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Monday, May 14, 2012

Roadtrip Ready: Kid Sized Travel Neck Pillow


One thing that is great about kids and roadtrips is that for the most part kids can sleep anywhere! Seriously, I wish I was like that sometimes...it would make a long boring drive go by much faster. Even though my kiddos can sleep in almost any position possible when we are in the car, they never look very comfortable. They are always slumped over or their neck is bent so much it looks like it might break in half. So I decided that before we head out for our big trip, that all three of my boys {and I may get one too} needed travel neck pillows. But if you've ever shopped for one of those pillows, you know that they are usually pretty plain and kind of expensive. So I decided to try my hand at making some...and they ended up being really easy and really cheap!
I started by drawing out a pattern on a piece of paper. I searched online for a printable pattern, but I couldn't find one that I like...so I kind of just winged it.
{That ended up being a little bit of a problem because my first attempt was a major fail! But then I tweaked my pattern a little and the second one came out perfectly!}
Once you have your pattern, lay it on your material at the fold. This will ensure that both sides of the pillow are symmetrical. You can pin and cut like a normal pattern, but I was being lazy and just used a piece of chalk to trace the outline of my pattern.
Cut out two pieces {both on the fold} and then lay them on top of each other right sides together.
Sew around the edges of the pillow with a straight stitch.
Leave a hole in the pillow on one side. You will use this hole to turn and stuff the pillow.
Turn the pillow right side out and then add in a much stuffing as you would like. I filled mine pretty tight so it would be extra supportive for my boys' big noggins:) Then sew up the hole to finish the pillow.
Now when Eli decides to take a nap in the car he will be much more comfortable...and maybe he will sleep longer too!

Do your kids sleep in the car when you are on a roadtrip?

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Friday, May 11, 2012

Roadtrip Ready: I Spy Book

Hey y'all! My name is Kate and I am so excited to be sharing with you all today here at Random Thoughts of a Supermom!

When you get a minute be sure to check out my blog; Embracing Life's Journey. I blog about life after the loss of a child - our 14 month old son Charlie, life with our new son Cannon, DIY crafts, recipes and so much more!

Today I am going to share with you all an amazingly easy project that I first learned about in my moms club in Florida. These are some of the most creative and awesome ladies ever, and I am so excited to share this I Spy Book with you.

Okay, so here we go...


There are 6 very simple steps to the process and depending on how old your kiddo is you can get pretty creative and complex.

Step 1: Gather and lay out on a poster board random toys.

Step 2: Snap a picture of them and don't worry about zooming in perfectly.


Step 3: Remove most of the items leaving only a few for the key side of the page.


Now upload the pictures into your photo editing software. If you don't have one do not fret, there are plenty of free editing websites that do not require registration, like picmonkey.

Step 4: Edit the photos. All I did to mine was use auto adjust and crop since I wasn't trying to accomplish anything fancy. I also just shot them on auto but with no flash...I really don't like flash.




Step 5: Either print out the photos or upload them to a site to have them printed. I did mine through Walgreen's and they were ready in 1 hour. Be careful to remove the auto adjust option otherwise they might cut off your items and change the exposure.

You will repeat these steps for as many pages as you would like to do.

Step 6: Assemble your book.


Of course I had to do a University of Michigan one...


That's it, easy huh? I think some nature ones would be pretty fun too! And if your kids are a little older they can even help you pick out what to use.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and thank you so much to Kelli for having me as a guest blogger today!


embracinglifesjourney.com

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Roadtrip Ready: Roadtrip Behavior Clips

When we first started planning our big roadtrip, I immediately got on Pinterest to look for ideas. One of the first things I came across was this great idea from Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss for what she called Kid Clips. I knew this was something I had to make for my boys. Being in a car for 10 straight hours is going to require some kind of reward for good behavior, and this was just right for a roadtrip. The concept behind these clips is that you put them up at the beginning of your trip. If one of the kiddos misbehaves, whines, fights, or makes a bad choice then their clip comes down. At every stop on your trip, whichever kids still have their Roadtrip Behavior Clip up gets a treat. Genius idea right?!?
I started with a couple of sheets of cardstock and scrapbook paper and a clothespin for each kid. As you can tell I kept with my color coding system: blue for Henry, green for Grant, and orange for Eli.
I used my Silhouette and a circle punch to cut out a few different sized circles. My biggest circle is 3 inches in diameter and it was the perfect size to cover the entire clothespin. I layered two papers to add a little interest and attached them to each other with a glue dot roller.
Then I added each of the boys' initial to their clip.
I added a coat of Mod Podge to make them a little more sturdy and to protect the paper.
The last you do is add a little bit of hot glue to one side of your clothespin....
...and then stick your paper circle on.
After the hot glue cools, you are ready to hang them on your sun visors and hit the road!

I can't wait to use these Roadtrip Behavior Clips in a few weeks! I have a feeling the boys may test the system a little bit to begin with, but after they see someone else get a treat at a stop I have a feeling they will take it more seriously:)
How do you get your kids to behave on a long roadtrip?

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