handprint valentine hearts...

**this is a post that I published on Worthy of the Prize last year but thought it was a good time to post it here!  And yes, we definitely made these last year even though I dated it 2010!  Ha!**

It’s almost February and you know what that means...time to make valentines! Since Grayson is still small, I love any craft that involves his hand print!       Our valentines are headed to Grayson’s grandparents who all live pretty far away. So, if you’re one of his grandparents, stop reading now. :)

We took advantage of a little down time and made ours a little bit early. Here’s what you need to make these handprint valentines:

• Paper: We used watercolor paper, because we had it on hand and it’s a little thicker than regular cardstock so it might have a chance of holding up in the mail.
  

• 2 colors of washable paint: This is the paint that we used. You could use poster paint if you have older kids, but why take the risk of having red paint stain your kiddos’ cute clothes?

• Baby wipes: it helps to have these handy to wipe the paint off when you’re done with the first handprint.
• Paint brushes

Paint one of your child’s hands and press it onto the paper. (It works best to have your child hold their fingers close together.) Repeat this step for as many valentines as you need to make. Let the first handprint dry!  

Grayson’s handprints didn’t take long at all to dry, using the paper and paint that we did.        

By the time we printed the last of our 8 valentines, the first was already dry.

Using your second color, paint your child’s other hand. Overlap your child’s fingers on the first handprint, making a heart.

Let your valentines dry. Now the possibilities are endless!

• If your child is older, have them write the things he loves about his grandparents around the edge of the “heart”.
• Choose a “love” Scripture to write around the edge.
• Write a little Valentine’s Day message and date it.
• These would also make a cute keepsake if you pop them in a frame like we did.

Hope this helps you get a head start on your Valentine’s Day gifts!Do you have any cute ideas for handmade valentines?

thrift store brass lamp…

Have you noticed the trend among our beloved blogdom to find a cheap brass lamp at the thrift store, add a little spray paint, recover the shade (or buy a drum shade), and end up with a beautiful creation?  Yeah, so have I.  And everyone in Southwest Missouri must have, too, because I have gone from thrift store to thrift store in search of the glorious brass lamp and had NO luck.  Until today…



I was walking around an antique junk store in town and found this little beauty tucked back into one of the antique junk booths.  I was sure that the price tag would read $30, as most of the tags on the lamps had, but I’m pretty certain that angels sang as I read the price tag and it said $4!I said little beauty, but it’s actually about 30 inches tall.



I plan to spray paint the base of the lamp and change up the shade. I’d love to buy a drum shade for it at some point, but recovering the shade will work for now.  My question is what color should I paint it?  I’m thinking that it’s going to go on top of the black dresser in our entry way to replace the too small table lamp that’s currently sitting there.

Turquoise?

Source: akadesign.ca via Mary Jo on Pinterest

White?

Source: 320sycamoreblog.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

Green?

Any other color suggestions?  Have you made over a sassy brassy lamp?

our art center…

Although we’ve had a mild winter so far, I’m preparing myself for the snow (or ice) that’s sure to come our way when we least expect it.  After all we did have 2 feet of snow in February last year! 


One of the things that I’ve been doing is sorting out and organizing all of Grayson’s “art” supplies to make sure that we have plenty of things to do when it’s cold outside.  He loves to draw and color, but it’s nice to have different things ready to pull out at a moment’s notice!  I thought I’d dedicate the next few posts to a few art projects or ideas to do with our kiddos when winter strikes.  First up, our art center…

When we moved in, we had a random little wall just outside of the playroom and just on the other side of the desk area in our kitchen.  It was the perfect place to put this table and chairs that a friend gave us. It’s definitely not the most “decorated” area of our house and it’s not going to earn any design accolades, but we strive to have a very kid-friendly home (after all, it is his home, too). 

This little art center has turned out to be one of my favorite places in the house, at least in terms of practicality.  There’s no worry about cleaning up messy projects because the table sits on top of our laminate flooring. Play dough, paint, and other “messy” items clean up easily.



To make it easier to reach the art supplies but keep them off the table, I hung a little towel bar (found at Ikea) and some little red pails from the Target Dollar Spot.  We keep crayons and markers in these little buckets.  I know it’s a little risky to keep these items out all of the time, but Grayson uses them as they are intended…not to color on the walls or furniture.  If that’s an issue in your house, this might not be the best idea for you!  But it works for us.



It’s amazing how much this little space gets used, simply because the supplies are always out and at the ready.

Here's a little photo of our art center in use.

Do you have a spot in your home dedicated to crafting for your kiddos?  Or is your kitchen table always ready for a little coloring or crafting session?

thankful ornaments…

***This was originally a guest post over at Cap’s Creations blog the other day.  I thought I’d post it here as well. Enjoy!***

The project I wanted to share with you today is a little something that you can do with your kids before you pack away all of your Christmas decorations.  I called it our thankful ornament.

We made this one in 2006, just after our first year of marriage, and used to it "record" things that we were thankful for from that year.



I simply typed out things that we were thankful for (on plain computer paper), cut the paper into 1/4 inch strips, rolled them into "curls" in stuck them in the ornament.  I also added some "curls" of red and green scrapbooking paper. 



To make it easier to see what we were thankful for from that year, I created a little tag to attach to the top of the ornament that listed everything. Tie a few ribbons to the top and you're done!



It's a fun tradition and a great way to look back on the great things from the past years!

The girls over at Shanty2Chic just posted a variation on this project a few days ago.  Check it out here.

Wouldn't this be great to do with your kids before New Years?  Especially since you can find all of the Christmas stuff for more than 50% off!

a late christmas craft…

Do you still have your Christmas decorations up, trying to make the most of the Christmas season? Or do you put everything away on December 26th, ready for a fresh, clean start?  We definitely keep our decorations up until January 1 to extend the Christmas season a little at our cozy, little house.

If you still have ornaments out and are looking for a great, quick craft to do with your kids, I have one for you…a Rudolph handprint ornament. 



It will take you more time to gather your supplies for this ornament than it will to complete it, but it’s cute and simple! You’ll need white cardstock, green cardstock (if you wish), brown paint, red paint, and a black marker.

Paint your child’s hand with the brown paint and “stamp” it.  When the paint dries, add Rudolph’s nose using your child’s pinky fingertip (or the end of a paint brush), add eyes and antlers, and write your child’s name and the year on the side.  You can also cut the ornament out and back it with a different color cardstock.  Laminate it for durability, add a ribbon hanger, and you’re done!


This is Grayson’s Rudolph from two years ago.  Rudolph’s legs are a little blurry due to getting wet when our pipe burst last year, but I refuse to throw it away.  Memories, right??  Looking back I wish I had used the same hand for the ornaments, so I could have a true progression of Grayson’s growth on the Christmas tree, but there’s always next year! 

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If you’re looking for some Christmas books to add to your collection before you put them away, I have 2 excellent recommendations that we read and love at our house:

A Star so Bright by M. Christina Butler

This is a sweet story, very well written, with beautiful illustrations.  The excerpt from the back reads:

“The bear cubs awake from their deep winter slumber. 
 ‘What can it be?’ they cry, breathless with wonder.

Where has the mysterious star come from? What can it be? The animals follow the star through the pages of this magical story to find a very special surprise at the end.

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado

A sweet, sweet story of a crippled lamb that feels left out.  The continual reminder for the lamb (and for all of us) is that “God always has a special place for those who feel left out.”  The lamb ends up being present at Jesus’ birth, using his wool to keep the baby warm…being able to be in the exact place in the exact time he was needed only because of his handicap.

I’ve included the Amazon links for you, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find these at your local bookstore – I even found The Crippled Lamb half off at a Lifeway book store yesterday!
Happy reading!

anthropologie-inspired sheet music tree

I’m not going to hide it…I have been browsing for new Christmas decorations to craft since October 1. Can I blame it on my 31 Days of Warming up to the Holidays series? While perusing Anthropologie’s website, I came across this Printed Paper Pine…selling for a whopping $48!

Fortunately I had a few old hymnals that were just gifted to me that I’ve been wanting to include in my Christmas décor for this year.  I knew with a few added elements I could have my own printed paper pine at a fraction of the price.  Here’s my version that cost me just under $3 out of pocket.

To make your own Anthro-inspired sheet music tree, you’ll need:

• A 6 inch round wooden plaque – I found mine at Hobby Lobby for $1.47 plus an additional 30% off!

• A dowel rod  - mine was 3/16 inches wide by about 15 inches tall found at Hobby Lobby for $0.26 plus an additional 30% off.
• Sheet music – mine came out of this old hymnal

• A topper of your choice - I used a wooden ball (with a hole in the bottom) as my topper. I glittered it up using the fabulous Martha Stewart glitter but you could easily use a star or another fun topper.

• White fun foam
• Hole punch
• Pinking shears

Begin by painting your plaque white (or the color of your choice).
Once the paint is dry, drill a hole in the middle of it – the hole will need to be the same size as, or slightly bigger than, your dowel rod – but don’t drill all the way through.
Create “spacers” for your tree by cutting your fun foam in 1 inch x 1 inch squares and punching holes in the middle. The Anthro tree looks like it has some sort of cardboard or fiberboard spacers, which I didn’t like the look of.

I thought that smaller, white foam spacers would be less noticeable in the final product and they definitely are.
Now it’s time to cut your paper. I had about 10-12 pieces of paper in each of the following sizes:

• 6 by 6 inches
• 5 3/4 by 5 3/4 inches
• 5 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches
• 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 inches
• 5 by 5 inches
• 4 3/4 by 4 3/4 inches
• 4 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches
• 4 1/4 by 4 1/4 inches
• 4 by 4 inches
• 3 3/4 by 3 3/4 inches
• 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches
• 3 1/4 by 3 1/4 inches
• 3 by 3 inches
• 2 3/4 by 2 3/4 inches
• 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches
• 2 1/4 by 2 1/4 inches
• 2 by 2 inches
• 1 3/4 by 1 3/4 inches
• 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches
• 1 1/4 by 1 1/4 inches
• 1 inch by 1 inch

It sounds like a LOT of paper, but I only used less than 1/8 of my hymnal because I could get several different size squares out of each sheet.

Once you’re done cutting your paper, punch holes in the middle of all of the sheets.  I gently folded my sheets in half and punched the hole that way.

It’s time to assemble your tree! Insert your dowel into the hole in your plaque. I didn’t even need to glue mine because it fit well, but you might want to add a little glue to make it sturdy. Start stacking your paper onto the dowel, starting with the largest size. I played around with the look and ended up putting a spacer, then 2 pieces of paper, another spacer, then repeat the process until you reach the top of the tree.  Add your topper and you’re done!
So for $3 I have a new piece to add into my Christmas décor! I had been working on 2 other trees to make a little trio…they’re not the same, but they’ll look great together.  I’ll be back later in the week with more tutorials for those!

guest post: Nailhead Headboard

Well, hello again 517 Creations readers! It's Beth from NashvillePug, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be with y'all again! I'm so flattered that MJ asked me! 

 

Today I'm going to share my new headboard with you. I asked my fabulous readers and Facebook friends if I should make a tufted vs. nailhead headboard, and the overwhelming choice was NAILHEAD! I was leaning that way too, so the deal was sealed. I completed this project in one day a couple of weeks ago during my daughter's naptime and then after she went to bed. It really was so easy as long as you have the right tools.

 

Here’s a quick reminder of how the old headboard looked. It was a very pretty headboard, just too big and bulky for the room. I pulled out a really old pic of our room with the old drapes and old bedding so you could REALLY appreciate the transformation! What was I thinking with that bedding? Oh my!

 

 

After! Doesn’t it look so much lighter and brighter (and look great with my new Roman shades)? I am in love with it. I walk by the room and just stare. It has made such a huge difference in how the room feels. Read on for the tutorial, price breakdown, and LOTS more pics!

 

 

We found a piece of fiberboard at Home Depot for $10 and had them cut it to our specifications of 78”x45” for our king size bed. I knew I wanted the headboard notched out on the corners, so I made a template from a piece of standard printer paper and traced it on both sides of the board. The notch is 11 inches wide and 8.5 inches long. I just drew a curve from one corner of the paper to the other.

 

 

Then I got to cutting with my new jigsaw! It is so easy to use and fun. Ben is scared I’m going to get too excited while using it and cut off a finger…

 

 

My fabric for this project was a drop cloth! I bought two of them a couple of months ago with plans to stencil them and use as curtains. That didn’t happen after I realized it would be the perfect neutral fabric for my headboard. And even better, they were only $10 each! To use a drop cloth as fabric, make sure you wash it with a good amount of fabric softener and then iron it really well. I purchased 5 yards of 1/2 inch thick batting from JoAnn’s to use as my padding. Foam is too expensive, and I figured two layers of batting would be plenty (and it was).

 

 

This project is so much easier if you have a nice long work surface. Luckily, our dining room table fit the bill. I laid my drop cloth (wrong side up) down first, then two layers of batting, and then my headboard.

 

 

My batting was barely wide enough to staple to the headboard, so I stapled each piece separately. This took a little more time, but I had to really stretch each piece to have enough material to staple down. After the batting was secure, I went back and stapled the drop cloth down. LOTS of stapling! 

 

 

Here it is all ready for some nailhead trim!

 

 

I ordered my trim from Beacon Fabric, and it was $20 for a 10 yard roll. This stuff is so easy to work with! I am so glad I did not get individual nailheads. I would have pulled my hair out! Do be careful though when stretching out the trim. I think I got a cut on each one of my fingertips on my left hand. Ouch!

 

 

I started at the bottom left of the headboard and worked my way around. You pound in a nailhead with a rubber mallet every 5th head. There’s a small hole so you know exactly where to put the nailhead.

 

 

The corners were a little tricky, but the trim cuts easily with some heavy duty scissors.

 

 

figured out a little late in the game that it was easier to get a straight line with the trim if I went ahead and stretched it all the way across and nailed the end down. I then went back and filled in the rest of the holes. Live and learn, my friends. It’s also easy to go back and pop out any unruly nailheads. You can see a couple in the pic below. The nail stem bent a little when hammered in, so I popped them out and replaced them with a new one.

 

 

To hang the headboard, I used a French cleat. When I asked the guys at Home Depot which aisle they were on, they said “a French what?”! Ben said the only cleats he knew about were the ones on the bottom of his football shoes! I used a cleat because I was not about to hang this bad boy with D-rings. No way was I going to try and line those up straight. A cleat makes things so much easier because you can slide the headboard to the left and right until it’s in the right spot. This one even came with a little level on it, so we knew it was straight. It was $15 and well worth it! They come in different sizes, so you can use them to hang all kinds of things. I went with the 200# cleat because I didn’t want to take any chances of the headboard coming off the wall. It may not look it, but it is heavy!

 

 

Here’s the part of the cleat that went on the top of the headboard.

 

 

And here is Ben screwing the other part into the wall. It had these fancy screws with teeth around them, so you’re not supposed to use a drill. Luckily one of the screws went into a stud, so the headboard is not going anywhere!

 

 

 

Here’s how the back of the headboard turned out looking.

 

 

And here it is hung on the wall! So pretty! The drop cloth did have a seam down the middle of it, but I knew it would be hidden by the bed and pillows, so I was not worried about it.

 

 

Here it is all dressed up and ready for it’s debut!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I’m in love! Doesn’t it look good with the shade fabric? I didn’t even plan that! I literally made the entire headboard, and the first time I saw the fabric in the room was when we hung it! I’m the kind of person who doesn’t even take paint swatches home to make sure they look good. I pick out my paint right on the spot, fabric too. It’s a blessing and a curse. I go with my gut, and it most always works out.

 

 

 

 

One more time…Before and After pic

 

 

And here was my little helper while I took pictures. She saw the headboard first thing when she woke up and said “ooooohhh, new pillow!”! So cute!

 

 

Here’s the cost break down:

Drop Cloth $10

Headboard $10

Batting $20

Nailheads $20

French Cleat $15

Grand Total $75

Not too shabby when stores are charging over $1000 for one of these!

Thanks again, MJ, for having me!! Y'all come see me over at NashvillePug when you get the chance!

 

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Can you believe that transformation?  As soon as I saw Beth's post, I e-mailed her this picture of a VERY similar headboard from Ballard Designs that sells for WAY more!

 

 

Another awesome knock off, Beth!  Be sure to pop over to Nashville Pug and leave Beth some comment love!