DIY Chalkboard Backpack hanger

  This is may get a little long, so bare with me. I thought it would be fun to tell you a little more about how life around our house works, usually only when I'm trying to do something... 

  In Alexandria, MN there is a little store called "Ron's Warehouse". This store is filled with stuff. Stuff that most people don't really need, but you buy anyways, because it's a good deal, and because it came from Ron's. Every once in a while, you find a treasure amongst the shelves and shelves of crap, and this was one of those times.

 Way in the back I found a shelf with picture frames and wall hangings. Luckily I wore my creative hat that day. I found this...

   I'm not going to lie, I loved it. It was ugly, in a functional, only if I give it a makeover, sort of way. I had been thinking about something to hang the kids backpacks on since school started, and this was perfect, or would be. The price was even better. $5.99. Seriously. Who could pass that up?!

 The painting had to go. Give me a bowl of fruit salad and I'm in heaven, hang a fruit picture on my wall, and I'm in hell. I also wasn't a fan of the clear shiny knob. That had to go. I decided that I was going to paint over the fruit with chalkboard paint, so we could write important reminders about school related things, so I don't look like such an idiot to all the teachers.

 Before I go on, have I ever told you how non-observant I am? I notice stupid things that don't really need noticing, but I never notice the important things. David could literally get up from sitting next to me, walk in the other room and come back and I won't even notice. Why am I telling you this? Because I have no shame. 

 I started painting over the fruit, making a giant mess because I am rarely careful. According to the chalkboard paint you have to paint a coat, then let it dry for an hr. I did just that. I came back to the painting and noticed that the "fruit" had bubbled. BAD. I went into a slight panic wondering what the heck I was going to do. Thinking maybe that David could replace the picture with wood for me, and I could just paint that. But would it be a pain in the butt? Would it damage my frame? Aggghh! I flipped it over to check out the possibilities, when I noticed...IT WAS A PICTURE FRAME. Tabs and all. I had looked at this thing a dozen times and never once noticed it. 

How can one not notice this?!

 After my heart rate calmed down, I got back to work. I threw away the fruit and decided to paint the wood that layed behind the fruit. 

 I needed something for a chalk holder. I dug around in my large random collection of craft crap and found my rather large selection of Scrabble tile trays. You know those little wood trays that hold the scrabble tiles when you actually play the game, instead of just using the pieces to make pretty necklaces. 

  I got to work painting it black, to match the board. During the painting I took a bathroom break. The littlest monster was supposed to be sleeping, so I didn't put anything away, or up. I came back and he was sitting on the floor, paint all over the place, huge smile on his face. He was so proud of the work he did. I was not as amused. So off to bed he went (again), and we got to work cleaning up the mess.

Small portion of the aftermath of a 2 yr old. The colors were separate. The cardboard box was clean. You can't see the painted carpet, or the paintbrush that was coated with all colors.

 

  Finally back to the craft at hand. Everything was ready to be put together!

 I super glued the chalk holder to the bottom of the chalkboard for a couple of reasons. It was something I was capable of doing, and it wouldn't put ugly nail holes in my beautiful new picture. Plus it only had to hold chalk. Which weighs a whole .1 oz.

The man tried to change out my knob, but I stopped him. I guess he doesn't think I'm capable of working a screwdriver. Power tools, maybe, screwdriver, please. This is my project, damn it!  

 I put everything together and laid it against the wall to hang it up in the morning. I even wrote some important school reminders on it for the week. We went to bed, and I woke up to this.

My important reminders gone, and one very happy 2 yr old. (are we discovering a pattern yet?) 

 Anyways...after a few minor setbacks, I finally got the finished board up, and I must say I LOVE it! It holds the kids backpacks nicely, I love being able to write down things on a place that I will see them everyday before school starts, and it even gives me a place for the man to write me little love notes.

  I hope you enjoyed this little journey into my life. Have a great weekend!!

A Few Hidden Treasures at The Children's Musuem

   
  After Corbin's Birthday party last May we decided we weren't doing Birthday parties anymore. We planned and we planned, spent way too much money, and way to much time on something that was fun, but in reality, not nearly as much fun as we could have had. The boys would end up with tons of toys that would never be thought about again, and would usually end up in the Salvation Army box by the end of the year. It just wasn't worth it anymore.

Shame On Me

  Hi, my name is Sarah, and I'm a slacker. I'm admitting it here, although I don't believe I've ever denied it. 

  I've slacked on this blog. I've slacked on my crafts. I've slacked on cleaning. I've slacked on my cooking. Sigh. Maybe someday I'll get better at this "life" shenanigans, but my guess is by the time I figure it out, It'll be too late. 

  I need to get back on track with this blogging business, so I'll share a few updates.

  

  The monsters started school! Dyl is in 3rd grade, Dawson started Kindergarten. I dreaded the day Dawson went to school. I think I whined about it for months. He was the most handsome kindergartner in the bunch!

  I thought for sure I would cry like a baby when he started, but I didn't. I will admit that I got a little choked up when he walked into the school. I had a slight panic moment and did not want to let him go, but I sucked it up and he did great! He loves school and is so excited to go everyday. I hope it never changes!

And Off He Goes!

    We've also participated in 2 craft shows since I last posted. They went well. The first was in New Brighton, MN. The actual show was kind of slow. We didn't do as great as we hoped, but we still did decent. The best part was the crafters around us were awesome! They were all so nice and friendly! One of them, Joyce, even made Dawson a reusable lunch bag for his school lunches! Awww! 

 We also took our last trip Up North, to Osakis, MN, for the summer. We fished, we played and just relaxed. Dylan was the little king of fishing that week. He caught about 8 fish, way more than anyone else caught! The best part was his bluegill he caught. For a Sunfish, that thing was huge! We never weighed it, but it was about 9 1/2 inches long, which is a pretty good size. We are actually planning on getting it mounted for him, being that my Dad says it's not very common to catch a sunfish that big!

Isn't it a beauty?!

  I'll leave you with a few pictures from our trip, just because I love to share pictures! Keep your fingers crossed that I can kick this slacking habit, and keep up with this blog! 

Fishing at Sunset.

Me and Beanie Man waking up....slowly.

Corbin is obsessed with driving the boat! He would scream if his brothers tried to take a turn.

Don't they look thrilled?

Dawson loved holding all the fish that got caught and releasing them!

The Dock. It took a beating this year, with all the rain and flooding, but the flowers growing next to it (naturally) are gorgeous!

Gorgeous Sunset On The Lake

Corbin Running To The Boat

  Have a fantastic Day!!

Recycled T-shirt Bracelets

 I recently got a Pinterest account. I am slightly addicted to it, and have to force myself away once I get started. I came across an adorable tutorial on making necklaces out of recycled T-shirts. I'm a simple girl. I don't like large jewelry, I don't like a lot of "Bling", patterns or expensive stuff. The necklace was a little too large for my taste, but I thought that it would make a a perfect bracelet! For some reason, I like a little bit of chunk on my wrists.

30 Day Craft Challenge...Day 5

   Before I jump into Day 5, I want to point something out. It is officially August 7th, but I'm only on Day 5. Confusing, eh? I promise you that I have indeed done a craft a day, I'm just not quick enough about getting them posted on here. Some of my crafts are done late at night, after the Monsters go to bed. I love this blog, but not enough to stay up late to actually make a post. I would love to say that I'm going to catch up, and make the post on the day they happen, but that would more then likely be a lie, so I won't do it. Just have faith that the crafts are happening when they should be. Ok? Thanks! 

30 Day Craft Challenge...Day 4

  I want to tell you all about my Dawson, our middle child. He's a boy of pure imagination. The things that boy comes up with is mind boggling. So many of the things we do, are because of him. He thinks them up, asks repeatedly when we can do them, and finally we do. Recently I bought him a drawing tablet, to draw his ideas on paper. He drew a tool box. Him and Daddy-O made the tool box, following his blue prints.  

30 day Craft Challenge...Day 3

 This year has brought some crazy weather. It snowed all spring long, we've had bad storms, and a ton of rain. Along with storms comes fallen branches, lots of fallen branches. Here and there we pay the boys to run around the yard and collect the branches and sticks that have piled up. Typically we put them in a wagon and drag them into the back, but last time, we were lazy. They were piled up on the sidewalk, and there they have sat.

A Blast From My Past

  The other day we were at Walmart, making our usual "necessities" trip. Like we normally do, we took our little stroll through the toys...just in case. I happened to look down and spy something from my past. On Clearance!! That item was...drum roll please.... An Easy Bake Oven! I know they've been around, and it's not a new thing, but I haven't touched one of those things since I was at least 10 yrs old. I convinced the boys they needed it. They wanted it. Imagine the smiles on their faces when I told them they could bake cakes and cookies, whenever their little hearts (tummies) desired! 

30 Day Craft Challenge...Day 2

  Day 2 is the continuation of the freezer paper stencils! It's time to paint. Last blog ended on the stencils being ironed on. You will now need some sort of cardboard to stick in between the shirt, fabric paint, and some paint brushes. For the fabric paint, I use Tulip Brand, Soft Fabric paint. Which you can find at most or any craft store.

 I had the older boys paint their shirts, I painted the youngest ones shirt, and I let the little one paint an extra little tote bag I had, just so he wouldn't feel left out. I gave them each one of those foam brushes and let them go to town! The best technique to paint is to dab the paint, not brush it on. It takes a little bit longer, but it turns out so much better then brushing it on, and it lasts longer. I recommend 2 light coats of paint, but obviously use your judgement. Some colors will use more coats, some will use less. 

 

Once you have finished painting, let it dry for a few minutes, but make sure you peel the stencil off before the paint dries all the way. If you have any little pieces, like in the letters, use your exacto knife to help peel those off. Go slow removing the stencil, you don't want to mess up the paint job!

 

  There you have it! Your shirts are done! We did do a little extra on a couple of our shirts after the paper was peeled. The skull got spider webs, and the cowboy got a light brushing of gold. Let them dry for a while, I usually *try* to wait 24 hrs. 

 

 

30 Day Craft Challenge....Day 1

 Woo hoo! Day one! I actually started this challenge! For day numero uno, I decided to go with a craft I was obsessed with a couple of years ago. Freezer Paper Stencils! Back in the day, when our youngest was first born, I painted so many little onesies with this method. It's easy, fun and oh so adorable! This is also kind of a 2 step process...at least for the blog. Tonight, I will give you the tutorial on cutting the stencil out.

It's Time To Confess My Sins

  I have a confession to make. I have lost my creativity. I don't know where it went. Have you seen it? Even right now, writing this blog, I'm lacking in the creativity department. I'm 4 sentences in, and I've already taken a Stumbleupon break. Part of this could be because I've been up since 5:30 am (Thank you littlest Monster and your hate of sleep), but I mostly blame my lack of using my creative juices consistently.

Wrap It Up!

I mentioned in a past post about making jewelry to compete go along with David's Jewelry. Well this is one of the things I started to make. I had a spool of white suede laying around, and it looked lonely. I played with it a bit, trying to figure out what to make. I ended up making various leather bracelets, but this one is by far my favorite!

I See The Light!!!

   Ever since I got my DSLR a few years back I've wanted to try to do this nifty little pictures where you capture the light with sparklers, or flashlights, or whatever. I've had my camera for about 4 yrs now, and this summer I finally did it! I have no excuse for not doing it before, knowing me, I was just being lazy. 

And Along Came a Bunny...Hop, Hop, Hop!

 I have a problem. I'm a slacker. If something doesn't "need" to be done, it takes me forever to get it done. I've been meaning to post this for weeks, but never got around to it. Instead I posted pictures of spring, because it was easier. Ha! So here it is. The bunny for the Easter Tree. I was going to do the Chick too, but like I said, I'm a slacker. This bunny is so cute. Soooo cute. I have plans for this bunny (in bigger form), but we'll see if I get around to it. 

Outside! We can go outside!!!

 It's officially Spring! Well, sorta. It's MN. I don't think MN has a Spring, to tell you the truth. It's been gorgeous out, but alas, the Weather Man is calling for SNOW this weekend. Yup, in April. Go Mother Nature! Enough ranting, because all in all, I truly love Spring. Spring means Summer (my favorite!) is coming soon, spring means flowers are blooming, trees are budding, birds are chirping, the kids are tired from playing outside all day! So many things to love about Spring!  I thought I would share with you some things that Spring means to me.

To me, Spring is all about..

 
Picnics!

Spring has Sprung...how about making some flowers?

 I promised in my last post I would do a tutorial on my flowers. They are so easy it almost makes me sick. I could make hundreds of these little bundles of cuteness in a night. Only I won't, because really? What would I do with them? I have boys. If I made them hundreds of little flowers they would probably trade me for a "Cooler" Mom. Instead I share with you, and maybe you can make hundreds of them!

The Easter Tree

    I promised in my last post to share our Easter Tree with you. I know this time of year you can buy the cute trees that are made for Easter. They come in all sorts of adorable pastel colors, and you adorn them with tiny little eggs and trinkets. This is not that tree. 

The Monsters have a "Holiday" tree

 Last Christmas I had the brilliant idea of buying the older Monsters a Christmas Tree for their bedroom. I had visions of bright lights and gorgeous ornaments glistening. Those visions turned into an adorable tree, fit for two adorable boys. Oh, how they loved that tree. They picked out their own ornaments, decorated it and made it their own. They were quite proud of it, and I was quite proud of them! 

Well... hello there blogging world.

    As I sit here, trying to think of an intro for all you blog readers, my boyfriend is singing Welcome to the Jungle, complete with music, from his mouth. Welcome to our world. We are a family of crazies. Not the bad crazy, the good crazy. The fun, make you laugh, kind of crazy. We don't take life to seriously. We would much rather have fun and act silly. We are creative, spontaneous, and completely random. Love it or leave it. Although we would prefer if you loved it.