New "vintage" Tray

I bought this unfinished wooden tray from Hobby Lobby months ago after seeing it in the clearance aisle. I figured I would use it for something, but really didn't have anything in mind. It's been sitting in my dressing room waiting for me to make up my mind. Finally!, I decided to use it on my coffee table in my living room.
I am so in love with this blue color right now...can you tell? Anyway, I had some paint from my mantle projects left, so I painted the tray right up. I wanted to add some red to help all this blend into the already existing decor, and I thought a stencil would add some character. Of course, I then took some sandpaper to it in order to "distress" the tray. Finishing the project, I lightly coated the tray in a very very very watered down brown/black mixture.
There you have it. Quick and simple. Perfect!

Hodge Podge Spring Mantle

Here it is folks. My hodge podge mantle. A nice little mix of a few of my fav. projects from other people, and some of my own old standby stuff. :)

It doesn't really look like it, but I have been working on this mantle for weeks. That shows you just how busy my life has been. BUSY. Really, I guess the pennant is really what took the longest, and that's because I had to cut the chevron stripes out by hand...Ohhh to have a Silhouette... How I long for the beauty of the Silhouette.... ok, anywaaaaayyyyyyy, I saw this pennant on Tatertots and Jello, and instantly fell in love with the colors and how the chevron pattern was being used. You can find the tutorial here.
I pretty much followed her tutorial, except I cut my pattern out by hand and I didn't sew the pattern on to the flags. The flags are made with canvas, and the stripe pattern with cotton fabric.Next up... the bird houses. I know I saw some like these, but larger maybe (?) somewhere out there in blog land. I seriously can't remember where! I found these at Michael's for $1.00 each, so I couldn't pass them up. I painted them, then sanded them to give a distressed look. Topped it off by using a very watered down brown paint coating to really show the "distress." The houses were followed by this butterfly wall hanging that I found over at Stay-at-Home Artist
I thought it was really pretty, springy, an unique. Again, I followed the tutorial, except I distressed my old frame just as I did the bird houses.Now, this precious little fat bird :) is straight from Hobby Lobby. (%50 off!) Too cute, and (if you couldn't tell) I am totally crushing on blue right now. The candle I just topped off with a little rosette made from leftover fabric for good measure.
There you have it. Nothing too fancy, but it does make me smile. And think of warm sun. And cool breezes. And baby green leaves growing in the trees.

Hope you are smiling this week- T

Family Calendar

I finally had a chance to finish my family calendar! Really, I should say that Andre finally had a chance to finish the calendar because he did most of the work....THANKS, ANDRE!! :)

Ever since last May,when the fam. and I visited Erin in KY and saw hers, I have wanted to make one of these! However, my sad sad reality is that I do not own a Silhouette or any other awesome machine that can cut vinyl.

After seeing it on Somewhat Simple, via Brown Paper Packages, my love and NEED for this project heightened!Plus, I found out that I could purchase (for a low low fee) the vinyl words I needed for the project! YAY! Straight lines are not my forte, so I asked Andre to draw them on the glass of my frame for me. So sweet of him...especially when I asked him to "go ahead and place the stickers while you are at it..." :) Husband of the week!

Anyhoo- It's much prettier than the calendar we had on the fridge, and BIGGER. The vinyl is on the back side, so you can write with a dry erase marker on the front of the glass. At the end of the month, you just wipe it clean and start over! Brilliant. Plus, you can leave the back of the frame open (as I did) and just let the wall color come through. Or you can cover the back with scrapbook paper...up to you!

Soooo....I now have a "Our {busy} Family" board, and I love it!
**Sorry for such a glare on the pics...they are night shots!**

Check out the tutorial here.

Bird and a Bean Give Away!

If you've read my blog once or twice, I dare say you've heard me mention Erin from A Bird and A Bean. Essentially, she's the KY chapter of me, but with a lot more talent! Anyway, she's giving a set of these super cute garden markers away, so head over and check it out!

A New Easter Countdown

Last year I made Cash an Easter countdown. You can see it here. I decided to do it pretty last minute, so it wasn't super cute...but it worked. This year, I knew I wanted to up the fun/cuteness factor, so I started from scratch.

First I bought these connected planters. Super cheap. I think they were about $2 for a set of 4 trays. Buy a pack and split them with a friend. I wanted to countdown from 12 since there are 12 in a dozen, but my planters were in trays of 10. I decided to cut the trays and hot glue them together so I would have 3 rows of 4.
Ric rac is one of my fav's, so I used it to decorate the top of my "basket." Then I added some flowers for a little extra spring-iness. I knew I wanted my basket to have a handle, but had forgotten to buy some wire. (You will see how I use the wire in another project in a few days.) It was kind of late, and the kids were in bed, so I couldn't go snooping around for supplies. ( A lot of my craft stuff is stored in my youngest's room. Lucky me.) Scanning the kitchen, aka my craft spot, I laid eyes on a girl sized headband. PERFECT! After covering it with some ribbon, I hot glued it to the basket. It turned out really sturdy. Not bad for "on the fly."
This year, instead of writing the numbers myself with a sharpie (NOT A GOOD IDEA) I used left over stickers from another project. Much neater.

Each egg has a little message for the boys in it. The message tells how many days until Easter, and sends them on a treasure hunt to find a treat. I printed off all kinds of fun stuff for them....Easter mazes, Easter storybooks to put together, Easter verses to memorize, Easter puzzles, Easter memory game.... some eggs have a little candy treat, too.
Cash is crazy excited to start! Last year he kept sneaking and opening the eggs early. Little frog! Hopefully, since he is sharing with Luc, he will be patient.... :)

Have a fantastic week everyone!-
Tracy

Playing in the Yard

I have a lot of things that I am almost ready to post, but not quite....be on the look out...these projects are coming around the bend:
Spring banner
spring mantle decor
family calendar
Sweater refashon
twine decorative balls

For today, here are some pics of my sweet little guys playing in the yard last week....

Aren't they the sweetest little boys ever???
Hope you all are having a fabulous day!

Responsibility

For the longest time, I have wanted to create a "chore" or "task" chart for the boys. I found a couple that I really liked, and realized that we didn't want the boys to consider some of the things on the chart a "chore" (like saying prayers or obeying), so when I saw Erin's "Responsibility Chart" I thought that was a perfect title.
Ok, so I knew what it was going to be called, and what was going to be on the list, but I didn't know how I wanted to make it. There are all kinds of cute ones out there in blog land... My husband made the decision for me. He picked the one that seemed like the easiest to make and take care of. Total guy move. Probably the best move, though. I finished it in record time, and the boys have been over the moon for it so far. :)
I found the idea over at Moss Moments via Brown Paper Packages- Thanks ladies!
What you need:
frame
scrapbook paper (optional)
typed list
embellishments (optional)
dry erase marker
glue

Pretty much...
*pick your frame. I went with a larger frame. I think maybe it's a 12x16. It's one we already had and wasn't using.
* Pick some background paper, and embellishments you might want to use. I used a couple of felt stars.
* Type/print or write out your child's name and his/her list.
* I cut each list out and distressed sides with ink pad.
* I used a piece of card stock to frame lists, and distressed edges.
* My scrapbook paper wasn't long enough, so I had to add a piece of the card stock to the bottom of my frame. I printed the little saying to go on this part, and of course, distressed saying with ink pad.
*Type/Print title.
* Put it all together how ever makes you happy, and.....

OH YEAH, You're done!
Cash and Luc just mark through the things they complete on the list, and at the end of the day we just wipe it clean again.

We don't want to just "give" Cash money, we want him to "earn" it. By using this chart, he can earn money daily for being a responsible part of our household. How much??? Get ready...wait for it...wait...1 penny for each responsibility carried out. Yup, he has the ability to make .10 cents a day. He's four. It's fun for him to put all the pennies in his bank, and it doesn't break my bank. :) Eventually, he will save up some money (he does do other things on different occasions to earn money...like pick up pine cones in the yard for Andre), and we will be able to teach him how to "Save, Give, and Spend" his money.
Anyway, there you have it. What I did on a rainy Saturday morning. If you want to check out some different ways to create your own chart.....look.....

Brown Paper Packages
A Bird and A Bean
Tip Junkie

Beauty 4 Ashes

Of course, all you really have to do is GOOGLE "responsibility chart" or "chore chart" and dozens o f printables will pop up.

Enjoy!