Our Summer Fun List

Ah, summah time. I love the long days and endless activities to choose from. Even though I am at home with my kids and we don't have school and work schedules to contend with, I still enjoy the slow pace of the season.

I've seen Summer Lists all over the 'net, especially on Pinterest. The kids and I have been talking about what we want to add to ours for about a week and I finally compiled it all last night.

Without further ado....





It's going to be a great summer!

This will be laminated and put on our fridge. I've also seen lists that are done on chalkboards (that wouldn't last a day in this house!) or in a picture frame so you can just mark it off with a dry-erase marker.  Another cute idea is to write your activities down on pieces of paper, fold them up and toss them in a jar and choose that way.

Have you made your summer list yet? Don't forget indoor activities for rainy days.  :)

And document it as a summer souvenir. Our last square reads "make a summer photo book." This will include our list and photos of all the fun!

Have a happy summer!!

DIY Butterfly Shadow Box - DIY home decor, DIY kids wall decor

The first piece of wall decor for my girl's room in our new house. I am so pleased with how it turned out and I cannot wait to get it hung!

I've seen similar shadow boxes on Pinterest and Etsy and I think maybe even a catalog or two. None of them quite fit what I envisioned though.

Her room in our previous house had pink walls, white furniture, and pink & white bedding. My plan is to incorporate many more colors in her new space, including the green and blues on the butterflies. She's a big kid now (5 1/2!!) and her room needs to be able to grow with her. This butterfly art is sweet and girly without being babyish.


I used a coordinating paper pack from AC Moore and Martha Stewart Crafts classic butterfly punch.




I bought a 20" x 20" Ribba frame from Ikea that comes with a mat. The opening is 11.5" square so a 12" x 12" piece of scrapbook paper or cardstock is the perfect background.
I chose a pale yellow textured paper, also from AC Moore.

I marked all 4 edges of the paper in 1 inch increments.You won't see this since 1/4" of the paper will be hidden by the mat.




The marks along the edges will serve as a guide when I mark the spots for the butterflies.  I started 2 inches from the top and the side and marked every 2 inches.




Time to glue down the butterflies!  I knew I wanted the wings to be off of the paper so I was careful to only glue the very center of each.  I like the Zig glue pen for things like this.



I let this dry for about 30 minutes before lifting the wings off of the page.  I would suggest you attach your page to your frame's mat now if you're using one. I didn't wait and ended up flattening my wings when doing so.

The spatula for my Cricut was a perfect tool to lift the wings gently.



It's done and ready to go in the frame. I used small pieces of double-sided Scotch tape to attach the page to my mat. Yours should already be in the mat if you listened to me.  ;)

Put it in the frame and you're done!




Photo of it hanging on the wall to come!