On the first day of Christmas...

Twelve more days until Christmas! I don't know about all of you but it's been a blur these past few weeks.  We don't know our holiday travel plans yet so that's wreaking havoc on my planning skills. It's been a whirlwind of shopping, parties, baking (lots of baking!), cleaning and decorating. 

At times it has been a little stressful but once Joe comes home from work and the fire is on, the lights are off, and the Christmas tree is lit up everything is ok again.  It's amazing what the glow of Christmas lights can do...it softens everything just a bit so it looks beautiful.

Abbey looking adorable in front of the tree

Duke and Abbey snoozing away while we clean (probably their muddy pawprints!)

My recent chalkboard art attempt. It will go on my mantle.

Me and Duke doing our best pose

Hope these next few days are filled with love, joy, and all things merry. Take a moment to breathe deeply and appreciate everything you have.  It all goes by too fast.

 

 

Merry Christmas!

~kc

An artist I am not...

But I wish I was! I truly have very little creative talent. What I do have is an ability to copy creative things that other people with said talent do.  I cheat. I copy.  Oh well.

When I drove up to parents house on the 4th of July I was greeted to a charming chalkboard sign welcoming me and my husband. It was the cutest darn thing ever.  Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised when my mom surprised me with one of my own for my front porch.  I am obsessed with chalkboard lately.  Love it.

I tried to be a little artistic with my first sign.  My mom had also given me some of the fancy chalkboard markers that I wanted to use.

Here I am at work. I finished sketching out my design. I wish I had taken the picture so that I would have seen where I was crooked.  Whoops.

 And here are some views of the finished product.  I'm pretty happy with it! The chalkboard markers are awesome. They are easy to use and the colors are incredibly vibrant.

Next time I think I will stick to just white chalk. Or I may buy regular chalk in the pastel colors. I like the vibrant markers but I also like the whimsy of the old fashioned chalk.  We'll see!

~Kc

Sharpie Tie-Dye

Remember this post, t is for t-shirt?

Last week, on vacation, my sister-in-law, continued the tradition by organizing another kid-friendly t-shirt decorating activity.  Here's the how-to details on sharpie tie-dying.  Check out our designs.

placing the cups under the shirt

Claire is excited to start tie-dying!

Ryan with his decorated shirt

  

Goosey and Claire coloring away

  

I'm proud of the shirt I decorated for Maverick

  

Goosey, helping Aunt Katie put on rubbing alcohol

watch the magic

pretty tie-dye

  

finished shirts

Goosey, modeling her finished shirt

A big thank-you to Katie for supplying this super fun activity!

Hugs to our followers,
LC

T is for t-shirts

This past week, on vacation, I organized a t-shirt activity for my nephews and niece.  It was simple!  I got the idea from Family Fun Magazine.  Here's the 'professional' shirt, made by someone MUCH more crafty and creative than me!

Photo and directions found here

Here's my nephews and niece working their magic (with a little help from their moms!)

Claire's princess stencil

Ryan's shark stencil

Goosey's flower stencil

Claire and her mom opted for the brush method.  It worked out great!

Ryan, spraying his shirt with fabric paint

Claire's paint job

Brennan's paint job.  He had a REALLY cool flaming hockey puck!

My beautiful niece, Claire, modeling her Princess shirt.

Hugs to our followers,
LC