No school? Reuse a summer break project!

Just before summer break this year I followed a tutorial here that included easy printables for an "I'm Bored" jar. It has slips of paper that include some fun (and not so fun) activities for kids to do. A fun one like "watch a movie and have popcorn" my kids are enjoying while I write this post. I also customized quite a few to our particular set up, like "climb the wall" in our playroom and "look through photo books" since we make many that just sit on the shelves. Some not so fun ones like, "do a chore of mom's choice" and "organize your toys" are in there too. The trick is they HAVE to do whatever is on the paper. Sometimes that is great break for mom, sometimes I have to pull a craft project out of nowhere. With many no-school days coming up this is a perfect time to pull this project back out again. Especially if you're elbow deep in a turkey about now!

Creating a Craft Studio

I finally got around to creating a craft studio where I can start a project, close the door and come back to it later. Many times I never finish a project because it needed to be cleared off the dining table and I never got back to it. So far having a dedicated work space means I've finally tackled our entire mending pile and completed 3 projects (and have one in the works).

One of my favorite projects in the studio was the bunting window treatment. I made it using my late mother's quilting scraps. I don't quilt so the little strips we're just waiting for the right project and this one is so bright and happy. It makes me smile every time I see it.

Newest project in progress

My newest project in progress is training a cute 10 week old Goldendoodle to be a service dog for my daughter. She won't actually start service training for a few months but I already have my hands full training basic puppy obedience. It's been a long time since I've had a puppy, so far the sleep deprivation of overnight potty training is a lot like having a newborn. Good thing she's cute!

Project: Passing on Traditions

My mother was raised in the south, during the depression era. She taught me many things that these days are considered "homestead" or "sustainability" skills. One of them was catching wild food. She loved fishing. As a kid I never had the patience to sit so still. I was off and exploring and typically catching all kinds of creatures: river clams, crawdads, minnows & frogs. Some she would use as bait, others she would cook up for me. Catching crawdads was my favorite though. This summer my daughter, who is a natural scientist, has been learning some of my mother& grandmother's southern traditions. We had our first crawfish boil this weekend. Just two because I wasn't sure anyone would actually eat them. Now I know next time can be a full on meal. Here's to passing on traditions.

Harry Potter Powder Room

I've been working on a few projects here and there, just puttering around in between summer fun. We took a trip to the California redwoods, the Southern Oregon coast, went camping, kayaking and have picked lots of berries for canning later.

I've recently started a new project that I'm excited about though, a Harry Potter powder room. To start off with I found some book and potion printables online:

I also found some lettering I could use for a Hogwarts Express sign. I wanted it to be just like the one in the movies. This is my first time using homemade Modge Podge (half school glue, half water) and was happy with the results. 

I ordered some decals off of Ebay for the lightswitches and the "entrance" to the MoM. 

I still have more to do and lots of ideas but, I'm happy with how it's turning out so far. Even if the muggles in my house don't understand. 

The pressure of a deadline

Our wedding momentos have been sitting in a box for almost ten years. They've been moved to three different houses. Our ten year anniversary party is this weekend. Nothing like the pressure of a deadline to finally turn a box into a scrapbook that tells a story.

More Fence Recycling

I finished another project this week with some of our old fence wood. We have quite a large pile of this beautiful old weathered wood so I'm just itching to use it. I've wanted to put up something to display photos, artwork, homework or the many various "projects" the kids have done. Two houses ago (my first home I ever purchased) I had a curtain rod in the hallway with clips attached that I regularly changed out artwork and photos. At one point it even held our certificates of completion for our foster care training. That was B.C. , what we call Before Children.

For this project I lightly painted a piece of the wood, I didn't even pre-sand. I purchased some clips at an office supply store and screwed them directly to the wood. I printed an outline of the letters and traced them onto the wood. Normally I would use transfer paper but since this wood is so soft I just outlined the letters and it transferred to the surface. I colored in the letters and then sanded a little to make it look worn. Hopefully you can see in the close up the beautiful indentions, surface weathering and texture of the wood. I hung it on the wall at kid height so I can let them hang up their own work.

Just a quick project

While in Target this week I lusted over a cute doormat with lovely spring colors and bold, graphic lettering. Problem is I can't see spending 15 bucks when I have a perfectly good, but boring, doormat sitting outside my front door. 

While taking a break from a very intense labor project I decided to do a quick update to our doormat. I taped off the line with painters tape and sprayed with some aqua outdoor spray paint I had on hand. It wasn't as dark as I wanted so I also did a quick swipe with some aqua chalk paint with a brush. I hand lettered the "hi!" with some yellow chalk paint. I thought about putting "yo!" instead, but our teenager rolls his eyes at us enough as it is. :) 

Chalk Paint

This months Better Homes and Gardens magazine has a coupon for a free sample of one of Lowes new spring colors. I picked up this bright coral pink to make a new batch of chalk paint. I loosely follow a recipe that is 3 parts paint mixed with 1 part water & 1 part plaster of paris. You mix the water and plaster of paris first then add to your paint. I say I follow it loosely because sometimes it just depends on how much room is in the container. In this instance I just eyeballed it and it came out a perfect consistency, just like pudding.

I love this coral color so much that the large bowl will likely stay here with me instead of ending up in my Etsy Shop. Now I just need to find the perfect quote to put on it. 

Old fence recycle

I've been spending a lot of time this season working in our yard. Part of the many projects has been tearing down an old privacy fence. The boards are rotting away and growing moss. They are beautiful. There is no way I could just get rid of them. The grain of the wood is deep and weathered. Every swirl and knot is pronounced. 

After our dark floors went in I've been wanting to lighten up some of our dark wood furniture. I used some of the old weathered fence wood to make a new top for the coffee table. Soon I will make matching tops for the side tables. After a quick sanding, some whitewashing and distressing the overall look is very beachy. I love it. 

Seed Starting

Now that spring is officially here I've switched gears to starting seeds and getting my vegetable garden plan in order. The first spring we were in this house I spent the entire time building raised beds and turning the front yard into a Potager Garden. This year I'm trying to pre-sprout all my seeds on an old heating pad and then transplant them into starter pots and into the cold frame in the garden. Once they grow big enough then they'll be planted in to the raised garden beds. I've also been direct sowing peas, lettuce and other cold loving crops. I've already harvested the first spears of asparagus and my rhubarb is starting to look good as well. We're still digging up overwintered carrots and I found that I didn't get all the potatoes dug up last fall. I have plenty of spots where potatoes are already sending up foliage.

The distractions of Spring

I've been a little remiss in my indoor creative endeavors lately. Spring has arrived to the Pacific Northwest AND there was a break in the rain. This means I've been weeding, planting, dividing, mulching and just in general out enjoying some nice weather with color bursting all around me. It still isn't warm enough for planting any veggies but peas and lettuce but my rhubarb and asparagus are poking their heads up making me want to plant more, more, more! We moved into this house a year and a half ago and I've been building the garden since then. Gardening is full of surprises, my favorite here has been peonies. Growing up with a gardening mother I had never seen a peony until one bloomed here at our new house (and a tree peony at that!). I am hooked! I've since planted 8 more. I received another surprise this spring that the two boxwoods I've been trying to dig up and remove (then gave up and pruned to a round ball) are in fact, compact azaleas. Poor things have been too stressed to bloom until now. Okay, okay...they can stay. :)

The rain returns tomorrow so I'll be back inside crafting away then.

New Etsy items

I've been working on some new items for the Etsy shop. I love these little trinket boxes and am experimenting with both painting and woodburning the tops. What do you think? 

Nailed it!

Like many creative folks I'm a huge fan of Pinterest. I found a great tutorial at Design Folder that dyes glass bottles and even makes them waterproof so they can be vases. Fail. Hers turned out perfect, streakless and beautiful. Mine are splotchy, spotty and in general a mess. Well, I should say....literally a mess. Every time I touch them my fingers blue and I had to throw away a paint brush I used on the project. So ya....nailed it! Not. 

Little Details

I still haven't been able to get back to anything really creative because I'm still finishing up the details of our floor installation. Our baseboard trim in our bathrooms previously was the same tile that was on the floor. Since we removed and replaced the tile I'm now cutting and staining trim. The cutting part I can only do first thing in the morning because for some reason even though I'm measuring and double checking my angles and lengths - they are not turning out the way I want. Frustrating. But it is slowly getting done. Good thing I bought an extra board. I'm going to need it. 

Enjoying THIS moment.

It's been hard to sit back and enjoy our new floors since we've had so much chaos with the downstairs flooding and the upstairs bathroom leak (and did I mentioned now the check engine light is on in the minivan?) but I love them. The entry foyer used to be tile and the kitchen used to be laminate and now it is all the same flooring. I love that. It is so many shades of gray, tan and brown that it doesn't show a speck of dirt. I love that. It's not too shiny so you can't tell if someone spills something. I love that. It is a perfect mix of country barnwood with our cottage modern style. I love that.

I love our new floors!

Valentine's Day present

Things have been so chaotic I haven't been able to share the watercolor I did for my sweetie for Valentine's Day. I'm not sure if you can see the details but in the scribbles of the branch are names of all the people that love her. It is framed and on the back it says. "You'll Owl-ways be loved." 

Not all Roses and Sunshine

Just so you know that it's not all roses and sunshine when doing something creative here is a dose of reality (and my personal stress) for you to see. When pulling up the old bathroom floors a small leak was found. Tracing the leak back the the faucet valve stem I found that a LOT of the drywall behind the shower wall was black, moldy and crumbly. Ah what fun! I have fixed the leak and now I get the new experience of installing a new shower surround and shower doors. I purchased the shower surround. 

The real source of chaos though is this. We're redoing all the flooring on the upstairs level of our two story house. The downstairs is bigger and is, in general the children's domain. That means the carpet is already partially ruined so why not let them finish it off right? A water heater down there flooded two rooms of carpet.  We've sucked the water and lifted the carpet and have been drying it with fans for a few days but it smells like wet dog.  We have a carpet person coming today to possibly replace the pad and decide if we can put the carpet back or need to replace it.  Fun!

Robin Hood Costumes

I'm not sure if I've told you this, but my 8 year old will be a Broadway star someday. No really, I'm pretty sure of it. We regularly break out into show tunes just show she will be ready. For now though, she has a small non-speaking part in the school play with her best friend. I volunteered to do both costumes and I've been searching thrift stores for a while for something I thought would fit with a little altering. They are both finally done. The hardest part was that since they are "just villagers" their costumes had to be pastel with no print. Try to find that in a girls dress before easter. LOL Anyway, Maid Marion-ish costumes done with all the chaos (I'll blog about that shortly) that has been going on.

Secrets Revealed

A quick project with a free printable this morning. My daughter, Josie, is currently reading the Lemony Snicket books. This hangs in the main bathroom and is mirrored so the text is only revealed when you are looking in the mirror. I can't wait until she comes home from school to see it. 

Mario Party Success

The Mario Party for my 6 year old was a big success. He loved all the games and Mario themed snacks. He typically doesn't do well with large crowds (he has Sensory issues) but was really well behaved and really enjoyed himself. Most of the images were found as free printables online but I created a few especially for our specific snacks.  

Our next family birthday is for my oldest who is a leap day baby. She still hasn't decided on a theme but it will likely be girly and sparkly. 

Built in bookcase

I'm beginning to think I might be a little addicted to chalk paint. Really I think it's an addiction to making everything lighter & brighter. I probably has something to do with the fact that it's the rainy season in the Pacific Northwest! 

I love how much more open and airy it makes the living feel. I especially like that it is finished before our new floors start getting installed on Monday. Reclaimed barnwood! I'm so excited. 

Facebook fan page

I've created a Facebook fan page where I show more of my day-to-day projects. Little things I'm working on like homemade kids birthday party items or stuff for the garden.

Head on over and like my page to get my regular updates
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Rewritten/421149337971361

Silent Auction Donation

My kids school is having their annual fundraising carnival this week. One of the best parts (for the adults) is they have some great silent auction items. This year I decided to donate one of my items for the auction and handpicked the quote for it. I can't wait to see if anyone bids on it. 

I have similar bowls for sale in my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LifeReWritten

Little bowls of inspiration

As a follow up to my previous post, here is one of the finished bowls. This one will go to wife's office. She is a college professor and advises grad students. She often keeps a bowl of candy in her office and will use this bowl for that purpose. I thought a stressed out grad student was a great match for the quote. :) I really love how refinishing the interior wood makes it just shine.

I have a couple of other bowls listed in my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LifeReWritten

Pretty in the making

I've been gathering vintage wooden salad bowls for some time now. My plan is to carve quotes in them, well because I'm fond of quotes on everything. But for now I'm going to revel in how beautiful they look with the wooden insides and painted outsides. 

PS. That is my paint-your-own pottery coffee cup. Caffeine Wingardium Leviosa. Can you tell I'm a wee bit of a Harry Potter fan? Remind me to tell you about my Quidditch kitchen. :) 

Dreaming of the Garden

It's freezing in the Pacific Northwest right now. And by freezing I mean it's been like only 40 degrees, which is close to arctic standards. Being in the mild Oregon climate has spoiled me. I remember when I first moved here I laughed at those people burning up when it hit 85 degrees. HA! They didn't know heat. 40 degrees, HA! They didn't know about wind chill and 10 degrees below zero. Now I understand. My body is used to the nice weather. Any variation seems extreme. 

I'm dreaming of spring plantings and all the things I want to do in the garden. Last fall I found some interesting wood donated to our local Habitat for Humanity Restore. I sanded, carved and painted it to dress up my plain fence posts. I still want to change my garden gates to a prairie style stained glass like design. But for now I'm just dreaming....and putting on another pair of socks. 

New life to an old dresser

We are geeky board gamers. Ever since being introduced to Settlers of Catan by my brother in law a few years ago, our collection has been growing. It has also been making my serene living room look rather cluttered. I knew I wanted some closed storage and a dresser seemed ideal. I looked on craigslist, thrift stores and antique shops before I happened upon this beauty. It is a 1940's waterfall style dresser with the original handles. The insides of the drawers are even laminated with birds eye maple. I used homemade chalk paint that didn't quite work as well as usual. I don't know how the paint was different, but it took 8-10 coats in some places. I don't typically distress anything I paint but I wanted this to look a little more handed-down than my typical modern pieces. I love the way it turned out and that it is so light it doesn't seem like a large looming piece of furniture in the room. All of my games and half of my photo albums are now stored behind closed drawers.

Read Books

Bold, graphic words on vintage objects.  I love the look!  This project was VERY difficult. I knew in my mind how I wanted it to turn out but I didn't know how to accomplish it. I used a LOT of x-acto blades to cut out the "read" portion to let the text of the book show through. I still need to figure out how to make this project easier because I've been purchasing great vintage books at the thrift store with the intention of doing more of these. Maybe my dremel? A wood burner?

This book is now available in my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/120702410/carved-vintage-book-reminder-to-read

Bigger than a bread box

I recently fell in love with Chalk paint (not chalkboard paint) when I was researching ways to paint my kitchen cabinets. The previous owners decided to upgrade the doors to the cabinets with costly cherry. Unfortunately for them, I couldn't stand that the cabinet boxes were white while the doors were wood so I painted everything white. I decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint since it promised no sanding, stripping or prepping of any kind. I wanted to use chalk paint on everything after that! I found a homemade recipe online for chalk paint and this was one of my first projects. I love the vintage look with the simple lettering. If you can't tell I love things with words and a past. Thus Life ReWritten the name of my Etsy store and this blog. 

You are loved beyond measure

Kids grow so fast.  People told me, but I didn't listen.  Now, I know!

I keep a small journal with inspirational quotes, pictures, magazine cutouts, any little snippet that speaks to me. Since long before Charlie was born, I've loved the quote, "You are Loved Beyond Measure" and waited for the perfect project to come along.

Since our first child was born, we've lived in 5 different houses. So marking their growth on any sort of old fashioned door or something wasn't ever an option. I love the graphic look of this oversized ruler and I happened to have the wood sitting in the garage waiting to be cut down for my compost bin doors. After it was finished I went back through the assorted doctor visit pages I had kept for the files and found heights for my three littles and marked them. From now on I plan to put a mark on their birthdays!