Planter Transformation DIY

Hello all! I'm so glad to finally enjoy some nice weather here in the Greater Toronto Area. This year I've been doing some gardening. Watching the plants and flowers grow and spread gives me so much joy. In this blog post I'll be sharing how I transformed an old and weathered planter into a colourful and vibrant garden accessory. Browse through and please do let me know what you think in the comments!

Materials

• Old planter 
• Acrylic paints, any combination of about 3-5 colours
• Paintbrushes (I used foam paintbrushes)
• Masking tape, painters tape or washi tape
• Planting: Soil, flowers/greenery to plant inside the planter 

Check out this YouTube video to see how I transformed this planter: Here

Steps:

1. Empty the planter of any contents that may have accumulated 
   
2. Optional: wash the planter down with a pressure washer or hose and let dry
3. Paint the top and bottom portion of the planter the same colour and let dry
   
   
   
   
4. With some tape start forming triangular shapes, or a zigzag pattern
5. Paint each triangle a different colour and form a pattern
   
6. Allow the paint to dry
7. Remove the tape to see the nice geometric pattern 

   

   So much fun to remove the tape!
   

   
   
   
8. Make an arrangement of plants and flowers as you desire
   
9. Enjoy your piece of art!
   

This colourful piece is now a welcome addition to our garden. I hope to see the flowers and greenery spread throughout summer. Please let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more about my gardening. I'd love to get your feedback. Thanks for stopping by!

My "Eid Mubarak" Flower Gifts - 30 Day Craft Challenge

My "Eid Mubarak" Flower Gifts - 30 Day Craft Challenge

Salam, as mentioned on my previous blog post - we're all about Eid preparations now! The last week of Ramadan has been quite the whirlwind. I wish I was able to get these crafts out to you way earlier for Eid, but hopefully, if you don't have time to do them now, you can try some of these for the next Eid - or next year!

This craft corresponds to Day 26 of our Craft Challenge. Today we learned a little about chromatography, mixing colours, and the spirit of giving, all in one craft! We used coffee filters and food colours to make these amazingly vibrant flower favours/gifts. My children were so amazed at how they were able to mix colours and then see them spread all over the coffee filters. The most amazing thing was that they could make these colourful papers into a flower! Browse below to see how we were able to make these flowers to add to all of our Eid Mubarak Gifts. 

Materials:

• Food colours
• Coffee filters
• Water in a cup
• Paint brushes
• Liquid droppers (optional)
• Pipe cleaners - we used green for the stem
• Palette to mix colours (or small bowls)
• Scissors
• Spray bottle with water 

  

  Here's what we started with

Steps:

1. Place a sheet of wax paper or plastic - something water proof under your coffee filter
2. Spray the filter with water to moisten the filter 

   

   Spray, spray!

3. Use your dropper or paintbrush to add colour. You can dilute the food colour in water, mix various colours or use the food colour directly for a very vibrant result

   

   Mix colours, see them spread over the filter - so fun!

4. Once you've filled the entire coffee filter - place aside to dry. We placed ours outside in the sun for a very quick dry

   

   They were blowing away in the wind so we placed rocks on them while they dried

5. Once dry, you can cut the filter into a flower shape. First fold the coffee filter in half, then half again, and again, and then a 4th time. Then cut the tip of the folded filter into any shape - diagonal, wavy, pointy. 

   

   Such a cool result!

6. Open up the filter and see the beautiful flower shape! 

   

   Here are our flower shapes

7. Now you can add your pipe cleaner to make the stem - bunch up the bottom portion of the flower and wrap your pipe cleaner around it. 

   

   Hadi's finished product!

8. Alternatively, you can make a cone shape but cutting the diameter of the filter and rolling it to give you a cone shape. 
9. Your "Eid Mubarak" flower is ready for gifting!

   

   So many different colours!

   
   

   

   Add them to a mason jar or vase for a beautiful look

I hope this craft brightens your mood and brings joy and colour into your lives! Stay tuned as I post the rest of the activities/crafts for the Craft Challenge. Only 4 more to go! Eid Mubarak!

My "Eid Mubarak" Egg Carton Wreath - 30 Day Craft Challenge

My "Eid Mubarak" Egg Carton Wreath - 30 Day Craft Challenge

Salam, first of all, so sorry for the "hiatus" - the last couple of days have been quite busy! Eid preparations are in full swing, and, although we have been crafting every day - I just haven't had the time to post our crafts! Today's post represents Day 25 of the Crafting Challenge and there were only 5 days left before Eid so you can guess how excited the kids were. They wanted to make sure all of our crafts were related to Eid. Today we made another decoration to enjoy the Eid ul Fitr festivities.

Once again, the items I used for this craft were easily found within the house. Today we used an empty egg carton to make a hanging wreath! The finished product looks amazing and we are so happy. Take a look below to see how we took an empty egg carton and transformed it into a beautiful piece of decor for our home!

Materials:

• Egg carton - ours was an 18-egg one
• Paint - we used acrylic paint and we chose three colours
• Paint brushes
• Palette
• Paper Plate
• Glue gun
• Stickers or glitter to decorate
• Scissors and I also used an Xacto knife 
• Two strips of paper and markers
  

  

  Some of the items we used

Steps:

1. Cut and separate each egg compartment from the egg carton (I used an Xacto knife to help with this part) 

   

   Start cutting these all out individually! An Xacto knife helps

2. Use scissors to trim the loose pieces around the egg cartons
3. Begin painting - we chose three colours and painted 6 of each colour 

   

   Here's how they look once they've been painted with acrylic paints

4. Allow these to dry - we placed ours in the sun for very fast drying
5. Cut a large circle in the middle of your plate - you have the option of painting this paper plate or leaving it as is. Ours was already a floral theme so I didn't paint it 
   
   
   
   
6. Once the painted egg cartons are dry - start using your hot glue gun to stick them on following a pattern 

   

   Turned out pretty nice! Now for the decorations

7. With the extra egg cartons, decorate the outer part of the wreath
8. Use stickers, or glitter to fill the inside of the cups - this will give your wreath a more festive look 
   
9. Write Eid Mubarak on two separate strips of paper and glue or tape them to the back of the wreath so they are visible in the middle
10. In order to hang the wreath you can use a 3M hook or ribbon, but we just used double sided tape
11. We placed ours on our front door, but you can place it anywhere you like! 
    

Thank you dear friends for supporting me and joining me on this journey! I am so happy with the parents and teachers I have met along the way. Hopefully you can come back to check out our next Craft Challenge post. Five more to go!

My "Eid Mubarak" Lawn Sign - 30 Day Craft Challenge

My "Eid Mubarak" Lawn Sign - 30 Day Craft Challenge

Salam! As we approach the final days of the Month of Ramadan, we are beginning to prepare for the biggest celebration in the Muslim World - Eid ul Fitr. My children realized that there aren't many days left before we celebrate Eid, so they wanted to make an "Eid Mubarak" sign. For Day 24, I allowed them to get creative with painting and make their own Eid Mubarak Lawn Signs. 

I poured several different colours of paint, provided paintbrushes, sponge shapes, and poster paper and let them design their own signs! We had a lot of fun with this activity and they didn't want to stop painting! I admit, I rarely bring out the paints - its quite a bit of work to contain the mess and then clean up afterwards. However, today we were blessed with the perfect circumstances (my 18 month old daughter took a longer than usual nap) and the boys were very helpful. 

Take a look below and see if you're inspired enough to make your own Eid Mubarak Lawn Signs!

Materials:

• Poster paper - we used 11inx14in
• Paint - we used poster paint
• Paintbrushes - or sponges
• Cardboard 
• Scissors
• Construction paper - or any paper
• Glue stick/School glue
• Tape

Steps:

1. Lay out your poster paper for your children and have the paintbrushes and paint ready
   
2. Allow them to get creative, suggest moons, stars or a masjid for inspiration 
   
3. I cut out some shapes from a piece of packing foam that I found - this worked quite well. 
   
   
   
   
4. Allow their artwork to dry completely 
   
5. Cut out the letters, or print out the letters, for Eid Mubarak
6. Paste the letters on the poster 
   
   
   
   
7. In order for the lawn signs to be secure on your lawn, decide what you would like as stakes - we used large cardboard panels 
8. Cut out the cardboard panels, about 8-10cm in width and enough length to cover the length of the poster
   
9. Optional: paint the panels if you like
10. Tape these cardboard panels to the back of your poster 
11. Dig holes in your lawn and slide the cardboard panels inside
12. Refill the holes with rocks and dirt to hold the poster securely, and voila!
    
    
    
    

Note: Do bring in the Lawn Sign at any sign of rainfall or heavy winds!

My dear crafting friends, thank you so much for joining me during the homestretch of our challenge! Hard to believe that we only have 6 more crafts to go! Stay tuned to see what we have in store for the last few days of Ramadan! See you soon. 

My Virtue "Merit Badge" Craft - 30 Day Craft Challenge

My Virtue "Merit Badge" Craft - 30 Day Craft Challenge

Salam everyone, it's been a busy few days and I'm playing "catch up" by posting all our crafts from previous days. This craft was from Day 23. We talked about characteristics that would allow us to be good human beings. We discussed what a "virtue" is and how it makes us happy if we are able to reflect these great attributes. We made some badges to represent a few of the virtues that we brainstormed. The boys happily wore the "Merit Badge" of their choice while demonstrating the appropriate characteristics. I needed some help cleaning up our table after the craft was complete and my younger son happily wore his "Helpful" merit badge to help me complete the task!

Try this out with your little ones and see what kinds of virtues they come up with. My older son came up with the virtue, "Beneficent" and said, "Mama, I've heard that this means you want to help benefit others". We gladly made a "Beneficent" merit badge together. Follow the easy steps below to make a few of your own!

Materials:

• A few different colours of construction paper 
• Scissors, I also used a paper trimmer but that's optional
• Glue stick or liquid school glue
• Hot glue gun
• Wooden Clothespins
• Markers

  

  What we used for this craft

Check our this YouTube video to see how we did this activity: Here

Steps:

1. Cut strips of the construction paper on the long side of your paper (about 2cm in width). You will need about 6-8 strips per merit badge

   

   I used a paper trimmer but you can use scissors too

2. Now begin gluing the strips, one on top of another. Start with an X shape and keep working your way around. Try to distribute the strips as evenly as possible. 

   

   Gluing them one on top of the other

3. Now glue the ends of the strips and stick them on the the centre of your badge, go around in a circle and do this for all the strips 
   
   

   

   Then sticking the ends to the centre

4. Once you've glued all the ends - flatten the folds with your fingers and it should appear like the image below. 

   

   This is what Hadi's looked like after he was done gluing them all

5. Cut two wider rectangles of constriction paper and cut out a triangle shape on the bottom 

   

   Hadi wanted his to be two different colours

6. Glue those, one on top of the other, on the back of the badge. 

   

   He glued them on the back

7. Cut a circle shape out of paper - we used white paper for this at least 10-15cm in diameter
8. Allow your child to write their favourite virtue on this circle
9. Glue the circle on the front of your merit badge.

   

   "Beneficent" got glued to the front

10. Now, turn on your hot glue gun and use it to glue the wooden clothespin to the back of the badge

    

    Mama assisted with using the glue gun

11. You should be able to clip it onto your child's shirt safely!

    

    Sticks right to the back

12. Enjoy practicing all these great virtues! 

    

    And then on his shirt!

Lots of different virtues to work on

Thanks for joining me once again on this crafting journey! I'm finding it hard to believe that I'm posting my 23rd craft! I really appreciate all your love and support along the way. Leave a comment below to let me know if you're enjoying the crafts.