Getting ready for a new generation

Let me introduce you to a dear family friend.

She was my mother in law's

and then my sister in law's

and now she is Megan's.

As you can see she's getting a makeover.

I'm learning plenty of lessons along the way.

Lesson #1. You really do need to sand down old paint before adding a new coat.

Lesson #2. Sanding by hand can really do a number on your back.

Lesson #3. Priming is not just a suggestion.

Lesson #4. Decoupage glue should go on the paper not the desk to make for a smoother application.

Lesson #5. Too much mod podge on top of the paper will cause some of the paper to tear if you are trying to smooth it down because you didn't follow rule #4.

Lesson #6. Using patterned paper to decoupage allows you to camouflage tears by adding a piece to cover it.

Lesson #7. Daughters are very forgiving and are sometimes just grateful to see mom following through on one of her many ideas and actually finishing it.

Lesson #8. Daughters really enjoy helping mom with projects.

Lesson #9. Moms really enjoy doing something special for their daughters.

It's coming along. I'll have more photos soon. In the mean time, the process is quite rewarding in itself.

Learning along the way,

H is for elephant?????

For Easter my kids all got post it notes in the shape of their first initial.

Miss Helen decided to make these out of her Letter H post its.

H is for Elephant

H is for Leopard

H is for LION

Here is a aerial view of the Lion

H IS for HIPPO

H is for Helen's Zoo

Now with 5 kids there is never a lack of creativity.

Here is Nathan with his Lego creation.

It's ALL Good


Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0hibhVBrM

What does your heart say?

 

What does YOUR heart say?

Start our with a page torn out of a book and start your basic fan fold.

After you have 2 pages folded bend them both in half.

Glue the folds that come together so you have two half circles.

Now glue the halves together to make a complete circle.

I used a juice pack for my paint pallet. I mixed brown, red and white together to paint the heart and the edges of the fan circle.

There you have it. My heart is easy to read.

It's All Good,

Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0hibhVBrM

Ripped Hearts and Some Air Hockey

My nieces were here again and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to make some hearts.

It must be because I just LOVE them so much.

Two hearts become one.

I love you from the bottom of my heart.

Sweet Anna holding my heart.

Sweet Sarah has my heart.

AND THIS IS HOW I BRIBED THEM TO BE SOOO... GOOD.

It's ALL Good,



Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0hibhVBrM

Tortilla Chips and Jelly Beans

My eight year old son has gotten the crafting bug.

Yes, he made a nest out of a scoop tortilla chip and placed some jelly beans in it as eggs.

He was so proud.

To top it off he packaged it in a barbeque sauce container to bring to school to show his friends.

They were impressed.

It's All Good,


Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0hibhVBrM

My crumpled heart

Not only do I not plan out most things that I do but I generally end up following one thing which leads me to another until I'm finally looking back wondering "I don't know how I got here but it sure is an interesting place to be". That rings oddly Alice in Wonderlandesque which is funny because I have an unexplainable dislike for that book. I just always thought it was odd that this girl drank this and ate that and suddenly her world changed... sounds too much like taking an acid trip which I have always steered far away from. But I digress... I was sharing my pretty little flower with my girlies (my two nieces that I take care of three days a week) when suddenly I thought of making these crumpled hearts. The girlies wanted to help so I let them press them together after I added the glue. I'm not sure what I'll do with them but my first thought is always to add a button, some ribbon to hang them somewhere and maybe.... oh my now the creative juices are flowing... bye for now.

Here is a picture of my girlies with the crumpled hearts.

Here is a picture of what I had to bribe them with to have them sit still for the pictures.

it's ALL good




Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0hibhVBrM

he loves me... he loves me not...

This morning did not start out well. My husband left the house in a grumpy mood. (I feel like it is partly my fault for not doing something that I should have for him. Lets just say I am going to work on taking better care of my family as a whole.) I know part of it is because we just had such a nice week off with the kids home on school vacation and today they went back to school and I miss them. So what's a girl to do.... craft. (I'm sure not the top choice from some of my family members, but honestly we really cleaned up the house for my daughter's birthday yesterday so I'm feeling that a little craft time will be just the TLC to snap me out of this funk.)

Better yet I came up with an idea on my own. I know that if I google it or spend enough time in blog world that I will come across it but please just give me this moment of creativity.

So here I am feeling out of sorts and a bit melancholy so I came up with this.

I started out with the book pages. Now before you call the library police, you should know that I am technically a librarian with an masters in library science degree and all. This book was off the "free" shelf at a local antique store, has that lovely aged (read musty) smell, and is perfectly dingey without any coffee or tea staining. So I tore out some pages (I just counted 5 pages... I do pretty much EVERYTHING off the cuff so not much planning goes into these things.)

I freehand cut out the petals. I do not have one of those paper punches in the shape of a flower so it is all free hand here. I crmpled them up after cutting them out... which sort of seemed quite appropriate with the mood I'm in.  and then used a glue stick to make a flower.

I layered the petals onto one of my coffee stained labels that I just love. I added a purple button to the center of my flower. Now how to add the words. Yes, this was my big dilemma for this little ditty. I opened up a Word document and started playing around with fonts and how I wanted it to be spaced out. I printed her out took a scoop of my coffee grinds from my morning pot of coffee (don't worry so far I've only had one cup today) and smeared it around on the page. (lovely I know but again it seemed to fit my mood) I even added a spoonful of my coffee onto the page, blotted it all off and put it in the microwave to dry.

I tore the words out... to add a little more age to it and voila here it is.

Quite the little lovely she is. So now I have made something that came straight from my heart and oout of a pretty cruddy morning that now is looking a little brighter.

Reminding myself that
it's all good



Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0hibhVBrM

Fast and Simple: my kind of family treat

Bunny Buttons

These are so cute and the kids can have fun helping to make them as well as eating them.

please check out where I got the idea from:

http://singingwithbirds.blogspot.com/search/label/Holiday%20Treats

 

3 ingrediants:

Snaps (pretzels)

Kisses

M & M s

s

place snaps and kisses on parchment paper on a cookie sheet

set oven temp to 170 degrees

place in oven for 4 - 6 minutes (just so kisses softern)

I put ours in for only 4 minutes and it worked great

take out of oven press m & m s into the softened kisses

place into fridge to chill

and wala there you have the easiest, yummiest most versatile treat

you can add

red m & m s for Valentines Day

Green m & m s for St. Patrick's Day

The possibilities are endless especially if you add the m & m s that you can

special order with whatever words that you want on them

~ENJOY~