Upixel Junior Backpack Giveaway!

We've been pretty lucky with the weather this winter. It's been pretty mild so far. But as the afternoons get shorter and colder I've been looking for some indoor activities for the boys to do.
When I came across this Pixel Art on Down That Little Lane I knew it was something that both the boys and I would enjoy doing together.
We set ourselves up at the dining room table and got to creating a few different designs with our Junior Backpack, pencil cases and handbag.

It was really easy to stick the pixel art on to the silicone  surface of the accessories and it was just as easy to take them off if you made a mistake or if you wanted to change the design.

Here are our designs. We all had fun choosing what we were going to make and scrambling for our favourite colours.

Jasper created a pixel art pencil for his pencil case ;)

I couldn't let the boys have all the fun so I snaffled one of the pencil cases to use as a makeup bag for my handbag.

We chose a peace sign for Noah's back pack

We had lots of coloured pixels left over so we are looking forward to changing the designs around in the future. Down That Little Lane & Upixel Australia are giving away 1 x  Upixel Junior Backpack for you to win.

The Upixel JuniorBackpacks are the coolest kids on the block. Each bag is gridded with 1023 pixel positions for your kids to create a look that they will love to show off. 

The Pixel Backpack Junior provides loads of space for toys, school lunch-boxes or packed for a sleepover and every Pixel Backpack Junior comes with 155-160 free colour Pixels as well.  

You do not need to be an artist to create a totally cool design - you can think up your own or the bag comes with a few ideas to get your little pixel artists started. 

You can view the whole range of Upixel products here

To enter leave a comment below to let me know what is the first thing you're little one would pack in their backpack.

Then follow the prompts in the Rafflecoptor widget below and a winner will be chosen and announced here on the blog and contacted via email.
The competition is open now and will close 29/6/14 at 11.30pm AEST. Open for Australian residents only.

***UPDATED - GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED*** 

WINNER WAS TRACEY DAVIS. CONGRATULATIONS! AN EMAIL HAS BEEN SENT TO YOU TO CONFIRM YOUR PRIZE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tutorial Tuesday - DIY Dinosaur Serving Dish

I  loved this dinosaur dish I came across on Three Little Monkeys Studio. I think the Oreo's caught my eye as they and dinosaurs are big favourites around here.

You could also use another animal to suit your theme. Maybe a bunny for Easter?

DIY  DINOSAUR SERVING DISH

Cost of supplies: Free if you raid your kid’s toy box and garage, but none of these items were more than $4 each in stores.

Time: Ready in 2-3 days

Materials

• Hard plastic dinosaur toy (it needs to be sturdy and balanced*).
• Small melamine plate
• Sand paper
• Adhesive (I used Loctite Stik’N Seal)
• Spray paint (my heart belongs to Rustoleum)
• Hand held saw (I used the FatMax Multisaw)
• Parchment paper for lining the plate

Directions

1. Use the handsaw to cut off your dinosaur’s head just above the shoulders. Use steady strokes to keep your cut level. Use the sandpaper to smooth the edges of your cut.
2. Use the sandpaper to lightly sand the surface on the bottom and top of the plate where you will be adhering the dinosaur. No need to sand the entire surface.
3. Apply your adhesive to the body and plate. My adhesive recommends applying to both items you want to glue together, and allow them to set for 5-10 minutes BEFORE adhering. When ready, attach the plate to the body. Touch ups can be done around the glue site with a damp paper towel. Allow to cure for 24 hours.
4. Once the body and plate have dried and cured, prep the dinosaur’s head and attach to the plate. You will need to eyeball it from the side and front before attaching to make sure it is in the right spot. Perform any touch ups and allow to cure for 24 hours.
5. Once completely dried, you can start painting. Spray paint from all angles and underneath. I like to spray one coat at a time every 20 minutes or so to avoid drips and get the best coverage.
6. Once your guy is dry, line with a circle of parchment paper cutting a hole out of the middle for the head and trimming to fit.

Update: Some readers were concerned about food safety and missed my recommendation to use parchment paper so that the food does not come into contact with the painted plate. If you have already have a white plate, it would be preferable to use that of course. I was just repurposing an old princess plate I had on hand, so that is why I painted it. Food safety first!

* My dinosaur wasn’t quite balanced, so I used a small piece of felt pad stuck to the bottom of one foot, and voila!

Isn't this great?!

Who's going to try it?

All text and photos by Three Little Monkeys Studio

My favourite Pins this week.

Here are a few of my favourite Pins this week. There was a bit of a kids theme going on :)

 I loved this cute straw idea for a birthday party. 

Found here

 DIY Bunny clay bowls found here

How cute is this idea for wrapping presents? Found here

I loved this reading corner. Found here

This is the most amazing idea to celebrate baby's first year. What a special keepsake.Found here

This is an easy craft I can do to help Noah with his ABC. 

Found here

What have you been pinning this week? You can follow my Pinterest boards here

Tuesday Tutorial - DIY Confetti Dipped Easter Eggs.

I came across these gorgeous Easter Eggs the other day by Studio DIY. Their pretty colours and sparkly confetti caught my eye.
This would be a perfect craft for the little ones or I would use them to decorate my dining table at Easter.

Supply List
Eggs - hard boiled or hollowed out Craft paint Paint brushes Drying rack (optional but makes life easier!) Decoupage glue/Mod Podge Foil Confetti

To make First you've got to paint those eggs and let them dry completely.

Once dry, apply a thin coat of mod podge to the part of the egg you want covered in confetti. Then immediately sprinkle confetti over the mod podge till it’s covered! 

Let dry completely on the drying rack again.

And yes folks, its as simple as that.

All instructions and photos by Studio DIY. Check out their site as they have so many fabulous ideas.

Do you do any Easter crafts?

Tutorial Tuesday - cardboard cactus by Beci Orpin

I'm thinking about making a few of these for the boys rooms. Could you get a more low maintenance plant?!
I was flicking through Beci's book Home and came across them and thought they'd be perfect. They would also be perfect for a Mexican themed party.

I couldn't find any links to instructions on how to make them but they look pretty self explanatory.

I did find a link for the cactus template here

What do you think? Would you give it a try?
You can buy Beci's book Home here

My afternoon of craft at The School

Yesterday I got to catch up with a friend and do some craft at The School. I don't think I could have asked for a better Sunday afternoon. We did Marsha Golemac's Paper Rosette and Pennant class and it was so much fun!

We were greeted by the divine Megan Morton (uber stylist!) in a gorgeous dress and she ticked off our names. She made my day when she said "oh you're Honey and Fizz, I love your IG feed", what a HUGE compliment! 
We were then given some delish Pavlova, made by Kylie Kwong's mum Pauline and waited for our class to start.

(this image from Megan's IG feed)

(Some of Marsha's gorgeous work)

We were all seated at a long table with our crafty needs set out in front of us,then let loose on all the gorgeous paper goods to create our own rosettes and pennants. It was so great to sit and chat, whilst creating something pretty. 
Marsha was so nice and super helpful and everyone got into the crafty spirit of the afternoon.

(My first Rosette)

(everyone busy getting crafty!)

(our craft kit)

(Kylee and her cute pennant)

My crafty goodness! I could have made more but was talking too much!

Megan served us afternoon tea and closed the session with a quick chat on how you could style up your  Rosette's around the home. The whole afternoon was beautiful with so much attention to detail on those little things. I sooo  enjoyed it and am already looking at another class to take.

As we were leaving there was another class setting up for Kara Rosenlund's Creating Vignette's class. Everything looked exquisite! And we also saw Frankie the Travelling Caravan set up. Such a gorgeous idea.

(image from Kara's website)

 If you are looking for a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, I really couldn't recommend a class at The School highly enough. 

Have you been there? Which class did you do?

all images my own unless stated otherwise

My latest Book love!

My new favourite book is Paper + Craft

 by Minhee & Trumann Cho of Paper + Cup.

So many gorgeous pictures and easy to do step by step directions to create these fabulous creations.

I'm sure I will need some mustache straws one day!

Perfect for all that free time I have to craft ;) 

One more thing to add to my "want to do" list!

Have you come across any fabulous crafty books lately?

Simone xx

images via paper + cup