The Good Stuff

I've been a busy girl this summer. Lots of changes and fun and crazy moments. A lot of tears and sad times too. There were days I didn't think I would make it through the night. There were nights I wished would never never end. I tried new things. Things that scared me, things I was told {somewhere along the way} that I could not do, things that made me laugh until I cried and things that made me cry until I had to laugh. It was awesome. And when I think back to all these wonderful little memories, I could see them all in my head. Like an old movie reel....

So I opened a Word doc late one night. and I started to jot down things that made me smile. And then, I realized that some of the things that made me cry.....became a part of something bigger and more wonderful. So I added them too. Soon, I was looking a pages of black and white memories that all made me smile. Except....it was so....plain. So I looked at what I had written....and I fonted and colored and sized and I came up with this. I had the pages printed on cardstock, cut them to size and mod podged the poo out of it onto a canvas board. I started to use a brush to spread the MP, but the crazy little artist that lives in my head tossed that little brush over her shoulder and used her hands. My piece is not 'to scale' and it isn't perfectly aligned, but you know what? Neither is my LIFE! And the best way to get the most out of anything thing is to get you hands in there and make it happen.

It was a lot of fun to do and my girls want to do some too now. I bought smaller canvases and boards for them to play with. Hey, anything to keep their minds open to the wildly creative side of life, I am all about. Hope you all have had a wonderful summer...and this fall is looking pretty darn great too!

Thanks!

Emily  

Back to WHAT!?

Summer is in full effect in our tiny nook of the world with lots of changes for our family as well, and quite frankly....it has been CRAZY! I decided to head back to work {after 5 years at home} and why did I decide to do this over summer break? Umm yeah. Anyway...the kids are doing great with our mix it up sitter schedule and granted, it is only part time, and they {we} enjoy the break from each other. But it really has put on hold a lot of my crafty creative~ness at home. My garden is weed-ridden and the flower beds...well...I keep hoping those really tall things BlooM!! Perhaps part of our new outdoor jungle growth is because we have been enjoying our summer to the fullest. Lots of pooltime, water toys, sprinklers, late night fires & smores, catching fireflies and many many suppers outside. Which is why, I had a *smallish* freak out realization the other day. Did you know the stores have their Back To {GASP!} School things out!? How did this happen? I am the crazy lady with my kids backpacks packed and ready to go, like...a week after school is OUT. I am seriously torn between giving in to my sadistic obsession of smelling pencils and filler paper or continuing my frolicking good time summer. And I want to call out the stores and say, NO! You are wrong! We still have blah blah blah amount of time before we need to worry about that, but guess what...it's like 5 weeks away. So, I'm sitting here blogging, eyeing the Lands End 'BTS' catalog and rocking out to some summer tunes. I think I will choose to live in denial for just a bit longer....after all, They are only kids ONCE : )    

There are times I am 'SO' on the ball, and other times {like lately} where I can't seem to get anything right. Saying this, I cannot find any 'before' pics. Grrr. So, imagine, a white ladder back chair with a light oak seat.....the boring plain-ness of it. Ahhh...but then...Cherry Red spray paint {can you hear the angels singing?} and yes...mod podge and sheet music fabric. Yes. A perfect combo for my daughter's new desk chair. She loves it, I love it and it only cost $2 for the chair. SWEET!                      

Simple Soap

I do a lot of laundry. Laundry is my addiction. I actually LIKE to do laundry on most days. It is the easiest chore to do and you get instant results. My 8 year old lil curly redhead has allergies to lots of chemical based things. We have worked out most of the bugs over the years, but sometimes we goof up and she {unfortunately} ends up covered in hives. Laundry soap is no different. Yes, it is so much better now that there are more 'sensitive' and 'allergen-free' options, but sometimes they can be rather costly, and like I said...I do a LOT of laundry. So, a friend of mine hooked me up with a homemade laundry soap recipe. I have been using it for over a month now and the verdict is....I love it! So, I wanted to share it with you. Trust me, it is so easy. I make a double batch....you know....because I do a lot of laundry.  : )



Grate one bar of soap. I use Ivory {allergen free & non drying} but you can used whatever you prefer.



My soap...all grated and in a food processor. I mix this all in the processor because my friend had soap flake issues on her laundry and honestly, that would drive me nuts. So, a kitchen power tool to the rescue!  : )

 

<>

<>

Add one cup each of washing soda and Borax {about $3 a box and you can find them in the laundry isle}
 and blend away! The food processor breaks up all the shavings and leaves the mix very fine.  

 

I dump it in a container and use 1 or 2 tablespoons per load. I haven't figured my costs out, but I know it is way cheaper for me to make my own than to buy it now. And the bonus...no HIVES!!



Frame It

All you need is a frame, fabric and Mod Podge...

I had a plain frame sitting around, waiting to be made into something...fun

I roughly trimmed the fabric to a lil larger than the frame and trimmed the photo opening as well. Brushed Mod Podge on the front of the frame and slapped the fabric on top, smoothing it out and folding the edges and corners over to the backside. I brushed more Mod Podge on the edges to keep them secure.

Let it dry and that's it! Easy. Easy. Easy.

Creatively Stressing or is it Stressing Creatively?

There are two things you can always count on living in Ohio. The first is that you can never predict the weather. This particular subject is causing quite the ruckus in our parts. Blizzard warnings which turn out to be nothing but a forecast of a few measly few inches of snow and a light dusting turns into 8 inches of thick and heavy snow. Oh! and did I mention the ice?  Added to the wonderful decision to cut our school calamity days from 5 to 3...well, you get the picture. I love my kids, they are wonderful little beings of pure energy. That being said, my recent {non-life threatening} ice injury has left me hobbling around with YES three wildly homebound creatures that used to resemble my children. Mix in my inability to carry laundry baskets either up or down steps...sigh...I need a release of some sort.

Which brings me to the other thing you can count on in Ohio. Now, I know it is February. The Super Bowl was just a few short weeks ago. We are still watching basketball and hockey and low and behold...some even like racing. But. The one sport Ohio holds above all else is......yep. Football. The best thing about Ohio is college football Saturday. EVERY Saturday during college football season, you can find somewhere to go and eat awesome food, drink some ice cold beverages, hang out with your friends and just enjoy some ball. There is one small misconception about Ohio. Did you know, not everyone is a Buckeye fan? GASP! It's TRUE! In my little corner of the world, we have the biggest mix of football fans. Our conference is one of the best in the nation, and I don't {fully} mean by winning records. {this is the part where I step back to say, this is not a post about the awesomeness of the Big 10...I really do have a more inspirational point than that!} If you have ever watched a pregame segment, you know it is more than just about the game. Players' lives, good and bad, are showcased, coaches thoughts, opinions and backgrounds are discussed. There are wonderful stories of overcoming the odds on every team. This past season was no exception. Now, I admit, it has been a tough few years for my college football team. When this idea came to me, I just couldn't even imagine plugging in any quote from Rich Rod. {hee hee} So, I went with a quote from Mark Dantonio. Yep, that would be Michigan State's head football coach. And if you aren't familiar with his story, I strongly suggest you Google him and learn for yourself. So here's what I came up with...

I found the quote online, put it into a Word doc and played with it all for a while. Sent it to the printers and picked it up in less than 2 hours. Total print cost... $0.50. Sweet deal. I now have ideas for Penn State and I MAY even hook up a couple Buckeye fans I know. {and that is sayin' a lot!} I hope you like this quick little project. I bet you could even get your kids to do this...how about a Disney Princess?     

Brain Freeze

Wow. It has been well over a month since I have blogged anything. Maybe it's because it has been so stinkin' cold lately and I can't spray paint anything... A few weeks back, I had about enough of this cabin fever and I grabbed a chair and the paint brush. Soon after, I remembered WHY I like spray paint and WHY I don't paint in the house. This chair is special to me. When I was expecting my {unexpected} third child, my friends and I were strolling around downtown after lunch and I spied this cute little chair in the window of an antiques & collectables shoppe. In passing, I said how a lil chair like that would be nice to set in the bathroom, next to the bathtub. Ideally to relax in and read a book while the kids bathed. Fast forward a few weeks to the lunch my friends brought me to meet our new addition. The last gift I opened was this chair. What a unique gift, and so thoughtful too.  

So when cabin fever kicked in and the lack of sunshine started making me feel 'blue', I grabbed my can of paint, paintbrush and some odds and ends I had around the house.

I attempted to remove the seat base from the chair, but years of rust and previous paint layers hindered my not so muscular upper body. Lucky for me, I have  a wonderful woodworking friend who whipped me up a perfect circle to set on top of the chair. I covered it with batting and fabric and glued the whole thing to the seat. Perfect!

The chair, however, is now in my kitchen as the kids are loving the new-ness of it and fight over who gets to sit in it. The weather is improving and I am hoping to bust out the spray pain in the next few days. Hope you all are having a wonderful winter : )