Leap Day

Luke 6:23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. (KJV)

Happy Leap Day! Today has been a stormy weather kind of day, tornado warnings and all. I had planned all kinds of leap day fun with my little handsomes, but some of that time was interrupted for time spent in the basement. Not that we still didn't try to find fun things to do! I started working on a baby shower gift. Then we sorted through some warmer season clothes hoping to find some things for the littlest handsome to use for upcoming months. And then of course, we had out the play dough and all kinds of toys.

Our leap day craft still made it into our afternoon! I cut out some shapes and let the boys glue them to their papers into a frog. After faces were drawn, we wrote out this Bible verse. I even joined them for some frog leaping race fun! Haha! Loved every minute of that, even if I looked a little silly. 

(please excuse the pic quality, as my camera is currently at my parents)

I think this passage of scripture reminds us that no matter what storms of life may come our way--if we are poor or hungry, weeping or sad, or looked down upon--we are actually rich if we know HIM! So rejoice, and leap for joy!

Have a blessed LEAP day, and remember to rejoice in the Lord always!
-Cindy

Personalize the mantel

Personalized items are always fun! I have been seeing monogram letters used for everything, from wreaths to dinnerware. Last year I made 'our letter' to personalize the mantel even more. I hadn't seen any wrapped with twine, but I thought it was a grand idea to sit along side the family blocks and vase I made for our mantel.

I bought a cardboard letter from hobby lobby and covered in twine. Then embellished it with removable flowers for different seasons.

(Made an R for my sister too)

Lots of things you can do with simple block letters! ;)

-Cindy

Cinnamon Ornaments

We decided to do the traditional cinnamon ornaments for our homemade family ornament this year. There are lots of recipes out there, including this one from Martha Stewart. In my true fashion, I didn't really go exactly by the recipe, but it was very close. If I can remember correctly, I tried to use a little more applesauce than glue (since some recipes omitted the glue altogether).

My little handsomes loved getting ALL their cookie cutters out to cut the dough. This is most of the ornaments, but I moved some of the non-traditional to another pan. :)

There are two methods for drying: in the oven for a couple of hours, or just leaving them out for a few days to dry (turning as needed to keep edges from curling up). I chose to put mine in the oven for quicker process, but then I also allowed 1-2days for complete drying.

Then came the painting.

And then putting them on the tree.

Fun ornament making day with my little handsomes! And a cinnamon smell for the house too.

-Cindy

Christmas Ornaments

I have been thinking of what I want to do with my little handsomes for our Christmas ornament this year. Last year we made Snowmen Ornaments with our fingerprints!

It was so much fun and I want that to be a fun tradition we continue. They are hanging on our tree now (yes we did put it up last week! and made a special night of it with a special dinner, hot cocoa and cupcakes, music, and movie! we are still working on the other decorations though) ;)

So what shall I do this year?

I saw this ornament at Target last week, and thought it might be fun to make.

Each could use fabrics they like (in reds, greens, whites/cream) and make a little mini wreath. How cute would this be for my little handsomes with an owls or reindeer fabric.

Or I have thought about doing the traditional cookie cutter ornaments that are baked, just like I did as a little girl! My aunt still has the ones she made with her boys almost 20 years ago hanging on her tree. I think that is just great! They could even do one with their handprint.

I am not sure what we will choose for this year, but I am sure we will have fun doing it!

Happy Thanksgiving week!!
-Cindy

Turkey craft

I love craft time! And I love my little handsomes!! So what could be more fun that a little Turkey craft with them to celebrate November and Thanksgiving time.

My sister found a template for a very easy and quick turkey. We altered it a little so that the boys could create their own feathers. And what a cute little turkey they made!!

Happy November!

-Cindy

Letter Blocks

Today I am going to show you the letter blocks that are sitting on my mantel. I needed something small to go under our family picture, so I asked my husband to cut some of our scrap wood into little blocks. The blocks have FAMILY on one side, and our last name (since it had six letters as well) on the other side. Two sets in one! Gotta love that!

I really need to get better at taking pictures "during" my projects instead of always at the end. So I do apologize that I don't have the before and during pictures. I will work on that!

You want a set? Choose your wording....love, home, or a child's name. I have lots of ideas for similar future projects myself. You will need 4x4 blocks. I think you buy some precut at a craft store. However, we went the cheaper route and just cut ours from leftover scrap wood we had. The wood was not perfect, but it fit the look I wanted. "antiqued and country".

Sand and spray paint you base color. (I chose creamy white). Let it dry and spray your top coat. (mine is black). Distress the sides.

Choose your scrapbook paper. For this particular project, I wanted it to be neutral, so it's a cream and tan damask print. Glue on your blocks. Lastly, I hand panted my letters onto the paper and distressed my paper a little too.

Now, if you have a stencil or craft stencil cutters, you could easily have perfect letters to go on your blocks. Since I had neither, I just went the old fashioned way. But you know, I really like it! It looks good on my mantel. I didn't take a picture of the whole fireplace, but trust me, it fits perfect with our big canvas of the family and pictures of my little handsomes. (And by the way, don't you love that you can see my littlest taking his sock off in the picture. Yep, that's him...can't ever keep the socks on! And it made the picture that much better!!)

I enjoyed making it, and will probably make more in the future (well, not exactly the same, but same idea) ;)

Cindy