Mini-Mantle Makeover + Front Closet Fun

You might remember my recent mantle makeover HERE.  Once Halloween had pasted I wanted something a little more Autumn feeling and did a quick switch up.

I moved a few things around and took off a few things.  I found the silver frame on the left at Goodwill for $2.99... it was brown and hideous so I spray painted it silver.  I eventually want to put the glass back in it with a photo or a piece of art but until then it's framing the vase and flowers I stole from my dining room table.   

The picture frame on the far right was one I just had laying around, so I found a free printable that is a countdown to Thanksgiving and has a place to write what we are thankful for each day.  My kids have loved this!  They enjoy taking turns choosing what we will be thankful for each day and it's nice to see what they come up with.  We just write on the glass with a expo marker... think I'll be saving this for next year.  

Yesterday, I randomly decided I was going to make over the front coat closet.  It's a place that never gets much attention and always seems to be a mess.  I recently found a small shelf at Goodwill for $2.99... seriously I think I'm addicted to Goodwill shopping I've been to 4 different ones this week!  Anyway, I found this shelf that I wanted to use for the shoes and then I picked up a cute hook rack thingy to put up for the kids to hang their coats on.  Because honestly what 3 year old actually hangs their jacket back up on the hanger?  So before I hung that up I wanted to paint the closet.  The final product was great and it was nice to start and finish a project in one day.  

I decided on a dark color because the wall was covered in black scuff marks from the kids throwing their shoes in the closet, and because I had a whole gallon from a previous project ;) .  I added the stripes for some color, that happened to perfectly match the color I spray painted the hook rack.  

Here is the BEFORE: 

And the AFTER: 

The rack is tucked inside and is a perfect height for the kids to hang their jackets. 

I didn't plan on a makeover on the shoe shelf, but after painting I realized I wasn't gonna be happy with the plain wood.  I ended up spray painting the edges and sides of the shelf.  On the shelf I Modge Podged on some fabric I dug out of my basement.  I like how it adds a pop of bright color.

Overall I'm really happy with the changes... and thinking I might have to give the upper half some love down the road.  

Fall Decorating on the Cheap

I love the idea of holiday decorating but I hate the idea of spending money on something that is only going to be up for one season.  After a few too many hours on Pinterest I was dying to make something festive happen.

I decided the mantle would be the perfect place to start, this is what I started with. (pretty much... I had replaced the "C" with a new one, and added the candle sticks)

I started with the garland.  I've seen so many fun tutorials on making these and I wanted to give it a try.  I started by searching the house for any scrap fabric or felt.  I ended up using felt to hot glue the candy corn triangles together.  I kept the triangles uniform my making a paper pattern to cut out all the flags with.  The black triangles were also felt and the polka dot fabric was from an old curtain.  To connect them all together I ripped a piece of scrap grey fabric about 1.5" wide, then glued down all the triangles on the bottom half of the strip.  After they were all glued on I went back and folded and glued down the fabric.  It was fast and simple and I didn't have to get out my sewing machine :)

I wanted to stick with a black, white, with hints of color scheme.   I stole the tree picture from my bedroom and pulled my other black and white canvas out of a closet.  Then I headed outside to gather some branches.  I just snuck those into the empty white frame and taped them down on the back inside of the frame.  I printed out a crow silhouette and laid it on some black felt to cut out.  Then taped it to the branch and a little tape on back to the glass on the frame.  The branches really added a nice touch of dimension that I liked a lot.  Not too bad for FREE. 

After feeling successful on the mantle I decided to spice up my dining room table.  This is a room we don't use very often but I have to walk by it all the time.  With 4 kids running around decorating has to be strategic... well, unless you like cleaning up glass.  I decided to try something that I normally wouldn't do in a more high traffic area in my home.  

I used a curtain that I folded under to make the table runner.  For the "tree trunks" I wrapped a few vases and a straw dispenser with some white paper and then used a black marker to make it look like an Aspen tree.  Then, back outside for some more branches.  The flowers were left over from a wreath I made so I thought they might add some nice color.  

Total cost for this... $3 if you count the flowers that were used for a different project.  

Change

change

  [cheynj]  Show IPA verb, changed, chang·ing, noun

verb (used with object)

1.

to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is orfrom what it would be if left alone: to change one's name; to change one's opinion; to change the course ofhistory.

2.

to transform or convert (usually followed by into  ): The witch changed the prince into a toad.

3.

to substitute another or others for; exchange for something else, usually of the same kind: Shechanged her shoes when she got home from the office.

4.

to give and take reciprocally; interchange: to change places with someone.

5.

to transfer from one (conveyance) to another: You'll have to change planes in Chicago.

Life is overflowing with change these days.  It is filled with highs and lows, happiness and sadness.  I am very excited about our new adventure in Virginia, but it doesn't quite seem real yet.  I am in Utah while Andrew is there and it is very reminiscent of the Army deployments.  I find myself striving to be strong and make things happen all in the midst of being sad to leave friends and family.  I want to jump and cheer about things to come and new places, and I can cry at the drop of a hat at the thought of leaving people I love dearly.  I can be overjoyed one moment that we got the rental house we really wanted, and then completely frustrated that my bathroom and laundry room has been overtaken by a very large family of ants. It is such a challenging time, but I am so grateful for the people that have been here to look after me.  Whether it be taking care of my kids so I can work, pulling me away from the daily chores for a chat and a cup of coffee, just asking me how I am doing.  I am so grateful that I am blessed with true friends and a loving family.  

I'm PREGNANT?!?!

 Today my sister left her Facebook account logged in on my computer (after I lovingly invited her over for a deliciously healthy lunch).  After she left I saw what had happened and that's when I did the above.  That is a photo from our childhood of her favorite hair cut (insert severe sarcasm HERE).  I also added a lovely poem, it being Valentines and all that said,

"Roses are red

Violets are snooty

When I had a boy hair cut

I was such a cutie."

An hour or so later she had discovered the changes to her page and threatened my car with a good egging and asked me to change it back.  From the comments it seemed like everyone loved the young vivacious picture of my sister so I had a hard time finding the time to change it back.  

Not shortly after that I started getting multiple notifications from Facebook, when I went to see what was so exciting about my life I discovered this.... 

I opened up my Facebook to discover that I WAS PREGNANT! How exciting!... Oh wait, I'm not pregnant.  Even funnier than that was the fact the my husband mentioned about 16 comments in...

"But I'm fixed, how did that happen?:/"

After a ton of comments of congrats and many many likes I decided to post a response before I started getting showered with baby items.  I truly appreciate all of my friends and family that commented such encouraging words on this post that was filled with a HUGE LIE. 

So, just so everyone is clear.  

I am NOT PREGNANT.  

I do have to say my sister gets the points on this little war... I don't believe I was logged in on any of her devices maybe because she has hacked me before.  I also have to give her props for putting something on my page that got such a huge response. And as her reward I am posting the entire picture that I cropped her above photo out of... because honestly I make her look cute.

 

I am also adding this current photo to encourage all awkward slightly gangly children everywhere that you won't always look like that... there is hope. 

 

Time for some color!

I had my hair done yesterday and was super excited how it turned out.  I've done the red before but we or should I say she -> (Melissa Wiebe) tried a different shade and it is super fun! 

I just pinned up the layers so you could see the awesome color... and I put make up on the one eye so I would look cool. 

See... told ya. 

Then some pinterest inspired ideas or should I say, "Pinspiration".  Yes I tried 2 different ideas to see how they compared.  

The Best White Elephant Gift EVER!

Here it is, after 15 minutes of cutting and sewing a pair of yoga pants... I created (with inspiration from THIS VIDEO).... the JOG STRAP!

This was my first one that I made for our Crossfit Christmas party. 

I assumed that most people had not seen the video so I included some instructions... 

 

Today my friend called in need of a white elephant gift... so I told her to bring over a pair of yoga pants  and we would make another jog strap.  This time I took some decent pictures to show you ; )

Flash Mob Philosophy

Last year on Thanksgiving me and my sister got a grand idea to do a flash mob for the black Friday shoppers at Target.  This was the result...

This year we decided to continue our tradition of crazy outfits and bad dance moves to a ridiculously catchy/popular song.   I posted an invite on Facebook for my friends and family to join me.  I was so excited and surprised at how many fabulously fun people I have in my life.   

After a few hours of creating choreography with my sister, an hour of last minute practice and prep, we had 22 people for our flash mob this year.  THANK YOU to everyone who came out to make this year even bigger and better! 

This was the result of this years fun... 

 We spend lots of time making sure we look good in front of other people by the way we dress and how we act.  Many times we believe that people will think we are silly or ridiculous when really they love when people are silly.  Why do we love kids so much?  They are silly.  Life is so short and we often take it very seriously.... take the time today and maybe just do something silly that puts a smile on someone's face.  You never know it might change their life.

Late Night / Nap Time Crafts

I don't know what got into me yesterday but once the kids were in bed I went to work on some fun crafts and the next thing you know I'm up until 2 am.  

I made this letter? letter wreath? monogram? Not sure what to call it... that "W" thingy. 

I made this for a craft exchange that I'm doing.  It will end up somewhere in Texas with a nice lady named Summer W. 

Then onto my Winter wreath.  I bought the wreath a few weeks back at a yard sale for only $0.50, I've been wanting to decorate it ever since I got it.  So I braved Michael's with my four children on Friday and somehow was able to walk out with some super cute flowers and snowflakes which were all 50-60% off yay!  I wrapped it in some fabric from an old curtain. Then started hot glueing like crazy.

When I was done I was so excited I wanted to hang it up.  I got the hook up and then tried to hang it... I ended up dropping it about 4 times before I actually got it on the hook.  Needless to say there is a nice dusting of glitter on my floor ; ) 

 After my night of crafting I just couldn't stop so today I pulled out a blank canvas and made myself a Christmasy painting.  I think I have officially fulfilled my creativity itch for the month.

Halloween Costume Idea: Mrs. Scissorhands

Halloween is a great opportunity to express some creativity.  It is one of those times when just about anything goes and it really allows you to think out of the box.  If you have a bit of imagination you can really make a great costume for a fraction of what you would pay for a pre-made one and it usually looks cooler.  

This year I saw a costume online for Mrs. Scissorhands.  Unfortunately the costume was $40 and it didn't even come with scissor hands. 

So, I decided to make my own.  

I just happened to be cleaning out some drawers and came across a skirt/dress that was given to me.  It was black and I thought I just might be able to make it work for my costume.  

I cut the skirt portion off and flipped it upside down to make my top for the costume.  I sewed on some strips of leather fabric for the straps that came from a skirt my sister bought at a yard sale for only $3.

The top wasn't quite fitted so I made a cut down the back and sewed some fabric on both sides to reinforce it.  Then cutting slits down both sides so that strips of fabric could thread threw... essentially making a corseted top.  

For the bottom I borrowed my nieces tutu and a black skirt from my sister.  

Then after checking my closet and some thrift stores I had about 5 belts to go over my top.  

I put on some tights and cuts some holes in them. 

My shoes were an awesome find at a consignment store clearance sale only $1.90?!?

For my scissor hands I cut out pieces of card stock covered them in Silver duct tape ($4) and colored the handle part black.  Then I attached the scissors in pairs with one of these... 

So I ended up with 6 pairs of scissors... 3 for each hand.  I did one pair for each hand with a bit longer length just to make it interesting.  

I just attached these to my hands with more of the silver duct tape.  It made it a bit difficult to eat but by the end of the night I was a pro, the scissors are very forgiving and flexible with the duct tape. 

So for the cost breakdown: 

Top: free

Straps: $3

Bottom: Borrowed= free

Belts: $4

Shoes: $1.90

Duct Tape: $4

TOTAL COST: $12.90

Hair: The night before I put my hair in 3 sock buns...

One on top of my head and one on each side. I didn't need to do the back because first of all it's too short and second of all I kind of have a naturally curly mullet... but only in the back of my hair.   

 *I call it my secret mullet ; )  Lucky me!*

If you don't have the built in secret mullet you could have added an additional sock bun OR just curled your hair.  

I wore the sock buns all night and all day.  When I took them out I had these awesome crazy curls.  A bit of back combing, some hair spray and a few clips and bam huge hair : ) 

It was really the easiest part of the costume.  

Makeup:  I used a black eyeliner to get a nice shape and then smudged out the edges and added some black shadow to add some subtle shimmer.  Under the eyes I did a dark brown shadow and just smudged it out.  My lashes pretty much disappeared at that point so I decided to do them white.  Where do you get white mascara you ask?  Well some mascaras come with a primer that is usually white... I just used multiple layers of the primer and wha la white lashes that really stood out against the black shadow.  I did some dark shadow under my cheek bones for some definition and then more black eye liner for my lips.  I was really impressed how well my lips stayed even with eating and drinking at the party.  

Here is the costume all put together: 

And a few more fun images. 

*This is my sister with her amazing Werewolf hunter costume.* 

Coming up on the next blog post.... The dead doll costume! Spooky! 

The Great Failure

Recently I've been having many conversations with women about how difficult it is to be a mom.  The constant struggle of trying to keep the house together, the kids alive, the husband happy, the laundry done, and looking beautiful during all that.... not to mention all the others things but I don't want to bore you.  Then, we are constantly bombarded with images of all these amazing ideas on Pinterest of perfect mommies making beautiful food, having super organized homes, and children that are surprisingly clean and stylish.  In the midst of all this I find myself feeling like a failure on a daily basis, and in talking to other women about this subject I have found that I am not the only one in this boat of failure.

I began to think about the things that make me happy and bring a bit of light to my dark world of failure.  I am a photographer and I LOVE photographing people, I think photos are priceless treasures that capture moments in our life that will never happen again.  Being honest with myself I also enjoy when people compliment me on my work.  It brings a smile to my face and makes me feel great!  As a mom, I feel like it's almost wrong to take such praise when I have failed day after day in house work or disciplining my children but the other day I realized why these small moments in my life are so important.

If you don't read any other part of this blog this is what I really want to share....
"The reason we need to do things we are good at is so that we can be reminded that we are not failures." 

We all have something we can do well... some of us can run fast and long and that makes us feel good. Some of us are creative and can make things that people rave over.  Some of us are just amazing at throwing a party that people talk about for years.   We all have something that we know deep inside that we do well and when we choose to take the time to do those things in the midst of giving everything we have to our families it keeps us from flipping out.... literally.

I'm not suggesting we give up on our families or being an amazing mom, I'm just suggesting that we pay attention to when we need to give ourselves a reminder that we have amazing beautiful wonderful gifts inside of us that need to come out.  I've told my husband many times that I don't want to get lost in the world of taking care of everyone else and end up not even recognizing myself.  In turn he has supported me in my creative endeavors and moments of being myself.  I don't think it is fair to us or our families for them not to see who we really are... honestly what is that teaching our children?

I would love to hear what some of the things are that make you feel good about you, or that make you who you are... please leave them in the comments, you might just remind someone else of something they love that has been lost over the years.

*Why not end this post with a hilarious picture of me taking pics in the dark morning hours with my snuggle bugs?*

Fun with Graffiti

I got a fun opportunity to paint a huge mural on the wall of the new building the Crossfit St. George gym is moving into.  It is made up of words that we use in the gym... names of workouts, movements, etc.  

It was so much fun and I'm so glad that Ali trusted me with such a huge project.

Here is a fun Before and After.

Here is a bigger version.

Super Hero Surprise Party!!

We had this great idea to cover 4 birthdays in the family with one awesome Super Hero Surprise party. It was a success and soo much fun! 

On the right you will see the list of birthday boys... 

Cunning Clint! 

Atomic Andrew! 

Blaize the Bomb! 

& Super Shaw!

Yeah that's right cheesy and ridiculous but FUN! FUN! FUN!

Other decorations included cool super hero words/sounds.  Like Kaboom! Skadoosh! Pow! You get the idea.  We made them out of some inexpensive poster board and some markers.  

Shaw couldn't help but fly away with his cape on : ) 

Yup we were taking pictures of ourselves while we were waiting for Cunning Clint and Atomic Andrew to arrive for the surprise.

The dress code was pretty simple... stick to some primary super hero colors.  Blue, Red, White, Yellow,  and Green.  We made these awesome wristbands with duct tape.
*Shaw wore his wrist bands for 3 days after this... he just couldn't get enough!*

We painted on "masks" with some inexpensive acrylic craft paint.  Directly around our eyes we used some metallic silver eyeshadow and it blended perfectly with the metallic silver paint.

"SUPER HEROOOOOOOOOSSSSS!!!"

 For the capes we found this fabric at Wal-Mart for only $1.50?! a unit.  There were 2 "dangers" per unit so 6 capes only cost us $4.50!  We gathered the top of the cape and pinned it onto some scrap pieces of fabric that we cut for the ties.  Then we just did a straight stitch across the gathered area.  These were so quick and easy and I'm sure you could even hot glue them if you didn't want to pull out the sewing machine.  

The entire super hero posse!

Sisters are great... if you don't have one you should get one. 

Now, I will be honest we only wore these boots for the pictures then we put our flip flops on... it was almost 100 degrees and that weather is not made for boots : ) 

*a super power was used on this photo* 

Now onto the funnest part of the party... we did a Super Hero Slip and Slide!!! 

A large sheet of black plastic + some dish soap + water = AWESOMENESS  

This one deserves a video so enjoy!

We also did some interviews with our Super Heros.

For those of you with iMovie I used the "Cartoon" effect on this video.  I think it really give it a fun comic book kind of feel.  : )