Chalkboard Garage Door

Yesterday I finished a painting project that I am sooooo excited about.  I painted the door to our garage with chalkboard paint. 

This project makes me happy for two reasons:
#1 now I can organize our weeks with important info or just write inspirational words for all to see.
 #2 the dirty/greasy grossness that is ever present on this door will now blend in with the paint.

I found this idea and the scripture on pinterest. where else? : )

the Lord will FIGHT for you; you need only BE STILL
exodus 14:14

Quick Change

A quick change project for today. 

Found this frame at my favorite place, Goodwill. 

It was beautiful just the way it was and I liked the look of the black and white photo with the goldish frame. 

That said I have been trying to bring some color into our bedroom in subtle ways.  I thought that putting a  colorful picture in the frame might help brighten up the walls.  

My dress and my husband's shirt have hints of blue that coordinate with the blue dresser that I painted and added to our room recently.  I also like that we now have a family photo in our room.

$6.00 frame +  bright family photo = happy mama!

Muffin Tin

Obviously, I have an issue with old baking pans/tins. 

 Actually, I just think it's so smart to use these old guys as organizational tools.  I could go out and spend mucho bucks on cute baskets, drawer organizers and the likes or I could scavenge trash piles, garage sales and thrift stores for 25 cent prices. 

 I prefer the later.  It gives me something to do.  Really it's about the thrill of the hunt for me and I love a good deal. 

 I recently found this muffin tin for .25 cents at a garage sale.  I have one I am using in the desk drawer to organize paper clips, tacks, batteries etc. 

 When I saw this one I knew I'd use it for sewing supplies like thread and buttons. 

 I decided to paint this one white. 

I just love how the old buttons look in the tin. 

Box of Goodies

My girl and I stumbled upon a great little garage sale this week.  The lady of the house must have been a sewing gal from way back cause she had boxes of old fabric, several quilt squares and tops and lots of fun buttons, ribbon, ric rac and embellishments.  Most of it appeared to be circa 1960-70s.  Below is a box I was so excited to bring home. Got lots of ideas for the contents of this little box.

Fun File Box

the colors in this file box are so fun!  must be vintage 1960's/1970's

a sweet garage sale find

 

Pots & Pans

Happy to have finally organized our school supplies!  We used these old cake and bread pans and tins to organize our crayons, glue, markers and scissors.   

scissors

this pan holds a TON of crayons. . . .perfect!

glue sticks and bottles in an old bunt pan

This bucket holds our scrap paper and stickers.

Yay, for a little organization! 

Old Frame New Game

Found a place for this ole' frame in my sewing corner in the family room.  Right now I am using plain clothespins to hold the pictures but may try to "dress them up" when I get some time.  Also, draped the red pom pom trim over the frame cause' I just couldn't help myself.

Old Drawer

I honestly have no idea where this old drawer came from.  I am certain that I "picked" it from a trash pile of sorts and I have no doubt that it was FREE.  I've had it for quite a while and have always admired its glass knob and worn paint.  I thought I might sit it on a dresser or cabinet.  Maybe nest mason jars with flowers inside it.

 This afternoon I tried it a few places. 

First in the kitchen

then in our boy's room

I like that it fits with the green in his room and it is a great spot for his books that we read in bed at night.     

And now his smurfs have a place to hang.

Some people call it trash.  I call it treasure. 

3 Tea Towels 3 Ways

I had so much fun dressing up the tea towel yesterday that I decided to play around with the two towels I had left this morning.  Here are all three quick ways to dress up a plain tea towel. 

Here's the first towel I made yesterday. Set the machine on a zig zag stitch and quickly sewed the trim to the bottom of the towel.  Red thread would have been better but white was in my machine and I didn't feel like changing it.  Actually, I'm not sure I remember how!

For this towel I used the zig zag stitch to add the pink ribbon to the bottom.  I used Unique Stitch for the ric rac.  I haven't used it much before but it says it is "sewing with a tube".  I am hoping it holds up well.  May need to be hand washed instead of thrown in the machine but most fancy-ish towels are hand wash only.

On this towel I ruffled the fabric strips then sewed them on.  Easy Peasy.  : )

$6.00 Shelf

and

Red Rocker

whimsical & lovely

One Hour Apron & Tea Towel

trying to organize my stash of fabric, ribbon and sewing junk today I got distracted by tea towels that I bought on sale in July at Jo-Ann.    I think I paid less than a dollar for each towel. 

for the first towel I simply sewed red pom pom trim to the bottom of the towel for a quick but cute fix-up

the second one I laid horizontally and sewed ruffled binding along the bottom and across the top.  I left it long on the sides so that I could tie it in the back.  The ruffled binding is great because it looks nice and you don't have to take the time to ruffle or scallop.  I happened to grab a baggie of it in red when our Wal-Mart was renovating recently.  They marked nearly everything down in the fabric department to make room for the renovation.  Right place at the right time! 

truly, it only took about an hour to complete both of these projects.  in fact, it took longer to upload these pics and type this post than it did to make the apron and towel. 

Jo-Ann's is always great about putting seasonal tea towels on sale before the actual season/holiday so I am hoping to pick up some fall themed/orange/brown type towels and do a similar fix-up.  Nice teacher gifts or fun for cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Apples & Paint

painting with apples and carrot sticks.  we love to get our hands dirty!

Easy Birdfeeder

my girl is serious about this school stuff.  when we get home from walking her brother to school she begins asking when her school is going to start.  day one we did well with name practice, letter formation and reading.  we also found time to paint and draw.  day two did not go as well.  she drew, cut and created crosses by herself but i was not a very involved teacher.  today (day 3) has gone better as we made it though a minilesson and writing activity.  we did a "how to" writing piece with directions on how to make a bird feeder.  of course, the writing activity was mostly drawing and copying my writing but we still worked through the process so to me it counts.  luckily, i found this idea for a super easy bird feeder on pinterest this morning.  nothing like pulling a plan together last minute.  a few pics from our morning. . . .  

pink and green perfection

things are looking up in our girl's room. a little bit of organization and it will be complete . . . .for now.

flowers for my teacher

 

first day "sunshine" for the teacher in your life