Top 10 Posts of 2013

 This time of year, I love reflecting on all the changes and growth we had in 2013 -- in life and on the blog. Thank you so much for following along and reading what I have to share. This space has been a creative outlet for me and, I hope, a springboard into some exciting changes in 2014!!

Here are the Top 10 Posts - thanks to YOU! - of 2013.


10. Spring Twig Wreath

9. Chalkboard Sign Makeover

8. DIY Washer Pendants

7. Personalized Valentine's Day Fortune Cookies {Insert your own message into a fortune cookie? Yes, you can!}

6. Garage Organization - sport's equipment {This one won the "Man Approved" Award!} ;o)

5. What I Wore - <>>What I Wore Collection

4. Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

3. Mini-Man Cave {This one is my personal favorite, because my boys and their friends use it every day!}

2. Frozen Inspired Christmas Wreath

1. Medal Display {This one is another personal favorite - I hope to add another medal to this display in January!}

 Thanks again for reading and following along!! Did you write a 2013 post? Share it with me in the comments or on Facebook! {Links below!}

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

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Chalkboard Sign Makeover {Let it Snow}

Let it Snow! .... Or not.... ;-)

 I"m a Southern California girl and I like to talk about snow, but let's face it, I'd be a big baby if I ever had to live in it! {Do you live in snow? I admire you!}

I recently saw one of the best winter sayings I have seen this year and I just HAD to make a sign out of it:

 
Ha! "Let it Snow -- somewhere else" still makes me laugh. :o)

To make this sign happen, I converted this old flower patterned chalkboard sign (cute, but I have boys!)

 into a festive holiday chalkboard sign by simply adhering wrapping paper to cover the flowers!

 

I knew I just wanted something quick and temporary for the season,and wrapping paper was perfect! Plus, the colors match my new "Frozen" inspired wreath. Here's my little sign sitting above my kitchen cabinets:

 

After Christmas, I would like to redo this little sign and cover the flower pattern with something more permanent. Maybe fabric? Burlap? What would you use? 

 

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Frozen Inspired Christmas Wreath

My family and I recently saw the movie Frozen. I thought it was a lot of fun, and the music -- WOW! {I'm a huge Idina Menzel fan though!} I also loved all the icy color tones and cool blues. It inspired me to make this Christmas wreath:

 I love the brightness of the wreath and how it can be a Christmas wreath and hang out on my door all winter long!

Making this wreath was actually very simple. I always try to reuse resources when I craft and found this old Spring wreath in my craft cupboard:

 

The pastels in this wreath seemed outdated for my decor so I gave it a new life with some white spray paint! As a final "Frozen" touch I added some small glittery ornament balls and the blue bow:

 

I'm working on my whole entryway now - I added a glittery nose to my reindeer and am looking for an Olaf snowman to sit next to him. For now, this little snowman can sit in:

I'm inspired to make the rest of my house as frosty as this wreath! What do you think?

 Have you seen the movie Frozen yet? What colors do you like to decorate with for the holidays? 

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Mini-Man Cave

Do you have a mini-man? That's what I call my two boys. Except that one of them is not so mini anymore. He will be in 8th grade and still shares a room with his little brother; so, I anticipate that he is going to start wanting his own space soon. Being a single parent and owning a small townhouse means I have to get creative with finding more space. The only place I could really go was out. So I spent [more hours than I would have liked] cleaning out my garage, organizing, and creating a little corner for him I like to call our "Mini-Man Cave."

There is a loft storage, about 6 ft high, in my garage, and I created this man cave underneath it:

Here is how the space began:

What's missing in this view is the loft storage, but you can see that the garage is all slab cement and icky storage. [And the only before picture I have because my computer crashed as I started this project, erasing a lot of my photos.]

So, starting with such bare bones was a little intimidating, but exciting, as we started designing and things started to take shape.

THE PAINT: I started by painting the orange stripe on the wall [The color is Behr "dragon fire" paint picked out by my son. Isn't that a cool name for paint?]

THE FLOOR: I then started laying down the black and white vinyl tiles. [Self stick, 12" square tiles purchased at Lowes and super easy to install!]  They were perfect for a low traffic area and easy to keep clean in our garage!

THE EXTRAS: I wanted the space  to be a place my boys could hang out, play [the tv has no cable, it is hooked up to an old PlayStation 2,] read, play board games [stored in the storage cabinet pictured] and just relax. I had been collecting art and little things for this space for a while, so was happy when it finally came together! Here are some of the extras!


I picked up the two sports signs at Home Goods several months ago. I love their wooden background and texture...

The folding table and chairs are for camping. I had the table already but bought the chairs at Big 5. I thought they were easy to move around, the right size for a small space and we could actually take them when we DO go camping! Both the table and chairs fold easily if the boys want to clear the area to play a game.

The lamp is also a camping lamp. It can sit on a table or it has a hook for easy hanging.

Of course, our favorite part of the man cave [and the piece that took the most time] was the rock wall!

Every boy needs something to climb, right? This started out as a bare white wall. I hand painted the rock pattern then chalk marked the studs. Most of the rock holds are bolted into studs, and a fair few are anchored carefully into the dry wall. The rope was also anchored into the ceiling. [But before you hang a rope for your children to swing from, please make sure it is bolted and anchored securely into a stud, and always test it yourself or with a professional before a child swings from it!]

My boys helped make this wall. I think any time kids have a part in the creation of something, they feel more ownership over it and they take better care of it. They also felt really proud that they had a part in the rock wall. Through the process they learned how to tighten each bolt in case, over time, they come loose.

Of coure, the best part is getting to test your handiwork!!!

The boys are very happy with their new Man Cave. My son said now all he needs is a hammock and a refrigerator in there and he would never have to leave! We'll see kiddo, we'll see. lol

They have already tried to say "No Girls Allowed" and actually, I'm okay with that rule. In fact, I may hold them to that in a few years. [wink]

What do you think? Do you like our Mini-Man Cave? How do you create extra space for your kids?

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Medal Display



Something my kids and I like to do together is run. I'll admit that sometimes running isn't fun - in fact, some days it hurts. But the family bonding time we get from it is worth every pound on the pavement. So, ever since my oldest son was about 7 years old, we've been running races together. Their first race was a one mile kids race, and when they figured out they got a MEDAL at the end - it was ON! They both now run 5k's and my eldest is even contemplating running a half marathon!

 

Well, when you run a lot of races, you accumulate a lot of medals, so the quest was on for a creative way to display all our bling! Last year, my friend gave me her daughter's old crib rail. My initial thought was that I'd paint it a fun color and use it to hold craft fabric. I held that thought until I saw this photo on Pinterest. KariAnne used an herb rack for her medal display, but the crib rail was equally up for the task. So, I painted the light oak wood a stainless steel and the result was this unique medal display:

 

 

These are just my medals right now. (My boys' medals are waiting patiently on corkboards in their bedroom.) I have a few more medals in a box somewhere... but no more excuses on not hanging them up now that they have an official display!!

You can see a couple special medals above, but my favorites are by far the ones we earned together.

 {Their first 5k medal!}

This medal will get a special spot on the display. xo

How about you? What activities do you enjoy with your family? Would you use this idea to display sports medals? Team medals? What other ideas do you have to repurpose a crib rail? I'd love to read your comments!

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

Last year for teacher's appreciation week my son's school had a theme for each day. {You can see the ideas I shared for each day here.} This year, it is more simple. I will be using some of the same ideas I used last year, plus a couple more.

For example, this year, instead of a little bag of candy -- how about putting the treat in a mason jar with some twine and a cute tag?

I found these mini jelly jars and they were the perfect size for a teacher treat! Plus, I like that they get to use the jar after they eat the candy! {It's the perfect size for a tealight or refilling with treats.} I also used this idea for Administrators Professional Day and it was a huge hit!

I was searching around for more ideas and found  this printable from Capital B. Isn't it sweet? I love the poem and my son's teacher is always asking for school supplies!

And finally - Love the Day always has AMAZING ideas! I am in love with this little Owl!! I usually say us teachers have enough mugs - but I'd make an exception for this adorable Owl mug!

You can see more of this mug and download your FREE printable here.

And I would be BESIDE MYSELF if a student gave me this berry basket filled with all these goodies!!! {Hint, hint if any of my students see this.} Also from Love the Day! Check it out here!

Has your school had Teacher Appreciation Week yet? What did you do? What other ideas have you seen? I'd love to hear them!

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Garage Organization ~ Sports Equipment

One of my goals this year is to be more organized. (I know - it seems like this is a goal EVERY year - doesn't it?) But this year, I REALLY mean it! Starting with my garage. I have two very active boys. They love to play sports (Organized and just for fun!) and as they get bigger, their stuff seems to get bigger too!! So this year, I am reigning in the clutter, getting rid of A LOT of old equipment they've outgrown and creating organized spaces for the things we want to keep.

So, the first step was creating a space for some of their gear. Pegboard is a popular garage storage item and I actually scored three whole sheets for $2 at a garage sale a while back! Yes, you read that right!$2! I only used one piece for this project -- I still have two more LARGE sheets! I cleaned and painted the pegboard a nuetral gray for the background and then, to give my boys no excuses for putting their things away {wink}, I painted the silhouette of each item on the board in white. Here is the result -- can you guess what goes in each spot?

I think the first one is kind of easy... from left to right... the first item is a lacrosse stick, then their baseball bag, their flag football game bag and the last two are for pool sticks. {About 2 feet away fron this board is our convertable foosball/air hockey/pool table.}

What do you think? I had seen people use the silhouette method for storing tools, and thought it would be a fun way to store our sports equipment. How did I do it? I took each item and traced it lightly with pencil on the pegboard. I then took a small paint brush and outlined the item in white paint. The rest I free hand painted - very slowly and carefully. The baseball bag and pool sticks were fine of course; the lacrosse stick and football bag however.... let's just say I'm glad I didn't have to do any redos! {For once!}

 And now when my boys need to clean up - they will know where everything goes!

Here is what the board looks like with all the equipment on it:

{Hooks used to hang each item}

Garage sports organization: Check!! One project down, only a few {Too many to count!!} to go!! I will show you the rest of the garage as we go. {There's a reason you're not seeing the the rest! lol} But what's next, you ask? A craft space {yay!} and a mini man cave for my little men! More on that soon - I hope!

How about you? Have you started spring cleaning yet? What area would you like to get more organized?

This post is MAN APPROVED! ;)

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