Simply Crafting with Rachelle.

Rachelle said, “Holy Cow, these are amazing! Honestly, I need them all. But I think for the one I would need the most right now I would have to pick the “Busy Mama Housekeeping Kit”. I have 6 kids, I run 2 businesses, I’m going to school, 3 of my kids play soccer, 2 plan an instrument, 2 go to counseling sessions on a regular basis, my dh works 2 jobs, goes to school & is my youngest boys soccer coach this season…as you can see it is really hard to keep everything straight (not to mention I have to have time to create). I need all the help I can get!”

Congratulations Rachelle! I know you’ll put these to good use.

I love my Busy Mama Kit. Go here to see mine in action. And if you want to see more great kits from Clean Mama, go here.

And the plain buckets had to get a makeover too.

I used my Cricut again to cut words out of vinyl.

I decided on dark brown instead of black vinyl this time.

And chose words Ammon could read (he’s in 1st grade).

Now to hang the bar. First I decided how high above the table it needed to be, then I leveled it and marked the screw holes with a pencil.

This is the cheater version I use, because I have a weird reaction to the sound of electric drills (I’m trying to get over it). Take a screw driver and a hammer and make a hole. Only do this if the screw driver is the same size as the drill bit you needed to use.

Insert the anchors in the holes.

And use an electric screwdriver to insert the screws. One side of the bar is in a stud so I only had to use the anchors on the other side. Now you have bright screws that stand out like a sore thumb on your black bar.

So I took craft paint and a small paintbrush and painted them black. Much better now.

And here’s the buckets on the bar, ready for crafting.

They lean forward, which is perfect for Ammon to be able to reach all the supplies.

No sooner did I get this little crafting area done that he already had about 4 masterpieces ready for display. Looks like I have another project for today with more supplies I bought from Ikea.

FYI: The wallpaper border will be coming down, but not until Zach’s room is finished.

Monday- Making frozen bananas has been on our Summer fun list and we finally got around to making them. The kids loved them especially thick chocolate coating the banana. The kids and hubby all had candy sprinkles on theirs and I had nuts on mine. So yummy!  

Tuesday- I don’t feel like I can go Visiting Teaching without taking a gift. I don’t know why, but I feel if I’m going into someone’s home I need to bring them something. Especially if it’s the last day of the month. Shame on me. My goal is to go before the 15th this month.

Wednesday- I promised the boys we’d go to the Zoo today. Parker came with us and Whitney and Maddux met us there. It was perfect weather for a day at the Zoo. Because it was a little cooler, the animals were a lot more active. They were so much more fun to watch. We rode the train and the carousel and got an ice cream cone right before we had to leave. Parker’s favorite animal was the buffalo (bison). Zach and Ammon loved watching the tigers play in the water, with the ball. Since we have a year pass we’ll probably try to go once a month.

Thursday- Ammon’s been wanting to go to the Hill Aerospace Museum. We haven’t gone for a few years and since it’s free how could I say no. Parker came with us again, but I don’t think he was excited about it as he was the zoo. First, we looked at all the planes outside, then we went inside and looked at more planes and watched a few videos. We looked around in the gift shop for a few minutes then I promised the boys if we could get out of there I’d stop at the gas station on the way home and buy them a small treat. Yep, it works everytime. 

Friday- The High School was having a home football game. I was in the house and kept hearing a man’s voice. It sounded like he was right outside my window talking, but I couldn’t see anyone. Finally I went outside to listen and figured out what the sound was. It was the voice of the announcer at the football game. I could even understand some of the words he was saying. It is nice to have the High School that close, but it’s weird to be able to hear some of their announcements during school and games. And I don’t have to buy Amanda a car or drive her to school, so that’s a bonus.

Saturday- I’ve been wanting to see the Lion King for 4 years. I’m so glad we bought the tickets before hubby’s pay decrease or we wouldn’t have been able to go. It was amazing. I loved every minute of it. I wouldn’t have dreamed up how they did some of the special effects or the animals. The acting was perfect, the singing and dancing was amazing, the stage was beautiful and the effects were incredible. It was a wonderful 3 hours and I love being able to get dressed up to go some place other than church. Not that I don’t like church, but I like putting on a dress and heels at other times too.  

I covered the cork area with ad paper and tape.

Then sprayed it with black spray paint to match Ammon’s room. It looked good but I wanted to add something more to it.

So, I used the Cricut to cut out a car shape on a scratch piece of paper. Then I used the outline of the car as a stencil for the board. 

I used easy-tack on the back of the stencil to secure it in place. Spray the back then let it sit for about a minute before sticking it to your project.  

Then I applied acrylic paint to the board with a round sponge brush using a ponuding motion. I did it in a few light layers so it wouldn’t bleed under the stencil. 

To hang it on the wall I used Command picture strips (surprise, surprise). Since it’s pretty large and I don’t know how Ammon’s going to treat it, I used 4 of the strips.

Ta-da! It’s hung on the wall over his table I still need to finish.

And here it is with the things he wanted to hang on it. A picture his sister drew for him of his favorite stuffed animal, pictures of his nephews, a souvenir his Chinese teacher brought back from China and a picture of the Temple. I can’t wait to see what else he wants to hang on it.

I hope you’re all having a happy Labor Day and enjoying the day off. We’re going to be picnicing, swimming, hitting a few buckets of balls, and working on a few projects.

I’m linking to: 

Anything Related at All Thingz Related

Get Your Craft On Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog

All Things Domestic at Crazy Domestic

I added a few white pumpkins to bring in some Fall. Then added some books to bring height to the pumpkin and to represent the start of school. You can see how I made the framed word art here.

And how I made the little display plate here.

I’m sure you recognize the candle holder and wire cloche from previous posts.

I think it’s perfect for now. Don’t worry, give me a couple weeks and I’ll have the Halloween decor out. This time of year I would be happy to change my mantel every week. What about you? How often do you like to change your mantel?

I’m linking to:

Prue Project #15 at Pure Style Home

picture frame ($1.00) and 4 napkin rings ($1.00). I’m excited to fix them up and turn them into things we can use.

Total of $4.00. Did you find anything worth bringing home this week?

I’m linking to:

Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality

So I looked through my decorating stash and came up with an idea. I spray painted both items brown.

Then glue them together with Gorilla glue.

And added some weight for a few hours.

I love them together and think it looks pretty Fallish.

It’s perfect for the 4 to sit on, but still looks like something is missing. Hmmm!

Just what it needed! I’ll be finishing the rest of the mantel tomorrow.

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

I’m linking to:

It’s So Very Creative at It’s So Very Cheri

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch

DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

Making the World Cuter Monday at Making the World Cuter

Show Me How at It’s A Blog Party

Topsy Turvy Tuesday at I’m Topsy Turvy

Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick

All Things Domestic at Crazy Domestic

Karen at Sew Many Ways shows us her very organized medicine cabinet including cute baskets and simple tags.

Desiree at Just Another Day in Paradise shares the new craft area of her kids playroom.

Jennifer at Southern Inspirations made this cute little box to hold paint chips. I know we all have a stash of those.

Chelsea at Crafter’s Anonymous Club combined all my favorite things into one. Clipboards, Chalkboard paint and vinyl.

Rachelle at Simply Crafting shares her awesome idea for fabric storage.

Since our pay decrease I’ve been looking for free ways to decorate my home. I love letters, numbers and words so this was the perfect project to add to my home. Have you tried Wordle? I love it and could spend hours playing around with different word cloud combinations. After visiting with me, hop over there and have some fun creating your own fun word clouds.

I decided on this one for the Fall colors and I liked the layout (you can change the color on any layout you like). It’s so easy to use and does most of the work for you.  

Then I went through my frame stash and decided on this detailed beauty. My first thought was to paint it, but then I realized the color was perfect for Fall. Maybe I’ll paint it later.

Look at the pretty detail on this frame.

And here’s the finished product. It’s going on my Fallish mantel, but not too much Fall yet. I’ll show the mantel this weekend once I’ve finished one more thing.

I’m starting to enjoy thinking of and making free projects. It’s a good thing I have a big stash of supplies in the basement.

Have a Beautiful Labor Day Weekend!

I’m linking to:

Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello

Saturday Nite Special Funky Junk Interiors

Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

It’s So Very Creative at It’s So Very Cheri

Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple

Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T.

Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do

Get Your Craft On Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog

I’m so excited! I just had to show you this new kit from Clean Mama in action. While my Busy Mama Homekeeping Kit was printing off the computer I had a great idea. First I put the documents into sheet protectors (2 to a protector). There are 18 documents in the kit.

The sheet protectors make an erasable surface. I used a dry erase marker to write directly on the sheet protector. When this month is over I can simply erase it and write in a new month.

The same with the shopping list. Just write the list on the sheet protector with a dry erase marker. Once you’ve gone shopping just erase and start a new list.

The daily planner will get wiped off every night, leaving me with a clean sheet protector for the next day. I need to find a smaller tip dry erase marker. This one’s a little too big.  

The information that doesn’t change was written on the sheets with a regular pen and then slid into the protectors. 

I’m keeping the binder in the kitchen since that’s where I need most of the information that’s in it. I coordinated the paper I covered it with to match the covered cookbooks.

Then I made a label out of rub-on letters and scrapbook paper.

And attached it to the front of the binder with double sided tape.

It looks great with my cookbooks and it’s so easy to access.

I love this little corner of my counter. Very useful and pretty (except for the chicken border, I will be taking care of that soon).