real rather than perfect

"What would happen if we shared our real rather than our perfect?" - Nichole Nordeman 

Today, I had a moment of real rather than perfect. 

I'm not a fan of sharing the real. I like the perfect. 

This morning, I bravely got out the craft supplies for the kiddos. The plan was to make fall sun catchers. Prior to starting this project I checked pinterest for ideas, supply lists and samples. Pinterest had many exemplary examples with adorable children dressed in their finest sitting around gorgeous craft tables. I'm not sure who dresses small children in their finest for crafting, but apparently some people do. At our house, we craft in our pj's - that is if those under five are wearing anything besides their underwear at all.  

Lucas was excited to start. However his excitement was short lasting. And Alara just wanted to see how many pieces of tissue paper she could shove into her mouth before I'd notice. We were able to make at least two sun catchers before the kiddos decided that enough was enough and it was time for something else. 

I'm embarrassed to admit, but I got frustrated that my children weren't crafting like they were suppose to. As if there is a right or wrong way to craft! Our sun catchers didn't look like the examples provided by the perfect mama's with their perfect kids sitting around their gorgeous craft tables. Ours were real. But instead of embracing the real, I threw an internal tantrum striving for that unrealistic perfect. And sadly, by striving for that unrealistic perfect I ended up stressing myself out. What was suppose to be something fun and simple ended up being something more. 

So here I am sharing my real.

So what if our sun catchers didn't turn out as expected. I think they are better. They have personality. I am going to enjoy those flawed but beautiful sun catchers created by a two beautiful children.

DIY wall rack

After weeks of tripping over Lucas's backpacks I decided it was time to get organize. I won this wood wall rack with shaker pegs when I was about twelve years old at a 4-H horse show. My twelve year old self didn't have a need for a wood wall rack and thought the prize was a waste. I had wanted the camping chair. And honestly I don't blame myself for wanting a camping over a wood wall rack.  

Until about a week ago, the rejected rack sat collecting dust in my Mom's storage shed. After giving it a good sanding, replacing the missing pegs and a couple coats of traffic cone orange paint this wall rack looks as good as new. Lucas was a big help with the sanding and gluing. He took great pride in helping make something for his room. 

I'm happy with how this project turned out. Fingers crossed that it holds up to everyday use and that those backpacks and bow stay off the floor and on the wall. 

crafting christmas tradition

The holiday season is a time to build lifelong memories with family and friends. One of my favorite traditions that my mom and I do together with the kiddos is make Christmas ornaments. Although I love handmade ornaments - I'm also picky about what goes on my tree. I don't like anything with macaroni, large globs of glue, popsicle sticks or weird spongy craft stickers. There is a special place of those types of ornaments but not on our main Christmas tree.

Don't tell Lucas, but I think my favorite snowflake ornament is the one with Alara's footprint.

This will be the our third year of making ornaments. I love seeing the kids creativity. And they love making craft messes. It's a win-win situation.

Thankfully, Christmas crafting day only comes around once a year. Any more than that and I think I'd go crazy trying to keep four little boys from making too big of a mess in Grandma's kitchen.

Ahem. Sorry Mom. 

dresser update

I finally finished our baby girl's dresser. This dresser originally belonged to Lucas's Dadi. It's a really nice solid wood dresser, but it needed a face lift.  Before painting, I spent several days sanding off the dresser's original mustard yellow color. When I originally envisioned our daughter's room, mustard yellow didn't even come close to making the cut. Using left over paint, I finished the project with the same color I used on the trim in our house. I did keep the original dresser knobs - the picture doesn't do them justice - but the knobs are a vintage white with dainty pink, blue and yellow flowers. 

handmade holidays

Homemade ornaments add a personal touch to any Christmas tree. This year my Mom and I teamed up together along with the boys to paint these cute wooden cars, trucks and trains. The boys each painted about one ornament before deciding to go outside and play construction site. After the boys finished Mom and I worked on the rest of the ornaments. It was fun painting the details on little cars, trucks and trains. 

Lucas wanted to paint Lightening McQueen. I think he nailed it. 

These silly boys had a blast painting their ornaments and my table. To prevent the table from being damaged I used butcher paper and secured it with painter's tape. This kept the paint from leaking through and my table stayed clean. 

I love how everything turned out. My tree has five new adorable ornaments and I have new memories to enjoy.  

wreath project

This week I decided to attempt my first wreath project. I wanted to make one for my Mother-in-Law for Mother's Day. Several years ago, I was given an old weather worn fall wreath. It had old faded leaves, acorns, and a random assortment of odds and ends. After a trip to Michael's I had everything I needed to transform this old wreath into something beautiful. 

*side note* 

I went to Hobby Lobby first. However, I didn't like the prices of their flowers. I went to Michael's and found the same flowers, for way less..and they were on sale. Score! 

Anyways, I'm really happy with the end results. The flowers are fresh, bright and full of spring and I'm looking forward to giving this wreath away. 

newlyweds

Do you have an extra fifty or so spare clothes pins? Need something to do with those clothes pins? Planning a bridal shower in a month or two? This cute little couple makes for great, but inexpensive way to add something extra to any bridal shower decor. To do this project I used black, white, coral pink and robins egg blue acrylic paint. To create the grooms eyes, tie and buttons I used a small tip permanent marker. Now all I need to do is paint another 49...

handmade holidays part two

For the little girls I made earwarmer headbands and beanies. I love how the crochet flowers turned out. For the flowers I used a tutorial  I found on youtube. I tried to follow a written pattern, however I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. I am a visual learner. Anyways, I really like how these earwarmer headbands turned out and I think once the holiday rush is over I'll make myself a pair.

Church Advent Calender

One year ago I had never heard of an Advent calender. Now I know too much about Advent calenders. For an example, the tradition of the Advent calender started in Germany in the 19th century as a way for people to count down the days until Christmas. A couple of weeks ago I agreed to create an Advent calender for our church's Sabbath school program. I did some research and decided to recreate a calender from The Land of Nod. Each day 1-24 has its own pocket. I made the pockets extra large because it was for a church program (church program + lots of kids = a need for large pockets). I'm happy with how this project turned out, and maybe...maybe...after I recover from the frustration of cutting and sewing 25 pockets I might make myself a calender for my family. :)

Song of Solomon 3:4

After months of planning and preparing, I finally took the plunge and started this project.  I haven't painted on canvas since high school. I'm not naturally artistic, and I can't draw to save my life. However, I did not let my lack of artistic talent deter me from creating this fine piece of art! As much as I love 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, its been done. I wanted something unique, especially for my bedroom. I chose Song of Solomon 3:4 because it truly expresses how I feel about my husband. He is my soul mate, one of my greatest blessings and the best thing to have ever happened to me. 

Halloween Art

With the weather change, I've been feeling motivated to finish a few of my projects. Last Thursday Lucas turned 18 months and I recorded his little baby footprints on black paper. I was going to use his footprints for my scrapbook, however after snooping around on pinterest I found something better to do with the prints. I painted an old picture frame, drew on on two eyes and a mouth, dated the print and sat back to enjoy my first piece of Halloween art. :)       

Tea Tray

I'm so excited to share my latest creation on this blog! It was a fun project.  I made this tray for my Mother-in-law's birthday. Several weeks ago, Lucas and I were strolling down the woodworking section of Michaels. I was actually looking for shelving ideas and toys boxes for Lucas's bedroom. Although I didn't find what I was looking for, I did come across this little beauty (at the time it was unfinished). I loved the idea of gifting this tray to my Mother-in-law. She is a tea drinker, and often hosts parties where tea is served. After a quick trip to pinterest for painting tips and inspiration, I knew that I had to do this project.

I started by sanding down the edges and surface area of the tray. I did this several times to ensure that I didn't miss any spots. 

 I created the Chevron pattern by drawing three vertical lines. Than I drew three horizontal lines. Next I took my ruler, and drew diagonal lines. 

Once I drew my lines, I taped them off. Before I started painting I pressed the edges of the tape firmly down sealing the tape to the surface of the wood. I painted with the chalkboard paint first. The chalkboard paint needed about three coats of paint. I let the chalkboard paint dry over night, as was suggested by the directions on the paint bottle. After allowing the chalkboard paint to dry overnight, I re-taped my lines and painted with the blue paint. In hindsight, it would have been easier if I had first painted the surface blue, than taped my lines, and than painted with the black paint. However, it worked out and my lines are near perfect. I used behr semitransparent natural ceder wood stain for the top, bottom and sides of the tray. After allowing everything to dry overnight, I sprayed the entire tray with Thompson's water seal. 

I'm really happy with how this project turned out. It is a special, one of a kind gift - for a special one of a kind person!