The Silhouette

My new love. Bon got it for me in February/March-ish and I just got it out of the box and downloaded the software. LOVE IT!!! I've only done vinyl with it so far...no fancy fabric transfers or anything.

http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/default.aspx

Neverending....chores!

I don't know about you, but in our house, it seems like I am stuck doing most of the work. Bon does a lot and does what he can. But the whining and moaning I get from the kids when I ask them to do something is beyond ridiculous!

So in an effort to teach responsibility, we sat down as a family and decided on what chores the kids could and should do.

During that brainstorm session, I was trying to figure out the best way to implement these chores. Aha! I had some little Halloween bucket thingys...they had a jack-o-lantern on it and a black cat....I picked four different spray paint colors I already had and put a couple of coats on to cover the Halloween. Then I took my trusty Silhouette (I finally hooked it up and used it and and now I'm in love, can you tell??) and put them on their buckets.

I also had a huge packet of popsicle sticks. I wrote the chores on both sides of the stick and each chore is on three sticks. So while it looks like they have a TON of chores to do from that picture, they really don't. :)

So once I get this going, I hope to have them do the ones that should be habits, like brushing their teeth, making their bed, picking up dirty clothes, done every day (obviously) and then they can pick at random another set number (5?) of chores to do. At the end of each day, they count up their chores and will put the same number of buttons in a different jar. Once the button jar gets so full, we will do something fun as a family.

I haven't decided where to hang these buckets yet. Probably in the laundry room somewhere.

I really hope this works.

End of Year Teacher gifts

For the end of the school year, I decided to purchase 8x8 glass pans, use my Silhouette to make a stencil, buy some Armour Etch and make the kids' teachers their own engraved pan! I made the etch on the outside bottom, so that when you look through the dish, it reads properly. I don't have a picture of the final outcome, but it turned out well! I made a batch of brownies in each pan, covered them with foil, used a recipe card to write a note (I used a catchy phrase with "etch" in there, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was!) and tied it on with ribbon.

It really was an easy and fairly cheap gift! In total, the gift cost under $8! Not too shabby!!

Cups galore!

I am soooo tired of having a billion and eight cups on my counter. I have 3 kids that can get their own cups, plus a couple of their friends...so that should be...5? 6? cups max?

Here is a typical view of my kitchen island.




And this is how I solved my issue with Cups Galore!



I got the idea from another blog where they had painted their kids initials on a windowsill (that must have been low), but I just used my Silhouette and some black vinyl. Not too shabby and so far it has cut down on Cups Galore!!

My Disclaimer

Most things I do not come up with on my own. I have some creativity, but not nearly enough that would send me through the dollar store buying random supplies to make a project that would reproduce something I noticed in the Pottery Barn catalog. If I make something that I saw on another blog, I will gladly link to them, giving them the credit! Please, you can think I'm witty, sassy, sarcastic, moody....but creative to the bone I am not. :)

Redoing Reagan's room

Or is it even called "redoing" if I haven't really done anything to it in the first place?? How about "The Doing of Reagan's Room"? That is a much better title. :)

So some sneak peaks at what I actually have done so far. I have a gallon of paint just waiting for me to get some motivation.

Here is a mirror I found at Goodwill for $10!!! I was so stoked when I saw it. Here is what it looked like before.





I used a spray paint primer and then put 2 or 3 coats of glossy white on. I LOVE IT!!!! I took the back off, spray painted the heads of the screws and the hooks white and changed the cardboard. It is so much more refreshed looking.





I have a desk I got on Craigslist for her room. It was a fake whitewashed look, but almost looked like a "I have been in a smoker's home for the last 30 years" look, even though it came from a smoke-free home nor did it smell like smoke. It was just the color of it, ya know?? Here are the before pictures. I am currently in the process of repainting, so no new shots of this one yet.


(huh. You can see three of the projects in one picture! I just noticed that! lol)

Here is a chair I got from my grandma's estate. This picture doesn't quite show how green it was. But with some work, this will be a cute purple chair.



Some other projects I have lined up...

painting dining room



new rug for under table! $20 at IKEA!



photo collage from IKEA frames

High Chair Seat

We have had this high chair...oh, plenty of years now and since I got it second hand, it didn't come with a seat cushion. So I finally got around to making one. I had a pattern already made. A few years ago, I had made one out of wax paper and I came across that pattern the other day. I found some fabric in my stash that my mother-in-law had given me and went to work!


The lines indicate where slits are in the highchair for elastic to hold the cushion onto the seat. They also indicate where the belts are to go. I made slits for the belt at the waist, but not at the shoulders.



I had some felt batting from a previous sewing project. So I used two layers of that and cut out the same pattern.



I layered the fabric with right sides of the green together, then the felt batting. I sewed all the way around, leaving an opening at the middle bottom. Then I turned it right side out and top-stitched all the way around, closing the hole as I did so.



Then I made pseudo button holes for where the elastic goes. I didn't take a picture of these steps, but basically, I cut a small piece (maybe 2.5-3 inches) of elastic and looped it on the back of the pseudo button hole and zig zagged it on. That went on four places. Then I made a real button holes for the waist belt holes.



The final product is not perfect, but I love it and I am happier that Evan has something more cushiony to sit on. Plus now the high chair doesn't look so ghetto. :)

My helper!


Checking out the new cover! I think he approves! Yay!

Test Post!

I decided to start a blog to share the small crafty things I do(copy) or the recipes I make or the pictures I might try to claim as artsy. Now I'm off to make it all pretty! :)