Thursday, May 17, 2012

DIY: artwork to celebrate First Communion

Let's start at the beginning. With a "pin"...
 (source)
I just clicked all the way through to the source and see that this beauty goes for about $335. Whoa!!

I really did not research any instructions on how to accomplish this look. I began by purchasing a 14x14 canvas on sale at JoAnns for roughly $8.

Next, I searched through my scrapbooking stash of chipboard letters. You could also purchase wood letters which might give you a bit more depth. Because I knew I'd be painting over the whole canvas in white, I did not concern myself with the colors of the chipboard letters. I also wanted to make do with what I had on hand, so there is a bit of variety in the fonts. Here it is in progress.

Next I did 4-6 coats of white craft paint on only the letters paying attention to cover all the grooves of the letters. Finally, I painted 2-3 coats over the whole canvas (with help from my eager children). This canvas was created to be the centerpiece above a dessert table celebrating Shelby's First Communion.

Which you can barely read here. Click to view larger. Or take a look at the photo below.

In all, I spent less than $10 because I had all the material except the canvas. I plan to hang this in Shelby's room now that the party is over. I think this would make a great gift and am inclined to make more.
Thanks for reading.





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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

project life:: new page for April

Admittedly, I am running a bit behind on creating April layouts. After finding this free page template via Pinterest, I was inspired to quickly put this one together.
Super easy to do! The downside? Photoshop would not allow me to save as a jpeg and repeatedly gave me an error. Please CS2, hold on! Do not go kaput on me. {Keep in mind the current version is CS5}.

To see other project life-ish pages go here and here. Pin It

Monday, May 14, 2012

DIY:: chalkboard end table



My family room end tables look like this. They are not expensive, I got them at Hobby Lobby years ago, but I like them. And they still coordinate well with everything else in my family room. In prepartation for a party on Saturday, I carried one outside and spray painted the top with flat black paint. Then I realized I had a brand new can of chalkboard paint.

So MUCH to my girls' delight, I painted it and created a surface for art! I am not sure this idea will last forever as the chalk dust is messy but it is a great conversation piece for now. This week I will drag the other outside and create a matching set. If (when) I tire of it, I will scrub it down well and paint over with the flat black paint. By the way, after I lightly sanded the top, the paint filled in those exposed places really well.  This was a $3-6 makeover success!
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Friday, May 11, 2012

InstaFriday: life via iPhone pics

Not wishing to be a broken record, I fight the urge to state my observation: I have not posted since last Friday. Sigh, life is busy. I have so many great projects to share though especially as I prepare for Shelby's special day: First Holy Communion. I promise details next week. For now, my saving grace, the iPhone and it's always with me camera.

 Redskins forever, Redhawks never! Only kidding but Shelby makes my vintage Redskins shirt look good, eh?
 Watching TV on the new bench.
 A very early on Pinterest find. Made it happen on Cinco De Mayo. Individual 7 layer dip.
 The supermoon last Saturday.
A very sunny, ME!
 Party prep begins.
 Teacher appreciation gift.
 Zonked!
 Artwork by my sweet, sweet girl. This one goes in a frame.
 Shelby wearing her special shirt to school Mass to celebrate her Communion this weekend. And Skipper's butt. Oops.
 80 degree outdoor temps but 70 degree pool water. The kids are crazy.
 Crazier yet...they convinced MaMa to dip her toes in too.
 Shelby's school project. Meet: Puppy, Bad Kitty and Uncle Murray.
 Love these girlies.

I take advantage of these Friday recaps and refer to them when I do my monthly scrapbook pages. Thank you for indulging me.

Join in at Life Rearranged.



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Friday, May 4, 2012

InstaFriday



Soccer team snack

My fav player

Baby shower gift for my friend Amy. Can't wait for baby to arrive!

Another of this girl.

Celebrating May Crowning

A new, gray couch...finally!

Joining in with others at Life Rearranged.

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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

on iphoneography

Hey there! You know how I have fallen into taking photos nearly exclusively with my iPhone? And how I am SO happy about it and often go on and on in this space about the merits of "love the camera you are with"? Well, I still believe all of this to be true.

But...
But sometimes the occasion is so big that I dust off my Digi Rebel (practically vintage at this point, it is the Rebel XT circa 2005 or 2006), attach the 50mm portrait lens, adjust the settings as if I know what I am doing and the result is glorious!
This photo of my beautiful Shelby is from yesterday's pictures at Church, the real deal is next weekend but because I had snapped one of my all time favorite photos of Olivia on this day, I knew I had to give it a shot with Shelby. In fact, she is standing in the same doorway at church as Olivia is in this photo.

This one has been doctored a bit in PhotoShop, muting the colors. Not sure on the details just yet but I plan to print both photos in an impressive size and hang them side by side.

Pretty sure I am the luckiest Mom ever. Look at these girls! Pin It