{Ahh..the little things}

the process

The last few weeks, an old friend & I have been exchanging "cute ideas" e-mails.  It started one night when we were at a girl scout event & found that we both love to blog-hop and see all of the amazing crafty women out there.  I have been inspired to try so many things between her e-mails, and that darn craft blog fest thing I mentioned a few posts back  (I apologize, again....)!  One of things I knew I had to make was a family rules canvas similar to this.  So, I bought a canvas that I thought looked pretty big (16x12) one day after I saw the idea, and  today I finally sat down at the computer to type out all oy "rules".  I knew that I did not want to try to print on each piece of scrap paper, and I also knew I did not have enough stickers or rub-ons to pull this off, so I figured that if I printed then on colored paper, then I could still cover the canvas with various scrap paper...and that si exactly what I did.

1. chose your rules & then have fun with the fonts ( I am such a geek - I LOVE fonts!)

2.  Print them & cut into strips, arrange them on your canvas

3. chose your background papers - I was actually able find all of the ones I liked right in my stash, and  even used some scraps as long as they had a 12" edge. 

4.  Cut them into various size strips & arrange to your liking.  I layed this all out again with the papers behind it just to make sure I liked it all before starting to mod-podge it all in place.

 

5.  After you are sure you are happy with it all, it is time to start the mess making.  Use the modge-podge to glue all of the paper to the canvas, I also put a coat over the top to help protect it.

  

 (make sure to smooth out all wrinkles while the glue is still wet, and BEFORE taking a picture to share on your blog...)

This is as much as I finshed today :)  I still plan to ink the edges of the rules, and sand the edges of the canvas after I cut off the raw edges to give it that shabby/distressed look.  So far, I am loving it though...

preparing...

just like everyone else, right?  Trying to switch my mind from Thanksgiving to Christmas, trying to get the lists all checked and the shopping started (thank you, black friday!).  I am trying to find ways to manage everything so that I avoid the "stress" part of this season.

One of the other things I needed to find a way to manage is my 5 yr old, and his question (already) of HOW MANY DAYS is there until Christmas?  I knew I had to make a countdown of some sort.  I first thought of the simple old paper chains, then I saw so many CUTE advent calendars & started to re-work it in my head to help us countdown as well.  Well, after seeing this example- I decided to get busy working on one of my/our own.  I decided to use envelops & tags for mine, and the kids helped me to decorate some of them (but lost interest very quickly).  I finally finished up tonight by writing crafts or fun activities on each tag.  I've told the kids we can read the cards in the morning, but all activities are for after school or evening time so that I have time to get things ready.  Right now it feels like it will be quite a commitment, but hopefully once we get started it just seems like fun.  Here is the finished project...

 

 

Looking at the pictures, I really wish I would have stuck to the same size envelopes.  I thought some variation would be cute, but in reality I think it looks more cluttered.  I know the kids will have so much fun with it though & that is what matters :)

Stay tuned for MANY more crafts in the coming weeks.  I am part of an ornament exchange, a jar gift swap, a kids craft Christmas bazaar for our church, and then of course there are many GIFTS to be made as well!  I just love, love, LOVE this time of year ♥

 

creative overload

I had mentioned that it has been quite a while since I have done much in the way of crafts, but have been planning & getting excited for some Christmas things.  A friend & I have also been e-mailing each other some great blogs with some fun re-decorating/organization types of craft ideas.  I have a few of them running through my head already on a "to-do" list for winter.

I also mentioned (quite a while ago) that I am the craft coordinator for my MOPS group this year.  Well, Wednesday is our meeting, as well as a craft day.  So tonight I have been busy getting all of the supplies ready, as well as creating a few samples.  This time we will be dressing up some hand sanitizer bottles because it seems that EVERYONE is worried about the nasty sickness going around and because I think they are just too cute :)   I *think* I first saw this idea last school year on Suzanne's blog and I am almost positive that she linked to "Just a girl" (this post specifically) where she shared the idea/tutorial.

But, before you go there (I am too late, right?) I must warn you that her current post is the inspiration behind my post tonight.  She is hosting a blog party she calls "I can make that" where there are sooooooo many crafty gift ideas.  Oh my goodness... I think it will take me a week to get through them all  :)  I've spent quite a while blog hopping tonight and have only visited maybe 20 of the 138 ideas.   My poor brain is in craft overload!  How do I decide what do I make first????

crafting

I am trying to get some of my many Christmas crafts/ideas started.  I LOVE this time of year & am looking forward to taking more time to do some crafts.  I do not feel like I have done much at all for quite some time!

I am taking part in an ornament exchange again this year, and I am thinking of making these...

(this is my sample one, I always have to try it out first!)  The kids thought it was cool, but that it should be made with green buttons.  I am pretty sure I saw the idea on Martha Stewart & that one was a green one.  What do you think?  I thought that some other colors would be cute, but now am not sure.  There were also some other button ornaments where the buttons were stacked and made into snowmen, and they were too cute as well.  I may try to make them too, but did not have all of the right buttons on hand.

And I have been searching all over for cute ides of things to put in a jar, which we are doing for my MOPS group exchange.  I am thinking of doing a dry mix (maybe cookies?) but want to be original too, so I may just stick with a color & put random things of that color in it (buttons, ribbon, ornaments, etc).  The only problem I see with that is that it is not very practical for the non-crafty person .  Still thinking...

I also gave my old winter wreath a makeover!  I've been looking for a replacement since last year, but I noticed that I am -  #1 too picky, #2 too cheap  :)  So, I came up with an idea to re-do mine.  Here it is before...

If you look closely, it is very faded and many of the cranberries are torn (thanks to my kiddos who LOVE to pick them off!)

I picked up some white spray paint and gave it a light coating so it looked like it had snowed on it, then I added some glitter spray over the top to give it a little sparkle.  It turned out very cute...

*I just noticed that when I am ready to hang it back up I need to make sure I center it, LOL!  I am waiting until a little closer to winter before I use it, I am trying to hang onto fall as long as I can :)

Today I also have a "melted snowman" drying on the counter.  My friend Mandy has a daisy troop and was going to make some ornaments with her girls and I told her I would help if she needed me to.  So, I cut out some pieces for her this afternoon and HAD to try one of them out.  Here is my version of the melted snowman ornament made with white glue...

I am excited to see it as it dries.  All of the little parts should show through really well, then you take a hole punch (or you can place the ribbon while the glue is wet) and tie a cute ribbon through to hang it on the tree.  I think the kids will really enjoy it!

 
 

random, yet again

Outside my window...

the sun is shining.

I am thinking...

about all of the sick people around here :(

I am thankful...

for quiet time

I am wearing... jeans & a green Miami t-shirt

I am

remembering... that my baby turns 3 this weekend.

I am going...n

o where until it is time to get everyone from school

I am reading...

bout three different books at once

I am hoping... for good results.

On my mind...

what ornament to make for the exchange I am in

Noticing that...

Ava is adorable

Pondering these words..."

there's no such thing as perfect people"

From the kitchen...

"come clean me up, I am too messy!"

Around the house...

toys, cards & folded clothes on the floor, groceries on the counter... general every day chaos!

One of my favorite things...

sunshine!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am finally feeling better, and so are the kids :)  We even ventured to the grocery all together this morning, which has not happened in quite a while.  I am not even sure that we had groceries for the last two weeks, unless my sweet hubby picked them up here or there.  He really stepped it up where he needed to when I was feeling bad, I am so thankful to him for that. 

When realizing that Ava is about to turn THREE, I also am realizing that she is not potty trained.  And yes, it is just like that.  Not "we have been working on it, and..."  or "Ava is getting big enough to do it so..."  Nope!  It is like I completely forgot that was a duty of a Mom to a toddler.  Maybe it is because I've been there, and I totally dislike this stage.  Or maybe it is because I've been there, and know they have to be ready.  Maybe it is because I know she will not be in diapers forever?  Maybe all of them combined, but Ava is not potty trained.  Stay tuned on that one....

Oh yeah!  And the little questionaire above was taken from Suzanne's blog:)