Kids Craft Cart

I am so proud of myself because I did not let summer break sneak up on me this year. I have a plan to keep the kids and me from going crazy. I put together (and laminated) chore charts, reading charts and homework charts. Yep, 4 days in and the kids are already fighting me (ok, just my son is). I am not giving up though. I am determined to make these work and get him to work a little more around the house. Somewhere along the line he got the idea he is an honored guest, how did that happen?

Part of getting ready for summer was putting together this craft cart. My girls love to draw and paint and now all their supplies are easy to see and grab. The cart is located right next to our kitchen table, so it is very convenient.

My Mom had a stash (and by stash, I mean several boxes) of mason jars in her basement and it was so fun going through them. She had all different sizes and styles. They were perfect for markers and paint brushes. The buckets are from the Target dollar section, except the double blue one was from a garage sale.

I got the cart from a garage sale last summer. It has been perfect to use as a drink cart outside for entertaining, but for now it work great for craft supplies.

I use the bottom shelf for paint, paper and coloring books.

The print is a free printable from Craftaholics Anonymous. I got the frame from Ikea and painted the mat with Magenta craft paint.

So far this cart has gotten lots of use, don't you just love when something works out like you plan?
How did you get ready for summer? Do you have reading schedules and homework plans? I usually go strong at the beginning of the summer and it fizzles out toward the end. We will see, the kids really like checking off the boxes on the charts so far. And the promise of the prize box is keeping them motivated. I really need to put that box together soon.

Hope you are all having a great start to your summer vacation!




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Painted Basket

I always have a running list in my head (or on my phone) of things I am looking for at garage sales or thrift stores. A basket for under my couch table has been on my list for a LONG time. My table is only about 12 inches deep so I have had a hard time finding a basket that was big enough but not too wide.
Well, I finally found one and for the price I wanted to pay, $6.00.

I didn't love the color of the stripes but I knew a little paint could fix that.

I pulled out my plain white craft paint and painted away.

I did my best to get in between the pieces but I was not too concerned about it being perfect.

It is not a perfect paint job but I knew it was going on the floor and didn't have to be perfect.

It works perfect for storing extra pillows and blankets.

It is just what I needed to fill the space under the table. And my outdoor pillows fit just right in the basket when not in use.

This week is our first week of summer and I am determined to be more organized with chores and some school work. Plus we all have to get used to being together all. the. time. Which always takes some patience and time. Hope you are getting off to a great start this summer. I am looking forward to lazy days ahead, I still can't believe it is summer. It feels like a long weekend still.

Have a great day!



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Star Garland

It is the last week of school and I can't believe how busy this month has been. I am looking forward to summer to slow things down, I hope it does. My posts have really slowed down and I think that will be the trend for the summer. I really want to enjoy the summer with my kids and not worry about a schedule. I am looking forward to lazy days ahead.

I made some super simple star garland that are the perfect decoration for Memorial day, 4th of July or Labor Day. Or maybe a birthday party. I think I need to make some red, white and blue next.

I cut out the stars with my Silhouette, but you could use a star punch.

And sewed them together leaving some space between each star. (Sorry for the bad photos, the lighting is great for working but not great for photographing). I lined them up so it was easy to feed one in after another.

They are so fun and turned out just like I imagined. They will be so fun to use for decorating this summer. Maybe I need a white strand and a red strand?

This garland is available in my Etsy Shop if you are interested. I would be happy to make different colors too.
I hope your week is going great, and you are ready for summer. I cleaned my house this week because I know it will be September before I get a chance to clean it good again. Ha Ha the joys of summer.

Master Gallery Wall

I can't get enough of gallery walls, big and small. Gallery walls and stripes, love them! This particular wall in my bedroom is constantly changing. I hang something but don't love it so it only stays a short time, then the wall is empty again. Or I make something and I like too much so I put it somewhere else in my house where I can see it more often. Like the abstract art I did a little while ago. That was moved to the office. So this wall has been blank for a few months now. My husband began asking what happen to the picture that was here? Not a good sign when he starts asking why walls are blank.

So, I decided it need to be finished with something that would stay. So I came up with this. The only thing I didn't already have was a canvas, so this wall cost me $2, perfect!

I knew I wanted some "love" art and I liked the idea of adding some gold. I decided to use my Silhouette and the "weld" feature. The weld feature allows you to take a script font (or any shape) and connect them to be one continuous word.

The day I wanted to work on this I didn't have any gold paper and had no plans in the next few days to make it to the store, so I made some. When I decide to work on something I want to do it now. Patience is not my strong suit. I grabbed some heavy duty white card stock and some craft paint and made my own gold paper.

I used Martha Stewart Metallic paint in Gold and light gold. (The white pile of paint is mother of pearl, but I didn't end up using any of that). I mixed the two together using just a small amount of light gold.

I wanted the brush marks to be seen so it wasn't a solid color.

I LOVE the way it turned out!! So simple. Exactly what I was looking for. I glued it onto a large piece of white paper and put it in a frame I already had.

Next up was some monogram art. Again I used my Silhouette, but you could easily print out letters on your computer in any size and font and cut them out.

I traced the letters and painted them with black craft paint.

I am so pleased with the results. It works perfect for our master bedroom and I have no plans of moving anything. It was kind of fun going through old wedding pictures too. Wow we both look so much younger, how time flies!

I am still toying with the idea of painting the big black frame gold. I tried white but didn't like that. My white spray paint did not match the mat and it looked funny. Maybe I need a different white. What are your thoughts? Keep the black or try gold? Or a different white spray paint?

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. I love seeing how excited the kids get for Easter morning, such fun memories.




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DIY Fabric Covered Cork Trivets

I hope you all had a great weekend! I had a great weekend with my parents arriving earlier than expected to celebrate my birthday, which is always a nice surprise. They have been traveling around the country in their motor home so we get to see them when they are passing through.  Such a fun life.

I finished a little project for my daughters room over the weekend. Fabric covered cork trivets, such an easy way to add some color and function to the walls.

I picked three different fabrics from my stash and picked up some cork trivets from Ikea.

I cut a very rough circle of fabric and ironed it first to try to get most of the wrinkles out. I used a hot glue gun to attach the fabric to the trivet. For the first one I glued the sides then the top and bottom, but I found it easier to glue two opposite sides and then pull tight and glue as I went around.

I cut off any excess fabric and glued down the ends to make it flatter in the back.

Then I hung them up for my daughter to fill with treasures. I am a little nervous about the push pins so this is kind of an experiment. She is 7 so I think she will be ok. I think my son got a cork board at 7 and we have not had any issues.

I love how they turned out. The colors really work in her room of pink.

Have you finished any easy projects for around the house lately? It is about warm enough to spray paint around here! YAY!! It feels like forever since I have spray painted. I hope you are enjoying some milder weather as well.

Have a great day!

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Spring Banners

Well, it was time to update my chicken wire frame, it still had Christmas cards on it. I originally made the frame last Thanksgiving for thankful cards, you can see the tutorial here. It has been fun to come up with new ideas to display and Spring is always the perfect time to change things up.

The Spring banner was actually a free printable I got over at Handmade Home, she has some great printables and lots of other great ideas too. I used some left over scrapbook paper to make the other banner. I made my own template using some cardstock and a small jar to get the shape. I think I have mentioned before I am not good with freehand, but I am resourceful.

I am sure most of you have heard about this new app called Waterlogue, but just in case you haven't it is awesome. It turns any picture into a watercolor. It has been so fun to play with, so I printed out a few favorites to add to the frame. They are summer pictures but I just love them. I printed them with my home computer onto cardstock and they turned out great.  I need to print out more.

I love the new look for this frame, it is so fresh and bright. Just what I need this time of year when our snow is melting and we are left with mud and brown grass. I can't wait for flowers and a summer breeze.

Hope you are getting some warm spring weather! It was snowing here yesterday, it actually looked like a blizzard for a while. It is all gone now so that is all that matters, I guess. Have a great day!


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