Crafty Brittany

 Brittany is currently obsessed with The Avengers. She has also determined that a little crafting is a great way to reduce the stress of school. She spends a fair amount of  time on pinterest and between that and some encouragement from her friend Emme she decicded to tackle some fantastic new shoes.

One of a kind Avenger shoes!

Let it Snow!

It is supposed to snow here in the next day or two. I'm ready! Well, not really. I have loved this Indian Summer we have been having and I don't know what I will do when I can't throw the kids outside to play anymore, but my door is ready! I spent 45 minutes today making this wreath for my door for this Christmas. I realized in all of my wreath making sessions I have never made one for Christmas. The one we have been using we got the first year we were married. That was almost 20 years ago. It was time for a new one! This one is made from a dollar store grapevine wreath and four tubes of the plastic ornaments they sell there. Oh and don't forget the hot glue. A lot of hot glue! I have to say making the wreath made me feel a little bit better about winter being around the corner!

The Lamp

This is probably my favorite feature of Josh's new room. The Lamp. I'm not sure how I cooked this idea up. I think it evolved out of a frame I saw on pinterest. It is a thrift store lamp. I covered the shade with the flame fabric I used in his room. Some folding and a lot of hot glue.

But this is the best part. I bought about four boxes of dollar store cars because Josh loves and know each of the ones found in our houses. Plus I kind of liked how they were lighter weight. I used both hot glue and E-6000 to glue them on. I figured the hot glue would hold them in place until the E-6000 dried. I used some nuts and bolts to fill in the gaps. Then I sprayed the whole thing with primer. Then with several coats of red spray paint. It really is one of my very favorite things in his room.

The Last Kid's Room

I had no idea when I redecorated Brittany's room I had no idea what I was started. Remember how I had to do Matthew's for his birthday? Well of course the little guy felt left out and has been asking when I was "remodeling" his room for awhile now. So I have slowly been gathering a few things to change it up in his room a little. This was the before.

This is the after. Forgive the bad photo, I keep forgetting to take a picture until late afternoon when the sun is streaming in. I should be grateful there is sun shining again!

First up was a window treatment. I wish I could convince my husband that this really finishes a room. I have a few more windows that wish they could be treated. Josh wanted a car theme and this is the care fabric that his bed quilt was already made from. I added the checkered flag banner on top. I think I found that on pinterest.

Not sure where I got the name on the wall idea. I painted the chipboard letters. I hot glued them to a board I had made out of cardboard. William had a couple of big pieces they protect the wood he buys with. So the board is three layers of cardboard glued together and then wrapped in the checkered fabric. Josh really likes this part of his room, kids his age love having their names on everything. The round chair in the corner came from walmart it was only $15. The fleece blanket was $3 there too and I appliqued the J on it.
The big car picture was left over from Matthew's room and the monster truck ones came from Hobby Lobby. I used freezer paper on the black pillow on the bed. The lamp on the nightstand is covered in cars I spray painted-more on that later. Yep, that is a happy boy. He like that whiteboard and magnet board behind him too, just like his brother's.

Reading in your new room in your new chair and jammies. Nothing better!

Bringing Back the Fun Mom

A week or so ago I realized that I used to do a lot more crafts with Matthew and Brittany when they were Josh's age and next year he will be in school all day. I figured I should try and do more crafts with him while I still can. So I looked at my pinterest boards and found this one. Marbleizing paper with shaving cream. Spray the shaving cream into cookie sheet. Then drop food coloring and stir it around with a popsicle stick. Then I let him take it over by the sink and "shave" it with a small spatula.

Look how cool they turned out! As he was shaving it I had him put the colored shaving cream in a bowl and then he took it into the bathtub.

And painted the walls. What a blast! I do admit I had a moment of panic when I thought "what if that doesn't come off the marble?" But it did. It was so much fun we had to do the whole thing over again the next day with Brittany an Matthew!

Valentine Crafts

Another craft from pinterest that I worked on while William was out of town. This one was actually for my sister. It is really fun to touch. Doesn't it look like brains?

Here it is on the front door. Last year this time of year I was making pillows like crazy. This year it seems to be wreaths.

I also found these on clearance at Target after Christmas. Let's just say I went a little crazy buying them. But they were so cute and so cheap! And now they are a Valentine's Day garland. For pretty much everyone I know!

My cutest craft ever!

One of my best friends, Circe, is having a baby soon. So my friends and I had a little shower. I had made a quilt, my usual go-to baby gift but I had seen so many cute little girl skirts and I had fabric left over so I couldn't resist trying to make a skirt. A teeny-tiny skirt. With a matching onesie. I think it is just about the cutest thing I have made ever! There is something even more adorable about its tininess. It almost makes me wish I was having a baby girl. Almost.

This the quilt that started it all. Pretty happy with it too.

Because I having a crafting problem and sometimes I just can't stop I finished off with a skirt made from the adorable ruffled fabric I can't get enough of. Now to meet the little one they are intended for!

Still Finishing Christmas Projects

William has been out of town so that means I craft. I am still trying to finish up crafts I had intended to finish for Christmas. Oh well, it is only January right? This afghan was started on our family trip to Disneyland. I have to have something to work on in the car or I go crazy. It took longer to join all the squares together than I thought of course. I do love granny squares.

I found this method of joining them on my beloved pinterest. I like how it looks seamless. Brittany is always cold so this adds a bit more warmth to her bed.

Lampshade

I love the ruffle fabric they have at Hobby Lobby. They have it other places but I can use their coupon. I had a piece left over from other projects and decided it might make this lamp even more appealing. I think I was right. I just used my hot glue gun and stretched it as I went and there you are!

Bed Buddy

Another project that was supposed to be for Christmas was this little bed buddy. I saw this idea in a shop and figured I could make my own. Brittany likes to warm up a rice bag and put it in her bed to warm it up Little House on the Prairie style. I thought this guy might be more fun. So I found a stuffed animal at the thrift store. I made sure he didn't have button eyes or any metal parts. Then I made an opening and took out the stuffing. Then I replaced it with rice and stitched him back up. I admit it does seem a bit odd to put him in the microwave but he is going to have to get used to it because he is a lot more fun than some old rice bag!

Crafting again!

Now that the holidays are over I am working on finishing the projects I started during the holidays and didn't finish. I don't know why I must bite off too much every year but I do. I guess it gives me something to work on after the big day passes! They will be showing up here for the next few posts. For some reason I decided that I should make myself a yarn wreath for the Winter. Oddly enough I didn't finish it. But Saturday William took the boys out for a boys day and after Brittany and I hit the yogurt shop and the library I had the afternoon to myself. This has been pinned on my pinterest for awhile. Pretty happy with the end product.

Course, it looks even cuter with that little guy next to it!

Christmas Break

So it is over. The kids go back to school in the morning. I am actually quite sad (usually I am counting hours). It has been a lot of fun around here. Or maybe I just love the lack of homework stress.
Once the big day was over and we played with all the toys we broke out a few craft projects courtesy of pinterest. I cannot express how much I love pinterest.

I have been dying to try the melted crayon art that was big on pinterest. Brittany saw one on there that had the girl with umbrella silhouette so she wanted to try that. Aren't they great?

Tie dying with permanent markers and rubbing alcohol. The site I looked at advised using sharpies but I am too cheap and didn't want to hand over my sharpies to the kids so we used cheap permanent markers I bought for $3 for the set. They worked just as well. Such a fun project. Found it here. It is my new favorite way to tie dye. No need to buy any Rit dye or worry about spilling vats of dye.

Slime. Not a pinterest original. We have made this before but Matthew requested it. Look, Josh made a cute snowman.

Then he turned it into a fierce fist!

Finally, we had a family party on New Year's Eve Day. Once we found a church we could get into (we planned to have it at ours but when we showed up we had been bumped by a funeral!) it was great, laid back fun. We ate, the kids drove their remote control stuff around the gym and played with Nerf guns, we exchanged gifts and visited. Pretty much perfect except that we missed three of the families and Oma and Opa. I love this picture because even though I said "Hey everyone, look at me!" they all ignored me except Matthew who hid from me.

I put away all the Christmas decorations today but ran out of energy before I could put all the regular decorations back so it looks like we just moved in. I have to admit after the wonderful chaos of the holidays I am kind of enjoying the simple clean effect. But I know I will have it all back the way it was before a couple of days have passed. Just like we will be resuming our regular some-what crazy life tomorrow.

Kids Christmas Craft

This last week was sort of a tough one. It seems everyone planned their events early in the month which is great but created one heck of a week. So about half way through the week I told the kids we weren't leaving the house and we were going to craft. This is my way of dealing with stress and I figured since they were my kids it might be theirs too. We made snow less snowglobes. I know, sounds weird but when I saw it on pinterest I thought it could be adapted for kids. I was right. They had a great time making homes for their thrifted figurines. They were supposed to go in old pickle jars I had saved but two of them didn't fit. Of course, in my substantial stash we found some other jars. The fake snow came from Wal-mart and I have enough left over to make snowglobes for everyone we know! We survived the crazy week and now we have a fun weekend to enjoy. And we have snowglobes!

I love PInterest

So I haven't blogged as much lately. I blame Pinterest. I find myself spending most of my screen time there. The plethora of ideas to be found there is overwhelming. And I love it. So here a couple of the ideas I have found there. Freezer paper. Who knew all the things it could be used on? I stenciled this snowflake on a pillow I already had. Cost me zero dollars. We all know I just don't have enough pillows around this place.

Both of these ornament ideas came from Pinterest. The first ones I tried were ornaments with old music papers modpodged. Then I tried some glitter ornaments I saw. The originals had swirled Mop and Glo inside and then added glitter. I am cheap and didn't want to buy Mop and Glo so I used a clear dish washing detergent instead and it worked just great.

Next up, transfering photos to canvas!

Mohawk Hat

Matthew is crazy for all things football these days. His favorite college team is BYU so when I saw this idea on pinterest I had to try it. I was going to save it for Christmas but I couldn't wait. Plus I may put one in my shop so I needed to have Matt model it. I used a purchased hat then added the yarn on top to make the "mohawk". I love freezer paper which is how I made the Y. Actually Matthew helped with that part.Now we just need a cold game to go to!

Halloween Decorations

If it is time for another holiday you know I am going to have to make some new crafts! I seem to be into banners and I didn't have a Halloween one. This is actually the one I made for my sister but mine is like it just shorter.

This was inspired by this on Pinterest. Mine is very different, since mine uses pictures of my family at Halloween's past and doesn't spell Halloween. Love how Pinterest sparks my imagination.

Brittany has been feeling like making some Halloween crafts too. She made these lovely witchies from dollar store barbies. She put tape over their eyes and mouths to preserve the paint then we spray painted them green. We also sprayed their dresses black. Pretty fabulous aren't they?

Under Glass

I haven't posted much lately. I think my screen time has been mostly spent on Pinterest. Is everyone as addicted as I am? I love being able to keep all the great things I see in blogland in one place so that when I want to do something I can actually find them again. This is an idea I saw there. This is the site that had the tutorial. So easy and doesn't everything look cuter under glass. Just in case you don't check out the tutorial I will fill you in, glass votive from the dollar store with two flat glass marbles super glued on top. I had two sizes so I used them.

I can't seem to stop finding things to put under glass!

The Book Page Wreath

I haven't blogged much lately. Or been on the computer at all much really. The kids going back to school and adding all their activities has changed the tempo of life around here. I think we are finding our groove now though. I have taken advantage of some of the kid free time to work on some projects. I have wanted to do this one for months. I used this tutorial for months. It took a pretty good chunk of time to finish but I really love it. It actually has more color in real life.

The Finishing Touch

There have been so many fun things people have been creating with the free paint chips you get at the hardware store that I decided to attempt a banner to finish off Brittany's new room. This photo is horrible, but you get the idea.

I think it was the little touch the room needed!

Father's Day ideas

Do you realize that Father's day is only a week away? So I have been looking at some ideas for the kids to help with this next week. This is what I have come up with so far. If you are a dad in our family look away! Loving these sculpey clay pens here. from Little Birdie Secrets
This idea is simple but cute. herefrom Smile Monsters
I am thinking these cupcakes might be fun. Here. at nothing but country

There are some really cute printables on this blog here. at Splendid Designs.

Martha Stewart always has good ideas, I am liking this idea for notepads decorated by little ones. Here

Now we will see if I get any of these done with the kids!