Showing posts with label diy friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diy friday. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Easy Valentine's Day Craft - Great for Parents, Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles

My 10-month old nephew, Finnley, is one of the most photogenic babies around, not that I'm biased or anything... 😂



Every holiday, Finnley's mom blesses us with these absolutely adorable Finnley-themed crafts. Valentine's Day was no exception!




Supplies Needed
1 sheet of 8.5" x 11" cardstock or thick paper
cotton balls
red paint - tempera works great
pink paint - tempera works great
heart-shaped foam or a heart-shaped cutout on paper
double-sided tape, glue dots or glue stick
lots of face-photos of your beautiful little Valentine

Steps
1. Dip 2 cotton balls in red paint and pink paint, respectively. Use cotton balls to dab the card stock, alternating colors until you're happy with the results. Let dry.

2. Adhere the heart-shaped foam or heart-shaped cutout centered on the cardstock.

3. Cut out the face of your Valentine in the photos

4. Arrange the cut-outs on to the heart in a collage pattern. Once you're happy with the arrangement, adhere the photos to the heart shape.

You could stop here if you planned to just give this beautiful gift to one person. But Finnley likes to share the love with lots of family members, so his mom took this craft to Staples, had 8 copies made and then had them laminated with a beautiful love note on the back. 

Her total cost for the original plus 8 copies of the project laminated at Staples: $15.84!


Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts


This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may make money if you click them.

Friday, July 6, 2018

DIY Friday: Homemade First Aid Kit


Those of you who know me or have been following my frugal adventures here at Coupon Mama Massachusetts know that my husband and I love to go camping. In fact, it's become an annual stay-cation of sorts for us. We finally purchased a camper last year and are excited to use it as often as possible this summer.

After our last trip in June, we realized that we were missing some pretty important items in our camping gear. The most important being an actual first-aid kit. We had a few random band-aids in our personal toiletry bag, but not much else.



I was able to put together a First Aid Kit fairly inexpensively by shopping at the Dollar Tree. While wandering the aisles, I found a plastic tool box that closed (and can be locked with a padlock if needed). Then I spent an inordinate amount of time perusing the health-care aisles looking for the first aid items I'd need to put in my kit.

Here are all the items I purchased at the Dollar Tree:


One clever trick I discovered is to use the multi-day pill bottle to hold the various pills we might potentially need. Keeping the pills in their own respective containers would take up way too much space. But by carefully labeling each pill compartment appropriately, I was able to condense the space needed.


Some items I already had on hand, such as cotton balls, cotton rounds, Q-tips, antacids, etc. But I spent $10 before tax on all of the items from the Dollar Tree and it should last us quite awhile -- I hope!


Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts


This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may make money if you click them.

Friday, July 14, 2017

DIY Friday: Easy Puzzles for Kids

Summer is just FLYING by but it hasn't been as eventful as I'd hoped! We have had some terrible weather here in my neck of the woods. Sweltering and humid one day, then flash flooding and hailing the next. My pup has been bored being stuck inside and has been extra pesty. I can only imagine having bored kiddos! 


Need a way to keep those bored little ones busy AND help them learn at the same time? I have a really great, inexpensive, crafty activity that can do both! 


Easy Puzzles for Kids 

Puzzles are lots of fun, but they can be a tricky toy to master! This custom children's activity is a great introduction for kids who aren't quite ready for the real ones yet. You will make your own puzzles out of sponges, and then you'll make outlines for each one you create. Your child will be able to start off using the outline to put the puzzles together, and after he gets the hang of it, he'll be able to do them all on his own! In addition to getting in some laughs and preparing for the real deal, your child will develop foundational math skills. So let's get to it! 


What You Need:
  • Sponges
  • Card stock
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Marker


What You Do:
  1. Outline shapes on the sponges. Be sure to create a variety of basic shapes. Squares, triangles, and rectangles all work well.
  2. Carefully cut out the shapes.
  3. Arrange the shapes so that they create a design or picture of some sort.
  4. Transfer the arrangement to the piece of card stock. Then, use a pencil to lightly outline the shapes on the card stock. The card stock is the puzzle base and will serve as a reference for your child.
  5. Retrace the pencil marks with a thick black marker, using a ruler where needed.
  6. Give your child the sponge puzzles and the guides, and encourage him to fit the shapes together to complete his puzzle.





Once he's gotten the hang of it, challenge him to put the puzzles together without the guides. This is his first step towards doing real puzzles on his own! This is also a great way to teach your child the basic shapes. If you use various colored sponges, you could also incorporate colors, too!

If you enjoy this activity, please head to Education.com to check out some of their other fabulous activities to help build your child's skills!

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts


This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may make money if you click them.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Easy and Inexpensive Valentine's Day Craft

Valentine's Day is just a few days away! Can you believe it? If you haven't figured out exactly what you're going to do for your significant other, here's a really easy, inexpensive idea that just may make your lover's heard well up with joy :-)



It's super inexpensive and fun! And if your significant other is sentimental, this will definitely tug at his or her heartstrings.


Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts


This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may make money if you click them.

Friday, June 26, 2015

DIY Friday - My Father's Day (or Dad's Birthday) Project


I know Father's Day has already passed, but I wanted to show you how easy (and inexpensive) it can be to come up with a cute Father's Day gift. We call my husband "Daddy" at home. Now neither of us have human children, but we do have three furry babies and a late furry baby that we consider our pride and joy.

So every Father's Day, the kids get their Daddy something, but this year we wanted to be a bit crafty and take on a photo project.

Here's our project's inspiration from Brassy Apple




So I ran out to Michael's and bought 3 wooden distressed-style letters spelling out DAD. They were $1.50 each and I had a coupon for 30% off my entire order so I paid a tad bit over $3 for the three letters. We actually used them as decorations for my own father's birthday party later!

I then set out to take my kids' glamour shots. Believe it or not, Riley, our pup, was the easiest to photograph so long as I could keep the wooden block out of his pup mouth!



Our indoor kitty, Zoe, was upset that I disrupted her nap to take her photo.



And our indoor/outdoor adventurer, Selina Kyle, just wanted me to pet her and drool on me. She was the toughest to photograph.




So after a bit of time photographing and laughing my butt off at some of the ridiculous pictures I captured, I finally got some pictures decent enough to turn into a Father's Day gift for their Daddy. I had a coupon for $20 off any $20+ purchase at Shutterfly, so I turned their photos into a card and a really cute mug. *Always check out the Special Offers page at Shutterfly to see what deals they've got going on!





Total cost:
$3.XX for wooden blocks (which I plan to reuse as decorations every Father's Day)
$9.XX for shipping for the mug and card since my coupon didn't include shipping fee)


Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

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Friday, January 16, 2015

DIY Friday - Valentine's Day Idea


Valentine's Day is a month away! Can you believe it? I want to revisit a really great Valentine's Day gift idea I made last year for my husband - 52 Reasons I Love You.

It's super inexpensive and fun! And if your significant other is sentimental, this will tug at his or her heartstrings.





Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

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Friday, February 7, 2014

DIY Friday: 52 Reasons I Love You (A Valentine's Day Gift)


This is totally my version of the Pinterest idea - there are a million examples if you type in "52 Reasons I Love You" on Pinterest. My "daughters" made their daddy a cute little mug with their furry pictures on it and it shipped out 2 days ago from Shutterfly. This is mommy's Valentine's Day gift to daddy.

You need:
a deck of cards
a printer with printer paper
single hole punch
glue
2 binder rings (I still need to grab these from work, but I've been home sick all week)
Optional: stickers or other decorative touches


Directions:
First I came up with 52 reasons why I love my husband. In word, I created a table that was 4 across and 4 down that filled up the page. I used size 25 font for most of it and made the font smaller if needed. You can be as creative as you'd like with this part. Make it a crazy color, or mulit-colored; use different types of font, whatever your heart desires.

Next, I created a template for hole punching by tracing one card on regular paper, cutting it out and hole punching the template. I used this template to hole punch all the cards, 2 at a time.

I carefully cut out my 52 reasons and glued them to the cards. Be careful, regular printer ink will run. If I had the energy and were allowed to leave my house, I might have considered getting it printed at Staples in hopes the ink wouldn't run. Or even laminating the "reasons" before gluing. 

Once it's all dry, you can add stickers or other embellishments, then clip them into binder rings.

Yes, I used my coupon inserts to keep glue from getting on my desk, so what?




Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

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Friday, September 14, 2012

DIY Friday: Look What I Can Do With My Nuts! (Totally G rated)

I have a chestnut tree in my front yard. Unfortunately, it's not an edible-chestnut tree. And if I leave the chestnuts on the ground in my yard, I end up with a million baby chestnut trees come spring.... not exactly what I want mere inches from my driveway.
 
So I picked up all the chestnuts I could find when I got home from work so that my husband doesn't complain about it when he gets home from his "man trip" camping adventure on Sunday. But now I've got a pile of chesnuts and nothing to do with them...  oh do I?
 
 
Look at all the things I can do with my nuts!
 
 
Chestnut necklace
Photo Credit: Lilybel




Chestnut Buggies
Photo Credit: Nini Makes

Chestnut Chaps
Photo Credit: Babyccino Kids

Napkin Ring
Photo Credit: Martha and Me

Gobble Gobble Turkeys
Photo Credit: Crack of Dawn Crafts

Decorative Vases
Photo Credit: Lavish & Lime

Penguin
Photo Credit: Squidoo

Keep Away Spiders & Moths
Photo Credit: Here We Are Together

Bowl O' Nuts
Photo Credit: Jeanne Winters 
So grab your nuts and get crackin' on one of these great craft ideas!

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

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Friday, September 7, 2012

DIY Friday: Mommy's Sippy Cup

 
Mommy's Sippy Cup
 
 
Have you seen the prices attached to those fancy schmany wine glasses that have "Mommy's Sippy Cup" plastered on it? I've seen them upwards of $30 to $40 for just ONE glass! That's simply highway robbery!
 
I've discovered a way to make your very own Mommy's Sippy Cup, or Daddy's Sippy Cup, or Granny's Sippy Cup... you get the idea... for super de duper cheap!
 
The most expensive part will be buying the glass paint, but you can reuse the paint over and over and over.
 
I won't lie; I can't remember how much I paid for these glass paint pens. I bought them to make glass ornaments a few Christmases ago. But you could always use the 40% off coupon at Michael's that frqeuently comes in the newspaper to defray the cost of these. They work just like sharpie markers. They're fantastic and last forever if you take good care of them!
 
The only other things you'll need are painter's tape (this is actually optional if you have a steady hand - I do not) and any sort of glass drinking vessel. I chose a beer stein, but you could use a wine glass, champagne flute, martini or margarita glass - whatever your recipient will use most. I bought mine at the Dollar Tree - they had tons of different options. I know Christmas Tree Shop has some fancy drinking vessels too.

The start of my design.


Isn't my helper cute?

She seems to be an expert in DIY projects.

Finished project: Front

Finished project: Back
 
I would recommend not painting near the sipping area so that your recipient isn't eating glass paint. I also strongly recommend hand washing only.

Drink up! Cheers!


Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

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Friday, August 31, 2012

DIY Friday: Jam Away the Last Days of Summer


Although the calendar may not say that summer is over, my teaching schedule (and your kids' school schedule) dictates that summer has come, run its course and is going.

So jam out with me in my final days of summer and learn how to make no pectin needed freezer jam!

You can use nearly any kind of berry to make this freezer jam. And I'm loving the Balls Freezer Jars that come in 8 oz and 16 oz sizes.

These are awesome plastic jars that can be used in the refrigerator as well as the freezer. They are also dishwasher safe, which is a great asset for a jam jar! I've found these least expensive at Walmart and I'm sure with summer starting to wind down, you may even find them on clearance.

Needed Items:
1 juicy lemon or 1/4 C lemon juice
1 lb fresh berries, washed (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.)
2 C sugar
1 16 oz freezer jar OR 2 8 oz freezer jars
sauce pot (3-4 qt size)
wooden or plastic spoon (stay away from metal!)
small glass or ceramic plate

Directions

1. Put your small plate in the freezer. Weird, I know, but it'll come in handy later. Trust me.

2. In your pot (yes, I know your pot is huge compared to the amount of jam you're making; it's because your jam will froth and foam and if your pot is smaller, you may end up with a boiled over mess), place 2 C of sugar, the zest of the lemon (if you're using a fresh lemon) and all of the lemon juice.

3. While your sugar-lemon mixture waits in the pot, chop the berries. If you want really chunky jam, leave your berry pieces bigger. If you want really fine, smooth jam, chop your berries really fine. You can even use a food processor to crush up your berries, but be careful you don't end up with berry juice!



4. Add your berries to the sugar-lemon mixture in your pot. Turn the heat to medium high. Let the mixture come to a rolling boil. Here is where you're going to see bubbling, frothing and foaming. Stir to keep your mixture from burning to the sides and bottom of your pot.



5. Let is continue to cook at a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Keep stirring. Don't do anything else. Don't run off the play with the kids, don't sit down to watch your soaps, don't even go to the bathroom if you can help it. Do you know how hard it is to get burned berries off of a pot and the stove top?! Keep stirring and the bubbling will eventually die down and your mixture will thicken.

6. At the end of 10 minutes, take your plate out of the freezer. I told you it was for a reason! Pour a tsp of jam on the plate. Run your finger through the middle of the jam. If the line you made stays clean, your jam has gelled enough. If it doesn't and the jam closes back in on the line, you need to cook your jam a bit longer.


7. I let my jam cool a whole bunch in the pot before transferring into my freezer jars. I also always make sure my freezer jars are washed and dried thoroughly before using. I never double dip into my freezer jars, either, because homemade jam will mold up more quickly than the store bought crap since there aren't any preservatives in it!




Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

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