More Pinterest

I saw this cute bird nest necklace in Pinterest. Here is the link to the original tutorial: http://livelaughandphotograph.blogspot.com/2011/06/bird-nest-necklace-tutorial.html

I thought it was so adorable that I just had to make one. I have wanted some kind of jewelry to represent my three boys ever since Little Brother was born. I ran out to Joann's this afternoon and picked up all the supplies. Everything was on sale and cost probably less than $10. I also have enough to make more than one necklace.... well, at least the "charm" part. I'll have to buy more necklaces. I bought a string of "pearls", 20 gauge wire, jump rings and one necklace. It probably took less than 15 minutes to make. That's all you need.

Here's my version:

Duct Tape

Middle brother is obsessed with Duct Tape. However, to his defense, he makes all kinds of cool things with duct tape. His most recent creation was an armor-like helmet. He is amazing in the things he can make (out of anything, not just duct tape). I, however, when I want to make something out of duct tape, have to google it first. A while ago he and I made duct tape wallets together. Once I got the hang of it (from watching a video on youtube) I was able to come up with my own ideas. I made a hello kitty duct tape wallet modeled after my expensive Coach wallet, that I actually use. I also made a wallet modeled after my husband's not-quite-as-expensive Coach front pocket wallet. Well that front pocket wallet is perfect for gift cards. We bought lots of gift cards for Christmas this year, so I made duct tape wallets to go with each of them. The great thing about these wallets is you can put one, two or three pockets on them. On person is getting three gift cards, so there are three pockets, each with a gift card in it.

They are super easy to make... you make two pieces of duct tape "fabric" (that's two pieces of duct tape sticky sides together), slightly larger than a gift card size. If you want pocket then make one or two half sizes. Then you seal up the edges with duct tape. Good thing we bought nine rolls of duct tape when it was on sale at Michael's after Thanksgiving. :)

More Christmas Gifts

Since Big Brother and Middle Brother are giving canvases to Grandparents for Christmas, Little Brother had to give a canvas too. I found a cute tree made from foot prints on Pinterest so we were going to try that. Well, the one on Pinterest was perfect... green feet with red toes to look like ornaments (or berries) at the bottom. The foot prints were not smudged at all. We put Little Brother in the high chair and gave him some ice cream (homemade salted caramel) and took his socks off. I used a sponge brush to put green paint on his feet. Instantly I knew we weren't going to be able to make those cute red berry toes. He did not like it. We did 4 canvases with one foot and then cleaned that foot and did the other foot on the same four canvases. It was WORK. He let us know he was not happy. When we were done, he even cried for two days afterwards if we showed the canvases to him. Goofy kid.

Here's how 3 of them turned out:

DIY Canvas pictures

I love Pinterest. I have found things on there that I never knew I needed or never knew I needed the make. DIY canvases are a perfect example of that. We have a number of pictures that we have wanted to hang in our front hallway, but we couldn't agree on frames. I love the look of canvas prints, but don't really want to pay canvas print prices. So I stumble across a DIY canvas on Pinterest. I must try this. So I did a few of our pictures and they turned about great. Then my kids had to do some Christmas poetry (with pictures) for writing class (the previously mentioned Institute for Excellence in Writing). I had a brilliant idea... scan the pictures and type the poetry and print it as an 8x10 photo and make canvases for the grandparents. Score. They will love it. So here is how I did it....

You need a canvas, a picture, mod podge, a brush, some paint and a sponge.

First trim your picture slightly smaller than the canvas. I found all the canvases to be slightly short of what the stated size was.

Then brush your canvas with mod podge. I did some where I also brushed the back of the picture too. That was messy and I found it to be not necessary.



Then brush mod podge over your picture... don't be stingy. It's going to be white, but dry clear. However you will see the brush marks, so make sure they go the way you want them to and that the edges are neat and not goopy.



(this was one of the photos that I did for the hallway)

Wait for it to dry and then sponge some paint on the edges. This helps to hide the edge of the photo, but also finishes it with a grungy kind of look that I like.




Cool, huh?

Writing is Important

I love to read. I love to write. Just because I enjoy writing, though, does not mean I am good at it. I guess I write well enough that I got through college and grad school... and grad school was mostly about writing papers.

With homeschooling I feel that I am having an opportunity to learn all kinds of things that I never learned the first time through. One is writing. Both my boys *hate* writing. They do pretty well at it, but like many boys, they think they are allergic to pens and pencils. Anyway, we use a writing curriculum called "Institute for Excellence in Writing". Love it!! I have learned a lot and they have too, even though they still claim to hate writing.

Anyway, every once in a while I read something that makes me wish I was more eloquent. The following is such a piece. It is someone's Christmas letter that they shared on an IEW yahoo group that I am on. And I share it here... wishing the words were mine.

Merry CHRISTmas!


Can you believe it is here again? Weren't we just planning barbecues and mowing grass? So much to do and so little time! The cards must go out. The tree must be trimmed. The gifts must be wrapped. Reflecting upon the list of preparations, it becomes evident that there is a certain irony about the way we celebrate Christmas.
Christmas is the time for baking, decorating, and giving gifts. We moan about the weight we gain eating our favorite goodies, we string the lights and hang the holly, we battle the crowds looking for the perfect gifts, the latest and greatest of goods. And yet, it is not enough. Next year, we will need to bake and decorate and shop all over again.
The irony is that we are consumed by all these things that never fully satisfy, never end our longing for more, during a time that we celebrate the birth of the one who can satisfy our every necessity and desire. He came to earth as a babe, fully God and fully man, to die in our place, to take our curse upon Himself. Once was enough to completely meet our need.
His gift fills our greatest need of all: salvation. "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). We were lost without hope, but he paid the penalty that we deserved. If we accept His gift, it will never need to be returned, regifted or refurbished. It will be enough forever.
Soon the sweets will be gone, the decorations packed away in boxes, and the gifts forgotten. Before we know it, it will be time to paint the eggs and fill the baskets. However, there is one gift that can continue to bring us great joy even when the season is over. His gift is enough.

I pray you all are enjoying His gift!

Christmas Gifts!!

I have had my eye on these cute playhouses on etsy.com that go over a card table for a long time. However, I could not bring myself to pay $200 for felt that goes over a card table. The lady who makes them on etsy also sells the pattern, so I bit the bullet and paid for the pattern. The pattern was for a basic playhouse (read: kinda' girly), so I had to make some modifications. I decided that all the boys were going to get something sewn for Christmas, so this is one of Little Brother's Christmas presents. I finished it yesterday and tried it on the table. Right away he must have known it was for him and he climbed right in. Good thing toddlers have short memory. The whole scene was adorable. It was slightly too long for the table, but otherwise fit well. It's ok that it's too long. All along I had planned to make a PVC pipe frame for it, rather than use a card table.

So here is the castle for the little prince...