Earth Day - Fairy House!

 My husband was off work today and he and our littlest girlie spent a busy Earth Day going to the Recycling Center (we do not have garbage service - we take our garbage, MUCH less than we used to accumulate! - and our recyclables -- MUCH more than we used to accumulate! -- to the town's Recycling Center!), then came back to work on cleaning up the yard.  They also worked together on setting up our daughter's sweet little fairy house!  This is year 2 for the fairy house, and she has gathered quite a large number of adorable items -- some from gifts, lots of natural materials, some recycled materials.  It's such a fun project! 

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day?

Do-It-Yourself Frame w/ Scrapbook Paper

The second item that I “face lifted” was my chalkboard. I bought my chalkboard at Hobby Lobby for $12. I have had it hanging in my living room for over a year and while I loved the idea of it (chalkboard “art” – having a large chalkboard on the wall that I could decorate with seasonal messages and inspirational quotes), the frame left little to be desired… 

I bought some scrapbook paper from the craft store (about $ .50 per sheet at Joann’s or Hobby Lobby) and I bought some smooth molding from Lowe’s (under $10). Just like I did with the mirror project, I measured the length that I wanted the pieces, got the molding cut to size (thanks again, Dad!!) and then this time, instead of painting the molding, I glued the scrapbook paper on! You can buy “Modge Podge” from the craft store, but I had white glue and I mixed that in a bowl with water until it looked like milk. I cut the scrapbook paper into vertical strips that were wider than the width of the molding. Then I took a paintbrush (I used a sponge-y brush) and my glue mixture and I “painted” the scrapbook paper and the top side of the molding (as opposed to the flat, underside) and carefully placed the paper on the molding. 

Because I cut it into wide strips, I was able to wrap it around the molding so that it would stay in place a little better! Just pay attention to any pattern that your paper has – mine was toile (my favorite!) so I wanted to make sure the pictures would all be right-side up – I didn’t want to have anyone hanging upside down! I used my hands a lot on this project – to smooth the wet, glue-y paper down on the molding, to wrap the paper around the edges – it was a tad messy! I did this inside, at my kitchen table, but I covered it with a large garbage bag first, to protect it from the mess! When the paper was adhered to the molding, I gave it a final coat of the glue mixture as an added layer of protection. 

Once everything was dry, I used Liquid Nails (regular, not for mirrors like with my last project) and I glued the 4 pieces of the frame into place on the existing frame of the chalkboard. I let it dry and the next day I hung it back on the wall. I could not be more pleased with this – it really looks adorable!!  I would use this same technique on smaller chalkboards (like the one on my counter top), picture frames, or even as an alternative to my mirror frame project. And this is just as versatile as the painted mirror frame idea – you can customize the frame with any number of colors or themes of scrapbook paper! I’ve seen holiday paper, sports-related, harlequin – you name it! I have this in mind as a project for a couple of special girls that I know… ;)

Do-It-Yourself Framed Mirror

One of my favorite projects this summer has been creating two different decorative frames to really give a “face lift” two somewhat boring objects in my house! They were both ideas that I have had in the back of my head for quite some time, and when I finally got around to completing the projects I couldn’t believe how easy they were! I should have done these AGES ago! The first “boring object” was my bathroom mirror. We have a huge mirror that hangs over the sink in our main bathroom. There was no frame around the mirror – it was just a large, rectangular (boring) mirror. I wanted to frame it to make it look fancier, so I bought a piece of decorative wood molding at Lowe’s – you can get any kind, and they vary in cost – this was probably $10 and it was more detailed than some of the others. I wanted it to look like a somewhat ornate picture frame, so I was going for detail! I also bought a can of silver spray paint and some Liquid Nails – make sure to get the kind for mirrors – we had to run back to the store to get the right kind! I measured the mirror and wrote down the lengths that I wanted for the top, bottom & sides of the frame. Then, I was lucky enough to be able to pass that piece of paper on to my Dad who cut everything to size for me! If you do not have that convenience available to you, you can get a miter box and saw to make the angled cuts yourself, or you may try going to your local home improvement store and ask if they will cut the molding for you (which they may, if you have purchased it from them!). After the pieces were cut to size, I sanded them down a little and then spray painted them with the silver paint – make sure to do it outside or in a well-ventilated area. I gave them another light sanding after the first coat dried, wiped off the dust and spray painted them a second time. Once they were dry, we used the Liquid Nails for Mirrors and carefully adhered the pieces to the mirror. It looks fabulous, if I do say so myself!

This is a super easy, super inexpensive way to re-purpose an old mirror for your child’s room – maybe you have an old mirror lying around, or picked something up at a garage sale and you want to fix it up for your child’s room. You can use any type of paint color to match your child’s room – pink, if you have a little girl, blue for a boy, something metallic for a teenager… Or let them paint it themselves! If you are particular about matching room colors, then provide them with only the paint colors that you “approve” of. Or, how cute would it be to use smooth molding and let your child paint their hands and put their hand-prints all over it? The possibilities are endless!

Stay tuned – next I’ll show you my other fabulous frame idea! I love this even more than the mirror!

Repurposing A Child's Dresser

Do you remember this adorable little dresser? Well, as much as I loved it in my littlest girlie's room, as she is growing, so are her clothes -- it was time to move up to a larger dresser! We moved this dresser into her closet to try and give her some more drawer space, without taking up precious floor space in her (smaller than her sister's) room! That was a nice idea in theory, but we have built-in shoe shelves on the bottoms of our closets and the dresser was more cumbersome in there than helpful. I already have three other dressers that I am using for storage between the basement and the garage, and I liked the shape of this little dresser, so I decided to spruce it up and use it in the living room.

After dropping my daughter off at Princess Dance Camp one morning last week, my husband pulled out the painting stuff including a can of black paint that we had in the basement. I painted the dresser in no time, of course leaving the sweet baby drawer liners in place! I finished painting and left it to dry while we went back to pick my girl up (9:00 - 12:00 -- not bad!) and conveniently, her dance school is located just minutes from Hobby Lobby (my favorite store)!! I found some adorable vintage-y looking knobs for the dresser -- I was THRILLED to get them for 50% off! When we got home I put the new knobs on and voila, I have a lovely "new" piece of furniture that I am proud to use in my living room. Having the paint on hand and getting the sale price on the knobs allowed me to make this dresser over for only $17! Not bad for a new piece of furniture that I will use and love for years to come.

Happy Earth Day!

My sister-in-law sent out an e-mail to all of her friends and family in honor of Earth Day. She and her little 4-year-old daughter have organized a clean-up effort for the main street and waterfront area in the town in which they live. The local paper is even coming out to do a story on them! I thought I would share a little of Jen's e-mail with you, which I think is a great reminder to think about the little ways that we can make a difference -- and a lot of these are things that we can easily teach our children!

'Please remember "We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." Earth Day IS everyday, folks! Turn off the lights when you leave a room, don't let your water run when you are brushing your teeth, eat & shop locally, and remember, "if it is less than a mile, walk/bike in style!" There are so many little, simple things we can do to help our Earth. The time to start is NOW!'

Thanks for the reminder, Jen!

New Swing Set!

There are some pretty happy campers in our household -- our girls, because we are the proud new owners of a fabulous wooden swing set, and my husband and I because the girls are enjoying it tremendously, AND we got a great deal on it! We had purchased a metal swing set about 5 (?) years ago for our eldest daughter. It dutifully served its purpose and was enjoyed by her, her friends, and finally her younger sister. But that swing set has seen better days, and between rust and our not feeling it was sturdy enough for both girls to play on, we decided to look into a wooden swing set. Have you priced these out lately? Whew!! Expensive. Lowe's sells them for about $1500, and Toys 'R Us has some for $800 and up. Friends of ours have been lucky enough to find people who have older kids who are no longer interested in their swing sets, and they have gotten them for free -- just the labor of moving the play set. We looked into that and also looked on Craig's List a site that I rarely remember to check before heading out to the store to buy something new. I did a search for "swing set" and every day for a week there were different options -- lots of people were looking to sell them, or even give them away! We inquired about 3 different ones, went to see one of them, and ultimately that was the best deal and we purchased it! It was the most expensive of the 3 -- $400, but the tower and fort on this alone, sells for between $600 - $700 at Lowes! With the help of our good friend, Michael, and my father, the guys went out (in the rain -- bless their hearts!) and took it apart, drove it home and put it back up in our backyard. It is possibly the best $400 that we have ever spent -- our girls have been out enjoying themselves in the fresh air, swinging on the swings, sliding down the slide, playing up in their new fort, just about every day that we've had it. And we are rediscovering our backyard and starting some other projects to make ours the "Best Backyard on the Block!" (Stay tuned -- I have some ideas to share throughout the Spring!)

Do-It-Yourself Scarecrow

We have been going a mile a minute these days (hence no posts for 2 weeks)!  Last Sunday, for example, we had two different fall festivals that we attended with two different groups of people between the hours of 11am and 4pm!  Both were fun and both offered totally different activities, which worked out perfectly!  The first festival offered face painting and pony rides, and the second offered pumpkin picking and scarecrow making!  We paid $16 at Brown's Berry Patch to make ours ($14 without a hat), but this is something that could easily be done at home with the kids. 

You will need an old pair of pants, an old shirt, a pair of pantyhose, some straw (if you don't have this, you can usually get it at the farm market for $5 or under) and twine, heavy string or even yarn.  We started by stuffing straw into the pants and then the shirt to make the scarecrow's body.  You can stuff it as tight as you want, although from previous experience we left ours a little loose so that we could bend his legs to make him sit on a chair (ok, lean casually...).  Take the twine (string, yarn) and tie the shirt closed at the "wrists" and tie the pants closed down by the "ankles."  This will keep the straw from coming out.  Do you have an old pair of boots or gloves?  Tuck the bottoms of the pant legs in the boots and the arms into the old gloves to give your scarecrow a little more style!

Set the top and bottom of your scarecrow aside and take the pantyhose and stuff the top part of the pantyhose with straw -- this is his (her) head -- leaving the long legs empty.  Tie a know in the waistband of the pantyhose to keep the straw from coming out of the head.  To put the body together, set the head on top of the shirt collar.  Take one of the empty pantyhose legs and tuck it into the back of the shirt (between the inside of the shirt and the straw) and pull it down as tight as possible and tie it to the back of the pants (belt loop works best!).  Now do the same with the other leg, pulling down in the same manner through the front of the shirt and tie this leg to the front of the pants (again, use a belt loop if your pants have them!).  You may need to tuck some more straw into the "belly" of your scarecrow and tuck his (her) shirt into the pants to complete the body.

Top your scarecrow off with an old hat if you have one, and let the kids take some acrylic paint and paint a face to really give your scarecrow some personality!  This whole process (minus the painting) took us no more than 20 minutes at Brown's -- my 8-year-old and I did a lot of the stuffing, she and I chose the clothes, and we decided to bring it home to paint the face (to save the interior of the van from getting a fresh coat of paint!).  The last time we made one of these my girl was about 4 years old -- it was well before her little sister was born -- and she painted the face all on her own and did a great job!

This is a great way to recycle some old clothes that might otherwise end up in the trash.  The other day I was throwing away an old, ripped pair of my daughter's jeans and I thought, "Hey, we could use these to make our own scarecrow!"  This is really so easy to do and my kids just loved it -- I'm sure yours will too!  It's great to add to the outdoor fall decorations!  (My girl is taking after me with the decorating flair -- she arranged the pumpkins, including the one lying on it's side, and she added some fall leaves as a finishing touch!)

Mom's Microphones

My girls LOVE to perform -- if you've ever been to my house, you can vouch for this... They love to get up on the fireplace hearth and perform for an audience, they love to jump on my older daughter's bed and dance and sing, they love to get the step stool out of the bathroom and stand on it in the living room and sing. And their microphones? My older daughter grabs the Swiffer (mop) out of the closet and my little one grabs the (yuk!) fly swatter...

Recently though, my 8-year-old has been into using reusing materials -- boxes, bottles, toilet paper rolls, you name it -- and one night she showed me a microphone that she made out of stuffing a piece of paper towel into the end of an empty paper towel roll. She went off to school the next day, and I decided to surprise with my own version of a homemade microphone. I started by crumpling up a piece of paper towel and then wrapping that in a small piece of foil. I put that on one end of an empty paper towel roll, and and then I taped the bottom edges of the foil to the cardboard tube. Then, I covered the tube with a piece of black construction paper and taped that to hold it in place (this also covered and secured the bottom part of the foil). Voila! Very simple, very cute toy microphone -- and I made it all out of things that I had around the house.

I made 2 matching microphones -- one for each girl, of course -- and I surprised them with their microphones when my daughter got home from school that day, They just love them, and I haven't seen the fly swatter out of the closet since then -- yay!

Thinking Outside the Box!

My husband finally had time to put together my new treadmill yesterday, and I don't know who was more excited -- me about the treadmill, or my girls, about the big box that it came in! As soon as my husband took the lid off and flipped it over onto the floor, we both looked at the box top and saia, "Oh, THAT will be a boat!" And sure enough, within minutes the girls had claimed it for their own! At first, it was a big bed, then it was a fort, then a boat. They sat and had a snack in there, they played together, and for a little while they read together in there.

Honestly, we laugh about how when babies are little they are mostly interested in the tissue and the boxes as opposed to whatever gift might be inside. But, even as they get older, I find that my kids have a great time making all sorts of projects out of any box they can find. Shoeboxes become "Webkinz" condos, tissue boxes become mailboxes or cars -- my older daughter recently made quite the convertible for her dolls out of a tissue box. Looking for something to entertain the kids? Give them an empty box, some safety scissors, and some markers and let their imaginations run wild! And hey, it's a great lesson in the 3 "R's" -- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Making Holiday "Crackers"

Last night, I made my girls some holiday "crackers" to add a little something special to their New Year's Eve celebration. I have to say, they were super easy and they look adorable (if I do say so myself!) -- and best of all, they did not cost me a dime! My husband stopped at the grocery store last night to pick up a few things for our New Year's celebration, and I asked him to check out the party supply aisle for some little trinkets to add to the crackers -- plastic necklaces, plastic rings, whatever. He came home with nothing -- couldn't find anything! So I scrounged around the house and this is what I found:

- Hershey's kisses (bought for Christmas, never opened) -- I put 3 in each cracker.

- (2) plastic beaded necklaces left over from past 4th of July parties -- 1 necklace for each of my girls.

- (2) star-shaped plastic princess wands, pulled out of the "Rainy Day Box", and left over from birthday goodie bags -- again, 1 for each girl.

- Stickers -- again, from the Rainy Day Box -- I had a few different kinds for each of my girls.

- And finally, I took a little strip of paper for each girl and wrote a fortune on one side and "lucky numbers" on the opposite side -- the fortunes were things like, "You will do very well in school this year" and the lucky numbers were their ages and their birth dates.

I took a cardboard tube from a roll of wrapping paper and cut 2 smaller tubes, just long enough to fit all of the goodies (you can also use toilet paper or paper towel rolls). Then I took some tissue paper that I had left over from my gift wrapping supplies (last year I think I used wrapping paper - use whatever you have!). I rolled the stuffed tubes up in the tissue, and tied the ends with some curling ribbon. Finally, I marked an initial on the outside of each, so that I knew who to give them to -- the goodies are the same, but the fortunes are different. I think they came out great and I know my girls will love them!

How will you celebrate New Year's this year?

New Life for an Old Dresser

As I was looking for an outfit for my littlest girlie to wear today, I was once again admiring her sweet little dresser and thought I would share it with you! This dresser was such a find for us -- literally! Before we met, my husband found the dresser on the side of the road near his downtown apartment. Coincidentally in need of a dresser, he picked it up and carried it home. (I need to remind him of that fact the next time we see some great treasure on the side of the road that I want to pick up -- he always says, "No way!") I believe he painted it once for his apartment, and then it came with us to our first apartment and then first house together. Finally, when we were able to purchase "grown up" furniture, it was relegated to the basement.

When I was pregnant with our first daughter, I painted the dresser (wearing a face mask, of course!) to match her nursery -- we didn't know that she was a "she" at that point, so it was a seafoam green and ivory nursery. I saved a bunch of the cute wrapping paper and the sweet little baby gift bags that the presents from her baby shower came in, and I cut them up and used them to line the inside of the drawers. I thought this was just about the sweetest little dresser ever -- perfect for a little baby!

When she turned 3, we bought her a "big girl" bed for her room and I believe my mother bought her a new dresser that year. Still, we saved the sweet little dresser, and 3 years later it moved into our new nursery for her little sister. My littlest one's room is a totally different color palette from the seafoam green and ivory dresser and I still have every intention of repainting it to match her room. But, I did save the paper and gift bags from gifts that she received when she was born, and I replaced the "drawer liners." I also bought some precious little bars of baby soap that are rose scented and I have those in the drawers, so her clothes smell beautiful when you open the drawers.

This definitely fits into the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" category, but it is such an adorable little dresser and with a little bit of love and care it is just perfect!

Do you have any special projects that you have done in preparation for your new arrival? Or any tips for decorating a child's room? Please share your great ideas!