More of Evelyn

 I was just sitting down as Evelyn was busy playing, then she called for me and showed me what she'd done...  A barricade of toys...  And do you see her there in the chair afar?  Fun spirited little girl!

First braid. 

More painting, of course. 

Helping Momma make Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake.

Little snow fun.

Yum!!

2 days after the snow...

Spilled sugar...  Also yum!

Finally Finished Sign

I have had this sign idea for quite some time now...  The Fruits of the Spirit really speak to my heart, and I wanted to be reminded of them daily!  Living in the world we live in, I really struggle with upholding each of these values in my life.  I was able to talk my dear friends from my Craft Night group into each painting a word... It makes it that much more precious to me, knowing that my Christian women friends put their love into this as well!

Jessica

Heather

Ashley

Rachael

I distressed it and Ta-Da!  Here it is now, the first thing you see when you come in my front door.  :)

I thought I had pictures of all the girls, but I'm sorry Sharon, Jennifer and Cathy...  I am not sure what happened there... But, thank you all so very much for your helping hand on this project!!

Productive Weekend

On Friday, Andy took off work and we took Evelyn to the Aquarium.  We had a great time!  That afternoon, I spray painted the hinges to our kitchen cabinets.

She had quite a long staring contest with this guy (or girl).

Then Saturday, I did a bit of cleaning.  That afternoon, Andy installed the sink and faucet in our kitchen...I helped a little!   ;)  

Church this morning.   After that, we put our hinges and cabinet doors back on.  So pretty! 

That's it for now.  Hope to see ya soon!!

Making and Antiquing a Sign

I had this board that I had done another experament on once before with printing pictures onto plain paper, then putting the paper on the board with Mod Podge and rolling away the actual paper, with the picture then transferred onto the wood... A really cool idea, but I look like a ghost in the picture... At least I gave it a try and we know that project works!

So, here is the reverse side of the board and a new project in hand.  

I have recently seen all kinds of making and antiquing sign techniques on Pinterest that I have decided to try several of them to see which way works best... I must say, I am very pleased with my results on this one!!

First, paint your board (I used acrylic craft paint and only did one coat of each).  Then, place your letter cutouts (that dear friends helped you make with their Cricut machines) as evenly as possible on the board and trace them (I used a gray coloring pencil, so it would show up, but not too much, on my background).  

Next, paint your letters within the lines (bet you never would have guessed that!   ;)  

Oh, and what better thing to do than to watch The Great British Baking Show while doing it!?!

Once you are all done and the paint has dried, go back with the background paint and touch up any uneven areas.  (The smudge at the bottom of the "R" is from Evelyn's finger painting :).

See!  Nice, clean lines! 

Then, as I like to use an electric sander, you can even use sand paper if you don't have one on hand, to distress the sign.  I also had this antique can of pecan stain I used, by simply adding a small amount to a piece of an old t-shirt to rub gently and randomly across my sign to give it even more of that antique-y look which I love.  

And there you have it!  My final product. 

Looks even better in my kitchen than the photograph shows I think!  ;)

Thanks for checking it out and Good Bless!!

Sharpie Removal from Cabinets

So, Evie got a little too artsy with a Sharpie a few weeks ago, and I just haven't gotten around to trying to remove it until today.  

Here are the steps for Sharpie removal from cabinets or wood. 

What you need:

*Sharpie marks on wood -Ha!

*Old toothbrush.

*Toothpaste - if you are still using the toothpaste, please do yourself a favor and put it on a clean rag or paper towel rather than chancing it touching a dirty surface. 

*0000 Steel wool.

*Howards Orange oil Beeswax.

*Another clean rag or paper towel.

First, apply the toothpaste with a rag.  

Let set for 10 minutes.  

After 10 minutes, put a little water on toothbrush just to lather up the toothpaste when scrubbed.

Wet a paper towel and wipe your wood surface clean.  

As you can see not all of the marker came off, but I didn't want to take the chance of removing the finish from my cabinets with the toothbrush and toothpaste, so I used a piece of 0000 steel wool with some Howards beeswax on it to put some "life back in the wood, while removing the rest of the Sharpie.

And voila!  There you have a beautiful "like-new" finished wood surface. 

Note: This would not work on a high-gloss surface, as the steel wool would scratch the finish up, and the beeswax would not work on it. 

Christmas Festivities

These first few photos are not of Christmas exactly, but of a fun trip to Gatlinburg and Pegeon Forge with my in-laws...

Train ride around Dollywood.

Carousel ride with Aunt Melissa.

  

Watching a water show accompanied with Christmas music. 

A felt tree with arrangable ornaments and bulbs that i made...  unfortunately this didn't look so good after she was at it for about 10 minutes, she tried pulling the whole thing off the wall...  :(

Fun and memorable times Christmas baking with my Sugar Plumb!

Wow!!  She's really good at that!   ;)

So, I tried Elf on the Shelf and only did it one day.  I was quite a slacker with trying to introduce Evelyn to that this year, but I think next year will be much better since she will understand it more.  

Ev loved opening her stocking and really enjoyed playing with her Hot Wheels!  

We were blessed to have my mom and Uncle Chuck (her brother) here this year to celebrate Christmas with!  Here, mom is loving one of the pairs of earrings I made her. 

And a beautiful rose gold watch. 

An adorable thumbprint reindeer ornament that Ev made for her. 

Uncle Chuck with my homemade peach jam. I think he was excited about it!

Reading with GUC.

That's it for now.  Nighty night!