First Day of School / Nap Mat Tutorial

E started Preschool last month, so I wanted to take the 'first day of school' pictures in front of our house like my mom always took of us. And J cried and cried and cried until I took some of him too, even though he stays home with me. Poor thing, he felt SO left out. I DREADED those pictures every year, but now I TOTALLY see the joy on the other side of it. I HAD to document this monumental day! And who would have known that I would be so sentimental after having kids?!?

The school that E attends had a list of items we had to buy. One of which was a nap mat. I looked them up online because, honestly, we are new to this whole needing a nap mat thing and I wasn't even sure what I was looking for.

I thought E may have a hard time going to sleep on a mat that was solely that, a mat. So, I began looking into covers and came across some really cute ones on Etsy. But one look at the price and I quickly decided that I could make something similar for a fraction of the cost.

And who do I turn to when I need inspiration, tutorials, and beautiful pictures? Pinterest, of course. I saw this:

The tutorial can be found HERE. This one has an attached blanket and pillow, and I could just picture E all snuggled up at nap time. I was going to do it.

The tutorial looked easy enough. So, I gave it a try. I did make one adjustment because it ended up being a little cheaper. Instead of making the attached blanket double sided, I just used fleece and then blanket stitched the edge.

This project helped me learn how to make a buttonhole with my sewing machine as well as blanket stitch (which I WILL say, was not an easy task through the thick fleece). All in all, it was a fun project and now I will know what I am doing when I need to make J one next year.

My cuties posing for the camera with E's nap mat.

And, lo and behold, E has slept every day at school despite my worries. And I just KNOW it is all because he is sleeping soundly on the nap mat I made for him. Ha!

love, life, and a smile

We had a fun time at the zoo this morning (a post on that later) with great friends. I am utterly exhausted so OF COURSE I needed a project to keep me awake (since the kids napped at the zoo and in the car - doesn't it always work out that way?). I've been wanting a Mumford & Sons quote displayed somewhere in our living room area that I can see every day. Their music and lyrics brings an instant smile to my face.

So here's a not-so-glam, but super quick project. I already had this frame on one of our living room bookcases with "family" on it. I just ripped off the paper from the circle scrapbook paper backing and replaced it with a quote I designed on the computer using a Pea Noodle font and one I found on another free site. It is just printed on color and printed on a piece of card stock. If you haven't checked out the fonts on the Pea Noodle website, you really are missing out. They are SUPER cute!

It says: "Where you invest your love, you invest your life" from their song Awake My Soul

Happy Thursday everyone!

Oh nap-time, how I love thee (mirror project)

Some days nap-time is filled with working out, taking a short nap, cleaning or reading, BUT the other day, I was feeling an urge to do something crafty (and FREE, since I already had the supplies on hand). I've had this old mirror since college and it's been sitting its lonely butt in the closet for quite some time. So, I decided to revamp this bad boy.

Here's the mirror....not ugly, but not too cute either.

I envisioned hanging it here:

I HAD to include this picture with an ADORABLE boys face reflecting in the mirror. I know, I know. I'm a LITTLE biased. Just a little.

I first taped off the inside edge and painted the edge with an"Oops" paint I found at Wal-Mart for 50% off. It's a deep turquoise color. My camera does not do it justice.

Then, I taped the outside and spray-painted the inside with......

.....THIS!

Here's the new chalkboard up on the wall next to the pantry. I've been using it to display what's on the menu for that night. And this is NOT the kind of food I cook on a regular basis, so please lower your expectations of my cooking skills. Haha.

A quick and cheap project that made me feel like I accomplished something today! :)

Before and After

I have had this chest of drawers done for about a month now and keep meaning to post my before-and-after photos. I have been wanting an old chest of drawers for the small wall we have between the staircase and the kitchen. I didn't want to pay much for it since I wanted to try my hand at distressing it. So....I was walking around goodwill and found this baby for $30. I called mike and had him measure the wall and I pulled out my handy-dandy, oh so precise, measuring tool...my thumb. Yes, that's right. My sister told me that from the knuckle to the end of her thumb measured approximately one inch, so I figured mine must be the same. And, I have to tell you, it a pretty good estimate! We only had a few inches to spare and I LOVE how it turned out!

BEFORE:

One of my best friends, Whit (her blog can be found here) and her husband re-did a buffet about a year ago and used an electric sander. I decided to give it a try since I had never used one. I borrowed one from a friend, and I don't think I will EVER do a project without one again. It was SUPER easy and FAST! I may even be tempted to ask for one for my birthday this year!

AFTER:

How I did it: First I sanded the chest and all the drawers with an electric sander. There wasn't much of a top coat, so the sanding didn't take very long. Then I used a damp rag and wiped off the mess that the sander made. I let that dry then applied one coat of paint-I wasn't too worried about covering it completely since I was going to sand it down a little bit anyway. Once I finished painting the drawers, the chest was dry. So, I got out the sander and used some fine grit sand paper to smooth out the paint as well as taking a little off to expose some of the wood underneath. I did this to all pieces and then wiped them off with a damp rag again. Then I used some antiquing glaze (can be found at Lowe's or Home Depot; I have also heard to can use clear glaze mixed with stain as a substitute) and applied it all over one section of furniture, letting it sit a minute or two. Then, I used a damp rag again and wiped off the excess glaze. The glaze settled in the sanded area, giving it that worn, dirty look. You could also use some sort of top coat at this point, but I chose not to.

Don't be afraid to try it!

a quick Thursday night project

Ok, so my mind has been overloaded lately with projects - most will have to wait until after J's arrival (which is this coming Wednesday, by the way...Ahh!) but some are quick and easy and can quench my project thirst for the time being.

I should start off by saying that we have only lived in this house for about 3 months now, so we have yet to do any painting (which is bugging the living heck out of me!). As soon as things slow down a little bit (I'm dreaming, right?) and I've recovered from that minor birthing thing, I hope to tackle some of the bigger projects, which in turn, will help me figure out some of the smaller projects I have in mind. (My best friend, W, is going to kill me for that previous sentence....I know it is major run-on! Ha!)

Anyway, I have had a cute picture of a pear hanging above our kitchen sink since right after we moved. It was located in the exact same place in our previous house, so I thought it should naturally it should go in the same place in our new house. I love the picture, don't get me wrong. It's size was just not working for the bigger space. Long story short, I came up with the idea of using some old fabric I found and our initial to create a cute little monogrammed 'art' thing-a-ma-jig. I love how it turned out....and it cost me nothing! All stuff I had around the house, which of course is the best part!

Here is the before picture of the area above the sink. Picture is much too small.

This is the picture frame I used for the project. I'm not a big fan of the frames with more than one space for a picture. So, although I wanted to display these pictures, I need to switch them to individual frames.

The fabric is actually not the one I ended up using because there wasn't enough to cover the mat (matte?) in the frame. I printed out a large W in the font I wanted and used it as a stencil for the W I cut out of white card stock.

Meet my friend, Mr. Wrinkle Releaser. This stuff is great, not only for getting wrinkles out of clothes when you don't feel like ironing, but also for projects like this. I love it.

And WAHLA....isn't it cute? I like it anyway, a whole lot better than what was there before!

DIY Wreath

I have seen so many houses around our neighborhood with such cute wreaths and fall decorations. A little thing, like a wreath, can make a house look so festive that I began to search for one in stores. (Ok, ok....just Target....I haven't been many other places these days). The only ones I could find were smaller than the one I ended up purchasing and $29.99 on sale. I just couldn't justify spending that kind of money. Soooo...I made my way to good ole Wal-Mart and purchases this wreath for $2.97 and the hanger for $1.97!! Yay!

I spray painted the wreath hanger brown because I wasn't such a big fan of the gold. Then I needed some berries or leaves or something. I couldn't find anything I really liked at Wal-Mart or Target, so I decided to look at Pier 1. Granted, their stuff is always really cute but overpriced, I wanted something I was going to use for the fall holidays, Christmas, as well as next year. This justified my spending $4.99 each for two strands of berries. They are are a great red and orange color and I love them!

Then, I cut small sections of berries off and positioned them through the twigs on the wreath. Luckily I had some leftover fall ribbon from last year and just used that for the bow.

For a grand total of $15.00, I made a wreath that I really like and can use for years to come. It's much easier to change out the ribbon and berries on this one when I decide I want a change (for example, maybe a red or green bow when Christmas rolls around). Simple, but fun project!