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.

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?*

Nap Time Crafts: Jewelry Hanger

I met up with my sister today to pick up some coupons she snagged for me, as we were having a quick chat she mentioned she wanted to make her own jewelry tree or hanger.  I expressed how much I needed one as well and after hearing her fabulous idea I said, "Let's do it right now."  So.... we did.  That's right, we forgot about the dishes, checkbooks, laundry, and other mundane household chores and decided to create something much needed and awesome.  Her idea was to get a piece of board and paint it fun and add some large nails for hanging the jewelry on.  

We headed to Home Depot and found a sheet of plywood that was thick enough for some heavy duty nails but not too heavy to make it difficult to hang on the wall.  Home Depot gladly did 2 cuts for us giving us 3 jewelry boards! Two boards 12"x 34" and one 14"x 24".  We also picked up some 1 1/2 inch nails with a nice large head, and some metal picture hanging brackets for the back.   

Total cost: UNDER $20!!! 

We painted a base coat of black (this is my favorite back round color, everything looks amazing on black!).  And from there let our imaginations wander.  

This is the one we made for her roommate, it's a bit hard to tell in the picture but the birds are a metallic silver, and the large dots you see are the nails.  Now, the only difficulty we had with this project was getting the nails to stay.  Some of them went in nicely but others would seem in and you would move onto another and they would start popping out, if I did this project again I would consider using screws or smaller nails.  You also had to be careful how far you pounded them in because if you got them too deep they would come out the other side of the wood.  

 This is my sisters... it will match her bedroom perfectly and I LOVE these colors.  She did a great job painting it, but we ran out of time to get the nails in so she took it home to finish that part.

Here is mine... I was so excited to hang it up that it was still partially drying when I hung it on the wall. I painted my nails black so they would blend in and you don't really even notice them when you look at the painting.  

Here is a side shot so you can see how much the nails are actually sticking out and the thickness of the board.  I only painted the head of the nail, but because the angle of the light it looks like the whole nail is painted black when you see it on the wall.  

I love that we were able to combine art and function all in one inexpensive project.  It was such a fun surprise for my day and I'm so glad we were able to accomplish 95% of it during nap time... SUCCESS!!!  Thanks to my sister for the fabulous idea and willingness to set aside her full "to do" list and join me in the creativity!