Tie-Dyed Stationery

Well, it's Kid Craft week over at The CSI Project!  What a great time to showcase kids savoring the last few days of summer vacation with some cRafTY fUn!!! 

Daughter A had the opportunity to nanny 3 days/week this summer for a great family with 2 kids!  Being older *11 & 13* they are pretty self-sufficient but benefitted from having a few days where they had a referee, chauffer, nutritionist, mentor & cheerleader.  At the beginning of the summer they brainstormed ideas for what they'd like to do during the course of the summer.  One of the things they wanted to do were some crafts.  So, daughter A happily obliged and one rainy day they had some fun tie-dying stationery! *with lots of pretty colors for 'her' and with just the right amount of messiness for 'him', as A put it*  : )

You start with a modest mound of shaving cream on a moisture resistant paper plate.

Add a few drops of food coloring...

Using a plastic knife, gently swirl the colors into a rainbow.

Place an index card on top of the colored fluff and push down ever so gently.

Using the flat side of your mixing knife, scrape excess cream back onto the plate and set the card aside to dry.

Add new colors & more cream as needed to prolong the fun! : )

No two cards will be the same!

Just look at how much fun the kiddos had!!

Don't freak - this pic was taken pre-washing!

*caution: their hands did remain a little tinted even after washing*

But now look at what they created!

Click to enlarge for more detail.

The kids were happy because they each got their own plate and mixed their own colors and they stayed engaged for a good long time!  They loved this project so much they asked to do it again. 

Daughter A was happy because clean up was easy - it all went in the trash!

Mrs. D was happy because on the next sunny day the sneaky babysitter had the kids write *so very sneaky! : ) * little friendly notes to the neighbors and popped the postcards in the mailbox as a random act of kindness!  You could definitely jazz these up by framing them out with a piece of cardstock & adding ribbon... buuut you'd probably lose the 13 yr old boy's attention at that point!
Now tell me, WHO wouldn't smile if surprised with one of these?
And the kids were smiling thinking about the neighbors smiling!! Win-Win
Who says kids are lazy good.for.nothin's?!!  These kids know how to Pay It Forward!!


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Blessings!

From the Beach

Everyone needs a break from reality now and again.

Don'tcha just LOVE it when the biggest decision of the day is simply whether to get in the pool or go to the beach?!  Aaaaah - Yes, life's been tough...

I actually entertained thoughts of doing a beach post since we got together with my brother's family and my parents at a beach house in Michigan this last week.

I had some beachy/rainy day crafts prepared but got side tracked by the splash contests & outlet shopping.  Of course, those poolside & beach side naps were wonderful diversions.  Watching the sunset while sipping a  bottle of wine was all-consuming.  And toasting s'mores by the fire was sticky fun!  Our peach picking excursion resulted in a peach crisp for dessert  *including an ice cream run* & some yummy peach salsa - we did lots of eating... lots & lots of eating... oh.my.goodness there was TOO much eating...

 So, I'll only share my chubby piggies and spare you the unpleasant swim suit view!!

Perhaps it's safer sticking to scenery : )

Then suddenly it was time to pack up to come home & I had to make a mad dash to the beach on our last sunny morning to capture some parting shots.  My camera was on vacation too & didn't get to see too much action!  But sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered : )

Vacations are relaxing and fun, but it's good to be home *even though the car seemed to throw up beach everywhere* Now it's time to get down to business - Back.to.School Time!!

Blessings!

Wordless Wednesday {sUMmEr shOwER}

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Wordless Wednesday {cHicaGO}

(click photos to enlarge)

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Miscellany Monday

*1*  When you see this are you a glass is half full or half empty kinda person?

This happened to our car on our way to visit my parents in Chicago last Wednesday.  A large object flew outta nowhere and clocked the car pretty good.  But I consider this my moment of grace!  If we had passed that point one second later the object probably would have smashed the windshield - but one second sooner it could have hit in front of the car and gotten tangled up underneath causing untold damage.  Either way that would have been the end of our trip.  As it is, although it's now an insurance claim with an undesirable deductible, the damage is cosmetic and we continued with our activities.  We feel blessed!

*2*  While we were in Chicago there was a huge storm that produced a tremendous amount of rain.  I-290 was shut down due to flooding, SR 83 was shut down due to flooding... my parents basement flooded.  It could have been worse, their basement could have been finished!  The sump went out.  The good news is Handy Hubby : ) & I were there to help clean up.  HH wasn't originally going to go with us.  He took vacation days at the last minute.  He replaced their sump, bought shelving to get all the stuff off the basement floor, hauled out all kinds of wet & nasty stuff, pulled wiring, installed a ceiling fan upstairs...  Needless to say, my parents felt blessed! *me too!!*

*3*  Daughter S has been plotting to see old friends from Wisconsin *our previous home state* but it hasn't panned out... until Friday when I talked to my old neighbor while we were on the train heading into Chicago and worked out a plan.  It couldn't have worked out better if we had tried to pre-plan this!!  Daughter S feels blessed!

*4*  I had an unexpected lunch date with Handy Hubby : ) on a beautiful Friday!  This was my view from lunch

I am literally 5 ft from the Chicago River!! From our tree-shaded table we could see the Hancock Building, the Chicago Tribune tower & the architectural boat tours.  It was absolutely delightful!!  *ok this one can be nothing but cup.runneth.over : ) *

*5*  We returned home unharmed (after nearly being run off the road by a crazy & hitting a bird)!  I would say we were a total Cr@p Magnet on this road trip but we can't help but feel blessed!!  We're safe.

*6*  It's good to be home - and I was sooo relieved that my basement wasn't flooded!  That one would have been a half.empty moment!! : /

Have yourself a blessed & random Monday : )
Share your randoms *HERE*

MLE

Tales of a Desk

What I'm about to share with you all is not a big deal compared to the level of Fabulousness that happens here in Blogland, but in my little world it may be one of the bigger projects I've attempted by myself.  I have reservations about delving into projects that involve large, bigger ticket items and altering them to the point of no return!! *terrifying*

This desk was handed down by my MIL.  We love it because it's solid and it's simple but pretty, although it's seen better days.

We have inherited several pieces that have all been well loved & we're starting to look a little like the Clampett's.

The desk was missing some handles, as you can see.  On the right, you had to open the drawer below the missing handle-drawer, reach in and pull the drawer with the missing handle open from below.  I finally made the executive decision to go ahead and try to glam this little baby up just a little.  Who doesn't feel better in a cute, new outfit?!

Daughter A currently uses the desk and she's been going for a vintage Parisian feel in her space.  The colors in her room are green, black & off-white.  She has a black reading chair in the corner, a black headboard, a black distressed coffee table & and a rather large room.  So I thought her room could support another black element.  To go with the black coffee table I thought I'd distress the desk too.  Then I saw what Susie at Blue Artichoke Interiors did with her porch side table & paint and I wanted to do that.  And then I saw what Brooke at The Crafting Chicks did with her stool & fabric and I wanted to do that. 

The second I saw this roll of wrapping paper at Target for ~ $3 I knew I would still borrow *steal*  their ideas as inspiration but apply it in my more frugal way.

Now I know you're probably thinking that a papered desk top may not be the best idea for writing purposes but thankfully the desk came with a glass topper so it would smooth out all of my papering sins!  And sins there were! I've never Mod Podged that large a sheet of paper before so there was definitely a learning curve involved!! *air pockets, wrinkles, Grrrr*  That's ok! It's all going under the glass : )

I sealed the whole desk from top to bottom with an acrylic spray. 

I knew I wanted clear, plastic drawer pulls & was hoping I could get a whole pack of them at Target.  I was shocked at the price - 4 for $15.  Count the drawers, My Friends - 9!!!  Always in search of a better deal, I went to all the big box stores in town, ebay & other on-line haunts.  Sadly, I ended up back at Target and bought 3 boxes.  It was just the bling the desk needed *each and every drawer got it's very own pull too!*  This was not the thriftiest makeover but we do love.Love.LOVE it!!

It is the opinion of some that the desk could use a little more distressing.  I'm sure the desk will come by that honestly.  And Daughter A has assured us that much productive studiousness will be taking place here senior year *like college & scholarship apps*  Grades are $$$$ & Baby needs some $ for school! It's just...

With the rest of the roll of wrapping paper I lined the drawers.  

With the 3 remaining pulls Handy Hubby : ) is going to help fashion a board with the pulls to be used as hooks.  I may or may not even try to Mod Podge the paper to the top of the coffee table...

Watch out all you horizontal surfaces!  I've got Mod Podge & wrapping paper and I'm not afraid to use it anymore!!






Blessings!
MLE

*I'm trying something new to declutter my posts*
Linking to some great parties *HERE* also.  Check them out - you'll be so inspired!
 

A Tisket A Tasket A Hand-Woven Basket

Maybe this is showing my age but why is it that when people talked about blow-off classes in college the example was always Underwater Basket Weaving?  Because I've attempted to weave baskets on dry land and it's really not that simple!  Is it super easy under water?!

I had the opportunity to get together with some of the neighborhood ladies a while ago and learn to weave baskets.  *Ok! you can laugh. It makes me giggle just saying it*  There was a local artist who welcomed us into her home once a week and taught us the art of basket weaving.  The best parts were making the mess somewhere else : ) and getting to chat while we created.

Here is the first basket I tried:

I applied zero technique.  I was merely trying to follow the procedure.  This one I've named 'Peanut' for it's shape.  When it's out it usually holds remotes.

Then I made a Christmas basket which turned out better:

When it's out it usually holds remotes.

 To move away from the ovular shape I did a wine basket.  It's still unfinished because it's cool but I don't know what to do with it - it's too tall and narrow to hold remotes!  Suggestions?

And my favorite and most elaborate basket that I made was the flower basket:

It held remotes but Handy Hubby : ) doesn't like having to navigate the handles to get them out.  It currently holds my palms from Lent.

Learning to weave was a fun & an out.of.the.ordinary experience.  I'm glad I tried it, but I gotta tell ya, it is truly sooooo much cheaper to just buy the dumb things with my 40% off coupon!! 

I made these long before blogging so I couldn't even begin to explain the process to you at all - poor retention...mmm, sorta like college.  Oh, hey!  I think I get it now - Maybe what happens under water stays under water!  Easy!

Blessings!
MLE

*I'm trying something new to declutter my posts*
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