mollie's mom

School's Out For Summer....

2013-05-21T20:31:00.000-04:00

... but we painted one last time! You can thank me later for having that Alice Cooper classic stuck in your head. I can't help humming that this time of year! I Love Summer!

This time the project was a Sharpie and watercolor resist step-by-step painting. Sharpies are my all time favorite art supply. I have zillions- can't help myself.
For this project we used very nice heavy weight water color paper, mostly liquid watercolors from Dick Blick ( had to make my own blue and dark brown from tubes I picked up at DB) and my recycled containers. I wish schools had budgets for better brushes :) It makes a difference.
This project was about shapes and counting and mixing colors and Spring and birds and listening to directions. I drew on an easel at the front of the class while they listened, made decisions and followed along. We started with an oval in the middle of the page and then drew 3 small ovals in the center ( at this point some of them guessed a nest painting!)

Even though we followed along together, each painting turned out uniquely and so like their personalities. You'll see what I mean...

Absolutely LOVE this one... it reminds me of Shel Silverstein illustrations :) I also am intrigued that he painted a blue rectangle around his oval eggs instead of painting each one.

This one reminds me of barbed wire...

Very precise and uniform - so like the artist and polar opposite of the one that reminds me of Shel Silverstein...

They loved this project. They all turned out so fabulously and everyone felt successful

Very decorative pattern on this nest.

Another favorite. It's like a nest having a bad hair day!

I would totally frame this one :)

PS. No, I did not post the pictures in mirror image. They painted those beautiful watercolors but they are young enough that several write their names backwards still.

Well, I can show you now....

2013-05-13T08:04:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day!!
Hope you have a wonderful day - I'm having a wonderful Mother's Day weekend - not just a day!!
I couldn't share this before because my little art camp friends created these a couple of weeks ago for their moms. So I guess in blog-speak, this is the BIG REVEAL :)

Basic crafts supplies - the raindrop looking sponge shapes are the only out of the ordinary craft supply. I cut the shapes from inexpensive sponges from the dollar store. I prefer Miracle Sponge but Michael's and Hobby Lobby no longer carry it and it's too bad :(
I love that stuff.

This is the main component of this project which would be good for Mother's Day, as we did, or a garden unit or for the end of school, or April Showers/weather unit, etc. You could work it in a lot of ways. It is simply a wooden stake from HD - they come in a bundle of 10 or 12 for less than $3.00. The circle is a metal paint can lid. ( you've seen these before in another project!) I put a nail in the center and a dab of liquid nail on the back to secure them and sprayed them green. I have to base coat projects because we have only 50 minutes once a month - I wish it was once a week :) If they could base coat one day and decorate another that would be even better. I spattered them with a lighter green cause I just like to spatter things.

Strips of fabric scraps and the necessary CFA large unsweet tea with lemon.

Cute little preschool table all ready to go!

Pretty flower stakes for the garden. Just for Mom. Just sponge on however many petals you want and use the spouncer to make the big yellow center.

They all turn out cute but just a little bit different - just like each child.

Some of the centers were two-tone. Fancy!

We tied on the ribbon or torn fabric scrap and it is ready to give to mom. The preschool classes have a Mother's Day tea and they stick the flowers in the ground as decoration and then mom's get to take them home. It's a hit every year.
There are a lot of great books to read with this project. I've used Tiny Seed and several others. If you do this in a church preschool or Sunday School then you can make a little tag with a verse on it. I've used " I planted the seed, but God made it grow."
It's a fun Spring project and I am ready for blooms and bees and sunny days!

Teacher-y Stuff

2013-04-23T19:03:00.000-04:00

College Girl's "Big" in her sorority is graduating in just a few short days and the girls all get together and give the graduates a gift basket to send them on their way. It's a wonderful send off and I like that they ask the Seniors for a "Wish List" so they can truly get things they need or want. College Girl's Big is an Education Major and is all ready to find a job teaching little ones (early elementary) and she wanted a basket full of classroom items. College Girl was in charge of her Big's basket and this is not the kind of "stuff" she knows about so she called and said, " Help. We need teacher-y stuff!" Well, not a problem here. Right up my alley. I was on it!! So fun to make and find "teacher-y stuff" for this enthusiastic future teacher.

We started off with this fun sign for the classroom ( you may remember it from before) and set the theme with the colors and polka dots - we were aiming for "instant classroom" and tried to be fairly cohesive and find things that the future teacher would love and could use for a long time. Polka dots and a chalkboard-look on black seemed fun and classic and easy to match when she goes to find more items for her classroom.

Next came the "basket" to hold all the other goodies...

We went with a large galvanized bucket with a handle. So versatile and useful and I'm all about the galvanized bucket. This is actually the small trash can size from Home Depot and it is only $14.99 and has a handle and lid. She can use it for a zillion things in a classroom. It came plain, of course, and we went to town making it match our theme. And we personalized it. A little strange to thinkof "Big" as Ms. Petry!! :) Was it really three years ago that I met her for the first time at our first Chi O Family Day??

I painted the alphabet and more polka dots on the back. I went with the rainbow/spectrum for our polka dot colors so she can pull out her favorites and these gifts will work with whatever she decides to do in her classroom. I tied a rainbow of polka dot ribbons on the handle and made a name sign for her door.

A little Mod Podge and some cute polka dotted papers in a rainbow of colors ( plus owls since that is the Chi O symbol) and we have a cute clipboard and clipboards are an important part of every teacher's day! It might as well be cute!

A huge burlap pencil for fun and then we filled the bucket up with all kinds of goodies from the "teacher store" near us - Sharpies, notepads, post-it notes, bulletin board borders and a huge owl set for the bulletin board, owl bathroom passes, chore charts, stickers and more. It was overflowing with goodies!!!

Hooray for teachers! Hooray for Ms. Petry!!

The 11th Hour....

2013-03-30T22:10:00.001-04:00

Well, practically.
I'm sure everyone else is beyond ready for Easter and this is of no help but the idea does have possibilities for future holidays and events.
As I said on Facebook, I threw a puffy burlap carrot on the front door and called it good this year. March was full of deadlines for free lance work and speaking at a major conference was also on the calendar and Easter was early this year.
Cute got lost in the shuffle.
So that's how we rolled this year. Also, College Girl went home with her boyfriend to my old stomping grounds, Athens, so a little less motivation to roll out major Easter decor.

We hosted* last year so we I am invited out for Easter dinner this year. I wanted to take a little something to my peeps and since they are all beyond the age of cute stuffed bunnies and more into gift cards I wanted to package the gift card creatively.
I bought "fancy" all natural lemonade in swanky real glass bottles. Lemonade is Spring-y. And I picked up Chi-Fil-A gift cards cause, well, it's the South and we are addicted.
So now I needed to put them together .... somehow...

Scrounging in the studio I came across these clear plastic name tag holders like you get when you go to a meeting or conference. They are super inexpensive and crystal clear. They are made to hold a single thickness name tag so they are "snug" if you follow. That means that when you stuff things in them they stay. Perfect.

I love the crisp, clear look. I just put some Easter grass, a little business card sized note and the CFA gift card in the pouch. There are holes in the back of the pouch that are meant for the neck string if you are using it for it's real purpose but they work perfectly to string curling ribbon through. Just tie it on the bottle and you are good to go.
You could combine all kinds of treats and gift card in the pouches.

* We did host Easter for friends who are like family last year. The kids have all grown up but I haven't so I still made cutesy Easter treats and put bunny tails and ears on the real Coke and Orange Crush glass bottles - you know the drill. But I really wanted the kids to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt and not just sit around on their iphones :) So I thought about how to motivate them... what motivates teenagers and college students?... well, money and gift cards, of course. So I filled the eggs with quarters or slips of paper with numbers that corresponded with numbered gift cards to places like Starbucks, Chic-Fil-A and to itunes. I announced that it was time to do the Easter Egg Hunt , there were some moans and a mention or two about the heat but not from College Girl who jumped up and announced that she was hunting eggs. Then she announced that I had filled them with money and gift cards and we had an Easter Egg Scramble! Everyone was all in for this hunt!! They acted like little kids running around looking for eggs.
It was worth every ~~penny~~ quarter :)

My Scrap Bin and a Board....

2013-02-28T08:49:00.000-05:00

turned in to this:
A 6 foot long ABC picture.

I can't even figure out how to photograph the whole thing!

It's longer than my work table in the studio!

I've been seeing all the cute ABC signs and walls on Pinterest and I love anything with the ABC's, typography, fonts, etc. I didn't have any reason to make one until.... I decided to make one to donate to a Silent Auction at Georgia Preschool Association's Training Event this weekend at the Cobb Galleria! Yeah - an excuse to go for it.
( wow - time to clean in the studio! and yes - phone still smashed.
It's upgrade month! I just need to make time to go!!!)

I figured out that if I wanted the squares to be about 3 inches, which is about as small as I felt I could go and it could still be big enough to do letters and images and not be too small to see, that I would need a board 6 feet long.
That's 24 squares 3 inches wide which works by combining XYZ.

Seemed reasonable and didn't even seem that crazy until I got the whole thing done
and it is one big ABC board!!!

Of course, the "O" is an owl!!

So, here are my ABC's

.... won't you say them, please, with me?

And hopefully it goes home with someone (who likes loooonnnnng art)
and is a good fundraiser for GPA!!!

I kind of want to make another one. True story.

Update : it sold and is going home with a very happy school director!!

Linking Up:

Lotsa dots....

2013-02-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

I was asked to make a BIG painting for our Confirmation Retreat. So I went BIG!
I bought a large piece of luan paneling, primed it and went crazy with the spouncer.
Since I am in a gray phase and have cans of gray paint underfoot from the bathroom paint job I decided to go tone on tone with it.

A squiggly white border that will be black and white in the end.

Laying out the images and text...

Micah 6:8 was the verse for the 24 hour retreat.

It's getting colorful and more pattern going on....

I love it when you start pulling the painters tape off the stripes.... so fun...

And GLITTER!!!!!

And here is a terrible, blurry iphone picture of it in place at the retreat. In the art area because all 90 plus of the attendees made their own Micah 6:8 canvas! With their own handprints and footprints. They loved it ( except for the one preteen boy who told me "That's not happening" when I told him he was supposed to paint his foot and print on a canvas!) Getting messy was a nice break from all the study and made us giggle.

Some of us were ticklish so we really giggled!!

Some of us got help painting our feet and some of us figured out how to do it ourselves!!

But all of them turned out great and they loved taking home a finished painting at the end of the retreat.
One girl told us that her feet were still a little bit blue ( after 2 showers) on Sunday morning at Sunday School :)

Life Is Like ...

2013-02-14T20:05:00.000-05:00

... a pinball machine!
I know I'm supposed to say " a box of chocolates"
since it is Valentine's Day ( Happy Valentine's Day, BTW)

But I'm all over the place so pinball machine is more on target.

I said in an earlier post that I had forgotten to take any more pictures of this sign I did take a few more after all. But still a fail because none of the finished product with its beaded wire hanger and ribbons galore. Oh well. It has already gone to cheer up a little friend who had surgery yesterday. We met at Starbucks on Saturday to "catch up." Since when do 10 year olds instigate Starbucks dates??

Anyway, I substituted a glittery heart for the "O" :)

I used a mix of pink and red glitter. It's awesome.

I'm working on a big painting right now. Kitchen table big. Lots of dots. Lots.

I showed you the other day how Chloe helps me blog. Well, Biscuit is the art dog.

Wherever I am painting his furry self is right there!
Still dealing with the cone! He destroyed the $40.00 cone so he is in the plastic kind now.
A big dog in a cone is a dangerous thing. He bumps in to everything and has tried to chew it off ... hence the bulldog clips on it.

... and pinging right along like a pinball... this wall mounted light was ostracized from College Girl's room when we purged and painted stripes. It was laying in the guest bedroom waiting for a new home or a trip to the attic or something... the shade was disgusting so I tossed it and then today cleaning up the guest bedroom I had a thought....

It would work great to replace a tall table lamp that was on my work table in the studio with the wall lamp! So I hung it right next to the wonderful chippy shelf, that we rescued a zillion years ago from a demo on a construction site, which holds my ribbon tubs.

Note to self. Roll ribbon. Soon.
... and I tossed the shade and I want to hang it now. I made the lamp shade on the other table lamp from a small fair trade basket woven from recycled plastic bags. I wanted an unique shade that didn't block light so I turned it upside down and put a crystal clear bulb in the lamp. I love it and it has little specks of every color in it. Matches my Sharpies on the shelf behind it.

I might need to talk to someone about the Sharpie obsession. Really.

I love it and I wanted something unique acroos the room on the new wall lamp and I wanted to do it now. So I looked around and this wire mesh hanging veggie basket thing was in plain sight.
Waiting to be a lampshade.

I took pliers and pulled the 3 baskets and chains apart and grabbed the middle one.

I painted the brass wire lamp shade part white with spray paint.

I let it dry. Almost.

And then I put it all together. I love it. The feel of a shade but nothing to block the light.

It's funky. Free. And it's all finished in 5 minutes!

I think I need a clear bulb here too but I still love it.

I Forgot all About...

2013-02-13T11:09:00.002-05:00

... these pictures on my phone.
These go waaaaay back. I donated a "Ladies Art Night Out" at the Silent Auction at church last Spring. We finally got a date to mesh with everyone's crazy schedules and had a fun night last October. The winner set up tables in her kitchen/dining room and we got busy crafting, eating and laughing. It was a ton of fun.

We had mothers and daughters (College Girl was in town and came along), someone dealing with a serious health issue and a variety of other things going on in people's lives, and while the projects turned out great, the whole night ended up being therapeutic :)
We laughed so much. All night long!

These are a few shots of a Make and Take Workshop I did for a back-to-school teacher's training waaaay back in August that ended up more like a teacher's retreat. The school director wanted the staff to be motivated and inspired at the day long workshop so I created centers to go with the themes/units and books I was teaching on.
Teachers have different learning styles too!

There were about 100 teachers in the workshop and we had a blast. If you do it you will remember it - my mantra, anyway. So we made "stuff "with all kinds of "stuff." and talked about teaching creatively with unexpected supplies and activities. Trying to get out of any teaching "ruts" we sometimes have.

We went crazy with every day and free items and created support materials for a great year in the classroom. We were gluing, and laughing and taking pictures and they had Chic-Fil-A tea for me :) They remembered from my last workshop, so it was a good day for all!

Feelin' the Love

2013-02-10T14:02:00.000-05:00

Last Spring I had a long "blog silence" and indicated that I had been working on something that I couldn't talk about at the time.
No secrets that involved national security but I was designing the crafts for this VBS :)
The other day they sent me "the book" (it's really a booklet but, still) all finished and glossy color cover and so exciting!
I love VBS and it is an exciting part of my job. I made a job change in November but I still get to be hands-on with VBS. So it's a win!

I have also been painting some "heart art" but I can already confess to blogger fail. I forgot to take a picture of the finished projects :(
Glitter was involved!

They were a lot like these, which I have done a lot of variations on through the years. This time the 'O' was a glitter heart (so cute - wish I had taken a picture!!!). Here are some other projects, and decorations if you are still getting it together for Valentine's Day!
There is still time left to get crafty and feel the love!

Too Ombre or Not to Ombre??

2013-02-04T10:04:00.001-05:00

That is the question.
I just don't know.
Also if you text people asking them for help with your ombre dilemma it autocorrects to "hombre."
So do I "hombre" or not?

So here is the dresser in the awkward "do I move forward stage or do I stop and go with the main color" and move on since no one else really seems to find this ombre dilemma as riveting as I do.
I think I have to see it "ombred" to know. New word.
Speaking of new words - I am hooked on this this blog
and have been reading so much about her life in France that I looked at a car ad today and saw "LE GROOM" instead of legroom. In my defense it was in all caps!
I gotta get out of those paint fumes!

Is this what progress looks like? Yikes.
And there's that poor plant again. Last night I shoved it in the shower.

And the fabric I found at HobLob to recover a lampshade.It's the perfect gray.
Used my coupon app :)
It was less than $3.00
Sweet!

Waiting For Paint To Dry...

2013-02-02T20:32:00.001-05:00

I started at the top... I decided to paint the ceiling a very, very soft turquoise blue. Just for kicks. We love our blue porch ceiling and I'm so ready for Spring and blue skies that I was willing to see how it looked. It is so soft - you can barely tell in this photo that it is even blue. I saw a HD Thoreau quote the other day,
"One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter.”
I think that is what I'm trying to do!

You can see the old dingy buttercream wall color. I didn't do a bunch of before shots because this is a nice, rated G blog and the before was scary, like slasher movie scary. A little glimpse is bad enough. The hula girl meets window treatment is outta here, too. I'm telling you this was a much needed update. As much as I've gone on about this bathroom redo you would think it was a high budget overhaul in a million dollar mansion but, no, it is a no budget redo. It was just so needed that I have become a little obsessed with it. I am painting and purging and scrubbing like crazy.

How do you feel about the bare bulb? Maybe taking that clean, spare look too far? I'm going for a very clean, spa-ish look with a little beachy vibe. Like a nice spa in the Turks and Caicos or somewhere fabulous like that. I am inspired by all the great decorating blogs from down under. And it's nice because Australia has Summer while we have Winter so I can read Summer entries in January. Disclaimer, though: This is not a decorating blog for a couple of reasons... I am not a decorator, I do not have a decorator's budget , and I can't get my pictures to look like they should.
But this is what I'm painting so this is what I have to show :)

Many coats of white paint later. And the caulk??? Oh my gosh! I have filled like crazy. When you have white on white on white you can see every little crack that didn't get caulked before!

Adding to the skill set - patching the ceiling when drill goes crazy backing screws out of old window valances. It happens. Touch up on tomorrow's to do list.

This poor plant. I had to bring him in off the porch when we left town for Thanksgiving. He has to hang out inside for a little longer and I have shuffled him all over this room while painting. There just isn't anywhere else for him to reside. There's a frond in almost every picture I've taken of this bathroom redo.
I have black and white tile floors in this bathroom. I love black and white tiles like these. I have loved them forever. I have pictures I took in France when I was in high school of black and white tile floors. They are elegant and beautiful and classy for about 15 seconds after they are scrubbed - on hands and knees. Otherwise a bit of a maintenance pain.
I would choose them again in a heart beat. If I win the lottery. If I have a maid.

A little spot that is starting to come together. The fabulous mirror leaning on the counter is an amazing coral color called Rejuvenate by Sherwin Williams. I had the paint left from College Girl's last room decorating project. This is a zero budget re do as I mentionned before, not the real deal gut it and reno like on a fav blog, My Old Country House. I've done those old house re do projects and they are serious!
Anyway, I'm using what I have and "shopping" the house for this little update. My husband brought home the little cabinet years ago and stuck it on the wall by his sink because that's where he wanted it and there you have it. I gave it a little update with fresh paint and a couple of cute turquoise knobs from IKEA.

And this dresser fits perfectly in the alcove between the tub and the corner of the wall. She was left in a rental property ( the stuff that gets left behind ?!?) and my husband hauled it home. We could have looked for years for something to go in that space and never found a better fit. Nice and sturdy just needs freshening up.

So here she is primed and getting a coat of "Rejuvenate". I was thinking of doing the drawers in ombre but I just don't know. They look awesome on Pinterest but I'll have to see. I bought the other colors in sample size from Sherwin Willims. On sale for about $5.00. Cannot beat that.
(BTW, the lovely coral color, Rejuvenate, that I am using really isn't the traffic safety orange that it appears here.)

The vanity cabinets are getting a coat of soft gray, SW Network Gray, to tie in with the Master Bedroom and to change it up from the white cabinets we have had forever. It's hard to tell much in this picture. The screws on the cabinet doors still need a touch up and I changed out the white porcelain knobs for these clear lucite knobs from IKEA. They are clean and crisp and fit the budget. Hardware is outrageous but these are $1.99 for 6 - yep! -crazy how IKEA does that. I used the turquoise version on the medecine cabinet above and green ones on a little dresser in a guest bedroom. It had been knobless for a long time because who wants to pay a fortune for knobs that get seen once or twice a year!
Other than the SW paint samples that's been the big purchase so far!

Linking Up:

$1.00 Plants,Sneak Peek, IKEA, Junkin' and Other Random Thoughts...

2013-02-01T11:34:00.002-05:00

Dear Wal Mart, Do not mark plants or bulbs down to $1.00 and expect me to walk by!!!
Potting these up today. Maybe they will bloom for Valentine's Day!

It's cold today in Atlanta but these are still blooming away!

A little "before" photo of the bathroom that is getting a shot of "welcome to this decade" love. It was not good, let me tell you. It is coming along nicely (more pics soon) and there's a little sneak peek of something I tried. It's a little swatch of color on the ceiling above the window. It's not the weird black squiggle that is now in all of my iphone pictures since I shattered my screen. Please hurry upgrade day!!

Had to run to IKEA last week. They had lots of lovely, spring-y colors!! Yellow is College Girls fav color. And we will need new bedding when she makes yet another move (out of Chi O House at the end of the Semester) because the next bed will be a different size from this one!! OY.

We like this one best. I love a good ticking stripe in any color.

They had a big fleece throw with a flamingo on it. I resisted but so perfect for my porch!

Uh Oh! Biscuit is recuperating and not happy about the "cone" he has to wear. I'm not happy the "cone" cost $40.00 :)

Saw this quote in a shop in Buckhead. I'd like to do something with that quote...

... and look at all the goodies in this place!!

This is one of my favorite places to browse - you never know what will turn up. I would like to go to the one Meg goes to on Craft Weekend but, Toto, it's in Kansas!!! However, it's on my to do list if I ever make it to Kansas!!

Check out all that chippy goodness!!

And I have a bad case of wanting this wicker table. The condition is amazing!!

They have amazing doors...

And a section where old lamps go to wait for someone to rescue them. That lime green one has possibilities. The shape looks like something that's at Jonathan Adler right now!

And it has rained non-stop but that did not keep the delivery guy ( I will not name the carrier out of kindness, but seriously?) from leaving it on my front porch in this condition. Nice. But everything inside was OK and the sun will come out tomorrow!

Happy Friday !

This Blog Brought To You By...

2013-01-31T23:00:00.000-05:00

... Chloe !

I have seen several posts lately where bloggers have been interviewed about "how and where" they blog. Well this is how I ("we") blog. I sit in my comfy chair with my feet propped up and rub Chloe's chin or ears with one hand and blog with the other.

It's a miracle more typos don't occur because the more I rub her ears or chin, the more relaxed she gets.

Her eyes get droopy and she starts to lean on the keyboard but she won't go take a nap - not when there are posts to write and ears to be scratched. So I hold her droopy, sleepy head in one hand and blog with the other.
And that's how we blog around here!

New Year - New Paint!

2013-01-17T08:55:00.000-05:00

I tend to do my "Spring Cleaning" now - so Winter Cleaning, I guess. I want to be in the yard when it warms up and I always want to paint in January.

This year it is more than want to paint - I reallllly need to paint quite a few rooms. It's been a while and the white trim in the house is past due! There are no more miracles with a "miracle sponge" left for my kitchen cabinets either. I have two big hairy dogs and red Georgia clay - 'nuff said.
And if I'm being honest - I've had some of this paint since last Fall but it just didn't happen. Then putting out Christmas decorations and cleaning for the holidays and then taking them down made me know that it must be done!

I always have my Sherwin Williams fan deck floating around and I've got paint samples in my purse or the notebook I carry but they get lost and rumpled. I make paint swatches on index cards and they get dirty and rumpled in my purse or I forget the color name.... you get the idea.
Well, I am determined to paint my way through the house and be organized about it.

Blurry, I know. Sorry. It has rained for a week and the lighting is awful but I'm determined to post this today because I love it! I pulled out a random notebook ring I had, some jumbo craft sticks ( like popsicle sticks on steroids) a Sharpie and my Crop-a-Dile ( I've told you repeatedly to get one of these!!)

I punched a hole in the end of each craft stick with the Crop-a-dile. Amazing. I know. Remember the octopus? Then I painted the sticks with the colors I have already started painting with.

Then when they were dry I flipped the craft sticks over and used the Sharpie to write the name of the color, the Sherwin Williams number and what room the color is in! Very organized, if I do say so myself!

I went ahead and pre-punched several sticks so I am ready to paint my swatches
any time I paint.

Slide the craft sticks on the ring, close it up and drop it in your purse or tote bag when you head out to buy fabric, towels, accessories, etc. It doesn't weigh a thing and your whole decorating color scheme is right there on a ring all together.
I was just thinking that if you wanted to add fabric swatches to the ring that those little clear badge holders or bag tag holders from the office supply would work beautifully on the ring as well. Just slide a couple of those on the ring and put a sample of the fabric in it.
Very handy!

Linking up:

Quick and Colorful ...

2013-01-10T07:37:00.000-05:00

... but a lot of fun and a big impact when it was finished! We did these waaaaayyy back in September but I just found the images on my phone. So, here you go!

We used toilet paper rolls as our stamps. And very bright, neon-y acrylic craft paint because we were stamping on black.

Easy, peasy. Just dip and stamp. As many colors and circles as you like. A very relaxing project. We just chatted and stamped...

... and stamped.
We stamped our circles on mirrors framed in black from IKEA. They are $1.99. Yep, frame and mirror all put together ready to hang and painted black. Can't ask for more than that!

We did this on a Wednesday Night at church.
The white stickers says, " I am a child of God."

They could not wait to get them home and hang them up. And look in them!
And the moms loved them when they came at pick up time.
A win-win project for a $1.99 !

Nine Days In... Already???

2013-01-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

... Seriously, I cannot believe that we are already nine days in to 2013 !

Happy Belated New Year!

A few images of our Christmas Season...
It was so much fun to have College Girl and friends around the house!
But now it is quiet again!

We were so busy and the time just flew. I got all of my painting orders out the door in time and then we just had fun cooking, buying a real tree, watching movies, reading, going out to eat, seeing friends and more. The time flew and then it was the new year.

And it was time to earn my stripes...

College Girl decided to rearrange and purge while she was home this break. She has sorted and purged before but she got a part time campus job and it will mean being on campus all Summer. so she decided to get organized now for her move out of the Chi O House this Summer and then into an apartment with her bestie. Crazy as it sounds, this will be her longest break for a year. So she got organized and then went back to campus for New Year's Eve celebrations. I had a quick celebration with friends and then I started to paint!

We have bought for and decorated a dorm room, an apartment, a house she shared with a couple of her sisters and a room extrordinaire in the Chi O House . I didn't really want to invest much in a redo at home but I did want it to be nice for those quick visits
and to freshen things up.
The most cost effective decorating tool around??? Yep, paint. And yellow is her favorite color and we have 2 yellow comforters that we have accumualted in all the moves and bed size changes from place to place. Perfect - 1 comforter for home and one for the move this Summer. So I bought 2 cans of yellow paint. I had the deeper yellow mixed full strength and then had it mixed at 50%. I marked off wide stripes with painters tape and rolled on that cheery yellow paint.

I love. love stripes. I love to paint them, too. :) It's fun and there is a simple trick to getting those perfect, clean edges.

After you mark off the width of your stripe and tape off the edge you simply paint the edge of your painters tape with the wall color. Then whatever bleeds under the tape matches the wall. After it dries you simply paint your stripe color. The tape edge is sealed with the base color and the stripe color doesn't bleed under. It is one extra step, you have to wait for it to dry but there are zero touch ups with a brush while you try to steady your hand and wipe up wobbly brush marks. The stripes come out clean every. single. time. I striped my downstairs powder room and it was a breeze. I could paint stripes everywhere.
I have to control myself or my house will look like the children's book,
" A Bad Case of Stripes"!!

Clean. Fresh. Cheery. (and economical)

A great way to start 2013.
It was all finished by the time College Girl came home on New Year's day!!

Are You Ready??...

2012-12-24T08:49:00.000-05:00

... to party with The Grinch??

Just a couple of shots of the Grinch Party we had last night.

We watched the movie, ate from the popcorn buffet ( a popped bag of popcorn per person and you top with whatever you want!!) and drank Grinch Punch (Sprite and lime sherbert) from Grinch cups that we got to take home!!

I just gathered up anything green - napkins, plates, plastic serving containers, trees, etc and added the awesome Grinch cups I found at Wal Mart. I bought swirly candy cane straws at The Dollar Tree. A super easy party to prep for!

I painted the classic Grinch quote on a pre-cut smooth paneling board from Home Depot. It is about 30 x 40 and is less than $6.00. It has a great surface to paint on - a coat of primer and off you go- and is easy to transport because it's so much sturdier than foam core. Since it costs about the same thing as foam core I prefer to go with the board. It is thin and lightweight, too. You can paint over it if the prop isn't something you want to save.

The Grinch in the box of Christmas wrapping trash is straight off Pinterest as was the idea for Grinch Punch.
The Grinch from a milk jug - right up my alley!!! Wish I had thought of it :)

So, Merry Christmas to all you Whos in Whoville!!!

Missing: One Grinch!

2012-12-08T13:39:00.001-05:00

Usually it is a good thing when you can't find a Grinch anywhere around you but my Grinch is missing!!! He usually happily (as happily as a Grinch can) hangs out on the swinging bed on the porch the entire holiday season. I've looked everywhere. Where could he be??
I've even asked the 2 furry Goldens.
Maybe they know and are keeping quiet.
Mums the word around Mom when it's about missing furry stuffed toys.

They've already 86'd the Beanie Baby Flamingo peeking around the pillow at Mr. Grinch!

And They're Off...

2012-12-04T08:14:00.002-05:00

... to good homes! I've been delivering for 3 days and my kitchen table is finally clear. Now we can fill it back up with baking and wrapping!

The Gingerbread Man on the right has his saying permanently painted on instead of a chalkboard!! The owner said she wanted it painted on because she doesn't write like I do and she wants it to look like that all the time :) Too funny.

Mr. Snowman is all buttoned up!
Check out the roll of cute owl Christmas paper on the left.
Guess whose gifts will be wrapped in that?

Again, middle-of-the night pictures but two long, skinny signs off to the same house.
Two little custom order ornaments are left to deliver and I'm closing up shop until after the first of the year!! It's been fun to be this busy but I'm ready to finish my decorating and bake some cookies when College Girl rolls in from finals!

The Official Start...

2012-11-30T10:44:00.000-05:00

... of the Christmas Season, in my book, is December 1. So tomorrow is the day and we can start to wish people "Merry Christmas!" I realize that the retail world started the Christmas season wayyyyyy before I did ( liike my fav craft store was putting out Christmas ribbon in August before they actually rolled out the Halloween stuff!!)
Anyway, I went to grab a fish taco last night at my fav place for those things and pass off some Mod Podge to a friend that her daughter needed for a school project!

I took her one of my long, skinny signs! She said, "When do you make this stuff?!?" I told her the middle of the night as you can tell from the awful middle-of-the-night pictures. :) This one even has a cardboard box in the foreground.... My kitchen island is stacked with boxes of sweatshirts to be delivered to my fav Chi Omega's.

I paint these signs on long, skinny repurposed wood. They are actually bed slats from an IKEA bed. Someone left them behind in a rental house, (I KNOW!!!??!!) and my husband brought them home to me. They are awesome. They are connected together with a canvas strip and when you buy them for the real purpose they just roll up to move from place to place. Like everything else from IKEA they have a nice finish. They are sanded smooth. The edges are slightly rounded. With the price of wood and the poor quality I am finding at HD this may be the way to buy wood for signs anyway. I haven't done the math because they left behind two twin bed sets so I am set for a while!!

These have been delivered so now I can show you this fun and easy project! I made these no crimp hair ties for all the girls at Chi O for Christmas. College Girl and I try to come up with a fun little goodie each Christmas. The girls were loving these hair ties but they are pretty expensive in the stores. I experimented a little, googled a little and found out these are cute, inexpensive and super fun. I wanted them to be Chi O-ish and not just red and yellow. I love my Staz-On stamp pads so I gave stamping a try and it worked like a charm. I ordered FOE in Chi O colors and bought red and yellow Staz-On stamp pads and went to town.
FOE is Fold Over Elastic and is what the hair ties are made from. It is from the lingerie industry and is very inexpensive. I found it from this super nice company in a zillion colors and great prices. They shipped it right out and I took it to the beach for Thanksgiving and made 190 hair ties in no time flat!!

I simply stamped them, cut them to length, knotted them and then used a lighter to lightly heat them so they don't fray. These would be a great girls birthday party activity. They could make a bunch - they love to wear them on their arms bracelet style and they could make them for gifts as well. The FOE is not expensive!! They could stamp their names or designs on them. The little stamp sets are in the dollar bins at Michael's. The only thing they couldn't do would be using the lighter.
I wanted each girl to get two so I bagged them up in small cello treat bags from another great company,Nashville Wraps, and put a little To/From sticker on them.
In Atlanta they are $5-6 each!! Crazy!

As I mentioned, we went to the beach for Thanksgiving to see my parents and while I do not Black Friday shop (College Girl and I hit King Street in Charleston 3 times before Thanksgiving!! She is now hooked on shopping in the preppiest town ever and would move in and live at Dumas and Sons. ) I did have a black moment on Friday morning....

... my beloved iphone was in my hand one moment and on the concrete at my feet the next moment. UGH!!! Again! But I love my phone so off to the repair shop I go!
I did rescue the day by having oysters at The Noisy Oyster in Charleston so all was not lost!!

Painting Peppermints...

2012-11-30T00:02:00.000-05:00

Several people have asked how to paint the peppermint part of this guy, a cute Gingerbread Man! *
It was giving them trouble and I have a few heading out the door tomorrow so I took some pictures while I was painting this week.
This is how I do it...
I use Krylon Dual Spraypaint and paint the pizza pan white. I cut triangles from repositionable vinyl that I use on my Cricut. You could use painters tape as well.

Then I use a flat paintbrush and paint the edge of each of the triangles. This keeps the red from seeping under and gives a nice clean edge.
This step is well worth the time - it makes all the difference!

Then you can spray paint the red triangles or brush the red paint. Either way works well.
Carefully peel up the vinyl triangles. You should be left with nice, clean edges!
( Check out that messy work table - crazy!
I cleaned it up today so I could actually do some work!)

Then I use a thin flat brush and lightly paint a highlight about an inch in from the edge.

The last step is spatter painting the whole thing with white paint.

It's pretty simple and if you remember to paint the edges with white before painting the red then you will have a perfect peppermint pinwheel when you finish!

* According to my Google stats the original post on this guy has been viewed over 24,000 times. I think that is amazing - that he has drawn that much attention and that Google keeps track and I can know this. And I am fascinated by the fact that people who are thousands of miles away look at blog posts about Gingerbread Men!!

...and Another One...

2012-11-15T08:09:00.000-05:00

... is out the door on it's way to someone else's front door.

Let's do the Twist...

2012-11-14T08:35:00.000-05:00

... the Peppermint Twist. It's all about the peppermint stripe around here at Christmas time. I love candy canes and the iconic, traditional red and white stripe. I love peppermint tea and College Girl texted me from campus yesterday to just tell me she was having a Peppermint Hot Chocolate with whipped cream from Starbucks!! We did the happy dance when the Peppermint Mocha signs went up there at the beginning of November and we'll have a treat one day soon at Chic Fil A because the Peppermint Choc Chip shake is back!!!!
But right now I am all about filling the orders for these candy cane name signs!!! I can only show you a couple - the ones people ordered for themselves. The rest are gifts and I don't want to blow the surprise!

It's cold and windy so we have to settle for a picture taken inside on my kitchen cabinets in poor lighting. ( Every tip I read about being a good blogger says that excellent pictures are super important - oops!)

Someone asked about painting the peppermint look so I'll show you how I do it - I'm sure there is a right way, too. Haha !

I painted the letters in white on a black board.

Next I use a flat brush to make the red stripes. I curve them slightly to help with the illusion of the rounded candy cane. I brush fairly quickly and not too precisely. You have to give a little thought to where you are placing the stripes so that they mimic the shape of the letter and then I try to stay consistent with that if a letter is in a name multiple times. It makes it easier to read.

The key to the whole look is the little white highlight. I use a very small ( I call it a two hair brush!!! It's small!) and a little bit of slightly thinned paint and run a highlight over the red stripes. Make it fairly "loose" and quick. You can see the highlighted letter next to the unhighlighted letter above. It changes the whole look.

I'm not too worried about making sure the highlights look like the light source is from the same direction, etc the way you would for something more realistic. This is just cute and fun but the highlight adds a lot. Feel free to go there but I'm just cranking these babies out.

The other thing that I think changes the whole look and "makes" the Christmas items I make is the spatter painted "snow."

So, I give everything a light "dusting" of "snow" spatterpaint at the end.

Without....

... with.
I think it makes a difference! Happy painting... gotta go... it's time for hot Peppermint Tea.

From spooky to something sweet....

2012-11-09T23:17:00.000-05:00

... this 75 % off paper mache spooky house is changing holidays.
No pumpkins, bats or ghosts for this house. Can you guess where I am going with this one??

This will be a bit of an expirement and I'll show you how it turns out - if it's cute :)

But before we move on from Halloween - does it make it things look spookier if it's in B/W mode ?? :)

Swish your Bushy Tail....

2012-10-31T14:29:00.000-04:00

.... if you are a gray squirrel, that is!!
We had a little art camp the other day and it was all about acorns and Mr. Gray Squirrel!

Once again, a Dick Blick canvas panel ( nada from DB, still.), some scrapbook paper,
Mod Podge and some fuzzy felt for the tail!

I line all the supplies up "cafeteria style" and the children come up and choose for themselves. It gives them freedom to choose their supplies and keeps the activity from being static. They get to get up and move from time to time. They can also move along at their own pace to some degree.
This lesson was all about shapes. We created our squirrel and his acorn from different basic shapes - rectangles, ovals, squares, circles, half circles...

They have a ton of personality for something created from a few basic shapes.
We added the furry tail and a real bit of twig for the acorn stem.

There was heavy Mod Podge usage so all of these pictures still have some white "globs" on them!! :)

So enjoy the Fall weather and swish your bushy tail like Mr. Gray Squirrel.