Two Weeks In

Hey there!
I can hardly believe that I have been a home schooling mama for two weeks already. Things have been going really well!
It was super cute. One night this past week, the kids had gone to bed at 7:30 (which is normal for them). At 9:00 when we went to go to bed, both the boys were singing songs I had taught them about Canada at the top of their lungs. It was the best feeling to know that something I had taught them had stuck! They remembered it, and apparently enjoyed it enough to keep on with it hours later!

It feels like we kind of have a routine that works for us now. Things might still change a little, but I'm happy with where we are at right now.

I'll check back next week again. We are taking this week off as my inlaws are moving and need our help. :)

Carmen.

After listening to my boys beg relentlessly for days about wanting to begin homeschooling early, this morning I caved. Yesterday was rainy all day, and the rest of this week isn't looking any better. Perfect for sitting inside with a nice cup of coffee!

Before I get into the whole 'homeschooling' thing, I want to show you my classroom. It's not totally finished yet, but I love what's going on in there already!

This picture illustrates perfectly what I was dealing with in this room.  The walls were apparently not treated properly between the brown and blue paint, so the blue was literally just peeling off the wall. You could walk past, and your shirt sleeve would remove a whole strip! 

I'll have to get other pictures from off my phone of the rest of the walls now, but the bottoms are a nice, crisp board and batten, and the tops are a nice soothing light teal. MUCH better!

I wanted shelves in this room because I knew there would be a lot of books/art supplies/ and 'things' involved. There is a stairway that goes under this room. In order to have head room for the stairs, there is a piece that juts into this room. I doubled the size of that, and framed in a wall. Now I had somewhere to build shelves, PLUS, I had somewhere to build in a giant bulletin board on the side facing the desk!

These shelves are wide and deep enough to fit a large rubbermade container, so we have room to put our 'off season' clothes. Plus, each boy (and our class pet, Hammy) have their own shelf to keep their supplies on.

Each boy has his own basket, too. In their basket are their work books, and a little container for their scissors, pencils, glue, erasers... you name it. Lots of room to add other things as we go, but for now I just want to keep it simple!

Let me know what you think!

A Ramble... And a Change of Thought.

So, apparently I'm terrible at blogging. Wow! 2012 was my last post? It's been 3 years! My babies are now 5 and 8 (I KNOW! When did that happen), we are happily settled into the house, and life has gone on.
We are making a big change this year, however. We have decided that we are going to home school the boys in September. James will be doing grade 3, and Tyler will be doing kindergarten. Things are going to be a little different around here, but I am hoping that maybe, by venting into a blog, things will run smoothly. :)
I have a couple projects I have done since my last post. Maybe we should turn this blog into a once a week posting, so I don't get too carried away.
Up next week, then, will be the pile of lumber I turned into bunk beds for my boys.

Cheers!

Living Room Wall

Remember the middle of this post, where I showed pictures of my living room? Well, I am happy to say that it is the only completely finished room in our house. All the pictures are hung, furniture is where it should be, and the walls are even painted!
Do you need a refresher so you can remember what it looked like before?

The walls were a yellow that clashed with the floor...

And the 'focal wall' looked horrible with the fireplace and the yellow on the other walls.

Are you ready to see it now?

What do you think? Do you love the light grey as much as I do?

This is the picture wall above the love seat. I just LOVE how it turned out.

All these frames were just sitting around my house waiting for spray paint. It honestly took no longer than 5 minutes, and I had all matching frames!

I found this key at a little store in our area quite a few years ago. I LOVED it, but I didn't ever know what to do with it. A little twine, a little frame, and you've got something cute to hang on your wall!

Our family picture, taken by Urban Fig Photography. I love it so much! It's HUGE, and I'm thankful I got it printed so big, because I had a big empty space that needed something. Perfect!

Thanks for dropping by! Don't be shy! Leave a note to say you were here. I'd love to hear what you think!

Candy Jar

My cousin, Tara, and I went craft fair shopping in our town last week. I have to say that I was NOT impressed at all with what the craft fair had to offer, but that's not what this is about. There was a little room off the back, behind all the other tables, and it was FULL of antiques and fun little things. I found an adorable little globe, and a large jar with a lid that would be PERFECT as a treat jar. Don't you think?

It's quite big... I'd say 6"x6" for sure. Mmmm... salt water toffee...

Here I go, on and on and on about Tara, and none of you even know who she is. WELL. Here. Go check her out! She makes THE most beautiful cards and paper crafts. Anyways, a couple weeks ago, we bought a Cricut machine together. With this, we can cut out shapes, letters... you name it. I decided to throw some vinyl on the machine and see if I could cut out some cute letters for my jar.

I've gotta say, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! I simply peeled off the backing, and they stuck right to the glass! No mess, no problem!

Thanks for checking it out!

A lamp project...

Wow! SO much has been going on around here! We took the huge tree out of the front yard, planted a bunch of stuff in the back yard, finished the living room... blah blah blah... but I haven't posted any of it!
The weather's been a bit miserable around here the last couple weeks, with lots of rain. Since my hubby's been on night shift and it gets dark so early, that leaves lots of time for me to 'get my craft on'!

Up first, a lamp that was given to us by my parents. I didn't manage to get a before picture, but just believe me when I say they were horrible. They were a brown that was really bumpy... almost like it was trying to look rusty. There was a plexi glass piece in the middle that was supposed to look like a crackled finish, but the paper that had the 'crackle' on it had come loose from the inside and was all bunched up in the bottom. The shade was a sorry shade of tan/beige/cream. I think I explained it how it was.
Anyways, I've fallen madly in love with burlap lately, and figured it would make a nice touch to my living room. I cut out a piece and went to town on it, sewing it BY HAND to the existing shade. Let me just add a note here to say that sewing through a lampshade is not an easy feat. My fingertips tingled for DAYS! Here's a picture of the shade...

I cut the burlap, and didn't know how I should finish off the end without it looking 'goofy'. I figured adding a button and sewing the edges would give it a little character. I LOVE how it turned out!

Up next is a picture of the base. I simply took it outside, and spray painted it all black. This is only one coat, and it covered awesome. 

I had the berry garland from some candle thing in the old house, and it fit perfectly on the base and added a pop of color. The star garland I found tucked in a box down stairs. Nothing quite like using what you have!

Here's a picture of the completed lamp.

I just love how it is so unique!

Pre-School Teacher Appreciation Gift

My oldest son just graduated from pre-school. *sniff*    When/how did he get old enough for that? I can't believe he's such a big... kid already. I look at him, and he's shot up (probably) more than an inch in the last couple months. He's lost that 'little boy' look, and he's actually a kid now. It's so exciting that he'll be going to kindergarten in just a few short months, but I keep anxiously looking for the pause button to keep him little for a bit.
Want to see some pictures from his graduation night?

Doesn't he look handsome?

All lined up and ready to sing to the parents/grandparents.

So, what do you get the teacher that taught your son so many new things? I thought of flowers, but flowers die, and I wanted something unique. I thought of some kind of nick-nacky thing, but she probably already has tonnes of those. So, I came up with this.

I got a rough idea from a Close to my Heart catalog (if you're interested in more info, check out my cousin's blog... she sells their products and makes BEAUTIFUL stuff...Paper Bliss Crafting. Her name's Tara... she's awesome.)
Anyways, I tried thinking of something that didn't sound too cheesy to put on the side of the can. Finally my friend came up with this saying, and it totally works! My dear husband thinks it's cheesy, but he couldn't come up with anything better. :)
Inside are graham crackers, marshmallows, and Caramilk bars... everything you need to make s'mores!

Thanks for checking it out!