Let’s Make Art!!!

This dry clay kit is the PERFECT party favor, event craft, family fun, artist, and or just because gift. There are sooooo many options too!!!!! Click HERE to grab yourself a set!!!!!

"There's No Place Like Gnome!"

Before school let out, I saw endless fairy and gnome displays at, what seemed liked, every store I went into. I have never had a interest in fairies and gnomes before, but the end caps filled with figures, houses, and accessories got me interested and allowed my imagination to soar. I decided that I wanted to put, "Create a Fairy Garden" on MY Summer Bucket List.  Lol!  Seriously.  MINE, not Lilah's, not Jax's, not Tyson's...MINE.  Is this a potential midlife crisis in the workings? However, If anyone wanted to join me, they were welcome to/too. This week, my boys are at GMS basketball camp and that has left Lilah and I the gift of spending some quality time together.  We chose to start out our first boy-free day shopping for our fairy garden needs and wants.  We traveled all over town, from A.C. Moore, to JoAnn Fabrics, to the Dollar Tree, and to Michael's Craft Stores. We also stopped by McCallister's for an unsweetened iced tea and Bubblecake, so Liley could get a cupcake.  Here are the items we collected on our shopping endeavor.

I didn't have a list of supplies with me.  I just knew that I wanted our Fairy Garden to be vibrant/colorful, somewhat "alive", creative, dreamy, and remain outdoors. I allowed Lilah to pick all of the items out.  It was definitely HARD to relinquish that control because there were so many adorable homes and accent pieces that I fell in love with, but I wanted her to feel involved.  I actually love everything she picked out.  I did try to suggest a different house, that was more realistic looking, but she was really interested in the mushroom top house.  Here's what we purchased from top left to top right:

1. A Fairy/Gnome Home.  This home was purchased at JoAnn Fabrics.  They had a ton of really adorable and realistic homes.  Some were made out of straw, others porcelain.  Some had moss growing all over them and others were just painted. Originally $29.99, on sale for $17.99

2. A Container and Potting Soil: I had the hardest time finding an container.  I originally wanted a bird bath or a old wheel barrel, but Lilah was getting ANXIOUS to assemble our garden and my time was running out.  Bird baths were either too small or too pricey in my opinion ($40).  We were finding the right size containers, but Lilah felt they "weren't pretty".  "It has to be pretty mom!" We ended up getting a bright, yellow, plastic tub from Big Lots. The potting soil came from Lowes Home Improvement.  I purchased the largest bag they had.

3. Colorful Rocks/Pebbles: We were planning on creating a walk-way for our fairy and gnomes, so when we spotted these colorful rocks at Lowes, in the gardening section, we had to snag them.

4. Gnome: This camera man gnome was spotted at A.C. Moore.  We fell in love with him the MOMENT we saw him.

5. Ducks: We knew we wanted a section, in our garden, with a pond or water, so we had to have these ducks.  We purchased them at A.C. Moore.

6. Gnome: This cute little gnome, sitting on a frog, was purchased at Michael's Crafts. Michael's had a large selection of fairy and gnome garden supplies, back in May, but it was slim pickings on Monday.

7. Floral Bench: I found this darling bench at Michael's before school let out.  I bought it for Lilah, and put it in her "Welcome Summer" bucket.  It was the first piece that we bought, but certainly NOT the last.  

8. Weed Barrier: I found this weed barrier at the Dollar Tree, of all places.  LOVE that store.  I wanted live plants in our fairy/gnome garden, so I thought, for a $1.00, I'll grab it! If we use it great, if not, it was $1.00. Basically, after planting your live plants, you use the weed barrier before places down your moss or mulch.  It stops weeds from growing through the moss/mulch.  I don't our few potted plants could even produce weeds, but it gave our garden a clean look.

9. Stickers: We couldn't find any "messages" small enough for our garden, but when I spotted these "Believe, Joy, Faith, Imagine" stickers, in the $1.00 bins at Michael's Craft Store, I knew I had to have them!!!

10,11,12. Mailbox, Pond, and Picket Fence: Cute accent pieces to go along with the look of our garden.  All three pieces were purchased from A.C. Moore. I love their "miniatures" section at A.C. Moore.  You can really go overboard with your imagination, when it comes to miniatures, if you want to.

13. Fairy: What good is a fairy garden without a fairy.  We found our sweet fairy at A.C. Moore.  I just love her backside.  Her bare feet are so adorable.

14. Moss: Moss.  This is a MUST HAVE to help create that REAL-look.  I found this bag of moss at Michael's Craft Store.  I belive it was $7.99.  

15. Flowers: More accent pieces.  Found at Michael's Craft Stores.

16. Gnome: Lilah was really into the gnomes. She had to have them all!  Lol.  This cute guy was found at Michael's Crafts Stores.

17. Live Plants: I just picked out some color-coordinating plants that would go great in FULL SUN.  I love them.  I got one tall and one short.  I love the height the yellow flowers give the fairy/gnome garden.  We got these at Lowes Home Improvement.

On Tuesday, we got to work assembling our fairy/gnome garden.  It was a beautiful day.  We layed out a blanket, on the back porch, and got to work.  

I helped, but again, I let Lilah do the majority of the work because I knew this wouldn't take LONG to create. I wanted the project to take longer then the shopping.

After planting the flowers, I laid the weed barrier down.  Tada!

Next, lay start covering the weed barrier with moss. Can you tell how serious Liley was about decorating our garden?

NOW the fun part begins.  Start placement of the home, figures, and accent pieces.

Lilah carefully considered where she wanted everything.  I was proud of her creation.  We chose to use the "imagine" sticker and placed it on top of the gnome's house.

I am just in love with the end result.  It was a great bonding experience of Lilah and I.  Warning: this project is NOT cheap. You can definitely try and use things around your house or make your own homes or accent pieces, but you know me... when I do something, I try to do it to the fullest potential.  I am anxious to create a beach fairy/gnome scene.  Stay tuned... Hehe. This is kind of addicting.

Now, enjoy some close ups photos of our garden! 

Our photographer gnome is taking some great shots of our darling fairy.  

I wonder if their home gets fun mail or ALL bills. We are going to pretend that they just receive tooth fairy letters.

I think Lilah and I need to make this a Summer tradition for sure!

I hope Lilah will spend some time, out on the deck, pretending and playing with our garden!! If not, maybe I will.  LOL! I think this is definitely one of my favorite projects to date.  

"Cool Dad" Craft FEATURE!

It's ALWAYS exciting when bollingwith5 gets featured on a website!! It happened again!!! Check it out HERE or below. Thank you redtri for loving my "Cool Dad" craft enough to feature Bollingwith5 on your website.

You can also click HERE for my actual post on how to replicate this craft.  I am amazed that this simple and personal craft, of ours, has over 730 repins on Pinterest too!

Stepping Stones!

Material gifs are nice and if you are anything like me, they come with MUCH thought.  However, homemade gifts are extra special because it shows the receiver that you took the extra time out of your time, to sit down and make a gift, for them, yourself. It has meaning, value, and talent that store bought gifts do not.  The kids and I went to Michael's Crafts specifically to pick out some kind of craft to make for Darren.  We ended up with these stepping stone kits.  Normally, $12.99 each, but that particular week they were on sale for 40% off.  PERFECT! Lilah got the one below.

Jax picked out the one below.

The kit comes with EVERYTHING you need to create your own beautiful, mosaic masterpiece.

1. A mold.

2. Clay.

3. Gems and stones.

4. Stampers.

First, you mix up the clay with the suggested water, creating a smooth cement.

I did this part because I was fearful I would have cement powder all over my house if I didn't.

Next up, decorate!

 Jax is definitely interested in painting and crafting.  I love that about him.

Lilah is too, but she gets very upset if something doesn't look right or someone else's craft looks a little bit better.  She is really self-critical and will say, "I just want to throw mine away because [so and so's] looks better.  I guess she is her mother's daughter after all.  

Working hard for daddy!

Each piece was carefully chosen and had a specific spot.

The kit also came with a pick.  The pick could be used to move the gems and stones around.  Pushing each stone deep enough into the cement, so that when the cement dried, the stones/gems would stay put.

Lilah wanted to create a heart for her daddy, so I placed one of my heart-shaped cookie cutters into the center of the mold. Liley used her skittles stones to create a heart. Don't those stones look like skittles? Haha.

 Jax's stepping stone before drying.

After the cement dries almost to completion, we used our stampers to create a message.  Jax wanted to write a "#1".

Lilah chose to stamp the word "dad". The below photo, of the stepping stone, appears messy.  I took Sadie to the dog park and brought the stepping stones with us so that I could stamp the stone at the right time.  The air conditioning, from our van, caused some of the cement to rise on top of the stones.  I had to wipe the top of each stone with a baby wipe otherwise the cement would have dried on top of each stone.  The directions specifically state to be careful of the temperature you allow the stones to dry in.  Clearly, I didn't follow directions.  

The kids were so excited to give these stepping stones to Darren, on Father's Day! They now reside in our front yard.  Eventually, I will take a photo of the final result and place it in this post, but I haven't gotten around to doing that just yet.  

TheStir.CafeMom.Com Feature #10

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, let's celebrate early!!! Please rejoice with us as we enjoy our 10th appearance on TheStir.CafeMom.com Yahoo!!!!! Be sure to try this fun and unique artwork with your children.  The kids, one year later, still talk about doing this together.  I am thankful they appreciate the memories we are making together.