Super Mario Matchup Game With Free Printable

I'm not really sure how this idea came to me at this point.  Somehow in the midst of redoing the boys' room in a Super Mario theme this game idea just popped up, and the next thing you know I am working on it at my kitchen table.  It is a little twist on the old game, Memory, we all played as a child.  The only real difference aside from the pictures is that if you get one of the "bad guy" cards you lose a turn.

If you would like to make your own Super Mario Matchup Game this is what you will need:

• foam board
• printer & paper
• craft knife such as Xacto and scissors
• decoupaging medium like Modge Podge
• Mario Game Printable

The first thing you need to do is print out the free printable from the link above.  Then you are going to cut all of the images out into squares roughly the size of the question mark boxes.  Next you need to use your craft knife to cut out your squares from the foam board.  If the edges are rough you can use your scissors to straighten them some.

Now you will glue all of the question mark boxes onto one side of all of those squares.  I believe there are 18 pairs in all.  The character squares will go on the opposite side of all of these squares so each one is two-sided.  Set up an assembly line and enlist your children to help cut out the squares (using safety scissors) and glue the paper to the squares.  Crafting knives are extremely sharp, so I would advise you do that part, though.  When all of the squares have had a chance to dry you will put a top coat of your decoupaging medium onto both sides of the squares (letting one side dry before coating the second side.)  The red color tends to bleed some so make sure to only do one light coat across it.

When they have all dried it is time for your kids to have fun!  And they aren't even glued to a video game, woohoo!

P.S.  Don't forget to check out our giveaway for some awesome handcrafted jewelry!  Entries end August 2!

Super Mario TV Stand Transformation

I don't know how many of you are Craigslist junkies, but it totally rocks.  I have sold many things on there myself, and I recently found this TV stand for the boys' room makeover for less than half what you would spend in a store.

Nothing incredibly fancy, but it is for a kid's room so in my opinion you don't really want anything too fancy.  It is particle board and wood veneer, but it was still in good condition with a few scratches here and there.  Black would look great in our living room, but it just did not fit in their room, so I decided just to paint it and turn it into something the boys would themselves love.  This is going to be a big space saver in the long run.

The first thing I did was take a picture from the web like so...

And used this for my inspiration.  See the little whitish color line across the top of the bricks... black grout, and reddish/orangish/brownish bricks?  Well, I made my own version and got this...

I basically just free handed the bricks with a foam paint brush.  I even like how the streaks from the brush are in the brick.  I think it has a cool effect.

Then in the open spaces to the side of the drawer I wanted something else to fill in, so I bought a couple plastic containers, ie. Rubbermade, or Sterilite type.  I got back on the web and google image searched for the Super Mario question mark box and saved it and sized the image to what I needed to fit the box.  Then I cut it out and decoupaged it to the end of the box like so...

At this point it still wasn't dry.... it isn't really as streaky as it looks there.  Super easy project for all those toy bins your kids have hiding everywhere... Yeah, don't try to pretend you don't have them.

I still don't have it in the boys' room yet, so it hasn't been filled with their books and Legos, etc., but here is the finished product.

I am thinking I might possibly buy new hardware, and change out the drawer pulls.  I saw some really cute ones on Etsy!  Did I say it was finished??  :)

Invincible Star Gamer Hooks!

We are in the middle of a little redecorating and decluttering of the boys' room.  After 4 years in this house they decided it was time for something new.  They want Super Mario which is fine with me being a child of the 80's and all.  The room is far from complete, but I do have a project I would like to share with you in the meantime.

We found these great wooden star hangers at Hobby Lobby which seemed perfect to me and the kids loved the idea of painting them themselves. 

What would make kids love this more?  Glow-in-the-dark paint of course!  This is what we used.  It can be used on fabric or mixed up to 25% with craft paint, so there are tons of fun options of things to make with this stuff!

This was a great opportunity for me to teach the kids how to paint, and not a single drop ended up on their clothes!

Now we have these great little star hooks to hang on their wall.  They have decided it would be a great place to hang their Nintendo DS game cases and that sounds like an awesome idea to me!!  Maybe I will spend less time having to help them track them down before we hit the road next time.