Projects

Hello and Happy Monday! How was your weekend? We were able to make it to the pumpkin patch on Friday which always makes my fall loving heart happy. Sunshine, apple cider donuts, and pumpkins kicked our weekend off right. I plan on sharing more about that tomorrow!

We spent Saturday morning at the kids’ cross country meet, and then we were going to head straight to Hayden’s baseball tournament, but got word as we arrived at the cross country meet that the baseball tournament had been canceled due to rain. All of the sudden, this mama had her entire weekend back! Hadley placed 6th in her race, and Hayden had another 1st place finish! Their team is so fun to watch and both the boys and girls teams earned top 5 finishes at the meet!

Once we got back to Lex, we decided to have brunch at Winchells which is one of our favorite places. Then, the rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. With overcast and/or rainy skies for Saturday and Sunday, we just hung out, did chores around the house, took a nap or two and just recharged. I did catch most of the replay of my MIZZOU Tigers beating LSU and then the CATS won as well. Weekends like these don’t happen very often, so I was happy to have this extra time. Hayden talked Travis into 9 holes of golf Sunday afternoon once it quit raining so steadily. I prepped dinner and got organized for the week.

Now, on to the topic of today’s post…

Today, I’m joining Lauren, Ashley, and others for their Not Just a Mom series. This month’s focus is on “getting crafty.”

I do love a craft or a quick project. Now, I don’t seem to have as much time as I used to, but I do like to pin on Pinterest, plan a craft for a party decoration, or update an outdated piece of furniture with paint!

Here are some of my favorite crafts through the years…

Birthday Banner:

I made this banner for the kids right before their 3rd birthday. I cut out the triangles and circles on card stock, printed the letters, and glued them on. Then, I clipped each each triangle to string with clothes pins. I’ve used this banner every birthday since, and just change out the age for the birthday.

Through the years…

Last year, I told them I was ok with quitting the birthday shirt tradition (Hadley would probably play along until she’s 50 and Hayden was over it a couple of years ago😉) and that I could even part with the banner tradition if necessary. I just wanted to respect them and not cling tight to all the traditions I started when they were younger if they didn’t want all the hype #wheredidmybabiesgo

Both said they want the banner tradition to continue…So, maybe I will hang it next month when they turn 11. (How is that possible?!)

Birthday Party Decoration:

For their 3rd birthday party, I hot glued these buttons on a thick cardboard 3 that I purchased at Michael’s. Then, I hung it from the front door as a decoration for when guests arrived at the party. Super simple, colorful and fun.

Hadley’s Room:

When the kids were about 3 1/2, we gave them each their own room. I knew we’d prbably move that next year, so I didn’t want to paint. We got vinyl stickers with their names, and I added a few homemade decorations.

The hoops with fabric is one of my favorite ideas. So easy, inexpensive, and cute.

I painted Hadley’s bedside table white, and stapled tutu fabric around the sides. See, I’m all about the cute and easy craft and project!

I also made the kids each a canvas with a quote. I just bought the canvases at Michael’s, put vinyl letters on, painted over the letters, and then when the paint dried, I peeled the letters off. I mean I probably won’t open an Etsy shop for the signs, but I thought they were cute for a kid’s room and a quick project.

Hayden’s Room:

Travis and I completed Hayden’s magnet board when we moved into our current house. Travis had this wooden pane that he’d picked up years ago, and then I bought a piece of metal at Home Depot (or Lowes) that we cut down and then stapled to the back of the frame. Then, we hung it on one of the walls in his room.

This is Hayden’s quote canvas that I made when I made Hadley’s. The quote is from Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird (one of my favorite books!) #Englishteachernerd 🙂 and I thought it fit perfectly for Hayden because he’s always been on the smaller side (probably more average sized now) but inquisitive and pretty studious. The canvas still hangs in his room now.

Kitchen Projects:

I had seen this valance idea on Pinterest, and tried it out on the window in our kitchen. All you need is fabric and hot glue. Yep. Hot glue. I did this project in about an hour…and always thought I’d replace it, but five years later, the valance still hangs in the window.

This wasn’t a huge project, but I love it because it has a piece of the original house in it. Travis found the window at Lexington Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Then, the “shutters” are part of a swinging cafe doors that used to hang in the entry way from the hall to the kitchen area in our house. The previous owners took them down, and we found them in the garage. So, we cut them in half, painted them, and hung them next to the window on the wall.

Chalk Paint:

A few summers ago, I was brave enough for my first chalk paint project. I painted our entry way table with chalk paint and antiquing wax.

A few months later, I painted our tv stand (that we now use in the sun room) with chalk paint and another glaze.

Then, I used the Limewash Glaze on an antique side table.

Lastly, one of my first quarantine projects was that I used the same Limewash Glaze on this table in our basement.

Here are the posts I wrote about my chalk paint projects and you can see the befores and afters:

Chalk Paint Post 1

Chalk Paint Post 2

Missouri/Kentucky Craft:

I made this Missouri/Kentucky burlap piece for the gallery wall in our former home. I included it in the gallery wall in our kitchen in this house. My former house was mostly reds and greens, so I chose the red color for the paint. I printed out the two states and laid them flat on a piece of burlap. I simply painted over them and then removed the cut outs to reveal the burlap. Then, I just put the finished burlap piece in a frame.

It’s a sweet nod to where I’m from and where Travis is from (and, of course, where we currently live)

Sometimes I’m not sure of the difference between a craft and a project. I guess projects may have more steps and take longer…so this post is probably a good mix of crafts and projects 😄Do you consider yourself to be crafty?

Next month’s topic is Shop the Holidays. It’s crazy to think we’ll soon being thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas! (And my kids turn 11 next month…time sure does fly!)