Scrap Wood Bible Verse Sign

Posted on May 22, 2013 by

Scrap Wood Bible Verse SignHi there! I’m sorry for the little hiatus, but I’ve been working hard to put this craft room/office together, and I think we’re going to have a finished space to show you by the end of the weekend. And it was a zero budget project. Seriously. I didn’t buy a single thing. I’m so excited to show you!

This scrap wood sign has been hanging around for a long time, but I finally finished it up to my satisfaction so I could give you a sneak peek at the craft room and office nook. The language for this sign is based on a bible verse, Matthew 17:20 and is so inspirational when you are struggling with change.

Scrap Wood Bible Verse SignHow I made it:

  • I cut five lengths of scrap wood from the garage to the same length and painted them.
  • I cut three lengths of wood to fit from top to bottom on the back of the sign and screwed them in.
  • I put two screws in at the top of the back braces and tied a length of twine to serve as a rustic hanger.
  • I used chipboard letters from the scrapbooking section of the craft store and traced them for the larger words, then used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out a stencil for the smaller words. That was after I tried freehanding the smaller letters not once, but twice, and hated it both times.
  • I used a combination of black paint and a sharpie marker to fill in the letters. Very classy and technical. Then I sanded the letters lightly with 220 grit sandpaper to get the distressed look.

Scrap Wood Bible Verse SignI’m glad I didn’t give up on this sign the first two times I did the smaller lettering, because I sure do like this pretty little thing now. And it does help to bring me back to task when I’m getting frustrated with the eight million little things that make up managing a home with such a large and busy family.

If you enjoyed this project, I hope you’ll join me for the big reveal of our office/craft room combo coming soon. You can get the post delivered right to you by following HLM by email or blog reader, or joining us on Facebook and Twitter. See you soon!

Shared at Not Just a Housewife, Homework, The Winthrop Chronicles and Domestically Speaking.

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No Sew Sweet and Scrappy Lampshade Redo

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

sweet scrappy lampshade redoGood morning! I have a ton of stuff to do today, but I could not wait to pop in and show you this cute little lampshade redo!

I rescued the Hello Kitty lamp from her exile in the basement storage room. She belonged to my eldest daughter, but she’s in good working order and wanted to come out of hiding. Her plain white lampshade just wasn’t cutting it.

sweet scrappy lampshade redoI grabbed the scraps I had left from our hoop art project and cut them into strips, slightly wider at the bottom. I did not measure at all- just a dab of hot glue at the top, stretched it tight, and dabbed hot glue at the bottom.

Once the whole lampshade was covered, I used quilt binding to finish it off on the top and bottom. I used hot glue for that, too.

Quick and easy. Hey, I told you we could be crafty even with a bunch of kids running around! And this project cost nothing. Every single thing I used was leftover or scrap from another project. Booyah!

sweet scrappy lampshade redoI am getting so excited about finishing up Madeleine’s side of the shared boy/girl room. I can’t wait to get started on the other side, and figure out how we are going to make dinosaurs and monster trucks blend with all her super girlie stuff. I love a challenge!

If you’re looking for kids room inspiration, come find me on Pinterest. And if you want to see how we marry “all boy” and “girlie girl” into one cute kids room, go ahead and follow us by reader or by email- I can’t wait to show you!

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Faux Applique Gallery Wall

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

Hi there! It’s a brand new week! I hope you have some grand plans. We’re wrapping up a few odds and ends here and there, and we are going to have a ton of things to share with you in the coming weeks.

Do you love gallery walls? I do. I’ve known for a while that I wanted to put one in my preschooler’s room, but I just couldn’t find anything that I loved to create a grouping. Then I was inspired by all the fabrics from this hoop art project, and decided to try out a grouping of faux applique designs.

faux applique gallery wallI wanted some images of things that Maddie loves right now. Kitties, bunnies, girlie hairstyles, lace and pretty flowers. But I didn’t want to sew, because who knows how long she’ll be interested in having these things in her little girl room? Next week it could be something totally different, like rock star posters and prom dresses. Sigh. So paper it was.

I picked up the floral paper at JoAnn on clearance. The frames were from a big box store, and were originally in a bronze finish. A three dollar can of spray paint gave me the color that I wanted, and I sealed them with a  spray sealer for good measure.

faux applique gallery wallAll the shapes were purchased from the Silhouette online store for 99 cents apiece and were cut with my Silhouette Cameo. The monogram was cut from a font I already had on my computer.

faux applique gallery wallAnd the verdict? Maddie loves them. So for six dollars (three for the paint, three for the images from the Silhouette store) she got a cute little gallery wall over her bed, and momma is one step closer to having her room decorated. Yay!

Thanks for stopping by HLM. If you enjoyed this post and the fabric wall art we created for Maddie’s room, please be sure to follow HLM by reader or email, and hook up with us on Facebook and Twitter so you don’t miss the finished project. I’ll be posting her big proud smiles in the reveal!

Shared at Lines Across, DIY Home Sweet Home, Under the Table and Dreaming, Craft-O-Maniac, Madigan Made and Skip to My Lou.

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Fabric Hoop Art Tips and Tricks

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

fabric hoop art tips and tricks from Hey Little MotherGood morning friends! Happy weekend! I’m popping in this morning to show you the first installation of my little girl’s side of her shared bedroom. She absolutely loves it, and if you think you might like to try something similar, I’ve got a few helpful hints for you!

I picked up all of my supplies from JoAnn Fabrics. They are a mix of cotton and cotton blend fabrics, and one stretch knit. Stretch knits will work just fine for this type of project, but I don’t recommend them for linear or geometric prints, because putting them in hoops tends to distort the patterns. Because I had a large space to work with, I went with the “more bang for your buck” principle and bought some large quilting hoops. Bonus- they’re 50% off this week!

I have found that it is easiest to insert the full cut of fabric in the hoop and clamp it down, then adjust the pattern by pulling it taut. Once it’s position properly, trim around the hoop and check the pattern again. If it’s good, use a line of hot glue on the inside back of the hoop to tack down the fabric. It will help prevent eventual loosening and shifting from handling.

I think it’s fun to throw in a little unexpected color. I used a green fabric quarter that works well with the leaves and vines on some of the other fabrics for a little pop of color that will make an appearance in some of the bedside accessories I have planned.

I don’t like all the clamps to be in matchy matchy positions in hoop art. I think it draws more attention to the clamps. Am I crazy, or do you think the same? If you like to hang yours in different positions too, a glue dot from the scrapbooking aisle of your craft store will keep your hoops with patterns where you want them- just adhere to the back of the hoop and press to the wall. I’ve pulled mine off and repositioned with no problems. As always, test in an inconspicuous spot and use caution!

hoop art cheat sheet from hey little motherI put together a pinnable “cheat sheet” for you if you love fabrics and want to fill a wall with pattern and color. There are so many beautiful options out there! Have fun!

This post was shared at Sew Many Ways, Too Much Time on My Hands, Six Sisters’ Stuff, Or So She Says, It’s Overflowing Craft-O-Maniac and Classy Clutter.

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Madeleine Turns Four

Posted on May 8, 2013 by

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Today is a big day.

Our littlest child turned four. She’s special in so many ways, and it’s a bittersweet thing to see her turning school age.

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There is an official birthday party coming up, with love from the grands and the cousins. After we’re done celebrating our baby girl’s big day, we’ll be back to our regular posting schedule. Thanks for bearing with us.

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A Day (or Two) in the Life

Posted on April 26, 2013 by

My day starts at 6:15 am. I hate waking up. How are you supposed to wake up without coffee, and how can you make coffee without waking up? It’s a conundrum. Today Alex woke me up five minutes before my alarm went off and told me he absolutely was not, no way, no how going to school. *sigh* Good morning.

Yesterday I got a call from one school telling me that Daniel was sick and needed to be picked up. Shortly after that staff from the other school called to tell us that Hannah had sprained her ankle in gym, couldn’t walk, and needed to be picked up. She went back to school today with only a slight limp. Daniel still looks like something out of the Walking Dead.

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I could crop out the dry cereal and the pink lemonade for swallowing pills, but this is the look we are rocking today.

After two cups of coffee, I tried to focus my sleep deprived brain on menu planning. I like to plan a breakfast, lunch and dinner for eight for a week at a time. There are so many things I would rather do than shop for groceries, and if the kids would stay out of my cupboards I’d be a serious stockpiler and go once a month or less. Doesn’t work that way here. The more I buy, the more they eat. This time around, the planning paid off nicely. A weeks worth of three meals a day for eight people for $134. I’ll take it, especially in the local economy.

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Even with sick kids and the day to day stuff like laundry and grocery shopping, we’re always working on a project. I just finished painting the cabinetry in the kitchen and putting the hardware on. James is adding some details to them to give our builder grade junk cabinets a more custom look.

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And in the spirit of embracing DIY attention deficit disorder, I have mentally checked out of the kitchen redo and have let my mind wander into the master bathroom.

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The afternoon zips by in a blur of backpacks, school stories, snacks, “What’s for dinners?”, homework and playtime.  Tonight I whipped up a chicken casserole.

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole:

Ingredients:

  • 1 to 1 1/2 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces and cooked
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 package frozen broccoli florets, cooked according to package directions
  • 2 boxes chicken flavored stuffing

Directions:

  • Whisk together soup, milk and mayo
  • Mix in chicken and cheese
  • Spread mixture in bottom of 13×9 baking dish
  • Cover with broccoli
  • Spoon prepared stuffing over broccoli, spreading evenly
  • Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees

No pictures, sorry. This disappeared too fast. People are inordinately hungry on grocery shopping day, have you ever noticed that??

After dinner the kids disperse. The littles take a tubby together, get their hair blow dried, their teeth brushed and get a squirt of mommy or daddy’s cologne and clean jammies. The middles and the bigs hang out together, usually watching tv or playing video games. Recently they constructed some swords and shields out of various pvc pipe sections, foam insulation and wood, and I learned the term “larp” from watching them in the backyard pretending to kill each other.

I don’t need to remind myself to offer up a prayer of gratitude for all that I have. I am blessed and I know it, and every day thankfulness is in my heart no matter what is going on in our lives. I hope you are lucky enough to feel the same way.

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Simple Kitchen Print

Posted on April 20, 2013 by

simple DIY kitchen art

Hi there! We’re still plugging along on the kitchen makeover, and it’s all starting to come together. I couldn’t be more pleased with the choices that we made and with the results we’re seeing!

I was looking around on Etsy for kitchen prints and found some really cute ones. You can check them out here. But in the spirit of DIYing and shrinking my stash before I buy anything new, I decided to make something myself. It looks adorable hanging next to our coffee station. Whatcha think?

This was a simple project that took just a few minutes in MS Word and was printed on kraft paper on my home printer.

I’m up to my elbows in half painted cabinetry, but I’m kicking around an idea for a larger art project for the main wall in the dining area.

What are you up to? Any big room redos going on? Got any kitchen art inspiration or organizing tips to share? Do you have a Pinterest kitchen board? Point the way!

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