sidewalk paint fun

i promise i haven't forgotten about my blog.  i've just been crazy busy.  some days its a tough choice between outside work or sewing.  if i am lucky i can get in both.

the other day, a told the kids that they were all going to take a square of the sidewalk and chalk it all up.  time got away from him, and he forgot all about it.  just so happened that i had been thinking about making sidewalk paint for the kids to try out on the same night.  it was a HIT!!!  esp with miss p.  we found out that regular paint brushes work better.  i got the cheap 50c, 1" brushes from the farm store.  the foam brushes just soak up the color.  for the most part everyone did a square, some did more.  you can really tell that p loves to draw & paint.  she did the most.  she has asked me when i am going to make it again.  

here is the recipe.  ready?  its pretty hard.

mix 1 c water with 1 c corn starch & some food coloring.  then go have fun! 

we also found out that you should stir your paint every once in a while otherwise the corn starch starts to seprerate & settle to the bottom.  

 p's designs

 a's anchor and foreign language (anyone know what he wrote?)

 z's large mouth bass

a & the girls having fun with the paint.  

progress in craft room

i have not only been busy in the craft room, but for the craft room as well.  and so have the kids.  i had them each paint some pictures for me to hang up on the wall.  

i love seeing each of them create something. z and p each did a house and water scene.  e just paints. 

 i also had drawers made for this antique desk i had picked up a long time ago.  i think technically its upside down, but works best that way for my purposes.  i love it cause everything now has a permanent place and it's labeled.  and i still have a few drawers open. 

 then i had to do some creative thinking on how in the heck i was going to hang up all my stamps.  the clips i have had for a long time have way smaller hooks than any cafe rod i could find.  so a trip to menards and the farm store (thanks uncle mark) solved my problem.  

 and i wanted a place to write down ideas, my to do list (never ending), what i need to make for up coming shows, and any thing else.  so up went a chalk board.  i love it and have already wiped some things off my list (and a had to leave me a note-love that man so)

 i do have a sewing box that i love, but as i was paroosing pinterest one day i saw something awesome.  a board with nails.... to put all my spools and bobbins on!!! unfortunately i ran out of nails so i cant put all my spools up til i can get back to menards.  but what i do have up has been super nice. no more lifting up a spool to see it its the right color, all my bobbins are on the same nail as the spool they match, so i don't have to hunt for those, either.  and this was a while ago project, but i used pic line (plumbing line) cut into short rings with a slit in it as bobbin stoppers so the tread doesn't come off (as easy anyway)

and my new storage.  this was a fun project that i decided to go with plan b in the end.  but i love how it turned out and know that if i need more storage (cause you never know) that i can just make another bracket and get longer boards and bam, i have another 32 inches or so of storage.  

next will be the kids area.....

its done!!!! (well kind of)

we are FINALLY done with the basement (90% anyway-need to finish plumbing) and this is the craft room.  i LOVE all the counter space and drawers!  i am still in the process of getting stuff put away.  needing a big shelf to go in the corner for all my big totes.  its been fun putting stuff away knowing that this is finally 'home' for my craft supplies.  then i'll do some decorating on the walls (have to have a chalk board to messages and to do's) and stain and finish my cool antique door!

p's artwork

almost everyday i get 3 or more pictures from p that she colors/draws/ creates at school.  and what to do with all this beautiful art?  she likes to hang it in her room.  when she moves down stairs we'll make her some art boards for her room.  and i have taken to scanning each one so that i dont have to save them all.  i cant imagine how many boxes i would have full of art work.  at the end of the year, i'll make a shutterfly book for her to have.

new bathroom decor

so i know i have been really bad lately on this.  its just the normal excuses busy summer, school stuff. but i was reminded that i needed to update this so here is something we have done lately...i like pintrest (well maybe love) and saw a cute idea on there and ran with it to make it my own.  the kids all love to paint so i got them paint & gave them the low down-paint what you want and when its dry we'll put your hand prints on there, cause mom wants to hang these in the bathroom.  they had fun (as you can see) and i love how they are all different.
now if you look close there is one without a hand print. and there is a reason for it....aaron & i are expecting the end of march!!!  so i painted that one and when the baby arrives, i'll get monkey's print on there.

late christmas stuff

i know this is way late, but with everyone being sick (more then once with everything that is going around) and christmas & the wedding, i finally remembered & had time to post these.  the kids had fun gluing & then painting the 'houses'.  they didnt like the waiting for the glue to dry though. 

christmas ornaments

this years christmas ornaments.  wine cork trees.  they were fun to make & i think they turned out pretty cute. 

suitcase

most people have a black suitcase.  that is about the only color they used to make i think.  nice but it can make it hard to find yours at baggage claim, unless you have a bright object tied to it.  while on a trip last year, i saw someone elses suitcase and thought 'i can do that so easy'  they had painted a design on it (flowers i think) so with two trips of my own pending this year i decided it was time to actually do it. 

made it much easier to see my suitcase.  got a bit scratched up but what can you expect when they just throw them all over the place.  (oh and my trips were lots of fun)

Now that we have FINALLY had Christmas at mom's house I can show you what I made for my sister and her fiance. I didnt want something with glass with all the mosture in a bathroom but I wanted her to be able to change the pics as she got different ones. I really like the way they turned out and think I will do some for a baby room in pinks, purples, blues and greens. Look for those later. I am also thinking of some trinket/memory boxes. Small to sit on a dresser and some bigger to put all of babys out grown clothes that you just cant part with in.