Grandparent Gift

I had procrastinated creating a special gift for my Grandparents for Christmas this year until the very day of Christmas. So after we unwrapped all our presents and the kids were giddily playing their new wii for hours, I cut out a bunch of photos, tore up some cardstock, and got to work on making this simple scrapbook for my Grandparents. I didn’t really have a theme for it until I started putting it all together and the “Did you know?” idea seemed fitting. It would work for any visitors who came to my grandparents to read and it will work wonderfully for my children to learn a little bit about their great-grandparents and enjoy pictures of themselves. It’s not as fancy or perfect as I would have liked it to be, but I was pleased with the way it turned out on such short notice – simple, heartfelt, personal. 

Project Post

We moved in the spring. Since that time I’ve had fun making this house our home. Most of these projects happened a while ago, but since the last few months have been busy with more than just painting, I haven’t gotten around to bragging about documenting the work I’ve done.

It’s mostly been a lot of little things.

Like recovering this dingy lamp shade with an old shirt I had.  

And getting the rest of this room ready. My little Haven finally gets her own haven (for a little while at least).

I got help from my 4 year-old painting this old shelf and picture frame. She loves to modpodge with me..

I’ve had these four frames since my mom passed away 5 years ago. The frames were an old looking silver and inside were four cross-stitched flowers. I decided to give them all a makeover with a little spraypaint and cut-out bird silhouettes from scrapbook paper.

We found an old dresser from Goodwill and I used an orange basecoat to show through the distressed topcoat.

Then came the dilemma of repurposing a bunch of display knobs and pulls that my husband came home with from work. Who wouldn’t love an assortment of high-end hardware for free. Yay for perks!

We had to sell our beautiful kitchen table because it didn’t fit in our new kitchen. So we got this b-yoot (also for free).

Refinished it a bright apple green and Voila!

Now it just needs a leaf so our family can fit around it. Dear Santa…

But the biggest project was figuring out what to do with the big blank wall in my family room. I don’t have a picture, but it is a large wall, and an empty canvas on which my mind could wander. 

My sister gave me the idea of a family tree.

I googled tree silhouette images and picked one I liked best. Then I used my sister’s projector to project the image onto the wall. This made it super easy to trace the image and we got to painting.

Then I bought some cheap wooden plaques from WalMart and Hobby Lobby. I spray painted each one, printed up some old photos of mine and my husband’s ancestors, and modpodged them onto the painted plaques. I stuck the little ones onto the tree by simply using some sticky putty. I also printed pictures of our immediate families so the children can have constant reminders of their aunts and uncles. I used bigger plaques for those photos and put them on the wall with 3M command strips. Last, I got a “family” sign for a few bucks at Walmart and stuck it up with another command strip, and….

there you have it. A beautiful, fun family tree to keep the spirit of our predecessors in our home and on our minds.

One side of branches is my husband’s and the other side is mine. I love to point out different physical features to my children and have an easy reference whenever I tell them stories about one of these noble and valiant persons.  

***********

It’s been an exciting adventure putting my own stamp on this home. You should have seen it before...

()

I think I’m done decorating for a while ----

That is, unless I am decorating for Christmas…

Fall Project

 

This chair has a story.

When we moved from Utah, we left our crib behind. After our baby was born, two used cribs were gifted to us. But neither crib had all the parts and pieces needed for assembly. We bought a crib instead, but that meant we had lots of old crib railing lying around.

So I looked for repurposing ideas and showed a tutorial to my husband. He is, of course, a male, and a great woodworker to boot, so he scoffed at the plans and did it his own way. Pretty talented, that man-o-mine.

Then I got to work on making it look pretty.

  

Things I learned:

Try to avoid spray painting when it is windy.

If you want it to look like it has layers of old paint that have been distressed, then do just that. I spent hours trying to cheat the look without success. It would have been done much quicker if I would have done it right from the beginning instead of learning the long, hard way. I found some online instructions very helpful, after I realized I needed some direction.

Getting Free samples of paint from the Home Improvement store is awesome! I want to get a jar of every color. So perfect for little projects!

Hitting things with a chain is fun. 

I am more than thrilled with the results. Sometimes I open the front the door just to take a peak at it.

Looks awesome on my porch.

And is just the thing I need for sitting and waiting for the four buses that stop at this house.

We still have lots of railing to go.

And now that I know what I’m doing…

I can’t wait to make the next one.

I’m thinking red.