Perfectly Messy Painting!

Late Night Brainstorm

Last night, after we got home from a long trip there and back to Frankfort in the snow, the kids were kind of restless. They were playing catch and Disney Infinity and then all of a sudden they weren't. It was a moment of realizing we were going to have to figure out what to do and quick. I had just heard a presentation at work about letting kids play and explore and learn to really navigate the world. I've been thinking about painting at home because we haven't done it in a long time and I realized the time was now.

As soon as I said paints, the boys were upstairs and trying to grab paints off of the shelf. We grabbed paints, brushes, paper and carried everything downstairs to the kitchen table. 

First things first - shirts off! My friend Krystie taught me that. It's much easier to clean paint off of skin than off of clothes. I barely had the words out of my mouth and they had their shirts off. I was happy, they were happy. Total win.

Getting Messy

In my experience, most kids love to get messy and these two dudes are not the exception. It didn't take long before Danny had his hands in the paint and Jordan wanted to follow suit. These kids just crack me up. They are such a blast! In the end, we had fun, we learned about not touching anything on the way to the bathroom, we practiced scrubbing with soap to get paint off of our bodies, and we made some great art. I love to see them concentrating and creating.

Danner D

Jordan a

The Brothers

Adding a Background to His Snake

A Mess!

Hooray for Art

I'm so glad we got the paints out! It was so nice that they could spend time being creative together. They were focused and engaged and it was probably the easiest night we've had in a while. Wrangling two boys, keeping them busy and happy with each other, isn't easy at this age. But last night was awesome. Jordan said, "We don't get to paint much at home." And he was so right. Since we got new floors and Danny was born, we don't paint nearly as much as we used to. It's time to change that. I love arts and crafts and being creative. I'm going to plan more painting and more other types of art and craft activities. Just like coming back to blogging feels great, so does the idea of doing more art with the kids. I've always loved being creative and making things. I look around our house and see the photos we have up, the collages I have made, our Color Me Mine painted pottery, our Knufflebunny inspired photo-drawings and it all makes me smile. Our house definitely feels like a home because of all of these pieces and I'm so looking forward to adding more of our personalities to our home.

Take care and talk soon!

Googly Eyes Make Everything Better

Sometimes I forget the power of googly eyes...and then I remember them and the day gets a whole lot brighter! Googly eyes seriously make everything a hundred times better. They are fun. They just scream, "Look at me, I'm silly! Googly, googly, googly!" I love them. 

Last week a friend at work broke her foot so 

Jordan and I made her this cute little card!

Googly Googly!

Jordan put the googly eyes in place!

I added little smiles and a "Get Well Soon!" bubble.

Googly eyes have more fun!

Do you have a favorite googly eye project??

What's In The Cards for Valentine's Day?

I love Valentine's day!  I'm a lucky mom to have three boys in my life to love!  Jordan and I have worked on his Valentine's already and I'm hoping we can dye some carnations some time this weekend.  We did make this fun decoration last week and I love how it turned out:

I found this activity from No Time for Flashcards where she has great ideas for kids.  I was excited because Chad and I had just played cards and as I was looking for a deck to play with, I found an old pack of Coca-Cola cards that were missing three cards.  This not-quite-complete pack was exactly what we needed for this project, bonus for us: no cost!

Jordan helped me sort through the cards and find only the heart cards.  Then we put them in order and counted the numbers on the card.  He helped me punch holes in the cards and I cut some heart shapes out.  Next, we strung them all up.  Jordan did pretty good for a few of the cards and then he got tired of it so I ended up finishing it up but that's okay!  I think it looks so pretty on our mantle.

I need to do more projects like this with Jordan.  Luckily, he works on projects all the time at our sitter's. He comes home with coloring pages, paintwork, things he has glued, cut, glittered, you name it.  It makes a huge difference to have such a great sitter who does all of this, it just makes me feel so reassured that he's there with her.

What are your favorite Valentine's Day crafts?  Do you have any Valentine's Day traditions?  What kind of Valentine's are your kiddos giving - homemade or store-bought?  (Either is okay...just curious!)

Sore and Sick

This might the the weirdest last few days I have ever had...well, you could even include the last week.  Last weekend I felt like I had a cold, I had a runny nose and had chills but then also had a fever and ended up with mastitis.  I've been on antibiotics all week...then on Friday morning I slipped at the bottom of the stairs and fell.  I'm really thankful I only hurt my MCL, which is the ligament on the inside of my knee...but I did still hurt my knee and walking, sitting down, standing up is not fun right now.  My shoulder hurts form the fall, too.  Saturday night I got a little tickle in my throat and then woke up to another runny nose and sore throat.  Here's the best part though, this morning I decided to stay home just to really let myself get better.  The second I made the decision, Jordan came downstairs and threw up at my feet.  Great.  I thought maybe he was just sick and would feel better after he got it out of his system, but no such luck.  He's been throwing up on and off all morning.  He's sleeping now.  He's definitely sick...he's sleeping during the day. My poor baby.

It's not fun being sick, but I feel good knowing I'm home with him and comforting him while he's sick.  I know when I'm sick the only thing I want is someone to sit with me and hug me.  I've definitely been able to get lots of snuggles in with Jordan today.  Poor baby.  He's so sweet.

I've been working some on a new eehee (blanket) for him, too.  My mom has made most of his eehees, except for one.  He wanted a blue one and I wanted to try to crochet something more than a coaster so I'm working on it for him.  I can't wait for it to be done...although it's kind of slow going!  What makes you feel better when you are sick?

Carfty Craze!

Two weeks ago Jordan and Chad spent the Saturday at Great America and left me home to sew and craft my heart out.  It was awesome!  I had a ton of projects all lined up - and all for my friend Emily's baby shower.  I love making things for other people AND I love creating with a theme in mind.  Emily's baby nursery is a safari theme and the shower was a safari theme so I had to make everything in safari colors of course!  

I'm missing one picture because the flash just didn't work out right and you could barely see it.  The first thing I made was a towel with a neck strap so you can wear the towel while you give the baby a bath and then when you're done with the bath you just scoop the baby up in the towel you already have over your head.  I think it's a great idea!  I'm going to whip up a few for myself before our baby comes!

This is a picture of a little changing pad.  I pieced together fabric for this side and the other side is all brown with a piece of quilt batting in the middle.  I love this to throw down to change a baby where-ever that isn't on the actual changing pad.  I already made one for myself for our downstairs diaper caddy.  

I'm so proud of how this little cutie turned out.  It's from the book: Softies By Therese Laskey.  It was a little tricky to turn the arms and legs inside-out because they were so teeny tiny but it was worth the time spent.  

Close-up!  I just love this face!

These are hand-crocheted washcloths.  I worked on these for a couple of days before my wild crafty Saturday, but ti counts.  I have never actually tried these but I've heard they are great, and I thought they went so well with this gift.  I've gotta get more yarn to make some up for our munchkin.  I love to see them all wrapped up like this.  I just did a simple square of single crochet.  

These are two bibs made with a fun safari  print that I found in the fat quarter section.  From two fat quarters I was able to make two bibs (because I wanted the front to be different from the back).  I hope they fit...I used a pattern and I tried to get Jordan to try on one, but he wasn't having it.  

And this is probably my favorite of all my projects - or at least tied with the monkey doll - a safari banner.  I cut triangle pieces out of the different safari fabrics, cut and ironed-on letters, and then strung them on bias tape.  It's hard to see, but it reads, "Hakuna Matata", which is from Disney's The Lion King and means "no worries".  I loved it as decoration for the shower and I hope Emily finds a place for it in the baby's room.  (And even if she doesn't, I'll still love her and love that I made it - no pressure, Em!)

I hope you enjoy seeing my projects as much as I enjoyed creating them!!!  

Craft Update

Not much crafting this week...but here are the little projects I finished up last week. I have a baby shower this week so I'm thinking there are more little booties in my future!!!

This is the diaper-changing pad I whipped up to match the diaper caddy box I made. This was super simple but I'm excited for how pretty it is and how matchy it is. I just used the spotted fabric and put some quilt batting in the middle.

I made these cute school bookmarks for the people who helped me through National Boards this year. I forgot to take a picture of the backs...I used a coordinating fabric on the back but it was blue with letters. I put interfacing in the middle to make them less flimsy.
Jordan and I painted t-shirts. He saw me painting mine so we went and grabbed a t-shirt from his room to paint. I only had black and white paint so I went with spiders on his t-shirt! He thought they were cool.
And here's my shirt. In hindsight, I probably should have planned it out a little more and maybe copied the picture from somewhere, but I didn't. I think it's kind of fun...haven't tried it on yet...so hopefully I eyeballed where it was supposed to go right, too...it's kind of hard to tell with the belly situation.
That's my crafty update for now!!!!

Booty-ful!

Here are the baby booties I whipped up yesterday! I love these simple little crafts that are fun but easy to get done. I realized that even though I thought these could be gender neutral, it's way easier to make them for girls. I think they are so sweet...not sure if they are wearable, I mean, I guess they are, I'm just not sure how practical they are. I just like making them!

Close-ups! I did a few fun stitches on this pair, the French knot, the satin stitch, and then I'm not sure what the curly one is called...but it was a new stitch for me.
These are probably my favorite. The colors are just so cute. I also put little hearts on the back!
Polka-dots!
And here's a bonus picture! I realized I really haven't taken that many pictures of myself during this pregnancy. This is my lame attempt to take a picture of myself...I felt really silly so my smile looks goofy. I was six months last week! Can't believe it. This pregnancy is going fast and slow at the same time! I'm cherishing being pregnant, I love to feel the baby moving around in my belly, but I'm dying to meet him/her at the same time!

Crafty Crafty Crafty

I'm having so much fun getting projects done! I've been collecting materials and ideas for so long now and I've finally had a chance to get things done! I looooooove it!!!! Monday I whipped up two of these aprons! I used a Sewing For Dummies pattern I had bought forever ago. It really was so simple anyone could have done it. It was perfect for me because I could follow a pattern and have them turn out really cute but not have to put all that much energy into it. It's kind of hard to tell...it looks like there are jelly beans on this fabric, but it's just a small paisley print. The pattern called for pockets, but I thought it was cute without pockets. (Plus, I couldn't think of what I use the pockets for on my aprons...so I didn't do pockets.)

Yesterday I started on baby booties that I'm working on. I cut out the pattern, cut the pieces out for 4 sets and now I have to put them all together...I think that's my plan for tomorrow.

Today I had to make a trip to JoAnn's to pick out fabric to line a diaper caddy have been trying to make since last August! I fell in love with a chunky green yarn I found at JoAnn's and started working on the panels way back then. I finished the knitting part up over winter break and now I sewed the fabric for a lining and put it all together. I used plastic canvas in between the outer and inner layers. I'm so happy with how it turned out! It's not perfect, but I think that's part of the charm of handmade things. I can't wait to get some newborn diapers to load this baby up. I have some extra fabric and I'm gonna try to make a diaper changing pad to match.
I'm hoping to have booty pictures to post tomorrow!

A Day Out With Jordy

Yesterday Jordan got to spend the day with me. It was fun to hop in the car just the two of us and go off on our little daily adventure. We headed to meet our friends Kathy and Maddy. Jordan and I got to the restaurant a little early so we took a walk over to the train station and were there just in time to see a train go past. It kind of freaked Jordan out but we were still excited to see the train and to wave as it zoomed past. We met our friends for breakfast and then were ready to paint at Color Me Mine. After we went to see Santa this year and Jordan was upset that he didn't get the train he asked for and had to wait until Christmas, I was prepared and made sure to tell him we would paint our dinosaur and then pick them up later. Luckily, he had no problem with that. Phew.

Jordan looked at all the cool things to paint and chose a really cool T-Rex. Then he picked out his colors. Of course, black had to be one of his colors. He had fun painting the dinosaur...and the table!

Here's me with my munchkin...please ignore that I forgot to put makeup on...Jordan just looks so cute I had to post this picture despite my horribleness.
Roar!!!!!!
The kiddos having fun!
I also sponged up a tile so Jordan could put his handprint on it. (I helped Chad out here...this is my yearly Mother's Day present...but it does mean he can now get me something else...wink, wink).
Jordan playing with all the stamps that were up on a magnetic wall. Super smart...
Next up, we went to the Kohl's Children's Museum. I love to see the chicks and Jordan got to see them, too. (Although it did have me thinking in light of all the reading I've been doing about how animals like cows, chickens, and pigs are treated...)
After that we were super pooped and ready to head home. Jordan fell asleep in the car after a few minutes but woke up when we got home. We watched Alice in Wonderland until Dad came home and the boys played outside. It was such a fun day!

Getting Crafty Again!

I'm beyond ecstatic to be able to finally do some crafting again! With National Boards I have neglected my crafty side. Spring break is the perfect time to get back into it all again!!! I have projects all lined up and I can't wait. Step one, cutting out patterns! It's annoying but I always feel like I have accomplished something after getting a pattern cut out!

Yo-Yo a Go Go!

My friend Lindy, at Collage Cafe, e-mailed me about Swap-Bot and even found a fun yo-yo swap for me! I finally got a chance to put together what I'm going to send to my two partners.

Swap-Bot has tons of different crafty swaps to participate in. For my swap, I was partnered up with two other people. I had to make 4 yo-yos for each of them, plus send along a coordinating skein of embroidery floss and 4 accent buttons. Both of my partners are readers so I whipped up some simple bookmarks out of the same fabric. I think everything turned out really cute and I can't wait to send them off...hopefully I'll make it to the post office tomorrow!

The fabric I chose is Debbie Mumm, she has tons of prints at JoAnn's and they are all adorable if you ask me!

Yo Yos!

Fabric Bookmarks (with simple embroidery)!

Floss and Buttons!

I can't wait to get my packages in return...the deadline to send out our packages is at the end of this week so they should be coming within the next week or two!

Craft Social (Yet Again!)!!!!!!!

Ohmygosh, we have had a long day...but I want to post a couple of pictures from the Craft Social last night before I collapse into a deep, dreamy sleep.

We were so excited to go to our third craft social. I'm not sure why I got it into my head that I wanted to host a craft...I think it was party Kathy's doing...but maybe it seemed fun at the time, but I decided to host a craft. It actually was a lot of fun. I had memories of my Close To My Heart days, which I loved, but could also be stressful. Anyway! I hosted a table where people could come and make holidays cards WITH FUN FABRIC YO-YOS! I thought they were very cute. I actually got a ton made for myself so I'm making lots of headway towards my own holiday cards!

Here I am showing my new blog friend, Lindy, I think how to tie a knot...not sure exactly!

And here are my Craft Social crusaders: Kathy and Silvia. They were so nice taking care of me! Kathy made me a sandwich and Silvia brought me treats and made me a terrarium! It's so cute. You can see some of the projects we made. I'll try and post closer up pictures later...when I'm more coherent. (Need sleep...)

Painting Pinecones!

Yesterday morning, Jordan woke up and basically said he wanted to paint as soon as he was out of bed. We got the paints from the easel and set ourselves up at the dining room table. What were we painting...pinecones! This is one of my favorite things to paint. Last year we painted pinecones and made them all glittery. Jordan had a few pinecones that he brought home from Patty's house so we painted those. He's a happy painter. Cheese!

I love that Jordan just mixes all the colors. I had to come to terms with that because I'm so not a carefree color-mixer but he is. We just keep loading more and more colors on the paint and he just puts his brush into all of them. It works!
He was even rolling his pinecone in the paint. Can you see his little pinky sticking up? So cute!
A close up of Jordan's masterpiece. I made one too but mine had more pink on it...he made sure I put pink on the plate for me because he knows I love pink.
After the pinecones were all painted we went for our hands! He loves to paint his hands and make his handprint! Messy!