Circa 1954 Wreath

Welcome to our home!

Come on in!

What's that, you ask?

That is the wreath I made out of an April 7, 1954 Newspaper from The Cedar Rapids Gazette.  I found it sitting in the bottom of an old chest I got from my grandma (who just turned 84 - Happy Birthday Grandma!!!) and wanted to display it somehow.  I saved the front page, but the next page, I ripped into pieces and did my first decoupage!  So easy and fun!  I think you are technically supposed to smooth everything down, but I liked the edges kind of messy... rules were made to be broken anyway!

Cedar Rapids is in Iowa and is where my dad grew up (mostly).  My Grandpa is buried there and a lot of my extended family lives there.  I know this isn't a wreath that everyone would love, but it's going to be nice to come home to this little piece of family history!

Old Becomes Poof

I'd like to share with you Dustin's old shirt.

It is now three big white poofs to hang over Quincy's bed.  Lawson said daddy might cry when he saw me cutting his t-shirt into strips, but I assured him that daddy had intended for his shirt to go to Goodwill and that he'd probably just think it was a really weird thing to do.  And maybe it is, but I was inspired by this great tutorial at Craftaholic's Anonymous (a bottomless source for really cool ideas!) and it took all of about 20 minutes.  Mine don't look quite as poofy and perfect as theirs, but they are still fun and a big hit with the kids!

Now, I just need the bed to hang it over.  That's being taken care of, though.  Dustin's been working hard to build a stand with shelves for the Lalapanzi bed to go next to our bed.  It just needs a few coats of white paint, the wheels on the bottom and the brown leather baskets inside the shelves.  Oh, and the baby.... but that will all come together sooner than I'm prepared for, I think!

Nesting on the "Cheep"

Yep.  Still nesting over here!  It's really only gotten worse.  I started out organizing everything in site.  Now that I've done that, I'm moving onto decorating and arranging.  I can't exactly go out and buy a bunch of new decor, so I'm digging through my own Goodwill pile and painting whatever I can get my hands on!  That's right.  I'm armed with Rustoleum and I am NOT afraid to use it.  It's about the cheapest fix I could think of since a can is only $5 or so and it makes a big difference!  Here's a look at some of my freshly painted old items.  These first items were all brown to start with and I am just not feeling brown right now.  I'm liking them all so much better now!  Excuse the empty picture frames.  I'm waiting on the photos to arrive in the mail.

This is the old BROWN ceramic jar that was handed down to us.  Dustin was using for our dog treats and it was residing on top of the fridge.  A few coats of primer and some hand painted acrylic over the top and the fridge just got a little greener and cuter.

These canvases were a Peir 1 purchase over 10 years ago and they have been hanging out in a box for the last several years.  They just weren't me anymore.  So I taped along the edges and sprayed on some black paint to cover up the old.  Then I printed out some words on photoshop, tediously cut out each letter, etched around them and painted within the lines to reveal the new.  The new brings lots of joy and happiness for me!

And lastly for today (Although there is more!  It's a sickness, I tell you.).  This is a crate repurposed as a wine rack that I bought super cheap at TJ Maxx with the idea of painting either black or white.  It's been hanging out inside of a closet waiting for it's reveal.  I finally decided on black, although I hadn't figured out where I was going to put it or what exactly to do with it since there's no wine drinking to speak of around here at the moment (sad face.).  In between coats of paint, it ended up sitting just inside the front door to finish drying.  Funny thing was, it worked awesome as a shoe rack!  And so became our crate repurposed as a wine rack repurposed as a shoe rack.  It just required a spray of sealer, a few coats of black paint, some roughing up with a sander and another coat of sealer.  All in a day's work!

I'm obviously out of control with my painting, so please use caution if you stop by our house.  You may leave a different color than you came!  More to come soon... just putting the finishing touches on a few things first.

Old Becomes New

Looking around the blogosphere with my sister a few weeks ago inspired me to make old things new... but in an old way. I have had this old shelf sitting around for quite a while. My mom passed it down to me and it used to hang in our kitchen growing up. I wish I'd taken a true before, but I didn't think about it until I'd removed the old white pull with a screw head in the middle of it and replaced the 70's orange flower lining. A quick sanding, a few coats of white paint (I did not prime because I was going for a rustic feel in the end), another quick sanding on the edges and a spritz of flat sealer and all I had left was putting on a new knob! I love the way it turned out and it is now in my entry way looking all shiny and new. Kind of.

And to continue with my craft addiction (it's sick.), I found an adorable mailbox template on this website and had to make one for each of the kiddos!  That website is amazing!

Now onto my next project!  Wooden monkeys linked by their tails to hang from the ceiling in the corner of Lawson's room. 

The Canvas

I'm no artist, and I won't pretend to be, but the beauty of kids rooms is that it's okay for things to look like a small child did them! In fact, I was going for that look with the style I opted for. It's not perfect, but I love how it turned out and I'm digging the way it looks hanging on the wall in his room! I have to say, painting is kind of fun! Something about it is therapeutic.
And now, without further ado, here is my bird and giraffes painting!

If I'm Not Home...

...HERE is WHERE YOU WILL FIND ME:

I know I just posted a picture of Cranberry Lake, but this photo took my breath away! Rarely does a picture convey the exact mood of moment, but this one managed to do it, stopped in the middle of the road, camera hanging out the window, trying to keep my foot on the break and get the lens over the rear-view mirror. I love it so much it will be hanging in our living room soon. This place has captured me lately! We've been there three times in the last week, including today.

Yep! We've BEEn gone quite a bit!

Butt, while at home, Lawson's been roaming around sans pants rocking his big boy "wear!" He wears them all day long and all night long. We do not do diapers for this boy at all anymore. We threw them out the second day of potty training and I haven't looked back! Very easy to do now that I've found Hannah Andersson Training Unders. We have a small accident or two each day, but that only sends him running to the potty yelling "PEE!!! POTTY!!!! WEAR!!! DOWN!!!!". He wants to use the potty and he wants his "M'" (M n M) for doing it. I, for one, am happy to oblige for the next few weeks as he gets really good at this big boy business. I may have to wash the sheets on his bed a couple times a week, but I'd say he's doing a very good job at this!

As for me, I've been getting crafty while at home. Not normal for me, but I am determined to get this house looking like half of what I pictured it would be before we move. First room to tackle: the big boy's room. He loves trains (duh.) so I did the word "train", as well as a silhouette of an engine in frames above his bed. I painted the unfinished frames myself and even fabricated the stencils, and cut and glued the letters as well as the train myself! GASP! Kind of a big deal for someone who doesn't normally get crafty. I also bought a circle canvas and did a rudimentary Railroad Crossing sign (imperfect on purpose) for the head of his crib. I am loving the pop of color on the wall that ties in with his bedding and rug!

I've got one more painting project going at the moment, but that will be revealed tomorrow or the next day once it's hanging on the wall. I'm hoping it turns out the way I envisioned!

Yes, we've been busy these last few days; nesting, beach combing and running around with no pants on (well, at least one of us has... 1. 2. 3. NOT IT!). I'm hoping we keep the momentum up because it's feeling mighty good! Almost as good as it's going to feel to go put another coat of paint on my canvas. Is getting crafty addictive? It feels like it could be. There are still so many of unexplored isles at Michael's....