DIY - Pocketful of Joules

A Toddler Pillow to Make EVERYONE Happy

Today is part two in my mini-craftinista* series and it starts with a little story…

Have you heard of sleep regression? Apparently it’s a wonderful time in a child’s life where after months of going right to sleep and sleeping through the night, suddenly they don’t like to sleep anymore.

For Jack, this happened a few weeks ago – after sleeping like a champ we had to coax him into bed with a tiring combination of reading, rocking, milk in a sippie cup, snuggling with mommy, snugging with daddy and some more rocking. He even ended up in bed with us for a couple nights, only to be kicked out when he kept KICKING ME in the back all night long. I mean, I’ll take that crap from an 8 pound rescue dog… but NOT a 30 pound little man!

It was exhausting.

Which is funny because JACK was exhausted and just would NOT go to sleep.

So in a fit of brilliance (or just overtired madness) I told Jack that I had a SPECIAL pillow only for Big Boys to use. This SPECIAL pillow would go into his crib, but ONLY if he was a Big Boy who would lay down on it and go to sleep.

Can you believe that this worked?

Suddenly Jack stopped fighting sleep and would go right into his crib to lie on his special Big Boy pillow.

I’m a genius. A parenting genius.

Send your checks today to get your very own SPECIAL Big Boy pillow. Also available in Big Girl…

Just kidding. The secret is that I grabbed the closest pillow I could find, which was an old accent pillow that I had made for our couch ages ago. After living on the couch for a while, it somehow ended up in Jack’s room on his rocking chair. It was so well-worn that it’s quite flat… which makes it perfect for Jack since he can’t smother himself on it.

After Jack slept on it contently for a couple weeks, I figured I should make a pillow case for it so that I can keep it clean. So I grabbed an old pillowcase that we’ve probably used for 10 years or so and made it fit:

Check this out… it’s a magical pillow. Which is actually just a pillow I made a bunch of years ago from an old pillow case from Crate & Barrel.

First, I stuck the throw pillow in our old pillowcase and pinned around it with straight pins. I pulled it in and out a couple times to make sure that it wasn’t too snug.

I then removed the throw from the case and stitched around all three sides, removing the pins as I went so that I wouldn’t stab myself and yell out bad words.

Once I finished sewing, I cut off the extra fabric. You can use normal scissors or be all fancy like me with my pinking shears. Is it weird that I have no idea how pinking shears came to live in my house?

The finished magical SPECIAL Big Boy pillow. Mr. Bunny Rabbit approves.

Super cute, right?! And basically free.

And the best part is that I can sleep again!

* If TJ Maxx can call someone a Maxxinista… I can certainly call myself a craftinista!

Toddler Painting: $6 Worth of Materials for $60 Worth of FUN

I think this is going to be another crafty week, because darn if I haven’t been feeling like a crafting QUEEN lately.

As most of you know, I was home for 16 days STRAIGHT for a sweet combo of work being closed (yay for working at a university) and a couple vacation days. SIXTEEN DAYS in a ROW. That’s kind of a lot.

And no, I’m not complaining because I loved having time off to hang out with Jack and Ollie. And yoga pants. And Christmas cookies. But mostly Jack and Ollie.

Keeping Jack entertained for that much time really forced me to be a little crafty, which is why I decided to do two different painting projects while I was home. The first project was from this month’s Citrus Lane box – it was supposed to be a handprint project, but turned more into abstract art. And I totally love it and hung it on my ‘Jack projects’ wall!

Our second painting project was inspired by some wooden snowflakes on clearance at JoAnn’s.

The snowflakes were on clearance for 50% off, which brought them to just $ .70 each. I also picked up a cheap paint pots kit for $1.50 and used some paintbrushes I already had at home. Then, I covered Jack’s little table with some kraft paper and stripped him down for some painting fun.

And it was SO MUCH FUN! I can’t believe how long Jack concentrated on painting the snowflakes… and believe me, doing anything for more than 15 minutes with a kid this age is impressive! When he was finished, I just threw the paper away and stuck Jack directly into a bath (the paint washed off easily).

Once the snowflakes dried, I stuck some thread through the holes and hung them up in my kitchen window. I also wrote the date on the back of one of the snowflakes so that 10 years down the road I remember when we made them.

I really like my happy little snowflakes because they’re not “Christmassy” but more “wintery” so I can keep them up for the next couple months. This is especially nice since we took all our Christmas decorations down over the weekend and I’m totally going through withdrawal.

Do you have a super cheap and fun craft project for toddlers that I should try? Feel free to leave me a link below! Also, are you suffering from Christmas decorations withdrawal too? I kind of wanted to leave my tree up for another month…

Reviewing Project DIY: Joan of Arc Collection

Wow, I think that this is just going to be a full DIY week.

I had the GREAT REVEAL of the DIY Challenge yesterday, three of my favorite blog friends (aka the Glue Crew) also posted their DIY Challenge results, and then I have today’s subscription kit…which happens to be called Project DIY!

YAY for DIY and being crafty. Not the sneaky kind of crafty though… the kind covered in glitter and glue.

M&J Trimmings sent me their Project DIY: Joan of Arc Collection box which included their starter kit of tools, as well as everything I needed to make a Joan of Arc inspired cuff and necklace.

The first thing I noticed was that the quality of the kit was quite impressive. The chain, bracelet cuff and all the details were quite heavy and well-made. I was initially disappointed that the instructions were online (and not provided in the kit), but once I visited the link I found the instruction breakdown and images really helpful.

The first project was the Joan of Arc necklace:

Necklace - 1 — Here are all the pieces that need to magically come together into a necklace…

Necklace - 2 — First phase done, the pendant and tube beads are attached to the chain mail.

Necklace - 3 — I tried a few different variations until I came up with my favorite… and then changed it again when I broke out the glue.

Necklace 4 — Look, I’m gluing. You guys smile when you’re gluing right? Maybe not Katie though, who has a history of glue gunning stuff to her face.

Necklace - 6 Joules — I let it dry for 30+ hours and here’s the finished look!

Then, I tried my hand at the Joan of Arc cuff bracelet:

Bracelet - 1 — Only a few pieces needed for this project. YAY!

Bracelet - 2 — Once again, I tried out a few different designs only to change it all once I started gluing.

Bracelet - 3 — It’s like Wonder Woman’s cuff — don’t mess with me!

I think that this kit was definitely high on the ‘coolness’ scale. Each collection is based on runway and street styles, so this would make a great fit for the crafty fashionista friend that is hard to buy for.

I also really like that they included a starter kit with needle nose pliers, a wire cutter, chain nose pliers, a jump ring opener, assorted clasps, earring hooks, jump rings and chain extenders. It’s a nice little package of everything you really need to start with this type of jewelry work… and much better than trying to wrap the wire around a pencil or wrench or something.

If you are interested in trying out a subscription for yourself or purchasing one as a gift, check them out here .

Disclosure: I was provided a Project DIY kit to review; however all thoughts and opinions in this review are my own. I am not rewarded or compensated in any way if you click through to purchase a Project DIY kit.