Every child is an Artist... Step by step how to do a motivational wall

 Every child is an artist (words of Pablo Picasso) they are all over the internet this is how i did my wall for my son. Is very important to promote and let them know that their expression through art is important. this will be an awesome way to do it. I use to put them in the fridge but after a while you just have one fridge and many kids. Now problem solve. Each one have their own wall to expose their art and renew their work when ever they have a better masterpiece.

I use different styles to write my quote. The one i pic is from Pablo Picasso. I love it. Because it is for my little one I try to do it fun and vibrant. 

The beginning I use a stencil. Wish i tape to a specific area that i previously color with brown. After i tape the stencil i proceed to color with acrylic paint  the inside of the stencil with a very small piece of sponge. 

The next part I cut squares and letters using stencils with some craft foam. I glue the letters to the squares with the hot gun and then to the wall. The hot glue will make your paint come off once you have to remove what ever you have to take out. So make sure to place the squares in the correct place. Mark in the wall where you want the squares to go before you start working with the hot glue.

With nails I write the last word. That way I can mark it with thread. ribbon, hemp or any other material. 

To finalize I add some stars rocket, airplane, truck from another car stencil i have then i put some diamonds to make it more magical. The area to hang his art is made out of a picture wall hanging  kit. it have two small hooks in the corner and the long metal wire I hang his pictures with wood clothe pins that i paint. 

 My son love it! Now he is Mami's super fan and I am his super fan too. There is nothing more beautiful than trusting in those little steps your little one do today. Who know? Maybe tomorrow he might be a real Picasso. :-)

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cheated on Pintrest.... What a turn off!! what am i going to do with the chicken and the egg?

There i was fulfilling my addiction to the most awesome website ever known. I think i log my self to Pintrest three, four, five times a day. What is new? Decor, Crafts, Fashion, Photos,etc After having a Bachelor degree in communications (that i never use) because i decide to be a soldier. Now that i am retired Pintrest is that website who fill that passion in me. With creative new ideas. That make my heart skip a beat. 

But the dream didn't last too long when suddenly i got in contact with this other website. Heap Sugar Network: 

I KNOW EVERYTHING IS IN CHINESE.... I KNOW YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING AND LIKE ME YOU START FEELING LIKE A CHEATED WIFE WHO IS ABOUT TO FIND OUT SOMETHING BIG. (BUT DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE IT SO I LOOK AT THE PICTURES AND SOME OF THEM LOOK FAMILIAR. AND JUST WHEN I WAS ABOUT TO CLOSE THE WEBSITE CAUSE IT WAS IN CHINESE. GOOGLE CHROME ASK ME.... DO YOU WANT TO TRANSLATE TO ENGLISH? AND I HIT YES! ....

http://www.duitang.com/home/


From there my life would never be the same. All those Pins that i share in Pintrest most of them are from the chinese website. Picture by picture, word by word, art by art, wish cause me to have an EGG moment in my life. Who did this first? Who is the author? Who is the artist? All this time following all this ladies because like my grandmother and my mother they were master crafters and ..... here it is..... in the other side of the world there is some one who claim doing the same work. It is impossible Half of the pintrest population is related to the China heap sugar Population..... so what ever it is.... someone break my egg. And i wish to know who came first The Chicken or the Egg? Are the Chinese crafters the original ones or the American ones? You can be the judge..... Like this one That i love and i did a baby shower with it because is beautiful. 

tissue rosette kissing balls

You can find the instructions for this gorgeous craft int the american blog: http://www.theidearoom.net/2011/01/tissue-rosette-kissing-balls.html

Or its chinese version here: http://www.duitang.com/people/mblog/49236928/detail/

My opinion, I vote that the chinese people stole this from Ms Amy Huntley and her Idea room. The date on her blog is older than the chinese one. and her post have a complete detailed explanation of how to do this. It is totaly shameful because she is the mother of five kids! with a husband who travels. 

the paper flower

this one is easy to spot .... (hint)the instructions are in chinese....

http://www.nextot.com/pic-5172.html

Just to mention an example.If you go to Pintrest and at the same time to the Heap Sugar Network (the chinese website) you will find that there is lots of similar post. I play the drama about the Chicken and the Egg I really don't care who did it first. Because maybe none of them did. Crafts and art is like history. Is passed generation by generation from elders to young people. Someone teach you the crafts you know today. That is how i learn the millions of crafts that i know. Crafts, art and history tell the story of a person. What they like, where they have been, who they have meet, etc. It is ok to share your crafts that is the purpose of most of this websites. That is the main purpose of this blogs. We live in a society where old crafters are dying with the knowledge in their hands. Because technology do everything so easy. School don't teach manual labor or crafts anymore.We have kids graduating as doctors but  don't know how to boil an egg or put back a button in a shirt.

What is wrong with this websites is to not give credit to the people who did the effort to pass on a knowledge. If you learn something from someone just say it. mention it. I learn this from .... And that's it.  Because is very disrespectful for somebody to wake up some day an realize that his work that is a family tradition is somewhere else claimed by somebody else that you don't even know. That is called STEALING.  Who stole what from who. That would be Gods work to do (or the pertinent authorities) and all the people doing it have a conscience. But is very disappointing to see. This because it takes credibility out of the person. What this two websites prove is that we cant believe all we see but we must try to be as honest as we can and every time we craft. Give credit to who ever deserve the credit.  Hoping tomorrow i don't appear in China...... unless someone buy me a ticket for a family vacation.   :-)

HOW TO GIVE A NEW LOOK TO AN OLD TABLE

THE $25.00 FAMILY FOOTREST!!  TIRED OF THAT OLD TABLE? GIVE IT A NEW LOOK. MAKE IT AN OTTOMAN, FOOT REST OR JUST CHANGE THE COLOR OF THE TOP. THIS ONE GOES DEDICATED TO MY STEP MOM WHO TEACH ME HOW TO UPHOLSTER FURNITURE :)

 THIS IS OUR FINAL RESULT FROM THIS SCRATCHY OLD TABLE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        I STARTED WITH AN OLD TABLE THAT I LOVE AND DIDN'T WANT TO GET RID OF. IT WAS A STURDY TABLE WITH A SMALL DRAWER BUT WITH LOTS OF SCRATCHES. I DIDN'T WANT TO DO THE TRADITIONAL STAINED METHOD SO I DECIDE TO MAKE IT A FAMILY FOOT REST FOR MY BIG SECTIONAL IN MY LIVING ROOM.  I START WITH TWO YARDS OF FABRIC AND  1 1/2 YARD OF 1" FOAM FROM JOANS AT 50% OFF. 

I CUT THE EDGES OF THE FOAM BASED ON THE EDGES THE TABLE

 (THIS PART IS OPTIONAL. DO NOT DO THIS PART WITH THIN FABRICS. )

MEASURE AND MARK THE PLACES WHERE YOU NEED THE BUTTONS. PLACE A DOT OF GLUE IN EVERY X WHERE I WAS GOING TO PLACE A BUTTON.

THEN PLACE THE FABRIC NEATLY ON TOP OF IT. MOST OF THE GLUE WILL BE ABSORBED BY THE FOAM BUT SOME OF IT WILL SEAL THE FABRIC TO THE FOAM ONLY IN THE AREA WHERE THE BUTTON GOES. THIS IS A QUICK WAY TO DO THE BOTTOM PLACEMENT. (MY WAY) THE REGULAR WAY IS TO DO IT WITHOUT THE GLUE. IF YOU ARE USING UPHOLSTERY FABRIC YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE ANY SIGNS OF GLUE IN THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FABRIC AT ALL BECAUSE OF THE THICKNESS OF THE FABRIC. THE GLUE 

WILL BE USED AS A GUIDE OF WHERE TO PUT THE BUTTONS. ONCE THE FABRIC IS ON TOP YOU WONT BE ABLE TO SEE THE MARKS. YOU WILL NEED TO CUT SIX SQUARES FROM ANY HARD  MATERIAL. I TOOK MINE FROM A CHRISTMAS PLASTIC BOX.

 .

IT CAN BE A SMALL PIECE OF CARDBOARD BOX OR ANY MATERIAL THAT YOU CAN PUT IN THE BACK OF YOUR FOAM AND UTILIZE TO GIVE YOUR THREAD SOME RESISTANCE WHEN YOU SEW FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER. .

THE FRONT SIDE OF YOUR FOAM WILL BE OK BECAUSE IT HAS FABRIC THAT THE THREAD WILL ATTACH TO; BUT THE BACK HAS NOTHING TO ATTACH TO AND IF YOU WANT YOUR BUTTONS TO LOOK LIKE THEY ARE MORE INSIDE THE FOAM YOU NEED SOMETHING TO GIVE SOME RESISTANCE TO THE THREAD. THAT WAY YOU CAN PULL THE THREAD

WHEN ALL THE BUTTONS ARE IN PLACE THEN IT IS TIME TO SECURE YOUR FABRIC TO THE TABLE. GRAB YOUR TOOLS AND FLIP YOUR TABLE. A GOOD STAPLER, A CHILDREN'S CRAYON (THEY ARE CHEAP AND THEY ARE ERASABLE!) THEY ARE MY BEST FRIEND IN ANY KIND OF PROJECT AND A GOOD PAR SCISSORS.

REMEMBER YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A PROFESSIONAL UPHOLSTER BUT YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE IT LOOK AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE. SO ONCE THE TABLE IS LAYING FLAT ON AN EVEN SURFACE. YOU WANT TO PULL ON ALL SIDES OF THE FABRIC AN MAKE SURE THE FABRIC IS NOT WRINKLED UNDERNEATH.  REMEMBER THE ONES WHO DID THE HOT GLUE TRICK? THEY HAVE AN ADVANTAGE... IF THEY PULL THE FABRIC AND NOTHING COMES OUT AND THE FOAM IS EVEN IN THE EDGES.....GUESS WHAT? YOUR FOAM AND YOUR TABLE ARE EVEN!!!! IT IS A NICE TRICK, BUT DOESN'T WORK WITH THIN FABRICS. NOW IT IS TIME TO MEASURE THE FABRIC. 

WHILE THE TABLE IS UPSIDE DOWN PULLING SNUGLY ON THE FABRIC MARK WITH YOUR WASHABLE CRAYON THE EDGE WHERE THE STAPLES SHOULD GO. NOT SURE WHERE TO PUT YOUR STAPLES? THEY SHOULD BE IN THE NON VISIBLE ROUGH AREA OF YOUR TABLE.WHEN IT IS UPSIDE DOWN. THAT WAY WHEN IT IT IS UPRIGHT, NO ONE WILL KNOW WHERE THE CLIPS ARE. WHEN YOU ARE DONE  MARKING YOUR FABRIC, CUT THE EXCESS MAKING SURE TO ADD ABOUT HALF AN INCH TO MAKE A FOLD.AND STAPLE IT TO THE WOOD. START FROM THE MIDDLE TO THE EDGES AVOIDING THE CORNERS OF THE TABLE.

THE CORNERS WILL LOOK LIKE THIS: PULL THEM UP AND CUT THE TIP TO MAKE THEM LOOK LIKE AN ENVELOPE LOOK AT THE IMAGE BELOW.

 FOLD THE TIP OF THE CORNER FABRIC AND STAPLE IT TO THE WOOD. PULL THE FABRIC NEXT TO IT AND STAPLE IT UNTIL ALL THE FABRIC IN THE CORNER IS TUCKED IN . 

 AND THIS IS THE FINAL RESULT OF OUR LOVELY FAMILY FOOT REST!!!