Happy 5th Birthday Little Prince!

My little guy is FIVE!!! Wow, where DID the time go??? He's such a cool kid and I enjoy making his birthday as special as I possibly can. This year I decided that he wouldn't have the large birthday party that he's had in the past but instead something a little more intimate. He was only told that we were inviting his buddy Jack and his family over for cake, which I think bothered him on some level because he kept asking why we weren't having a party in our backyard {oh sweetie, there will be something in the backyard I'm just not telling you about it (snicker)}.

A few months back he asked if he could go camping. Seriously kid, have you met me?? I only like nature from my window, not being out in it! But the request gave me an idea. Why not offer him a simple "camping" experience for his birthday. So I set out to put together an awesome camping adventure and I'm happy to say I succeeded.








Are you wondering about the shark cake and how that ties into a 'camping' theme? He decided that he just didn't want cupcakes for his birthday this year {I knew it would come to an end sooner or later (smile)} and asked me to make him a shark cake. Once again, have you met me? I know that I craft but I have absolutely no baking skills outside of the "unwanted cupcakes" I usually make, so my good friend has a neighbor who is amazing in a kitchen with a cake pan and she graciously fit me into her busy schedule to create this for my little guy -- she did an awesome job.

Happy Birthday our sweet prince ~ Mommy and Daddy love you!!

Photo Block

Pictures, pictures, everywhere! After finishing the collage art frame (here), it was time to work on another photo project. This time I'm adding to the laundry room, a project (here) that is proving to take as long as the bedroom {slow and steady Angela....slow and steady - lol!}.

I purchased these great wood blocks from Pick Your Plum. As it is with many of the deals I get from PYP, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them -- that is until now.

Beautiful wood block set

Since this project is for the laundry room, I'm using colors that are in the cushion we have on the top of the shoe container. If you remember, I didn't like the size of the cushion and was thinking I would return it and purchase something different. Well, that never happened and then I just got used to it so it stayed {does that ever happen to you?} I decided on the colors red and yellow since I wanted colors that pop. So I grabbed my cans of spray paint and went to work.



I picked a series of pictures I took of my son in the backyard to use for this. After some playing around with my printer, I was able to resize the photos and print them all on one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 matte photo paper {this was such a huge deal for me...much like a kid learning to ride a bike -- it really is the small things in life that make me happy. Hahaha}

I decided to paint the edges of each of the smaller wood pieces in white so there would be some contrast to the red and yellow colors

After using mod podge to glue/seal the pictures and wood glue to adhere the smaller pieces to the base, I was ready to add the last little details. I found these great monogram/alphabet knobs on sale at Michaels for just $0.67 each and thought they would add a little character to the block as well as pull in the detail from the cushion. Adding hardware to the back for hanging purposes and using a trick on how to successfully hang pictures that I found on Pinterest, the photo block was ready to be added to the wall in the laundry room.

Hardware added

Using painters tape, I measured the distance between the two hardware hangers

Placing the same tape on the wall to know where to put the nails

Photo block on the wall

There is still more that I'd like to do to that space {still a lot of white wall to cover} but every step is one step closer to a finished project. I'm a happy crafter!





Where we party!

Collage Art Frame

If you are anything like me, you have at least a million photos on your computer. Okay, perhaps 'a million' is a bit of a stretch but I certainly have a LOT of them! So what do you do with them? Scrapbook with them, frame them, or simply forget about them...you know 'out of sight, out of mind'? That's the problem that I've run into and I wanted to make good use of at least a few of them, but how? Cruising through Pinterest, I noticed several projects that involved collages {ding, ding...I hear that creative bell going off}, so I decided that would be a great way to use some of those pictures.

Well, I've been working on my bedroom project for some time now. I realize that even with the best intentions this project is going to take way longer than I'd like, but I digress. The plan involves some fun things to go up on the walls - enter my collage art frame.

I purchased this great frame from 'the Will' {Goodwill for those not in the know...lol} and I thought it would make a great re-do project.



The center was painted with bears and had this great rough texture to it. Now, if I were a better artist this would have been gorgeous with a new painted design, but since I'm not and I know my artistic limitations I decided it would have to be designed differently.

The first thing to do would be to repaint the entire thing. Using both spray paint and the wall paint I used in my prayer board project (here), I gave the frame a new look.



I chose to use photos from a recent trip home and a day spent with my sister and son. We had such an awesome time that day and what a wonderful way to commemorate that time.

After editing, cutting and placing the photos, I used mod podge to glue and seal them. Here is the end result.



Fun, cute and an inexpensive way to add a little character to my bedroom - I love it!

Something For The Birds

It's so much fun hanging out with my little guy. Some of our favorite activities happen in our kitchen {he loves being mommy's little helper}, so this craft project is one that he and I did together.

We have a bag of bread crusts that we are planning to take to the pond near our house to feed the ducks and we decided that perhaps we should share some of it with the birds that we see in the tree in our front yard...enter our homemade bird feeder.


Getting bread and tearing it into smaller pieces for the food processor


Chopping the bread in the processor. I think this was his favorite part. Little boys love pushing buttons, don't they? {hehe}


Bread and birdseed mixed and ready to go


My sister gave me these great cones that she no longer needed. I took a whole punch and punched holes in each side for easy tree hanging


Spread the peanut butter on the cone and roll in the feed mix


Added twine and took it outside to hang it up in the tree

What a fun and simple craft to do with your little one. My son and I had a great time and we certainly hope that our birdie friends enjoyed our gift too!

Before Meets After ~ Laundry Room Project

We've been in our house for three years ~ new home, new town ~ and I'm just getting around to decorating some of the rooms.

Our laundry room is very small and this is the first room you enter when coming in from the garage. The rule in our house is that our shoes are left at the door {we have wall-to-wall light colored carpet}, so this space has turned into a "catch-all" for shoes and jackets - not exactly what I envisioned when we moved in.

The clutter was beginning to drive me bonkers, so it was time to do something about it. I originally wanted to paint the space, but I didn't want this project to turn into the 'never ending' project so I took it in another direction - simpler and less time. Here is where the 'before' meets 'after'....


Too many jackets!


I should be ashamed of myself for posting this picture {what a mess...lol!}, but there can't be a proper 'before meets after' without it so here it is


Lookin' good {smile}! I used my Silhoutte machine to create the words and graphics in vinyl, AND cleaned up the jackets


A close-up -- not perfectly straight, but good enough I think


A trip to IKEA and I found this great piece in the children's department and it fits beautifully. I personalized each bucket in vinyl so now no one has the excuse of not putting their shoes away properly

I purchased this cushion for it but I'm not loving it. The colors are what I want to give the space that "pop" of color it needs since I chose not to paint, but the size is still a tad bit too long so back to the drawing board on that one


I love that I'm taking the time to spruce up the place a bit. Honestly, I think it has taken me so long because I wasn't sure how I felt about living here but the longer I'm here the more it's starting to feel like home. Besides, decorating one space at a time is good for the soul {or at least that's what I keep telling myself}!