DIY Ice Skates

Caden has been begging me to take him ice skating.  I have no idea where he got this idea, but it got me thinking.  We can bring the ice skating inside!My friend, Laura used to let her kids skate on commercial grade carpet (the flat, no pad kind) with wax paper taped to their shoes.  We don't exactly have commercial grade carpet in our home, but we do have wood floors!

I didn't have any wax paper on hand so I used freezer paper.  Freezer paper has a glossy side and a matte side.  The matte side works the best on wood floors.  I put together some make-shift ice skates by punching a hole on top of the skates and stringing a little ribbon through.  (My son didn't like the tape because the skates kept falling off.  Making "ice skates" eliminated all frustrations).





My son absolutely loved skating on the wood floors and this will be a definite favorite on those days it's too cold to go outside.

DIY: Freezer Paper Stencil Pillow

I wanted a fun accent pillow for my son's room so I decided to make a custom pillow for him with a moped stenciled on it.  It was super easy, and a lot of fun.  Here are the steps to making your own custom stencil out of freezer paper.

1. I found a silhouette of a moped here, enlarged it and printed it out.  If you don't have illustrator, google images is a great resource for finding silhouettes.
   


2. After I printed the image on regular paper, I taped it to the matte side of the freezer paper and used an xacto knife to cut out the black area.  {You can find freezer paper at just about any grocery store}.


3. I ironed the freezer paper onto my fabric - glossy side down.


4. I mixed the color I wanted with fabric paint.


5. Then dab the paint onto the fabric and dry with a blow dryer for 30 seconds.


6. Repeat until the desired color is achieved.


7. Lift freezer paper off when done applying paint.


8. Let it dry for 24-48 hours and then it's ready to wash.

*** Note: The back of the fabric paint bottle said to iron the fabric paint to help the paing set.  I tried this, and my iron was probably a little too hot, and it slightly burned an area- though it's hardly noticeable.  After looking at different tutorials online, it doesn't appear that this step is absolutely necessary so I left it out. ***

I think it turned out pretty good, and Caden sure is pleased!