Say Goodbye to Cold Hands with DIY Freezer Pop Holders

summer-diy-freezer-pop-holder-popsicle-rainbow-of-colors-chill-brrr-cool-off

Despite the fact that Back to School is all over the big name retailer stores and commercials, it’s still summer. We refuse to admit the fact that school starts in a month. We’re taking every bit of summer, for all the sunshine, popsicles and pool days it’s worth. We love it too much to let it go.

Our kids love popsicles in the summer, especially freezer pops. Although yummy, we know within minutes of opening their popsicles, our kids will request a paper towel because their hands are cold.

Well, it’s three mom’s and a pool noodle to the rescue. The DIY noodle freezer pop holders not only prevent cold, sticky fingers, but also they can be customized with names at a table setting for a birthday party.  They can be used year after year when the hot sun is shining and kids are outside playing! Plus, typography is just so fun!

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Materials:

Directions:

Cut a pool noodle into 6 inch pieces. It should be about ½ the size of the popsicle.

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Add letters to each noodle to spell BRR!, CHILL, COOL, FREEZE, and ICY.

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Frame the letters with Frog Tape in the shape of a rectangle.

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Use a paintbrush to dab paint onto the noodles over the letters and within the taped area.

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Wait a couple of minutes to remove the tape and letters. Don’t wait too long, or the paint will begin to peel off with the letters. The paint should still be slightly wet when you remove the letters and tape.

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Once the paint is dry, apply a layer or two of Mod Podge over the letters. It will dry clear, so no need to apply it all over the noodle. This will prevent it from peeling and flaking off.

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Insert popsicle and enjoy without the whining of cold hands.

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DIY Red, White and Blue Ice Bucket

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It’s about that time when red, white and blue are just about the only colors on our minds. Yes, one of our favorite holidays, July 4th, is coming up, and this year we’re adding a DIY fruit ice bucket to our party to do’s.

A DIY patriotic ice bucket is the perfect July 4th accessory, and it’s so easy and cheap to do. Guests will love the extra touch of red, white and blue, and they will enjoy their chilled beverage.

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red-white-blue-ice-bucket-july-4th-wine-cooler

Materials:

  • water
  • large bucket, we used a plastic one from Party City
  • small buckets {small enough to fit inside large bucket and large enough to fit a wine bottle or beer can}
  • blueberries, fresh or frozen, at least 2 cups
  • strawberries, fresh or frozen, sliced, 2-3 cups
  • weight, such as a rock
  • wine or beer

Directions:

Fill about 1/3 of the large bucket full of water, then drop in all the strawberries. Freeze for at least 5-8 hours.

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Place 2 small buckets on top of first layer of ice, add weight inside {we used a rock}, and fill another 1/3 of the bucket with water. Do not get water inside the small bucket because it will be more difficult to remove the buckets from the ice. Freeze for about 5-8 hours.

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For the final layer, fill the remaining 1/3 of the container fill of water, and then drop in blueberries. Freeze for 8 hours.

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Remove from the freezer. Pour boiling water inside the small buckets and gently twist to remove from the ice. Additionally, run the outside of the large bucket with  hot water from the sink faucet. After about 15 seconds on each side, the ice cooler will be easily removed, and the layers should look like this.

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Carefully flip the ice cooler out from the bucket with your hands and set on a tray. Fill the holes with wine or beer. We couldn’t decide because beer, well, it’s all-American and those Budweiser cans are so patriotic and awesome. But, the vino lovers that we are couldn’t resist the taste and look of the red and blue Relax Wine bottles of wine.

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Cheers!

Important Note: We took photos of this DIY ice bucket with wine we had in the liquor cabinet, and after review of photos, while the wine was good, for the ultimate patriotic post, the wine bottle {and beer} needed to be more festive in color. Enter, Relax Wines and Budweiser beer! However, the ice bucket had to be re-frozen during a several hour photo shoot intermission, and a thin ‘film’ of ice formed over every layer, so the color of the DIY ice bucket was dulled, and the lines of the red, white and blue blurred. You win some, you lose some. Either way, we love our bucket, but honestly, it will be more vibrant than our photos if you have the right alcohol the first time around. 

DIY Retro Camper Planter

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Summer is on our minds. We can taste the refreshing sweetness of watermelon, and feel long summer nights in the air. In the summer, adventure awaits! Whether the adventure is at the pool, in the woods, on the road or in the air, we like to go, see and do with our kids.

In addition to the sense of adventure we’re feeling, we are also slightly obsessed with retro campers and airstream trailers. No, camping is not our forte. We take after our dad on that one, but if we had a retro camper, we may be convinced to venture into the wilderness. Jenna would most definitely have a pair of heels in tow.

Until that pretty, retro camper comes along, we will have to create our own DIY versions of them. This pink one is going to a special teacher about to venture out to a new school and job. This would also make a great gift for graduates and friends who love to travel.

hello-adventure-retro-camper-planter-flowers-flamingo

Materials:

Directions:

Print a retro camper, designed by the Silhouette America store. If you don’t have an electronic cutter, you can find one online, print, cut and trace.

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Roll out the clay, place camper shapes on the clay, and trace with an X-acto knife.

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Set the shapes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake in the oven according to package directions.

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Once shapes are cool, paint them.

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Let the paint dry. Assemble the retro camper with all the shapes and E-6000 glue. We made a yellow pennant flag banner, and love the playful look it adds to the camper.

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Buy or design a Hello Adventure design from Silhouette, and print the vinyl design according to package instructions.

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Place strips of painter’s tape over the top of the design, and remove. The text should now be on the tape.

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Place the tape {with text} sticky-side down on the planter, and use a straight-edge to remove any bubbles.

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Piece by piece, remove the painter’s tape, and the vinyl should stay on the planter. If your planter is wood like ours, you may have to use one finger to hold the vinyl in place as you pull the tape up.

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Add a liberal amount of glue to the back of the retro camper, and glue it to the planter. Let it dry for 12-24 hours so it doesn’t slide down.

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Plant a pretty plant.

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DIY Tropical Leaf Coasters

We took our minds on a trip to paradise recently. It didn’t cost much, and no flight was necessary.

OK, it’s not the real thing, but our DIY tropical leaf coasters have tropical vibes written all over them, and they take us back to wonderful memories on the beach. Curbly has all the details here.

tropical leaf coasters with a yellow background

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DIY Summer Beach Towels

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Before a week of no blogging, nowhere to be but the pool or the beach and no DIY projects allowed {aka vacation}, Jessica had to get in one last DIY project. With towels invincible to Bleach {we still have no idea why the color didn’t bleach}, she couldn’t make them like Studio DIY.

Plan B was to spray lemon juice on the towels, and lay them in the sun. Nope, it too, was unsuccessful.

Plan C was dependable fabric paint, and it worked just fine!

These towels make for a great gift for teachers as school’s out for summer, birthday party favors with names, as well as hostess gifts for those who live on the beach.

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Here’s how we did it.

Materials:

  • Towels
  • White fabric paint {or white acrylic paint combined with gel medium}
  • Contact paper to make stencil or stencil {we used our Silhouette America Portrait to cut the letters on contact paper}
  • Stencil Paintbrush {round, flat tip}

Directions:

Design your words with Silhouette software, and use the electronic cutting machine to cut the contact paper. Make sure the words are mirrored, so they appear correctly on the towel, and not backwards.

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Prep your painting space. Make sure to place a cardboard under your towels for paint that may bleed through.

Remove the back of the contact paper. Lay the stencils or words on the towels. We really liked the contact paper because it stuck to the towels, just enough to work as a stencil, but not too much so it was easy to remove.

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Dab the paint onto the towels.

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After about one hour, remove the stencil. Let the towel dry for 24 hours.

Have some fun in the sun.

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