3-D Valentines

It's been awhile! I've been preoccupied with repainting the entire upstairs trim and cabinetry a brighter white {it used to be a very, very creamy off white - that's a whole 'nother post!} and helping plan my children's upcoming hockey tournament. It's been chaotic around here, to say the least! But with Valentine's Day only days away, I simply had to make some time to work with my kiddos on some special Valentines for their friends and classmates.

It's deemed by many as "Just another Hallmark holiday," but in this house, we ♥ Valentine's Day! When it came time to start thinking about making our Valentines, I knew I wanted them to be personalized, special, and fun, and the kids wanted to share a sweet treat with their best buddies. {Best buddies/future spouses?? Greta has narrowed her husband down to two boys in her kindergarten class - yikes!} I remembered seeing a special 3-D card idea once upon a time, so I ran it by the kids and got their approval.

I started with hanging a large piece of lovey dovey Valentine's Day fabric, and snapped a few pictures of each kid. Here's the key: I had Greta and Charlie pose extending an arm as though they were reaching it out and handing me something. Actually, to make it easier, I had them hold a pencil in the hand they extended to make it easier for a later step in the card making process. Here's what we started with:

For the second step, I uploaded the pics to Walmart's handy dandy photo center and ordered enough Valentine's Day photo greeting cards for each kid's class. You could easily make your own cards if you're feeling extra crafty, but I already told you about life being consumed with painting and hockey; I opted for Walmart's version to make it easier on myself. And don't worry - there's plenty more craftiness in the next steps! The kids knew they wanted to give their friends suckers along with their special cards, so I picked up 50 Valentine's Tootsie Pops at Walmart along with the greeting cards. This is what our Walmart Valentines looked like:

Next, Greta and Charlie set to work writing their friends' names on some simple tags that we made from card stock, and I gathered my paper punch, the suckers, and ribbon.

Remember the pencil I had each kid hold for their pictures? I punched the pencil away with the paper punch {one punch above their fists and one below} and slid the sucker right through.

Ta-Da! It looks like Greta is handing you a sucker!

When the kids were done with writing on their tags, I punched a single hole through each tag and tied them to the suckers with ribbon.

After a finishing touch of some raffia ribbon around each sucker, the Valentines were complete.



The kids had a blast making their cards and can't wait to hand them out on Valentine's Day. And if you're not so keen on loading your kids' friends up with extra sugar, pencils would be perfect for the cards, too. All in all, we were a bunch of happy crafters!

Trash to Treasure

This is Charlie.

Charlie loves sports. He loves hockey, baseball, soccer, bowling, football, and golf. If it involves running, skating, a ball, a puck, throwing, kicking, shooting, passing, and scoring, Charlie is game. So high up on Charlie's list of most favorites are his soccer balls, footballs, hockey pucks, and baseballs. The problem was, where do we put them?

You know by now how I feel about plastic storage; I wasn't about to go that route. I needed something to keep all of our balls in one place and free from rolling everywhere. And it had to be an attractive solution because, why not? Charlie is crazy about sports, so why not make this storage solution work with his bedroom? I shopped the house {actually, I shopped our storage shed}, and happened upon this beauty:

A metal trash can - perfect! And free! I just gave this stud a quick cleaning and popped it into Charlie's room. Guess what? It's great!

Easy access to hours of fun, and quick clean up, too.

I could spray paint the can black or red or any color under the sun. Or I could paint it with chalkboard paint so Charlie could add his own artwork to it. I could make a little sign out of inexpensive wood and twine and lable it "SPORTS" or "PLAY BALL" or some other witty combination of words. But for now, I like the trash can as it is. And Charlie is ready for some soccer, and football, and basketball, and, well, you get the point.

Stay tuned for more peeks at Charlie's room. Big changes are underway, and I can't wait to share them with you!

Stowing Your Stuff With Style

It happens all the time. People complain, "I don't have a good system for storing _______" and "I'm tired of seeing all of the _______ all over the place." You fill in the blanks. We all have stuff to store, whether it's photos, crafting supplies, dog treats, DVDs, Tommy's toys - you name it. The challenge is not only finding a place to store your stuff but also to do it with style. Like Oprah says, "Your home should rise up to meet you" - I believe that pertains to every aspect of your home, storage systems and all.

One of the most common storage solutions is plastic stacking bins, like this one from Target.

Although the price is great and the drawers do keep items separate and contained, it's not the most attractive solution.

A lot of parents have turned to toy organizers like this option from Target.

The 12-bin organizer does allow for storage, but again, it's not the greatest looking item in your home. Not to mention, I hear moms and dads complain all the time about how it's way more fun for their little tykes to take each bin, one at a time, and dump them onto the floor. Nice try, Target.

Enter Ikea. Ikea's take on storage is a line they've dubbed Trofast, and it's a better version of the 12-bin organizing system from Target. Some people love the Trofast system. Admittedly, Ikea has done a good job with providing several pieces, allowing customers to mix and match for their individual space. However, the bins are still plastic and buying several components can be pricey.

The Trofast system does work for some {and I have seen people make it work in attractive ways}, but it still wasn't up my alley.

So having four kids with toys forced me to be creative with storage. And while it seems there are plenty of {plastic!} systems available, none of them scream "Lovely!" to me. Making your home beautiful often requires thinking outside of the box, but in this case it turns out that a box is exactly what I needed to be thinking of. Are you ready for my grand solution? It's something we all have and something available for not a lot of money {if you shop wisely}. Ta-Da! It's the dresser.

Sure, it holds clothes, but why stop there? Lots of sturdy drawers provide a great way to store your toys, photos, crafts, you fill in the blank. And no plastic! And it's a paintable option! I could go on and on. Maybe the best part is that it's cheap - much cheaper than some of the plastic options. Dressers are readily available at yard sales and secondhand shops. Every time I stop at Goodwill I peruse the furniture section, and there are usually dressers available for $50 or less. In fact, I wouldn't pay more than $50 or $60 for a dresser. The dresser we keep in Charlie's room came from my childhood bedroom. It was originally stained oak {which you all know I'm so fond of}. Since it came to live at our house, the dresser has been painted white, blue, and now red. It doesn't matter what state the finish is in. As long as it's sturdy, it'll work. And it's easy to change the appearance. The outside can be painted and the knobs replaced for less than the cost of buying all those plastic Trofast tubs. But enough rambling; let me show you how I've used a dresser in Charlie's room to keep his toys together.

One drawer holds Charlie's mega collection of Tinker Toys {probably the best toy we've ever bought}.

Trains and tracks sit in another drawer.

Our Quadrilla marble run takes up two drawers, tracks in one
and chutes and marbles stay in another.

Automoblox cars and their pieces are kept in a different drawer.

Everything is tucked away but still easily accessable. Charlie {and unfortunately for him, each one of his sisters} knows where each toy collection goes and can grab whatever he wants to play with and return it to its spot with ease.

A dresser or chest of drawers would look lovely in a living room or that right spot in the kitchen or bathroom, as well. Sturdy drawers that a dresser provides are perfect for DVDs, pictures, crafts, sewing fabric, kids' art supplies, etc.

If you still aren't convinced of the wonders of the dresser, let me leave you with this. When you walk into your kid's room, which of these would you rather be met with:


Plastic Containers in the Primary Colors Selection



or Real Furniture?


Do I even have to ask?

Your Favorite Artist

My kids are constantly begging to paint {who do they get that from?}. And it's a pain to get out the paints, the brushes, the paper, the cups of water, the old shirts, and so on, so usually I try to think of something less time consuming and messy {Why don't you go collect rocks? Lots of them.}. But who am I to deprive my own children of such a gratifying experience, especially when I needed something to fill the empty space on the top of the entertainment center in our family room? Genius!

The nearest Michaels is about 35 minutes away, and it was worth the special trip to pick up four 18x24 inch blank canvases and some extra paint brushes. Paint was not on my shopping list. I don't know what kind of paint artists usually use on canvas, but my artists were going to use house paint because 1. We have tons, and 2. The colors they'd be using were colors used throughout the house - instant match!

Oh how happy were the kids when I announced our new project. I set out five or six brushes and bowls of paint and gave each kid a canvas. My only stipulation was that I wanted the entire canvas covered - no white patches please!



Pure joy!





Look at the texture in this piece!

The finished product? Happy mom and happy kids and happy wall space!

So for less than a total of $30, I have three pieces of original artwork. And, yes, I did say I picked up four canvases. One is tucked away, waiting for the day Louisa says, "I want to paint something."