Trolls are back! Anyone remember those from the ’90s? I had a teeny one, but I remember my cousin had a ton of them. I would go over to her house and play with them. I told my BFF that trolls were back, and she was all, “What?!!” She was a troll fanatic. She told me all about all the different ways she would fix her troll doll hair, she even had trolls of all different sizes, some as large as her forearm. Now, those giant ones aren’t back, but these teeny ones can be can be found at Target, and I knew my girls would have a lot of fun with this quirky dolls. Strange and weird… they are all about it.

My sister called one afternoon and she said, “What are you doing?” My reply, “Playing with trolls.” She busted out laughing and said, “Oh mom life.” Since the BFF had told me about all the different hairstyles she used to create, we wanted to try them out, then we tried mimicking those hairstyles on the girls too.

Meet Pinkie. We gave her pigtails. Just part her hair down the middle and tie the ends with some ribbon.

To match Glow’s hair to her troll, we parted her hair down the middle and separated it into two sections. We majorly teased (tease, tease, and tease some more) one section at a time, then tied the ends with ribbons. True did all the ribbon tying because my hands have trouble with those tiny things.

Meet Candy Cane. We split her hair in three and braided it up upward, and twisted the end to set the braid in place.

To match Soul’s hair to her Candy Cane, we separated her hair in three sections, and did some serious teasing with each section (starting from the top and working our way down), then we braided her hair upward. Twist the ends together and add a bit of gel (or mouse) to keep the end in place.

Meet Chill. Chenille stems (or pipe cleaners) are needed for this technique. Cut out 7 pieces and each about 3/4″ long. The tiny pieces become tiny rollers, we used pink because it was similar to the pink foam rollers we have. We separated the hair into 7 small sections, twisted each section, then rolled it onto the piece of chenille stem. Once it was rolled, we folded the stem in half to keep the curl in place.

To match Brave’s hair to her troll Chill, we did an all over tease, then separated her hair into 7 sections and rolled them with pink foam curlers. She loved it so much she kept them on all day and even went to sleep with her rollers on.

Meet Rock ‘n’ Roll. To create her sweet bun, simple twist and knot the end together. Then, add a bright ribbon to keep in place.

To match True to her Rock ‘n’ Roll troll, of course we had to do the teasing to get that crazy hair, then we simple gathered it all on top of her head, twisted it into a bun, and topped it off with a ribbon to match her troll.

The girls were laughing and giggling about how crazy their hair was. They kept playing salon the rest of the afternoon, and then with all their do’s (my girls and the trolls), the played restaurant. It’s fun to see my girls playing with toys I have fond memories of as a child. I’m sure they would make their troll lovin’ Auntie Linda proud too.

The key to getting that crazy hair is in all the teasing, but the key to getting their hair back to normal is in the spray-in conditioner and a wide tooth comb. And yes, my girls are the ones that came up with the names for all their trolls. I wonder where on earth they get their crazy naming skills fun?! I have no clue. Trolls are such funny little dolls; I knew my girls would get a kick out of them. In fact, Glow brings hers everywhere and she even wanted to make sure to introduce Pinkie to my parents.

on brave & true: crazy hair don’t care shirt and rad troll dress, c/o target. troll dolls are only available in the store.

This post is sponsored by Target.  Thank you for the time you take to visit this space and support me and the brands I partner with.

Paper Watermelon Windsock

Supplies:
Construction paper (red and black)
Green crepe paper streamers
Scissors
Glue
Hole punch
String
Dowel (optional)

Directions:
Cut out watermelon seeds from the black construction paper, and glue onto the red construction paper. Glue the short ends of the red construction paper together (creating a cylinder shape with the paper). Cut 5 streamers (about 12″ long each) and glue to the inside bottom of the watermelon cylinder. Punch two holes on opposite ends on the top. Cut out a 8″ strand of string and knot it through each hole on top of the windsock. If you want to add a dowel, cut another 8″ piece of string and attach the windsock to the dowel.  The summer crafting is winding down over here. I have a couple back to school craft projects we plan to work on, and we are all stick working on our tapestry weaving, but I think we are done with summer crafting. Let’s be honest though, even when school starts we will still be doing plenty of crafting and art projects. Oh the joys of homeschooling… it leaves plenty of room for art!

Our church family is hosting a community picnic this Saturday (you’re invited, so see info here), and we will be making these watermelon windsocks with the children who show up. It’s a picnic and I think no summer picnic is complete without some watermelon.

We filled up this little cuties crate with some of our favorite Crayola products and dubbed it our summer art box. It’s been sitting on our dining table since the beginning of summer, and it’s been getting lots of use during our days at home (when we don’t want to go out and face the heat). It completely captivated the attention of Soul and Glow, while their big sisters were gone. They spent many mornings and afternoons together painting and coloring while they listened to music. I’d join in from time to time too (we made a large poster together), but they were perfectly content creating together while I puttered about the house. The big sisters are back now, so everyone is catching up on the playing, but there has been some making happening too.

Soul and Glow have made so much art work that their walls are full of their masterpieces. One of the things we did while their big sisters were gone was redecorate their rooms, so they are proud to have their new art work on display. True and Brave came home saying, “We want to fill up our walls too!” I predict the last few weeks of summer will be filled with more painting, playing, and eat ice cream. Anyone thinking your future might look similar to mine?

Supplies were provided as part of the Michaels Makers Program.  Michaels carries a wide range of Crayola for you and your next kids’ next project in stores and on Michaels.com – and the best part, all Crayola product is on sale from 8/2-8/8!

Ribbon Wands

Supplies:
3/8″ x 12″ dowel
13/16″ screw eye
Thin ribbons (various colors)
Scissors

Directions:
Attach the screw-eye to the top of the dowel (it’ll take some muscle, or drill a tiny hole and then attach). Cut your ribbon into your various desired lengths (we used 6 different colors). Insert the ribbons through the screw-eye, until it dangles at a length you like. Take one of the ribbons and tie it tightly around all the other ribbons near the screw, and knot to secure.

Voila! I handed it to Soul, and immediately, she was running around the house yelling bibbidi-bobbidi-boo! It was a quick project to do for the girls, and they’ve been playing with it a lot since I made it two weeks ago. In fact, Glow takes hers to bed with her, along with 15 million other things she hoards… she’s my hoarder.

For another type of ribbon wand, check out this one we made long ago.

I love the linen fabric on Soul’s dress and I like the fan pattern on Glow’s. Glow totally has this 60’s vibe with her shift dress and bob. They wore the dresses to the wedding last weekend (with denim jackets on top because it rained), and their friend wore this Old Navy dress. They all got ready together (I was busy out wedding prepping) at our house, and they were all so proud of their wedding attire. It was so cute to see them showing off their dresses and shoes to each other.

on soul: linen-blend dress, c/o old navy. sandals, c/o old navy. felt hair clip, diy here. on glow: shift dress, c/o old navy. woven flats, c/o old navy.

This post is sponsored by Old Navy. I’m appreciate the support you give me and the brands I partner with!

I got to play florist this past weekend for my good friend’s wedding. The bride had no specific requests, and trusted my judgement, so I love when I get the freedom to play.

I made 75 feet of garland for the ceremony, 5 bouquets, boutonnières, and pin-on corsages). I made the bride’s bouquet a little different from the bridesmaids by adding some white baby roses and scabiosa pods. I went to the hotel to drop them off, and I left my basket full of all the bouquets right outside the guys’ hotel room while I gave them their boutonnières. Unfortunately, when I came back out, the bride’s bouquet was gone. We looked everywhere and questioned everyone we saw, but nope, it never turned up. Someone must have swiped it during the 5 minutes I was in their room (shared about it here). Thankfully, I had some extra flowers, so I took one of the bridesmaid’s bouquets and used that to recreate the bride’s bouquet, and was able to make another bridesmaid bouquet too. Whew!

My first job was at a flower shop, and I worked there for a few years. Then, I took floral arranging classes and did weddings on the side. Once upon a time, my dream was to own my own flower shop. Ben and I briefly discussed revisiting that dream because I would love to have a business in our community, but now is not the time, though you never know. Nevertheless, I’m thankful to be able to do it here and there like I did this past weekend. And even though it rained all day, and nothing went according to plan, I was so encouraged by how the gorgeous bride and groom focused on God and each other, and didn’t sweat the small things.

I love the off-the-shoulder style, it feels sort of romantic to me, so I brought the dress I made for the little trip we took on our anniversary weekend. I share a little sketch of how I made the dress here. It was also the perfect dress for hanging out in the dessert heat (oh man it’s hot out there!).

Jord sent me one of their wood watches to try out. While I’ve never been into the chunky watches, I think the wood is a bit unexpected, so I like that. I wouldn’t normally wear a men’s style watch, but I totally dig this one. I like pairing it with a vintage cuff, and I want to make some bracelets to go pair with it too.

dress, made by me (new here, vintage here). sandals, gap (similar here). watch, c/o jord. cuff, vintage.