The DIY That is Saving My Sanity

Laundry.

I hate it.

Towels are the worst.  

I have tried to get my kids to use the same towel more than once.  A concept that they clearly cannot grasp.

The final straw that pushed me over sanity's edge was when I went to get a clean towel for me and they only thing left was a green hooded frog towel.  Upon walking into Big Hoots room I see three of my good towels.wadded up.wet.in the corner.

GAH!!!!!!

So I came up with this little number and a plan to keep the towel peace around these parts

I took a piece of wood, painted it with some paint I had on hand.  Did some string art letters for their initials, added some hooks, and hung that puppy front and center on the bathroom wall!

I went to Target and purchased six towels (3 pattern and 3 solid) that went with the colors in our bathroom.  Then I let them each choose two.  The deal is this:  They are solely responsible for making sure they have a clean towel on their hook and for making sure their dirty towel gets into the laundry room with the rest of their clothing.  

So far so good....

Let's just pause for a moment and reflect on the cute chubbiness of this.  All 3 Hoots at 9 months old.

Bottom left-Big Hoot at a big box store studio

Top right-Middle Hoot-another big box store

Top left-Little Hoot-in our living room, in a pink drink tin, with a giant duck that was ours then went to a friends house and came back for a cameo for this picture.  Let's also note that frame isn't even the right size for the picture.  #poorthirdchild

ANNND at what point does this become awkward for Big Hoot's tween friends to walk into our bathroom and see his baby self half nekkid on the wall.

It might be time to start considering some new decor........

My sanity-1

Wet towel laundry-0

40 is the New Black Gift Basket

I walked into an Early Childhood Family Education class right after Big Hoot turned a year old.  I took one look around and realized all these moms knew each other and already had a pretty solid friendship going.  I decided right then that I wouldn't not be returning.  I could socialize my precious firstborn in some other way where we would not be the outsiders.  But then......one of the moms turned around and started talking to us and made us feel welcome in the class.  

Yesterday I had the privilege of celebrating her 40th birthday with her.  That one class 10 years ago brought 7 amazing new friends into my life and I am beyond thankful for every one of them!

I put together a little gift basket of goodies for the birthday girl.  It was super easy and fun.  I am pretty sure gift giving is one of my love languages.  I love to shop for and wrap and give gifts for every occasion!

I wandered through Target picking up all the cute black and white things I 

saw.  

Put them all in a basket 

 Made a tag on my die cut machine

Tied the tag to the basket and done!  Super easy and fun!

Pin It! Make It! {Pinterest Party}

Over the weekend I hosted a Pinterest Party for some awesome crafty ladies!
It was so much fun!
I kicked all the Hoots out of the house and drug out all the crafty goodness I could find and we got to work.  It was a blast!
I have another one in the works for next month with all new craft projects.  AND the best part is the new Hobby Lobby close to my house will be opening just in time.  I.Cannot.Wait.

For the invites I went to my go-to pic monkey photo program online and came up with this.  Uploaded to Wal-mart and picked them up the next time I ran errands.

I got the crafting space all set up and ready for the ladies to get to work!

Then I picked three crafts off of Pinterest (naturally) that we would do.  They are all pinned on my "Let's Party" board on Pinterest that you can follow here.  If you re-pin any of these great ideas, please make sure you click through to the original posting!

We started with frames dry erase boards from this pin.  

Aren't they cute?  Each one is so unique.  I love them all!

Next we did Yarn Wrapped Wreaths from this pin.  The ladies said this one was a bit of a challenge, but I think they turned out fabulous!

And lastly we made Washi tape necklaces.  I have a slight obsession with Washi tape so this turned out to be my favorite craft of all.  The idea came from this pin.

It was so fun to see what everyone came up with from the same ideas.  It was also very interesting to see how everyone stuck to basically the same color palette.  

I am still trying to decide on what crafts we will take on next month.  Definitely something spring-y and  bright.  I am so done with winter and cold and snow and all the gear and all the mess.  

What are your favorite spring crafts?  Any bright fun ideas to share?

Easiest Valentine Ever

Is winter over yet?  Seriously?!  My kids had 5 "too cold" days off and several of them resulted in a 6 day weekend.  Yikes!  Anyway, on Day 3 off I decided to get a jumpstart on the Hoots Valentines.  Since my preschooler's had to be candy free, I decided to start with his since I could do them without standing in the seasonal aisle of Target for hours debating which valentines are acceptable with a sassy 10 and 6 year old

Since I rarely have an original idea, I turned to Pinterest of course.  I found these adorable animal valentines (please click through to the original post before repining).

Here is my take on them.

I started at pic monkey and made the card

Uploaded them to Wal-mart and picked them up an hour later.  While I was there I grabbed a couple of bags of these animals out of the party section

Then I threaded some bakers twine through a needle and threaded it right through the paper on each side of the animal.  Tied it up and around and DONE!

The easy peasy-est Valentine evah!

We still have many cold hours to fill!  But at least the Valentines are done!

More DIY

We are still in the process of redecorating a couple of bedrooms around here.

Throw in an ankle surgery, a few holidays and two birthdays and well, the home improvements have come to a complete standstill.

Here is one quick project I managed to finish and get up on the wall.

I followed Brown Eyed Fox's tutorial for her Thankful Boards to create a bulletin/photo board in the bedroom

I started with this huge gold frame I had (sorry, no before pictures.  I get too distracted to stay on task whilst I DIY).  It was a huge gold frame with a floral print in it.  My friend was going to throw it away!  Luckily I was there to save it from that nasty fate and turn it into this beauty.  A little turquoise spray paint and some white glaze and it had a whole new outlook on life.  

Stapled some chicken wire (I think the square stuff is still technically chicken wire) to the back.  Add some of my favorite pictures with cute clothespins and magnets and DONE!  Easy Peasy!

These are my Grandmas at my wedding many years ago
The one on the left lived to 96
The one on the right is still alive and kicking at 103!

Of course I had to make some fabric covered button magnets because they are so much fun to make.

This was my first time glazing anything.  I wasn't totally thrilled with how it turned out.  I think I needed to make the glaze thinner.  But it is fine for now and chances are, it won't stay this color and or purpose for long.  I heart change!