Oh the things we do for fun :)

1. We make techni-color cupcakes!!!

Well, this was one project I tackled alone :) while the girls splashed in the tub.

Baking with kids is adventure enough; baking with food coloring spells disaster (even when I'm by myself!)

These little goodies were for the Sunday School Beach Day back in February.

Generously coated with confetti icing, they were a hit ;).

2. Cozy Cruisers

We drive around The Brick in style :). Our mission was to hunt out bunk beds, but the girls got a kick outta these buggies!!

3. We make a joyful noise unto the LORD :) (Psalm 100:!)

Sometimes singing, sometimes dancing, lots of times, laughing :).

4. We play dress up.

Sharp dresser, don't ya think ;)?

5. We play with bugs :).

Notice the snow outside. This was one of those days I was itching to mow the lawn or do some gardening. SO we decided to paint our own bug collection. 

Spring is a'comin'!!

6. Baby Countdown!!

Little M often asks me when the baby is coming.

How do you explain 7 weeks till due date to a four-year-old!?

So. We crafted a countdown chain. 

Each day at supper we take off another link - a visual reminder that we are getting closer and closer to meeting Little One face to face for the first time.

Of course, I was also careful to include the disclaimer that the baby might come SOONER or a little LATER - but this gives us an idea of when :).

Just a few things we do for fun ;).

Pretty as a picture!

Not sure if it's the melting snow, the fact that since I am pregnant I can actually wear short sleeved shirts all year round :), painting my toenails a lovely shade of red, or the fact that I did, in fact, place my seed order yesterday :), but it's starting to feel like

With that in mind, we decided to try a little "crafting" around here. Uhhhh, it turned out to be an ... interesting ... investment ... of 45 minutes or so! The goal was to use up a few snips of crayons, iron them between sheets of wax paper and cut out lovely shapes. Voila! "Sun catchers." I've seen this idea on many a blog, but here is where I went this morning for a few tips.

But first... a couple of questions to be answered ...

What IS the difference between wax paper and parchment paper!? I used parchment, because it's what we had in the house. HOWEVER, these dandy little creations are bonding too well :).

Can you ever use too many crayon shavings :)? Ours turned quite brittle and if you don't touch them, they're fine. But yeah, right, with two little ones around, that's not likely to happen :).

It turned into a ginormous mess, and we kept saying, "Uhhh, this isn't looking so right :)." But, we had fun, and that's what counts, right :)?

You'll notice that one daisy is MIA. It already bit the biscuit and had to be tossed ;).

un {FINISHED} business!!!

One of my goals for this year was to finish a number of projects before I start some new ones.
By 'n large, I've stuck to this only I've tweaked the projects list a little to include some fun ideas that I've found!! So, I've cheated a little :).

One of the biggies, though, has been completed. In fact, I had vowed not to move ahead on any of the stuff I want to tackle around the house before this one was done :). In fall a few of us worked on freshening up the Prayer Room at our church. It needed a new coat of paint, some new hues, some furniture :), and a few finishing touches here and there. Aside from a few slight details, it has been completed. A labor of love :). Aside from actually PAINTING the room (which took slightly longer than I thought!!!), I wanted these canvases for the walls. What was SUPPOSED to be a project that would be done in a few evenings took FOR.EVER!! By canvas #3, I was ready to freak. right. out :). I am not detailed at the best of times. During pregnancy, my attention span is shortened significantly. I like to blame it on the hormones :). But, finally FINALLY I could tack these up.

First, I had painted two coats of base color, compared it to a mat of a painting that we were matching, only to discover it was ALLLLL WRONG for the paint on the actual walls!! Since I don't go shopping very often, I needed to mix and match paint  until I had a jar full that I could use that looked... about right. Very thankful. That jar  never ran out. I was a bit nervous about that!!

Second, having learned from this project that transferring letters precisely is e.x.t.r.e.m.e.l.y. important, I took my time in making sure my letters and fonts were accurate. Time consuming, but worth it. Oh, and I only had the transfer paper backward once, which I thought was doin' pretty good :).

Third, next time I would use a permanent marker, or at least try it, instead of painting. My good paint brush went wonky about 60% of the way through the project. Not great. It took a while before I could replace it with an el-cheapo, and that was just as much a mistake!!! Note to self. Good paint liners are worth good money :).

Finally, I had some ... issues (there are always issues with my projects, it seems!!) with getting the centre pieces even. I thought I had measured and transferred accurately, but in the end, after a lot of hot glue, they needed some .... tweaking. 

There. The biggest project on the list. Done. Now on to other fun stuff!!

Sometimes I get slightly really :) overwhelmed by all the things I want to tackle around here. Following the Great Paint Project, it seems like there are always shelves to be hung, we STILL don't have blinds up (and that tacky shower curtain functioning as a blind in the girls room is just plain ridiculous!!), corners that need TLC, etc. I forget that the joy is in the journey. Uhhh, and I tackle life in the same way. Frustrated by the ever-going to-do list, overwhelmed by parenting challenges, fatigued by life's little curve balls. It is hard to remember to enjoy every day (especially when those days include one fit of passion after another!!!) and to savor the moments that slip by so quickly. 

I am learning to be okay with the unfinished business. Slowly. :)

Giftings :)....

Likely because of the legacy of my parents, some of my favorite gifts to give are hand made items. Growing up, we almost always had some home-crafted presents under wrappings. From doll clothes (that just so happened to match our christmas dress that year) to gorgeous pieces carved from wood, my house is still full of items that bear my parents "signature" in some way (my girls are still playing with doll clothes I used to cherish!) Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy getting and giving bought items too (the creativity is endless!!), but there's something about saying, "I made this just for YOU!" This year, between the fatigues of pregnancy, Sweet K's nighttime upheaval, and all around craziness of life, I wasn't able to do as many homespun gifts as I'd like. HOWEVER, I was able to squeeze in a few crochet moments :).....

This lovely scarf was a gift for my fashionista sister :).

She's always donning a new scarf or great accessories she's acquired somewhere.

Pattern: Mesh Posy Scarf

My second sister loves HATS! When I saw this funky pattern,

I simply could not resist.

Pattern: Peek-A-Boo Flower Hat

Even Little Bro did not escape the crochet frenzy this year :).

Him & I have a long-standing love of classic Nintendo :)

and when he opened his gift this year, he laughed and laughed...

Pattern: Mario Magic Mushrooms

I had a lot of fun putting them together, and have already started more hats :).

My inner shutter-bug!

I am not a stellar photographer.

No where near! 

I think you have to be able to pay attention to things like positioning, lighting and creative elements!!

HOWEVER, I LOVE taking pictures and I LOVE LOVE to flip through photography books, magazines, and blogs, inspired by what others are trying and learning and displaying!

If you're interested in this as well, you may want to visit Articles By Amy - a link I've posted on the left side of the page. Oodles of articles from the basics to the fun 'n fancy!!

Let me know what catches your eye!

Flutter-Byes!

Since it was bath day ANYWAY, I thought to myself, why not paint the kids feet and make a craft :)?

Sounded like a great idea to them too, so this is what we created for Mothers Day...

We started off with some WASHABLE acrylic paint.

And then INTO THE PAINT went the feet. That part was so much fun. 

In a messy kinda way!

 

Then we made little feetie-print butterflies

After the paint dried, we added the final touches of course ... 

a body, antennae and googley eyes just for fun!

 

Then, in a flash of inspiration, I also hot glued magnets to the back so that our darling Grandmas have no excuse for misplacing these funky little flutters :).

 

 

And VOILA! Great Mothers Day cards for Grandma. Isn't that a fantastic way to kick off a rainy Thursday morning!? I thought so too!

Alas, one MUST give credit where credit is due. I got this idea from Just For Fun.

Once Upon a Time!

It seeems like a foggy long ago, but I actually started some projects that I wanted to finish! I start many projects, depending on the mood of the day, but few see those ta-daaa! moments of final completion. HOWEVER, with GARDENING on the horizon I thought it would be prudent to get a few off the stack. Oh, yeah, and I want to start K's scrapbook!

I blogged about this little ditty a while back...

~ a prayer shawl for a friend ~

And then there was this one....

~ darling baby bathrobes ~

And finally these...

~ new covers for those wooly blankies ~

Soooo ... TA DAAA!

Lookin' Great!

My sweet sis has taken craftivity to the next level :) - she is selling paintings online! If you need original watercolor or acrylic artwork for you home or office, check out her Creative Expressions store on etsy. Some really great stuff PLUS a few home-sewn (super-cute!) handbags.

Happy Shopping!

More homemade fun!

Today we gave the homemade playdough thing a go.

WHAT FUN!

Here's what came of it :)...

Oh yeah. Little M and Sweet K had fun too - although Sweet K is not yet sure about the squishy texture between her tiny little fingers :). But here's proof that I'm not the only one who played today!

I like it because it has a better texture than store-bought playdough, is safe in case the little ones decide it's fun to put in their mouth (though there is a fair amount of salt, so it probably won't stay there long!!) and apparently it does not dry out as fast, either (since this is my first crack at this, I'll let you know how long it is before we have little doughy crumbles all over the place!).

PLAY DOUGH RECIPE

1 c. flour

1/2 c. salt

1 c. water

1 Tbsp. oil

2 tsp. cream of tartar

food coloring

Mix ingredients in a sauce pan, and stir constantly over medium heat until mush turns into the shape of a doughy ball. Add some food coloring at some point in the process. Once it is cool enough to touch (which is almost right away) knead until it is a playdough-ish consistency.

See - super easy.

That's MY kinda recipe!!

Wall Flower

I do not consider myself artistic in the least. Some people sneeze and it comes out looking fancy.
Not me. I ... "craft." Which tends to mean, dollarstore bargains, some better than others, and projects that can get done without a whole lotta complaining . 
However, every so often I stumble across something fun. And even had the opportunity to whittle away some down time finishing up this project I started (amazing!) at our moms group.
This is what a dollarstore canvas, some material, a creative stencil and some paint can do ...

Fun hey ?

sew sweet!

finally FINALLY i got to start on a project that i've been eye-balling since fall. i whipped out my sewing machine, and started sewing baby bath robes! all you need is a towel, some ribbon, thread and a sewing machine and VOILA! an adorable baby robe! well i don't have pics of mine to post just yet - they are still awaiting some adorable applique features... this is the project i am talking about.

  

after the drama of sweet k's arrival, and all the questions we faced after that (and there were many many many - more about that another day!), i began to dream of her running down the hallway in her own bathrobe. because embracing the miracles of milestones, watching them wander around, freshly scrubbed and rinsed :), in their very own little robes was a precious balm for my momma's heart! now that she's walking - or at least enjoying walking between things! - i NEEDED to get her a robe of her very own. and i wanted to stitch it myself, just for her. AND her older sister. 

now, to finish it off with the just-right embellishments :).....

Charmed, I'm sure...

This week's craft project was a one-dollar-wonder from Dollarama. Ohhhh, Dollarama. The mecca of all earthly $1 treasures. Our last visit proved to be very productive, and we acquired all sorts of useful $1 do-dads like scrapbooking embellishments, NERDS, stickers AND of course - these lovely wonders...

For those of you who appreciate the Shrinky Dinks phenomenon of the 70s and 80s, you will adore these little charms. So fun, so easy, even with a 3-year-old. Color to your hearts content, let mama do the cutting and oven-work, and watch these little creatures curl up, turn around, shrink, flatten out and VOILA! Customized charms for all your toddler-related jewelry! 

So fun, I can't wait to go back to Dollarama to get more! Because I'm thinking - these would work GREAT in K's scrapbook! However, I feel like it is my personal responsibility to mention that Dollarama may be crossing over to the dark side. On my last visit, I noticed some strategically placed signs indicating that "items may be 1.25 or 1.50 or even 2.00"!!! Shame.

On a cheerier note, you just gotta love this sign-off from the head hancho over at Shrinky Dinks!

Shrinkingly Yours,

Betty Morris 
Originator of SHRINKY DINKS
President, Optimist & Determined to encourage CREATIVITY! 

How's that for spunky!!

PomPom Folly

I'm not sure what possessed me...
Was it the glimmering $2.50 walmart price tag?
Was it an eager attempt to bond with my daughters over "crafting"?
Was it madness?

I'm still not sure.

Whatever the motivation, we had a pompom craft factory happenin' over here yesterday morning. Valentines Day crafts. Between the glue gun, the young one pulling on my pants trying to eat the cord, and the older one thrilled because she actually got to sit on the table (consequently a few key pieces were missing!), I'm actually surprised we got all three critters done without superglueing anyone to the floor!

It was an exercise in ... ahem ... patience, to be sure (there's - or mine!?).

Here are our delightful Valentines gifts, all ready to be shared.

As you can no doubt tell, I'm not a stellar photographer. Bear with me. I'm a mom with a digital camera, but I'm shameless in my thousands attempts of learning how to use it! 

Aint's she a beauty!?

By this, I mean the shawl pattern, not the actual model, though the model is a lovely gal .

This is the project du jour. A funky little project to busy my antsy fingers while I indulge in some Law & Order quiet time in the evenings (okay, L&O is not exactly inspirational bedtime material, but I've loved loved the show ever since I was a KID and Matlock was no longer aired!!). 

I have beautiful red wool for the project, have reached Line 14 already, and will let you know how it goes!