Mother's Day Frames

These turned out so cute! I'm not sure where I got the idea-- Target started selling wooden items for crafting (crates, frames, letters, etc), and I got the idea for my dad's birthday last month. 

I don't have a picture of his, but I painted the frame grey and then let Emma play with a sky blue and an electric blue. It was absolutely adorable. 

I kind of took the lazy way out and only let Emma use one color. Plus, I wasn't sure what other color would go well with the light pink? I originally had a yellow but it was way too bright. 

Surprisingly, I really had to coax her to paint these frames. One day during nap time I did the background color, let it dry for 8-12 hours, and did another coat. 

The following day I let Emma have at it. We just use regular paint brushes from Michaels and Target sold the paint. It can't get much easier. ;)

My grandmother took a picture of her little setup. :-) She really loved it. I hinted to Nathan that I wanted one for Mother's Day . . Oh well the griddle & portable hard drive he got me is pretty awesome. I think I'll have to give him one for Father's Day!

I'm watching The Duggar birth-- so exciting! Hope everyone is having a great day. xoxo

Emma's Workshop

Several weeks ago, I emailed a picture of a little "workshop" (found it on Instagram, cant find it now) to my father in law asking if it would be hard for him to make. He's like MacGuyver so I wasn't surprised when it said it would be easy. 

He thought the one I sent him was a little boring and needed some "decor", so my sweet SIL added the flowers & words. 

Fa realz, I'm not joking that I think they need to sell these. I think I'd pay up to $50 for this! I think they should call them Boese Boards. Ha. 

Emma was so jealous I was having a photoshoot and not including her, so here you go. Check out that bed head. 

God love her. Anyway, Norm found the board-- it's finished, so she can't get splinters on it. I wasn't really fond of painting it chevron and having gold accents, but you could totally do that. 

Size wise, it's a big piece. We found it at Lowe's in the lumber section. I wish I had more information but if you email me I can find out more and let you know. :-) I want to say it was a little over $15. 

The pieces were a little pricey, mostly because I didn't have a lot of time with a toddler in Lowe's. I probably could have found cheaper pieces if I went by myself and took my time. I think I spent $30 on those pieces-- 2 not included because they didn't work out (a light switch and a round doorbell). 

He also put little rubber stickers so it won't dig up the floor & wall. It's yet to fall on her but I'm sure that's coming. Joking. I obviously watch her like a hawk all day. 

Also noted: Can you tell Emma went to town with her window crayon on the wood by the word "build"? I honestly shed a tear when I couldn't scrub it off completely.

And my favorite part. :-) Emma is one lucky girl! We will definitely be keeping this for many years to come.

Sending Valentines

Emma & I have had so much fun making valentines this year! We even recruited Daddy to help the other day. :-)

We found those crayons (barely pictures above) at Target. I can't find a link for them but they are so easy for tiny hands to use. Emma only took a bite out of the black one..a win in my book! 

I know I posted a picture of the clean paint valentines-- I will have to do a post on those. I promise I will soon! 

Emma is totally sticker-obsessed right now. She loves them on her hands and feet and can stick them on the fridge. I have got to find some stickers on sale somewhere..any suggestions?

We also finished Nathan's little Valentine-- I can't wait for him to see it! And get this-- I spent $0 out of pocket for it. And it's not some ghetto gift (I promise). Well, a little ghetto but not totally. 

Even Little E helped wrap and put the stickers on, ha ha. 

We are going to do some more clean painting valentines this weekend. Really getting into the spirit here. :-)

Butterfly Feet Canvas

These ended up turning out way cuter than I imagined. And honestly, they were much easier than I was expecting. 

Getting Emma's handprint is pretty close to impossible (it ended in tears when we purchased these stepping stones for people), so I set out looking/thinking of a project that could incorporate her footprint. 

I stumbled across this pin on Pinterest and knew it was the one to try!

As you can see I changed it up a little-- the one on Pinterest uses the child's thumbprint, but again, that's nearly impossible. So I just doodled on little antennae with a sharpie and I think it turned out darling. 

Of course I had to keep one for myself. :-)

This was so simple! I used these canvases (pack of 5, so I just made all 5) and Crayola washable finger paint. We don't even have paintbrushes, LOL, I just used a spoon.

:: Wash child's foot, roll up pants
:: Squirt random colors (Literally I spooned it onto a plate and mixed it just a little, I liked the look of one color on top and one on the bottom) onto the plate-- boyish or girly.
:: Do left foot on the right side, and right foot on the left side. This is important!
:: Let them dry overnight, then draw on antennae with sharpie.
:: Don't forget to write your child's name and age on the back.

Enjoy! Be sure to let me know if you give this a try. It is so easy. I am not crafty at all!

Felt Christmas Tree

Over Emma's birthday when my Dad & stepmom were here, I had this brilliant idea to make something felt related for her. 

We went to Michaels and got the idea of a Christmas tree! Halloween was practically over, but a big felt pumpkin would be fun too! 

It's in our living room with some of her toys and she loves it. Some days I find her cooking ornaments, or trying to stick plates on the tree. Hey, A for effort. 

There aren't really directions for this project. Honestly, we just winged it and I think it turned out adorable. It's not perfect-- I free handed everything and you can tell. 

All the ornaments, presents, and the star are able to come off. I glued (using hot glue) the "ribbon" and "bows" on the presents to avoid a giant felt mess every day. 

Michaels sells some of their fabric in sheets, so I got 2 sheets of every color. I wanted the tree to be a bit girly, so I made sure to pink out some pinks. The green came in a pack-- I believe it was a yard of felt.

There is a some fabric left over for a future project . . . possibly Valentine's Day? Easter?

My stepmom made the star. I love it! She thinks it's not perfect and was laughing at it. So funny because I think it is perfect and fits the "look" I was going for! 

We found flat silver thumb tacks at a fabric store here. We figured if the thumb tacks were shiny and colorful, Emma would obsess and try to pull them out. So we decided to hot glue little felt circles on them. Best idea even-- E doesn't even notice them!

The one lonesome light is so cute, too. Again, we totally just winged it. There are some super fancy ones on Pinterest and Etsy, but I just don't have time to trace, cut, cry about it not being perfect, etc etc. 

Winging it is how we do! 

This was several weeks ago. . I was so excited for her to see her tree all set up when she got up from her nap. Yeah. Guess I didn't let her wake up long enough. Ha. I promise, she loves her tree and will be so sad when we put it away until next year!