More words on the wall

Recently my friend Amy* mentioned in a Facebook post she was looking at book wreaths on Etsy. Then another friend commented she would like one too. Knowing they aren't too hard to make (here's mine), I told them to pick a design, pick a night and pick up a bottle of wine. I would bring all the supplies. We got together last Monday at Amy's and had a good time talking and ripping books apart. I think the finished products look great. I think my friends like them too. Carla Jean has already posted about her wreath. And she has better pictures!**

Now what can we get together and make next?

*Okay this is were the internet and FB are cool. Amy and I have only been friends on FB. I don't know how I started reading her blog but it's hilarious. So the night we got together to craft was the first time we had ever met in person. Awkward? No, it's like I've known this cool chick forever. Carla Jean and I at least had a history being former co-workers. Weird fact from the night: We all arrived in Birmingham the same year. 

**Seriously, I keep cleaning my phone but I'm blaming sticky little boy hands for the fuzzy quality. I'm the momma, I can do that. 

Halloween 2013

What's that you say? Halloween was two weeks ago? It ain't over until I document it. Which means Halloween 2012 is still going strong. I sure thought I had posted pictures. There is at least one photo of Will.

Halloween this year was ... interesting. The four-year-old took full control of his costume. While Will always picks his costume, Nana or Mommy are the ones that make it appear. Not so with Joseph. He had an idea and told me what he needed to be an American Striped Fox.

You may ask, what is an American Striped Fox? It's a fox with stripes. It eats wild chicken, wild pigs, wild cows, pretty much anything wild. It can come in several color combinations — red and black, orange and black, orange and yellow and black. They are friends with bunnies and kittens. If you want to know anything at all about American Striped Foxes, just ask Joseph. 

No, it's not a real animal. See Joseph got a stuffed tiger for his birthday back in May. Striper immediately joined Baby Bunny and Joseph on all their adventures. About a month ago, Joseph declared Striper to be an American Striped Fox. (And no, he had not seen "What Does the Fox Say?"). Forget the Batman PJs already picked out, Joseph was going to be an American Striped Fox too. So basically, Joseph dressed up as his favorite stuffed friend. Sweet, I know.

Blurry but American Striped Foxes are very hard
to photograph in the wild! Good view of the tail.

But Halloween was coming fast. How could we pull this off? I told Joseph I would be happy to make his mask (I'm thinking felt, thread and a couple of nights in front of the TV) but Joseph ran to his room bringing out the mask he decorated at Art at Avondale Park the week before. I got red sweatpants and a turtleneck at the big consignment sale. Joseph helped paint stripes of yellow, orange and black. The tail — oh, I love the tail — was sewn in five seconds by a willing friend who knows her way around a sewing machine. It is a red T-shirt stuffed with polyfill. She sewed the tail to another strip of T-shirt so it was easy to tie around Joseph's waist. He decided not to paint it. Again, he knew what he wanted. 

Joseph asked for a costume for Striper  — 5 seconds
before trick-or-treating!

Will's costume was a little easier. Nana got him some skeleton PJs (PJs are the best for costumes —you're already dressed for bed!). But to make it a little more his style, Will wanted to be a Minecraft skeleton. Not familiar with the computer game? Just ask any little boy ages 8-12 within 30 feet of you (and probably their dads too) and they can tell you all about it. (If you are curious, Will only plays the creative mode, no mindless destroying of things/animals is allowed, and a majority of the time Will is playing next to a parent with a watchful eye. We like Mindcraft for the building aspect. Dad and son are working on an elaborate town — it even has an art museum.)

I got the bow printout here but made the grayscale pattern for the
head myself using InDesign when I couldn't find a ready-made one.

Like Halloweens past, we hit the school Harvest Festival the day before and then on actual Halloween night we walked our street with our neighbor pals and then headed two streets over to walk a few more streets with a longtime friend that has a street as nice as ours. Meaning the neighbors know the kids are coming and have goodie bags or full-sized candy bars waiting. Both boys got plenty of candy! The night ends back on our street at Mavis and Shea's annual Harvest party complete with apple bobbing and hot funnel cakes. After inhaling a bunch of sugar and maybe two bites of apple, the boys go to bed and then mommy does the importing job of "sorting" the candy. One of the best nights of the year!

Trick-or-treaters on our street always know to stop at Mr. Ed's house.
He's got the full-size candy bars!

This mini Stig and Mindcraft skeleton have been
trick-or-treating together since 2006.  

The candy is not even all gone and Joseph is already thinking ahead to next Halloween ... 

He's going as a Beetle Slug!*

*I'm told they wear yellow pants and like to use their amour 

to defend themselves from big brother attacks.

Well, did you?

I really do remember how many times my mom asked if I washed my hands when I was little. Because it was a lot of times. Heck, she still asks me every now and then! And now, I sure do grab my little guys' hands to see how wet they are and if they smell like soap. 

The sticker labels of the Wal-mart brand hand soaps come off very easily. I thought about getting a friend with a vinyl machine to make the letters for me but then I thought, what can't I do with a Sharpie?! A few minutes later, voila! Less than $2 for custom mommy nagging. And, it's refillable. 

Now these directions make me laugh every time: "Use ... to wash hands as you would use any liquid hand soap." What if I don't know how to use any liquid hand soap?!!!! Seriously, what is the point of these directions?

Made by You Monday

A word or two on the wall

I've been waiting to make a book page wreath for quite some time. One night I just got too it — two hours of television later, I was finished and quite happy with the results now hanging above the mantle. I won't go into details — Google "book page wreath" and you'll find many tutorials and many examples. I skimmed through several tutorials and then just winged it. This size (roughly 26 by 20 inches) took two books; both were vintage and rescued from the trash. I wouldn't do this to a new book! The pages are tri-folded and hot glued to a cardboard backing. The cardboard works here but I want to experiment with other materials (plywood? canvas? ideas?). 

I would have shown you the whole mantle but it is such a dumping ground for mail, lego projects, toy pieces found under the sofa waiting to be put in their proper homes. Do you have a picture-perfect mantle? Or take a quick swipe before company arrives like me?

MADE BY YOU MONDAY

MONDAY FUNDAY

THE SHABBY NEST

Lego heart necklace

How About Orange

I just saw this DIY pixel heart necklace (made with paper) on one of my favorite Web sites, How About Orange, and immediately had to make one ...

with Legos! 

And I'm going to wear it this weekend to Brickfair, because where else would I wear a Lego heart but to a convention filled to the top with Lego-goodness. This is the second year for Birmingham to host the convention for AFOLs (Adult Fans of Legos) and it's lots of fun to take the boys to see all the cool things folks have built with Legos.

Since I've never shared this, here's another Lego necklace I made about two years ago. Super-easy DIY (two Lego pieces, two jump rings and a length of chain) that always gets me compliments.

Okay, now that I thoroughly wasted an hour, I guess I'll wash those dinner dishes.

Owl cupcakes

By now you may have noticed I haven't been able to do more than short little posts here and there this year. Here's another one ...

Aren't these cute?! My neighbor Christine made them for her daughter's recent birthday. I think she found the idea on Pinterest because Christine loves the site as much as I do. I'm posting the picture here so 1. I remember how Christine did it when I go to make some and 2. So I can pin this image on my little birdies board. 

We've got a pair of Barred Owls that like the woods at the end of our street. I love hearing them call back and forth at dusk and then a little later before midnight. Joseph did NOT like hearing them at first but now it's all cool and he can step out of the house when it's dark. I would have thrown Joseph an owl birthday party but the idea didn't fly with the boys.*

*Go ahead and groan ツ

(Free) Thanksgiving activities for the kiddos

Activity Place Mat

Whatever DeeDee Wants

Turkey Feathers Game

The Idea Room

Sticker Activity Book

Our Wonderfilled Life

Roll a Turkey Game (two versions)

Be Different Act Normal

Turkey Leg Placecard (fill with goodies)

Beurrista

Decorate the Whole Table

Paper Glitter

B is for building blocks

When Will was still a wee lad, one of our fabulous neighbors handed down a rather well-loved and rather big block set their boy had outgrown. By big I mean when one of those blocks lands on a toe, you know it! I was worried about such injuries at first but not many have occurred. What has occurred is many, many hours of creative play. Forts and towers and roads and castles ... learning about balance, cause and effect and a whole bunch of other skills along the way. I now love the big size of the blocks. I think they are easier (sturdier?) for building. I tried pricing a set like ours and they are not cheap. If you are handy with a saw and sander, make your own. 

But really, this post is just an excuse to share a cute picture of Joseph. Look at that concentration!

Halloween paper bag pumpkins

I had the pleasure of being the substitute teacher for 8 (EIGHT!) two-year-olds yesterday. Being the day before Halloween, we read books about pumpkins and made pumpkins to take home.

Super easy folks, especially for the age group I had. I drew the faces, let the kids have fun coloring then stuffed the bags with newspaper (3 sheets was a good number for fullness). Twist the top, add a green pipe cleaner and leaves if you want. You're done. 

This would also be a cute way to send lunch to school.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween masks in snap

Making cupcakes for the school Halloween party? Trying to find the missing piece to the costume your kid's been wearing for two weeks and can't go trick-or-treating without? Kids bugging you about what you're going to dress-up as? 

Or is that just my Halloween? Never fear, you still have time to come up with something, anything to make the kids happy as you run down the street with them. Plug in the printer and embrace the spirit of the day! (Click on the picture to take you to DIY instructions and PDF files)

Wee Alphas

Design House Digital

Cut and Fold Costumes via How About Orange

Mr. Printables

or you could be like this momma — grab the nearest milk jug and cut away.

Happy Halloween!

Under the tent

You can't really see in these wonderful pictures what I was actually selling at Art in Avondale Park so here are a few closeups ...

Painted wooden beads topped with a real
acorn cap.

I've made bird nest pendants before. These I
nestled in real acorn caps.

More "acorns" — beads topped with real acorn caps.
A store in my neighborhood will be carrying these soon.

Ghost cupcakes

As soon as I opened my October 2012 "Family Fun" magazine, I knew the pull-apart ghost cupcake cake would be perfect for the Halloween party at Joseph's school. Cupcakes are just the right size for the pint-sized kids and don't require knives to cut and forks to eat. A problem for me was the magazine just had a picture, not instructions ... what I would have liked is a picture of what the ghost looked like under the icing. So I took pictures of my ghost-in-progress in case I'm not the only one. 

I think it turned out pretty cute. I made two ghosts for the school party and both disappeared very quickly. Now, if you would like to see how a professional makes this treat, visit Lindsay Ann at Dollhouse Bake Shoppe. (I didn't see her naked ghost until writing this post. I wish "Family Fun" had directed me to her Web site.) 

Happy Halloween!

Craft show success

Clark Scott

My lovely friend and neighbor Laura checking out the vintage suitcase 

full of necklaces.

Clark Scott

Colorful vases full of button flowers drew folks (and lots of photographers)
into the booth. That's my head way in the back.

I did it. I survived my first art/craft show, the 9th Annual Art in Avondale Park. The weather was beautiful. The crowd was steady and appreciative of my goods on the table. I did better than I ever expected to, but yes, I wasn't expecting a lot. I sold half of what I brought ... mostly due to the generosity of my friends who came by. I hope they are enjoying their purchases with the knowledge that I tried really hard to craft something special. (Being a Virgo worrywart, I am worried someone out there is unhappy ... that their necklace broke or buyer's remorse. I really hope not.)

I truly could have not done the show without my friends. About two months ago I sent out an
e-mail asking folks to check their closets and yards for supplies I could use. Their response and support was fast and much appreciated. Much appreciated!

Clark Scott

Joseph had a good time observing the lake and playing with lots of friends 

at the playground while momma tended the booth. Chances are if you

stopped by, Joseph shared a Frito with you.

I also appreciate Clark Scott for letting me share his wonderful professional photographs of the event. Much better than the ones I took!

Best sand pies in town

Let me introduce you to a great little diner hidden in my part of town, Chez Tutor. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive with tons of repeat customers. Little folks come from around the block to make pizza and ice cream and pies, lots of pies. 

Inspiration from here and here*. 

Most materials, if not all, thrifted or repurposed.

*Okay, that last link is really eye candy for momma. 

Acorns everywhere!

Not that I didn't have enough to do — house is a mess with dishes and laundry piled high, my new part-time job working the nursery at Joseph's school, woefully behind on the 2012 St. Rose yearbook — I decided to have a booth at the Art in Avondale Park fall festival. It's a crazy idea. So crazy that I enlisted a partner in crime because I wasn't sure I would have enough stuff . 

The festival itself is great. The main goal is to get kids creating. Lots of hands-on activities and music — just a good community spirit. It will be a good place for my first booth. Very out-of-the-box for me and I'm feeling a tad nervous. I've debated backing out but no, I should do this. It'll be fun. And I'm having a lot of fun stretching my creative muscles the last two months. 

So why the picture of the acorns? They are my main crafting component! Along with wire, beads and pilers OH MY. I'm making several types of pendants with acorn caps and button bouquets and play dough (okay, the play dough is a weird choice but I wanted to have something small and affordable that kids could purchase.) Will wanted to contribute so he's making acorn jewels. 

One of the main problems I'm having is finding the right time to craft. When inspiration hits, I usually should be making dinner instead. My second problem is getting distracted by all the possibilities. I love crafting with acorns — the textures, the feel, the colors. First I was just making one type of pendant, now I'm up to four and I'm trying to resist another design. I saw a picture of mini-acorn cap candles and immediately wanted to make a few dozen. It's hard to keep myself on track and making just what I decided to make for the fest. My third problem is booth design. I need to keep it simple but boy, could I have fun with some burlap and shutters and I'm definitely making a twig tree to hang the necklaces. Again, got to keep on track.

Pictures of the booth and art fest to follow. It's exciting. Did I mention I was nervous?!

This month's featured artist

I love every piece of paper my boys scribble on. I don't keep every piece of paper, but I do keep enough to embarrass them in high school. The frig was an okay space to display but I wanted something more "artsy" plus I had a large blank space on which to play. Our walls are paper-thin so I wasn't keen to use nails and string and things. Some sticky velcro tabs were just right for attaching clip boards and old school slates (hot glued with mini wooden clothespins) to the dining room wall. I found the huge frame on the side of the road already painted red — sweet! I'm happy with the results. And so are the boys. 

(The mini-poster in the middle is hard to read. It says "Good Moms Have Sticky Floors, Dirty Ovens and Happy Kids." Awesome! It's a free printable from Paper Coterie — double awesome!)

Showing off at The Southern Institute and Skip to My Lou.

Worth the trouble?

Last month I brought home some garden tomatoes from Mississippi. 

So many that I thought filling the freezer with tomato sauce was a great idea. 

Three hours later I had one messy kitchen. 

What was I thinking? That it would be a fairly easy project?! For one thing, all that work and time resulted in one measly cup of sauce. Now granted, it was a really, really yummy cup of sauce (recipe from Smitten Kitchen) that Chris and I enjoyed for dinner. The boys wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole, but that's nothing new. It was my first time making sauce and I had no idea that once you get rid of the juice and seeds, there's not much to a tomato. I give myself an A for effort. And the permission to keep enjoying the stuff from the jar.

Easter ideas 2012

Bunny Butt Cake/Betty Crocker

Bunny Tails (free printable)/The Idea Room

Orange Bunny Rolls/Budget Gourmet Mom

Hip Hip Hop (free) Easter Printable/Makoodle

Origami Tag (free printable)/Eat Drink Chic

Bunny Bean Bags/Two Straight Lines

Nest Cookies/Creations by Kara

Bunny Puppets (free printable)/Secret Agent Josephine

Easter Bunny Shoes/Minimoz

Easy Bunny Candy Pouch/Mer Mag

DIY Bunny Garland/Twig & Thistle

Paper Bunny Pops Craft (free printable)/Oriental Trading

For many more ideas, visit my Easter ideas board on Pinterest.