DIY Wooden Mushroom Ornaments: a tutorial

Well, last night was a crafting success. I instructed 20+ ladies on making these, and not a single one thought they were difficult! Everyones was completely different and they all wanted to make more. So here is a quick photo-guided tutorial in case you want to make some of these babies on your own. I warn you though, they're highly addicting...

First, some supplies you'll need are pictured below. Twine, wood glue, paint, brushes and of course the wood pieces. I've shot a close-up of the packaging of the two wood crafting shapes I've used so you'll know exactly what to look for. I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby.

The actual first step that I forgot to document is drilling a small hole in the top of the split ball in order to screw in the eyelet. The eyelets can also be purchased from Hobby Lobby for $1.99. Now start to paint your top and bottom. An easy way to hold the little guys while painting is by the eyelet for the top of the mushroom and by placing the bottom of the mushroom on the wood end of a paintbrush pictured below. 

Once you've finished painting your wood pieces, you will glue them together. Use a small amount of wood glue and smooth out with your finger. Don't use too much or it will get messy when you press the pieces together. Attach the bottom to the flat center of the top like this:

Now you can start to paint your dots/circles. One girl last night even painted stripes, which was adorable. You can really be creative at this part if you want, or like me just stick with small and medium size spots.

There is one additional step that is completely optional. I coated just the spotted tops in a layer of mod podge. It gave them a bit of a sealed look and feel. A little less matte if you will.

And there you have it. For ornaments, cut and attach a little bit of twine to the eyelet and you're done. If you want to use them for packaging, just attach them to whatever ribbon or twine you're wrapping your box with. You can also skip attaching an eyelet if you want to keep them for figurines or standing. They would make great pieces for a homemade tic tac toe game. So if you're anything like me, you'll go make about a million of these to use as you please. Enjoy!

This old foreclosed home: a coat of paint covers all sins

So maybe a coat of paint doesn't cover all the sins of ignoring exterior maintenance, but it sure helps. This poor house sat sad and alone for who knows how long, so it's safe to say the exterior was ignored. Since we finished 98% of the interior build/projects, this summer has been all about the outdoors. We've taken back control of the landscaping, laid a bunch of rocks and torn out a lot of weeds, but we still have finish work to do like leveling out areas and planting grass.

Our shed and barn need a majority of the work as well, and at this point we're still trying to decide if we keep and repair the old, or we knock it down and replace it with something we really want, that functions the way we need it to. Tough decisions like that usually get weighed on the budget scale...

Another glaring problem was all the ignored wood around the place. Our back stairs off the sunroom were about to be replaced until we decided to try a product called 'Deckover' by Behr. You can find it at Home Depot. It's like painting with cake batter. Thick and stinky, but it goes on well and fills in gaps and holes. Once we did that, it seemed like the steps were fine! They'll last a few more years anyway, until we've stopped hemorrhaging money and a couple hundred dollars to fix some steps doesn't seem like a big deal.

Since that worked so well, I decided the front porch could use a coat. Plus, it was a nice color that matched our brown trim{not my favorite, but oh well}, Dark Walnut. After a good wire brush scraping to remove built-up mold and peeling old paint, I shopvacced the area, removed all the leaves and went to work.

Here's a quick before and after comparison. I should have taken a few close-ups to show the worn out state of the place, but this will have to do. Trust me, after your porch/deck has been ignored for probably ten years, it's going to look sad. So now we have this updated and clean porch to walk onto every day! I love that the exterior white primer/paint combo I used for the railings really makes them pop. You didn't really notice there was a porch there before! Another side thing happened during the project that affected the look as well. Our oil tank leaked and we had to have it replaced. At that time we decided to move it across the basement like we wanted {if we're paying for it anyway!} and remove the ugly stinky pipes from the front sidewalk. They're now lovely and tucked away on the side of the house behind a bush. Not sure why they were in the walkway in the first place anyway! For now my potted mums are hiding the patch of concrete and the chopped pipes that we'll have to fix.

Another quick project I decided to tackle while I had all the supplies handy was painting the front porch columns. It wasn't that time-consuming, but I think it makes the whole mix of white and brown trim look a little more planned. Plus, they were worn as well and needed a little tlc before they became too bad to save. So just an hour or so and a few coats of white paint freshened everything up a bit. Now the sidewalk just needs a good powerwashing and we'll be ready for winter...

Play day project day

Yesterday was a stay home and play kind of day. Play for her, work for me anyway. God gave me one last week of nice weather to finish off all those exterior painting projects I've been procrastinating on. Thanks Lord, I'll get right on that.

We did, however, manage to play most of the time she was awake and save the majority of the painting for the nap hours. Turns out, giving a 2 year old a paintbrush and asking her to help isn't exactly smart. Especially if neither of you are wearing painting clothes.

So, after an epic meltdown when I took the brush and paint away, I decided it was time to have some inside {washable} painting time. This girl does love to paint. She gets that from me I suppose. Here's my little artist taking her work very seriously:

 

And a new tool. Everyone loves exploring new ways to create. I'd like to explore a nap right about now, but back to those gnarly outdoor projects! I'll have some before and afters for you soon. It's amazing what a coat {or two or three} of paint can do...

A thrifty transformation: step right up

I have a bad habit of thrifting. It's not necessarily bad, if you enter with the mindset that everything can be altered. I mean, sure, every now and then you find something perfect as it is, but that's rare. I tend to have a better shopping experience when I bring my friend Marybeth, because two sets of eyes spot something fabulous better than one, AND we both happen to love the same style/things. It's usually a win/win for both of us.

This particular time I went alone, but I did score an outdoor play house {awe. some.} and this step stool. Which as you can see above, was hideous at first buy.

A whole lot of spray paint later {those fish were not cooperating, i.e.: seeping through the paint} and we have a lovely usable stool for looking out the window at the passers by. I used some old American Crafts rub-ons to add some color and life to it. I was going to do a classy modern look, but I realized that sometimes kids like to have kid-like stuff, so animals it is. Not shabby for a four dollar thrift store find. Just remember kids, {and by kids, I mean adults} spray paint is your friend. And giraffes are too. {And primer.}

Craftilicious: Rope jewelry

I took a few minutes this weekend to make these:

This necklace/bracelets set was made for the little one, but I've got a set in the works for myself. They're really simple, quick and incredibly cute. This could even make for a fun rainy-day craft for older kids (5+), boys included. I think everyone would enjoy making these. I found the tutorial here. The bag of rope was only a few dollars at Home Depot and the acrylic paints I used are only 50 cents or so per color. 

Learning our colors, crafty-style

I sometimes forget that I need to teach her a few things here and there, like counting, colors, words, shapes, how to brush her teeth, to be polite {actually, we're really good at that one} and pretty much everything. Usually it just takes showing her once. Then she picks it up and we move on. Well, I decided if we were going to learn our colors, it might as well be creatively. Because she is, after all, my daughter.

I give you peak-a-peeps! Silly name I know. But the general idea is there. Learn your colors and learn how to compare and match them up.

You can pick up packages of these little candle cups and the wooden pegs at any craft store. I just used acrylic paints and sealed with a spray gloss. Simple enough to do in front of the tv. Well, besides the gloss sealant part. I don't think the husband would appreciate me spraying that stinky mess on the living room floor.

I think she likes them! And I can already see her little brain making the connections of color to color. Success!

Bebe Van Gogh

To say we had a good first time painting, would be a serious understatement. I guess anything that gets you dirty must be fun? At least that's what a toddler thinks. And anything that leads to a bath is just plain awesome. So, she did really well with her first experience. I think we found our new rainy day activity. Absolutely.

 

 

Craftilicious: Painted rocks

No really. I painted rocks. I figured, if she was going to play with them, they might as well be pretty.

I've been trying to do something crafty every day. Either something small, or a big project on my list. It gives me some creative time, and gets a lot of things marked off my 'to-make' list. Painted rocks weren't really on the list, but I saw something along the lines on Pinterest a while back and it all clicked now that my loves-the-outdoors girl is playing with them ALL DAY. Honestly, I don't know why I buy toys. So far the best investments have been a twelve dollar play tent, a twenty dollar table set she can draw on and free rocks. Awesome.

With these you can be as detailed as you want or keep it simple, they'll still look good. If you haven't painted rocks before, it's pretty therapeutic. AND you should definitely do it with your kids if they're old enough. Think about maybe some larger rocks you could give to grandparents as paperweights. They love that crap. I'm thinking of making some chevron pattern large rocks for friends. How cute would one of those be holding down all those bills you need to remember to pay?

Now here's the really important part: seal your rocks! Do it. I used a clear coat spray varnish. It locks in the paint and saves your hard work from being washed off after a day in the dirt.

IKEA hack: LATT table and chairs

SO I bought the 'LATT table and chairs' set for the bebe. I thought it would be nice to have somewhere for her to sit and play, or sit and eat, or sit and color. I reworked the set so now it can do all of that.

First, I had to stain everything {in a gray shade}, but you know IKEA likes to keep everything in pieces, so this made that process a little easier. Then I decided to FINally use a cute fabric I bought a while ago for seat covers. This was a simple mod podge and fabric process, took almost no time at all.

Next was the table top. I painted the original top with chalkboard paint, but it didn't take too well to having dried food wiped off it, and I wasn't exactly sure how safe eating off of a chalkboard is, so I bought a piece of plexiglass from Lowes to cover the paint. Now when she's eating I have a nice easy-to-clean {food-safe} surface and when she's ready to play, I can easily remove the plexiglass.

The table and chairs cost $19.99 for the set, and the plexi cost me around 8$. They cut the plexi for free, and I only had to sand down the corners with my Dremel to make it a perfect fit. The fabric was probably about $6 but I can't remember exactly. It probably took me about an hour - two to finish the entire thing AND she seems to like it. Makes a mama happy.

this old foreclosed home: a guest room do over

There's something I've been wanting to do for a while, but until the house reno was complete, I couldn't justify repainting a room just for fun. This paint color was awful. I absolutely hated it when I painted it, but we had to be out of our apartment and into the house and since this was the only livable bedroom, it had to stay. It was like a bad rotten pea color, or something you'd find in your bebe's diaper. See:

So even though I really really really wanted gray {and tried several different samples before finding the perfect one}, the husband eventually put the kibosh on that, so I went for 'grey beige' and created a happy compromise for everyone. The room is pretty large and bright, but the dark diarrhea color wasn't helping it much. Now it's lighter and brighter and more inviting. After grabbing some decor elements from around the house, and finding a $10 end table at the thrift store, it feels good. A $50 change makes a big difference.