Frills Fluff and Trucks

Butterfly Stained Glass Craft Tutorial

2011-06-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

My children love craft projects and recently my little boy was fascinated by all things related to butterflies...so we decided to make stained glass butterflies to put up in the kitchen windows. We made these just like the stained glass crosses we made back in March--which still are up in the windows and looking beautiful!

First I cut out an outline of a butterfly out of black construction paper and adhered it to clear contact paper--I taped that down (sticky side up!) to the kitchen table so that it wouldn't move while my son worked on his project.

He filled the butterfly with squares of tissue paper. When he was done, I put another black butterfly outline over the top (to hide the tissue paper edges) and then covered the top with another layer of contact paper. At this point the butterfly is sandwiched between the contact paper. Then I trimmed the excess contact paper off and the project was done!

His butterfly is a bright and colorful addition to our window--perfect for summer!

Craft shared at: No Time for Flashcards

4th of July Decorations

2011-06-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July is just around the corner! I don't go all out decorating for this holiday, but I do like to have a few patriotic touches out in the house. I fill my white pitcher with American flags and, this year, I glued red, white, and blue stars (punched out of scrapbook paper) onto clear thread that I tied onto the light fixture above our table. The thread is sandwiched between two stars.
This "shower of stars" is a simple and inexpensive way to add a touch of patriotic flavor to our summer decor.

Linked to: Hookin Up with HOH

Summer To-Do List

2011-06-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

School ended Friday (finally!) so today I made a summer to-do list with my children. After I reigned in their expectations a bit (no out-of-state trips or overnights at Great Wolf Lodge), we had a lot of fun. They came up with a lot of ideas all on their own, but still cheered at some of my simple suggestions. Now that it is hanging on the wall, they like to look at the list and tell each other "Wow, we are going to have a fun summer!"
I'm not original in coming up with this idea, by any means, but here is how I did it. I bought a poster frame at Michaels--with a 40% off coupon it came to around $5. Then I cut five pieces of scrapbook paper into 1.25 inch strips and used scrapbook adhesive to stick the strips directly to the paper that came in the poster frame. Once the entire piece of paper was covered, I trimmed off the excess paper. So simple!

For the "Happy Summer" pennant print that you see at the top of our list, I used this printable that I found at The Rubber Punkin and just cut it down a bit.

I wrote our list directly on the glass/plastic on the front of the frame with a Sharpie. It comes off with Windex and a bit of scrubbing (I tested it).

Here are some other great summer to-do lists:

whatever ~ this one makes me crave an old-fashioned green chalkboard!
Laura Winslow ~ this one is done for you--just print it! 101 ideas for summer fun!
eighteen25 ~ these ladies always have something going on, and this is no exception!
Sunny Side Up ~ Erin's list is on poster board and is cute, colorful, and full of summer fun!

Fathers Day Gifts

2011-06-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

I think my husband had a good Father's Day--he smiled a lot, at any rate! The children made him (with my help) a handprint tie and they were so proud when he wore it to Mass. They have also insisted that he wear it to work on Monday. I think this will be the first time he has worn a tie to the office! I found the tie idea on The Littlest Crafter and loved it! Basically you just take a white tie and use fabric markers (mine are Crayola brand and I bought them at Michaels) to trace your children's handprints on the tie. Easy-peasy!
We went to Mass in the morning (and brought Father David cookies and Father's Day cards--he loved them!) and then out to lunch. After lunch my husband finally had time to thoroughly look at more of his gift. I had each child fill out an interview form that I printed out from Big D & Me and they had some great answers. Apparently my husband is 9.5 feet tall and is robbing the cradle because he is 4000 years old!

Happy Dada Day (as we say in our house!) to all the fathers out there!

Digital Project Life Scrapbook

2011-06-14T10:48:00.001-07:00

I love to scrapbook, but I am behind. Dreadfully behind. So behind that it feels as though I have a giant snowball rolling along behind me that is going to crush me soon. In fact, I'm not quite sure I still can say that "I love to scrapbook" but rather that I love the idea of scrapbooking. Truth be told, the idea of catching up on all my scrapbooking is overwhelming and daunting! I have the supplies, I have oodles of digital pictures, but I do not have the time!

Enter Project Life by Becky Higgins. Basically it is scrapbooking made simple--putting the focus on the pictures rather than on all the finicky crafting supplies. You can do it in a picture a day format (the 365 projects a lot of people do) or in your own format.

I first heard about Project Life on Erin's blog: Sunny Side Up. Erin has three children and manages to find time to scrapbook using a modified version of Project Life--all of a sudden this scrapbook thing started to seem more doable...so I ordered a Project Life kit. Um, that was over a year ago...and I haven't used it yet. *sigh* THEN, for some crazy reason, I ordered a second kit a couple of months ago. I'm not really sure why because now I have TWO unopened Project Life kits. At least they're different colors...

Then--THEN--I saw a video Becky Higgins posted on her Facebook page. That video is what made me realize I can love scrapbooking again. I can keep up with my pictures and not be years and years behind. I can scrapbook and use doo-dads...or not. It is totally up to me!

I am NOT a digital scrapbooker. Not. However, even I was able to make a digital yearbook (easily!!) for my family and it is beautiful. Seriously, BEAUTIFUL. Now I can make digital yearbooks for each year and save my paper scrapbooking for major family vacations or our Christmas album and not worry about scrapping every family moment.

Look at that beautiful book! I was able to customize pretty much anything I wanted on it--and could have done even more than I did. LOVE it.

(Don't mind my finger...just covering up our last name...) The printing in this book is so lovely. Everything is crisp and the pages have a great weight to them.

Here is the month of January, complete with journaling! I thought it would be difficult to select just seven pictures, but it really wasn't...by the end of this book I really felt as though this gave an excellent picture of our year. I did these monthly pages pretty much using the existing templates, but you can toss the templates and just cover the pages with pictures if that is your choice.

In September we went to Disneyland--here is the regular monthly layout for September. This was the first month where I felt as though I couldn't summarize our month in just seven pictures...so I added some extra pages!

Here are the Disneyland pages I added right after the September monthly pages. I still plan to do another traditional paper scrapbook for our trip, but I like seeing the trip represented in this yearbook, too.

I covered up the last page that was in the album with more of our own pictures--this album is so easy to customize!

Even the back cover has a full color picture of my babies (yes, they're tossing leaves into the air)!

And of course the title is on the spine of the book--I'm already looking forward to having a whole row of these yearbooks lined up on our shelf.

This yearbook is called "Digital Project Life" on Becky Higgins' site and Facebook page. You can make an entire book and preview it before you pay anything--this is what I did...however I loved the end result so much that I ordered three of them. One for each of my children and one for me to keep.

I shared the finished book with my children last night as they were finishing their dinner--I treated it like storytime. It was so fun to see their faces light up as the pictures sparked various memories. This is something that NEVER happened with the digital pictures all closed up in my computer and the bins and bins of unused scrapbooking supplies. It feels SO GOOD to have my family enjoying these memories because that is what scrapbooking truly is about--it isn't about cutting and pasting and fancy fonts.

First Communion

2011-06-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Last month my daughter celebrated her First Holy Communion. She was doubly blessed because she celebrated twice! Of course only one was truly her "first" First Communion, but she wore her white garments for both.
Our parish priest celebrated the First Communion Mass and he is the same one who baptized her, so that made it extra special. She did a good job with the big chalice, too!
The following weekend, her school had their First Communion celebration and she was invited to celebrate again with her classmates in that parish. Although it was still a Catholic Mass, it was a very different sort of celebration (it was a dedicated First Communion Mass rather than having the celebration integrated into the regular Mass the way our parish does it) so it was interesting to see the differences.
My sweet girl looked beautiful on her special day. She wore a silk dupioni dress from Strasburg Children and I had her veil custom made by the woman who made my wedding veil. It is a child-size version of my wedding veil. Perfect for my bow-loving little girl who really really wanted to wear Mama's veil (that was too big and that was the wrong shade of white).
I bought her this beautiful rosary from Etsy...and, my favorite, a beautiful little clay bowl to keep it in.
This bowl is gorgeous and was packaged SO beautifully! It is personalized for my daughter so I can't show the details, but click over to Etsy to look at the shop for Clarey Clayworks. They make beautiful bowls for all sorts of occasions and will personalize them. It is just lovely and perfectly holds her new rosary.

New Shoes or Teva makes Mary Janes ?

2011-06-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

(new Teva shoes -- LOVE them!)

Two years ago I blogged about some adorable OKAb shoes that I bought. I still love those shoes...but last week I looked down at my shoes and realized that the sole of one of them was ripping in half! Not a good look. I crossed my fingers and hoped that my shoes would last until I made it home (they did) and promptly went online and ordered myself some new shoes.

The verdict? I'm in love! I had no idea Teva made mary janes, but I love these! The style is the Teva Westwater 2. They are perfect for running around after my children and for my lifestyle. They run about a half a size or more big (I read lots of reviews that referenced this and my experience backs this up). However, I have BIG feet and these do not make my feet look big...and I love that!

Two thumbs up!

End of Year Teacher Gift

2011-06-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again...the school year is winding down and it is time to let my daughter's teacher know that I appreciate the time and love she has put into teaching my little girl this year. Last year I painted terracotta pots with chalkboard paint and added a little bundle of chalk (tied with twine) plus some packets of herb seeds and a nice little quote. I had my child write a note to the teacher on the back of the note and it made a nice gift that didn't break the bank and that was, I hope, usable for the teacher. Perhaps we'll do the same thing this year since we've changed schools...hmm...my wheels still are turning on this one!

(Idea originally found here.)

Children's Artwork

2011-06-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Displaying my children's art in my home has always been important to me, but lately it has become increasingly important. Although I don't want my house decorated in plastic and primary colors, I do want it to be a place where children are welcome and where it is readily apparent that young people live and are loved. To me, displaying my children's art is one of the best ways to do this.

The refrigerator is a great place to start displaying those crayon creations, but I think it is important to show children that their artwork is important enough to showcase elsewhere in the house. Today I went around the first floor of the house and snapped a few pictures of where my children's artwork is displayed--other than the refrigerator! The first location is in the playroom (aka the room that used to be the dining room!). I've posted about this rod before--it is so easy to clip new artwork onto the rings. Oh, and those wood sculptures were made by my little boy. He is so proud of them--the red one is a fire station and he's still deciding on the other one. They're not out on display all the time, but they do make appearances.

I recently needed a little "something" for this side table in my living room, so I cut some cardstock in the size of these frames and gave one piece to each of my children and had them go to work. My five year old opted to draw a tree with a sunshine, rainbow, and flowers. My seven year old drew a picture of our blue house with a red door. They love seeing their artwork framed and I think their sweet drawings are the perfect "something" for my table.

Whoever designed this house opted to combine the laundry room and powder room--not a good combo in my book. At any rate, this artwork by my little boy is over the commode, but he doesn't mind one bit. I love having these cheery pieces in there because it brightens up a room I spend a lot of time in! His fingerprint rainbow and sweet tulips warm my heart.

My daughter's artwork is also in the laundry room, opposite my son's work. I had them do their paintings and then I cut out their work and mounted them on scrapbook paper before framing them. This tiny room instantly felt 10x more cheery with these additions to the wall. (Of course it would feel even better if I painted the cabinets and we finished installing the trimwork...)

Summer hasn't really arrived here, so I still have this spring bucket of daffodils that my children made two years ago--I love it! The jagged scissor cuts on the daffodils make me smile every time I see them.

In the kitchen these tiles are above my stove. My children made these when they were almost three and almost five--such a simple project that has a lot of impact. The glass is tumbled (so no sharp edges) and glued to plain tiles with white glue. Then the tiles are mounted into frames. Simple!

It isn't just about displaying my children's artwork, it is about incorporating it into our home. I don't want our home's decor to be all about what "I" want--we are a family.

Easy Paper Pennant Banner Tutorial

2011-05-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

We recently celebrated my daughter's First Holy Communion and I wanted a simple "Congratulations" banner to hang for the occasion. I made this banner out of scrapbook paper and grosgrain ribbon in an afternoon. I opted to make a very simple banner, but it could be embellished to be as fancy as you would like it to be.

Supplies:

scrapbook paper
ribbon, twine or yarn
adhesive
hole punch

Step One:
Cut out your triangles--however many you need for your banner. I needed fifteen to spell out my word.

Step Two:
Cut out your letters. I used my Cricut to cut mine out, but you could use any sort of craft cutter or even use letter stickers (from the scrapbook section of the craft store), a stencil, or just use a marker.

Step Three:
Adhere your letters to the pennants. I used scrapbooking adhesive (a tape runner) for this step, but you could use a glue stick or whatever you have handy.

Step Four:
This step is skippable, but I'm addicted to my corner rounding punch, so I used that on the corners of each pennant. Here you can see that I used it on the "C" but hadn't yet used it on the "O". I think it just gives my simple banner a nice finishing touch. Very skippable though if you don't have this punch.

Step Five:
Punch two holes in the top of each of your triangles and thread your banner! Use ribbon, twine, yarn--whatever looks best!

Step Six:
Hang your banner and admire your creation!

Tap Dance Headpieces

2011-05-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Why is it that all projects in my life seem to happen at the same time? Springtime is SO busy around here! I recently finished up thirteen headpieces for one of my daughter's dance classes.

This year her studio's spring performance is Peter Pan and it is fantastic! Seriously--laugh-out-loud funny in parts. Captain Hook sings (really sings) about being "bad" while channeling Michael Jackson. Hilarious stuff. They intersperse the "real" dancers and singers who have been studying for 10-15 years with the little ones who are just beginning and it becomes a great show to watch rather than an agonizing thing to suffer through.
Her tap class is dancing as clocks (to torment Captain Hook...their feet will make the tick-tock noise that he hates) so I was given the task of making clock headpieces...with zero budget...but I was given two feather boas and asked to make them work for all THIRTEEN girls. Yikes! Anything else was up to me (and up to my wallet). Double yikes! Here is what I came up with...I'm not super thrilled, but it looks decent from a distance and it stays on their heads (a comb is attached to the back of each one). They'll be wearing them at an angle on the sides of their heads, not perched right on top.

They're not as cute as the pumpkin headpieces I made two years ago, but my daughter is happy that we're continuing the tradition of me making part of her costuming. This is the fourth year I've made one of her headpieces, so I'm happy to keep the tradition alive for her.

And, by the way, they will not be wearing the bowlers. Can you imagine this feather creation on top of that hat? That wouldn't be pretty! We couldn't figure out how to make the bowlers work with ballet buns.

Hot glue and feathers everywhere...this accounts for some of my absence!

Vacation

2011-05-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Something about this picture resonates with me. I just love it. It is my favorite picture from our Easter vacation week.
That is my little boy walking up the beach and the church in the background is the Catholic church we attended on Easter Sunday. Such a sweet little church (lots of hand carving and nautical theming on the interior) and very nice people there too.
One last picture to remember our time at the beach this spring--winter hats and coats and rubber rainboots. Chilly temps and some liquid sunshine, but we still made it down to the beach!

Easter Vacation

2011-05-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! It is still the Easter season in the Catholic church, so technically I'm not late with my greetings even if Target has moved on and is selling 4th of July decorations already. We were on vacation for Easter and the week following and it was wonderful! We went on our annual beach trip and it was cold but tons of fun! Before leaving for our trip, we went on an Easter egg hunt.
Yes, the egg hunt was inside our local grocery store! It is fun for the children and perfect for our weather conditions. My children LOVE it and for weeks afterward hope they will find a stray egg leftover from the hunt. (It has never happened, but they still hope!)
Next we set out on our long drive to our vacation destination. Once we arrived, we went for a quick (chilly!) walk and then started getting ready for Easter as it was already Saturday afternoon. First we planted these magic seeds that I came across. (Idea found via Meet the Dubiens) The magic seeds enthralled my children as they had never seen seeds this big!
They planted their seeds in little pots and Easter grass (multi-colored crinkled paper) and put them in front of the "lovely" faux fireplace in the vacation condo. I told them I was pretty sure it would take all night for anything magic to happen, but they still kept checking.
Sure enough, by morning, two bunny lollipops had sprouted out of those pots! So cute! The children were thrilled and hope we come across some magic seeds to plant again next year!
We had a little egg hunt in the condo living area and the children were happy with their baskets. We've used the same baskets since my daughter's first Easter. I bought four identical wicker baskets her first Easter in the hope that I would one day have four children. I have been blessed with two children (and love them dearly, so I don't want to say "only" two children) so it looks like the other two baskets are for Mama and Dada.
These glasses make me smile! I think the Easter Bunny knew that Mama likes to take goofy pictures of her babies and this will make a perfect calendar picture!
Our Easter Sunday Mass was spent at a quaint little ocean front Catholic church. In this picture my children are standing in the church parking lot directly in front of our car. Look at that view! Breathtaking! The church was tiny but so sweet and the priest's message was wonderful. We really enjoyed the service.
One of our family traditions on Easter Sunday is to go for a drive after church and then get ice cream. Well, if you know the area, you can look at this family picture and guess where our vacation drive took us. We had a nice tour of this place and then enjoyed some fresh ice cream. Yum!
And, of course, no Easter is complete in our family without Bunny Cake! This one is rather messy and covered in crumbs and little fingerprints because I had lots of "help", but we had fun working on it together. I baked it home and we decorated it on Easter Sunday.

It was a busy day but so fun and so full of family time. Really a perfect Easter for our family.

Tulip Fields

2011-04-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

As usual in the spring, life is crazy around here. We took a break from the craziness last weekend though and took a trip to visit the beautiful tulip fields.
Luckily the weather cooperated and we had a break in our cold weather and pouring rain--it was actually sunny and in the 50s for a change! We enjoyed the sunshine and the beautiful blooms.
My daughter wore all her tulip gear--including her tulip sunglasses, sweater, and tulip turtle shirt! We've gone to visit the tulips every year since she was four months old and she has always worn tulip themed clothing from Gymboree. I'm going to be sad when she no longer wants to "dress the part" and match the flowers!
No tulip themed clothing for this little guy! He was happy to wear his froggy boots and look at the flowers. He was not so happy about the port-a-potty though--he's still complaining about that experience!
My last picture of the day is my favorite picture--and it is a genuine one. They adore each other and I adore them. (Yes, they do argue--but they really do love each other SO much.)

Wordless Wednesday: Artist at Work

2011-04-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Angry Julie Monday--go check out the neat parking lot she photographed. I've never seen one like it before!

Free Spring Crafts eBook

2011-04-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

Allie from No Time for Flashcards recently invited me to have one of my crafts published in a great eBook full of spring crafts. Needless to say, I enthusiastically accepted her invitation! There are 25 crafts submitted by 15 bloggers in this great free ebook! Download your copy and get crafting!

Click here to download your free copy!

Easter Decorations

2011-04-06T09:55:00.001-07:00

Despite a crazy weekend, I was able to get more of my Easter and spring decorating done--I showed you the mantel last week. Now if I could only get my house picked up too! This little vignette was inspired by the mossy vignette I saw over at Thrifty Decor Chick. I made my nest by putting paper lunch sacks through my shredder, my eggs are from JoAnn Fabrics, the mossy "rocks" are from Dollar Tree, and the sheet moss is left over from my bunny topiaries (more on those in a bit). Love this vignette and it looks great in my family room!
This colorful bucket of daffodils was constructed by my children two years ago and I love getting it out each year--it is such a fun pop of spring in the family room! I picked up the bunny at Goodwill last spring and spraypainted it white and he likes to sit right under the daffodils.
This is the art display in the playroom (click here for info on the vinyl and here for info on the display rack)--I finally took down the cute snowmen that my children made. Even though it is only 40 degrees outside, I'm determined to make it feel like spring inside the house!
I started off by making my bunny topiaries using bunnies from Pier One--they are mossy bunnies on a stick that cost about $2.99. Super cute and I've seen lots of versions of topiaries and crafty things done with them. I went for a simple topiary. Floral foam in a small clay pot topped with some sheet moss (cut to size) and then I jabbed my bunny stick (that I cut down just a bit) into the middle of the pot. I tied on a cute little pink bow and that was it! I love them!
In between the bunny topiaries I have one of my grandma's milk glass dishes filled with faux eggs. I have a number of milk glass dishes and containers, but my favorites are the ones that belonged to my grandma. In fact, now that I have a few (not many, but a few!) of her containers, I'm very close to getting rid of the pieces I picked up at thrift stores. The sentimentality of the family pieces means so much to me!
My living room is attached to the playroom (because the playroom really is supposed to be a dining room) so this next room flows right from the room with the piano. The table pictured above is right next to my couch. The subway printable came straight out of my inkjet printer and is from the girls over at eighteen25. I love their seasonal printables!
On the coffee table I have the same tray arrangement I did last year, including the glass pedestal I made out of a glass plate and candlestick. I get a lot of use out of that!
I also have these bunny themed Golden Books out on the coffee table for my little bunnies to read. They love it when I pull together seasonal book arrangements for them. I'm going to be sad when they outgrow this!
Here is most of the living room all decorated for spring. The messy playroom is off to the right...I shoved the excess mess out of the picture just for the picture. Isn't the little air hockey table under the window a nice touch? One of these days I want to build a console table for behind the couch, thus my barn stars are a bit high on the wall to leave space for the decor I'm planning to put on the table that doesn't exist yet. I like to plan ahead.

Ahh, spring is in the air!

Easter and Spring Decorating

2011-04-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

I spent Wednesday putting away my St. Patrick's Day decor and getting out my spring decorations and Easter decorations. I'm still tweaking some areas, but the mantel and table are done...at least for now!
Last week I posted about the boxwood topiary I currently have on one end of the mantel. Adjacent to the topiary you'll find a small stack of vintage books from my mother's childhood (Nancy Drew, I think!) topped with a ceramic bird candle holder. At the other end I have an apothecary jar filled with twig balls (I think I bought those from Target last year) and there are two bunnies (from JoAnn Fabric) perched near the base.
As an aside, the art work on the wall is made from scrapbook paper and MDF--inexpensive and effective! Click here for more info! I didn't distress it or anything!
My children are in love with these bunnies I use in my decor each year. There is a girl bunny and a boy bunny, so of course they've named the bunnies after themselves. They like to have the bunnies on the table positioned in front of their chairs so they can watch the bunnies while they eat. This year I switched things up and added the container of carrots to the table.
I love these carrots! I bought them this year at Pier One and wasn't quite sure how I would use them, but I just couldn't pass them up. I ended up popping them into an apothecary jar and just leaving the lid off the jar since they were too tall for the jar. It works for me and they make me smile. A jar full of carrots isn't exactly my usual type of table decor, but I'm liking it.
Hopefully over the weekend I'll have the chance to finish up my decorating! I can't believe it already is April! (Update: I finished my decorating!)

Linking to: Spring Mantel Party at The Stories of A to Z

Wordless Wednesday: Junie B Jones

2011-03-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday--and this one speaks a thousand words to me!

Linking to: Angry Julie Monday

Monogram Button Pillow

2011-03-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

I sewed up this easy pillow project yesterday and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. No tutorial because this project is all over the internet, but it really is very simple. If you've never sewn a pillow cover before, Cottage Magpie has a simple step-by-step tutorial that I've used several times with great results. This was my first time adding in the piping around the edge of my pillow and I'm mostly satisfied with the results. I do have room for improvement for next time though! (And apparently I should have ironed the front of my pillow. Whoops!)

I bought the buttons for my initial at Saint Vincent de Paul (they have a huge bin of monochromatic buttons) and drew a letter on the front of my pillow with a sewing pencil. Then I just sewed buttons on as I went. No fancy layout or anything like that. Except for cutting out the fabric, I did all of this yesterday--it really was a quick and easy project, nothing fancy at all!

I'm still deciding where to put it--I kind of like it here with my new ruffly pillows... At any rate, I'm really happy with the results!

Linking to: Hookin' Up with HoH at House of Hepworths

Ruffled Throw Pillows

2011-03-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

Last week I bought two of these great ruffled throw pillows at Costco for only $13 each! They're super soft and the fronts are covered in ruffles. They also had them in a gorgeous plum color, olive green, and one or two other colors. They were available in the square shape that I purchased as well as an oversized lumbar (rectangular) shape. I wanted the lumbar pillow, but they only had one left in the cream and the ruffles weren't looking too great on that one.

The one downside to these pillows is that they are spot-clean only...but for only $13, I bought two of them anyhow.

Sorry for the picture quality, we've been having some overcast and gloomy days around here but I couldn't wait any longer to share these pillows. They are gorgeous!

Lisa Leonard

2011-03-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Lisa Leonard is one of my favorite jewelry designers. Actually, scratch that. She IS my favorite jewelry designer. I love her pieces and always have my eye on new items on her website. Currently she is introducing new decor items--and TODAY she is giving away an adorable pewter heart banner on her site. Click on over to enter!

If you missed the heart banner giveaway on Wednesday, never fear! She is giving away oval wall hangings (your choice of engraved words) today, Thursday! Click here to enter!

I promise, you won't be disappointed! I own three of her necklaces and would be happy to own about ten more of them!

DIY Topiary

2011-03-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

Look at this beauty I picked up for $4.99 at Goodwill awhile back! So springy and fresh--perfect for Easter!
Ha, ha! Really I just liked the container--it reminds me of tin ceiling tiles.

I quickly pulled off all the gnarly (never thought I'd use that word in a blog post!) faux flowers and revealed this anemic looking ball underneath. So much for using that for my sleek new topiary. It isn't exactly in scale with the base.

So I wrestled it off--and a few of the extra twig things came off too. At this point I shoved the whole thing in a corner and left it...for over a year. I picked it all up again this weekend and it came together really quickly--and cleared some stuff out of my craft area (which was my goal).

So, after my year+ long break, I took this styrofoam ball that I had in my craft supplies and jammed it onto the pointy stick that I had coming up out of my container. It went on pretty easily. I bought the faux boxwood garland a few weeks ago at Michaels Craft Store using a 40% off coupon and it cut apart very easily using regular scissors.

I dipped each cut end of boxwood into some tacky glue before sticking it into the styrofoam because I didn't want my topiary falling apart and becoming a craft fail after all this time. This was working pretty well for me, except I didn't like the glimpses of white you could see through the boxwood.

A quick an easy cure for the white styrofoam--paint it apple green! I got out my craft paint and one of my daughter's paint brushes and slapped a bunch of paint on my styrofoam ball. And by a bunch of paint I mean a bunch of paint. It went on easily but it sure did take a lot of paint. I probably should have used a green foam ball to begin with, but white was what I had.

I (mostly) let the paint dry and then kept on sticking the boxwood sprigs into my ball. It went pretty smoothly and dipping the sprigs in the tacky glue really made for a firm set for the sprigs. When I was done I checked my supplies to see what I could cover the base of my topiary with and I came up with some moss that I hot glued into place. I added a little bow and I was done!

I love it--and totally wish I hadn't taken a YEAR off midway through the project.
Right now I have it on my fireplace mantle, but I'm not sure where it will end up. I have some other plans for some Easter decor for my mantle, but for now this new topiary will do. Behind it you can see the wall decor I made with scrapbooking paper last spring.

And, since I'm not the first (or the last!) to fall in love with topiaries, here are some more ideas for you:

Miss Mustard Seed (a fluffy version of a boxwood topiary)
Tales and Trials (apparently we even like the same black and white ribbon!)
Scissors and Spatulas (find some premade boxwood balls and go from there!)

Linking to:

Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at A2Z
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Hookin' Up with HoH
Look What I Found Friday at Vintage Revivals
Weekend Wrapup Party at Tatertots and Jello
Best DIY Projects of March at Beneath My Heart

Quick Floor Upgrade

2011-03-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

Boring builder heater vents. I've been staring at them for years and disliking them. We had new carpet installed in our house almost three years ago and put the same ugly heater vents back in place. There isn't anything wrong with them except that they hurt my eyes.

I finally decided "enough is enough"!
I bought new iron heater vents and like them so much better! I even propped a scrap piece of the new white trim against the wall so I could imagine how everything will look together...and I like it!

This was such a quick and easy upgrade--one that I'm mentally kicking myself for not doing earlier.

By the way, enter at A Bowl full of Lemons for a chance to win a Silhouette!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day from my little leprechauns!

Last night we had leprechaun pie for dessert and then this morning those dratted leprechauns tinted our milk green! Pesky little things! My five year old was not amused and next year he is determined to set leprechaun traps all over the refrigerator because he is tired of them doing that to his milk every year. Meanwhile my seven year old had to check all over our doors for leprechauns because she realized we have shiny doorknobs and leprechauns like shiny things. Alas she found no leprechauns hiding behind the doors.

subway art from eighteen-twentyfive

Have a great day--I hope the leprechauns don't play too many tricks on you!

St. Patrick's Day Teacher Gifts

2011-03-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon my little girl and I took some time and made a few small St. Patrick's Day gifts for her teacher and other key people at her school. I found a great tutorial for this project at Inspiring Creations and was able to find most of the supplies (except for the candy and little pots) in my stash of supplies here at home.
I mostly followed the instructions listed on the original blog, except I used a lollipop stick to hold up the shamrock (because I have lots of them!) and I didn't bother to glue the floral foam into the little clay pots, I just wedged it in there. The shamrocks are hot-glued onto the lollipop sticks and my daughter wrote little messages on a second green shamrock that I hot-glued onto the back of the stick.
Then we packaged everything up with a cellophane bag and tied with a gold ribbon and a cute tag (that I embellished with rub-on letters from my scrapbooking stash) and her little gifts are ready for St. Patrick's Day!

Bathroom Remodel in Progress

2011-03-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hello, electric blue faux marble counters and rubber ducky decor that I've now used in two homes (so for almost ten years now).
Hello, Hollywood vanity lights and big plain mirror.
Hello, oak cabinets. Yes, this is the bathroom that nobody but my children ever sees! I'm tired of cringing when I walk in there though and have had enough of that vivid counter--trust me, it is much brighter in person! The budget doesn't allow for a full-scale remodel, but a small-scale remodel is something that we can do!
I was pleasantly surprised that the oak backsplash came off so cleanly. It was nailed on (and not caulked to the counter at all, thus providing no protection at all) and having it come off cleanly (without damaging the drywall) really opened up our counter options.
Next my husband removed the sink and the counter. We were hoping to reuse the sink (for budget reasons) but he accidentally chipped the sink during this step. Whoops!
Next it was off to Home Depot to buy a piece of stock laminate counter. Remember, we're working on a tiny budget in a children's bathroom that NOBODY ever sees--no granite going in here! This was the best option we found. My husband cut it to size and hauled it upstairs...and we had a problem. Notice the front edge of the counter and the ugly oak trim around the door? Not going to work.

Except, I didn't really want a backsplash on the counter. We only bought one with a backsplash because that was all that Home Depot had on the shelf and I didn't want to pay extra to have laminate custom cut.
Hooray! Cutting off the back of the counter worked! No more electric blue laminate and now the new counter doesn't overlap with the door frame. A win-win situation! Next my husband did boring (but essential) stuff like cut a sink hole and install the new sink and faucet. Meanwhile I was looking forward to the next project--framing out that big ol' plate glass mirror!
We framed the mirror with simple MDF boards with straight cuts to match the interior window trim that is going up in our house--not that there are actually any windows in this bathroom... The MDF is held onto the mirror by Liquid Nails. I can tell you that we tried multiple ways to temporarily hold the boards in place while they dried (me standing there, painters tape, me standing there plus painters tape, me standing there plus lots and lots of painters tape...) but the absolute best way was putting these little wood blocks under the bottom edge of the mirror and the trim. No tape, no need for me to stand there. Otherwise everything kept sliding down the mirror.
My husband was quite concerned about what the exposed edge of the mirror would look like. So if anyone else out there is concerned, here is what it looks like after it is painted. I simply painted the edge of the mirror as well as the trim. I think it looks fine as it is, but you could hide it even more if you filled it in. For me it isn't worth it because you only see this edge if you are getting out of the shower or if you stick your face against the wall. In other words, I really don't think anyone will be paying attention to the edge.

And, if you are wondering, our mirror does have metal clips holding it to the wall. My husband notched out the back of the bottom board so that it fits over the clips and we left the top board alone. We just couldn't get good adhesion with the bottom board without notching it.

Still a work in progress, but so much better!
Speaking of so much better, look what is above the mirror now! No more Hollywood vanity lighting! Again, this light isn't my dream light fixture, but it is a vast improvement over what we had and it is just fine for our budget and for the children's bathroom. Compromise--in this case, I'm compromising with the budget!
So far--new light, new trim on mirror, new sink, new faucet, new counter...
Next up--paint the walls and ceiling, paint the vanity cabinet white, new shower curtain, new towels...and let's not forget getting rid of the oak towel bars and paper holder. (Can you tell that I'm not a fan of oak?)

Someday--change the bathroom door to a white door, upgrade the door trim and millwork, put the light switch and fan switch on a single plate to eliminate one of the switch plates on the wall to the left of the sink...

Linking to Hookin' Up with HoH and Tatertots and Jello

M&M Science Fair Project

2011-03-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

Pardon the lack of blog posts this week, but I have been consumed by my daughter's M&M science fair project--which unfortunately does not involve me consuming any M&M's!!
My seven year old has put SO much time and effort into this project! She has counted, sorted, thought, written, erased, rewritten, and put hours and hours of work into her M&M project. Her school science fair is coming up soon and, based on the results of that science fair, some of the children will have the opportunity to represent the school at the state science and engineering fair. Princess is very self-motivated and wants to go to the state science and engineering fair.
I'm doing my part and being a supportive mama--taking pictures, typing up her drafts, and tracking down the materials she needs.
Really though, this project is hers and I'm thoroughly impressed with the amount of work she has put into it. She is the youngest child in her grade (because she skipped first grade) and her academic skills amaze me.
Now her scientific report is written and we're working on the display board--and it is oh-so-cute!

First Reconciliation

2011-03-08T22:35:00.000-08:00

My sweet (squinty eyed!) girl made her First Reconciliation this past weekend and is thrilled to be one step closer to making her First Communion. She was the first child to make her confession and was so excited to use the confessional. She had the option of using the confessional with a visiting priest or sitting down face-to-face with the parish priest--who isn't our parish priest because she made her First Reconciliation in the parish where she goes to school rather than at our home parish. At any rate, she chose the confessional because she is fascinated by it. She didn't tell me what she confessed (and I didn't ask!) but she did inform me that her penance was to say one "Our Father".
After she was done, she made her First Communion banner (which has her name at the bottom--I attempted to clone it out in PhotoShop, thus the odd shadowing!) She will be making her First Communion at our parish church (with our priest who baptized her) and then the following weekend will be walking at this church's First Communion celebration where her classmates will be making their First Communion.

It is hard to believe my little girl is growing up! I ordered her veil today from the woman who made my wedding veil ten years ago!!

Children's Reading Area

2011-03-06T22:18:00.000-08:00

old family room and toy closet/play area

Prior to the spring of 2009, I had a very teeny tiny family room to go along with the teeny tiny bedrooms for my children. At a loss for what to do for extra space for my children's toys, I ended up turning a little used closet under the stairs into a toy closet for them.

old family room and toy closet/play area

They loved the space and it was a wonderful way to expand their play area without the expense of building onto our home. Fortunately in the spring of 2009 we were able to bump out the back wall of our family room and kitchen area. We added approximately 270 square feet to our house. Not only did this give us a larger family room, but it also enabled us to seat our entire family of four (plus a couple of guests!) at our kitchen table. This gave me the chance to move all of the toys OUT of the family room and into the room that had been the dining room. Moving the toys in addition to building the addition really made the first floor of our house feel bigger! (We're still stuck with teeny tiny bedrooms though...but at least they don't have many toys in them!)

After moving all of the toys, the toy closet ended up unused for over a year. Actually, it ended up being the place where I shoved all the stuff I needed to donate to charity. Finally I decided to reclaim it as a reading area for my children.
The little pink chair in the doorway is one I found in my old room at my mom's house. I think she bought it at Ikea fifteen years ago! I tossed a pillow on the floor as well as my children's Pillow Pets. (As an aside, I love having a "home" for these Pillow Pets! I'm big on toys having homes.)
I put Golden Books in a basket on the floor and put picture books in the book sling shelf along the back of the closet. The only item I bought for this reading area is the book sling I purchased from Amazon (it is by KidKraft and I paid around $50) but there are different versions at multiple retailers. Just like the rain gutter book shelves I put up in my son's room, I think it is great to have bookshelves that allow children to see book covers.
My children were so excited when I showed them their new reading area! They call it "The Book Nook" and love reading in there. It is a cozy space that they can make as snug as they wish. I love providing different areas for my children to read and this one definitely is proving to be a favorite of theirs.

Linking to Sanctuary Arts at Home's Refresh Your Room

New Windows ~ Grid or No Grid?

2011-03-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

With the exception of our recently completed addition, our windows are original to our house and are 15+ years old. We have multiple breached and leaking panes and some of them are so leaky that we have moss growing inside in the tracks of our windows. Gross and not exactly energy efficient.

This spring we intend to get new windows in our house (we're waiting on a bid from our contractor) and I'm currently trying to decide whether or not my kitchen window should stay plain, as it is now, or have a grid in it to match the rest of the house. Most of our windows have a square grid pattern, but for some reason the builder opted to leave it off of a few windows. It was an easy decision for us to add it to those windows when we replace them, but I'm having a tough time with my kitchen window--I've become rather attached to the open view of the backyard and the greenbelt.
We put up some blue painters tape to simulate the look of the grids we have on our other windows. Now I feel like I have a very patriotic view...and I'm still completely undecided on what I want to do with the window.

I won!

2011-03-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

Look what I just won from Today's Creative Blog and Just Ask! It is a Flip video camera! I'm so excited! I think this is the biggest blog giveaway I've ever won!

Stained Glass Cross Craft Tutorial

2011-03-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Last week I was looking for a fun craft for both my children and decided to have them make stained glass crosses. We had all the supplies on hand--tissue paper (that I cut into squares), clear contact paper, and black paper (that I cut into two cross outlines per child).
I taped down a section of contact paper (sticky side up!) for each child and put down a cross outline. Each child also received an individual bowl of tissue paper squares. Taping down the contact paper helped keep their projects from moving.
My preschooler went for the random approach for his stained glass cross.
My second grader aimed to cover every exposed area of her cross.
When your child is done with their masterpiece, put the second cross outline on top of the first (to hide the spots where the tissue paper overlapped the first outline). Then put a second sheet of contact paper down--with the sticky side on top of the artwork to seal everything inside. The final step is to trim around the project.

Beautiful!

Visit Lenten Ideas for Kids at Catholic Icing, Someday Crafts, and Weekend Wrap at Tatertots and Jello!

Ballerina Birthday Party

2011-02-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

My little girl turned seven in December and, to celebrate, we had a ballerina birthday party at our house. She has been in ballet lessons since she was three (literally--she won't even take the summers off, that is how much she LOVES ballet and dancing!) and currently her career aspirations are wavering between fairy princess and ballerina. Oh, to have such sweet dreams!
I made her invitations using supplies I purchased at Michaels craft store. I was heavily influenced by the sweet tutu invitation I came across on A Little Loveliness, but I adapted it to fit my own needs. I printed my invitation details onto pink cardstock. Then I sketched a basic leotard shape and made a pattern that I then traced onto my pink cardstock and cut-out all of the invitations. I used a small hole punch (that happened to be a small heart hole punch) and threaded a length of pink tulle back-and-forth through the bottom of the invitation to be the skirt of the tutu. At the neckline of the leotard I used a string of stick on faux pearls from the scrapbooking section of the craft store.
I absolutely LOVE the ribbon canopy over the party table. The credit for this design goes to Glory of Glorious Treats. I came across a picture of a party she did for her daughter and knew I had to do the ribbon canopy for my daughter. It was AMAZING and my daughter and I both loved the effect!
Look how pretty all those ribbons are! My husband built the framework for me out of some inexpensive wood and he and my preschool son painted it white. He screwed little eyehooks into it so that we could hang it from the ceiling per Glory's instructions. Then, one night after the children went to bed, we hung it from the ceiling using 3M Command Hooks--the ones with the little silver hooks. I tied all the ribbons on after it was already up on the ceiling. It took a LOT of ribbons!
I put the girls' tutus on their chairs. I bought these from Halo Heaven for less than $2.00 each! (I had a coupon code, so it was even less than the price on the website.)
The runner on the table is wrapping paper from Target. On the center of the table I put out some sweet treats for the girls. In the milk glass container I piled up pink strawberry Whoppers and I used the curvy edges of the container to hold the candy dipped marshmallow pops. (They're just like the ones in this post from 2009.) There also are small containers of strawberry dipped Pocky sticks. The cupcakes are on inverted wine glasses from the Dollar Store. I bought those glasses last year for my daughter's Fancy Nancy birthday party. The ballerinas on the plates were cut with my Cricut.
In the family room I had craft stations set up--ballerina coloring pages on the coffee table and a second table with supplies for making ballerina clothes pin dolls. We also dressed up the American Girl dolls in ballet outfits for the occasion! And, as you can see, I made a lot of tissue paper pom poms to hang from the ceiling. I love the visual impact this gave the space! Much more impressive than the streamers I've done in the past. Plus the heavy dose of pink helped to take away from the Christmas decorations that I also had going on (this was December, after all!)
When the girls first arrived at the party, they socialized and colored ballet pages that I printed off the internet. Then they made these clothespin ballerinas. I had the supplies all organized for them in tin soup cans that I tied tulle around. The ballerina pictured here is a sample one that I made. It was really helpful to make a sample as it forced me to streamline the process and simplify things a bit.
Next we had a ballet lesson from one of the senior company ballet girls from our dance studio. So exciting! She really worked those girls--it was fun to watch them! At the end of the mini lesson she got out her pointe shoes and those little girls were in awe!
Next we did "pin the bow on the ballerina". Not exactly a traditional ballerina game, but it works for us as my little girl ALWAYS wears hairbows! I found this cute clipart image of a ballerina online and it was simple enough that I was able to freehand it onto some posterboard. I gave each girl a bow with her name on it and stuck a piece of tape on the back of it. After that we played "pass the parcel" before letting the girls make their own ice cream sundaes.
Then it was cupcake time! (And in the background of this picture you can almost see a party decoration that I forgot to get a good picture of...big ballerina cut-outs done on the Cricut that I hung in the windows on clear thread...they moved/danced every time the heat came on and whenever anyone walked by. It was very neat!)

Happy Birthday, Pumpkin Pie! I love you now and forever!

I'm linking to Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Friday Favorites at Inspiring Creations, and Hookin' Up with House of Hepworths!

Teacher Appreciation Door Decorating

2011-02-25T10:09:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I talked about the gifts my daughter gave her teachers. Today I want to talk about door decorating. I've seen the idea of decorating classroom doors for teacher appreciation day online, but never in person--still, I was excited to bring this idea to my daughter's school this year. She attends a preschool-grade 8 school, so it was a bit of a challenge to make it work for all the grade levels, but I think we did it. The teachers LOVED it and were totally surprised by the doors.

The door pictured above is the door I decorated for my daughter's classroom. She is in a first/second grade classroom. I sent home flower petals with each child with a sentence starter on each petal for the student to complete. (My teacher is fun because... I like it when my teacher... ) Then the stem of the flower is made up of pictures of the children. The watering can says XXX showers her students with... and the droplets say patience, kindness, love, respect, and wisdom! Then I added a few cute little bugs to the picture (caterpillar, ladybug, dragonfly, butterfly, and a bee) and labeled them with the names of the specialists, the principal, the priest, and the office manager. It was a big hit and I had a lot of fun making it!
This is the preschool door--with the teachers names covered for privacy. The "A+" is on there because we also were celebrating Catholic Schools Week and the theme was "A+ for Catholic Schools". I forgot to take a picture of the kindergarten door, but it was covered with shiny stars and pictures of the children. Really bright and colorful!
This was the 3/4th grade door (with a lot of sunlight shining in on it from the stairwell!). I had to erase the initials of the school and the name of the teacher. What I really love about this door is that the room mother had the students AND the parents get involved. Each of those handprints has writing on it with things the individual (some students and some parents) appreciates about the teacher. I love this idea!
Whoops! This mom forgot to measure the door, so we had to do some cutting and rearranging when we went to hang the door decoration after school. Luckily it all worked out! She had each child do anagrams at home of a word they would use to describe the teacher and she included those words in the definition that is printed at the top of the yellow part of the paper. Perfect for a 5th/6th grade classroom.

I didn't take a picture of the 7th/8th grade door, but it was a simple poster and the room mother gave me a gift bag with some cards for the teacher to be put on the door knob. It is hard to get those almost-high schoolers to want to be crafty!

Here are some other resources for teacher appreciation door decorating that you may find useful:

I'm linking up to Jen's Weekend WrapUp Party at Tatertots and Jello, Show Us Your Best at No Time For Flashcards, and Show and Share Day at Just a Girl! By the way, I'm still trying (desperately!) to win one of those handy-dandy Silhouette machines! The Domestic Diva has one she is giving away!

Teacher Appreciation Day Ideas

2011-02-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

My little girl attends Catholic School and we celebrated Catholic Schools Week at the beginning of February. Teacher Appreciation Day was part of Catholic Schools Week--so we have that behind us already even though it seemed really early to be done with it. I thought I'd share what we did to show the teachers at school that we appreciate them.
First though, during my blog break I missed the chance to write down some news. My little girl finished up kindergarten last year at one Catholic school and then transferred schools over the summer to a different Catholic school (we didn't move). Her new class is a first/second grade classroom and almost immediately she was doing the second grade work rather than the first grade work--and by October she was officially moved up into second grade. She skipped right over first grade and has settled in just fine to second grade. Sniff, sniff--she is growing up so quickly!
Having her at a new school means I can reuse some of my favorite ideas from last year--no need to recreate the wheel! So we gave these water bottles out to the principal, office manager, music teacher, and PE teacher. I wrote a tutorial last year for how to make the pocket tag. This year I used a cute number printed scrapbook paper behind the Crystal Light packet and I like the "school" effect it gave the tag.
I made this box of office supply goodies (and chocolate!) for her classroom teacher. Yes, it is nearly identical to the one I made last year for her kindergarten teacher. I even used the same scrapbook paper! I found the idea on eighteen25 and just love it! The box is an embroidery floss box I bought at JoAnn Fabrics for less than $5.
My daughter's note inside is my favorite part. It says: "Dear XXX, You are a great teacher. You have us do fun activities like the one where we put celery in colored water. I like it when we play jump rope together at recess. I love you. Love, YYY"

Click here to see the door decorating we did for teacher appreciation.

I'm linking to Hookin Up with House of Hepworths for the first time. I have to say, HOH is a great blog (I must have been under a rock, how have I missed it for this long?!) and there are some great links going on over there too!

Family Exploring at the Garden

2011-02-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a beautiful but chilly day in our area. We took advantage of the break in the weather to enjoy a beautiful 150 acre nature preserve located fifteen minutes from our house.
It is an amazing place. There is an open meadow area, forested areas, manicured gardens, moss gardens, a Japanese garden, a waterfall, a French Chateau style estate home, a reflecting pool...just an amazing, amazing place to visit. All of this and breathtaking waterviews, too. I'm floored to think this once was a private estate.
My two don't really understand the concept of a Japanese meditation garden (I'm a little fuzzy on it myself) but they do know that they are NOT allowed to run through the carefully raked sand!
It was so nice to get out for a nice long walk as a family and do some exploring in a new area. We've been to this garden before, but we haven't really explored it much until today. Now we know we have to keep coming back to watch the changing of the gardens during the upcoming seasons!
They were fascinated by this little waterfall. I can't wait to come back in the spring and see all those rhodies around it in bloom! We did come across some early blooming flowers on our Saturday visit, but not any rhododendrons.
My favorite picture of the day! So fun!

By the way, for you Silhouette fans (like ME!), The DIY Showoff is giving away one! My Repurposed Life also has a Silhouette to giveaway! Head on over to enter...or stay away...far, far away so that I can win! ;)

Rain Gutter Book Shelves

2011-02-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

books on the floor...not very pretty or practical!

On Thursday I posted pictures of the twin trundle bed we built for our little boy using plans from Knock Off Wood and in those pictures you could see some new additions to Handsome's wall.

You see, once we added the bed to his room and took out the crib, his already small room seemed to get even smaller than before (I didn't think that was possible!) and his little bookcase no longer fit in his room. This meant his books were on the floor and this was driving me crazy!

My husband really wanted to build some nice wood bookshelves but his project list is very very long and I pretty much was DONE with the books being on the floor. So I convinced my very reluctant husband that putting raingutters inside our house was a good idea. He read the tutorial from Raising Olives and then went to Home Depot for supplies. A few hours later we had two bookshelves on Handsome's walls and no more books on the floor!

Ahh, so much better! There even is room for us to put in some nice wide trimwork instead of that flimsy builder-grade stuff...when we finally get around to that project. Better yet, I don't have to move piles of books when I vacuum!

Doesn't the shelf next to his bed look cute? Having the covers facing out is so practical and I love the length of the shelf--it lets me display lots of books for him to peruse.
This is what my babies started doing about fifteen seconds after they saw the new bookshelves!

I linked to Inspiration Friday!

Moon and Star Boy Bedroom Featured

2011-02-20T12:25:00.000-08:00

My son's moon and stars bedroom just was featured on The Shopping Mama. If you aren't subscribed to Kate's blog, you really should be--it is full of great shopping information as well as other good info for mamas. Head on over and take a look!

Knock Off Wood Twin Trundle Bed

2011-02-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

Last spring we started the process of building Handsome a bed. My husband and I decided to tackle the Farmhouse Twin bed from Ana White at Knock Off Wood. Then we decided to follow the extra steps in her plans to turn it into a trundle.
Building it was a long, long process, mostly because I'm a big chicken with power tools, so most of the actual building fell on my husband's shoulders and he could only work on it on the weekends. I did the finishing work, but he did the building (with some help from his pint-size helpers).
Our little guy was SO excited to finally get to try out his big boy bed! Unfortunately the grownups weren't quite so happy. You see, once we finally got the bed assembled up in his room, we realized that we should have selected a different bed as this is not an ideal bed for a small child whose bed needs to be up against a wall because, um, well, it doesn't exactly GO up against the wall. Our son could (and DID!) fit his entire body between the bed and the wall!
In this picture I have one pillow between the bed and the wall, but that is because I actually made his bed to take these pictures. You can see that the trim on the top of the bed plus the bed posts themselves make it impossible to put the mattress portion of the bed flush against the wall. Ugh. I really wish I had figured that out BEFORE we built the bed! Whoops!
At any rate, it looks pretty...especially when I make the bed! And, if you are wondering, his quilt is from Pottery Barn Kids and the sheets are from good ol' Target.

Come back later for info on the rain gutter bookshelves!

Linked to Show and Share at Just a Girl

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

2011-02-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

I love vintage mason jars and have posted about them several times. You can read about my decorating fascination here and here. Unfortunately most of the time my beautiful jars live in a a cupboard because I can't find a way to have them be functional but not be broken by my young children.

Then awhile back I came upon a wonderful tutorial by Heather Bullard on how to turn a vintage mason jar into a soap dispenser. I'm not going to repeat my steps because really I just followed hers--her tutorial is fantastic!
Look how pretty it is! It looks gorgeous in my white beadboard kitchen! MUCH better than the yucky "disposable" soap dispenser from Target that I've been using for five+ years! (Did you ever notice that in the "after" pictures of my kitchen that I don't have a soap dispenser? That is because the one I was using was so ugly that I didn't want it in the pictures of my pretty kitchen!)

I'm linking to Look What I Found Friday at Vintage Revivial!

Telephone Table Makeover

2011-02-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

I've been half-heartedly searching for a telephone table -- or some call them gossip tables or gossip benches --for quite awhile now. Something about them just really appeals to me. I practically squealed with glee when I saw this one at my local Goodwill. It was marked $20-something, but I had a coupon for making a donation, so I ended up paying around $17 for it. The cashier was quite jealous!

The cushion easily came out as it just was screwed in from underneath. I simply recovered it with some toile upholstery fabric I had leftover from a different project--the fabric just is stapled onto the backside of the cushion. I really should have redone the cushion foam, but I was too impatient.

My next step was to paint the entire bench with an oil based primer because there was NO way I was dealing with sanding all of those spindles! Because I was doing this inside my house due to the cold and nasty weather outside, I did this with a brush, but it would have been much easier to do the spindles with a spray primer. I did three coats of primer.
Next it was two (maybe three...I can't remember!) coats of my favorite Benjamin Moore Decorator White paint. This is the same paint I used on my beadboard kitchen cabinet project. Then it was time to reattach the cushion.

I love it and so do my little ones--I often see them perched on the bench. Sometimes they both squeeze onto the seat together! I'm thinking about rubbing antiquing glaze onto it, but I haven't decided yet.

Linking to Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest and Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello and Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog--come check out all the fun projects at these great link-ups!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

(subway art printable is from eighteen25 and I printed mine as an 8x10)

Happy Valentine's Day! This weekend has been full of crafting craziness at my house!
We started off making my daughter's Valentine box for her school Valentines. We had so much fun with this and she is confident hers will be the cutest shoebox in the class. I am quite sure we are the only family that utilized clamps (to hold the popsicle sticks in place as they dried) as part of the process. Hey, we take our crafting seriously in this household!

(The felt garland in the background is one that I made last year. Here is the tutorial in case you missed it!)

Next we made her Valentines for her classmates. Earlier in the week I took pictures of her blowing kisses. Gosh, it is hard to take good pictures of a child blowing kisses--I almost gave up! At any rate, we finally got the pictures done and I added some text and had them printed at Costco with a heart border. We stuck the pictures on some cardstock and on the back of the cardstock she wrote a Valentine message to her friends and signed her name--and then we attached a bag of kisses to each Valentine. So cute! "Kisses from ..." So cute!

We also did a fun little art project involving candy conversation hearts. I'm partial to these hearts since my husband used them when he proposed to me back in the Dark Ages. (Awww!)
My children made a few of these. This particular picture is one that my daughter made for her teacher. There just is some white school glue holding those hearts in place and she wrote a message for her teacher on the back of the purple cardstock. My preschool boy made some too--this is a project for all ages!

The crafting continued today with the making of a heart lei necklace. I read about this here. Super easy and I didn't have to buy any supplies for it. Win-win!
It turned out cute even though I made the hearts a little bit too big. Oh well, my little guy just likes the process of making "projects". "More PROJECTS, Mama!" is a constant request!
After a weekend full of crafting projects, this is what my crafting supply dresser looks like--the top two drawers don't even close. It was worth it though because we had FUN!
Fun, I tell you, FUN!

Valentines Lollipops

2011-02-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

My sweet boy has been dealing (or not dealing, as the case may be) with reflux since birth and for the last two+ weeks he has been having an especially bad time of it. Needless to say, he has not been up for crafting and definitely NOT up for making seventeen valentines for his preschool classmates.

Never fear, little man, mama to the rescue!

(the real valentines obviously have his name instead of a distorted bright red heart )

Didn't they turn out SO cute? Ahhh, I love them! And, most importantly, so does he! He was SO excited to deliver them to his classmates (and to himself!) yesterday at preschool--delivering these was about the only thing that made him even want to GO to preschool yesterday.

I'm pretty sure Alissa at 24-7-365 was the first blogger to post this idea, although now you can find the idea all over the place...but I think she was the original source...maybe! I did what she did except I used a razor blade to cut slits for the lollipop (instead of scissors) and I used mini Tootsie Pops because I think the smaller lollipops look cuter on the picture...plus I had them leftover from Halloween so they were free! But they really do look cute and they don't weight the picture down as much as the big lollipops do.

Featured!

2011-02-10T22:14:00.000-08:00

My little boy celebrated Valentine's Day at preschool today--and today his Valentine cards from last year were featured on Room Mom 101!

In case you missed the post from last year, click here to see my tutorial on the adorable melted crayon heart Valentines we made together for his classmates--they were a HUGE hit and super easy and inexpensive to make!

We're back!

2010-05-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

We spent the past week at the coast--so nice to have time to spend as a family! We had good weather for a couple of days and then it was cold, rainy, and breezy for the rest of the time. Oh well, we still had fun!
We saw gorgeous sunsets from our balcony the first two nights--after that it was too cloudy.
One of my favorite pictures from our trip. My baby and his dada. Love them. Lots.
This was our first time being there (we've gone to the same place for the past five years!) for the town's Kite Festival. Gorgeous huge colorful kites!!
I took lots of pictures of my loves...but no pictures of me where taken until midway through the week when I requested some photographic evidence that I was on the vacation too!
So, here is my proof! Me with my babies on an indoor carousel...I'm going to be sad when my little boy doesn't need me to hold him on the horse (well, rabbit in this case!) any more.
Oh and we ate ice cream. And we had ice cream for lunch. Twice. Totally unheard of in our family but definitely something we'll be doing again. Breaking "the rules" is fun sometimes!
On one of our last days the weather cleared enough for us to go explore a new beach. Yes my children are wearing winter coats (and bare feet!) on the beach. It was COLD!
Those giant rocks in the previous picture are COVERED in big barnacles and oysters...and we found starfish too!
Sea anemones!
And of course we had to take the requisite towel picture. They love this, for some strange reason!
This picture is from our last evening. The rays of sun piercing the stormy clouds...well, it was just breathtaking. My picture does not do it justice. It was one of those God moments.

Easy Necklace Holder Tutorial

2010-05-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is one of those projects I started months ago and last weekend I finally opted to take five minutes and finish it. I'm not sure why I procrastinated for so long! At any rate, this is an easy and inexpensive way to store and display your necklaces.
Prior to this, I was hanging my sturdier necklaces from some candleholders in the master bedroom. Functional but not exactly the look I'm going for in there!
I bought this picture frame (no glass in the frame windows) at JoAnn's for around $5 in their unfinished wood section. You can find the cuphooks and sawtooth picture hangers at a hardware store or at Target.
I used some craft paint from my stash and one of my children's paintbrushes and slapped some paint on the frame. My paintjob isn't perfect, but it looks fine. This step took me all of about five minutes standing at the kitchen counter.
After the paint was dry, I used the drill and made some small holes where I wanted my cuphooks to go. You could even tap in some small holes using a hammer and little nail. Then I screwed in my cuphooks.
Next you nail in your sawtooth picture hangers. Put two on the back--one at each of the top two corners...NOT just one in the middle...which I may or may not have done initially and which may or may not have caused the whole thing to tilt at a crazy angle when I may or may not have put my first necklace on the holder. You know, just in case you were thinking that might work...
Add in some pictures of your gorgeous little girl (or boy or husband or dog or whatever) and hang your holder on your wall and add your necklaces! Mine is on the wall in the master closet (thus the bad picture--no natural light in there!) and it makes me smile to see my beautiful little girl. I cannot believe how much she has changed over the years!!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-10T14:25:00.001-07:00

...or as we say in our family, "Happy Mama Day!"
Five years ago my little girl gave me a beautiful lilac bush for Happy Mama Day--and this year, for the first time, it is blooming! I took this picture last week because I'm so happy to see it bloom for the first time! It brings back memories of my little girl toddling around the plant nursery in her little pink skirt with her little ponytails sprouting out of the top of her head. So sweet...I miss that age so much!
We had a very good Happy Mama Day. I slept in (well, sort of...my husband did wake me up four times with questions/problems...but that's about as good as it gets around here) and then we went to church. After church we went out for breakfast at a new restaurant in our little town. The weather was gorgeous and we were able to eat out on the deck and watch the sailboats.
My husband got the hints I dropped for him in March and gave me the Lisa Leonard family tree necklace for Happy Mama Day. Ohhhhh, it is gorgeous!! It came with a discount coupon for a future order...this time I'm not hinting--I want to see what he can come up with on his own.
After our brunch, we walked around our little town for a bit before stopping at the bakery and buying cookies for the children which we took to the waterfront to eat.
Yes indeed, it was a HAPPY Mama Day!

Teacher Appreciation Day Pocket Tag Tutorial

2010-05-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

After making a gift for my daughter's kindergarten teacher, I realized I wanted to make a little something for the auxiliary teachers at her school for teacher appreciation week. These water bottle pocket tags are all over the internet--I have no idea who was "the first" on this one! At any rate, these work well for a multitude of occasions and were easy to adapt to fit teacher appreciation week.
First I marked and cut my cardstock (use cardstock, not construction paper, because you need the stiffness) for the overall size I needed for the unfolded tag. This took a bit of trial and error, but ultimately I made them 8 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches.
Next I marked my folds and folded the tag. The top part (where you see the circle) will be the top of the tag that goes over the bottle top. The other folded part will become the pocket of the tag. My original plan was to adhere the blue circles (made from cardstock) and then use a different decorative hole punch to punch through the circle...but my second punch couldn't be centered properly. So for a couple of bottles I used a blade and hand-cut a hole through the circle...then I realized I could abandon the blue circle and just use a scallopy punch and it would look even better!

At any rate, I modified my folds based on whether or not I used the blue circle. For the ones without the circle, both folds were at the two inch mark--these are my favorite tags. Remember, you're folding one end down and one end up. It will look like a zig-zag.
Here you can see my hand-cut hole for the bottle lid...I don't recommend this approach! The light blue rectangle is 3 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches and is the background for the drink mix that I put in the pocket of the tag.
This tag has just a scallop punch for the bottle top to go through--much better looking than my hand-cut circles! I used the pokey tool to poke holes for the star shape brads. It is one of my favorite scrapbooking tools! Usually I use brads as decoration, but these are holding the pocket together. Here you can also see the note I added to the front of the tag. I printed the note onto cardstock so that the paper would match the rest of the tag.
I took the original labels off the bottles, added my tag and some Crystal Light, and that was it! I made these during my son's naptime. We gave them out on Monday and they were a hit!

Teacher Appreciation Week

2010-05-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

Teacher Appreciation Week is this week! We have been so busy at our house and my brain is on overload--so I turned to the internet for teacher appreciation ideas and was not disappointed! Here are pictures of my version of an idea I found on eighteen25. I love this idea and it was fun to make! She has step by step instructions on her blog.

The box is a $5 embroidery floss divided plastic box I bought at JoAnn's--the black ribbon came from there too. The paper on the lid is from my stash, as are the black rub-on letters. I put my Cricut to use again (!!) to cut the flower for the lid. I did ink the edges of the paper on the lid--I thought it gave the paper a nice finished edge.
Inside the lid I did something a bit different than the original and had my kindergarten daughter write a note to her teacher. She did such a good job!
The box contains goodies for her desk--almost everything is from Staples. The mini hand-sanitizer is from my (rather large!) stash of sanitizer and the Hershey's nuggets are from Target. The rest is from Staples--mostly from their little "bulk" section.

I think our kindergarten teacher will like this and find it a nice change from coffee mugs and other typical teacher appreciation stuff...at least I hope she will!!

Vintage Mason Jars

2010-04-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

I've been collecting vintage mason jars for awhile now and first posted about them in July of 2008. Although I've been collecting them, I haven't actually figured out anything to do with them, so they've just been sitting in a cupboard. My interest in them was rekindled when I found a REALLY big one (without a lid...boo!) at Value Village for $5.99. So a few weeks ago when I was putting away my Easter decorations, I decided to put out some of my pretty jars as a centerpiece on my table.
The light streams through this window and shines right on my jars--so pretty! My little boy (don't you love his fishy face? that's what he does when he's concentrating hard!) told me that he likes them too.
I put two more jars and a vintage glass insulator, also in the pretty aqua color) on my black dresser behind the family room couch. Sad to say, I have still more jars tucked away in the cupboard. It is nice to see at least a few of them out on display though.
Speaking of the black dresser, I also put out the bucket of paper daffodils that the children and I made last spring. I still love this craft project just as much as the day we made it!

Spring Cleaning and Selling!

2010-04-19T21:03:00.001-07:00

No, I haven't disappeared--I've been busy cleaning STUFF out of my house! I've been selling things on craigslist, the local children's consignment store, and on eBay. Compiling items, listing items, and meeting people pass off items has been keeping me busy!

My children are really looking forward to summer swim lessons--which will cost me $200 a month--so my goal is to make enough money to cover the cost of their lessons. (My secret goal is to make enough extra that I can buy two barstools for my kitchen counter...but I'm keeping that goal to myself!)

I shared the "paying for swim lessons" goal with my children and they've been cheering me on and they're thrilled I'm already over halfway toward that goal. It has been a wonderful lesson for them in saving and working toward a financial goal. They don't receive allowances, so this is a bit of a new experience for them--especially in this age of debit cards and ATM machines.

Tulip Fields

2010-04-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

My little girl is on Easter vacation this week, so I've been busy having fun with my children. I'm sad that the week already is more than half over! Last Saturday we went on our annual excursion to the tulip fields. Princess wore her tulip sunglasses and tulip sweater and was so excited to see the beautiful flowers.

The fields were GORGEOUS!

The weather has been very chilly here though and it really doesn't feel like spring.

We did manage to dodge all the rain though--it was just windy and chilly for our visit.

Boots!

My little guy wanted to walk between the rows of tulips, but that isn't allowed.

Despite the cold, Princess took her winter coat off for a few pictures so we could see her tulip sweater. We've been visiting the tulip fields every year since she was four months old and every year she's worn tulip clothing for the visit.

There also are beautiful display gardens run by one of the tulip bulb companies.

My sweet boy.

The display gardens have the bulbs tightly planted and the colors are gorgeous!

We'll be back next year!

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter celebration as a family of four. On Saturday evening the children readied the baskets for the Easter Bunny. We reuse the same wicker baskets and the same green paper Easter grass every year and fluffing up the grass so that it is "just right" has become a tradition for my little girl.
After the baskets were ready, the children put them on the table in readiness for the Easter Bunny.
Easter morning started with an egg hunt in the family room. Despite the children trying to look in all the nooks and crannies, they managed to miss two eggs that weren't found until Monday afternoon! The eggs had pocket change or a couple of jelly beans in them.
Finally it was basket time! (The Easter Bunny did parent baskets too, but those weren't very exciting!) My six year old's basket included a box set of Tinkerbell books, a Junie B Jones book (the last one I'll ever buy--thank goodness these now are too easy for my little girl because I am not a Junie B fan!!), bubbles, a drawing toy, a set of American Girl ballet clothes for her doll, a Leapster cartridge, some lollipops, a little chocolate bunny, and a handful of jellybeans. A miniature American Girl Molly doll and hardback book set was under her basket. My four year old had a stomp rocket under his basket. In his basket were two books, a Leapster cartridge, Cars pencils, a drawing toy, a Leapster cartridge, bubbles, a Cars vehicle, some lollipops, a little chocolate bunny, and a handful of jellybeans.
We finished all that by about 7:15am. My children are early risers! We went to Mass and enjoyed a wonderful service. Doing the Resurrection Rolls last week really helped my little boy understand the Easter story and made it easier for him to pay attention during Mass.
After Mass we went out to brunch and then out for a drive in the countryside before stopping for our traditional Easter ice cream!
We arrived home and had some time to play with our little boy's new stomp rocket before dinner. It is a big hit and even intrigued some of our neighbors. I love that it doesn't require batteries! Even my four year old was able to make it go HIGH into the air!
After a simple dinner, we enjoyed bunny cake for dessert! We had a wonderful and calm Easter. It was such a pleasure to celebrate with our family of four and not feel as though we needed to rush any part of our day so that we could travel to meet up with our extended family. We love our extended family, however it is so nice to have a relaxing holiday with "just us."

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Easter Egg Felt Garland Tutorial

2010-04-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

Looking for a last minute Easter project? Try my Puffy Easter Egg Garland! Remember the Puffy Heart Garland from Valentine's Day? Well, this is the Easter version! I made this using only supplies I had on hand--I love free projects!
Step one! Make an egg shape pattern and pin it on your felt (I made all pink eggs--do whatever colors you like!) and cut out your egg shapes. I cut two eggs shapes at a time because I wanted to stuff them and sew them together.
Decide how to decorate your eggs! I cut out strips of white felt with my pinking shears. When I did the Valentine garland, I decorated with buttons. Do whatever you want!
Stitch your decorations onto your eggs. I sewed mine by hand because I didn't feel like hauling out my sewing machine. Plus this way I could do it while I watched television. The pin is there to keep the back piece of the egg matched up with the front piece.
Stitch partway around the egg (by hand or machine, doesn't matter!) and stuff the egg with Polyfill or felt scraps or whatever you have on hand. Then sew the egg all the way closed.
I used embroidery floss to stitch everything on these eggs because I have a lot of it and I think it is sturdier than thread.
The final step is to stitch the backs of your eggs onto some grosgrain ribbon. I put the ribbon up on my fireplace and then pinned the eggs in place. Then I took down the pinned garland and handsewed the ribbon onto the eggs before rehanging my garland.
(That's my six year old as a newborn in the hospital--except both my babies looked identical as newborns, so I keep it up there as a reminder of both of them. This was my inspiration picture while nursing my firstborn--we had an extremely rough start to nursing, so I would look at this newborn picture with her face all shiny with mama milk and remember why I was doing what I was doing. We went on to nurse for two years. My second child nursed until he was almost four. I am so happy I toughed out an absolutely miserable start to nursing because it ended up being one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.)

So, there you have it! A last minute free Easter decoration that you can make while watching television. Crafting doesn't get much easier than that!

Magnet Board for under $5

2010-04-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

I found a great tutorial on Beneath My Heart for a magnet board. I'm trying to make the wall area above my crafting table look cute...and this is a great start!

The base is a piece of aluminum--I bought mine at Lowes for less than $5--but don't be like me and tell the guy you're looking for tin...because then when he asks what you're doing with it and you say "making a magnet board" he is going to give you a strange look and remind you that tin isn't magnet. And then you just might tell him "well it will be when I'm done with it!" which then just might cause him to ask what strange alchemy (yes, he just might have actually used that word!) you'll be doing to turn it magnetic...at which point you might mutter something about maybe using magnetic paint or something like that while simultaenously beating yourself up for asking for help in the first place.

Anyhow...
Traci at Beneath My Heart used cork to thicken up her board. I don't have cork, so I just used thick cardboard. I cut strips and hot glued them to the border of the aluminum (not tin!)
I plopped this aluminum/cardboard thing onto the backside of some fabric from my stash and cut out a large rectangle.
Then I hotglued the fabric onto the back of my board.
Next I glued a bow onto the front of the board and a ribbon hanger onto the back of the board. Do you recognize the fabric? Probably not. Anyhow, it used to be the mistreatment over my kitchen window. I've since abandoned those--I just don't have the mistreatment knack. So, I repurpsed the fabric.
I cut an extra piece of fabric and hotglued it onto the back of the board just to pretty things up a bit.
And that's it! I have plans for the magnets I want to make but I haven't made them yet. Not bad for less than $5!

Wedding Crinoline into Dress Up Skirt Tutorial

2010-03-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

Princess is outgrowing most of her dressup clothes but definitely hasn't outgrown the desire to play dress-up yet. She has always been tall for her age and now, at age 6, is 51.5 inches tall--yes, she's a tall one! She is in kindergarten but looks as though she should be in third grade. The dress up clothes that fit her as a three year old no longer work.
While browsing at a thrift shop, I came across a bridal slip on the rack and thought, with a bit of tweaking, it would be perfect for my little girl. It had a small hole in the bottom tier of the skirt which made me happy because I was able to get the price knocked down even lower--I think I paid about $2 for this slip!
I brought it home and, after washing it in the machine and letting it air dry, I cut off the top of the slip--this slip had an elastic band at the top and a long zipper. I cut it off just below the zipper. I didn't do a very good job cutting it at all!
Nice jagged edge! I told you I didn't do a good job cutting it! My next step was to pin the inside and outside layers together. This stuff was slippery! Then I used my sewing machine to sew a straight line around the edge to keep those layers together. Next it was time to deal with that hole in the bottom tier.
First I cut it out. (Please note that I redeemed my cutting skills on this part...nice straight cuts!)
Then I stitched the opening closed and sewed over the little tab of extra fabric at the top.
No more hole for my children to "accidentally" rip and make bigger...and bigger...and bigger... This extra line of stitching will get lost in all the pouf of the slip.
My final step was to fold over the fabric at the top of the slip and make a spot for the elastic to go in. As I mentioned before, this fabric was slippery and I have no experience sewing or pinning this kind of stuff. I just folded it and sewed a straight line. I left an opening for the elastic and threaded it through (I already knew my daughter's waist measurement from some skirts I made for her) and then sewed my loop of elastic shut and then sewed the opening shut. That was it!
And that was it! One bridal slip turned into an extra twirly dress-up skirt for a very excited little girl!

Yes, she loves it!
(I'm not sure why it looks bunchy in this picture--it looks great in real life!)

Here is when I realized that I have my own bridal slip just.like.this.one. upstairs in the closet taking up space. ARGH. Can you dye these? Maybe I can dye mine pink and make another twirly skirt for dressup? Hmm...

Egg Carton Craft

2010-03-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, let's try this post again! I had to delete it on Sunday after somebody posted a link to my site on another site and I started getting slammed with unwanted traffic. Those people did not have good intentions.
Princess and I did this craft from Catholic Icing on Palm Sunday in preparation for Holy Week. She had a wonderful time crafting with mama while her brother napped. We talked about the disciples and she really enjoyed herself. She's bringing it to school on Thursday for kindergarten show-and-tell. Perfect timing for Holy Week!
You'll have to visit Catholic Icing for the full instructions, but I can tell you that the only supplies needed are two egg cartons, printouts from the blog, glue, scissors, and something to color with. Princess did all the coloring and I did the cutting and gluing.

Featured at No Time for Flashcards

2010-03-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to be this week's featured blog at No Time for Flashcards! I love Allie's blog and my children and I love trying her craft projects and ideas.

By the way, if any of you caught the Catholic crafting post that I put up a couple of hours ago and then deleted, I apologize for the inconvenience. I hope to post it again in a day or two. Unfortunately in the less than two hours it was up, it attracted some unwanted attention on a different blog, including a hurtful comment about my little girl. I couldn't figure out how to block that website, so I took the post down.

My New Lisa Leonard Necklace!

2010-03-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

I am now the proud owner of a Lisa Leonard Designs necklace. It is gorgeous beyond all belief and I'm thrilled to bits to have it! I was fortunate enough to win it in a giveaway sponsored by Beth at The Stories of A to Z. The absolute BEST part though, is that I chose my favorite Lisa Leonard design--one that I have wanted since it first appeared on her site. One that I asked my husband for...and didn't receive. (Ahem, husband, order NOW for Mother's Day--I really like THIS necklace and would like all of our names with yours first, mine last, and theirs in between. Let me know if I can be of more help. Mmmkay?)

Anyhow, now that I have that out of the way, look at how beautifully the necklace was packaged! All that crinkly paper cushioned the box in the envelope and the box came ready for gift giving!

Ahhh. G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S.
LOVE IT.

It is even more beautiful than it looks in the picture. I really really REALLY love it. You know, just in case you couldn't tell. Now there are roughly ten kazillion more Lisa Leonard pieces I would love to have.

I want to do family pictures this summer and I've already decided that this necklace MUST be included in the pictures. Nothing like selecting your jewelry before you figure out the clothing.

I was too shy to ask Lisa if she would sponsor a giveaway on my blog. Sorry about that. I can tell you, however, this necklace is gorgeous and you want one. You really really want one. And I want another one. (Ahem, husband...)

Projects in Progress

2010-03-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

Whoah, Nellie! I am in the midst of, dare I say, TOO MANY PROJECTS! What kind of crafter are you? Do you do one project before the next, or do you have ten bajillion of them going at the same time. It is feeling a bit chaotic around here--but I'm proud of myself, I went to JoAnn's AND Michael's today to return things and all I bought was one dowel at JoAnn's. I didn't allow myself to browse at all because I don't need any temptation to start new projects right now!

Here are pictures of some of my works in progress. (I say "some" because from where I'm sitting in the family room I can see two more...and I know that isn't all!)
This project is SO close to being done...I just need to find the right photographs and hang it up. Except I might repaint it (again) first. Hmmm.
This project actually is done and hanging on the wall, but I have so many unfinished things piled in front of it that I can't take a picture. Or at least not a picture that will actually show you THIS project and not all my other unfinished stuff.
This one is done too--but in the same vicinity as the one above and thus also partially obscured by STUFF.
This one is so close to being done. So close. But my little guy has been having fun playing with the pieces, so I've procrastinated finishing it up.
This is the BEFORE picture of this unfinished project. I've been at a standstill on this one for six weeks (after first stripping off all those hideous flowers and leaves) because I'm not fortunate enough to have a Hobby Lobby anywhere nearby and thus can't find faux boxwood. Woe is me.
This one I'm actually done with...but have yet to edit the pictures (as evidenced by the really dim picture posted here!)
Haven't started this project. I do, however, have a sanding block, folded dropcloth, and can of spray paint sitting on my kitchen floor waiting for me to start...does that count?
This is a BIG project involving our whole family. Let's just say Handsome is VERY excited about this one!
And then of course there are these projects--my most important projects of all. Having the opportunity to help shape and form them is amazing and one that I am so blessed to have. I love these children so incredibly much.

Sewing with Children

2010-03-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of hand sewing lately and Princess has been eyeing my needle and thread rather longingly. I finally got myself together and got her some sewing supplies. I bought all of these supplies at JoAnn's. I don't have yarn, thus my purchase of these little spools--they were right next to the plastic canvases and were $1 each, except for the ones that were clearanced.

HOWEVER, don't be fooled (like me!) and buy the children's needles that also are stocked right next to the canvases because they don't actually fit through the holes on the plastic! So frustrating! Luckily I had a fairly blunt regular needle (a tapestry needle--not that I've ever sewed a tapestry) in my supplies that she was able to use.
Be sure to check the thrift stores, too! My St. Vincent de Paul had this bag of square canvases for less than a dollar! They had a bunch of other ones, too.
She was thrilled and got the hang of it right away. I threaded the needle (because the yarn really was too big for the eye of the needles I have) and tied a knot on the end of the yarn, and that was it!
She was so excited to be "sewing like Mama!!"
I had to kick her out of the house and make her go play outside--she wanted to stay inside and sew her little heart out!
The proud little seamstress with her first sewing project. I'm keeping it forever! She now is hard at work on a creation of her own design--alternating pink and purple rows on a square canvas.

Linked to Mom Tried It

Easter Egg Wreath Tutorial

2010-03-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

My children love plastic Easter eggs, so even though I would prefer a classy grapevine wreath with some nice speckled faux robin eggs and maybe some burlap ribbon...I wanted them to be excited about this, so I went for the cheap plastic Easter eggs. Read on to see how to make this inexpensive and easy wreath!
I bought this foam wreath at St. Vincent de Paul for 45 cents--woohoo!
Then I covered it with ribbon from my stash...only to realize I didn't have enough of this yellow ribbon. I thought about covering the rest of it with orange ribbon, then I decided just to skip the ribbon altogether--so I removed all of this and left my wreath bare.
Next I gathered my eggs from Dollar Tree (I later went back and grabbed a fourth bag) and my glue gun and started gluing.
I just smooshed them as close together as I could. Make sure the eggs don't pop open! I didn't put any on the backside of my wreath, but I did do the inner and outer edges. I used 3.5 packages of eggs, but that amount would vary based on the size of your foam wreath.
I took some wired yellow ribbon from my stash and tied in around the bottom of the wreath and then tied a bow. I hot glued the loops of the bow down...and that was it.
It looks so cute on my front door (I looped ribbon around the wreath and nailed the ribbon into the top edge of my front door--the flat part on the very top, not the front of the door) and my children are thrilled with it. They told me it makes them get excited for Easter egg hunts!

Not bad for less than $5! Have you made a similar wreath? I'd love to see it! I know one of my Facebook friends made a really similar one--hers has tulle on it instead of grograin ribbon though. I love seeing how we can all use similar supplies and yet make projects our own!

I'm linking up to DIY Day at ASPTL.

Great Idea Day

2010-03-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Join in on Great Idea Day at Infarrantly Creative by clicking the button above. Lots of good ideas to be found!

I'm sure some of you do this already, but I'm sharing it anyhow. I keep one of these bags on top of the hamper in each child's room and put socks in them. I've been doing this since they were itty bitty babies (well, they were each well over ten pounds at birth...but that is as itty bitty as my babies get!) and it has worked so well to keep their socks together. I especially recommend it for those teeny tiny baby socks. Now that my babies are four and six, it probably isn't quite as necessary as it once was. No more socks getting stuck inside shirts and getting "lost"!
This idea is leftover from my student teaching days. I label every puzzle piece in this house. This way if/when they get dumped out, it is easy for the children (not me!) to put them back in the right boxes. In this puzzle every piece has a "CG" on the back and then the inside of the lid AND the inside of the bottom also are labeled with a "CG". I try to give every puzzle a different letter or symbol.
I love this stuff. My daughter takes a cut apple with her every day to school and sprinkling this on the apple slices keeps them from browning. I've used this little bottle every school day since September and it still is going strong! I found it with the canning supplies in my local grocery store. It is by Bell and is called Fruit Fresh. Two enthusiastic thumbs up from me!

Do you have great ideas to share? I'd love to hear them!

A Touch of Spring

2010-03-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to bring a touch of spring into my house right now. My inspiration is a beautiful little bowl I found at Goodwill in an apple green or lemongrass color. Very pretty and very springy! I'm trying to take myself out of my comfort zone (aka, same old, same old!) and try some new things with my decor. Lemongrass definitely is a new color for me, but I'm really liking it a lot.

My inspiration for one of my recent projects is a faux flowerbox that Samster Mommy posted. I made the project my own, but she definitely planted the idea in my head.
I started with this empty tin pot I had out in the garage--it is leftover from some beautiful potted tulip bulbs I bought myself at the beginning of February.
I bought these ranunculus at JoAnn's where they were, of course, 40% off. They're a spring item and not part of the regular floral stock.
I bought floral foam at JoAnn's too and used a regular table knife to cut it into pieces that would fit into the bottom of my bucket. Then I used the wire snipping part on my husband's brand-new pliers to cut my flowers apart. I used only the blooms and skipped all the spiky and beaded things.
Voila! My new bucket of flowers! This vignette is sitting in my $5 Target tray from last year and the flower bucket is on the cake plate I made last March. My favorite things in this little display, however, are the books sitting under the glass hurricane.
Those books were my aunt's books when she was a girl--I love books with inscriptions! My grandma gave out all the old books years and years ago and eventually ended up giving out books only to the offspring of the original owners of the books, but she apparently slipped a few extra into my pile of vintage Nancy Drew and Dana Girls books. I love them and can't believe they were a gift 50 years ago!
This is another table in the same room. This arrangement still needs some tweaking--but that little bowl there is my inspiration for the room.
It is an ironstone bowl in the Emerald Isle color that I found at Goodwill--the only ironstone I have ever found there. Also on this table are some spring themed books that I pulled from around the house. I love pulling books for my children and putting them out on display--it seems to pique their curiosity a bit and entice them to revisit old favorites.
Speaking of inscriptions, this book was a gift to me on my 5th birthday by my preschool teachers. Love it!
And here is the whole room, ready for spring. On the right side of the armoire you can see the table with the chalkboard that I talked about yesterday. And yes, this room usually is quite clean as it is the first room you see when you open the front door. Our playroom (formally a dining room) is on the other side of the blue couch...which serves nicely to hide most of the mess on the floor back there!

Chalkboard Tray

2010-03-17T16:29:00.001-07:00

I bought this silver tray at Goodwill for around $7 (it was the end of January...now I forget the exact price!) It is heavy enough to be real silver, but I suspect it is silverplate--not that it really matters. The cashier did comment on its heft though! It was a tarnished mess!
LOTS of tarnish, to say the least! It came off pretty easily though with silver polish and revealed some scratches on the surface of the tray. I would have been disappointed had I been buying this tray for something other than a craft project.
All sparkly! After cleaning it up, I painted it with some chalkboard paint that I had out in the garage. I didn't do a very good job though because I ended up with some tiny bubbles. I had big plans to hang this on the end of some of my cabinets, but it wasn't quite the right size...so it has been stuffed into a cupboard for a couple of months while I tried to figure out an alternate solution.
Today while at St. Vincent de Paul, I came across a really cute black plate holder--much cuter than the dollar store plate holders I had already tried. Better yet, it was only fifty cents! I've been updating my living room for spring and I think this fits in perfectly!

Entry Way Storage

2010-03-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

image courtesy of Pottery Barn

Several years ago I fell in love with the Pottery Barn entryway storage systems. We have a teeny tiny coat closet (it has about 18 inches of hanging space) plus we are a "no shoes in the house" family which is pretty common in this area.

image courtesy of Pottery Barn

However I did not fall in love with the Pottery Barn pricetag! After eyeing the pieces some more, I realized that I could find VERY similar pieces at other stores--the other stores don't have pictures as nicely styled as PB, but the furniture pieces are similar in look. (The PB pieces above are not the exact same ones that I wanted, but they do happen to be the ones that exist as knockoffs now.) Rather than spending $500 plus shipping from Pottery Barn, I spent around $150 at JC Penney. I have been thrilled with the pieces...with one notable exception...
Here is the shelf portion of my entryway. See those cubbies? I could not find baskets ANYWHERE to fit them. Everything was either too big or way too small. Crazy! (By the way, JCP now sells their shelves with baskets.)
Finally, after looking for baskets for a few years, I had a brain flash. My husband and I had shoeboxes from our Merrells (ie the shoeboxes were larger than most shoeboxes) that would fit perfectly! I cut the tops off the boxes and then covered the boxes with wrapping paper from Target.
They're still a bit short for the openings, but they are a big improvement over what we had before...or rather, what we didn't have. The wrapping paper covered boxes aren't necessarily very sturdy, but I'm the only one who pulls stuff out of them, so it works.

This is the unedited view of our entryway this weekend--camcorder, swim goggles, outgrown ballet shoes, shipping box, and all! I love the bench and it is a nearly identical knockoff of the bench Pottery Barn used to sell. (Do you like all the backpacks? I promise I have just one child who goes to school...despite the four backpacks!)

It has turned out to be a very functional space for our family and it is one that I can "pretty up" very quickly when we have company. My JC Penney pieces have held up really well...although I am tempted to switch the bench out for one with storage underneath. I used to have a big basket for shoes under the bench, but didn't put it back after we refinished our hardwoods last spring.

Master Bedroom Closet Update

2010-03-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

Our master bedroom closet was a disaster. I'm not exaggerating, either. The wire shelving was pulling out of the walls (or, in the case of one shelf, fell out five+ years ago), the closet had never been painted since the house was built in the mid 90s, and we had stuff EVERYWHERE. You see, we have a decent size house but we lack decent storage--no basement and very very limited attic space (basically enough room for our Christmas decorations.) Because of this, I tend to stuff everything I can into our closet.

It was bad--are you ready?

This is looking to the right after you go into the closet. I was gathering up stuff for a consignment sale, so I have even more bags and tubs of stuff than usual stuffed in here. The shelf with all the white hangers was falling out of the wall on the left side, so I could only put clothes on one side of the shelf. There used to be another shelf in here, but it fell down shortly after we moved into this house and we never fixed it because we knew we were going to redo the closet...we just didn't realize how long it would take us to get around to doing it!
See, here is that same side of the closet all emptied out of stuff. Not pretty! You can see where the anchors are for the shelf that fell down as well as the holes for the shelf that is halfway to falling down.

Last year we were at Costco and saw a beautiful wood closet system there--I think it was about $300 or so. At any rate, it was a great price for a quality system, so we bought it. We put it in the garage and left it there. For a year. Ooops. Finally enough was enough and I decided that we were going to do our closet and get it done with. And by "we" I mean my husband. I helped empty the closet and find stuff to donate and then I put everything back in the closet afterward, but he did the building and painting.
Ahhh, so much better! Compare that to the first picture on this post--what a difference! The closet system is SO sturdy and looks so nice! It is the John Louis Home Premier System in Red Mahoghany. I love it! You can configure it in all sorts of ways and all those shelves in the middle are adjustable. Gorgeous. I don't think Costco sells it anymore, but I did find it on Amazon. Unfortunately the Amazon price is at least $100 more than what we paid--but it still is worth it.
Love it!! It installed pretty well, too, according to my husband, and it is SO sturdy the way he installed it. We did have a couple of pieces (a camlock and a closet bar support) break while he was installing it. I called the customer service number and the telephone was answered by a real person (that shocked me!) who was so nice and polite. She shipped out the problem parts without any hesitation and we received them within just three days--and we do not live anywhere remotely near their corporate offices. Absolutely amazing customer service.
Remember that wall with the falling down shelves on the right side of my closet? Here it is now. No more shelves! We took everything out of the closet, filled in the holes from the old system, ripped off the baseboards (they're still MIA--we're slowly upgrading all the trim in the house to white millwork) and painted the whole closet white.)
I still have a lot of totes in here, but it isn't overwhelming any more...mostly because all the consignment sale stuff now is downstairs in what used to be the toy closet...the sale is next month and I'm looking forward to getting rid of this stuff!
Ahhh!
This is the left side of the closet. Love all this space. We can actually walk into our walk-in closet again! I'm thinking about moving a dresser into here to open up space in our bedroom. And yes, I know the "red mahogany" color doesn't match the oak of the doorframe, but remember, we're (eventually!) changing everything to white--including the trim and doors.
The bars are metal and the hangers can slide along the full length. I still have more organization and decorating to do in here. I want to get big flat boxes to put on the tippy top shelf and use those to collect gifts for my children. That will eliminate a few of the totes I have stored in here.

Definitely more projects to come in here--but for now we are so happy to have a closet that doesn't make us cringe every time we open it!

Giveaway Winner

2010-03-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Marshall's giftcard is Trish! Please email me with your mailing address, Trish!

Glimpses of Home

2010-03-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

Emily at Chatting at the Sky is having a "Glimpses of Home" link. I think this goes along so well with the latest blog fascination with "keeping it real." So often we share pictures like the one above--staged to look pretty and cropping out those pesky details of real life. (The picture above is of my not-so-formal living room decorated for Valentine's Day.)
If I had shifted over just a bit, you would have been able to see this--our playroom tucked behind that not-so-formal living room.
And if I had walked over behind that blue couch and into the playroom, this is what you would have seen. This is what my home really is like--Big Elmo headfirst in a shopping cart with finger puppet gloves on the floor and an abandoned Thomas the Tank Engine Oil Depot waiting for a little boy to come back and play some more.

This is real. This is home.

Remember to enter my 200th post giveaway--I'm giving away a Marshall's giftcard!

Tumblr

2010-03-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

Do you Tumble? After having an out-of-control bookmark list in Firefox, I finally started a Tumblr account and I'm in love!

Tumblr has a "bookmarklet" (listed under "goodies" on your dashboard) that you can click and drag to your tool bar. Now when I read a blog article or magazine article that I like, I click on my "Share on Tumblr" button and post the article to my Tumblr account. It pops up a little window that lets me choose the type of link (I usually choose to post it as a photo) and put some tags on the link...and that's it! So easy!
Want to check out my tumblr page? It is http://frillsfluffandtrucks.tumblr.com/ and still needs some prettying up--but it is functioning really well for me.

Do you Tumble? Post your page--I'd love to check it out!

By the way--make sure to sign up for my 200th post giveaway!

200th Post Giveaway!

2010-03-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

Happy 200th Post to Me, to Me! Happy 200th Post to Me!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

In celebration of this momentous occasion (ha, ha!), I'm giving away a $25 giftcard to Marshalls. Here are the ways you can enter this giveaway

Comment on this post
Subscribe to my blog (or let me know you subscribe already!)
Become a Google Follower (or let me know you're one already!)
Follow me on Twitter (or let me know you do this already!) AND tweet about this giveaway
Promote this giveaway on your blog (post your link in the comments!)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry--up to a maximum of five entries. That's it! Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy! The giveaway is open through Friday morning and I'll announce the winner on my blog over the weekend. Make sure you check back to see if you won!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

Wall Decor On a Budget

2010-03-04T04:00:00.000-08:00

The "after" ... read on for an explanation!

When we did our house addition last year, we took advantage of having things ripped apart and we replaced our fireplace insert, had travertine tile installed around the fireplace, and a bigger mantel built. We really love our new fireplace, but I've struggled with how to decorate the wall space above it. I had a big Pottery Barn circular candleholder over our old fireplace but, after 5 1/2 years, I was tired of it!
We lived with the blank wall for about six months. Then, shortly before Christmas, I was fed up with the blank space, and put up an old (kind of lopsided) twig wreath that I had out in the garage. That lasted about two months before I just couldn't take it any more. It was bad! We went back to a naked wall for six weeks and then I finally remembered an inexpensive wall treatment I first saw on Nesting Place almost two years ago. Scrapbook paper to the rescue!
My husband cut some MDF (leftover from our Pottery Barn knockoff bookcase project!) to 12x12 for me. Then I painted the edges with brown craft paint and let them dry.
Like my fancy drying rack? Ha ha! My next step was to use spray adhesive and attach scrapbook paper to the fronts of the squares. Then I nailed sawtooth hangers on the back of each square (bought those at Target although they're also sold at hardware stores) and had my husband hang them on the wall. (Yes, I'm capable of hanging things on the wall, but he's an engineer and I like to put his multiple college degrees to work for me.)
Ooooh!
Ahhh!
Sooooo much better! Why on earth did it take me so long to remember that idea?! I love how this looks and I like knowing I didn't spend a fortune on it, so I won't feel guilty if I want to change it out in the future.

By the way, stay tuned for my 200th post giveaway!

Featured!

2010-03-03T20:33:00.000-08:00

My oak kitchen makeover was featured today on Better After! Woohoo! We went from a 90s golden oaktastic kitchen to a crisp white beadboard kitchen--all for under $350!

Wall Words ~ DIY Style!

2010-02-24T20:30:00.000-08:00

...before...

Last week I posted a picture showing how I display some of my children's artwork on a curtain rod above the piano in our playroom. The curtain rod works beautifully for us, however the height looks a bit high. Still, I like the rod placement because it means my little boy isn't tempted to pull at the artwork on display.

I've been considering a few options to make the wall space "disappear" between the artwork and the piano. Ultimately I decided on a vinyl wall quote. As I was Googling and browsing etsy, I realized that I could use my new Cricut Expression and cut my own vinyl. Keep in mind I haven't used my Cricut for ANY project yet. Still, I was looking at spending $15-40 on wall words...making it myself would cost a lot less.
After a bit of research, I decided that I should go for it. Yes, I'm a researcher--I like knowing my options! I ordered my vinyl from Expressions Vinyl. They sell vinyl in strips and rolls--I opted for the strips because they ship faster than the rolls and once I decide on a project, I want it done immediately! Ultimately this project took 2.5 strips of black vinyl ($1.89 a strip x3 = $5.67) and two strips of transfer tape ($1.99 x2 = $3.98) The total cost of the supplies I used for this = $7.56 Not bad, especially since I ended up doing seven inch tall vinyl.

...after...

It isn't perfect, but I'm really happy with it. (And yes, I still have my Valentine decorations up!) I did it all myself and learned a lot about my Cricut in the process--including that I still have a lot to learn! And, it achieves my purpose in grounding the curtain rod and closing in the expanse of wall.

Post added to the Makeover Party at Sanctuary Arts at Home and to I Heart my Crafty Cutter at Serenity Now!

Easy Hairbow Holder

2010-02-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

My daughter is a bow girl and has been since she was about one year old. She's six now and still loves her bows. She wears them everywhere--with her school uniform, out to play, and even on walks in the woods. Bows aren't all that common where we live and the girls who do wear bows typically stop wearing them long before kindergarten. I'm happy my girl is a bow girl and I hope she stays one for quite awhile longer.

Of course this means we have a lot of bows. A lot. I don't even keep all her bows after she has outgrown the matching outfit--I've sold hundreds of bows at this point. When she moved into her big girl room (and out of the nursery) just before she turned two, I spent a lot of time making it girly and sweet. Pink, green, and white--I still love it! I also needed to come up with some bow storage because the collection was getting crazy!
I pulled this French memo board out from under my bed (literally!), put it on the wall, and clipped her bows onto it. It works beautifully and we've used it for the past four years now. A couple of years ago I did add in the second bow holder you see to the right--that's just a metal ring with a long ribbon attached to it and the bows just clip on the long ribbon.
The memo board holds an immense amount of bows. I have them packed on there! At any rate, this is a cheap, easy, and cute way to hold and display my daughter's bows. I'd rather spend the money on her bows instead of on an expensive bow holder.

This post is linked to Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest

Hopping down the bunny trail...

2010-02-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

While shopping at Goodwill (the horribly over-priced closest Goodwill...they charge more for used stuff than Target charges for it new!) I spotted this little bunny. He was a little too realistic looking for me...but he was 50% off, so I had to buy him. 50% off means I paid $1 for him instead of $2--probably the price he cost at the dollar store I'm sure he came from originally.
A quick blast of white spray paint and he's cleaned up and ready for my spring decorating! Some people might prefer the realistic original version, but I prefer this version. I suspect he'll end up with a little bow around his neck. He'll work well in my spring and Easter decorating...but first I need to get my Valentine decorations down!

Photobooth Yourself!

2010-02-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Ever wished you had your own photobooth? Or maybe I'm alone in that regard... Anyway, here is a site where you can turn your computer (with webcam) into your own photobooth! I had fun with this and am looking forward to sharing this site with my children.
Yes, the site is in French (and I don't speak French!) but I just fumbled my way around until I made it work. It was fun!

By the way, my 200th post is coming up soon! I'd better figure out something good! In the meantime, come follow me on Twitter! You never know, it might help you with my 200th post shin-ding...

Dropcloth Table Skirt

2010-02-18T14:06:00.000-08:00

Our office area is a work in progress--but I've actually made progress on it, so that is an improvement! The picture above is from the very end of the construction phase of our house addition. We now have our family room furniture clustered around the rug in front of the fireplace--which left all that room behind the couch (around the other rug) for an office area. Up until now our office area has been (mostly) hidden inside an armoire in our formal living room. There also was a corner of our master bedroom that was overrun with scrapbooking items. However, I'm still not completely sold on the idea of having everything out in the open, so we didn't want to spend very much money on our office area...just in case I change my mind!
Instead of buying nice wood desks, we bought two folding tables at Costco for about $30 each. Functional, not too horrible looking...but they did nothing to hide all our stuff. I don't like seeing clutter and this is a lot of clutter! Well-organized...but still clutter! See those white bookshelves on the right--we built those using plans from Knock Off Wood. They're knock-offs of the Pottery Barn Cameron Two Shelf Bookcase.
Lots and lots of stuff--none of which I want to look at on a daily basis!! So, I decided to skirt the tables. I bought a beautiful brown damask on sale at JoAnn Fabrics--got it home and realized it looked horrendous with my area rug!! Not good! So I looked around at what I had at home and realized I had an extra dropcloth leftover from my dropcloth curtain project. A bit beige, but the price was right! (I think I originally paid about $9 for it at Lowes.)
It worked beautifully! I sewed (just straight lines--nothing fancy!) two panels for each table because my husband wanted a place where he could easily reach in to get things or put his legs when he's sitting at the computer. (I didn't really understand the need for a leg spot since he usually sits like a five year old with his legs curled up under him, but whatever, I humored him.) Then I hotglued the panels to the edge of the tables. I used a LOT of hot glue--so far it is holding on really well!
The area definitely still is a work in progress and needs some wall decor and prettying up, but I'm thrilled to no longer be seeing all that clutter under our desks/folding tables/cheap solution! I know it is a bit beige right now, but I think wall decor will help break up the beige factor--plus my Pottery Barn area rug has lots of big flowers--you just can't see much of it in these pictures.

More pictures to come after I make more progress! I'm linking this to Jen's Weekend Wrap-Up Party and Kimba's DIY Day.

Visiting Sissy in Kindergarten

2010-02-17T06:52:00.000-08:00

I'm linking to Angry Julie's Wordless Wednesday

Children's Artwork Display Solution

2010-02-15T19:44:00.000-08:00

When we did our house addition (expanded family room and eating area) we turned our dining room into a playroom and have been very pleased with this decision. There wasn't a lot of available wallspace in the room as it is open to our "formal" living room but I did want to find a way to display some of my children's artwork. The only space available was a five foot wall above the piano.
It was the perfect length for a small curtain rod. I purchased this rod and the ring clips from Target. It is the same rod style that I used for my dropcloth drapes in another area of my house. My children are thrilled to have their artwork up and I love having it up. I know some people use art display systems from Ikea or Pottery Barn, but I don't live near those stores--plus this rod was very inexpensive and it matches (in color and general style) the curtain rods and chandelier that I already have in this space.
Yes, the rod is centered on the wall--it is hard to tell, but the wall turns a corner just a few inches beyond the piano. If you look at the trim along the floor, you can see that it is farther back than the piano. I'm still deciding whether or not the rod is too high. I like that the artwork is high enough that the children can't tug on it, but I'm not a huge fan of the empty space below it. I'm still pondering this one.

I linked this up to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.

Twitter

2010-02-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

My friend Jill, owner of Twinkling Tees, convinced me to join Twitter. (By the way, her tees are seriously cute--sparkling and just fantastic quality!! She even has pictures of celeb children wearing her tees!)

At any rate, I'd love to have you join me on Twitter--and please, post comments and give me your Twitter tips and tricks! On Twitter I'm @ FluffandTrucks

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T20:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Made By You!

2010-02-13T07:34:00.001-08:00

At the end of January I posted a tutorial for a Valentine puffy heart felt garland--no sewing machine involved! Here are two of the garlands that my readers made...

Connie at The Young and the Relentless swapped the colors around on the puffy heart felt garland--I love the way it picks up the red candlesticks she has.

Karri at Living Out Loud made the puffy heart felt garland too and it looks so cute on her mantle!

Anyone else? I'd love to link you up!

Preschool Valentines

2010-02-11T22:09:00.000-08:00

My little boy celebrated Valentine's Day at preschool on Wednesday. He was so excited to bring in valentines for his classmates and teachers. We opted to make crayon hearts--the same preschool valentine that Princess handed out a few years ago.

I started off by peeling the paper off all the old broken Crayola crayons I've been stockpiling for the past couple of years. (Yes, I plan ahead!) I learned, after making these a few years ago, that good quality crayons melt down much nicer than cheapie dollar store crayons! After the crayons were peeled, I put the children to work rubbing the crayon sides on paper to clean off all the speckled bits of crayon. Then I chopped up the crayons...
...and put them into silicone ice cube trays. I bought these trays last year for $2.50 for a two pack at Target (in the dollar spot at the front of the store) but you can also make them using the Reynolds foil hearts that are available at Dollar Tree. That's what I used the last time I made crayon hearts.
Group similar colors together to get extra pretty hearts...and skip the grays and browns.
I put my silicone trays on a cookie sheet to give them stability. The last thing I want is crayon wax spilled anywhere! I baked them at 275 degrees for about ten minutes--basically until everything looked melted.
The blue ones were gorgeous when they were liquidy--they were so vibrant and pretty!
Leave them in the trays until they're solid, then just pop them out. I ended up with a small amount of blah white wax that rose to the tops of some of the crayons, so I shaved that off with a knife after I popped the crayons out of the mold.
Then I used foam tape (from the scrapbook section at Michael's) to attach the crayons to these cute cards--my little boy wrote his name on the backs of all the cards all by himself. Proud mama moment! I can't take credit for the cards--I found a PDF over at The Long Thread where Ellen did all the work! All I did was print the pictures onto cardstock, cut them out, and use my corner rounder punch on them. These valentines turned out super cute and, had I not needed a $56 new ink cartridge for my printer (ouch!!) would have been free to make using supplies we already had at home.

As an aside, as the mama of a nut allergic child, I like trying to lead by example and show other parents that holiday treats don't always need to be candy. I'm biting my tongue and trying to lead by example rather than by lecture.

Valentine Decorations

2010-02-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

My house is all decorated for Valentine's Day and looks so cute with all the pops of red. I don't go all out for this holiday, but I've been adding a few more items each year. This year I mostly added homemade items. The picture above is my "formal" living room. On the black armoire (which used to hold our computer and now mostly is empty) is the red love sign I made last year.
This tray (from Target!) is on the living room coffee table. In it I put a candle and a few children's books about love from around the house.
And, of course, I brought back out the wedding pictures that had been tucked away during Christmas. We celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary this summer!
Our playroom is directly behind the living room sofa in what used to be the dining room. I have our piano in there and am a nervous wreck about it! The piano is a relatively new addition to our home and is the piano my mom and aunts used when they were little. It isn't anything fancy, but it is in pristine condition and has a lot of sentimental value. I think I'm going to have to get foam to wrap around the legs--it will be unattractive, but at least the piano will be a bit safer! At any rate, these garden cherubs and Mod Podge cardboard letters are on top of the piano. I painted the back and sides of the cardboard letters (from Michaels) with red paint and then Mod Podged scrapbook paper on the front.
My antique wooden spools are in the kitchen window. The red ribbon wrapped around them is leftover from Christmas--I thought it still applied, even in February! The little acrylic block with a heart is a Goodwill find from this year. My little guy fell in love with it, so I gave in and added it to our decor.
I made this "floating" heart decoration on Friday night before dinner. I first saw the idea on One Pretty Thing and thought it was so cute! It was free to make too, as I used clear thread, cardstock, and a glue stick from my stash. I love free! Looks cute with my Target placemats, too! (Yes, they're vinyl placemats--my children love them and they're easy to clean!)
Here's a look into the family room. I've told you about the garland already. The dresser has apothecary jars with Valentine candies as well as a Valentine candle.
This is a closer look at the little table on the far side of the family room. That's my sweet boy last year at Valentine's Day--the frame was $1 at Michael's a few months ago and the cute little birdhouse is from Target this year.
That's about it! We're loving the heart explosion around here!

Lampshade Update...Again!

2010-02-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

Last April I blogged about not really liking my lampshades (too big and too boxy) but not having much money in the budget to change them out. I made them palatable by adding some grosgrain ribbon...but still didn't really like them. The picture above doesn't quite demonstrate the boxy square shape of the shade, but you can get a sense of it.
Well, I still don't have much money in the budget to change them out to anything too nice...but when I found this deal at Ross, I figured I could find some spare change to cover the cost. $2.99 each--I saw the same lampshades (with a different label) at Target this week for over $12 each. Woohoo!
Just like before, I used grosgrain ribbon and my hot glue gun to spiff the lampshades up a bit.
It took about five minutes per lampshade and that was it! I like things to be simple, but the plain white shades were a bit too simple for me.
Simple, but I like the clean lines.
Ahh, much better! And, for $2.99 each, I won't feel bad about changing them out again in the future. (And yes, there still is a big empty space above my mantle...but look how cute my garland is!)

I added this post to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.