MY LITTLE BOXTROLLS...

Have y'all seen this movie???

Well we have!  And the very first time we saw the previews for it, the boys thought BoxTrolls would make great Halloween costumes.  And I was ALL FOR IT - Cheap and Easy!!!

So on one of my days off, a few weeks ago, I started working on costumes for my own Fish and Shoe.

                                                   

Introducing Fish & Shoe...

We still have all the boxes from when we moved last year, so it was just a matter of finding the right size, which luckily I did.  

For their bodies, I bought them each a pair of grey long johns.  For their ears, I used some left over headbands from my Princess Lea hair buns and covered them with duct tape, sculpting some ears as I went.

The flaps kept wanting to pop open, so I punched some holes and stitched them together.

In the movie, Shoe LOVED eating bugs!  He would put so many in his mouth at one time, that a few would always escape and crawl up his face.  So of course, I had to mimic that with my Shoe's facial artwork.

Fish & Shoe / Shoe & Fish

All ready for Trick-or-Treating!!

It was a very successful night of Trick-or-Treating!  Shoe's first treat was a blue sucker.

I took this last image with my cell phone.  It was rare that one of my children were first to the door.  When I saw this empty porch, with it's light on, I told my youngest to hurry up and go ring the bell...

This photo evokes such Emotion and Nostalgia for me.  It reminds me of my Trick-or-Treat  childhood memories, and it completely makes all the Romantic Dreams come true that I've always had for my own children - a small child, in a handmade costume, ringing the bell and waiting to say... "Trick-or-Treat!!"

Hope y'all had a wonderful Halloween!!

FURNITURE MAKEOVER...

For about a year now, I have been (not very hard) looking for a dresser that I could redo and put it to use as a console under our TV in the B.A.R. (Big Ass Room).  Then last month, I finally found one.  I was driving by a yard sale, caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye, slammed the brakes on (not really), and turned around to go check it out.  And how excited was I when it was only $30!!

Well this weekend, we finally finished it...

It was in pretty good shape but did need a little work.  This is the hubbs cutting out some material for a new shelf.

We added a new top (the old one was warped from water damage), added the shelf to replace the two top drawers, and then patched the holes in the drawer fronts where I removed the original American Colonial brass pull.

Everyone suggested I use Annie Sloan Chalk paint, but with all the work that I knew needed to be done, I didn't see the point in paying for a product that would save me two steps I would have to do anyway.  So I used Valspar Paint/Primer, Filoli Garden Pool in a Satin finish.  The color being inspired by the rug we have in the room.

The thing I had the hardest time finding, were the baskets for the new shelf.  I really wanted wicker, but since I had such a specific size that was needed, it was nearly impossible to find anything.  Then I got lucky one day at Target.  The baskets are plastic, but they are the EXACT size I wanted, and I think their woven pattern is interesting.

My absolute favorite part of the new transformation are the drawer boxes.  I saw this idea on Pinterest, and knew I wanted to execute it with this project.  I found this Amazing handmade wrapping paper at World Market - the colors and pattern were Perfect!  Just a little Mod Podge, and Voila - a little unexpected beauty.

I also painted the top edge of the drawer boxes in a coordinating chartreuse green - just that extra little detail makes all the difference.

I had originally thought I wanted a 6' dresser, but this one ended up being 5', and it fits perfect in the space.

Quite the transformation don't you think?

Now to figure out what to put in all the drawers and baskets.

BACK TO SCHOOL...

So my boys have been back in school now for a month - we start mid August, and I've done a couple of Back to School projects.

The first being a couple of cute "Pencils" for their teachers.  These are the cute little Rolo candy pencils that are all over Pinterest.

The boys informed me that their teachers loved them.

Second, is what I threw together for my oldest son's birthday, which was last week.  This year, our public schools have now made the rule that any birthday treats that are brought to school to be shared with classmates, must be STORE BOUGHT!  BOO!!  I understand the reasoning behind it, because of all the food allergies that so many children seem to have nowadays, but still... I like making things.  It makes me sad :(

But I still found a way to make something.  I scoured the Internet and found quite a bit of inspiration that were non-food ideas.  This is what I ended up doing.

Cause all kids love Curly Straws.

NEW COMMAND CENTER

For some time, I have been wanting a Command Center.  Since my boys are now both going to be in school all day every day, and they are becoming more involved in separate extra curricular activities, I thought now would be the time - shortly before the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year.

This is what I had last year.  It worked, but each "day" space was small - I sometimes had a hard time fitting everything in.

I definitely needed something bigger - and thats what I got...

My New and Improved, Bigger and Better - Command Center

It's located in our kitchen on the wall that leads in from our side entrance.  A wall that isn't really good for anything since it's in a high traffic pathway.

I loved all the ones I had seen on Pinterest using the large chalkboards, but since the walls in our kitchen are paneled, I didn't think the chalkboard would look right.  So I thought Dry Erase instead.  My original idea was to get 42 4x6 frames - one for each day, plus the SMTWTFS labels.  Even at Dollar Tree, that was getting expensive.  Then I realized I could use 8x10 frames, and get four days per frame.  I would only need 12 frames that way - way cheaper.  How excited was I when I got to Dollar Tree yesterday and found these 9x9 Square frames?

I then headed to Hobby Lobby and got the coordinating gingham check and chevron patterned papers.

I knew I would have space to the right of the calendar due to the light switch being there, so of course it had to be filled.  

I wanted something to be able to put appointment cards on, so while I was at the Dollar Tree, I also got a metal, electric stove, burner cover.  I painted the edges black, Mod-Podged some leftover paper on the face, and had gotten a few magnets - and voila a Magnet Board for my Appointment Cards.  That cute little plaque at the top that says "Appts." is also a magnet, and it's a chalkboard.  I got it at Target - love it!!

From all the Command Centers I saw on Pinterest, the one feature that I knew I really needed was something to corral all the boy's paperwork from school.  All last year, those papers kept getting lost and forgotten on my desk - I needed somewhere for them to go.
Hence the clipboards... These two items were the most expensive part of the project.  I found them at Staples and they were $5 a piece.  I could have saved six bucks and just got brown masonite ones, but I really wanted clear ones.  But one thing I didn't like about them was the Staples logo stamped into the metal clip - so I covered the logos up with little initial plaques.  And just in case I forgot what my little men look like, I hung little photos of them.

When I was at Hobby Lobby getting the paper, of course I had to wander around.  Because seriously, you can't go into Hobby Lobby for just one thing - right?  During my wandering, I ran across the "Bless our Home" metal sign - and it was 50% off.  So it came home with me.  It's the perfect finishing piece, don't you think?

I Love my new Command Center, and look forward to putting it to good use!!

Did I mention that I LOOOOVE it?  Oh yeah, I Love my new Command Center!!!!

FATHER'S DAY 2014

This year for Father's Day, we decided to get a little crafty.  Ever since I started my addiction to Pinterest, I have been seeing "Sharpie" art on Coffee Mugs, so I thought this would be the perfect time to give it a try.

First, I found these fabulous mugs at Walmart.  From everything I read, cheap mugs work best.

Then after gathering my collection of Sharpies, I let the boys go to town - using their creativity and imagination.

We completed the artwork on a Thursday, and then did the baking the following Monday (had to wait for days that Daddy wasn't home).  Which worked out great, because the tutorials I had read said to wait at least 24 hours before putting them in the oven.

Here are the completed mugs (before baking).

*Note:  After the baking process, the colors did fade.  Everything done in black was fine, the colors - not so much.

Then this is how we packaged them.  

I had seen this idea, but with a necktie.  Well, their daddy doesn't wear neckties, he wears bow ties - so that's what we did!  And then, I had to add buttons, of course.

Daddy LOVED his new Special Coffee Mugs from his boys!!

These are the tips that I followed for this project.

ROAD TRIP!!!!!

Back in April, for Spring Break, we road tripped to New Orleans to visit my husband's family.  We hadn't been there in four years, so the idea of being in the car, for LONG hours, with my now 4 and 6 year old boys was FRIGHTENING!!  I knew this time, I HAD. TO. BE. PREPARED!!!!

So, I visited Pinterest, a lot.  I got lots of good advice, and lots of good ideas.  From all that information and inspiration, this is what I put together for MY survival.

First, we ordered two Kindle Fire's, and set up Kindle Free Time on both of them.  These are the first electronic devices we've allowed the boys to have, and I wanted them as Back-Up for when everything else got "old".  And I will say, on the way down to NOLA, they were on them very little.  On the way back home, they were on them more.  Mostly because, rather than doing the trip in two days (like we did on the way down), we really pushed them, and did the entire trip in ONE day - 15 HOURS!!  They did awesome!

Second, I made a "Busy Box".  This box was made to hold all the little goodies I collected for them to keep them entertained - and it sat on the seat between their booster seats.

I made it using an Eggo Waffle box (big one from Sam's Club).  I then created a divider for the middle using a piece of cardboard, held in place with duct tape.  Then I covered the entire thing with some fabric I had on hand - using spray adhesive.  And just to jazz it up a little more, I cut out, using my Cricut, the saying "Are We There Yet?", and glued it to the front.

In addition to the Busy Box, I also made two Lap Desks.  

I found two dry-erase boards at Walmart on clearance for $2 each.  To create the padded bottom, I used a piece of cardboard, and a piece of scrap fabric.  I wrapped the fabric loosely around the cardboard and stuffed it with plastic grocery bags.  Once I had it stuffed to my liking, I glued the fabric to the cardboard, then glued the cardboard to the underside of the dry-erase board - all with spray adhesive.

I also made sure they both had neck pillows for when they napped.  

Note, these were never used (while napping).  They are just too big for the napper to be comfortable when using them while sitting in a full back booster seat.

Now for the "Goodies" in the Busy Box...

I bought two clipboards so they would each have an additional hard surface for writing on.

On these clipboards, I placed a map of the United States, and highlighted the route of our trip.

I also bought two folders, a bunch of pencils, Post-Its, and fun little erasers.

Inside the folder, I placed a bunch of fun Car Games that they could play.  To be honest, we really never played any of them - I think because the boys are both still too young.  When we make this trip again in a couple of years, these games, I'm sure, will provide hours of entertainment - well maybe not "hours", but more than they did on this trip.

I also had, for each boy, a notebook, pipe-cleaners, new box of crayons, new coloring book, stickers, new sunglasses, and a couple of little toys.

The notebook, along with the next item probably entertained them the most.  They really enjoyed drawing and writing and placing stickers in them.

Another thing I made, were these cute Coloring Cases.

Using a couple of old DVD cases, and following the instructions found here, I created these kits so they could have fun with their drawing.

Another great idea (or so I thought) that I found, was using plastic shower containers hung on the windows.

These were to be used so they could put their toys or pencils or crayons or whatever in them, to hopefully help them from dropping things on the floor.  And yes, they did work for that.  The problem was, when my husband would check for traffic when changing lanes, he would see them in his peripheral and think it was a car.  So we ended up taking them down, so he could safely drive.

Now this last thing... was the BEST one I did - a Trip Timeline.

A piece of clothesline, that had 15 equally spaced tic-marks across it's width, was tied across the ceiling in the back seat.  Then I had two clothes-pins - one with a car on it and one with a house on it (to mark the destination).  The idea being that every hour of the trip, the "Car" got moved one tic-mark.  The boys LOVED this!!!  And I SWEAR, it did seem to make the trip go by FASTER!!

ALL of my preparation, did make for a Very Smooth trip, and MY survival.

I had two Happy Little Travelers!!

Go here to visit the Pinterest board where I pinned all the inspiration for this post.