Coming soon...

These items and more will be in the shop soon...come over and visit!

 mk inspired shop

Irish Potato Stamping

I love potatoes. Baked, mashed, smashed, whipped, scalloped, French fried, roasted, twice baked, in soup, as a salad...you name it.  

Anyway...instead of eating potatoes today, we made Irish potato stamps. I’ve always wanted to try this type of printing so I thought that this would be fun with St. Patrick’s Day approaching.

Here is what you will need:

Potatoes

Carving tools

Various shades of green paint

Paper for printing

Here is how we made them: 

Step One

Grab some potatoes and slice as desired.

Step Two

Using printmaking tools, we carved out some festive shapes and words. Remember if you use words - carve them backwards.  

Step Three

We plated up some green paint and stamped away for over an hour.  

WARNING: this is extremely addicting.

I love how imperfectly perfect these turned out. Now I have to come up with some fun ways to use all of the paper that we printed. Banner, cards, wreath, wrapping paper...hmm.

I have a new obsession. Thank you, potatoes.

Slainte!




See this project and more over at:
WhipperBerry
30 Handmade Days
Tatertots & Jello
Six Sisters Stuff

Winners!

We have our winners! We went old-school and picked from a hat jar. My headband loving daughter decided to pick two winners.

Congratulations to

Heather S. F. 

&

 Ellen A. !!!  

Happy Weekend! :)

Hello, Hollywood! ...and our FIRST GIVEAWAY

Things have been pretty exciting here. We were thrilled and completely excited to participate in a 2012 Grammy nominee/presenter gifting opportunity with Hollywood Baskets (thanks Lisa!).  Some of the giftees included: The Band Perry (ahhh!) , LL Cool J, Katy Perry, Jennifer Hudson, Ryan Seacrest, Jack Black, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Isaac Slade(The Fray), Ben Wysocki (The Fray), David Grohl (Foo Fighters), Kate Beckinsale,  Ne-Yo, Pitbull, Rob Affuso (Skid Row) , People Magazine, GM Four Seasons and various producers & composers.  How FUN is this list?!?  WoooHooo!

Oh! - I guess I should tell you what we gifted…  We sent a variety of our favorite handmade headbands and bracelets (each approved by my sweet, little headband-loving daughter).  I hope the guys listed above have some lovely ladies in their lives that would appreciate a one-of-a-kind mk inspired accessory. :)

We would LOVE to share some of these products with OUR FANS (we appreciate each and every one of you!), so we decided to have our very FIRST GIVEAWAY!!! YAY!  

Here is what is up for grabs and you never know…maybe we’ll throw in a surprise:

Here is how to enter:

“like”/follow mk inspired on Facebook. That’s all!  (mk inspired on facebook)

*If you already “like” us you are already entered…twice. J

We will announce the winner this Friday, 2/24. 

Have a great week! :)

- Krista

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pic of the week:

www.mkinspired.etsy.com

 

We are busy in the studio this week. Stay tuned for a SUPER EXCITING announcement...

Guest Post: Valentine Doily Banner from Mess for Less

I am super excited to introduce our very first guest...drum roll...Vicky from Mess for Less!  Vicky is here today to share an adorable Valentine project that she made with her daughters (I can't wait to make this!). Be sure to stop over to Mess for Less for more inspiration!


Hi, I'm Vicky from Mess For Less and I am so excited to be guest posting here at mk inspired today. Thanks to Krista for the invitation!  I love to come up with fun activities for my kids that don't cost a fortune. I blog about these adventures, along with family friendly kids food, mommy crafts and money saving tips. Please stop by and say hi!

The project I am sharing today is a Valentine's Doily Banner that will brighten up your home. My favorite things about it? The fact that it was cheap (the whole thing cost me $1) and that I was able to incorporate my kids artwork in it.

Supplies you will need:

• Kids artwork
• Doilies
• Glue
• Scissors
• Ribbon

Previously, I had the kids do some Golf Ball Painting. It was a fun activity and I was so happy with results that I thought I could use their artwork to create a banner.

I bought some red doilies at the dollar store and cut the center solid heart out of one of them. I used that heart as a template and then traced hearts onto the dried golf ball paintings. I then cut out the painted hearts and glued them to the middle of the doilies. Next, I strung the doilies on some red polka dot ribbon that I had leftover from Christmas. 

Then I hung them on the mantle. These would look great in an entry way too.

The kids loved seeing their artwork as part of the banner.

I hope you enjoy making this Valentine's banner with your kids. No one will believe it just cost you $1.

Thank you, Vicky, for sharing this GREAT project with us! I love how you incorporated the girls' paintings! We can't wait to see what you come up with next!  

Ok...now head on over and say hello!  :)

Birthday Prints and Portraits

Here is a project that I shared over at Mess for Less last week. Enjoy!

I have to admit that I am overly sentimental at times. Having two pre-schoolers doesn’t make things easy as I am holding on to their early years for dear life. I enjoy finding creative ways to capture and document their growth. So I would like to share a little birthday project that has become a family tradition each year.

Materials:

6x6 canvas (I stock up on these when they are 60% off/under $2)

Craft paint /brush (under $1)

Birthday girl (priceless)

Ikea Easel ($1)

 

Here is what we do:

Step One

Let the birthday girl pick her color. Our birthday girl picked pink so I squeezed two shades of pink and some white paint into an old yogurt cup.  

Step Two

Birthday girl paints the canvas.

Step Three

Once the canvas is dry, paint birthday girl’s hand with a generous coat of white paint. I find this method easier than dipping the entire hand in paint. It saves paint and you can control coverage. Guide hand and make print on canvas. Seal with mod podge.

A brand new tradition:  

To go along with our handprint keepsakes, I decided to have my daughter draw a self portrait. Using an 8x10 canvas board and a sharpie, my little one whipped up this self portrait in about 30 seconds (pigtails and all). We painted the edges with some left over pink paint for a simple border.  Seal with mod podge.

Finally, we printed up this little “favorites” list, had an interview session and stuck this to the back of the portrait. 

As my little ones grow, so will our collection of prints and portraits. A simple and cherished birthday tradition.   :)




See this project and more fantastic ideas here:
WhipperBerry
30 Handmade Days
Tatertots & Jello
Six Sisters' Stuff

I Heart Nap Time
One Artsy Mama