover more evenly), some paint and some string - in my case, lace.

I love the simplicity and the pop of color they add to the party decor. Next time I might try some polka dots!

DIY CHALKBOARD PHOTO PROPS

A DIY! At last! These chalkboard speech bubble photo props were so simple to make and were a hit at the surprise party last week. People loved coming up with what they wanted to write as a message for my mom or just for fun. 

You'll need:
Poster board
Chalkboard vinyl
Dowel rods
Paint
Glue
Scissors

With some poster board, cut out the shape you would like. I did speech bubbles, but I've done other shapes (hearts, shamrocks, pumpkins, hexagons) before! 

 Take some chalkboard vinyl and cut it to the size of your shape.

 Peel the backing off the vinyl and stick it on the poster board, then trim off the excess.

 If you would like, you can paint your dowel rod to make it a bit more colorful.

Attach the rod to the back and add an extra piece of poster board to support the back. And you're done!

Enjoy! 

DIY DRY ERASE MATS + FREE DOWNLOADS

I spent the good part of a day making little dry erase sheets for Elliott to color and write on and thought "Hey! Why not make them a download?" So that I did. Of course, I'm not including the one that has Elliott's name on it, but you could easily make that one yourself. Just download the one(s) you want, print them out on card-stock and get them hard laminated. Oh, and the markers are washable dry erase markers I picked up at our local craft store. After that you are good to go! Elliott has loved his and I hope your littles love them too. They're fun for not so littles too (hence the last picture). Clean up is so easy. Just wipe it with a wet paper towel, or by my preferred method, just rinse them off in the sink. Enjoy!

Click on the links below to download:

Hexagons

Train

Triangles

House Scene

Alphabet + Number Practice

DIY POLKA DOT COASTERS

Coasters are one of those things that you always need, but there never seems to be one around. At least that's the case with us! With some cork, paint and a pencil, you can make your own in no time.

Dip the pencil eraser into the paint. I put a little paint in the cap of the paint bottle. Now, dot away!

Let them dry and enjoy! They would make great house warming gifts too.