Chair Turned Nightstand...

If you have visited my blog often, you know I love to make trash into treasures, and one of my favorite spots to look for stuff to re-do is on the family farm.  On a recent trip I discovered 2 little chairs sitting under a tree.  After asking my mother in law about them, I found out they were hers when she was a little girl.  I immediately asked for them, and as she typically does, she gave them to me with a shake of her head (like I was crazy for wanting them!)  Walker and his little buddy Wyatt were with me, and even Wyatt said, "Ms. Mandi, what are you gonna do with  those junky chairs?" 

Oh ye of little faith!  I took those little chairs and gave them a new lease on life!  I simply peeled off the paper seats and sanded a little, primed, and spray painted them.  I used Rustoleum Red spray paint and modge podged some paper for a new seat.  I have been looking for Connor a small side table for his bed, and the chair worked perfect. 

I used some little hooks I found at the hardware store to hang it, and the other one sits beneath it when Connor isn't using it. So what do you think?  Have you turned any trash into a treasure lately?

Christmas Re-Cap...

I realize that we are well on our way into 2010, but since I was so far behind on my blogging and missed out on all the Christmas fun, I thought I would do a bit of a Christmas Re-Cap.  Atleast this way when next Christmas rolls around I'll be able to remember what I did this past Christmas.  Right now I can barely remember yesterday.  My memory is like swiss cheese, full of holes!  Anyway, here are some of my favorite things from this Christmas.

I scaled back this year in all areas.  We bought less.  We did more hand made.  I even decorated less.  I had a hard time getting into the decorating and it felt a little forced, so I spent less time decking the halls and a lot more time enjoying the season with my boys.  Looking back, those changes were all for the best.  With that said, I didn't put up all of my trees.  We did the boys' tree in the family room:

This tree has all of the ornaments they have made or picked out in their short little lives. They are all about the colored lights, so I just go with it.
This is the mantle in the family room.  Walker helped me put it up and he was so proud.  It is in the same room as the boys' tree so it also has colored lights.

Walker got a new tree for his room this year.  It was a tacky little tree, but he LOVED it, and that is what matters.

Connor's tree is white and he enjoys having one in his room so much.

I put the 30 year old tree from Lon's childhood in my kitchen window. It holds ornaments the boys have made in church and school.  Those are the most special ornaments to me.

I hung this wreath that I "beefed up" on the front door.

I put this tall wooden snowman on the front porch.

I put all of our Christmas cards on a simple ribbon.

We made a lot of people birdhouses:

We made the boys teachers ornaments and some baked goods.  This is one of Walker's ornaments.

And here is Connor's ornament for his teacher.

But more than anything else, we spent time together.  We crafted, baked, watched Christmas movies, and drank more hot calorie laden drinks than it should be legal to consume in a month's time.  Guess that explains why I will be starting Weight Watchers Wednesday back up on Wednesday!  I hope your Christmas was a great one, full of special times with family and friends too!

Handprint Angel Ornament/Garland...

I teach the 4 and 5 year olds every week in Sunday School. Being that I love to craft, I always try to come with good things for the kids to make that go along with our lesson. This past week we studied in the book of Luke where the angel told Mary that she was going to give birth to baby Jesus. I decided an Angel was the craft to make. BUT, a cute angel that 4 and 5 year olds could make was key. I came up with this little Angel Christmas ornament, and the kids loved them. I did most of the work in advance because it is hard to do with a lot of kids really quickly (we had 11 kids this week with just Lonnie and I), but at home the boys and I made these quite easily.
Materials:
scrapbook paper or craft foam (body, head, and hair)
posterboard or cardstock (wings)
Clothespins
pencil (to trace child's hands)
pipe cleaner (halo)
ribbon (to hang your garland on)

Start off by tracing your child's hand prints on to the posterboard or cardstock. I found it works best to trace the left hand and then have them put their right thumb in the thumbprint of the left hand. They need to keep their fingers together. The pics below explain this better.

Next, draw out your outfit (girl or boy), hair, and head. I traced a bottle cap for the head and free-handed the outfits on scrapbook paper. If you don't feel like you could free-hand the clothes, just hold a piece of paper over your computer screen and trace the ones I did. That is probably a terrible method, but it would work. Cut out all of your pieces. You could let the kids draw the face on the angel.

Make the pipe cleaner look like a halo by wrapping it around your finger. Glue it to the top of the clothespin.

Then glue on your body, and save the head and hair for last.

The final step is to glue your wings to the back side of the clothes pin.

This is how it looks from the side. You could put your wings on the same side of the pin as the angel, but I wanted the dimension it gives by doing it this way.

I bought this pom pom ribbon at the Dollar Tree for, you guessed it, $1.

String it up and clip on the angels.

Here is the girl version, but I used some of the pom pom ribbon as a halo and printed card-stock to trace Connor's handprints.
Here are the boys' 2 angels on my little tree in the kitchen window. I put most of the ornaments the boys make on this tree because those are extra special to me. I just wrapped the pom pom ribbon around the tree and clipped them right on.

My kids loved these and I loved that they had the kids handprints on them. I hope you make some yourself. Let me know how they turn out.

FUN Paper Ornaments!

I am happy to say that my 2 boys inherited my love for working with their hands. We are always looking for crafts that they can do with me. I saw an idea for paper ornaments a while back, and decided to put my own spin on it. I have TONS of scrapbook stuff but have not scrapped in a long time, so this one allows me to use some of that fantastic paper. Here is a quick and easy tutorial on how to make your own.
Materials:
Scrapbook Paper (the thicker kind works best)
Ribbon
Hole Punch
Scissors or Paper Cutter

This is REALLY EASY and there are a million different ways you could do this and get very different looks. Feel free to put your own spin on it, but here is how I did mine.

I took 12x12 scrapbook paper, and cut it in half. I then cut the 6x12 piece of paper into 12 strips of 1x6 inch paper. Next, pick 6-12 pieces of the colors you like and make a pile. The more paper you use the fuller your ornament will be. If you choose a double sided paper, then you may want to use fewer pieces so you can see in the middle.

Now, punch a hole in both ends of the strips.

Cut a piece of ribbon 22-24 inches long. Fold it in half and feed it through one of the holes.

Tie a knot.

Feed the other end of the ribbon through the other hole and decide where you want to tie your knot. This will determine whether the ornament is short and fat or tall and skinny. I liked mine best short and fat, but that is your preference.

(I added a bead to this one, but not the others, so that is optional.)

Spread out the strips of paper.

Next, let your extremely proud toddler hold up what he made for the camera.

Finally, take your new ornaments and put them on your tree for all to enjoy!

I hope you make some of these. They really are quick and easy. Let me know if you do. I'd love to see them!

I am linking up to a few other blogs for this one:

Connor's Birthday Shirt...

Today was Connor's 3rd birthday. We had him a little party at his pre-school, and we will have a family party tomorrow night. I'll post about that tomorrow, but for now I wanted to share a cute t-shirt design!

I have started a tradition of sorts by making the boys a t-shirt to wear on their birthdays. For Walker, since he was getting a puppy this year, it was a dog-themed shirt. For Connor, I really didn't have a theme, so I had a little fun with it.

I was gonna just do a big number 3, but decided a cake would be more fun. This was really quite simple. Since he is 3, I gave the cake 3 tiers, and 3 candles on top. I think 3 is probably the limit on this, but a double decker cake with 2 candles would be really cute for a 2 year old.

First off, I free handed my design on the paper side of the Heat-n-Bond.

I then choose my fabrics and ironed the Heat-n-Bond to the fabrics.
Next I cut out my shapes and laid them out on the shirt.

I did the cakes and candles first, then ironed on the "icing" and flames last.

I used a terry cloth material for the "icing" and fleece for the flames, simply because it was what I had on-hand. Those 2 fabrics made the t-shirt so much cuter and gave it a great texture.

I used the no-sew variety of Heat-n-Bond, and it specifically says not to sew it, so I am anxious to see how it holds up. I doubt it will ever be worn again, but Connor sure enjoyed wearing it today!Everyone loved it, especially Connor. I hope you make one! If you do send me a pic. I'd love to see what you come up with!