Our old furniture is a bit dark for the house we live in right now. A quick distressed look to this end table really brightened the place up a bit.

Watercolors are not often my craft of choice but this fun kit turned out pretty well.

A dear friend had a baby shower so I set up a station for everyone to decorate a bib. Then, I sewed them up and put snaps on them. Some of them are so cute!

Saw this one on Pinterest! I modified the idea a bit. Some wonderful ladies I work with threw me a baby shower. I cut out a stack of flannel bibs and brought the blanks with me and a package of Crayola Fabric Markers and some file folders. The file folders were to keep under the bibs when the markers bled through the fabric. It was a fun shower game for those who were creative, those whom I didn't know where creative and those who just did something fun and quick and done. 

I brought them home, heat set the images with the iron, sewed them together and added a snap. I'm sure this is more bibs than I'll use, but it was such a fun way to spend time with some great ladies. This was also a cheap activity. The markers were $8, but I used a 1/2 off coupon. The 2 yards of flannel (for fronts and backs) was less than $6 and I had the file folders and snaps. I didn't take long to sew them up since they were already cut out and they are fairly small.

Chalkboard paint. This is actually the back of a bookcase. Not done by me- thanks to Aunt Debbi!

Painted dots. I like the glass, but an idea from Pinterest was to paint dots concentrated on the bottom and moving up. I am really glad I tried it and used the glass paint. Luckily, they all washed off easily because I did not like it. So, now what can I do with this lovely glass 'canvas'?

We just recently read some books about ATC's. Here are Abigail's first attempts. She used watercolor crayons from Hobby Lobby. They are in baseball card sleeves. Thanks Joann!

So, with the help of my new carrier (I'll post it later), a 5 year old, a drill, some wood, glue, and my totally awesome friend Deb... The most awesome child sized picnic table EVER!! This thing is so remarkable, really.

Ta-da! A gift for our friend who loves purple! Hope she likes it!

Thank you so much to Ana at www.knock-offwood.com!!! Without her amazing inspiration and easy to follow plans, we would have never attempted it.

The kids painted some pottery to give for the holiday.

So I noticed I wasn't doing anything else with this...now it is a pleasure to use! (Idea from: LittleBirdieSecrets)

Some air-dry clay and preformed magnets to paint. Fun birthday party crafts!

This easel was a gift from Dana. (Ikea is so cool) Just what a budding artist can flourish with.

Not such a bad picture considering I made this 'daisy duty' chart very late the night before it was due. Very sparkly daisies each have an eyelet to hold the fastener, so they spin. Each girl's name was written on a flower, then a clothespin with the job on it was clipped to the flower. Eyelets at the top hold a sparkly pink ribbon that it is hung on a hook with. Looks way cuter in person.

Some very cool butterflies. These come from Target in a box of about 20. They are made of plastic and have a little strong magnet in the back. You push a flat head tack into the wall and they hang scattered on the wall. Such a cute idea. Since they come in plain white, Dana spray painted them all purple- except these 2. The girls had a great time decorating them especially for her.

So, here is a piece of fabric that I found on sale. Pretty, but what to do with it? Here is also a picture of my very old sewing chair. Gross, huh? Stained from years ago, faded, paint chipping and wobbly. Sadly, it sits in the middle of the house at the sewing table for all to see. That fabric was just the inspiration I needed! I took off what was left of the chair pad, tightend all the screws, primed, and repainted! I'm still not a good painter, just freehand with the help of little hands. The girls loved the matching pink paint so they did all the pink on the new chair.

Here it is! The chair turned out great! What a difference! I can sit, sew, and be inspired!

A little wooden family for the dollhouse. There is a pen behind them to show scale.

A few wooden people for the doll house. The kids actually prefer the wooden ones and fight over them. One has blonde hair and blue eyes, one has green eyes, one has brown eyes and brown hair, and then the one in the red dress has golden hair and green eyes. That one didn't turn out so well. One slip of the hand and things go from sweet to scary. I may modify them a bit more, add drawn arms, buttons, etc.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


A doll bed was the perfect gift for my niece this Christmas. I was excited at this thrift store find! It took almost 3 months to sand, prime, sand, prime, sand, prime, paint, sand, paint, paint, and paint. After all those coats of white, some of those neon colors still showed through. The day before she arrived, Katherine and I sat down and tried to figure out how to paint this so you couldn't see those old layers. Katherine decided on the purple, so she sponge painted the whole thing. I pulled out the One-Stroke Painting book from the library, and added some on each side. I also made the lacy satin pillow and mattress set. I am very pleased with how it came out. As you can see, I think she liked it!

I am now an amazing painter. I saw the 'One Stroke' painting, bought a paintbrush and look! So what if I've never held a paintbrush before? I read the book and I'm so impressed with my efforts. This is one of those "If I can do it, anyone can!" Because seriously, when I draw, the girls ask me what I've made; even when it's a stick person.