score!

we never remember to share the great scores we make when thrifting.

this one started at my house and ended up in E's porch where it looks fantastic!

It was clean, over the top, and cheap, just the way we like it.

for now

Life has swallowed us up lately, and making anything has taken a back seat.

Here is my small attempt to change that.

I've had this tiny wreath forever with the intention of making

something for the little Miss.

I didn't want to commit to anything yet,

but I was also sick of looking at my naked wreath!

Auntie C brought over this pink belt and the rest I had laying around.

It is all just pinned on, so when true inspiration hits, we can start all over.

I have recently been on the hunt for a

reading chair for my daughters kindergarten teacher.

You know how when you are looking for something in particular

it isn't anywhere to be found?

I finally think I found one that will do.

Usually I would have painted the frame and changed the fabric,

but I refrained, and I like it this way. 

To add the alphabet I used paper stencils and a

spray bottle with 2 parts water, one part bleach.

I love it, hopefully Mrs. P will too.

on target

what I had.

squirmy kids who like to shoot at each other.

an embroidery hoop.

extra fabric.

what I made.

a target.

the center is polyester,

so if you have the velcro darts, they sometimes stick.

this is going to come in handy this winter.

who's sock is it anyway?

Keeping the stockings straight at our house seems to be important.

Even though Santa doesn't get credit for filling them here,

the kids wanted something identifying.

I didn't really want to put their names on them,

so I borrowed their initial ornaments from the tree. 

 Now there should be no confusion. 

frosty

Last year the middle man made this snowman from 2 embroidery hoops.

The only thing I helped with was pulling the fleece tight and monitoring the use of hot glue gun. 

He found an old knit pillow cover to use for the scarf and hat.

He was asking for his snowman as soon as the decorations started to come out of the attic.  He seems to be very proud.

The fact that frosty hangs on his bulletin board along with everything else that is dear to him says so. 

I once was a lampshade

If you have an old lampshade with good bones

and fabric scraps that you can't part with...

 this is the project for you.

Simply remove the old shade.

Wind long fabric strips around the wire and hot glue or tie off to secure.

Add some ric-rac or ribbon tails, maybe beads, and you're done! 

This would be a fun rainy day project for the kids.

You could easily make it boy by

changing the colors and finding

little trinkets like soldiers, or dinosaurs to tie onto the ends.   

Our Advent tradition

 Many people go through great lengths to prepare for Christmas yet fail to appreciate the true meaning of the season.  Advent, if thoughtfully observed, can help us to realize what this season is truly about. 

The Jesse tree represents Jesus' family tree. The name is taken from Isaiah 11:1, in which Jesus is referred to as a shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse, the father of David. The ornaments on the Jesse tree tell of Jesus' ancestors, and of the events leading to Jesus' birth. Even though we can have Peace and Joy through the presence of Jesus Christ, we still long for deliverance from the oppression of sin in the world. We long for the full reign of the King, and the Kingdom of Peace that He will bring. So, while we celebrate the birth, the new shoot from the stump of Jesse, we still anticipate with hope the Second Advent, and await the completion of the promise.

The Jesse Tree helps us retell this story, and express this hope.

 Every year the kids look forward to putting up the Jesse Tree.

We read our devotional every night starting December 1st.

Every night we put up a new ornament corresponding to the Bible story we read.

Many years ago, the mom's in my small group each made several of the ornaments on cardstock and had them laminated.

These have worked fine for the last several years,

but I have been hoping to make smaller fabric ornaments instead.

I made them all in one morning.

They are not perfect, but they will do the job just fine!

This is what we have always used to keep the ornaments in.

I made it out of a vintage tablecloth and felt numbers.

This is our Jesse Tree, but you could use anything, even a branch.

We are all looking forward to filling it very soon!

craft day

I wish I had taken more pictures,

but we were too busy having fun!

We filled our space with anything we could make into something and got to work!

We started so many projects, inspired each other, and tried new things.

Can I just highly suggest this as a way to spend time with good friends?

The day was gone in a flash, and we all agreed we could have filled the weekend.

big boxes from big box stores

I'm sure that a few of you have this box that your bulk card purchase came in. 

Once all of the cards have been given, you are left with a cuter than not, mostly sturdy box, and a few dividers as well.

I have always kept the boxes to store things in, but you can use the dividers too!

Just cut off the top label, and fold in half.

Have your kids decorate it to give as a new reinvented birthday card.

The box effectively hides squinkies as well.

Less clutter.

Much better.

bleachy keen

free shirt.

I know we've done a lot of bleaching,

 but it is so easy,

 and I love the way a doily looks on a shirt.

think of it as a sun print,

you could use anything as your "stencil."

this picture is a bit washed out for some reason,
and the shirt looks wider and shorter than it is.

voila!

big old branch+drill= fun center piece/colored pencil holder

blocks are best

my kids still love blocks,

 and the place they love playing them the most is on the deck.

we keep a crate of "outside" blocks and animals out there all summer.

too easy

cute bag right?

 little red truck, a little hot glue

...now it looks like a gift for a baby boy!

a trundle bed for that special stuffy

When you have kids, stuffed animals are a part of the deal.

Some just take up space, and others are prized.

Monkey happens to be pretty special.

He started out in a basket bed that was always in the way.

He now has his own trundle made out of a drawer.

The pillow and blanket stay all day,

but in the morning monkey gets up,

and the drawer is shut and out of the way! 

measure me

Here is a fun (free) way to make a growth chart.

The kids are always stopping to measure themselves.

Thanks to grandpa I inherited a couple of yard sticks...

We again used the command adhesive strips to secure the yard sticks to the moulding.

We put up a few number stickers to measure growth by the foot, too easy!

Now it's time to watch them grow!  

what every crayon dreams to be...

We like bold strong lines around here,

whether that means soaking our chalk in buckets of water in the summer

or putting our rocks in the oven before we draw on them with crayons...

I have long been trying to think of a use for my old electric frying pan...

With the heat set on the lowest possible setting,

place your paper in the pan for a second to warm up.

This is where the fun begins.

Regular old crayons turn into bold dramatic tools that melt and mix together.

The kids seemed to prefer using the edge of the crayon to cover more area.

They also enjoyed making use of the crayons we had melted into circles in the muffin tin previously.

The photo doesn't do it justice, but they look like stained glass with the light shining through.

wiggle cups

This is a really entertaining way to make wrapping paper.

The kids first made these "wiggle cups" at the science museum,

but they are really simple to make at home.

They require two AA's and the battery pack(s),

an old motor with a section of unused hot glue stuck on the end to make the motor unbalanced,

four markers taped to the sides of the cup.

Tape all of your parts into their proper places,

connect the power to the motor,

and watch them wiggle all over!

You can tape a large piece of paper to a table and let the bots run wild.

We have also used smaller paper inside of cardboard boxes to keep them from running off of the paper.

It is a big hit at kids parties as well.

If you don't have large enough paper to wrap with, try cutting open a brown paper bag and using that.

We also make use of the kids old artwork/drawings in this same way(especially the bigger papers)

It makes for a really fun and colorful gift!