My Favorite Projects of 2013

As 2013 comes to an end, I thought I would look back at my favorite projects from this year.

1.  The Family Gallery Wall.  This is by far my favorite project of 2013.  I can see this wall from so many places in the house.  It is a great reminder of the special moments I have shared with my family and how truly blessed I am.

photos of my children intentionally blurred.

2.  The Craig's List Chest.  I was so excited to find this chest of drawers.  A coat of turquoise paint, some new drawer liner, and this is now a great place for me to store fabrics in my sewing room.

3. New Table and Organization in the Sewing/Guest Room.  My talented husband made a beautiful table out of 2'x4's and plumbing pipe.  For handy access to sewing tools, he framed out a piece of peg board for me.

4.  The basement bathroom is finished.  So much work was done in this space.

 5.  The lobby renovation for Appalachian Christian Village.  It is great to love your job!

I have been so blessed this year.  I am looking forward to 2014 and all the possibilities a new year brings.  Wishing everyone a Happy and Blessed New Year!

Laura

Christmas Is All Around Us!

Christmas is almost here, so I thought I would share a little house tour of this year's decorations.  First up is the tree.  We waited a while to get our tree up this year. We get a fresh-cut tree and it doesn't last long in a house with two inquisitive toddlers.  Let's just say tree needles fly and ornaments are likely to be part of an impromptu game of toss. This year my boys have been grabbing the branches of the tree in an effort to "shake hands" (very sweet).

Hand print Snowmen ornament (made in pre-school...we have some super crafty teachers)

Homemade Chalkboard ornaments and DIY garland

A handmade felt rosette wreath.

Some handmade felt toddler trees.

A handmade garland.

A felt tree for toddlers (to decorate and re-decorate).

Wishing Everyone a Very Merry Christmas!

-Laura-

Fun Christmas Decorations for Toddlers

This is the first year both my boys are old enough to really be excited about Christmas.  I thought I would involve them in making some holiday decorations that are super toddler friendly.  First up is a  felt tree with working lights.  I simply took a foam cone (purchased on sale at Michael's), and then covered it with varying shades of green felt (I had plenty left over from making my wreaths, see here).

I snipped the strips of felt to add some texture to the tree. I used "Ailene's" clear tacky glue to adhere each strip to the cones, slightly overlapping each row.  To add the "sparkle" to the trees, I added a light string necklace.  The necklace is also from "Michael's" although I have seen these all over the place from "Home Depot" to the grocery store.  The necklace has battery powered plastic lights, which make for a really fun toddler tree.  I made one of these for each of my boys' rooms.  By far their favorite part is watching the lights twinkle and nothing is more special than having your own little Christmas tree.

Second up, I put together a little felt Christmas tree for the boys to decorate.  All you have to do is cut out a tree outline from a large piece of green felt. I used chalk to trace the outline onto the felt (notice my design is by no means perfect...just quick and dirty).  I then cut out ornaments and presents for the boys to use as decorations.  The felt ornaments stick to the felt tree and can easily be removed and put back for hours of toddler tree decorating fun... (well maybe minutes of tree decorating fun...it is for toddlers after all).

In case the felt projects above didn't already give it away, I am still on a felt crafting kick.  I would love to hear about any other holiday felt ideas you might have.  Please feel free to comment and share!

Laura

Deck the Doors with Lots of Wreaths...Fa la la la la..la la..la.la

I have been a busy little elf, making felt rosette wreaths for my friends' upcoming Christmas craft show this weekend (December 6th and 7th).  Here is a sampling:

Each wreath is made from hand made felt rosettes.  They will sell for $30/each.  If you are a local reader and want to attend the show or are interested in a custom order, please feel free to email me for details. 

email: baileylaura@live.com

Merry Merry!
Laura

Play Table and a DIY Christmas Garland

Last week I was so excited to find a second hand children's play table and chair set.  Lately, I have been checking out some play tables online.  Some of my favorites are shown below:

Land of Nod, Activity Table

Pottery Barn Kids, Carolina Craft Table

Needless to say when we walked into a local second hand store and found this solid wood table and set of chairs for just $65 with coupon, I was very excited.  The table comes with a paper roll holder, which we quickly removed because it was too much fun for my little boys to hang on (I am saving this for later).  This table is perfect for eating and crafts.  My little guys have already broken this in with Play-Doh time, cars, painting, snacks, and crafts w/Mommy.

Our latest craft was a child's Christmas garland.  I was inspired by these easy garland ideas in my December issue of "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine. Like the BHG garland, I used striped drinking straws.  Instead of using wood beads as a filler, I found these holiday felt cutouts at "Michael's" (w/ 50% off coupon it was just $3.50 for the set of cut outs).

Materials: Paper Drinking Straws (cut in thirds), Twine, Felt Cut-Outs, Child's Needle

Easy Peasy

Is anyone else making DIY garland this year.  I eventually plan to use this garland on our tree when we pick one up.

Wishing everyone Merry Crafting!

Laura