Mudroom Work in Progress

 This is a stock picture of the changing table/dresser I had in Ella's room. It didn't survive the move across the country very well and when I picked up a new dresser from freecycle, I started taking this one apart to salvage screws, etc before tossing it.

 Ella wanted to help so, after I took the bottom off, I turned it upside down and let her have at it with the screwdriver. I stepped away and noticed this...

 It looks just like a bench! And that had me curious. I already had stripped the doors off an unused closet next to the garage door and painted it (bright!) green. I was going to put a chair in there, but I wondered if the bench would work? I took measurements, and it was a perfect fit! It wasn't a perfect install though. I had to take it apart and reassemble it in the closet.

So now I have the old dresser being used as a bench/shoe cubby in our new mudroom closet. The hall is tight, so it is really hard to get a good picture. I need to make a cushion still, and I might frame it in with molding. I am still unsure about that part though.

I love it when something can be used in a new way!

It's a mud pie kitchen!

Sorry about the delay. I am just now getting around to taking the "after" pictures. My garage sale finds became a mud pie kitchen. Ella LOVES it, and it has been a hit with play dates as well.



I have more tweaking to do, one of which, that this isn't its permanent location. The mosquitoes were fierce this summer, so we just placed it where we could, and maybe next spring we will clear a good, homey spot for it. It also may evolve next spring as well, since I am not going to do anything to try and protect it from the winter.

More roses

For our meetup group, the coordinator thought it would be fun to do a secret sisters exchange over Mother's Day. I signed up, and am trying to make sure I stay within my budget (which is nada thanks to gas prices). This meant using what I had on hand to make my secret sister something.

For her first gift (we need to do 3 things: notes, cards, gifts, food, etc) I made her a half dozen coffee filter roses. I followed Martha's tutorial. I don't have the link handy, but if you just google Martha Stewart and coffee filter roses, you should be good to go.

Crafty Christmas Pt. 2

Phew! I have lost count on how many things I have made, but I have made it to my first deadline. Wrapping and shipping happens tomorrow. I did have to cut a few things from my original list, but I figured I would have too. They were more along the lines of being bonus gifts.

Little chocolate pops to put on top of gifts. To be fair, I made the little snowman and the others were made by friends. I did make 6 snowmen though.

Hackey sacks for Luke. Just one more to make and then they can be juggling balls as well.
http://dorfmunder.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/hackey-sack-pattern-crochet/

3 sets of the fishing game for Max, Greyson, and my secret santa. Each kiddo will get one pole and twelve fish.
http://zitzmanfam.blogspot.com/2010/07/felt-fishing-set.html

Dinosaur hat for Jaden

http://crazysockscrochet.blogspot.com/2010/09/crochet-pattern-dinosaur-spikes.html

Owl hats for Ben and Nate.

pattern by Inner Hooker on Etsy.

Owl hats for Noe and Ellie

Memory game for Jaden

http://theadventuresofroryandjess.blogspot.com/2009/09/memory-game-tutorial.html

Memory game for Ben

Messy Masterpiece for my mom, painted by Ella. The intent is for it to be a family tree, and I will also give them an archival pen to write in names and birthdates. Or they can leave it as is. :)

Messy Masterpiece for Jen and Ben, painted by their daughter, Noe. They don't know about it though, so shhhhh!

Messy Masterpiece for Mike and Zina, painted by Ella.

How many days until Christmas?

ATC's

ATC stands for artist trading cards. The cards are the same size as a baseball card, 3.5"x2.5". There are quite a few online communities out there devoted to atc's. The one I am a member of (swanli) is ATC's for All. Besides making miniature pieces of art (which is really satisfying when you need an instant creative outlet), you can trade with other artists or participate in swaps. These are all cards I have made for swaps. When I got pregnant I stopped, hopefully soon I will be able to start up again.

Make Me Happy Swap

Lady Bug

The Snow Queen Swap

"her cloak and cap were of snow..."

"The flake of snow grew larger and larger..."

"She was sitting in the Mirror of Understanding..."

"It was a lady...It was the Snow Queen."

Make Me Happy

"Whimsical Tea Pot"

Mosaic Madness (I am missing one)

Sparkle and Shine

"sweat, tears, or the sea."

"The Bride"

"I scream"

Christmas Tree

"Charlie Brown Christmas"

"Corona Christmas"

Vintage Postcard

Matisse Collage

Sticker (you had to create a background around a sticker)

Coffee filter roses

I saw these on homemadebyjill's blog and I had to try them! I loved how they turned out, so much so that I gave a bouquet to my Grandma at Christmas and an unpainted dozen to Mom to paint herself.

Tutorial here...

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/paper-roses?autonomy_kw=coffee%20filter%20roses&rsc=header_1http://www.marthastewart.com/article/paper-roses?autonomy_kw=coffee%20filter%20roses&rsc=header_1

Super mario Bathroom

This is Luke's bathroom, still in progress. A year later. Sigh. My goal is to get it finished over Christmas break and surprise him when he gets home from his Dad's.

I free hand drew everything with a pencil and then have been painting it with acrylic paints. I think I will go over it with a sealer when I am done, but what is done in there has held up well after a year of using the bathroom, so it might not be needed.