Family Art

 I am sooo excited to show you this project.

 I have been thinking about it for months and I finally got it done!

    I found this adorable nest in my backyard and wanted to do something with it.... I thought it would be clever to represent our family by putting 2 blue eggs for my boys and 1 pink egg for my sweet baby girl.
So this is what I did...

1. Take a raw egg and poke a hole at the top and bottom with a safety pin.  Blow into the top hole and the raw egg will come out of the bottom.  Rinse it out and you have yourself an egg.   (You can skip this part if you do not wish to keep the eggs as decorations or for an extended period of time)

2. Dye the eggs.  I used vinegar, water, and food coloring.  (Measurements are right on the back of food coloring box)  I then specked them with white and brown paint. I use a small paint brush and just throw paint at the eggs. It is quite fun!

3.I was blessed to have the best photographers in the world, Billy and Rachel Hyer from Hyer Images, take my picture.   If you are doing it yourself, take the picture outside on a sunny day.

4. Add your family name and the date in which you got married

5. I watched Group On like a hawk, and bought a photo canvas deal.  It was a 16x20 canvass  for $39

My nest proudly hangs in my hallway, and it makes me feel so blessed and happy to see my sweet family art.
What would your nest look like?


- Stephanie

The Perfect Flower Pot

All you need to remember in potting your flowers is three simple words.....

                     Thriller, Filler, and Spiller

                     Thriller - a plant with height

                     Filler - a plant that will fill out nicely

                     Spiller - A plant that will hang down

There is nothing like a beautiful pot of flowers to welcome people into your home.
 Happy Spring everyone!!!!

Window Art

I found this great window at the Habitat for Humanity Restore.

The Restore sells amazing things that can add instant character to a space.  They usually sell their windows for about $10.  It was pretty beat up when I first bought it.  Sorry I don't have a "Before" picture.

1. Sanded and washed the whole window frame
2. Taped the windows with painters tape
3. Painted and antiqued it (look at my older posts about the technique that I use)
4. Had my sweet husband hang it up and it was done!

I really get excited about decorating an entire wall for $10

My garbage pick find!

Now that I have completed all the three Hunger Games Books I can get back to my crafts.  Sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but those books sucked me in.  I was even having dreams that I was in the Hunger Games!

Anyways...last week I garbage picked this adorable chair.  I loved the curves and that fact that it was solid wood was priceless. My husband always laughs at the things I find on the side of the road.
 Lets get to work....
1.  Unscrew the seat and remove the old fabric.

This seat had four layers of fabric.  Wow...where has this chair been?  I love to think about the history of furniture.

2. Sand the chair with sandpaper.  I also removed the flowers using a screwdriver and hammer.
3. Paint whatever color you like.  I chose white because that is what I had in my paint collection.
4. Let dry and sand edges with sandpaper
5. Apply a stain on the edges with a rag or sponge brush.  I used MinWax Dark Walnut.
6. Take a clean rag and immediately wipe off stain.
7.  Take some fabric and with a staple gun, staple fabric on backside of chair seat
8. Screw seat back on chair and you are done!!!

Total time of project...2 hrs.
Cost....free!

What have you garbage picked lately?

Still working on the garage....

Week 5 of Mission Organization is going slowly....  My garage is like this deep dark pit.  I clean it out and the next day it is a disaster. I dream of the day when it is totally organized.  Until then, I will chip at it slowly...

This week, I was able to get some shelves up and buy some more containers to organize....Have I told you how much I love plastic containers?
This is the Before...

And the After....

So much better...  I put a cute hook on the side of the wall for my big beach bags.  Installed two more shelves and bought 2 bins for my extra cleaning supplies and paint supplies.  I would have gotten shelves the same size as the original ones, but they were free so I can't complain.

I truly feel, the best part of getting organized, is that you have more room to play.....

So with some of my clutter gone, I had room for this beauty!
I scored this huge chalk board at the thrift store for $5....yippee!  Its a little beat up, but my kids have been loving it. I will probably get some chalkboard paint and fix it up, but for now - its great! I also screwed two hooks into the wall which holds the buckets of chalk.  I love having the chalk board in the garage because it keeps the mess outside.  

What have you cleaned out lately?  I would love to hear......

Easter Decorations and more....

Can I just tell you how much I love Pinterest?... From cooking, to crafting, to decorating, and to styling it is my new LOVE.  Easter has been so easy and so much fun this year.  Here are all the fun things I found and the blogs to get the tutorials....

1. Glow in the dark egg hunt....Picture and Idea from -  tylickadventures.blogspot.com

This was sooooo much fun!  I took a dozen plastic eggs and glow sticks from the dollar store and filled each egg with a glow stick.  We turned off all the lights in our house and played for a long time with the kids.  Also, you can put the glow sticks in the freezer and they can last for at least two days.

2. Easter Wreath  -  Idea from Mom&wife.com

This was a lot of fun to make.  Cost of materials - $10
Straw wreath - $4 from Michaels
2 lg bags of eggs - $4 from Walmart
bag of grass - $2 from Walmart

3.Easter Banner - Idea from Modernparentsmessykids.com

This was so easy and cost me $0  ...these are my favorite crafts!!
I took paint chips from Lowes and made an egg shape.  Punch out two small holes at the top of each egg and thred some ribbon threw it.   Used my Cricket to make the letters and thats it!

4. Dining Room Table Deco

 All of my kids love playing with these decorations.  I found these adorable ceramic bunnies at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $.50 each.  I couldn't pass them up.  Then I placed grass down with eggs. Its so bright and colorful.  I also added jellybeans under the candles for some more pizzazz!

And lastly, my centerpiece that I wrote about last week is finally getting some grass.

Happy Easter!  Thanks for stopping by....