DIY Board Game for Father's Day (Defend the Castle)

My boys were so excited about Father's Day this year. They have been making cards, planning breakfast in bed, and working on a play to perform. Somehow...they made all that happen this morning! It was priceless. I also helped them make a Castle board game with knights and princesses to play with their dad. They named the game Defend the Castle. I thought I would include our easy tutorial on how to make your own board game. Remember you can use any theme you want!

 

 

Supplies:

 

Old board game

Printed pictures

Modge Podge

Dice

 

Directions:

 

I think the easiest way to build a new board game is from an old board game. We had a cheap one from Dollar General we didn't play anymore. You could easily pick up one at a garage sale for $1-$2.

My boys decided on a castle theme. I googled castle images and they had the best time picking out their own castle for the board. (I had no idea how much FUN they would have making this!) 

 

 

We cut our images to fit the four corners of our game. Then I modge podged them on to the existing game. Remember, you can cover the entire game board or just replace parts of it.

 

Here is my son planning out his castle. (Such a serious look)

 

We used the little stands from the existing game and then selected knights and princesses to use as our board game pieces. If you don't have stands, I saw this cute idea below to personalize pieces.

 

Unfortunately, the link I found does not give credit to the true genius behind this idea. Sorry!

 

We happened to have some mini weapons lying around, so we used them as part of our game. As the characters move around the game, they can land at a castle. Then the owner of the castle must defend their castle by rolling a regular dice. The one who rolls the highest number wins the battle and the weapon.

 

Here are some examples of the cards we made. We placed some stickers on our board of shields. If a player landed on a shield they got to draw a card and follow the instructions.

 

Some examples:

 

The handle of your sword breaks. Move back 1 space.

 

The King and Queen requested your presence. Move ahead 2 spaces.

 

Fight like a knight and move ahead one space.

 

The dragon blew his fiery breath at you. Move back 2 spaces.

 

Show how you would defend yourself in battle. Move ahead 2 spaces.

 

 

The kids had fun coming up with fun things to do on the cards. Their favorite cards to draw were the ones that allowed them to be interactive. What little boy does not like to pretend sword fight?!

 

I think I am going to end up laminating the pieces if they keep playing it so much so they will keep their integrity. I have a feeling we will be creating more board games for some summer fun. This project cost us little more then paper and ink and it was fun to make together.

 

Hope you all have a Great Father's Day!!!

 

 

Fairy Land Little Girl Gift

Welcome to the magical and mystical fairy land! I made this little village a month ago for a birthday party gift for a sweet little girl. Apparently, fairies are the rage right now. I wouldn't know...I have two little boys. However, it ended up that my boys had just as much fun playing with it! This would be an awesome little DIY present for a little girl for Christmas.

 

 

I have to admit I had a LOT of fun making this little fairy village. I would have loved this as a little girl. I really enjoy toys that encourage a child's natural curiosity and imagination. This project is amazing for creative play.

 

Supplies:

 

Bird houses

Paint

Moss

Dirt

Artificial flowers and leaves

Twigs and branches

String or Yarn

Hot Glue

 

Directions:

 

I started transforming my bird houses to fairy houses first. I bought two of them at Michael's, and stumbled upon the other one at a garage sale. My husband helped enlarge the naturally small bird entry to fit a fairy instead.

 

 

 

Next, I began painting the fairy houses.

 

 

I hot glued leaves on to one of the homes to make it a bit more woodsy in appearance.

 

I set it up on a table to get my design layout. Small stumps cut from a dead tree branch served as a path. A stripped off portion of a tree became a bridge. Small logs were fashioned into outdoor benches.

 

In order to create the fairy land back drop, I drilled a small hole in some small pieces of wood. I was able to glue my fake trees (leaves) into them to stand upright.

 

I glued moss on the garage sale bird house find to help camouflage it into the fairy woods.

 

My 2 year old could hardly stand it as the fairy village was being transformed. He began to play with the miniature fairies as he walked them along the path to their homes.

 

The longer I built, the more ideas came to mind. I was able to carefully drill two holes in a small branch, tie yarn through the holes, and set up a swing for the lovely ladies.

 

Come and swing a spell!

 

Ta Da!  Welcome! Here is my new home. It even has a flower pot with flowers outside the front door.

 

My husband helped make a box with some landscape timbers and plywood. I used real dirt in the bottom with fake moss on top. It truly was magical as the burlap pennant sign reads. 

 

 

Oops. I almost forgot to mention the ladder. Another stick and yarn creation!

 

Here is fairy land as a bird's eye view. It looks so welcoming that even I would love to go stay for the weekend. Lol! Another sweet friend saw this creation in the works and has already nicely requested one for her daughter's birthday next week. I better get to work and fast!

 

Simple Bedside Table Book Decor

I have been helping my friend Emma decorate her new house. She was having a house warming party, and I went over to help all her pictures and decor around her home. I quickly realized we needed some small accents for her tables and dressers. The next day, I went on a garage sale treasure hunt. Her room has an orange and turquoise comforter and accents, so when I found these two old hard back books, I knew they would match perfectly. Did I mention this project cost me 70 cents total?

 

I paid 10 cents a book and I bought a jeweled lace head band for 50 cents. When I got home I cut a piece of burlap 4" wide. I cut off the rubber band portion of the head band, and wrapped it around the burlap. With a simple tie and a few spots of hot glue, my project was done in less then 5 minutes! It looked amazing on my friend's bedside table and matched perfectly!!

 

Handmade Christmas: Lego Table and Stable

Well, just as I was afraid of, my oldest son is not happy does not believe that Christmas is over. I told him today, and he said, "No Mom it is not!" I guess denial his one of the stages of grief. Ha!I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas or holiday season! Ours was wonderful...but quite hectic. I am glad the actual "Christmas Day" is over and we can go back to just enjoying the holiday season. Our house looks like Santa's sleigh crashed inside. (Mayhem) I hope Santa has good sleigh insurance because it is a complete disaster. I am not quite sure where I am going to put all of our new treasures. This is the before picture...

I started a tradition when my sons were born, of making one present for each for Christmas. Last year, I made a fire station (click here) and an I Spy Quilt.

This year I decided on a Lego table for my oldest and a horse stable for my little one. My mom found a little pink table at a garage sale for me for $4 and I spray painted it red. I miraculously found two Lego boards at another garage sale for $2 each. I hot glued the Lego bases down to the table and for under ten dollars...

As you can tell, I am a garage sale junkie, because I hate to pay full price for things. I found this stable at another garage sale for $3. With a little red and black paint and some horses, this little stable was transformed. My 21 month old adored it. He loves anything to do with cows and horses right now.

We had a wonderful Christmas. I forgot to mention, one of my three year old's favorite things, was passing out presents. My mom came up with a great idea a few years ago to label the packages with pictures, since they can not read yet. They love discovering who each present is for by the photo tag.

Happy Holidays! Did you make any special presents for your loved ones? I am always looking for new fun ideas!

Tags: DIY Lego Table, Make your own Lego Table, DIY Horse stable, Make your own horse stable, Trash to Treasure presents for kids

Western Themed Painted Child Chair

Do you ever make something and think...Wow this turned out better then I anticipated? Well, this is exactly what happened to me. Look at this chair I painted for my youngest son's western/rustic bedroom.

Disclosure:
I have never painted a piece of furniture more then a solid color in my entire life. If you are even an amateur painter, I will be completely embarrassed if you read my tutorial because I really did not know what I was doing. Ha!

Here is my inspiration piece that I bought at a roadside fair in Texas. The artist is an older woman and I just ADORE all her western pieces of furniture art! I would love to give her due credit but I don't even know who she is. Last time I spoke with her, she told me she just loves to paint as a hobby. Here is the precious little stool I bought from her.

It was a wonderful garage sale weekend again. I purchased this white stool for $1. I am willing to try any painting project for a dollar. I started by spray painting it red.

Next, I used a sponge brush to paint a light yellow line in a curve to create my rope. I painted a rope on the back of the chair and in the little seat. The only good part about Texas summer's is paint dries in minutes in 100 degree weather!!

I then used a little tan paint and literally finger painted over the yellow rope to give it some depth in attempt to replicate my inspiration stool.

I overlapped the rope with bright yellow and blue stars. The key to the abstract stars is not to be a perfectionist. They look better without defined lines and points. I did this with the only other brush I had in the house...a watercolor brush from my son's paint with water book. Obviously, any other paint brush would have been easier. Luckily, it worked with a little extra effort. (I warned you I am not a painter or artist)

Once this had all dried completely, I got my sharpie marker out. I didn't dare attempt detailed lines without a marker. I made little s shapes over the rope.

Again, I went for the haphazard look as I outlined the stars. Then I drew little circles at the points to finish it off.

 If I can paint this...so can you!! Happy painting! Here is my little monster enjoying his new chair.

Parties I linked to:

 http://todayscreativeblog.net/

The Ugly Ducklings...Not for Long

These once were really ugly ducklings...

I found this pair which my son and I refer to as Matilda and Ollie at a garage sale for 50 cents. With Easter around the corner we decided we could use some festive decor.



Ollie and Matilda...The Ugly Ducklings

They needed a serious makeover in the form of yellow and blue paint. Ollie got a bow tie and Matilda received a pink boa. Then they weren't ugly ducklings anymore!