magnetic board with 9 lives

This magnetic board was quite the project.  I wish I had taken pictures of it after all it and I have been through! 

It was found at a thrift store by my mom and she thought it would be so cute if it was redone so she had me save it to give to her granddaughter for her birthday.

Well, that day finally came and I had to figure out what to do with it.  It was green and banged up pretty bad and someone had painted the metal yellow. 

Needless to say, after a lot of scraping, removing the metal and turning it around, and a lot of paint I got it looking pretty good so I left in on the garage floor to dry.

Well, my husband came home and didn't see it and ran it over!  I couldn't believe that after all the work I put into it that this would happen.  I decided I could put a little more work into it and get it looking good again.

So, with a lot of wood glue, jimmy rigging, and more paint to cover the tire marks I got it put back together.  Add some cute stone magnets that match the banner in her room and you have a cute metal board.

Here's to hoping nothing else happens to it before it gets to the party! :)

garden stakes

We had a great time making our own garden stakes.  And yes, this was another great free project.  I just picked up a bunch of paint sticks when I was at Lowe's the last time.  I busted out the paints and brushes and let my kids go to town. 

 They had so much fun and I was so proud of myself for letting them let loose, make a mess, and get paint everywhere.

 They came up with some pretty cool colors and designs.  I was so proud of them and I could tell they were happy with themselves too.

 Let's just say that this is one of those times when I am so grateful for my granite countertops.  Everyhing including all this paint just comes right off.  It's a mother's best friend when it comes to projects like this.

 My oldest wasn't into the painting, so he helped me label the stakes for our plants.  They look so great outside and brighten our yard up a lot.  I love that they made them and love to go see them and have me read them to them.

chore chart boards

I finally got the boards done for my chore charts.  I had waited on this because I was looking for some great cheap frames.  Well, after a community garage sale and a great deal at Hobby Lobby, I have 3 gorgeous frames.
My crafter-in-crime, Aymee, and I are always borrowing, trading, and stealing various supplies from each other and she happened to have some extra metal sheets laying around.  Gotta love shopping next door! :)
So all in all, another great project for cheap.  I love how they look and I love that my kids manage them themselves.  Okay, Chloe just likes moving them back and forth, but she'll get there.  Give the kids a break.  She's only 1! :)

quiet books. do i dare?!

Something I have always wanted to do is make my kids Quite Books.  It has always seemed so overwhelming and time consuming to me that I just kept pushing the thought to the back of my mind.

Well, no more!  I am going to do it. 

Thanks to my pal Pintrest I have been doing a lot of research and idea gathering.  I've found some great stuff that I want to use and I've found a lot of inspiration that has sparked my noggin and got the wheels turning to allow the ideas to be unique and personal to my kids and their likes, skills, and personalities.

Wish me luck as I start.  I am just in the sketching stage and will soon be gathering materials.  I am by no means trying to get this done fast.  I think these would make great Christmas presents! :)

 Sam's Quiet Book Ideas:

 James' Quiet Book Ideas:

 Chloe's Quiet Book Ideas:

 A few of the larger sketches for Chloe's book.  They are very rough, but they make sense to me (and that's all that matters!) :)

mother's day heart collage

Here's the little Mother's Day craft I did with my kids for myself.  LOVE IT! :)  A heart for each of the little darlings who have mine! :)
We simply cut out our desired colors out of magazines and mod podged them on plain paper.  I then cut the kids colored pages into hearts and mod podged them onto my green background.
The kids and I have a blast making it.

let your light so shine

My kids have been blessed with amazing Primary Teachers and I am so grateful for that.  Sam came home with this super cute craft.  It is a small white bag that he colored yellow and glued himself on to and drew a face.  The paper he is "holding" says "Let your light so shine."  There is a small battery powered tea light in there that lets it shine.
He is so proud of it and rightfully so.  It is so cute!

growth chart update

With my dining nook being redone I had to do a little updating to my growth chart to make it a little more fun and meaningful.  I decided to include what each person wanted to be when they grew up each time they were measured.  I think this will be a fun thing to look back and read over when my kids are big.

My husband and I of course still hold on to our dreams of what we will be when we grow up too! :)

For the tutorial of this growth chart click here.

family table

I have been wanting to "fun up" my house for a while now.  I want to make sure that it is a place where my kids feel happy, comfortable, and welcome.  Where their toys, dirt, and artwork fit right in.  I am done with the "model" home feel.  So here's what we ended up with.
The kids and I love it.  We have been so much better at having family dinners at the table now.  Our old counter height table was just too big, fancy, and uncomfortable for a family table.  I love that I can just touch this one up when we get anything on it (which we already have done!). :)
I got the table off KSL, stripped it and painted it.  The chairs were from Ikea.  I just sanded those down too and painted them up.

The little basket I built and stained all by myself!  So much for overpriced baskets at the store! :)  Hobby lobby had one just smaller for $25.  Mine cost $5.

My wall decor is not quite done yet, but here's what I have so far.  My kids monograms ($12.  Letters from Hobby Lobby, fabric from WalMart), a duck for Chloe (she's obsessed with Ducks for some reason.  Can't get enough of them!), and clouds for my dreamer/imaginer, James.  I just used my cricut to cut vinyl.  Then I sprayed over it.  I am still coming up with how Sam will be represented.  We all know that nothing but trains exists in his world, I just don't want to be so literal.  It's been so fun and they love their art.
The hooks for their coats are awesome.  I had fun making them and putting them together.  Just a 1x8 board cut and stained.  Hooks mounted on front and the back is drill with screw holders.  I just need to build the little bench seat under them now to pull it altogether.
I love creating and developing skills.  It gets my mind and body going.

These are the fancy red stools I painted up.  I found just the ones I wanted for a great price on WalMart.com and stripped them.  They look so much better red!