Kids' Art pieces

This Spring the kids have been doing some art and crafts of their own. 
First, Jayna loves sidewalk chalk!  She created these beautiful, colorful hearts in front of the house one day and since I knew they'd wash away, I had to capture them in my camera memory.  Now they serve as my screen shot savers on my cell phone.  :)

Next, the kids created Salt Dough Easter Egg ornaments from a Pinterest recipe I found on-line.  I really like the way they turned out.  I still have to clear coat protect them and then they'll be already for festivities next Spring.  :)

And they spent a Saturday afternoon helping cousins (and their Dad!) with painted tattoos!  haha

A Handmade Christmas for the Kids

Typically every year I make a lot of my gifts for friends and family.  However, this year, with babysitting three days a week for 10 hours each day, and not having the down time we had last year after Brent's hip surgery, I found I was really too busy to get much done craft-wise outside of my Etsy shop orders for others.  So, I chose just one gift for each of my kids and went with that for a handmade Christmas.

The first is the fabric alphabet set I made for Shelby.  I had inherited a lot of scrap fabrics from my grandmother this past summer, and I really wanted to recycle it into some cute things for my family.  I researched some pins with tutorials about fabric alphabet sets on Pinterest, and I then did what was comfortable for me with a combination of steps from different tutorials.  Overall, I was really pleased with the outcome of my product, and my grandmother was impressed with the idea and wanted a set for herself!  :)

For Carly, I scrapbooked a page of pictures from Taylor Swift's concert that Carly and I attended earlier this year.  I also included her ticket from the concert, and an actual autograph from Taylor Swift addressed to Carly that a friend gave her for her birthday a few years ago.  (Before Taylor Swift became really popular around the country, she had stopped in my town...yes, just one mile away!...at a local grocery store to sign autographs and release her first cd.  Oh, how I wish I had known how famous she'd become...I would have been there myself!)  Carly now has the shadow box framed page on her wall to remember that special day we shared as mother and daughter.  :)

For Jayna, I had pinned some peg doll ideas because she really loved playing with a set I made identical to our family before Shelby was born.  So I pinned a few and when it came time to choose, I decided since she loves princesses so much, why not "the Princess and the Pea" to add to her collection of princess stories?  She didn't know the story yet so I ordered the book off of Amazon.com and set to work on the peg doll set.  Again, I used fabrics from my grandmother to "dress" the dolls and the "quilt" the mattresses.  Jayna has loved it so much and I'm really glad I didn't second guess my crafty abilities and went through with the plan.  I will make more for her in the near future!  Just pinned another set I'm sure she'll love....  ;)

When it came to Adam, well, boys are just harder to craft for, and there's not as much "cute-sy" stuff for them.  But when I saw this pin, I knew it was the gift for him.  http://www.meggipeg.com/2012/04/boy-bedroom-makeover-scout-blanket-with.html  I have so many extra patches that do not go directly on his uniform, and also some that Brent acquired as a Scout, so I have begun working on sewing them all to a blanket.  I have the trim almost all done along the edges as well.  While I haven't completed Adam's project to date, I did show it to him close to Christmas and he was happy with it.  I look forward to giving him something special and that accounts for time he has spent learning things with Scouts.  I also think it will be nice if he has sons that he can hand this down to them and they can add their Scout badges as well. 

I had about a week to work on my children's gifts for Christmas after I had completed my Etsy orders, so it wasn't much time to finish everything I wanted for them. 

Felt Nativity Set

Over the past few years I have really started collecting Nativity sets.  For a few years into our marriage, I didn't have any.  Then I started buying them after Christmas on sale, and friends even bought a couple of sets for me.  But with Shelby, my 1 year old, it was hard to let her handle any fragile sets or small pieces.  Yet I wanted her to have something for herself to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ along with the rest of us...something she could touch, feel, and play with as I talked to her about Christ.  Therefore, when I came along this pin: http://whatmadeleineloves.blogspot.com/2011/12/felt-nativity.html on Pinterest, I knew it was something I had to do for my baby girl.  Bonus:  I didn't have to buy a single thing to make it as I already had all of the supplies in my craft stash.  After a week or so in my spare time, I had it completed!  It was really fun!  And I will admit that although she didn't take the interest in it right away that I thought she would, she did like to carry around one piece at a time and she knew it was "hers."  I look forward to seeing how she interacts with it next year when she's a few months older and can understand a little more about our Savior's birth. 

Owl Costume

Pinterest is such an amazing tool!  Adam and Jayna wanted to be characters from Harry Potter for Halloween this year, and I decided to keep with that theme, they needed an owl to take trick-or-treating with them.  I got on Pinterest and within minutes I knew exactly what I was going to do to make Shelby's costume.  I found my hat pattern https://www.etsy.com/listing/81661715/owl-hat-pattern-us-and-uk-terms?ref=shop_home_active on Etsy and since I know how to crochet I did it myself.  Then I followed a no-sew tutorial on Pinterest for the poncho-altered costume http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2012/10/no-sew-baby-owl-costume-tutorial.html.  Thanks for looking!

Fun Art Idea for Kids on Pinterest

So, have I ever mentioned that Jayna loves bubble wrap?  Well, she does!  So when I saw this on Pinterest:  http://intellokids.blogspot.com/2011/04/kids-bubble-wrap-activities.html, I knew we had to try it!  Here are a couple of pictures!  If you have any extra bubble wrap laying around, try it!  :)

Can you tell what she painted?!

Pocahontas Costume

Carly had a school assignment to study and educate others on a person in history - she chose Pocahontas.  For her school presentation, I wanted her to seem authentic, so I made her a Pocahontas costume to wear.  (Plus, being 10 years old and in women's clothing sizes, it's really hard to find a modest Indian costume!)  I bought all of the materials at JoAnn's.  The suede cloth already had the cut-outs and fringes, so basically all I did was take one of her basic form church dresses, and use it as a pattern to cut the dress for this costume.  Then I sewed the sides and shoulders together, and voila!  It was ready.  I also bought the Indian-looking trim at JoAnn's and sewed it along skirt bottom.  The feather band on her head came from the $1.00 spot at JoAnn's, and again, I only added the trim by sewing machine.  Her wig came from KMart on sale for $7.00 and the brown tights are from Target.  The turquoise around her neck were string of beads also from JoAnn's that I strung onto elastic cord for a quick necklace.  All in all, this was an easy project and I am pleased with the outcome of the look.  She looked great for the presentation at school!

AFTER....the Girls' Room

Since the new year rolled over, and we were painting the upstairs hall and stairwell on New Year's Eve to freshen up the place, we had to go to the paint store a few times. While there, I had hinted to the girls I might be doing their room soon, so I had them each pick a color they liked. Carly picked this soft lime green, and Jayna picked the hot pink. Brent and I decided to combine the colors and give them each their "own" walls and sides of the room.

So that's exactly what we did...we got a gallon of each color, and started painting last Monday. Well, I "cut in" around the trim earlier this week to prepare for Brent's Friday off from work -- when he would go over the whole walls with a roller. After I cut in the girls' room, I decided to look for comforters and such. At the time I went to Target, they only had one hot pink comforter with ruffles...which I decided looked "tween" enough for Carly, yet still frilly for a little girl. They only had one, though. But being crafty and not a brand-new seamstress, I decided I would make Jayna a matching one in the lime green color. So it went...and I also re-covered the little stool that goes with Carly's vanity in matching colors.

A lot of the little things we now have on the walls (the green tree; the pincushion wall hanging; the "C" and "J" letters on the shelves, and so forth) I bought at Hobby Lobby all 50% off on sale. The quote "Happy Girls are the Prettiest" is one I found on Pinterest...quoted from Audrey Hepburn. The doily banners at the end of their beds I made...also an idea from Pinterest. Some of the other things we already had and I recycled...the small white chest of drawers I altered with some adhesive fabric I found in the scrapbook paper section at JoAnn's. The purple curtains over the closet and the hot pink ones over the window were formerly in their room already and so I just put those back up.

I love the contrast between the colors and each girl has her own "print" on the walls. Carly loved it! Jayna, too! They both kept hugging us and telling us "thank you." We told Carly that is part of her birthday gift...the other part being that we'll host a small party for her on her birthday in February. But the room makeover and all the new things are her birthday presents from us. So, what do you think?!?! :) Thanks for looking! PS - Last thing up...crocheting a pretty rug to place between their beds on the floor from left over scrap fabric from Jayna's comforter, among other remnants I have laying around in the same colors......

BEFORE...The Girls' Room

I don't know what it is (maybe the lull of holidays from January to April), but at the first of every new year, I feel the need to re-decorate! I have to buy new things for the home (with funds from Christmas cash and gift cards received), rearrange furniture, paint,...whatever until I feel things are fresh and clean and inspiring again for a few months.

Well, I decided this January that Carly's room needed updated. Here's the thing: we have four bedrooms. One is for Brent and me; one for Adam; one for Carly and Jayna together; and one for "my craft room." My "craft room" is a space I gave to myself after living here for years, newly returned from across the country (far away from family), when I had a spare bedroom that was never used. Because even though my family wanted to complain that we lived in California and they lived in West Virginia for a few years, they still never came to see us much after we moved back. So I decided that that would be my space to leave things out -- projects I am working on -- and not have to worry about it with little kids running around the house. And at the time, we didn't have Jayna yet, that I can remember.....

So the reasons I picked Carly's room to update first this year are: 1. Her room was the first we ever painted and redecorated when we moved into this house 6 years ago; and 2. She does not like sharing a room with her little sister. Well, I thought maybe if I updated her room to a "tweeny" looking room, she would be more happy about sharing her room...because let's face it...she's nine, almost 10 years old, and has no need for her own room yet. And despite that, I have never had my own room my entire life...and I think she'll live to be okay. :)

When we decorated her room six years ago, we chose a pretty little girl pink (not the actual name on a paint chip) and then I took a "dry" paintbrush and lightly swished a soft purple all over the walls. I thought it was pretty cute at the time! She had a handmade comforter from her paternal grandmother, and bunk beds (in case there ever was to be another little sister -- not already there), and little homemade stuff I did here and there. I'll be honest and say it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but when you're a stay-at-home mother, you learn to live with a budget and accept that you can't afford everything you want. However, her room was really pretty and met my (and her) satisfaction at the time. But as with all rooms over time, it got dull, tons of holes in the wall, written on with a pencil, un-exciting, and as mentioned before, it was no longer solely her room. Here are some before pictures.

Elves!

I've been on Pinterest a lot lately, and found this cute little tutorials for kids to make Christmas Elf ornaments! Too cute! So I had my kids try their hands at them, and these are ours! Thanks for looking!!! P.S. - Even my 3 year old could get in on this action...very easy! http://www.parents.com/holiday/christmas/crafts/christmas-kid-crafts/

School Christmas Crafts

So, I've mentioned before I'm heavily involved as the Volunteer Coordinator at my kids' elementary school, and this month is no exception! It's Christmas-time! And as such, our PTO decided to do away with the typical "Secret Santa Shop" and host our own craft nights so the gifts are more sentimental and handmade. I scoured Pinterest for ideas (of course!), and also received some ideas from friends. Since we live in the great state of OSU territory, some of the crafts are buckeye keychains and necklaces. We are also crafting fleece scarves (the kids are basically just tying the fringe at the ends into knots); making Christmas tree canvases; glitter bulbs; painting porcelain tiles; and decorating picture frames, etc. I am also crafting some snowman face kits with buttons for the kids to use on their real snowmen this winter.

We have a total of 175 kids participating, with a grand total of 580 craft orders placed. We have two nights with the children (approximately 5 hours total) to finish everything! We'll see how it goes. I am sure it will be hectic...but when kids are involved, isn't it fun?!?! I love spending time with my kids and their friends at school. It's heartwarming. However, I do need to learn to say "NO!" sometimes. :) But aren't these cute ideas?!

Toy Room Makeover

Okay, there is one room in my house that has been called many things: office; scrapbook room; t.v. room; and now it's a toy room. It's been so many things because it is rather a very small room in our house, and it was an addition the previous owners made. So there is not overhead lighting, and it's not exactly functional. We've tried! But it was the last of our first floor rooms to get a makeover. Beginning last week, I stripped down the golf border at the top; plugged a bunch of holes with spackle(?), sanded, vacuumed, and prepared it for our three day weekend to be painted and re-arranged. I was very excited to do this. The original color was a rustic red with a glaze, and since there wasn't an overhead light in the room, along with it being on the side of the house without much sun, it was a rather dark-looking room ALL DAY LONG. So my first decision was to paint it a completely different shade. I settled on this "Dew of Silverberry" from WalMart, but I bought the paint at Sherwin Williams during their holiday sale. The room actually took three coats (with primer) to get the final product, but soooooooooooo worth it!!! Then we used some old wooden Charlie Brown decor that my mother-in-law made for her kids. I didn't touch them up at all, because I liked their old look, especially since The Peanuts gang isn't exactly modern these days anyway. (My kids love the Peanuts movies during the holidays.) Lastly, I visited Target and decided to just blow the budget up and get some new pillows and some wall decor. (It wasn't really that bad...just more than I am used to spending on "wants" and so it made me feel slightly guilty.) Then we re-arranged the room completely different than it was before, which is a MUCH better use of space. The t.v. and cabinet on one side of the room, and the toys and such on the other, with the little play table in the center of the room, which will be used for snacks while watching some t.v. or during playing with the kitchen. I am sooooooo very happy with the way the makeover went. I think it's now my new favorite room of the house! ;) Thanks for all of your hard work, Brent! We did a great job, but I know I could not have done it alone!!!

So Excited!

I am so excited to announce that "Lola Leigh" here in my town has agreed to carry some of my crochet items, such as bibs, headbands, and baby cozies! You can visit its website here: www.lolaleigh.com. Their store is adorable and I just ordered Carly and Jayna matching dresses for this Summer. I can't wait to see them in their new dresses! The style in the store is very unique and it's a cute boutique. And the owners and seamstresses are just as nice as can be! You should go...hurry!

How Cute Is This!?!?!

I have been working on several projects at a time (as usual) and I will post pictures soon, but until then, I found this and thought I would share: http://playingfood.blogspot.com. How cute is that stuff?!?!?! I especially love those chocolate Easter bunnies. I am so in love with these creations and will have to make some of my own when things slow down. And keep checking back for new crocheted creations I am making. I'll post some tonight or early tomorrow. ;)