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Peg Doll Place Cards
In November I gave my daughter a set of unfinished wooden peg dolls. My original request was that she paint our family on peg dolls as a Christmas present to me so I could put them in a shadowbox frame. She loved that idea. I loved that idea. The peg dolls arrived just as friends flew in to stay with us for Thanksgiving. That prompted an even better idea! Peg Doll Place Cards for Thanksgiving Dinner. I asked my daughter and her friend (they are both 11 years old) if they would paint peg dolls for every person joining us for Thanksgiving. Instead of place cards at each table setting,…
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Chalkboard Globe Advent Calendar
If I’m being really honest, some of my creative ideas are the result of sheer panic or parental guilt. Case in point. My kids have been asking since Halloween if I had purchased chocolate advent calendars. It’s one of their favorite holiday traditions. “There’s plenty of time,” I said. No. No, there’s not plenty of time. In my defense, my grocery store does not sell advent calendars, so I haven’t been able to make an impulse buy that would avoid all this parental guilt regarding the holiday tradition I started. Last week I decided I needed to get serious about finding chocolate advent calendars because tick-tock goes the clock entire…
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DIY Leather Christmas Trees
We had a very special visit from my dad and The Junk Whisperer this fall and they brought me presents. I LOVE PRESENTS! And by ‘presents’ I mean they cleaned out a drawer and brought me a treasure I would have coveted had I known it was in that drawer. I clearly need to do a better job of snooping when I go home for visits. Anyway, back to the gift! The Junk Whisperer brought me a whole stack of emu leather! She knew that I’ve been on a leather crafting kick lately. (See this map, this paperweight, these drawer pulls and this pumpkin.) And then because I’m a super grateful…
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Painted Acorn Tic Tac Toe
Acorns seem like the bridesmaid of autumn. They always play second fiddle to pumpkins, don’t you think? Well, not anymore! Let’s give acorns their moment, shall we? Besides, I’ve already written about pumpkins a million times. My son and I painted a tic tac toe board when he was 5 years old and in kindergarten. He’s in 3rd grade now and learning multiplication and I’m in denial. The original tic tac toe game pieces were also made by my son…out of perler beads. I have ranted waxed poetically in the past about my feelings on perler beads here and here. You should really read those tales. My melodrama was solidly…
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Souvenir Penny Magnets
My son collects souvenir pennies when we visit tourist attractions. Souvenir pennies are small, inexpensive and apparently not illegal to make, so I feel like we are winning on all fronts. Much like the playing cards that I collect, a souvenir penny is a neat reminder of a visit to a specific place. Plus, this is something my son can collect his entire life. I’m not knocking the souvenir stuffed animal with this comment either. Okay, maybe a little, but we have more stuffed animals than Noah and his ark and at some point kids outgrow stuffed animals. Right?!?! Now, the problem with 8-year-olds and teeny tiny souvenirs is that…
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DIY Leather Pumpkin
Last year I made a trio of denim pumpkins out of a pair of my husband’s old jeans. I had so much fun cutting up those jeans creating those pumpkins that I decided I had one more (at least for now) pumpkin craft in me. In the spirt of reduce, reuse, repurpose and pumpkin-fy everything, I decided to DIY a leather pumpkin. Yes, leather! Everything else has been used to decorate faux pumpkins. Why not leather too? If you’ve been following this blog for a hot minute then it won’t surprise you that the leather for this pumpkin project came from a pair of old boots that I cut apart.…
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Wood Dining Chair Makeover With Fabric Tape
A new dining table calls for new dining chairs. It’s a law or something, right? Shhh. That’s what I told Handy Husband. I wanted something completely different from what I’ve been sitting on for the past 15 years. FIFTEEN! It seemed like a good time to mix things up. I really wanted these chairs, but they wouldn’t push under my new table and space is at a premium in my dining nook. Instead, I found a similar style with a higher back. It’s the TMS Angelo Home Hermosa Dining Chair from Wayfair. I loved the blue color, but not the yellow. At least, not for my space. I bought the…
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Burlap American Flag Centerpiece
Let me tell you a little something. There’s only so much “settling in” a person can do in a new home before a break is needed. I’d normally take a break on a comfy couch with a cold drink in hand. Maybe kick my feet up on a cute ottoman. Alas, I don’t have a couch yet. Or a cute ottoman. I do have a cold drink though. Priorities! In lieu of time on the couch, I decided I’d recharge with a cold drink and a crafting session. I might not have a place to sit, but I do have paintbrushes. Go figure. I also have a random burlap bag…
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Leather Wrapped Rock Paperweight
Editor’s Note: Late last week hackers redirected all my website traffic to spammy sites. It’s a horrible feeling and a mess to fix! I apologize if you tried to visit this site and weren’t able to do so. Huge thanks to Handy Husband for tackling the problem and kicking them off my happy place! I’d be lost without him! I have a crush. A style crush. Lately, thanks to Instagram, I have found inspiration in the spaces created by Studio McGee. If the name doesn’t sound familiar, you might recognize the fantasy kitchen they designed for HGTV. No biggie, right? (image: Studio McGee) Studio McGee is a small company started in…
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Egg Painting
On the list of superficial worst nightmares, kids throwing paint ranks pretty high for me. Twenty kids ages 4 to 11 filling eggshells with paint and throwing the eggs (hopefully) at a canvas? What could possibly go wrong?!?! Oh, I could think of one or a million things! Especially when I saw there was a bottle of glitter paint. Now there’s paint AND glitter? I am not ashamed to say it was one of those ‘back slowly away and let the other moms handle it’ kind of moments. As you can tell, egg painting was not my idea. This is why I am thankful for braver, more creative, more patient…
