Painfully easy but I love the look!

A few weeks ago we went on a hilarious family adventure with my in-laws. We got lost in the middle of a forest, then when we arrived we checked crab pots in a little old boat [I got to row!], had a feast for lunch before Monster and I both had a huge midday nap [heh]. Then we went fishing in ankle-deep mud and Monster and I decided t find cool pinecones.



I spray painted them with gloss black and gave them a few coats to make sure I was getting every little bit. Then I but them in a nice white ceramic bowl I had. It doesn't look like much now, but Tim is redoing our dining set to be black and the wall it is against is going to be painted yellow!


This is only half the pinecones we have. I want to paint the rest but I don't know what colour. White? Gold? And what should I do with them?

I made this dinosaur planter yesterday after seeing something similar on Pinterest!

A few months back, we scored a big milk-crate of dinosaurs for $10 from a garage sale. Monster has loved them, I find dinosaurs everywhere and it makes me laugh as I wonder what he was imagining when he was playing with them.


I chose one of the dinosaurs and cut a hole in the back. Choose a toy that is rubbery, and not solid! I used a small hacksaw to cut across the dinosaur's back, then I could cut a rectangle.

I was just going to use a corkscrew, but my husband drilled holes in the bottom of the dinosaur. He got a bit carried away actually, haha.


 I gave it about 3 coats of spraypaint, letting it sit for a few hours inbetween so it wouldn't drip. I let it dry overnight and then this morning I put some gravel in the bottom, followed by potting mix + soil and then one of my smaller aloe vera plants!


I love the gloss-black look! Tim has told me to make two more.


And here's the original I found on Pinterest

Inspired by the punk jackets my friends in Brisbane wore, I decided my Monster needed his own.

For once it wasn't hard to get him to 'pose' for photos. He just kept his attitude...

It was very easy, I used the bottoms of a pair of Tim's jeans, so they were scuffed and frayed at the hems. I made a basic vest pattern like in this tutorial, but left it open instead of having buttons.



Then I studded it with studs from an old belt I had that had broken. Putting some bleach in a spray bottle I sprayed it and left it dry overnight so it has the faded and worn look. Using various patches I had around, you can buy patches on eBay or Etsy, I stitched them on to the vest! Some I ironed on, and as you can see in the pic I do need to stitch them, which is going to be irritating since they're so stiff and thick.



The back I made a banner patch from some leopard-print felt. I was going to stencil something over the top but I'm not sure what yet.

The one underneath is a Dead Kennedy's patch I made from an old t-shirt I owned

This took me literally 5 minutes to create [plus preparation time]!

We're getting our backard overhauled, and at the moment it's like an adventure to get to the wheelie bins, but we're getting a nice big entertaining area. And we're getting a trampoline. A big one.

Anyway we have a trillion and one ideas for decorating the new area, when it is completed, so I thought I would start making pretty things now!


I got a few cans from the recycling bin, one soup can and the two smaller ones are tuna cans! In this picture you can see I haven't painted them yet. I'm going to spray paint them black in the morning!



Super easy to make! I filled the cans with water this morning and put them in the freezer. We went and did things and when I came home tonight they were nice and frozen.


You will need a nail and a hammer, a permanent marker and a towel so you don't freeze your fingers {shush, I'm precious}


If the bottom of your can is out of shape, relax, mine all do this. We'll fix it up later.


Draw the symbol on with the marker.


Hammer the nail in just a little. Small holes don't let much light through, so I get the nail through past its point into its regular width.


Repeat along the line you drew


Soon it will look like this! Put it in the kitchen sink and run hot water over the ice on the inside to melt it all completely, shoudln't take too long at all.


Now let's fix the bulge at the bottom! Flip your can over.


Civer it with a towel and hammer it lightly over the bumpy bits. {that is not gold nailpolish. I was spraypainting. Again.}


I put the cans in the sun to dry completely, then hit them with a high gloss black spray paint.


Let them dry and tada! Here are the six I have made so far.


"Love". It's sappy I know but there has been a lot of Love lost between many people I know lately, and I wanted to remind myself that as long as there is Love in my family that is all that matters.


This is what we use to call Batman when there's no power and the Batsignal won't work.


Here is their home for the moment.

And a tea-light candle and voila!

So my little guy is almost 2 and a half. For the longest time he wouldn't talk. I knew he was just being stubborn, and he was very delayed compared to his friends. I WISHED he would talk but I wasn't overly worried about it.

A few months ago he decided to start talking, and he's been amazing ever since. He can speak in small phrases, he knows the names of almost everything, and his favourite colours were Green and White [and still are].

Since he was picking up on two colours and remembering them, I tried teaching him the other colours. He was having a hard time, and if he got the colour wrong he would quickly point to something green and go "It's Green!" to make up for it.

At the hardware store with my friend Emily one day, I was looking at the yellows to decide what colour to paint our wall. Then I had the idea!

Swiping a few of the colours, I wrote the names of them on the cards. I know he can't read but at least he can recognise the shape of the word maybe? That's how I read anyway :P

I stuck them up on the wall in his little corner where he eats his breakfast and colours. He can now name all of them except for Grey and Brown.

Yeh he's only like 10...

 The hood is attached to the cape, and is separate so he can wear the shirt with or without the cape/hood.






I'm writing up a tutorial for this shirt and cape too, and also working on a little green mask, so stay tuned! It should be up this weekend with a pattern too!