Wash Day

My favorite 3year old Tessa loves to clean. I often will find her in the bathroom  loading up a towel with water to "clean". I finally realized that is code for I am going to have huge mess fun and YOU get to "clean" it up!" So today after she had gone potty she said, "Oh, Oh, I fawgot to wass my hands!" so I let her wass her hands as she usually is good at it.  Got setting the table for dinner, aka reading a blog, and realized I had heard the water running for sometime now......

"What are you doin' Tess?"

"Wassin my hands and elbows"

open door slowly so water does not come crashing down on my head......

"Um, those are your feet"

Oh, who cares if you think your ankles are your elbows when ya' got a smile like that!

Ka-Pow! Big walls need visual punch!!!

My casa is 103 years young and therefore has lots of high ceilings. which = cobwebs, oh, sorry, I mean blank space to fill in clever ways. But I don't like to just put anything on the walls like large pics or posters b/c your home should reflect what you love and show your personality.  So here are a few ideas I have used to show off what I love (my family), to make it something you want to linger over AND they  fill up those huge canvases of plaster.

Dining Room

I love picture ledges but I gotta tell you, they cost a freakin' fortune for like 2' of wood!

I hope those companies plant some trees with all the extra dollas they make off of those ledges.

Anyhoo, I am a serious "I'll do it myself" kind a gal ( that's why my 3 year old and I see eye to eye) and this is what I came up with.

You just need a 6 ft. length of 1x2, a 6 ft. length of lattice, some wood glue, clamps, 2" L-brackets, and spray paint 

Glue like so and clamp every 6" for 24 hours. Spray paint, attach L-brackets, and mount to your walls.

It is that easy!

I liked the idea of having the family pics sitting on top be matted in ivory and the ones hanging below be all in black.

Liked it so much made two more for my stairwell. These are 3 foot lengths. I had to be a little more careful with my L-bracket placement because the studs were not where I thought they'd be so you might want to use a stud finder and then mark your ledge AND wall so you know exactly where to put your screws. But be careful with that stud finder, it usually has a funny way of pointing to my fella!

Making sure that the ledges are mounted solidly is key especially if you use  frames like I did. These are from Ikea and are all glass, thus they are a might heavy. So measure thrice, mark twice, and mount once. We are going to fill in with other more typical frames to make it fun to linger over and remember when their hands were just "thiiiis big"

 Girl's room

Another problem wall. But now it is pink.....along time ago I found a tutorial on using toilet paper rolls to create a vine http://www.designswan.com/archives/humble-art-toilet-paper-roll-art.html. Inspiration struck and the roll collection began in earnest. "Are you sure you don't have to go to the bathroom?"

I just saved rolls for about a week (just kidding, although doesn't it seem like we go through rolls like crazy with kids and yet their bums are so little....) and then cut them into 1" sections. Then I just started gluing. I love chrysanthemums so that is how these kinda turned out.

Just vary the number of petals and spray paint and hang however you want. I like that they are dimensional also. And if they break, big deal, just make more!



Bathroom wall

How to: I just took the leaves my girls would give me on our walks and saved the best and then pressed them.

Remove the back of a picture frame, these were from the Goodwill for about $1.00 each, spray painted them black and then cut another piece of glass the same size as the one that came with the frame. Sandwich the leaf between the two pieces of glass and hang. Easy peezy, lemon squeezy

I love this idea because I love the the intricacies you can see in God's creation. Each leaf is unique in it's formation and although it might look a bit different form the others, each one serves a purpose on the tree. It reminds me of the special care that He took when He created my uniqueness. Most who know me would  agree He was heavy on the unique =0)

But I have a purpose in this big tree called life and I hope it shows that my purpose is to use the creativity that He gifted me with to bring HIM glory, and not myself.

Love you bunches and bunches,

KIM

9.11.01

Below is a song that speaks so clearly to what happened 10 years ago. Enjoy.

"Rise" by Shawn McDonald

Yes I will rise
Out of these ashes rise
From this trouble I have found
And this rubble on the ground
I will rise
Cause He Who is in me
Is greater than I will ever be
And I will rise

Sometimes my heart is on the ground
And hope is nowhere to be found
Love is a figment I once knew
And yet I hold on to what I know is true


Yes I will rise
Out of these ashes rise
From this trouble I have found
And this rubble on the ground
I will rise
Cause He Who is in me
Is greater than I will ever be
And I will rise

Well I keep on coming to this place
That I don't know quite how to face
So I lay down my life in hopes to die
That somehow I might rise


Yes I will rise
Out of these ashes rise
From this trouble I have found
And this rubble on the ground
I will rise
Cause He Who is in me
Is greater than I will ever be
And I will rise

Beauty from ashes,
K

Red Fish, Blue Fish, Old Lights, New Lights!!

My outdoor porch lights have been in need of replacement for a looooooong time and I needed a new idea for Crafting with the Stars over at http://www.sewdangcutecrafts.com/! 

More than half are missing....

and the ones still hangin' on, look like this. So lightning struck on my way home from work....

PVC to the rescue!! Just wait, don't send me to the funny farm yet....

Gather your supplies and power tools (yippee day do!):

HEARING PROTECTION! (what do ya' want, I'm an audiologist!)

2ft. of 3"  Cellcore PVC pipe (cuts better than solid but both were used for this project)

2ft. of 2" solid PVC pipe (if you can get cellcore than do it)

power miter saw

drill and drill bits

80 grit sandpaper

vellum paper or paper of your choice (the more transparent the better). I used 4 sheets.

decorative scissors but regular will do fine as well

spray paint or 1" wide ribbon

ModPodge

Super glue or tape if using ribbon

X-acto knife if using ribbon

PVC just bought

Mark both pipes in 1" increments

PUT IN YOUR HEARING PROTECTION or you'll keep thinking the doorbell is ringing and no one is there!

Cut both PVC pipes using the power miter saw. (Please use proper precautions). There will be about 5 inches left that you will not be able to cut due to the proximity of fingers to saw of death!  You'll use this waste piece in a minute.

"Hear" they are cut, sorry couldn't resist =0)

Use your 80 grit sandpaper and smooth the edges a bit. Don't go too crazy on this part, just clean it up.

and THIS is your work room after cutting all of the pipe, kind of like living on the inside of a snow globe....

Annie get your drill! Try a few drill bits to see which one most closely matches the circumference of your outdoor light bulb socket.

Using that end waste piece, drill a hole and then fit it to the socket to make sure it is snug but not crazy tight. My drill bit was an 11/32. 

Here is your BOGT (blog one get two extra ideas for free!): Keep drilling holes of different sizes all over the waste piece and then you have a luminary! And the left over cut rings can be used as napkin rings!

Once you have the right size drillbit, drill a hole in the middle of each cylinder. I have 3 at a time in my clamp. At this point, if you are going to spray paint, then have at it. I used ribbon to cover mine and I think next time I'll use the glam in a can. much easier.

While your spray paint is drying, go to your computer and find a font or picture that you like. I used the Castellar font with a double line circular border. I also used 100 pt. for the 2" PVC and 160 pt. for the 3" PVC.

Use the pipe to make sure that the circle you made is  the same circumference (are we back in geometry class for this project, geez) as the pipe BEFORE you print it out. Remember to check the spacing horizontally and vertically so you will have room to cut them out. You will be cutting them LARGER than your border.

Once you are happy with spacing, print on regular paper just to make sure. Then cut your vellum down to 8.5x11 so it will go through your printer and print out your stuff! You will need two of every picture/font b/c you need one for each side of the PVC pipe.

Turn your vellum over and trace the outline of the PVC. This serves two purposes: shows you how far outside to cut and you will use this as a guide when you are gluing.

I used decorative scissors to cut out my circles

If you are using ribbon, you will want to measure and cut a piece to fit each piece of PVC

Glue with small dot of super glue and hold with clothespin. Put seam on the opposite end of the hole. REMOVE clothespin before if is permanently adhered to your PVC!

Using and X-acto knife, gently cut an X in the ribbon over the drilled hole

Now, break out the ModPodge and paint the glue on the PVC pipe. Using the pencil line as a guide, glue PVC to wrong side of vellum. Much like shampooing, let dry and repeat.

This is the 2" finished with the initial of our last name

This is the 3" finished with the first initial of the first name of each one of my baby limabeans and my stellar feller. Oh and me too.

NOW GO OUT AND POP IT ON THE LIGHT SOCKET!

Now do your happy dance, cuz' ya' know you have one

Plug em' in .....

NOW for the light show..............

Here is all the little U's together (kinda like our family!)

Here I alternated a 2" U with a 3" initial

The fun is this is so versatile, you can change the arrangement whenever you want. And that is good because I think I might have ADD on some level

getting darker......

getting darker.........

This makes me happy.

Cost breakdown: (This is where I go from happy to positively giddy)

3" PVC- $5.44

2" PVC-$3.70

4 sheets of vellum-$0.40 total.   Yes you saw this correctly. They were $0.10/each on clearance but even if I had bought full price, they were only $1.00/each

I had all of the other supplies so grand total to outfit 3 strings of lights?      $9.54

The fun part about this is that I had so many ideas it was hard to decide which idea to do! Endless possibilites. You can use scrapbooking stickers and doo-dads, leaves from nature, any font from your computer. This so cheap that you can have a set for each holiday, spell out words or sayings, monograms. Ooooh and talk about what you could do for weddings and baby showers..... Sorry, I have to run to Lowe's for some more plumbing supplies!

Kim

I'm linking this project up to the Sew Dang Cute Crafts Crafting with the Stars competition! Wish me luck. =0)

Lightening Strikes...

So I found out that the jiffy pop costume was made too long ago to qualify for the Crafting with the Stars. But Tam  over at http://www.sewdangcutecrafts.com/ is generously going to let me enter something else! She is Sew Sweet!!!!

But now, what to do?  AHHH, I'll give you a hint. It has something to do with outdoors lights and PVC pipe........

Can. not. wait. to. show. you!!!!


Kim

For Sale!

Here is a side table that had applied for Extreme Makeover, Furniture Edition.  But dang it, I forgot to take the before pics! Who Cares!!! Look at her now!!

I told you I forgot to take before pics but close your eyes and imagine 70's wood with lots of black splatter "effect" and scarring all over. Yes, epically ugly, that's why she won the makeover!

She got a semi-gloss finish in antique white and some new hardware and You can take her home for $50.00!

Email me if you are interested in purchasing. If you want me to get a work out and bring it to your house, there is a $20 delivery fee, or you can save yourself some dough and you can take it home.

I have had some people ask me if I'd paint/refinish something for them. Of course I will! Just email me a photo(s) showing the condition of the piece and what you would like me to do and I can send you a quote. I usually have people drop it off and pick it up but I can deliver as I said above.  The quote will include the following steps to refinish: sanding, filling, priming, and painting. If it requires stripping first before I can repaint it, it will cost cha' more because I don't just strip for anybody ya' know! My lead time is usually 1-2 weeks, depending on how busy I am. I'll let you know when you contact me.

Hope to hear from you!

KIM

Jiffy pop costume

Some days my mind explodes with ideas and other days not so much. Well two Halloweens ago I had an explosion kind of idea. Jiffy pop! That would make a great costume for my 18 month old to wear!! She'll love it!!

I used a pool noodle to make a circle form.

Sew silver lame (update: that would read la-may not lame like "I made a very lame attempt at running". I couldn't figure how to make that little accent guy that goes over the "e"!) to lining and make it like a very short curtain. Measure your child to get a good length and then add 7 inches for the top.Make a 5" rod pocket opening. Make two of these about 2x as long as the noodle. Push noodle through opening and then duct tape noodle closed in circle. You will have arm openings on either side now. Sew up the sides and most of the top of the lame and lining.

Fill with packing peanuts until you like what it looks like. Sew top shut. Make sure you leave the extra lame at the top and now cut it roughly to make it look like the jiffy pop just popped open.

Now the fun part!! Pop popcorn!  You will want to pop two bags. Not because it takes two to cover the hat but once you take a bite......

Glue to an old hat, covering every opening.

Undo a wire hanger (yes, it is okay to use them in our house!) and form into a handle and spray paint silver.

Stab it into the noodle, pull out and put hotglue on the ends and stab back in.





Now try it on the 18 month old!!

Just so you know, she hated it, and she didn't wear it this year either and when I asked her to put it on today for pictures, she said " This is the last time Mama".

Free to good home..Never been used.  How about a nice ballerina costume this year?