“Kissing Hand” Share Chair {DIY Tutorial}

Easy step-by-step instructions {including free patterns & printables} for creating an adorable “Kissing Hand” Share Chair – for your favorite teacher, child, or school auction.

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

On Mr B’s side of the family, we draw names for Christmas gifts, and last year I was thrilled when I drew our soon-to-be niece Lauren’s name. (She’s marrying our nephew this summer!) Lauren is a first grade teacher, and I knew exactly what I wanted to make for her – a Share Chair for her classroom. A share chair, sometimes called an “author’s chair,” is a special chair that students sit in when it is their turn to read their written pieces or share something special with the class.

To personalize Lauren’s Share Chair, I did a little detective work and learned that “The Kissing Hand” is one of her favorite children’s books, so I took my theme from that.

Note that the process detailed here can be used to create a special chair based on any children’s book. Simply pick two dominant colors and a couple of simple images and/or motifs from the book of your choice, and go for it! {I’d love to read about your ideas, so if you think of a one you’d like to try, please be sure to share it in the comments below!}

Obviously, the first thing I needed was a chair. In order to keep it inside our agreed upon gift maximum of $25, I shopped around until I found the chair I used for this project for $5.99 at Goodwill. If money is not an issue (or you just can’t wait for one to show up at your local thrift store) you can undoubtedly find a solidly crafted, reasonably priced chair online or at your local superstore that will work well for this project.

Materials List:

The following is a list of the all materials that I used for this project. (You can change it up however you wish, but this will give you a starting point.) Most of these items are available at your local craft or hardware store, but I’ve included links here just in case. Supplies can also be found at Blick Art Materials, Joanns, and Michaels.

Chair – Because you will be giving it a whole new face, the chair you use for this project does not need to be new, but if you purchase a used one, be sure that the joints are solid. (No one wants a wonky chair!)

Chair Prep & Paint:

Krylon ColorMaster Paint & Primer {Iris} {I searched and searched for the just the right blue to anchor this project. This is perfect.}
Krylon ColorMaster Paint & Primer {White}
Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating
Yellow Acrylic Craft Paint {Chair arms, back, and lower rungs or rocker}
Steel Wool #1 or #0
Tack Cloth
Painter’s Tape
Plastic wrap
1″ Foam Brush
Sanding Sponge
Acrylic Craft Paints – for painting details, raccoons, etc. {details to follow later in post}
Drop cloth

Depending upon which approach you choose for the raccoons, you will also need:

#6 Round Brush – For painting raccoons by hand. {See Step 7, Option #1}, OR
Mod Podge – For decoupaging raccoons using a printed image. {Image provided. See Step 7, Option #2}

Step 1 – Sand Chair

Using the sanding sponge, lightly sand the chair. Sanding sponges are great for this project, because they are easy on your hands and conform readily to curves. You do not need to remove all of the existing finish: the point of this step is to create some “bite” on the wood’s surface so that the paint can adhere more effectively.

Step 2 – Remove Sanding Dust

Using a tack cloth, wipe the entire surface of the chair to remove any dust from sanding. This is an important step: if you skip it, when you paint the chair, the surface will feel gritty. DO NOT use a damp towel to remove sanding dust: this will raise the grain on the wood and make your chair all rough and bumpy.

Step 3 – Apply Base Coat & Primer

In a well ventilated area, apply two coats of White Krylon ColorMaster Paint & Primer using smooth, light strokes. (One can of paint will be plenty for two coats.) Wait about 15-30 minutes between coats.

Allow your sparkly new white chair to set out for at least a few hours (or better yet, overnight) after you apply the second coat to allow the paint to “cure.”

When the white paint has completely cured, use #1 or #0 steel wool to gently smooth the surface. Remove any dust or steel wool debris with a tack cloth. Now you have a clean, white chair to work your magic on.

Step 4 – Mask Off Contrasting Areas

Using painter’s tape and plastic wrap, carefully mask off any areas that you wish to paint yellow. Take your time with this step: a careful job at this stage will save you tons of time later in touch-ups.

Step 5 – Paint Blue Chair Parts

Apply two coats of Iris Krylon ColorMaster Paint & Primer, waiting 15-30 minutes between coats. Allow chair to set out for at least a few hours after you apply the second coat. Carefully remove masking tape and plastic.

When the blue paint has completely cured, use the steel wool to smooth gently the surface. Remove any dust or steel wool debris with a tack cloth.

Step 6 – Paint Yellow Chair Parts

Using a foam brush and the yellow acrylic craft paint, paint the remaining areas that had been previously masked with long, smooth strokes. Because I wanted a light, bright feel to these areas, I only applied on one coat of yellow paint, allowing the white undercoat to peak through slightly. For a more “solid” feel, apply two coats.

Step 7 – Raccoons and Hearts {2 Approaches}

Option #1 – Paint the raccoons yourself

If you choose to paint the raccoons yourself, rest assured that doing so is very easy. Below is a short list of the supplies I used for painting the raccoons, etc. This list is offered only as a guide: you can, of course, use any brushes and colors you choose. That being said, a #6 round brush is my all-time favorite brush for painting simple images like the raccoons on this chair. I find it to be the most versatile, useful brush in my (embarrassingly large) collection; moreover, I did not use any other brushes for the details on this project.

#6 Round Brush
Acrylic Craft Paints {2 oz. bottles}

♦ Red {Hearts}
♦ White {Base mix, eyes, tail highlights, dots}
♦ Black {Base mix, eyes, mask, tail, etc.}
♦ Golden Brown {Base mix}
♦ Lavender {Base mix, highlights}

Patterns - Kissing Hand Share Chair DIY | The Good Hearted Woman

Click for Pattern PDF

I free-handed the design onto my chair using a #2 pencil while eyeballing a picture from the book. However, if you would like to transfer the image directly, simply print out this free pattern and use a sheet of graphite paper (which is a lot like old-fashioned carbon paper, but without the mess) to transfer it to your chair.

I wish that I had been more meticulous about taking pictures of the raccoon-painting process, but once I got started, it all happened pretty quickly. Just squeeze out your paints onto a palate or paper plate and start up. If you aren’t sure of yourself, do a couple of trial runs on a piece of scrap wood or a paper plate.

For the raccoon bodies, I mixed a base color using the just a touch of black, a lot of white, some golden brown, and a little lavender. (If my base color was a cake, proportionally the white would be the flour, the golden brown would be the sugar, the lavender would be the eggs, and the black would be the salt.) The trick to this “raccoon-base” is to not mix it all too thoroughly, and just keep picking color up with your brush and applying it in the direction that you want the fur to go, adding low lights and highlights along the way. Acrylic paints are very forgiving, so if you make a mistake or don’t like how it turned out, you can always just let it dry and paint over it.

Pro Tips: Dip the end of a foam brush in red paint to create the round top portions of the larger red hearts, and then use a stylus (or an old, dry pen) to pull the paint down for the point of the heart. (Back in my tole painting days, we used to call these “Dolly Parton Hearts.”) Use a stylus dipped in white acrylic paint to create fine highlights on the raccoon noses, eyes, and detail dots.

Option #2 – Decoupage the raccoons using my images

Free Patterns - Kissing Hand Share Chair DIY | The Good Hearted Woman

Click for PDF Images

If you want to make this chair, but think your painting skills aren’t quite up to it, you’re probably way overestimating the difficulty of painting raccoons. However, I get it – not everyone paints stuff with small brushes. In that case, you may want to grab a bottle of Mod Podge and decoupage a color-copied image onto your chair. In this case, I’ve created a PDF file with my raccoon images that you are free to use for that purpose. Simply follow the directions on the Mod Podge bottle to decoupage the raccoons onto your chair.

(Legal blahblah: The images in the PDFs provided in the post are for personal use only. They may not be altered, shared, or used for profit or for any purpose other than that outline here without written permission. Moreover, I explicitly do not endorse using color copies from the book for this option, both out of respect for “Kissing Hand” illustrators Ruth Harper & Nancy Leak’s beautiful artwork and for US copyright laws.)

If you go the decoupage route, you will only red and white acrylic paint, for the heart and dots.

After you have added the raccoons to your chair, have some fun! Add a details (i.e., hearts, dots, etc.) for interest, and make it your own! If you are thinking of creating this for a special teacher or as a school auction item, you might consider having each child in the classroom make a fingerprint heart on the chair.

Step 8 – Apply Clear Sealer

This is the final step. Apply two coats of Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating, waiting at least 30 minutes between coats. When the chair is done, allow it is set out in a well ventilated space for a couple of days so that the “spray-can paint” smell has a chance to dissipate.

This is a fun, easy, and relatively fast project. It literally took me (at least) twice as long to create this DIY tutorial as it took to make Lauren’s chair, in terms of actual “hand-on” time. It is such a satisfying project too, and results in a gift that will be treasured for years to come.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they will help us keep this site up and running – and (relatively) ad-free!! Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Where Magic Lives: Seasonal Fairy Garden Terrarium

October 6 By Renée ♥ 7 Comments

Trimmed with an easy rotation of simple holiday decorations, this fairy garden terrarium offers an easy way to put a little extra color and whimsy into the changing seasons.

^{This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.}

Leaves are falling, pumpkin spice lattes are flowing, and it’s time once again for my annual Camp Namanu Alumni Reunion post!

Camp Namanu is a world unto itself: it is a family created by choice, and a place where anyone, regardless of age, can hold out hope that Magic is still alive and well in this world.

For more than 90 years, one of the unbroken threads that has woven Namanu campers together is its rich tradition of forest folklore. From the moment each of us campers clambered off that sweltering bus for the first time and skipped up onto the well-worn planks of Uncle Toby’s Storyhouse – whether that was ten years ago or sixty – one of the first things we learned about was the camp’s resident fairies, elves and other magical folks.

We learned about Mr. Skriggleboggle, the elf who lives in a little house at the top of Guardian Fir and answers campers’ questions all summer long; and the wood fairy Gertrude, who has lived in a Worcestershire Sauce bottle hanging from the ceiling at Raker Lodge since World War II. There is a flashlight fairy, and a flagpole elf; in fact, there is a enchanting-someone to watch over practically every facet of camp life.

And just how has this forest Magic survived for nearly a century in a difficult, cynical world, you might ask? Because, though many of us are now ever so much older than twenty, the flame that was lit in our childhood hearts so long ago still flickers brightly – and in our mind’s eye, the fairies still dance – somewhere far across the Meadow.

Seasonal Fairy Garden Terrarium DIY

Camp Fire kids are a crafty bunch, and at Reunion, I am always on the lookout for DIY inspiration to bring home and share with you. This year, I found that inspiration at our annual alumni auction: the moment I saw this glass-block fairy garden (created and offered for auction by Mary C.), I knew what I was going to do.

I loved Mary’s idea, but I wanted to create something living that could change with the seasons. That’s when I had the inspiration to create a fairy garden terrarium!

Trimmed with an easy rotation of simple holiday decorations, my fairy garden terrarium offers an ultra-easy way to put a little extra color and life into the changing seasons.

Invite a little Magic into your home! 🧚🏼‍♀️ Make this super-easy *Changing Seasons Fairy Garden Terrarium* #DIY today! 🍂 ❄️ 🌷 ☀️ #garden #fairies Click To Tweet

To make your own seasonal fairy garden terrarium, you will need:

Large glass planter, jar, or other vessel
Pebbles – enough to cover the bottom of the container 1″-2″
Potting Soil
Fairy Garden Miniatures (at least one fairy!)
Seasonal Miniatures
2-3 small, terrarium-friendly plants

The first thing you need for any fairy garden is… a fairy! I found this inquisitive little charmer at Joann’s, and together we immediately set to thinking on where she should live. We agreed that a large, spacious jar would fit the bill nicely!

I chose a large jar with a lid, which will allow me to have greater control over the interior climate of the terrarium. (I got the one I used for this project at Joann’s, but any large-ish glass vessel will work fine.)

I also picked up a few autumn decorations. I have to admit; I had a hard time not buying everything in the fairy garden aisle! But really, it’s important not to overdo it, because it doesn’t take much to fill the floor of a terrarium, and you don’t want it to look cluttered. Also, you want to leave some room for things to grow.

The first thing you need to do is fill the bottom of your terrarium with 1″-2″ of small pebbles. This will assist with drainage. (TIP: Reserve a small handful of pebbles for decorative landscaping as you finish your terrarium.)

Mix some water with the potting soil in a large bowl first so that it is uniformly moist. I added a little sand to my potting soil to improve drainage too. On top of the pebbles, loosely pack 2-3 inched of potting soil in the terrarium.

Now is the time you want to consider how your terrarium will go together. My terrarium has only two live plants – one for ground cover, and one for height. I left room for a seasonal decoration in the back, as well as a few little touches in the front. Having ample space will make it easy to change out decorations as winter and the holiday season approaches.

Lastly, I added the decorative seasonal pieces. The berry stalk (from the floral department) was a great choice. It was very inexpensive, and with it, I created an autumn tree for the back of my terrarium, plus I used the small pieces that I trimmed off the top to make the little “flowers” in the front.

This is also the time to place those pebbles that you held in reserve.

Oh – I almost forgot! If there is a seal on the lid or jar that you are using, remove it. This will reduce condensation and allow a little air to flow if you choose to keep the lid on your terrarium.

That’s it. This is one of the easiest DIYs I’ve ever done. In fact, it probably took you longer to read this post than it will to create your own fairy garden terrarium. Just be sure to check the soil regularly and water as needed, and you will have a lovely little garden full of life for years to come!

Aside from its obvious adorable charm, one of the best parts about this little fairy garden terrarium is that, with just a few simple changes each season, it can easily be decorated and adapted for year-round enjoyment (i.e., holly-berries and snowflakes in the winter, tiny tulips and bunnies in the spring, etc.).

^{Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!}

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Capturing Adventure {Blurb Photo Book Review}

August 17 By Renée ♥ 22 Comments

Capturing adventure in a Blurb photo book is simple, easy, and so worth the effort!

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

Preserving memories in book form is a passion of mine. Since my preteen years, I’ve been an avid scrapbooker, adhering images and ephemera between the pages of weighty albums with everything from old-fashion black photo corners to high-end archival-approved adhesives. Keeping those images accessible and leafing through them from time to time with the people I love brings our experiences back with vivid clarity, and gives us all a chance to enjoy the memories together once again.

About fifteen years ago, I made the conversion to digital scrapbooking and never looked back. The end products of my efforts are now high-quality hardback books, printed through one of a handful of dependable self-printing book services.

My most recent scrapbook project focuses on the trip Mr B and I took to Hawaii last July. We were on Oahu for ten days, and while we were there, I took well over a thousand pictures. (If you’ve been reading me for a while, you may remember that when we got home, I wrote so many blog posts about our trip that I had enough material to create our Ultimate Oahu Vacation Guide!)

Our adventures in Hawaii were a perfect subject for a stand-alone memory book, and this time I chose to print it through Blurb, a well-renowned print-on-demand company that I have used a couple of times in the past.

Blurb offers a number of both online and print formats, but for this review, I’ll be focusing on printing photo books.

Printed photo books are available in three formats: soft cover, image-wrapped [hard-cover], or dust jacket [hard cover]. (My preference for photo books is nearly always image-wrapped hard-cover.)

Blurb offers three options for shape and size, ranging from a small 7” x 7” square book to a large 13” x 11” in portrait or landscape. I chose a moderate 8” x 10” landscape book for our Hawaii album.

There are also five paper options, with varying weights and/or textures; everything from the standard semi-matte up to Premium semi-gloss or Proline pearl. Blurb’s basic, standard weight is 80 lb. paper, (about the same as good-quality printer paper), but it cost very little to upgrade to the 100 lb. Premium paper. I strongly encourage that you upgrade too, especially for a book with a lot of images. (I went with 100 lb. semi-gloss paper for Our Hawaiian Adventures.) You can print up to 440 pages in one book: our Hawaiian Adventures came in at 114 pages!

Check out this preview of our finished book!

Now, let’s get to the two things we all really care about when it comes to making photo books online: Ease of use and quality of final product.

EASE OF USE

This is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to online photo book creation. Some photo book printing sites are a little intimidating, but Blurb is not one of them. In fact, one of the things I like best about Blurb is the wide variety of options that they offer for content creation, and the ease at which a book can be completed. Whether you are a professional digital Creative or can barely turn on your computer, there is an option for you.

Make Your Book Online
Make your book quickly and easily without downloading anything. You can pull in images directly from Facebook or Instagram, or upload them from your computer and use Blurb’s templates and layouts to create a beautiful photo book quickly and easily.

Adobe InDesign Plug-in
If you have Adobe experience, this may be just the thing for you. Blurb’s Adobe InDesign Plug-In is free to download, and lets you create and lay out books directly within InDesign, with output options for both print and digital formats. You can also work on your book within Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

Upload PDF to make your book
If you prefer, you can use Blurb’s specifications calculator to fine-tune your PDF to a Blurb-friendly book size.

I’ve used all of these options at one time or another, but for this project, I wanted a fast, simple method that would give me complete control over my layouts – and I needed to be able to do in while I was on the road and away from my primary computer. With that in mind, I decided to go with my all-time favorite online photo editor, PicMonkey.

My 3-Step Streamline Blurb Photo Book Creation Process

Step 1 – Create individual pages on PicMonkey. Save as high-resolution JPGs.

PicMonkey is a simple, easy-to-use tool for editing photos online. From Capturing Adventure {Blurb Photo Book Review} | The Good Hearted Woman

↑ I created all of the images for our Hawaiian Adventures book in PicMonkey.

I created all of my pages in PicMonkey, saved them as high-resolution JPGs, and then uploaded them to Blurb. Then all I had to do was drag them onto the pages as full-bleed images. After that, I just proof-read everything about 100 times (but that’s just me), and then ordered my book. That’s all there was to it.

Step 2 – Upload Full-page images to Blurb. Drag and drop.

Step 3 – Proofread, proofread, proofread. Then proofread one more time, and order book. 🙂

PRODUCT QUALITY

As far as I’m concerned, Quality is the online photo book creation endgame. I expect my photo books to Pop! with bright, true-to-life colors, clean, clear printing, and solid, well-crafted construction. Anything less is unacceptable. Blurb did not disappoint.

Overall, the quality of our Hawaiian Adventures book is excellent. The cover is solid, smooth, and semi-matte, which discourages fingerprints, and the cover image is clear and vivid. The printed images inside the book are sharp and clear, and the resolution is good to excellent. The colors are vivid and true to the digital preview. I do think that paper selection makes a significant difference here, so once again, I strongly encourage you to upgrade to Premium or Proline paper.

BOTTOM LINE

Mr B and I could not be happier with our newest photo book. Flipping through those pages is like reliving our adventure all over again (yes, fellow grammar divas, I know), which makes all the time and effort it took to create totally worth it, and the book itself priceless.

Ready to start your own photo book? Visit Blurb’s website to get started today!

{For current BLURB Discounts, please click here.}

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. (Rest assured though, we will NEVER recommend anything we don’t believe in just to make a buck. We like to sleep at night.) Anywho, while clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they will help us keep this site up and running – and (relatively) ad-free!! Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

12 Really, Truly Last-Minute Mother’s Day Gifts {That Will Save Your Budget and Her Heart}

May 9 By Renée ♥ 2 Comments

So Mother’s Day is – TOMORROW!!

You put off getting something for her again, didn’t you? Of course you did – that’s why you’re here!

Never fear! Read on for quick, inexpensive gift ideas that will save your budget and her heart.

Quick & Crafty

Marbled Jewelry Holder {Maria Provenzano}

Professional-Looking Flower Arrangement {Jillianastasia}

DIY Burlap Memo Board {Jillianastasia}

3-D Mother’s Day Card {The Beefy Life}

Teacup Pincushion {Crafts on Sea}

Scrubs & Lotions

Berry Sugar Scrub {Mommy’s Bundle}

Pedicure in a Jar {Evermine}

Treasures from Little Hands

Give her something she will treasure now and forever. Great for Moms and Nanas. {Just sayin.}

Handprint Apron {Simply Kierste}

Handprint Sunshine Canvas {Glued to My Crafts}

Printable Gifts

Out of All the Moms in the World Print {Weekend Craft}

Mother’s Day Card {Country Chic}

“Thank You” Mini Bunting {Snap Happy Mom}

Redwork Chicken Tea Towel {with Free Pattern}

April 25 By Renée ♥ 13 Comments

Fast, inexpensive, and easy to create, this Redwork Chicken Tea Towel makes a fun addition to your kitchen or a lovely, thoughtful gift.

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

For the past week or two, I’ve been badly in need of a Craft-Fix.

If you know me at all, you know that I have an entire room full of sewing, painting, drawing and other craft projects to complete. (Don’t even get me started about the writing projects that I have “in-progress.”) How about you? What’s in your “Project Closet”?

But don’t you ever just want to start and finish a project in the same day? That’s how I’ve been feeling lately. So last week, I started cruising Pinterest for some creative inspiration, and ended up finding a huge board of old-fashioned redwork like my great-grandma used to do. Eureka!

Now, it’s no secret that I’ve had chickens on my mind lately. In less than a week, I’m off to Camp Blogaway, where among other things I’ll be representing Nest Fresh Eggs, and so I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of egg recipes lately. In addition, these little ladies just joined our family last week:

Meet Mamie Eisenhower, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Lady Bird Johnson, Rosalynn Carter, and (for all you history buffs) Harriet Lane Johnston.

A chicken tea towel was a perfect afternoon project! Fast, inexpensive, and simple to create. Plus – so cute!

A quick search brought me to Knitting-and.com, where I found a collection of great free embroidery patterns. Even better, the images themselves are from the 1940’s and are all in public domain! However, the specific pattern I found to an Etsy seller, and since I wanted to be able to share a pattern that you could print directly, I drew up a new one just for this project. You can download my pattern PDF here → FREE Redwork Chicken Pattern. (You are welcome to share this pattern with others if you link it back to this webpage.)

Here’s my finished towel. Isn’t this just adorable? If you want to make one of these lovelies, it will cost you just a few bucks and a couple of hours.

Chicken Redwork Tea Towel – Step-by-step

You will need:

Embroidery needle – I used a DMC #5 sharp
Embroidery floss – I used DMC 816
100% cotton tea towel – I used a cool retro tea towel that I bought at Joann’s (3 for about $5 with a coupon). You can also use a plain flour sack tea towel, or just make one out of muslin.
Embroidery Hoop or frame – I used a 7-inch hoop, but I would have used my 5-inch if I could have found it.

Download and print the FREE Redwork Chicken Pattern.
Click on this image for pattern PDF.
Transfer the pattern to the front of your flour sack tea towel. For a design this simple, I usually just trace the main parts of the design directly onto the fabric with a soft pencil or removable ink. You can do this by using a light table, or just holding it over a window.
Hoop it up and embroider. Most of the needlework is done in a simple outline stitch using 2 strands of floss. The chicken eyes and the small flowers are worked in french knots, and the larger flowers are a french knot surrounded by lazy-daisy stitches.

This little Redwork Chicken Tea Towel takes only a couple of hours to complete, or even less if you choose to do a smaller portion of the pattern. It is well worth the time, and makes a fun addition to your kitchen or a lovely, thoughtful gift.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running, and at the same time allow us to keep traditional advertising to a minimum. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Ryonet Home Screen Printing {Sponsored Giveaway}

January 15 By Renée ♥ 52 Comments

A while back, I had the awesome opportunity – along with a group of other PDX bloggers – to take a screen printing class at Ryonet, a Vancouver, Washington-based company that provides quality screen printing supplies, screen printing equipment, and screen printing training to everyone from professional screen-printers to hobbists and DIYers. I am definitely in that last group.

The last time I did any screen printing was about 20 years ago, when a camp I was working at needed a couple 100 t-shirts printed on the cheap. It was messy to say the least, painstaking, and not much fun at all. The experience I had recently at Ryonet was a world-away better – like the difference between driving a 1972 Pinto versus a 2015 Mustang. Sure, they’ll both get you where you’re going, but the ride in the latter is exponentially smoother (and safer!), a lot less messy and ton more fun.

Our class started out with a company overview by Ryonet Founder and CEO, Ryan Moor. The 10-year old company got its start in Ryan’s mom’s kitchen, where he started out making t-shirts for his band. Since then, it has grown into what is now an Inc. 5000 company with offices and warehouse space in Washington, California, and Arkansas.

Ryonet DIY Screen Printing | The Good Hearted Woman

Ryan Moor, Founder & CEO of Ryonet

Ryonet’s mission is simple: to make screen printing easy, fun, and affordable for everyone – and it resonates in everything they do. They offer screen printing classes in Washington, New York, Arkansas, and California, and also have a number of step-by-step tutorials on the Ryonet YouTube channel.

Josh Wells, who coordinates classes at the Vancouver, Washington headquarters, demonstrated each step in the screen printing process for us and patiently answered our seemingly endless questions.

After Josh and Ryan presented the screen-making part of the process, it was our turn to get creative. We went upstairs to a large work area, and tried our hand at the actual printing process.

By the time we were done, we all knew a couple of important things about screen printing: first, it doesn’t need to be a difficult or scary process, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. (Keep reading. You’ll be glad you did!)

Marlynn [of Urban Bliss Life] tries her hand at screen printing.

Historically, screen printing has been very expensive, so more often than not reserved for professional printers and adventurous art students. But Ryonet has now overcome this hurdle with the creation of a complete, well-thought DIY Home Screenprinting Kit. They also make a wide variety of screen printing inks in a rainbow of colors, so once you set yourself up with a home kit, the (printing) universe is yours.

My screen printing experience at Ryonet made me want to do more. In the time it took to get through our class, I had already thought of a dozen different projects: t-shirts, tea towels, bags, home decor, greeting cards, posters, just to name a few. I drove home with a Ryonet Home Screen-printing Kit it my backseat and a head full of DIY ideas.

Now for the really exciting part! Ryonet has generously made it possible for one of my readers to experience the home screen printing process firsthand. Enter below to win your very own Ryonet Home Screen Print Kit.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Enter to win a Ryonet DIY Screen Print Kit & Press! {Retail Value: $249}

Apologies to my Canadian readers – this giveaway is open to US Residents only.

DIY Home Screen Print Kit includes all the essential tools you need to transform something plain and ordinary into something personal and extraordinary!

DIY Starter Press w/ 14×14 platen for DIY screen printing your t-shirts
Wood Screen 16×20 156 Mesh for printing your image
UV Bulb for exposing your films
10″ 70 durometer squeegee for printing your ink
12″ Emulsion scoop coater for applying emulsion
Roll of 2″x 15 yard screen tape for taping your screen
CCI WBP Emulsion pint for screen creation
Light safe bulb for darkroom environment
8 oz. Waterbase Black ink for printing on shirts
8 oz. Screen degreaser (cont) for cleaning screens
8 oz. Emulsion remover (cont) for removing emulsion
2 oz. Pallet adhesive for tacking your shirt in place
1 Red scrub pad for cleaning your screens
4 pairs of disposable latex gloves for print clean up
10 Ultimate cleanup cards for ink discard/ clean up
2 sheets of 16″x24″ parchment paper for curing shirts with an iron
5 pack of Rite Film wp film positives for printing and creating positive
DIY Instructional DVD and manual for easy instructional follow

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Many thanks for Kim of Today’s Creative Blog for setting up our Ryonet experience, and to Ryan and Josh for walking us through the process.

Disclosure: I received a Ryonet Home Screen Print Kit free in exchange for writing this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

If you win the Ryonet Home Screen Print Kit, what is the first thing you will make with it?

Camp Namanu – Sure To Shine {Fairy Lights}

September 9 By Renée ♥ 14 Comments

Those 70’s Girls (if you look Very closely, I am in the back row, second from the left.

Every year, I return to Camp Namanu, along the shores of the Sandy River, for the annual Alumni Reunion Weekend. Namanu is a place alive with magic, and holds so many of my own youthful memories that I cannot possibly express in a brief blog post how special this place is. And today that is not my goal, but it would be wrong to go on without noting that Namanu saved me. It was there that I first found my voice, wrote my first song (a Forest Echo in 3^rd grade when I was Sherwood Girl) and felt the strength and beauty and energy of a community truly Alive in the world.

I am just one of the thousands – hundreds of thousands – of Portland area girls (and boys… sorry, I am from an earlier time) who have spent a portion of their summer each year at Camp Namanu since it opened in 1924. The former campers and staff who return to the reunion, ages 18 to 101 (Miss Marcie, our guest of honor this year, first attended Camp Namanu in 1925, when Calvin Coolidge was president) treasure our common bond as fiercely as any family. Because we understand – in a way no one else can – how profoundly life-changing our time at Namanu was.

This year was the 90^th Anniversary of the opening of the camp, and one of my sweet Namanu sisters brought our little group a special project to celebrate. Fairy Lights.

We made our Fairy Lights together on the front porch of our cabin, and then sat around them like a magical campfire and talked into the night. It didn’t matter that it was a child’s craft, and the youngest of us was old enough to be a grandma. It was beautiful and lovely, and I am so grateful for it. Already, it is a moment I treasure.

HOW TO MAKE A FAIRY LIGHT

For each Fairy Light, you will need:

Glow sticks (Get them at the Dollar Store. We used the bracelet size)
Jar with a lid (We used Pint mason jars, but any jar will do)
White tulle (about a foot square)
Glitter (about a tablespoon)
Scissors

Cut one end off of a glow stick and shake it into the jar. The more you get onto the sides, the better. We all used two or three bracelet-sized glow sticks for ours. Choose different colors if you want.
Scrunch up the tulle and put it into the jar.
Sprinkle the glitter into the jar.
Put the lid on the jar and shake it all up.
Share a story. Sing a song. Dance a little. Enjoy.

Our Fairy Lights still shine, even in the light of day.

Fairy Lights are simple, and like many lovely things, they are fleeting. With fall coming on, and warm, dark nights upon us, it is the perfect time to share a little magic with someone – ages 1 to 101 – that you care about.

Broken Memories Redux {DIY Mosaic Frame}

August 28 By Renée ♥ 4 Comments

Ever break a memory? Last month, I did – and then I put it back together in a whole new way.

Whenever we go on vacation, Mr. B and I always try to find something really nice to take home as a memento of our adventure. We don’t buy a lot of crazy touristy stuff (no snow globes or bumper stickers for us) – just one small piece of art that reminds us of the places and people we saw along the way. A few years ago, we bought a beautiful set of pottery cups at a little place on Orcas Island up in the Puget Sound, and every time we used them, they reminded us of that lovely week we spent camping and kayaking in the San Juan Islands.

Until last month, when I knocked one of our cups off the counter and broke it. At first, I thought I would just glue it back together, but one large chip was completely missing, so I sadly threw the pieces into our bathroom garbage can. They sat there for two days before I retrieved them to give them a second life.

When a special piece of glass or pottery breaks, it’s easy to give it new life as a tiled mosaic – on a frame, a tabletop, a serving tray, or just about anything. Our cup was just the right size to cover a 5×7 picture frame.

Materials:

Picture frame (I saved this one from the recycling bin.)
Old plate, cup, etc (something to smash)
Ready-to-Use Adhesive & Grout (This stuff can be bought in quarts at any home improvement store. I like using an all-in-one product – it keeps things simple.)
Buttons, beads, or assorted do-das for embellishing (Totally optional. I used some extras from my beading supplies.)

Tools & Other Stuff:

Safety goggles!!
Hammer
Bag in which to smash things (I like to double-up gallon size Ziploc bags for this step so that I can see what I am doing.)
Latex gloves (or other gloves if you are allergic to latex)
Sponge
Paper towels
Water

Put on the safety goggles. Really – put them on. Now. You do not want speeding shards of glass or pottery flying into your eyes.
Put the Object To Be Smashed into the bag.
Using the hammer, carefully smash the OTBS into large pieces using one intentional blow. This should give you a number of large pieces.
At this point, I like to take the large pieces out of the bag. Then I put them back in, one at a time, and smash them into smaller pieces, removing the smaller pieces before putting another large piece in the bag. This method yields much better results and more uniform pieces than just smashing everything at once all willy-nilly. It also helps you isolate individual pieces that you want to preserve; for example, I was really careful to preserve the little “Orcas” piece from the artist’s stamp on the bottom so that I could use it in my mosaic. (It’s the little grey piece in the lower right of the fist image.)
Lay the pieces all out so you can see what you have to work with.
Use the plastic knife to spread a layer of the adhesive/grout onto the frame. It was quite hot on the day that I made this one, so I only did one small section at a time so that the grout didn’t dry out too soon.
Put on the latex gloves.
Place the broken pieces of the Smashed Object onto the grout and press them in a little. (Be careful – there are some sharp edges there!)
Once you have the frame covered with larger pieces, fill in smaller areas with embellishment items if you wish.
Allow everything to set up for a few hours.

If you look carefully at the image in the lower right, you will see a fine, white film covering the pottery pieces. Careful polishing with a paper towel or soft cloth will remove this and make your artwork shine.

Put your gloves on again, and work the grout into the spaces between the pieces. (Once again, there are some really sharp edges there, so be careful!!)
Using a moist sponge, remove all the grout from the smashed object pieces. There will still be a film on them, but you can get most of it this way.
I usually let it dry for about 20 minutes at this point, and then go in and carefully polish each piece with a paper towel – first wet, then dry. This can take a bit of time, even on a small project, but it is definitely worth the trouble.
Let everything dry for 24 hours before using your beautiful new frame.
If you are making a mosaic on something that may get wet (e.g., serving tray, coffee tabletop) be sure to seal the final project with a grout sealer.

Next time you break a memory (or your kids do), don’t just throw it away – save it!

DIY Fabric Tortilla Warmer {Tutorial}

August 5 By Renée ♥ 44 Comments

Do you have an indispensable gadget in your kitchen that you didn’t know you needed until you got it? Something you can’t imagine life without now? For me, one answer is my fabric tortilla warmer. I discovered these little wonders at Portland’s Saturday Market a few years ago, and have used one nearly every day since.

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

It nearly goes without saying that my tortilla warmer is an essential part of the process when I make homemade tortillas. I stack them in, fresh and hot right out of the pan, and the heat and steam softens them perfectly by the time we are ready to eat. (Making tortillas is much easier to make than your might think: check out my step-by-step directions for homemade flour tortillas.) However, these insulated fabric warmers aren’t just for heating tortillas – microwave potatoes turn out fluffy and delicious, and they will accommodate a lunch-size bowl of veggies for steaming. They work as an emergency pot holder too! It seems like every week I find a new use for mine. (My kids have been known to make quesadillas in ours: I do not recommend this. Not at all.)

You may be able to find fabric tortilla warmers at your local farmers market, but if you have a sewing machine and half an hour, you can easily make one yourself.

To make one tortilla warmer, you will need:

1/3 yard patterned 100% cotton fabric (I got this chili print for 75% off!)*
1/3 yard muslin*
2 – 12×12-inch pieces of 100% cotton batting (i.e., Pellon Wrap-N-Zap)**
2 – 16-inch lengths of extra-wide cotton double-fold bias tape
1 – 25-inch length of extra-wide cotton double-fold bias tape
Cotton thread

* Click Here for Money Saving Coupons at Joann.com! *

Since this is not a project that requires meticulous cutting precision, I cut all the fabric and batting pieces at once. (I’m a quilter and a bit of a perfectionist to boot, so if you lean that way too, trust me – everything will be OK.)

1. Using a compass or the rim of a large serving bowl, draw an 11-inch circle on one piece of the batting. This is your pattern.
2. With the batting pattern on top, stack two layers of patterned fabric, two layers of muslin and both pieces of cotton batting.
3. Cut out all the pieces so that you have two patterned fabric circles, two muslin circles and two batting circles.

Next, make the two fabric-circle sandwiches.
4. For each sandwich, stack one of each – muslin, batting, and patterned fabric. (Right sides out!)
5. Sew a 1/4” seam around the edge.

6. Attached one 16” piece of bias tape to the edge of each fabric sandwich. (To clarify, each fabric sandwich is still separate at this time.) I use a straight stitch, but I’ve seen tortilla warmers sewn with a zigzag stitch too. It’s just a matter of personal preference.

Now it’s time to sew the two fabric sandwiches together.
7. Pin the two circles together, right-sides out, with the bias taped edges aligned. Trim any bits of overhanging, mismatched edge fabric on the raw “unbiased” edges. This will all get covered up, but having them even makes attaching the final piece of bias tape much easier.
8. Attached the 25-inch piece of bias tape to both circles at the same time. Be sure to turn under 1/2” of each end of the bias tape.
NOTE: I could tell you that I pin these together carefully before I sew, but that would be a lie. I just pin the turned under end in place, and then snug the bias tape onto the edge as I go around. I think this makes for a smoother bias-tape application.

That’s all there is to it! Once you make one tortilla warmer and see how fast and easy they are (not to mention how incredibly useful), you will be making them for everyone you know. And remember – they aren’t just for microwaving! Wrap one around a bottle of salsa for a great hostess gift, add one to a festive gift basket, or pack one with warm tortillas for your next picnic.

* You really only need two 12-inch squares of each patterned fabric and muslin, so scraps work just fine.
** DO NOT use any batting with metal! It needs to be microwave-safe.

Find thousands of craft supplies online!

Fancy That! {PDX Bloggers}

July 22 By Renée ♥ 10 Comments

Sometimes you just need to get your craft on. Last month, I spent a few lovely hours with a few of Portland’s best bloggers enjoying tea, cookies, and crafting at Fancy That at Orenco Station in Hillsboro.

Fancy That is the creation of Lisa Komer, owner and crafter extraordinaire. “After years of helping friends with birthday invites, holiday cards and wedding invitations, I decided to take a leap and start my own business. In 2006, Fancy That was created. This business perfectly balances my creative needs and my desire to be with my kids.”

Chockfull of hip party goods and fabulous gifts for your loved ones, the shelves of Fancy That are pop with bright colors and crafty inspiration.

Lisa is passionate about her work, and it shows. “What started out as birth announcements and party invites has grown to include custom frames, party favors, custom party designs, fanciful dessert tables and a small store front. I strive to create custom products that are unique, stylish, and a bit quirky. I love what I do!”

After taking some time to browse the shelves, our group gathered in a nearby meeting room and got down to business. We were each given an array of items and some brief instructions, and then the washi tape began to fly.

Lisa hosts a variety of events and celebrations at Fancy That, including birthday parties, wedding party gatherings, showers, and Girls Night, and from our experience,

PDX Blogger Spotting: Look closely at the top right corner of the collage above and you’ll spot Portland blogger Suzannah S. [Adventures in Dressmaking]. (You can also see the back of Jana’s [Merlot Mommy] head. Just sayin.) In the middle, Laura [Farrars Further Afield] and Lauren [A Red Ember] visit while they create. Finally, in the lower right, you’ll find Lindsey K. [aka MacSuzie]. As bold and bright as the crafty assortment surrounding us, Lindsey is a recent transplant to the Pacific Northwest. Having visited with her a bit at a couple of blogger-meet-ups, I can say that we are better for having her here, and I heartily encourage you to visit her blog and check it out!

All in all, our time spent at Fancy That hit just the right balance between focused activity and easy-going Sunday get-together, and we left with some cool hand-crafted goodies to share with someone special.

Fancy That at Orenco Station!

1336 NE Orenco Station Parkway, Hillsboro, OR 97124
503-640-9909 | hello@shop-fancythat.com
Hours: Sun 11-3, Mon by appointment, Tues-Sat 10:30-6:30