Crayon Monogram!

Okay… so I know there are hundreds, if not thousands of people out there doing crayon monograms right now, but that didn’t stop me from being inspired to make one for Bailey’s room.  What a cheap and easy way to add some playful art to the space!

I pulled out an old shadowbox I had bought at a church yard sale a few months ago for only $3 (the same yard sale I bought the frame for my silhouette project and the metal basket for my flower vase project). 

I hated the color of the wood, but figured a few coats of white gloss spray paint could take care of that problem.  Unfortunately, I was unable to remove the glass, so I covered it with pages out of an old catalog.  I propped it up on a bucket and got to painting.

The white paint turned out beautifully!  Unfortunately, after removing the catalog pages, I realized that I had made a huge mistake.  I forgot to paint the inside of the frame!  So when looking at the nice, white shadowbox all you could see was the dark brown wood around the inside edges... not exactly what I was going for. 

So I pulled out the spray paint again… this time a can of purple… and gave the inside of the frame a couple of quick coats.  I made sure to cover the glass on the inside of the frame and cover the nice glossy white exterior of the frame as well so that they wouldn’t end up purple. 

Once that was done I cut a piece of 10” x 10” scrapbook paper down to 8 1/2” x 11” so that it could be fed into our printer.  Then I went into Microsoft Word and typed a very large B in a font that I liked (600 point Verdana font) to be used as my template for the crayons.  Next I clicked on “Text Effects” and chose “Fill – White, Outline – Accent 1” so that the B would print as an outline instead of a solid letter.

I attached the B template to the shadowbox backing using double-sided tape.

Then I started cutting (make sure you use an old knife that you don’t care too much about or a utility knife!), arranging (I followed the Roy G. Biv method and chose to have them all pointing the same direction … can somebody say OCD?!?), and gluing my crayons into place.

Then I reassembled the shadowbox and ended up with this!

I know it’s too nothing original, but still… Isn’t it fun?  I love the colors!  I especially love the pop of purple on the inside of the frame… talk about a happy accident!

Movin’ On Up…

…to the next class. *sniff, sniff, sniff*

That’s right… my little baby has moved out of the infant room at her day school and is now officially a member of the toddler room.  *sniff, sniff, sniff*

I know what you’re thinking…

“Bailey was still in the infant room?  She has easily been considered a toddler for months now!”

…which is 100% true. 

BUT due to the fact that there weren’t any new babies coming in behind her she had been allowed to stay in the infant room.  Which means that she had had the same teacher (Ms. April) at day school since I first dropped her off at 6 weeks old… over a-year-and-a-half ago. *sniff, sniff, sniff*

(How sweet was she at 6 weeks!)

And April has been a wonderful teacher!  She has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly with Bailey… and she loves my rotten child anyway!  What more could a parent ask for in a teacher!  Thanks for getting my baby off to a good start April!  We love ya’! 

Now it’s Ms. Kim’s turn!  And we’re excited to be starting a new year filled with new friends and new things!  Like going out to play on the playground every day, napping on a mat on the floor, and eating in a little chair at a little table with her class mates. 

I have to admit… I was a little quite nervous about how Bailey would handle the transition.  The thing I was most worried about was the nap time situation.  I fully expected her not to stay put given the new mat-on-the-floor arrangement… especially after the failed attempt to transition her to a toddler bed at home.  But I’m pleased to report that so far she’s handled it very well.  In fact, she seems to be napping better on the mat (for close to 3 hours each day) than she has ever napped before!  I guess she really was ready for a change… which sadly means she’s most definitely not a baby anymore.  *sniff, sniff, sniff*

Children’s Chalkboard Easel

I found this children’s chalkboard easel at the Salvation Army for only $10 and instantly fell in love. 

 

 

 

I had seen similar antique chalkboard easels online (here, here, here, and here) and had always loved them.  Overall, it was in pretty good shape (except for the missing panel across the top) and I knew that with a little spiffing-up it could be perfect for Bailey’s room!

 

So, I started off by cleaning it really well and giving it a few coats of spray paint in a bright, fun color (I know… painting an antique… I am such a rebel). 

 

 

I considered updating the chalkboards with a little chalkboard paint, but decided to instead use it as a painting easel/coloring desk (I have learned to restrict the use of chalk to the outdoors since Bailey tends to make such a mess with it).  Since I didn’t need to save the chalkboard surfaces I was able to let my creativity run free… and boy did I ever!

I instantly thought back to these Childcraft children’s books (1961 editions) that I found while visiting the thrift store run by my childhood church. 

 

 

 

I had fallen in love with the adorable illustrations and just had to have them. I figured that someday I’d find a way to put them to use in Bailey’s room. And for almost a year they’ve sat tucked away in a box just waiting for the perfect project. 

 

So I disassembled the books and decided to decoupage with them (which I had never attempted before, but had always been curious to try)!  I bought a $0.25 scrap piece of mat board at a frame store to replace the panel on the top of the easel.  I covered both sides of it with a collage of pictures and rhymes.

 

 

Then I moved on to the chalkboard surfaces.  I covered both of them just like I did the mat board for the upper panel.  After popping the panel in the top of the easel I took it outside and gave the whole thing two even coats of spray sealer to protect the decoupaged surfaces and make things more wipe-able (you know… in case Bailey drips her finger paints down the front of it).

 

 

 

 

And Bailey LOVED it… I mean she absolutely went bananas over it!

 

 

But the story doesn’t end here.  Unfortunately, the easel wasn’t originally constructed in a time where children’s safety was as big of a concern.  I mean, don’t get me wrong… I’m not an overprotective parent by any stretch of the imagination… but after watching Bailey touch the bottom of the easel only to have the desk fall down and hit her in the arm, I decided that a couple safety features might not be a bad idea.

 

So we added a window latch to the front to keep the desk from falling open if Bailey bumped it too hard.  We also added some hardware to the side that would prevent the entire easel from collapsing if she tried to move it or push it.

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly, we added a couple of small clips to the front (on the painting surface) to hold a piece of paper.

 

 

And voila!  Here’s the finished product! 

 

 

 

And just to refresh your memories here are the befores again.  Crazy difference, huh? 

 

 

 

Talk about an improvement. Any of you out there still think I’m crazy for painting this antique?  Or how about cutting up the book… any of you think I was nuts for doing that?  I’ve gotta admit… it did make my heart a little sad to disassemble the books.  On the up side though… I’ve still got tons of pictures, rhymes, and poems left over for future projects!  And my mind is already racing with ideas for what that next project might be!

Gift Card Flower Pots…

…are a fun gift idea for a teacher or friend.  Which is why I (and another mom from the class) decided to make a couple as a “thank you” to Bailey’s teacher and aid on her last day in the infant room. 
Originally, I got the flower pot idea from my sister (a teacher) who said that this was one of her favorite gifts she had ever received from a student.  So, I figured who better to trust than a teacher when trying to come up with a nice teacher appreciation gift.

So I gathered all of the necessary supplies:

• Flower pots found at any garden or craft store
• Floral foam found at any craft store
• Foam flowers found at Dollar Tree
• Bamboo BBQ skewers
• Brown shredded paper (like the stuff used in gift baskets)
• Tape
• Scissors
• Gift cards

First I attached the gift cards to the foam flowers using tape.

Then I cut out random leafy shapes using the green foam flowers out of the pack.

Next I attached the leaves and the flowers to bamboo skewers (being sure that the pointy end was at the bottom).

After assembling all of my flower I moved on to the pots.  I cut a foam square using a handsaw and placed it inside the empty flower pot.  Once the foam was in place I filled the gaps with crumpled newspaper (to prevent my “dirt” from falling to the bottom).

Then I added brown shredded paper to the top of the pot, making sure to fully cover the newspaper and foam beneath.

Last I added the gift card flowers (making sure that each skewer was pushed securely into the foam).

You can also personalize your gifts by writing a message on the pots with a permanent marker.  I wrote “THANKS for helping us grow” on the front of each one” (but forgot to snap a picture of it).  So there you have it… a super easy and fun thank you idea for your favorite teacher (or anyone else out there you’re looking to thank)!

Let There Be Light… Again!

You may be thinking to yourself, “I thought they already re-did the kitchen lights.”  If you are, then you’re half right.  Back in May Craig did install the recessed and under-cabinet lights in our new kitchen and family room.  But, as was mentioned at the end of that post, we still had to install lights over the peninsula and the kitchen sink.

After a couple of months of looking online, in-stores, and thumbing through several lighting catalogs we finally found some fixtures at Lowe’s that we could both agree on. 

So Craig got to work installing them this past weekend. 

The first step was measuring and cutting the holes for the electric boxes.  Unfortunately, we ran into a few snags trying to do this.  You see… the beam that we installed in the attic to reinforce things after taking down the former wall in the kitchen just so happened to be exactly where we wanted to hang the lights.  Not a huge problem… it just meant that we had to rethink our game plan a bit. 

So instead of moving the placement of our lights Craig decided instead to change the type of electric box that he used.  Instead of the standard ceiling light fixture electric box he used a shallow “pancake” looking box.

Once the boxes were secured in place he pulled the wires through and connected the fixtures.

And in one short afternoon we had three beautiful new lights over the peninsula!

Craig followed the same steps to install the fixture over the kitchen sink as well.  Again, he had to use a pancake box due to the pesky joists in the attic.  And again, we had beautiful results in the end!

Hooray for lights!  Now all that’s left to complete the kitchen is installing the wall oven/microwave combo (yes… we’re still living without an oven… but this time of year it’s pretty easy to make due without one) and installing the trim (which there’s a whole lot of).  Sounds like an easy enough job, right?