fall wall

Reece and I did a little rearranging on our picture wall.  I took the mason candle jars down from the hooks on the second shelf and tied a little jute to the end hooks.  Added some clothes pins and we chose some current and past seasonal artwork from my little Picasso's and voila!  It feels like fall now.  :)  I love pulling out the kids old artwork and using them as decor on this wall with each season.  The second one from the right is something Graham made in Kindergarten, it says:  " I go to pupkin  I luv pupkins."  That was after we went to the most awesome pumpkin patch while living in Charlotte

LOVE

This year, I tried some new ideas for Valentine's day fun!  Thank you very much, Pinterest.   

Heart-shaped hard-boiled eggs...these were a hit!  Graham said he thinks we should have these EVERY Valentine's day;  :)  I agree!  Super easy and cute.

I wanted to add this to the bottom because they were actually dinner, but I'm having trouble with that.  First,  I poured a little batter into a sauce cup.  Then I  added a couple drops of pink food coloring, drew it up into a medicine dropper,  and made the "heart" in the waffle iron base.  I let it sit for a 10 seconds or so, to firm up and then added the plain batter, as usual.  Voila!  Valentine's waffles!  These were a big hit.  

We emailed dear friends and family members this pic as a valentine this morning.

A special valentine for my love...waiting in the sock drawer for his discovery, ha!

Special love notes for the kids when they woke up this morning.

Graham:  You are handsome, You are a great dancer, You ROCK, We love you!!, You rock at angry birds, You are so funny, You are an excellent reader, You have interesting ideas

Reece:  We love you!!, You are smart, You have a pretty singing voice, You have a beautiful smile, We love to laugh with you, You have a special way with animals, You are a hardworking girl, You are an awesome helper!

Millie:  You are learning to use the potty, You have cute dimples :), Your kisses are so sweet,  You are a fast runner, You make us smile, You are a great sleeper, We love you!!, You are a funny girl

I love how these turned out.  I plan to bring them out every year.  Target dollar section mailboxes, glued to wooden spray-painted candlesticks from Salvation Army.  Total cost:  $5!  The kids have really enjoyed surprising each other with  little Valentine cards over the last two weeks.     

Everybody pitched in on this little project.  Tissue paper hearts:  wrap tissue squares around  the pencil eraser, dip in glue, and press onto heart, repeat...again and again!  

Our photo wall all dolled up for V-day!   Gobstoppers in the mason jars.  Handmade Valentine's for each family member from Reece.  Millie's is covered in dried oatmeal, she loved it so much!  :)

Headband Holder

Here's a little project that was inexpensive and super easy.

Problem: Headbands everywhere!  :)  They fall on the floor, get chewed on by the dog/baby sister, and the bows get squished up. 

Solution: Homemade headband holder!   

Supplies needed:  empty extra-large oats container, contact paper of your choice, (found this one at Tar-jay) for about 5 bucks-with lots left over to line the bathroom drawers....or maybe some other fun projects to coordinate??)  ruler or eyeballs ;) ,  scissors

Step one: measure (eyeball) and mark on back of contact paper where you want to cut.  Glad for those gridlines on the back that make it easy to get a straight line. 

Step 2: Cut

Step 3: Peel off backing

Step 4:  Stick it on!

Step 5: Put the lid on and put your headbands on it all pretty-like.  

When I finished, Reece cried.  CRIED!  Not happy tears either.  She said she liked it better the other way.  A good lesson that my girl does not mind the aesthetics of things, she can appreciate the function, and so shall I.  :)

I could very faintly see the writing through the contact paper.  You might need to put on another layer if you chose a lighter color of contact paper for this project.

Next up, cleaning out the garage with my dear Daniel.  :)