Until I can fit into normal clothes again, I plan to wear a lot of scarves. Now I have some ideas to keep the look from getting boring!

Oh – and someone add scarves to my Christmas list…

Now, for some more mod podge and canvas…

I’ve found the perfect (read – cheap, easy, practical, attractive) way to showcase some of the kids’ artwork. It started when Zachary brought home a cool 12″x12″ painting at the same time Archiver’s was running a free color copy special. The nice thing about using color copies is that you still have the original. The prints can be duplicated as many times as you like – think Christmas gifts for grandparents or alter the original with different colors to make some Warhol-esque prints or try anything you want – cuz you still have the original!

For me, 12×12 artwork + 12×12 free print sounded like a good way to add some life to the section of white space I stared at every time I walked down the basement stairs, begging for some color.

Zach's original artwork

The original and the color copy

Enter Mod Podge

Then hammer on the bracket

The artwork in all its glory

Well, it’s still a picture of my basement stairwell so it’s just not going to be that impressive. So you’ll have to trust me on this one – having that pop of color and personalizing the space like that made all the difference in the world to me!

Last week I did the same for Bryce with three 6×6 prints on canvas of his artwork and hung them above his bed. Once again, I love the color and personalizing it adds. It seemed to mean a lot to Bryce too. I also put a blanket up like a fort on one side  so he is telling everyone about his “tricked out” bed.

I posted in July with a set of DIY custom T-shirts for kids. Earlier this month I purchased long-sleeved T-shirts for the boys when I could combine a sale and two coupons at Old Navy (Have I mentioned I LOVE the deals I get at that store?) and had the idea for this “play button” design. Pull some masking tape and a sharpie out of your drawer and you’re all set!

In July I posted about Suped-Up Notebooks. I did spiff up a few right after that purchase but had to wait until this week to post, since two were a gift. Prompted by Cathi Johnson’s talk years ago on Purposeful Parenting, I’ve had notebooks for my boys chronicling their strengths, weaknesses, and other observations I make, which helps direct me in how I train them up, what we work on with them, and how I pray for them. That’s the idea behind the two notebooks on the bottom, for a friend to do the same for her sweeties, if she so desires.

Two years ago, practically to the day, an amazing friend surprised me with a birthday treat. Stephanie made gluten-free cupcakes, impeccably decorated, as you can see, for me and 10 of my closest scrapbooking friends:

As if that wasn’t cool enough, Stephanie entered the photo into a contest with Pamela’s Products, since she used their mixes, and WON picture of the month in their December 2009 newletter! And if THAT wasn’t cool enough, she received a care package of all kinds of cake mixes, cookies, and other extras as a prize, and she gave it all to me! So that year, it was happy birthday AND merry Christmas to me! I’ve loved Pamela’s products. The gluten-free gingersnaps are probably my favorite, but everything I’ve tried has been exceptional.