In the last week, while I have not been able to run more than 10 feet without screaming (open to plantar fasciitis suggestions other than stretching and waiting — anyone?) I have developed a real deep addiction to Pinterest. Deep. Herion junkie deep.

There are SSSOOOOO many crafty things ideas on there. Yeah, I read through some of the humor stuff once in awhile, but that would mean I would l have to look away from the DIY & Crafts page. And no, you can’t take that woobie away from me. Not without me crying, screaming, or show signs of the DTs.

So, in order to be a crafty mom, and not put my family in the poorhouse…um, remain responsible, I tend to search for “thrifty DIY crafts”. I still blow a lot at Michael’s and JoAnn Fabrics, but only when there is a sale – you know, like every week. (“But honey – I had to spend $100 in order to get the extra discount card. Look how much money I just saved you!”)

I decided to get the kids involved in some Father’s Day gift ideas, so we decided to make some handprint paintings for Daddy’s office (either home office, or his real office). Here they are:

This was Lane’s choice. He was really patient and enjoyed having his hands painted in 2 colors (red on the palms, and blue on the fingers). One of the palm prints got a little smushed, but hey, he’s 3 and I think he did pretty darned good. I put the embellishments on with fabric paint pens. They weren’t very accurate, and I kept getting a lot of bubbles, but this was the first one. We think Daddy, the Marine Scientist, will really like this one too.

Matilda insisted on flamingos (my animal choices were kind of limited to what I found in a book I had, but it was good for her). She also insisted that flamingos, in fact, were going to by PURPLE. We compromised with one pink and one purple flamingo. Again, I did the embellishments on the wings, the eyes and beaks with the paint pens. These were a little better. I just used a Sharpie to put her name.

I got so excited  The kids got so excited doing the handprints, that we decided to make one for Grandad, too. He lives in Baltimore and doesn’t get to see the kids too often, so I figured a little handmade gift would be nice. I had each of the kids do one palm print, and I turned them into trees. Adding the island and the sun really gave this one context, so it looked a little less like a Rorschach test.

I’m sure I’ll be back with more Pinterest inspired crafts everyday soon since the kids enjoy crafts almost as much as Mommy does.