This post is sponsored by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft.  I was provided a gift card to purchase supplies and for my time.  All content expressed herein is originally mine and 100% honest and truthful.

This little project went along with our Pirate Adventure Day and our Treasure Map project.  It was another project idea from Jo-Ann’s Cape Discovery collection.  I love the versatility of these Chalkboard Signs!  You can adapt them to almost any adventure day or party theme.  They are super easy and fun to make.  They took less than an hour and my boys played with them for about three days after our Adventure Day… and that’s only because they were sword fighting and broke them.  Boys.

Directions:
– Decide on the shape you’d like you signs to be and trace it lightly with the chalk or a pencil onto the foam board.  I went with a stretched pendant shape, while the Jo-Ann signs are rectangular.
– Use the razor blade to cut your signs out.  Be careful and don’t cut yourself!
– Use the sidewalk chalk to write on your signs.  If you mess up, you can use a lightly damp cloth to clean it up, but don’t do this too often.  You’ll make your signs soggy!  If it hadn’t been 1:30 in the morning, I would have embellished the signs a little more.
–  Spray a thin layer of clear spray paint over your signs to seal the chalk in so it won’t smudge.  Notice the “Pirate Cove ” sign in the photo above.  That’s what a smudged sign looks like.  I wanted to try it out and see if it made it more pirate-y, but ended up liking the bright and bold effect better.  I left it so you could see the difference.
–  I then cut my wooden skewers in half and shoved them into the top of one sign and the bottom of another sign to create the stacked sign post look after we had used them during our Adventure Day.  Now Monkey has a little souvenir from the day.

I didn’t put the foam borders around my signs because, well, I forgot to get it at the store.  Mommy brain moment.  I thought they turned out okay though.  Below is a side by side comparison of my signs and Jo-Ann’s version of the signs.  You can find Jo-Ann’s directions HERE.  I love that you could line the boarders of these with lace and ribbons and go all girly and frilly with this project too.  Wedding signs?

Welcome to another party.  It’s been quite a week here.  Mother’s Day was… a little disappointing, honestly.  But I won’t bore with my woebegone tales.  We have been enjoying the aquarium Mr Napping and the boys got for me though – just as risky as flowers, but much more entertaining.  It’s actually a combo mother’s/father’s day gift, who knew glass tanks and resin-casted tree stumps were so dang expensive?  It’s been fun and, so far, nobody’s died.  Success!  Mr Napping and I made a trip over the mountain to GG’s house (my grandma – the boys’ Great Grandma) to get a play fort out of their back yard so we can put it in our backyard.  Luckily, my family is awesome and they kinda shuffled the boy around while we were gone.  Scored a break for mama, yahoo!  And a great big thank you to all the babysitters!

On the bloggy front, I’ve got a project that will turn out oh, so cool, but it’s taking a lot more time (and WORK!) than I’d first figured.  I started it a couple weeks ago and got a little overwhelmed.  Then my in-laws came and stayed in our craft/guest room, soo there was no crafting that week.  And now I’m getting antsy to get it done.  I did finish up a skirt upcycle that I started before the in-laws visited though.  Watch for that next week…  I also bit the bullet and got my very own custom domain name… so now I’m a .com!  Fun stuff.  Oh, and have you joined the newsletter?  The first issue goes out next week and you’re not gonna wanna miss it.  Sign up in the sidebar.

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This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
If you’d like to get more While He Was Napping, you can find me here:

This idea came to me after looking at Jo-Ann’s new Cape Discovery crafts they have put out encouraging families to spend time crafting and exploring together this summer.  I was asked if I wanted to recreate one of the projects and share it.  After looking at them all, I was torn between THREE projects!  I ended up doing two of them (tutorials to come) and the boys and I had a Pirate Adventure Day.  It was a BLAST!  We all had so much fun – well, maybe not Gator, since he napped through half of it.  But my 3.5 year old Monkey thought it was “the best day ever!”

–  Then it was back to the ship and on to Smuggler’s Isle for snack time!  Upon landing on Smuggler’s Isle, I ushered the boys to the breakfast bar and fed them goldfish crackers, the Jolly Roger cheese and mandarin orange “slugs”.

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
If you’d like to get more While He Was Napping, you can find me here:

A while back I used washi tape to update my less-than-perfect cell phone case.  It’s one of my most popular posts right now – which is great, I’m glad so many people like it.  However, I tried a few other methods to update the case before I settled on the washi tape and this Puffy Paint Cell Phone Case Update one is worth a share too.

My second favorite method I tried was the puffy paint.  I was using a TPU case and it worked fantastically.  In fact, I almost went with this method, but the washi just looked a little cleaner in the end.  If you’ve got a semi-steady hand and like to doodle, this may be the perfect way to add a little personal touch to your phone.  It’s quick and easy to do a puffy paint cell phone case update and it’ll cost you pennies… each time you change it.  It was so addicting, I probably spent a couple bucks on all my paint, but it was totally fun and so worth it.

PUFFY PAINT CELL PHONE CASE UPDATE

Materials:

– TPU Cell Phone Case

– “Puffy Paint” or dimensional fabric paint.  The photo below is the paint I used, but I’m sure any brand would work. 

Directions:

– It’s really as easy as it looks.  Draw your designs or doodles right on the back of the phone case.  Don’t use too much paint.  It will make the back of the case uneven and more likely to peel off.  Just enough paint to make a solid line.

– Let dry completely.  I’d suggest at least a couple hours of drying time, but overnight would be best.  The drier the paint the less likely you’ll have peeling problems.

– Snap the case onto your phone and go.

– Want to change the design?  Simply peel the paint off the case and start over.  There were a couple spots I had to use my finger nail and scrape the paint off, but no big deal.

**Notes:

– Part of the issue I had with this case straight from the packaging was that it was so slick!  I felt like I was going to send it flying across the counter every time I bumped it.  The paint took the slick away and made it grippy enough that I didn’t have this issue any more.

– If you keep your phone in your pocket or purse, use as little paint as you possibly can.  It’ll adhere and stay stuck to the case better.

– It really was a snap to change the designs.  I only had one case and I did multiple designs on it.

– I didn’t leave the paint for very long… like a day or two max.  I simply had too much fun changing the designs.  I don’t know if the paint will stain over time or not… So, use at your own risk.  If you hate the case already though, you don’t have much to lose, right?
– This method lends more of a playful tone to your phone case, rather than a serious or sophisticated one.  If that’s not your style, try the Washi Tape update.  You can choose a tape that suits your style.