Can you believe it is May? I thought it would be fun to do a roundup of some fun summer projects for your home and garden…..ones we’ve done in the past and are still really enjoying.
Quick Note….only two more days to enter the big Blogoversary Giveaway……be sure to head over to this post and enter!
We have a few ‘rites of passage’ for our family….and one of them is that you get to totally redo your room when you turn 13. Our youngest has been designing her new room for 2 years now…and the day has finally arrived! Over the past few weeks we have patched, painted, created, ordered, fluffed, shopped, and slowly, but surely we have checked off everything on her list.
This morning…possibly as you read this…the Pottery Barn truck is sitting in our driveway delivering her dream bed. She is about to come out of her skin! =)
When we began painting a few weeks ago I had never seen so many holes in a wall. Whoa. I think the spackling is holding the wall up now. Her room ‘before’ was painted a sage green and when she was little was a garden room. We painted clotheslines on the wall that held her artwork and fun creations; birdhouses with cats underneath, etc. It was the perfect little girl’s room for her.
There is an extra ‘space’ in her room that originally was a walk-in attic/storage area; but we finished it and made it an extension of her room.
She is moving on……and has gone in a fun, totally different direction. The walls are now painted a Caribbean Blue Water {Benjamin Moore}, her extra space is floored in a dark walnut wood floor {it was black and white checks}, and her extra space/room is painted a lovely Gleeful {Sherwin Williams}.
Caribbean Ocean Blue – Benjamin Moore
Gleeful – Sherwin Williams
Here’s a quick peek at the in-process redo. All painting is now done…a furrilicious couch sits in her sitting room beside her fridge, and the fun loft vanity bed is being delivered and set up this morning. She did all of her school work in advance for today because she can’t wait to get her room all set up and decorated.
She’s done a wonderful job…and I can’t wait to show you guys the finished project!
May Day is right around the corner….and we have always enjoyed making May Day Baskets / Posies / Bouquets and leaving them as a surprise for people.
The original way to leave a May Day basket is to hang it on someone’s door, ring the doorbell or knock, and then run away. But, we like to do it a little differently. May Day is always May 1st….so, late at night on April 30th we go around and deliver our May Day Baskets. We hang them on people’s doors….so they will be there when they wake up and greet them first thing in the morning.
Handsome & I did this even before we had kids….and we have used all kinds of containers, flowers, etc. This year we are using the little mini Ben & Jerry’s ice cream containers and filling them with fun, spring flowers.
In the past we’ve used: paper cones, small glass vases, jars, small clay pots…..whatever you use it’s important that you either have twine, ribbon, wire, etc. around it so you can hang it on the doorknob/fencepost……
We’ve put together little flower bouquets, planted moonflower or morning glory seeds and left the little seedlings….any fun plant/flower works great.
We always have a fun adventure leaving May Day Baskets/Bouquets…..we set off motion lights, we’ve been chased by dogs, and had to hide in bushes because people heard a clink on the door and started looking out the windows. So far we haven’t been arrested. Or shot. Whew!
I shared last year in this post how we have a family tradition…..A Christmas Journal.
Each year we take turns writing an entry in the journal….whatever each of would like to share about the Christmas season that we just had. When the kids were little they would just scribble or draw pictures. It’s fun to go back and look over everyone’s entries.
That’s what we will be doing today….
Do you have any kind of family journal that everyone takes part in?
Before we home schooled our children they went to a private classical school here in our area. As the room mom for their classes one of my responsibilities was to create something for our class to auction off at the annual fundraising auction.
I did that for many years…..but this one was my favorite!
I painted a canvas for each class and used mixed media materials and mediums to add dimension. The middle of each canvas were blocks with heads and necks that I drew….one for each child. I had the children sign up for times and come over to draw a self-portrait of themselves on one of the heads. {My middle daughter’s is the one with the BIG eyelashes. Cracks. me. up.} They were in kindergarten when they did this! I named this one “Unrepeatable Miracles”.
The ones you see here hang on our upstairs hallway wall…..they were the ‘practice’ canvases for the kids….the larger ones were auctioned off at the auction. One class canvas was auctioned at $6,000 and the other one for $8,000. Whoa! I think the parents liked them a lot! There was a lot of bidding going on….they both started at $100! {My son’s class was in 3rd grade when they did theirs….my son is the one with the big blue eyes. } I named this one “The Chosen”.
I feel blessed to have the ‘practice’ ones hanging on our walls. The middle canvas is one that I did for our family…..a house with the head of each one of us inside.
These were such fun projects and hold so many great memories. I love to see the individual style of each child. None of them were intimidated or hesitant about picking up the brushes and drawing their self-portrait. And each of them were pleased when they were finished. We have so much to learn from children. I love to watch them do art. It’s the best kind. I think they truly see themselves as God sees them.
How would you go about doing a self portrait if asked?? Would you like it, or run like crazy?
For Family Night this upcoming weekend we are going to have a Back-to-School Party…just the 5 of us. I can’t wait…we always have fun with this. It will look a bit like this…..
I think these are so fun to make…I love taking things and repurposing them into something completely different from their original purpose.
These fun garden art pieces are made from aluminum soda cans.
It’s a super easy project…great fun for even young children. {An adult probably needs to do the cutting and then they can decorate.}
Here’s what you need:
aluminum soda cans…any kind
acrylic paints and/or spray paints
3-D or puff paint if you want a 3-D look
sharp scissors
Here’s how ya do it:
1. Thoroughly wash/rinse out cans
2. Using sharp scissors cut the can in half…poke a hole halfway down and then cut around the can.
3. Decide the design you would like…..pointed or squared. Then begin from the cut edge cut down until you ALMOST reach the bottom…either in zig-zag or in long rectangles.
4. Bend the cut pieces out like rays of a sunshine. If there are any pieces you don’t like…cut them out.
5. Paint and decorate them any way you wish!
Aluminum is super easy to bend, so you can crinkle it if you’d like; or bend it any way you wish. You can really have fun with this project.
Teens would love to do a bunch of these to decorate their room or locker…just be careful, the cut edges are sharp.
You can hang them with nails, or put magnets on the back.
+++++
Anyone else gearing up for school? I started filling in planners/plans for our three today. {We homeschool…so I’m making sure we have everything covered and ordered and ready to go.} So hard to believe that we will be starting in just a couple of weeks!
It will be an exciting year…our oldest will be going to China for a couple of weeks….and I will also be taking him to NYC for a Mom/Son senior trip. Lots of other exciting things coming up this school year, too. I don’t want to rush it away….but I can’t wait for some things!
I’m running around trying to squeeze in those last few projects before we start…my ideas far exceed my allotted time! Eeeeeeeeeek!
Do you have a list..written or imaginary…that you like to check off before the school year starts?
After Easter was over and our Passion Tree was completed…I had another idea for the branches that we had used. I thought it would be fun to create a Blessing Tree. I originally was on the lookout for an old, wooden violin case….let me know if you see any!…..to use for our ‘blessings’; but since I hadn’t found one that I really liked yet, I thought the branches from our Passion Tree would be great!
I wanted to create little cards or tags of fun little blessings….or things to do….or things to ponder and then have them in a convenient location in our home….So, each time someone comes over or visits they can pick one and take it with them.
I still want to use the old wooden violin case idea; but for now I think this is super fun!
Our Blessing Tree sits in the middle of our living room/entryway area…perfect for people to grab one as they go or come.
I added some fun vintage French dictionary pages so it wouldn’t just have little tags hanging on it……and I’m always looking for excuses to use vintage book pages.
For the summer I created a list of fun things to do….to slow people down…..things to be enjoyed or savored. They are printed on vintage French sheet music……I’ve included those lists/printouts for you below in case you would like to create your own tree. Feel free to print them out, cut them into little strips and put them or hang them somewhere neat in your home.
We tell people there is only one rule…..you can’t read the strips of paper and pick out one. You have to just pick one and be surprised! No choosing.
Here is how we created our Blessing Tree:
{See our Passion Tree post for how to set up the branches}
1. Print out a fun list of things to do or ponder, or scripture, or encouraging words.
2. Cut them into strips.
3. Punch small holes in one end…I used a teardrop hole punch for ours.
4. Using any kind of wire {or leftover Christmas ornament hooks} bend the wire into a hook to create a hanger for each strip.
5. Hang away…all over the branches!
Here are the two sheets of printouts that we used:
{You can enlarge or shrink them depending on your preference.}
We made this chalkboard over 10 years ago….and it is still going strong!
It has been used in so many ways…..birthday party wishes, to keep score, tic-tac-toe, messages from friends, as a story board, in many home movies as a prop, etc. I can’t even remember all the ways that we have used it.
It hangs outside on our chimney…and has for the whole 10+ years. I didn’t touch-up the pictures…you can see that it is a bit worn from being written on for so many years; but it actually doesn’t show in person and you can’t tell when you look at it. We still use it all the time.
I thought I would share how we made it….it can be used inside or outside. It’s the same process no matter where you decide to use it.
Here’s what you will need:
plywood cut to the size that you would like the chalkboard
chalkboard paint…brush-on {We like to use Rustoleum}
Paint brush
Other colored paint for decorating, if you wish. We used acrylic for our vine.
Picture hanging hardware and wire for hanging {Get heavy-duty!}
Here’s how ya do it:
1. Paint 4-5 coats of chalkboard paint on the front and sides. 1-2 coats on the back.
2. Paint any decorations that you would alike on the front…be sure to only paint around the edges like a frame…you want the center open so you can use it.
3. Attach hanging hardware on the back.
4. Allow to dry 24-48 hours before putting outside.
5. Hang in a fun spot!
We have never touched-up or had to repair our chalkboard….it has lasted very well. It stays outside year-round in all kinds of weather.
} I named this one “The Chosen”.
