Quick and easy Valentine

While shopping at Target a week or so ago I grabbed a pair of their cute Valentine's socks they had in their dollar section. Kendle LOVES all different kinds of socks and I new she'd like some for Valentine's Day to add to her collection along with a few other surprises and goodies we got for each of the kids. Then coincidentally, the other day on pinterest I saw a card that said:

"I love you like Dobby loves socks." I knew I had found the perfect little quote for a valentine message to give to her.

{Now if you are a Harry Potter enthusiast you will know what that means, if not - this craft is probably not for you.}

I printed that out on a bit of paper and attached it with some curling party ribbon to the socks. I'm sure you could fancy this up more, I was just in a rush for time trying to get things done today.

If you have a child (or I suppose there are lots of adults like me who also love Harry Potter), I think this is a super sweet idea and very inexpensive. Kendle absolutely adores anything to do with Harry Potter and I'm pretty sure this will make her smile!

Wreaths

I did a little experimenting with some different kinds of wreaths this year. I'm not sure if you could call this first one a real "wreath" per se, but while I was shopping at a home improvement store this week I saw a whole bunch of ceiling medallions and thought they'd look pretty spray painted a pretty pumpkin color and hanging on my door. I'm still playing around with it and tweaking it a few different ways but here was the first way I had it:

I think it really pops against my black door. I just added a few leaves tucked into the bow for some extra garnishment. The medallions are really light weight plastic and you could even add some Velcro to the back to keep it from hitting against your door when you open and close it.

This next one is my wreath I used last year, the difference is this time I hung my little chalkboard behind it (it usually hangs on the outside wall by the front door) and scrawled the word Fall onto it. I guess I could also write Welcome, or Dodson's, or Hello, or Trick or Treat, or all sorts of other things. Pretty easy.

I'm sure I'll rearrange and add and subtract a ton of different little things from my fall decor as the season goes on. I've seen lots of pretty yarn wrapped wreaths that I'd like to try making one if I get the chance in the next little while.

My kids are begging me to decorate the house tomorrow and I've been dragging my feet because it just hasn't felt like it was really fall yet, but after our chilly night spent once again at the ball park and the need to cozy up in my sweats when I got home, I figure it might be time after all. I love pumpkins, gourds, mums, pretty colored leaves, corn husks and all of the other fallish looking backdrops the season has to offer. Sometimes with small children in the picture however, less is definitely more. :)

Before and After

I've been wanting to add some more pops of color throughout my home and this great summertime weather was the perfect excuse to do a little painting project over the weekend. I thought this little table I've had for a while could use some updating and would be the perfect piece to use a new accent color on. I purchased this little guy during what I like to call my "black" stage. Isn't he cute? He's the perfect size to fit into all the little nooks and corners I have in my house.

Before:

Nothing too bad, just kind of plain and tired looking.

After a couple coats of paint and a pretty new drawer pull, here is the new, improved, and much more fun table:

The picture definitely doesn't do it justice, it is a lot more of a vibrant blue/green and less of a turquoise in real life. The paint color I used is "Stained Glass" from Valspar and I used the paint plus primer so it covered really well. I bought a small can of paint, but barely used a quarter of the can. This was an easy morning project and it was all dry before noon. The drawer pull I purchased at Lowe's and was on clearance. I think the total project cost about 12.00. Not bad, especially since I have lots of the paint to spare for other little projects.

Here's another side by side look.

It's funny how changing just a little bit of color makes me that much happier when I walk past that room.

I also hung some new curtains on the bay window.

Sorry, no before pictures -- the other ones were just a pleasant neutral brown tone, which although they looked nice, they just weren't doing much for that space. I think these accent the shape of the window more. The chairs I got on craigslist for a steal and I'm trying to find some chair covers I like for them, although the original color has been growing on me. I'm also thinking on staining/painting the legs a new color to update them a bit. This is my new favorite spot to sit and read at night when it's quiet.

I've got quite a long list of other projects in the works so hopefully I'll remember to take and post pictures as they get done as well.

Chalkboard

If you are like me, you get really tired of everyone asking you what's for dinner a million times. I decided to make myself a chalkboard to hang by the kitchen to write our dinner menu on. I had an old picture that had been hanging in our bathroom that I really wasn't that fond of and decided to use that to paint over. (I wish I would have taken some before pictures)




I took the picture apart and painted the frame which was originally black with a bit of gold underlay. I spray painted it an apple green color first and then a coat of white on top of that. Then I distressed it a little bit so all the different colors showed through a bit.

After that I took the glass covering the picture and painted over it with a few coats of chalk board paint I had leftover from another project.

Simple, simple project that didn't cost anything to do and my family loves it as much as I do.

Family Rules

I saw this cute idea on tatertots and jello to make a family rules canvas.

I don't do a lot of "craft" type projects but I thought this particular one would benefit our family and keep me from repeating all my good advice over and over. All I would have to do is point to the family rules and the children would happily obey and do the right thing. No? I'm living in la la land? Ya, probably. But it's still cute. Also I like that it took limited supplies, the main ones being a blank canvas, scrapbook paper, mod podge, and scrap booking letters or any stick on letters. A paper cutter also comes in handy too. I found a cheap canvas on sale, spray painted it black, figured out what "rules" I wanted to use, cut the paper into strips, stuck the letters on, mod podged and that's about it. I may or may not add some ribbon to the back for hanging on the wall. Right now I just have it leaning on a shelf.

I really enjoyed making it and it has reminded me of the little everyday things we do and say that make a big difference. This is probably good more for me than anyone else!

Do you have any family rules of your own that you find yourself saying over and over again?

Green for Spring

I have been stuffed up with a bad cold for the last few days and house bound for the majority of last week. I was getting cabin fever and antsy to be out in the beautiful sunshine that graced us with its glorious presence. I had a desperate need for something springy and fresh to help sweep away the winter blahs.

I've been slowly incorporating some new pops of color into our little home that make me happy every time I walk by.

Here's a little look in my kitchen:

I decided I am going to take a break from so much red for a while. I still love red, but just needed something more spring like. I seriously feel like this little re-do has breathed new life into my kitchen. I'm still on the hunt for some accessories to fill in with, like a green fruit bowl. I decorated the plates and the platter and everything was either from the dollar store or marked down at Target.

So easy and making me so happy!

I think the spring weather is getting my project mo-jo running. I have lots of fun things I'm working on and it feels great.

Spray Paint Is My Friend

I wish I could say I was one of those super crafty people who are experts at refinishing furniture and turning trash into treasure. Occasionally I get lucky and find a way to use something of my own in a new way, and I'll be honest - if a can of spray paint can't fix it then I really won't bother. I'm all about easy. I thought I'd share a few pictures of a few things I've worked on lately. (And sorry I don't have before pictures, I know it's always fun to see those.)


















I decided not to get all of my fall decorations out this year, but I still wanted a few little touches here and there. I changed out my summer letters for FALL and spray painted these cute little pumpkins to add some pizazz. (They are real pumpkins.) I love the fall colors of oranges and reds, but I just wanted something simpler and more subtle this year.






















Since our kids have pretty much trashed our good old IKEA computer armoire we bought when we first moved into our house, I decided it would be futile to spend a lot of money on a new one that will probably get equally thrashed in the next few years. Hence, this little lady that I found on Craigslist for almost nothing. It was already black but needed some touching up so I gave it another coat of paint and made some cute little curtains on a tension rod to cover up the contents when not in use. I'm still thinking about putting some cute drawer pulls on it. (Now I just need to move it to the living room and get all the computer gear set up inside of it.) I got the fabric on sale buy two yards get one free, and had enough to recover the seat of the chair (which was also a cheap Craigslist find), and used the rest as a table runner on the dining table.




















The chair was already painted white and kind of naturally distressed so I decided to leave it as is, just recovered the seat cushion.






















I've had these barn stars for almost six years, they used to be an aged bronze color that was really nice, but I wanted something brighter. When we repainted our walls recently, I moved everything around and decided to spray paint them red and put them on a shelf in the family room. They add a nice pop of color. I purposely tried to not spray an even coat, so some of the darker color showed through making them look aged.

















I had been wanting to do some updating in our bedroom decor for a while. I wanted something soft and serene and relaxing. I've been chipping away at it bit by bit when I happen to find something I like. This is just a little peek. I love these little wall lights from IKEA. They have adjustable heads to get the right angle for reading, were priced right, and didn't require any electrical work which is right up our alley. Before we had some table lamps, but I hated the room they took up on our nightstands. I've had a couple of people ask why I went with mostly white bedding since little kids usually don't mesh well with white, (and Morgan has already spilled root beer from his leaky sippy cup on it) but I just think it looks clean and simple and light and I'll scrub the root beer out when I have to. :)
















The headboard we received from one of Riley's aunts when we got married, but I was never really in love with the oak color, so it had been sitting in our garage for the last few years. I sprayed it a few coats of white, didn't even sand it and I like that part of the wood and the grains show through. The metal wall hanging I've had for a long time, and decided to paint it a robin's egg blue and hang it over the bed for a little pop of color.

















So there are a few of my fun re-do's. Next up are the twins room and Kendle and Morgan's room with new bunk beds. It could get very interesting.

Summer Craft

While being stuck home with sick kids yesterday and not feeling too hot myself, I decided to get this project done that I've been wanting to do for a while. I've seen this idea floating around different blogs and have been waiting for some spare time to sit down and do it. Here's the finished product:

It was super duper easy. I just bought the picture frames at the dollar store in varying sizes, printed out the letters in different fonts from the computer, cut out the letters and glued them on some scrap booking paper I had, and then put them in the frames. All in all it took under an hour (if I don't count all the times I had to get up and see what my super busy 2 year old was up to) and was cheap, cheap, cheap. If you already had some little frames it would cost even less. The other nice thing is that you can change out the letters and the papers for the different seasons. I put this on top of my piano (hence the glare) and it really brightens up the room. It's funny how one little thing can cheer you up every time you walk past it.

Thanksgiving Learning and Fun

We all know about the first Thanksgiving in 1621 and how the Native Americans and the Pilgrims shared a feast. But do you know how it actually became a national holiday?

After 1621, future Thanksgiving celebrations occurred at various times throughout the year. George Washington declared a feast of Thanksgiving in 1789, and presidents issued similar yearly proclamations after that. During the Civil War, poet Sarah Hale started a campaign to celebrate the holiday on the same day throughout the country.

President Abraham Lincoln saw it as a way to unite the country, and in 1863 he proclaimed a national Thanksgiving celebration on the last Thursday in November. It was changed from the last Thursday to the third Thursday by Franklin Roosevelt in 1939 as a way to lengthen the Christmas shopping holiday. In 1941, Roosevelt finally changed the date to the fourth Thursday in November, proclaiming it a Federal holiday in 1941.

I thought that was pretty interesting. I did not know it had been changed that many times. Throughout the month our family is going to be talking about what we are thankful for and learning more about the Thanksgiving holiday. We're making a trip to the library in the next few days and will be picking up some books related to the holiday and the history of it.

There are so many resources and ideas on the web for cute crafts and activities. I thought I'd share some that I found:

*If you're looking for some cute coloring pages, clip art, and other activities for you children to keep them busy on afternoons after school check out this link:
http://holidays.kaboose.com/thanks-color.html
There are lots of cute printables.

*The Family Fun website always has lots of cute things too. I especially liked these little pilgrim place cards:
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/feature/famf117tabletop/famf117tabletop6.html

*I also thought this idea for "Harvest Blessing Snack Mix" was very cute. The link also has a free printable tag to include with it if you like:
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/thanksrecipes/a/thxblessmix.htm

*Ever wonder if your ancestors came over on the Mayflower? Take a look at this list and see if you can find any familiar names:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_passengers_on_the_Mayflower

Thanksgiving is one of those Holiday's that just quietly creep up on us.

What is one of your favorite things to do for the Thanksgiving Holiday?

Halloween Crafts

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, but wanted to share these pictures and links with you.

I've been seeing all sorts of cute Halloween ideas popping up all over blog land that I thought I'd share with you. Even though I already have quite a bit of Halloween and Fall decor, it's nice to add new things into the mix every year and let the kids get in on the decorating fun.

These first two ideas I liked for two reasons:
1. They were easy and kid friendly
2. They were cheap/free depending on what you have around the house

Last week on BeCentsable I saw these cute ghosts and pumpkins made out of empty milk jugs:

For the ghosts you just draw on faces with a permanent marker and then paint the lids white if they are a different color. The pumpkins just need a little orange and green paint and you can cut out faces with a craft knife. For both, cut holes in the back and insert lights. In the above picture she just took a string of white lights and put a few in each one.

Another easy idea BeCentsable shared were these pumpkin garlands made from orange paper plates:

Cut out different shapes from black paper for the faces and glue onto the plates. You can punch a whole in the top and string them from ribbon to hang around the house.

There are more cute ideas she posted about and I just really appreciated that they were kid friendly and something even non-crafty people like myself could do in a short amount of time.

Also, yesterday on A Soft Place to Land which is one of my new favorite blogs, Kimba hosted a bloggy party where everyone could share a link to their Halloween and Fall posts. There are over 100 links and I have not had a chance to look at all of them, but here are a few cute things I saw that I'd like to make:

This blog had the cutest countdown to Halloween idea:

You can fill the little bags with one little piece of candy per child/per day or some other little Halloween trinket. How fun is that? I think I might enjoy that one more than my kids!

I also loved this blogger's version of a Halloween wreath and her "Boo" sign.

These were just a few of the many, many cute things I saw looking through the links on Kimba's blog.

Yesterday I managed to put out my fall decorations with only a minimal amount of help from the Morgster. Kendle loves our electric Jack-O-Lanterns that I always put up on our high wall ledge. She came home from school yesterday and kept flicking the wall switch to turn them off and on. I left a few things out for her to help with and put in her room. I remember the excitement of being a kid and wanting to help my mom decorate for the holidays. I'm glad she shares my enthusiasm for that sort of thing.

General Conference Ideas

I am really looking forward to General Conference this weekend. I am excited to hear the counsel of our prophet and church leaders in this tumultuous time for our country.

While reading Everyday Food Storage this week, I was pleased to find some really great ideas to go along with General Conference.

*The first was a children's conference packet that is 14 pages of word searches, games about the prophet and the apostles, and things to help them learn and pay attention during the talks. It is GREAT!!! There is also a memory game of the apostles that would be fun for any Sunday. You can go here to print out both for your own children.


*The second great idea is one for your visiting teaching sisters. It is a General Conference Goodie Bag. It has a clever little poem you can attach and is so cute. Here is a picture of the bags I made for the sister's I visit (sorry if this ruin's the surprise ladies):

I changed the part about the gum on my poem, but you can go here and print out a note card of your own if you'd like to make one of these. They were pretty cost effective split up between three bags.

Thank you Crystal for posting these great ideas!

Do you have any special traditions you do, or food you make for conference weekend?

A little Mod Podge Fun

Yesterday Kendle and I went shopping for a birthday gift for my niece. After looking around the store for a while and not having any luck, we took a stroll down the craft aisle and picked up a plain picture frame and a cute round box with a lid. We thought we'd decorate the box and make it into a treasure box for her jewelry or special things and decorate the picture frame and tuck a photo of her and Kendle inside. I already had the Mod Podge and a big book of really cute papers so this was fairly inexpensive. Kendle helped me cut, glue,and dry both objects and pick out the papers to use. Both the box and the frame took about an hour total and here are the finished projects:

We put a cute little necklace and bracelet inside the box along with a card Kendle had made for her. We had such a fun time doing this together. I can't wait to get started on some other fun projects I've had planned for Kendle and Morgan's rooms. I loved this idea for a younger childs room.

Have a great weekend!

Thankful Tree

Want a fun way for you and your family to display all that you are thankful for??
Make a Thankful Tree!
( Our family did this one year and it was really fun, maybe I'll try it again this year. )

You will need:

1 large brown paper bag (or we used butcher paper)

Construction Paper, red, yellow and orange

Cut open the brown paper bag by cutting down one of the creases and then cutting the bottom off. Lay the paper out on the table and use about half to ¾ of the length of the bag to draw a tree trunk.

Staple, tape or pin this to the back of a door or a bulletin board. (we just taped it to a wall in my parents family room)

Use the remaining pieces of the bag to make branches for the tree. Staple those coming from the tree trunk. This does not need to be fancy and you don’t need to be an artist to do this ...

















Now make leaves out of construction paper. Make lots of them! You can use a basic maple leaf design or any leaf design you would like. You can hand them out to everyone and have them write down what they are thankful for this year. Then tape them to the tree and enjoy.

The children really enjoyed this and it was a good reminder for them to think about their blessings.
























How nice to have a heart full of thanks when you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner!

Gobble, Gobble

I found these cute turkey place cards here and decided to make them for my family. They are fairly simple and only require a few supplies, which is my type of craft. On the tail feathers are random Thanksgiving trivia questions and the answers are on the back. The website has the template and questions you can print out if you'd like to make them for your own family.