a mom and her camera

i'm behind.

Sorry everyone! Yesterday got away from me as I was busy working on the new Kuhn Construction website (who knew I was going into website design?) and helping with my kids (it is so nice to HELP with my own kids sometimes!). Then C and I had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with his family to celebrate his parent's 38th wedding anniversary. 38 years is just so awesome. My parents are getting close to that too. I love that we have such strong marriages as our prime example in our lives. Such a blessing.

So anyway! I have left my favorite Valentine gift to show you and I still don't have the photos downloaded. And the funny part is that no one but me will even be all that impressed! I will try to get it up tonight just in case you are dying to see just one more project.

Right now I want to show you the funniest photo series ever to start your Saturday off right!

My husband. The stud.

Day Five.

Today I have saved my two favorite craft projects!

I will be posting them in two parts b/c I am at my parent's today working on their new website and left my camera adapter at home... and since the finished photos for one of the crafts are still on my camera that is a problem. So check back later!

The first is this little tree. A Valentine's Tree!

All I did was go outside and cut off some branches from a tree. We laid newspaper on our table and I let the girls help me paint the branches white. Once they were dry we painted on Glitter Modge Podge just to add a little sparkle (totally not needed if you don't have Modge Podge easily available).

The girls loved painting the branches and we did it over two days so the craft project lasted... I try to stretch our crafts out as much as possible!

Then I just used Elmer's Glue and glued on some confetti hearts I bought at Walmart (I can't find a link but any hearts will work, even ones you cut out yourself!).

Really, this was SO easy!!! And it looks SO cute as a decoration this year!

I put it here in the dining room (office) and then I tried it here...

In our front hallway, which is where it stayed b/c I could have moved it to a million other places! I love it! Such a simple and easy way to add a very understated Valentine's decoration to your home!

Be back later with my favorite craft+gift I did this year!

this is my everyday mantra and now it is in print.

Be back later with the last edition of this LOVE+CRAFT fest we've had this week. But for now, go HERE and buy one of these... you know you need to have one too!  Right now I need it here in my kitchen where I have pancakes cooking and three crabby+hungry kids at the table waiting and all I really want to do is go climb back in bed. But I'm up, and I'm going and trying my best to enjoy it!

Day Four.

Oh my did Day Four of this crazy love-filled week start early! I'm guessing that the cold meds I'm taking are keeping my brain spazzed out b/c I just couldn't shut it off. I got in bed at 11pm, saw midnight, saw 1am, saw 3am and at 4:30am I got up and organized all the files on my computer. Thrilling. But I do think the meds are working, besides the crazy no-sleep issue I am feeling a bit better. So good in fact that in the last 4 hours I have done a load of laundry, vacuumed, made pancakes, showered, got all the kids changed and dressed, cleaned the kitchen and finished a craft project. Wowza!

So today I am going to share some gift ideas for your husband or anyone in your life you want to share your love with! Most of these things are projects I have done in the past but they are still good ideas I think! And it might just inspire you to make something yourself, which is always a good thing!

And really, I'm sharing these things this week b/c I am mostly inspired by other's work. I see something and either try to copy it (like the felt heart cookies) or it sparks an idea in me and I run with it. Inspiration can come in so many ways and although I am not saying that I am personally inspiring, I hope that seeing some of these ideas might inspire you to give HAND MADE this year!

#1: Initial Collage

I actually made this for myself last year for my craft room (now Gray's room) but it would be a great idea as a gift for someone! I cut the letter out of matboard (you can find it at art stores but any kind of cardboard would work too) and then just used paper, photos and embelishments.

A few detailed shots to show you how layered and imperfect it is!

#2: Cardboard Photo Hanging Thing

I found this cardboard thing at Michaels a few years ago but have seen them since. It's hollow and had two grommets at the top for a string so I made it into a frame. All I did was glue on a photo (that had been backed in cardstock), used stamps to include a quote (Smiles are the soul's kisses) and then used a stamp pad to distress the edges. Super easy and I gave it to Chris as a gift!

#3: Soda Box Collage

I know I've shared this before but it is still one of my favorite projects and I literally did it in one night. I collected elements, some from around the house and a few I bought at an art store (the letters, metal flower, etc.) and then hot glued it all in there. It hangs in our family room and I LOVE it. I need to change it to add a photo of Gray in... one of these days!  Anyway, I made something sort of like this for my parents and I think this could be a great gift for anyone! My sister is still waiting for me to do hers... one of these days! HA!

#4: YOU Book

This is what I gave Chris last year for Valentine's Day. I just created little tags with scrapbook paper, stamped YOU on each page and then wrote something that he is to me; You are my amazing husband.

"you are my endless smile and perfect laugh"

And whenever I do something with binder rings I have to add fun ribbons to jazz it up a bit!

Super simple and super quick but he loved it b/c I was sweet with some and funny with others... and it's fun to look back to what I said just a year ago that has changed!

#5: Photo Garland

Totally cheating here b/c this was a KIT from Target that my sister sent me! HOWEVER, it is something that anyone could do on their own so I wanted to share it!  All it is is a string with rings tied to the ends with clips tied to the string for photos and then bits of ribbon knotted along the length of it! So simple! I love it though! It hangs in our hallway...

Ok, I think that is enough inspiration for one morning!

Is Grey's new tonight? I hope so! And if so, happy Grey Day!

Now I'm off to glitter glue with the girls while we wait for Grayson to wake up!

we heart snow days.

More photos tomorrow... I have the funniest sequence of photos I have ever seen! I don't post many photos of Chris, but tomorrow, look out!

ps... this was Gray's first snow!

a sneak peek

Just popping in to give a sneak peek to a sweet family I met earlier this week... Tyler was such a little cutie!  Thanks for having me out Beth!

Doesn't it look like he's going to punch me and my camera? ha!
This little man was WIDE awake and at a month old his mom didn't think I'd get him sound asleep... but I worked my magic and he was putty in my hands!

day three.

Sorry this is a bit late in posting, this cold has knocked me flat. Although not flat enough that I didn't run three errands in the 6+ inches of snow on the ground this morning! I hit Walgreens after Elizabeth's sweet comment and link that told me what I could take to curb this nose running, coughing and overall yuckiness I'm experiencing, then since I was out anyway, I of course got myself (and Chris who is home for snow day #2) a soda. After running back home to get the little man I headed out for his Chiropractor appointment with Dr. Brenda. He's sniffling a bit and I'm hoping to hold off him getting my cold.

SO. Still feeling pretty awful but the snow is beautiful, the girls are giddy with excitement about sledding later, Gray is sleeping off his adjustment and I'm going to give you just two small kiddo ideas today.

1. Bubble Print Painting

Thanks to my awesome clients who keep ordering prints, I have found my home over-run with bubble wrap. Then I saw a tutorial on bubble wrap painting and knew we had to try it! I think I found the sample HERE but changed it up a bit to make it more toddler friendly.

I think in the sample I found she used ink and a roller but I just used acrylic paint that we had at the house. All I did was put envelopes (to house their Valentine's) in a pie plate for each girl and put a small piece (about 4x4) of bubble wrap in the bottom. I let them paint on the bubble wrap with different shades of pink and then we laid the envelopes on top of the bubble wrap, pressed and POOF! Bubble Wrap Painting!

Super simple and it kept them busy a long time, as long as I kept the envelopes and paint coming they kept working! We had a whole stack of envelopes done in no time!

This would be cute to do on cards (and then you could glue a photo on top or something), it's a great texture that would be cute on a white matte for inside a frame... lots of ideas and ways to use this painting project!

2.  Candy Trees

So I've been kind of bad about sweets lately. Really bad in fact. I am having more cravings 7 months into nursing than I ever did while I was pregnant! And of course there is no baby in my tummy sucking up all those calories so let's just say I won't be posting self portraits anytime soon! :)

Anyway, I have fallen victim to all the Valentine candy at the store right now and we have an over-flow of candy hearts, sprinkles, chocolates, etc. In an attempt to get some of them OUT of the house without throwing them away I decided on a craft project for the girls!

All I did was paint a tree on paper (I did this ahead of time so the paint would be dry and I made LOTS of them b/c I know my girls love to work fast and I wanted to have enough on hand) and then let them glue candy all over it!

They had a BLAST!  I always use cupcake papers to hold the glue (and I use baby cotton swabs with the fatter ends for them to glue with) and I also used them this time to hold the hearts. In the dollar section at Target (love that section!) they have a 4-pack of Valentine sprinkles which was perfect b/c each girl got two shakers to use. Between sneaking bits of candy+sprinkles and using a medium we don't usually use (food) they LOVED this project! And really, you don't need the tree, they could just glue on paper or make cards or whatever!

Enjoy this cold weather and craft with your kids!

animation.

Wow have I been having fun learning how to animate files in photoshop! Here is what I have done recently:

A button for Janel.

A button for Fern.

And a banner for Chris.

Which made me realize I could do a banner for myself! Working on that tonight!

And to give you ONE MORE FELT PROJECT...

For the girl's Valentine gift basket I made them a hair bow holder...

I don't know how to explain in more detail how I did it except that I created the little felt bird, then I hand-stitched the "lovely" and sewed them both to a length of ribbon. I did this in a couple of hours one night.

You can see from the close-up that I am by no means perfect when it comes to hand sewing!

And here is how it will look when it's in use!

We will hang it on a hook in our bathroom!

*** Still feeling really awful. I can't believe I made it out of the mess that was our Christmas healthy only to fall down with it now. Just when I was getting life truly back together. Thank goodness for today, Chris played with Gray until he was passed to me for food and the girls went to DoodleBuggs to play. I have been laying on the couch working all day. Does anyone know what kind of meds I can take while breast feeding??? I'm dying for some DayQuil!

**** For all of you that have tried yesterday's project, or that try any of the other ones I post this week, I would love you to send me photos and I will share them on the blog! It will be great to see other people's versions of these crafts!

Day Two.

Did I hear someone scream for some felt? Or was that just me?

I am in love with felt right now. It's a pretty serious love affair. I even traded a coupe photo shoots for this amazing felt food (that I STILL need to show you!) made by two wonderful ladies for the girl's Christmas kitchen. And I traded those shoots not b/c I can't make felt food on my own, at that point in my life I just had no time. But currently, although I still have a lot going on, I have found time to spend with my friend, Felt.

The first thing I made were a couple heart-shaped Valentine cookies to give the girls for their kitchen as a Vday gift. Simple simple simple, just a bit of embroidery floss and some felt and there you go!

The dots are supposed to be sprinkles! I have more to make but I think they will like them and it was a cheap and easy handmade gift to make!

I got the idea HERE... hers are cuter but I was working fast and forgot the tan felt. Whatever. I like them!

Next, I get emails from THIS blog and love her products but decided to do something similar on my own with felt as a decoration.

All I did was cut circles using a cup to trace the circles. I cut a large one in white with pinking shears and then a slightly smaller on in red with just scissors. I used pink to cut the letters out, I just cut them freehand. I first hand stitched the letters onto the red circles and then stitched the red onto the white.

I also made two smaller circles with hearts on them for the ends of the word...

Again, super simple!

Then I hand stitched all the circles to a white ribbon... I left  a ton of ribbon on either side so that I have more flexibility in where I hang it from year to year.

Cute huh? And so easy! I made the whole thing one evening while I watched tv!

TODAY: I am sick sick sick. My head aches, my throat hurts, my nose is stuffy and my whole body is begging for sleep. Luckily it is a snow day here and Chris is home. Unluckily he is using this day to renew his license plates. I'm praying for lots of cartoon watching and easy kids today b/c it is going to be hard to motivate myself off the couch. Any grandma want the kids??? :)

Initially Yours.

A friend of mine from high school has started an embroidery business here in St. Louis and she is offering, YOU, my amazing blog readers, a DEAL!

Until February 26th she is offering any single item embroidered for just FIVE DOLLARS (no limit on how many items you can have embroidered at that rate!)! This is a great deal! And she can ship anywhere!

When you email her just tell her that you found her via my blog and you will receive the discount!

Cute business card isn't it? Super cute!

And she means business with this high tech+professional machine...

That makes me want to run out and buy my own! It looks so cool! Luckily I now have her to go to... and I am taking her some t-shirts tomorrow for some Vday monograms for my kids!

This is such a great deal that you all should think ahead for baby or wedding or birthday gifts! Heck, I might think ahead to next Christmas with all the deals going on right now!

And if you have a blog of your own, yank her business card and post it for her... let's support women owned businesses people!

Back to the regular scheduled craftiness in the morning!