Crafty Teacher Gifts

Even though I home school, the greatest majority of my friends and neighbors have children in traditional school.  Many of those friends are kind enough to occasionally support me financially by placing custom orders for teacher gifts and smaller gifts for birthday or holiday parties.  With the end of the school year upon us, I'm happy to be working on some projects for a few of my friends.  Take a look at my recent orders -- enjoy!

Personalized Teacher Shelf Sitter
{hand painted}

Teacher Shelf Sitter
{hand painted}

Shelf Sitter

Small Ornament / Magnet
{hand painted}

Small Ornament / Shelf Sitter / Magnet
{hand painted}

Small Ornament / Shelf Sitter / Magnet
{hand painted}

Key hook

I also have a few frames and name boards that I'll be finishing soon.  I will post them as well.

Have a wonderul weekend, my friends!

Blessings,

Happy Family

Hello, sweet friends!

While Katherine worked on her chemistry today, I goofed off on my computer.  I love this phrase, and believe it with all my heart.  I’m not a graphic designer {duh – it shows!}, but I figured there had to be a way I could create a digital piece of art I could share with others.  Enjoy!

Blessings always,

Season's Greetings!

Happy Holidays!

Okay, I know it seems a little bit early to start with the holiday cheer, but the way the last few years have flown by, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before I know it.  Last Christmas snuck up on me and had me in a state of  shock, panic and total exhaustion.  I am determined for that NOT to happen again!

I want to be able to live in the moment

this holiday season.

I look forward to spending another Thanksgiving with my family in the hill country, a tradition we have carried for all eleven years of Katherine’s life {and a few before she came along!}.  I love this special time with the people who have my heart,  just hanging out and spending time together.

This Christmas I am going to focus more on celebrating the greatest gift ever given – the humble birth of my Savior, Jesus. 

For the last few years, our family has watched The Nativity Story on Christmas Eve,  and I always enjoy reading the book The Handmaid and The Carpenter  by Elizabeth Berg.  

This year I will add The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare {one of my all time favorite books} as a story to read with Katherine. 

But before I can relax, I will make my list

and check it twice – then be done with it!

I am already starting to gather supplies for what will be the homemade presents I will be giving this year.  Here is a sneak peek of a few projects in the works:

I am also starting to put together my list of baking supplies that I will need for those special treats I will give to my friends and neighbors – it is just one way I can let them know how much they mean to me and how grateful I am to have them in my life.  Of course, my little helper elf has always enjoyed delivering the Christmas goodies, so she, too, will have to plan her delivery route ahead of time.

Are you already planning for your Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays?  Do you have any special traditions during the holidays?  I’d love for you to share them with me here on the blog so others may be inspired to start a tradition, too.

Blessings,

School Organization Blessings

Our first week of home school went smoothly, partly because we worked hard to re-establish our school area.  In this blessed matchbox of a home in which we live, there isn’t much room for us to spread out, so we modified and relocated our “school room”. 

Out of the “spare” bedroom we moved {it is used as a playroom, a library, a storage room and, on occasion, a bedroom for any guest willing to sleep on a roll-away bed or in a sleeping bag on the floor}.  Using the room as a school room was difficult - too many distractions.  We are now doing lessons out in the dining room, which is the only dining area we have – so it has to look nice.  Fortunately, there is a bookcase built into the end of the kitchen island on the dining room side of the kitchen.  That bookcase is serving as command central for most of our home school books, curriculum, and supplies.

We pared down our books, binders, folders and supplies so that we had only what we will need for the first six weeks of school. 

To organize Katherine’s six subjects’ worth of textbooks, workbooks and folders, we repurposed three large magazine organizers {that previously held long forgotten coloring books}.

To keep pencils, highlighters, colored pencils, rulers and scissors in one neat spot, we repurposed a large, cardboard “drink” carrier we found in my in-laws’ recycle bin.  Originally, I thought about covering is with scrapbook paper, but it was a pain and I really wanted it to just blend in on the shelf and not stand out too much.  Instead, I spray painted it a neutral ivory and wrapped the handle with jute to keep the cardboard from digging into our fingers when we carry it.  A nifty little jute bow wrapped around the middle finished off our project.

And because I really didn’t get crafty much this summer, I made a fun little wood plaque to display on our school shelves.  It’s so much fun to see what you can make out of a scrap piece of 2x4, some sandpaper, spray paint and left over rustic red scrapbook letters!  And in less than 15 minutes, it satisfied the need to get my craft on – yet still be relevant to keeping our school area organized!

How did you get organized for your first week of school?

Blessings,

Today's Fabulous Finds: L*O*V*E Letter Photo Art: Free Prints!

What a week! 

u   Dad fell down, but thankfully didn’t break his crown – just banged himself up pretty good. 

v    The washing machine started to emit an acrid burning rubber     smell, but Super Hubby managed to dismantle the       beast and it’s as good as new.

I love it when the Lord has my back!

You know how much I love my family {and my cherished friends}, and how much I love special projects celebrating those meaningful relationships. I found this sweet and original piece on one of the blogs I follow. While I definitely love the artwork and the talent behind the project, what I appreciate even more is the meaning that it has for Janet and her family.

Follow the link to read about this special little project celebrating a love of family.  Let me know if you create a little masterpiece of your own!

 Today's Fabulous Finds: L*O*V*E Letter Photo Art: Free Prints!: "I've seen letter photo art around for awhile now, but for some reason I suddenly became very interested in it this week and just had to tr..."



Blessings,

The Best Things In Life...

After an awesome weekend with my precious family {and friends}, I made this sign in in honor of them.

Believe it or not, it started out as a shiny cardboard cake board and a leftover piece of muslin.  I got the idea to use our printer to print directly on the fabric from an awesome craft blogger -- Stephanie Lynn over at Under the Table and Dreaming.

I think my little project turned out almost as good as my happy weekend with my family!

Blessings to you! 

Love is in the Air!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and I am rather looking forward -- for the first time -- to celebrating the Hallmark holiday.

Usually Valentine's Day is rather hectic and bit stressful, especially when the holiday falls on a school day -- the parties, the candy, the sugar high and subsequent sugar cRaSh.  There's lots of anxiety for husbands and boyfriends, wives and girlfriends to find the perfect romantic gift. 



Heart Bouquet
made from old book
pages and jute



This year, our family started celebrating Valentine's day just after the new year.  I mean, why should February 14 be the big day for celebrating how much you love someone?  Don't we love all year long?  And do chocolates on that day mean more than a small token of niceness on a random day during the year?  I think not.





Burlap Wrapped Candles
with handmade book page
flower and button



So, we started by doing things the old fashioned way -- handmade trinkets from the heart.  For each other and for our friends and family.  Lots of little signs of love sprinkled all over the house.  Love notes tucked under pillows, in lunches, the fridge, on the shower door, in swim bags, school books and even a few will turn up in someone's shoes.  Watch out -- you may be next...

 

Katherine and I are also hosting a small get together with three other sets of homeschool families to celebrate, share time together and enjoy some down time.  We are REALLY looking forward to this and have planned lots of yummy treats and a few fun games.

Handmade
 Felt {Heart} Wreath

I hope that you are able to start your Valentine's celebrations early this year and try to share the love all year long!

Blessings to you!



Stamped Linen



 

Coffee Beans & Twigs Tree
Passes the Hannah S. test of

"soooo cute" decor -- and

it smells yummy, too!





Paper hearts
made from old book pages

Gettin' My Craft On!

I have to admit something.  When I can't sleep -- which is often, thanks to middle age -- I stalk really talented and crafty blogs that are published by people who have more creativity in their pinky finger than I will acquire in a lifetime.  I desperately want to be a talented and crafty person, but God has other plans for me, I guess.  However, when I do get an inspiration and I have the materials on hand, I'll give it the good ol' college try and sometimes I am pleased with the result. This week was one of the best streaks of craftiness that I've had in a very long time.  The best part is that my daughter got her craft on with me and we had a really fun time just hanging out and creating something special together.  Now that's a blessing!

My goal was to do something with three photos I've had for quite a long time, but wasn't sure how I wanted to display them.  One is of our sweet sponsored child, Service.  Over the years we have received only a few photos of him, and he has changed so much since he was a wide-eyed, chubby cheeked 6 year old boy.  He is now a long and lanky 10 year old young man, and I wanted to have his most recent picture in a place where the whole family can see it daily.  Sooo, enter my icky, plastic, faux gold leaf Dollar Store 3x5 frame.  I painted it, distressed it, made a pretty flower out of a few pieces of fabric, glued some magnets to the back, and voila!  Service's photo is in a nice frame on our refrigerator -- definitely a location that sees high traffic on a daily basis!

The second photo was an 8x10 of our extended family from Thanksgiving 2009.  I love the photo because we all look normal and everyone is actually smiling a genuine smile.  For those of you who know our extended family, it is a feat to get us all together in one place at the same time -- and everyone managing to actually look like they're enjoying being together!  This is a photo that I want out on a permanent basis, but I wanted to spruce it up a bit for each season.  So, I got out my trusty black spray paint again and managed to refurbish an old white frame I had stored away.  After the paint dried, I cut a 1/2" piece of tin flashing (used for gutters) and Gorilla Glued it to the top middle of the newly painted frame.  I then made several bow -- some to match our Christmas decor, some to match our Valentine's decor, summer, fall, etc.  Then I glued a strong magnet to the back of each ribbon.  This way, I can change out the ribbon to coordinate with whatever decor I'm using during a particular season.  Pretty nifty idea, if I do say so myself.  And I do.  Say so, that is.

Our last and final photo was actually taken from a Real Simple magazine about four years ago.  I loved the simple photograph depicting a pair of hands holding a tiny killdeer.  The quote underneath was from Henry James:  "There are three important things in life.  The first is to be kind.  The second is to be kind.  And the third is to be kind."  Words to live by, don't cha think?  Anyway, I finally got around to doing something with it.  The photos don't really do it justice.  I'll just say that Doug really likes it, so I guess the project turned out to be a success.

So many ideas, so little talent.  Still, I'll take these quiet days of inspired craftiness and time with my precious girl...whatever the outcome of the project, it will be worth the time spent together.


Be blessed!