Picture Frame Turned Cork Board {Part 1}

I'm from a small town. A small town with a lot of mom and pop shops that I have never visited. I have lived in this area for over 20 years. Shame on me!
Finally, a couple of months ago my sister-in-law, Gigi, and I took an afternoon and started at the edge of town and went down Main St. stopping at every small shop that caught our eye.
I came home with a couple of prizes {ex: large, teal pyrex in mint condition}...

"ain't she pretty?!"

and new found appreciation for small shops.

By the way, I visited a yarn shop not two minutes from my house and though the prices are higher, the selection is amazing, boasting yarn made here in town all the way to yarn from Italy}, and the quality is way beyond what I can find at the big box craft stores around here. Yay for local! 

{But that's another story all together!}

BACK TO THE POINT... 

I also found a lovely shop that sells unique frames!
I have loved interesting picture frames since as far back as I can remember but I've discovered that 1. they are nearly impossible to find and 2. once you find them, they're often pricey.
Boo.
This shop had them on sale for 50% at prices I considered buy-worthy so I snagged these two

Back this summer I visited my favorite cousin ever and saw in her mudroom area that she had a cork board full of pictures of family and friends. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted one so I have been on a hunt for a good frame just for that and that's precisely what I did... 

Step 1. Wash well to remove dust and oils. There are special cleaners for things like that but I used good ol' soap, water, and lysol wipes.
Step 2. prime and paint. I used a white spray paint to start.

Step 3. Do not... I repeat, DO NOT... spray paint anything pink anywhere near your frame!! If you look closely to the photo above you'll see that I did not heed that advice and after three coats of white it continued to show through. I embraced it... mostly because I had no choice and figured it would add charm.
Step 4. Once it has completely dried, rally your paints and a medium bristled paint brush for some easy aging...

 

I found that using just one color gave the finish a "chunky", stark look so I gently mixed these two to get a more random finish. I added a little water in some spots as I brushed it on to keep the effect patchy and let the paint sit for just a minute or two. 

Step 5. Using a wet microfiber cloth, I wipes off the excess paint. In some spots the paint stuck nicely into the grooves, in others it just wiped away so I used the cloth to wipe more or less of as I liked. I also over-cleaned in some places and went back with another round of paint and let it sit longer. This step is is very versatile and open to creativity. Since you're washing it off, it's difficult to mess this up. 

Step 6. Let dry and hang. 

This is a temporary hanging for me because I'm going to make this a cork board soon to pin  the pictures up. For now, this is what I've got and even with the pink, I lurv it!

Heart Garland

It's Valentine's season!
I normally skip this holiday all together but decided that this year it was going to be my chance to break up the middle of the so-called-winter we've had around here. It's been a confusingly warm, dead grass and no snow kind of winter so in our house it's Valentine's Season not just Day. 
We started off with crispy rice treats and then I spent some time working on heart some decor...

baking twine - red construction paper - a large sewing needle

Cut the paper into strips. I did varying lengths so it wasn't all uniform. Fold the strips in half and curl the ends in to form a heart. You can staple the pieces at this point if you'd like but I found that the effect was the same. Run the needle through the heart. 

If you want your hearts to stay upright on the string then puncture the needle through closer to the top of the heart. If you do it too low the heart will flip upside down.

Have a great weekend!

About Miss Mak...

My dear baby girl is many things...
helpful...

 

moody...

sweet...

 inquisitive...

 silly...

adorable...

and, seemingly, above all...
A TEASE!
Take, for instance, the other night when the kids and I were painting.
When I tried to get Mak to take a picture this is what I got.

Dramatic "no wanna" tears.
Enter big brother CJ.

 

No better.
Enter Mak's realization that she can tease said big brother by attacking him with a paint brush...
please note her response.

Why do I feel like Hubs and I are in for it with this one?

{Sigh}

Another day in the life...

 

Hey, this could have been WAY worse!

Activity for 2 Year Olds

Since CJ has preschool Tuesday and Thursday mornings I have found that I have some extra time with Miss Mak. Whereas my instincts tell me that Sesame Street is the perfect cure, I hate the idea of plopping little Miss in front of the TV when there's so many fun things to try. So...
I found this idea at Sugar and Spice and gave it a go...

It was a chance for Mak to "fine tune" some her of fine motor skills and she seemed to enjoy it. I assume that's because it meant she could eat AND play.

 

 

That's always a winner in our house!

If you've got modeling clay, a wooden skewer, and some Cheerio style snack, you're good to go! 

That Bathtime Glow!

Once again, Pinterest has served us well.
I found this post at Play At Home Mom and thought it looked like all kinds of crazy fun.
It just so happens that Target has had loads of these in their dollar section around here so I snagged up a few and gave it a shot when CJ had his friend, D, over last week.

Conclusion: super cheap super fun! The boys took a 45 minute bath. The water was cold by the time they finally gave up.

{My one recommendation... if you have a kiddo who can't seem to keep things out of their mouths, stay with them or have a serious talk about how that's not an acceptable way of playing with them. Just a thought.}

{pix credit}

A Poem. Not by me. I wouldn't do that to you. Or would I?

My sister shared this with me last night.
When I looked it up on YouTube.com I saw that there was several other versions of this made in, what I assume to be, response to this poem. I watched them and take issue with much of their content but the point is that I like this one. It is not complete, but it is concise and I appreciate the spirit of it.

Tell me what you think.

I Have Visitors!

I've neglected you again.
But this time, with good reason.
I have a visitor!

...well three, really...

All the way from Tennessee!
We've been having lots of fun

 

 

 

 

and are working on a post to share soon.
I'll give you a hint...
She's originally from Louisiana and it's almost Mardi Gras.

Stay Warm!

Painted

Every so often the kiddos get antsy and I decide that it's time for them to get creative instead.
Out come the finger paints and water colors, crayons and paper.

Dangerous? Maybe.
Worthwhile? You bet!
Normally I hand the kids the supplies and clean the house, fold laundry, rest on the couch, etc...
It struck me recently that if I value creativity so much, why am I not taking the time to create with my kids... so this time I sat down with them.
I was lacking inspiration beyond the usual train, truck, cow, loader, that CJ asks me to draw for him.
Instead, I turned to my greatest source of current inspiration... Pinterest.

I've saved plenty of signs that I'd like to see placed around the house ... I particularly love this one that I first saw at Whatever...

Some of the sayings I found are easy to duplicate using Picnik but I found that some were rather simple to do while playing with my kids using their craft supplies...

 original

 original

original

These are certainly not exact duplicates but I figure that slapping frame around these craft paper, permenant marker, water color images will do the trick for us.
So rather than saving up for pricey pictures, give DIY a shot.
Frame it
and hang it proudly.
Seriously, who's gonna know?