Wednesday, August 29, 2012

An Art Table

I thought I had pre-posted this for Monday, but I forgot. Sorry!

I haven’t posted it yet, but I have an entire room in our home dedicated to being creative. I have always loved being creative. My family is full of creative people… my mom has always been sewing something, my dad is always building something, my Grandma was a great seamstress and she loved to paint. My aunts are knitters and quilters. So I think it’s hereditary. Or at least I want it to be.



I do let the kids in the craft room and let them make a mess with me in there. We have been kitting kits from Kiwi Crate and they often like to make cards to send to their cousins.

However, I’ve been inspired but Meg Duerksen and I’ve seen peeks of her kids at their art table. I wanted there to be a place dedicated to where the kids could get crafty. I’ve thought about placing it in my room, but I wanted it to be more out in the open, so if we are watching TV, they can be coloring or if I’m making dinner, they can be painting.

So I decided I wanted a small rectangle coffee table, that would fit without being in the way, and the kids could sit on the floor to work. I posted an ad on the local online garage sale, and guess who answered? My mom! lol… so I went across the road and picked up this table.



I hauled it over, and washed it up. The glass had been siliconed into the table, so I couldn’t take it out.



I just taped some newspaper on it, and then sprayed it black. Amazing what some black spray paint can do.



And then I set it up in the dining area, under the kids clipboards.



Eventually, I’d like to find some larger baskets to put underneath, but for now, this plastic tote is working. There is paper, markers, and crayons underneath. I’ve got some paint brushes and scissors and tape. The should be set to go now.

I’m not worried about how the table will end of looking. If I can’t wash it off, I can always haul it out and spray another layer of paint on.



Above the table I have the clipboards and picture frames. We had this in our old house as well. I bought some 12x12 frames and cheap longer clipboards – and guess what – spray painted them black!    Initially, I wanted to change out the scrapbook pages monthly, but I love these photos and pages, so they will stay up for longer!

I also wanted clipboards to store papers and such that the kids need or bring home from school. It keep the clutter off the fridge. Or on the floor in front of the fridge like usually happens.



David has his Wrestling pictures hung up.



RC needs to get crafty and show off some art work. (He does currently have spelling words on there!)





McKinley has a lion colored on the first day of school, and a turkey she colored after tracing her hand.



Around the corner, in the living room cabinet, we have more coloring pages, and paper and crayons. I’ve also got a cabinet in the craft room for more supplies.

Linking to: Savvy Southern Style

Wordless Wednesday–Fire Danger

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Friday, August 24, 2012

McKinley’s Room–American Girl Inspired.

Gosh, I had hoped to get more posted in the last week.  I’m sorry about that.  I do have a lot coming up… the kids have started school and I’ve got a lot of projects going on right now.  I just finished one up, so I’ll post it Monday.

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McKinley is a huge American Girl fan.  (I may have had something to do with that!)  We call them Molly girls, as her first one was Molly (well, it was a knock off that we told her was Molly.)  So when it came to room design, we went with a Molly Girl look.

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We painted a light pink, Precious Pink and then painted a strip of Red Bomb along the top portion.  If you have every seen an American Girl box, it is similar to these two colors.  I took the box into the local Hardware Hank to match them up as best I could. 

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I purchased the vinyl stars from Uppercase Living, and we placed them around the strip of red.  I also hung up the photo of McKinley and two of her dolls.  We have a few more shelves to put up in here, but mostly it’s all done.  And very well played in! 

Enjoy your weekend!!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

RC’s Bedroom

I am hoping to get all of the rooms shared here in the next couple week's.  The kids start school next week, so I can work on some of the other rooms that I've not gotten finished up while they are home.  But we got their bedrooms settled for now so that they can have that space when they come home from school. 

Down the hall, RC’s room is the first one on the left.  All three of the kids’ rooms are the same size too. About 12x12'. 
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We went with a light blue, called Charm Blue from Hardware Hank for the walls.  Most of the décor, RC already had. 
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We had bought these beds for the boys a couple years ago, and they are very nice, with the shelves and drawers under the bed. 
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We had this desk on loan from my aunt, and it fits is pretty well here. 
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My friend found these crates when she was out shopping one day.  They are perfect for his room.  They are Royal Crown...aka RC Cola.  ;)
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I found this sign on etsy and had to have it for his room as well. 
Hope you enjoyed RC’s room tour.  McKinley’s is coming up next. 

Monday, August 13, 2012

Laundry Area

Hey there – I wanted to reveal a finished laundry/mud room, but not today.  Seems it’s a good catch all room.  I suppose it always will be.  The laundry room is located right off the garage, and near the dining room patio doors.  There is a half bath in the mudroom area and a large closet for the furnace, water heater and then access to the crawl space. 
However, I did want to share part of it and this shelf.
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Here is the shelf before.  This was in our old house, left by the previous owners, but I saw potential when we were unloading it to move.  (Had to give Greg something else to use in the garage now!) 
I’ve been inspired by so  many things on Pinterest with the Industrial theme.  So I got some spray paint and went to work.  This is Krylon Spray Paint that I picked up at the local Hardware Hank.  (I can't find the cans to see the color name now!)

Then I gathered up all of the metal baskets I have so far. 
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I love that I can still have a place for all that extra crap that we need, but looks hideous.  And now it can look pretty.  Mostly it’s extra things like my scentsy waxes, and extension cords. But it’s a good place for them.
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Right now, this is how the rest of the room looks.  I can function in the laundry area, but the rest is a catch all for tools and supplies for the rest of the house.  It will be a great room once we are done tho.
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Here is the laundry area of the room.  There is a pocket door there, that will close off the room when we have company.
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And this is the other side that leads out to the garage.  Over on the left is where I’ll put in cubbies for coats and stuff.  On the other side is the bathroom. 

Linking to Not Just a Housewife.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Mud Fun

If you are a friend on Facebook, you saw that last night the kids made themselves a fun mud pit.  IMG_9394It started out as a simple evening of making mudpies on the deck, but slowly it morphed into making lakes in the dirt piles.

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What would playing in the mud be if you couldn’t wrestle your brother down in it. 

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“MOM! I want a hug.”

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“RC! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!”

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You can’t even tell McKinley took her shirt off.

 

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Then before we knew it, it was time to hose off and get ready for the shower.

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And then clean the bathtub out. 

Friday, August 3, 2012

August??

How did the summer fly by already?  I swear we just started it, yet so  much has happened.  On the home front, it’s been a busy week for us, and I’ve not gotten to anything extra or fun to post here. 

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We had a birthday this week.  Our baby turned 6!!  It’s hard to believe.  Of course it was American Girl themed, and she got some new clothes, toys and crafts, plus a fun lil princess house for them all to live in.  Winking smile 

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We had to make a fast trip to GF to the Dr,and we got to come home last night to this.  Today however it’s raining like a manic so I don’t know what will get done out there.  And I’m supposed to go help a friend with  a garage sale. However, I love the rain.  Umbrella