Stuff I Stole From Pinterest

So one of the things I plan to do while Kiel is deployed, is getting balls deep into some interesting projects I find on pinterest. Yup. I'm putting a lot of eggs in the pinterest basket So here are some of the projects that I (with Loki's help and supervision) recently did and some details about each little project in case anyone else wants to try these. I also created a board on Pinterest that is specifically related to things Loki and I can do during Kiel's deployment so that we can keep Kiel as a part of our routine and hopefully make things easier for Loki (and me, I'm not going to BS, deployments don't get easier, you just get used to them and have somewhat of an idea what to expect). All of the deployment projects will get posted at a later date, being that we still have a more than a month before Kiel leaves.

Ok, so here is the first one (and yes, I was watching Nip/Tuck. Don't judge. Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon just do it for me). We bought the towers for each side of the tv last year, because Loki gets into EVERYTHING and this gives us that whole height advantage where he can't reach it. But then we were left with this space and Loki would try and mess with the cords. So I saw a thing on pinterest, where you would make a tiny fence along the baseboard that would hide the cords and just look "oh so adorable!" Well I don't have that sort of time to make a tiny fence and for the most part, am all about instant gratification. So while I'm up in Loki's room, I see the extra side of Loki's crib that we had to remove when we turned his crib into a day bed. Maneuver the cords, line up the rail with the base board hammer in some nails and BAM! Now there is something to fill that empty space and keep Loki from messing with cords.

PROBLEM SOLVED. PROBLEM STAYING SOLVED.

So this  next one was pretty easy, too. The wine bottles up top were something I had been working on for the past year. I drank the wine, I stuck the bottles up top (it's like that whole thing most of us did in college where we saved booze bottles, except it's classier because it's with wine). And then I saw this thing on pinterest where you string lights along the top of the cabinets to add a nice glow to the kitchen. Well I tried it and it just looked dumb, so instead I weaved the lights (ya know- front of one bottle, back of the next and so on) and then attached it to a neutral colored extension cord and pinned it down with a hammer around the top of the cabinet (I didn't actually nail the cord, I put a nail in the wall close to the cabinet, and then put the cord between the nail and the cabinet, this keeps the nail close to wall and somewhat out of view).  It's easy and I love how it looks.

So this wreath, took a little bit of time a couple trips to Michael's (although they do have coupons and on Wednesday here in Vegas they do an additional military discount). The inspiration for it was because one day a few months ago, Loki decided to take a book I was reading and throw it in the bath tub full of water. My book was ruined. Now being I am addicted to books, I couldn't just throw it away. So I went onto pinterest to try and find a way to turn my ruined book into something new. I came across this. You start with a simple straw wreath, wrap it in burlap ribbon and then take the pages of your books and roll them into scrolls, securing with hot glue and twine (I quartered the pages to make tinier scrolls, you can also take three scrolls and tie and glue them together with twine to save time). Then glue the scrolls around the wreath and there you go! I used twine tied across the wreath with an additional strand of twine tied at the top and to strand running across (to keep it from "flopping forward") to hang the wreath as all of my nails were super tiny. The large ribbon is just a simple red burlap ribbon I found Michael's. I thought it was pretty so I got it. Loki loved helping me cut the pages and rolling the scrolls and he helped me pick a spot in the house to hang it and told me he liked it. Win/win.

And then there is the car Loki and I made. With Christmas and having to ship presents back home (we were on the East coast for the holidays), we had a lot of extra boxes. There will probably be a lot of crafts I post regarding cardboard boxes because I have a lot of them and they work so great for making stuff with the kids. The wheels/ steering wheel are made from paper plates. I had bought them for a recent dinner thing I had at my house, and I honestly don't use them very much (not very eco-friendly) so at least by using them this way, when Loki is done with this, we can break it down and recycle it. Loki and I colored the wheels and then I attached it to another blank paper plate (back to back so it would pop more). I used staples to attach them, just because it was the easiest to find and then attached them to the card board with regular ol' scotch tape. Loki loves it, I loved making it with him and it gave Loki a chance to work on his shapes (his circles are getting so good!).

Hopefully, I will be able to find lots more stuff to keep Loki and I busy while Kiel is away. At least with pinterest I have a bunch of ideas of things to do, and it's making my house a little bit more homey/cozy while I do it.