Juicy Watermelon Garland

Good evening my fabulous mothers! I'm a whole day late but I'm still here!!! Hectic days behind me, and I'm sure ahead of me as well! Anyway, how is your fall weekend so far? I'm based out of San Diego, California so it always feels like summer here. Due to the constant hot weather here I've stayed in a summer fun mood with my creative brainstorming. So, today we'll be making an awesomely juicy watermelon garland with household goods! YAY!! The kids will love this! You'll need the following:

1. Scissors

2. A black marker

3. A paintbrush

4. Green paint

5. Pink paint

6. Coffee Filters

7. String or twine

8. Glue or tape (Not shown)

First, take a coffee filter and flatten it out on your work table. Then, begin painting the coffee filter with the green paint. I only painted the bottom half since I only planned on displaying one side of my garland, but if you'll be displaying both sides then paint 1 entire side of the filter green. I used 16 filters in total because I made 7 watermelons for my garland. The length of the garland and amount of watermelons you'd like to use for your garland are completely up to you. You can make it as long or short as you like. I repeated this step for 7 filters. Lay them to dry spaced away from each other so they do not stick together. Don't forget to immediately wash and rinse out your paintbrush, squeeze out the excess water and lay it out to dry so it may be ready to be used with our pink paint.

Next, I took my other 7 filters and folded them in half as shown. Then, trim down the edge about 2-3 inches while maintaining its shape.  You can discard the trimming.

You can then begin painting the coffee filters we just trimmed with the pink paint. If you are making a double sided garland, open the filter and flatten it out like we did the first time prior to painting them pink, and paint 1 entire side. If not, you can just paint half of the filter as shown. Lay these out spaced away from each other as well so they may dry properly.

After all the filters are dry, you can position the smaller pink filter on top of the larger green filter as shown. When the pink filter is centered in the middle of the green filter, secure the pink filter in place onto the green filter with glue or tape. Once the glue has dried properly or the tape is secure, you can fold it in half as shown to create a half circle again. You can now begin to see your coffee filter resembling fun, bright, watermelon slices!

Grab your black marker and begin drawing tear drop shaped seeds. I used a basic black Sharpie to create my watermelon seeds since the color always comes out dark and rich versus other black markers, but this is just my personal preference. Your juicy watermelon slices should look similar to the slices shown in the photos.  

Our final step has come! Open up your filters, and turn them over so that the side that is not painted is facing upward toward you. You can begin to lace them across your string spaced out bout 2-3 inches apart, and secure the string in place with a piece of tape or glue in the middle of the filter along the folded line on the interior of the filter that is not painted. Then, simply fold your coffee filter closed again with the string in place. And.......VOILA!


You have a bright, fun, juicy watermelon garland to hang up and brighten any room in your house that needs a kick of summer from the fall doldrums!

And yes those are Lisa Frank puzzle stickers holding up my fabulous watermelon garland! We promote a bright & colorful Lisa Frank life in this house!! Lol....OK, well at least I do. My husband? Ehh, not so much! None the less, I hope you enjoy this watermelon garland DIY with your kids or as a solo project to clear your mind with your glass of coffee or wine. Tag me in your beautiful watermelon garland creations on Instagram because you KNOW I want to see them! Get those hands to working and create, make, and craft!!

HAPPY CRAFTING!!

Instagram: @Mamacita.of.4

#LoveAlumniCrafts

DIY Fun, Fall Inspired Mobile

Hola! Hello my fellow beautiful, hard working, crazy mommas! It's Friday so I have another fun DIY to try with the kids over the weekend. Today's project is a Fall inspired mobile! I always try using household items to keep it as simple as possible. Today you'll be needing your hot glue gun (of course), extra glue sticks, scissors, wire cutters, faux flowers OR the fall template print out I provide for you lovely crafting familias (families) here! --> Fall Leaves Mobile Printable Cut-outs The sheet with the Fall leaves and acorns below in the "supplies needed" photo is the printable cut outs I am speaking of. If you chose not to use faux flowers, you can just print out a couple of these sheets, add some glitter for PIZAZZ and use them in place of the flowers with much less instruction. Pretty much glue and go! :)  Anyway, you will be needing the following items to re-create the Fall inspired mobile I made. Our supplies list includes:  

1. Faux Flowers

2. Hot Glue Gun (ONLY with adult supervision.)

3. Scissors

4. Wire Cutters

5. Extra glue stick

6. A crepe streamer roll

7. Thin string or Wax Cord

8. Roll of decorative ribbon

9. A hanger (not shown)

10. Your incredible creating hands

11. Some good music playing in the background

12. A glass of coffee, wine, or other form of hydration :)

SUPPLIES NEEDED (Wire Hanger is not shown.)

First, carefully cut the hook part of the wire hanger off with the wire cutters and reform the hanger into a nice circle. Twist the edges of the hanger to intertwine into each other to close your circle. Grab your Crepe paper streamer roll and add a bit of hot glue to the area of the hanger where you will begin to roll the crepe paper to secure your starting point. Slowly, roll the crepe paper onto the hanger so that no part of the wire hanger is visible. I found it to be helpful to do so at an angle to make sure the crepe paper is being rolled on tightly without causing it to rip. When you are done, secure the end of the crepe paper with another tiny bit of hot glue. At this time you can once again adjust your wire hanger into a circle to be the base of your mobile.

Roll the crepe paper on at an angle.

Add a little bit of hot glue in between rolling to secure the crepe paper.

 

Once your done shaping your hanger, cut 4 equal strips of your decorative ribbon of choice. Each strip of ribbon should be about 8 inches in length. You can make these strips as long or short as you'd like, but I used 8 inches. Utilizing your hot glue gun, glue one end of each ribbon onto your circular base, positioning them in 4 opposite sides of each other a shown in the picture on the bottom right. Next, glue the 4 remaining ribbon ends together at the center to create the center of your mobile. This will also serve as the focal point where you will be hanging up your Fall mobile for display, so ensure the 4 ends creating this center point are secure.

Your Fall mobile should look like the picture on the right after attaching the 4 strips of ribbon onto your circular base. You can set this aside to dry and grab your faux flowers and the wire cutters to begin trimming the flowers off of the fake stems. You will want to cut some of the flowers with about 4 inches of wire stem. You need 7 faux flowers with 5 inch stems still attached. If the faux flowers you chose are bigger or smaller of course then this will vary.  Set the 3 largest leaves aside as well so that we can use them later.

The remainder of your flowers should be completely removed from their wire stem. You can now get your thin string or wax cord and place it thru the flower as shown in the picture, pull it out thru the top of the flower where the petals are and tie a small knot at the end as shown so the flower can hang freely at the end of the string as shown in the picture on the right. Most faux flowers are constructed the same which allows you to hang your flowers in this fashion from your cord or string. But, if by chance your faux flowers are constructed differently and don't allow you to hang them this way, feel free to reach out for that handy dandy hot glue gun and glue the bottom ends of your flower to the end of the string.

 I used this method for the 3 leaves we will be hanging in the center of the mobile since you cannot string the cord thru the leaf like you can with the flowers. I placed a tiny bit of hot glue at the bottom end of the leaf (at the tip) and inserted the cord. Allow the glue to dry with the cord in place to secure the leaf. Once your done, set these leaves aside to be glued to the center later.

We can now create the pretty flower center to our hanging center point so it doesn't look so boring! Cut a piece of wax cord or string about 10 inches in length. Fold the cord in half and guide it through the flower center and secure the loose ends into a knot as shown. Make it as long or short as you'd like. This will be where you hang your mobile from. If you make it shorter, just tie the loose ends at a higher point and trim off the excess cord. Glue the bottom end of the flower (the knotted end) onto the center point of your decorative ribbon so it looks as shown in the top right photo.

Next, it's time to work on our circular wire base we constructed earlier. You can begin to wrap the wire stemmed flowers you set aside onto the circular base by using the wire stem to wrap around the circle as shown. You can secure this with some hot glue as well if you feel it is not going to remain on. When you are done securing your flowers onto the circle it should look like the picture on the right, resembling a flower crown.

Once your flowers are secure on the circular base, you can grab your stringed flowers we created earlier and begin tying them all onto the circle, spacing them equally apart. I recommend using a double knot to ensure the flowers will not come off with time due to a lose knot. Once your done, I recommend wrapping your circular base with the crepe paper using the same method as earlier once again in order to make your mobile look much neater and covering up the string and wire stems of the flowers we used to wrap around the circle base.

Lastly, take your 3 stringed leaves we created earlier and glue them to the bottom center of the flower at the top hanging point.

YOU'RE ALL DONE!!

Hang your mobile up and enjoy her in all her glory! :) 

I can't wait to see your mobiles, so don't forget to tag me on Instagram @LoveAlumni #LoveAlumniCrafts

Bottom view of the Fall mobile.

My Fall inspired mobile.

Till next time,

HAPPY CRAFTING!!

Fun Printable Stickers

I created some fun, color in, printable stickers for my oldest daughter because she is a creating, designing, crafting, stationary loving nerd junkie just like me! Lol....apparently the old saying is true, the apple does NOT fall far from the tree! Anyway, I thought I'd upload them so you can have some cool and fun printable stickers to enjoy with your teen/ pre-teen too.

I say I designed them for my daughter, but I think I secretly just might find them just as much fun for my work/office space as she did when she stuck them all over her notebooks for school. If not, more! :) So, don't feel bad if you find yourselves reaching for the sticky tape to put them around your own creating space mamas! I know that's exactly what I did! Eh, they're fun, why not?

This is how I colored mine, bright and funky of course! Fabulous. Lol!! Can't wait to see how you guys color & use yours. Don't forget to post your fun printable sticker pics to Instagram and tag me @lovealumni #LoveAlumniCrafts



Now print your own copy of these cute bad boys here:
FUN PRINTABLE STICKERS FREEBIE

Have fun getting creative!! Don't be shy and get your craft on! Use those hands!!


--XOXO from Malorie D. "Mom Life, Craft Life, Love Life"

Awesome & Easy Popsicle Stick Lanterns For Kids

My son Dom enjoying our project.

FUN & EASY POPSICLE STICK LANTERNS DIY

Hola, Hello!! So I figured we'd begin our crafting/creating journey with an easy & fun project that the kids can participate in. My son and I made some awesome paper lanterns and it was so much fun! My daughters were a little upset that we partook in this cool little project without them, but they were having a daddy-daughters outing so me & Dom didn't feel too bad about it. It was fun, & we can't wait to share this with you. So let's get to it!

***********The list of materials needed are as follows:***********

• Wax paper (I used regular Reynold's wax paper we had in the kitchen.)

• Popsicle sticks You will need 20 Popsicle sticks per lantern that you plan to make. (We chose the thick craft Popsicle sticks versus the thinner type to give us more space to paint & get artistic.)
• Paint or markers (Any paint or markers will do but for best results we chose acrylic paint.)
• Paint brushes (ONLY if you chose to utilize paint versus markers for your designs.)
• Paint palette  (ONLY if you chose to utilize paint versus markers for your designs.)

• Scissors
• A pencil

• Hot glue gun or tape (I don't know how to live without my glue gun in my life, so naturally of course I chose to use my hot glue gun versus tape. Also, it will make your lantern more durable & secure.) And of course NEVER allow a child to utilize a hot glue gun. No Bueno, very dangerous for burns!
• Plenty of glue sticks- How many? Well, it depends on how liberally you plan to apply your hot glue, but not much is needed to keep these cool lanterns together. (Necessary ONLY if you choose to use a hot glue gun versus tape.)
• A flat surface on which you could paint. (You can lay down a large cardboard, newspapers, or wax paper under your work area to protect the surface your working on.)

Prepare your work space.

Begin by laying out a large piece of cardboard on the floor and place a piece of wax paper about 16 inches in length and 16 inches in width, and tape the 4 corners down to prevent the wax paper from flying away or gliding around during your painting process. As I mentioned earlier, I chose to use acrylic paint for my lantern so I set out my paint palate and placed different colors to give myself plenty of choices in the color department. You don't want to limit your creativity by limiting your color choices. If you chose to use markers, then get your color on! If you chose to paint, then put your Picasso hat on and begin painting your wax paper however you please! Keep in mind that this wax paper will be cut into 4 quadrants later to create the walls of your lantern. Other than that, go crazy with your creativity and the color. Use as much or as little color combinations as you'd like!

Here are a few ideas for your wax paper art, just in case you hit an artistic drought:

• Basic shapes, abstract designs, geometric shapes, patterns, intersecting lines, paint splatters, stripes.
• Flowers, hearts, bows, emoticons, rainbows, butterflies, swirly designs, polka-dots.
• Cars, superhero designs, ninjas, scattered numbers, scattered letters, animals.

I went a bit Dr. Seuss with my popsicles.

After you are done creating your masterpiece on the wax paper, leave it to dry and grab your popsicle sticks. Set out your 20 Popsicle sticks flat and separated about an inch apart on your work surface and paint those as well. Only one side of the popsicle stick needs to be painted. The blank side will be on the inside of your lantern which will not be displayed. Allow both the wax paper and popsicle sticks to dry completely. Once they are dry, you can either use tape or use your hot glue gun to bond the sticks together and create 4 of the same size squares as shown in the picture below.

Next, you will lay your popsicle stick squares on top of your wax paper art so that you may trace the inner part of the square onto the wax paper with your pencil so you get the areas of artwork you'd like to be displayed as the walls of your lantern. Then, cut the wax paper along the lines you traced to create 4 squares as shown. Once you've cut out your squares from the wax paper, use your tracing pencil to erase any lines left so they do not interfere with your art on the wax paper.

Next, you tape or hot glue the wax squares you just cut out onto the back of the popsicle stick squares that are NOT painted. Make sure the wax paper is secured along all 4 corners of the tile and along all 4 sides creating 4 cool art tiles as shown in the picture below.

Dom's artistic tiles.

You can now begin creating a cube shape with your popsicle stick tiles that will consist of 4 sides, leaving the top and bottom portion exposed. Utilize the tape or squeeze hot glue onto the interior edges while creating your cube so that the tape or glue is not visible to the outside area of your lantern that is to be displayed. If using a hot glue gun, you must hold the tile edges together until the glue is dry or it will fall apart if the pressure is released too soon. Although hot glue dries relatively quickly, you should still be careful not to burn your fingers.

My funky art tiles.

Top view of the lanterns.

Lastly, use your last 4 popsicle sticks to create the base for your lantern, this will determine what is the bottom and the top of your lantern and will ensure that your lantern remains in an upright position as displayed in the photo on the left. Allow all the glue to properly dry.Now, you can place either a tea light candle (I like to use a scented tea light candle or votive candle.) or a flame less, battery operated candle which still gives the same glowing effect for your lantern inside the center.

PLEASE NOTE: (I HIGHLY recommend to ONLY use a flame less, battery operated candle for the kids! Kids should never have access to candles due to hot wax burns, or any open flame. Sorry, I know that is common sense, but being a mother I MUST mention it in my post. I want us all to have fun while getting our creative juices flowing, but BE SAFE!)

Dom did such a great job! He loved it!

And, VOILA!! You have an awesomely, incredible, artistic, personalized, DIY, wax lantern created with your own 2 fabulous hands, and lots of love!!! :) My son and I had a great time making these lanterns and we're proud of our creation! You should be too! This is a simple craft that can be done by anybody willing to try, and it's fun to do with the kids and really brings out their creativity. So put down your coffee (or wine), grab the kids, even the hubby, and use your hands to create & MAKE this awesome DIY lantern. Happy crafting my fellow mamas!

Until next time,      

                          -- XOXO from Malorie D. aka "Mom Life, Craft Life, Love Life"

The awesome & easy popsicle stick lantern DIY is complete!

***Please feel free to comment & share your pictures of your wax lanterns & YOUR family's process enjoying this project! I'd LOVE to see them! Post your lanterns on Instagram. Follow & tag us @lovealumni and #LoveAlumniCrafts 

Nice to meet you! Welcome to "Mom Life, Craft Life, Love Life!"

Hola, Hello! Welcome to my blog "Mom Life, Craft Life, Love Life!" My name is Malorie and I am the blessed mother to 4 incredible, and crazy kids ranging from 2 years old (actually, TERRIBLE twos with a capital T!) to 11 years old (aka the crazy, emotional, "I don't know who I am yet" stage). I currently am in a crossroads of leaving corporate management and now living in the land of "stay at home and focus on my passion of making, creating, crafting, and running my small business of handcrafted goods on Etsy Love Alumni Handcrafted Goods; all while cooking, cleaning, shuttling my 4 kids to and from school and practices, and running my charity efforts to donate journals I make with my own 2 hands to incredibly brave kids who have been exposed to domestic violence so that they can engage in therapeutic writing. Also, while still tending to our cheerful, loving dog Lola, and making sure I make time for my wonderful, hard-working husband!! (not in that order of course! Lol....)"

Any-who, it's all VERY exciting and stressful all at once but I figured I need some type of creative outlet so that I do not lose my mind in the process of this wonderful transition. Therefore, since I'm also an avid writer at heart, I said to myself, "Malorie, you need at least 1 thing you do for yourself besides having your delicious coffee while listening to gangster rap!" (lol, don't judge me.) And, WHALLA!!!!! This blog of awesomeness was birthed into my jumbled brain! :) I'm excited to incorporate my love for writing, crafting, creativity, motherhood, and above all, LOOOOOVE into one big, fantastic, therapeutic, blog! Considering that most of my work for my Etsy shop is done during what I like to call, "The Naptime Hustle Hour" aka "When my 2 year old finally goes down for her naptime." I will have to find a scheduling system that will work with my new blog, my business, my kiddos, hubby, and my charity efforts,.....BUT, it's going to be a great ride and I'm so excited to help you get your hand working and creative juices flowing! :) So thank you in joining me on this journey of crazy motherhood, crafting, family, love, life, and gallons, and gallons of coffee and wine (depending on the occasion and time of day). So grab the kiddos or conquer a couple of my fun crafting projects solo for some alone time (just in case that exists for some other lucky mothers out there lol), and let's have fun, and CREATE!