Let me start by telling you how my three-year-old was yelling, "I don't like mommy and daddy anymore" tonight. 

I am finding that the age of three is turning out to be harder than the dreaded terrible twos. When he was two, he wasn't terrible, but now he is starting to become his own person, he knows what he wants, and if we say no, then I guess he doesn't like us anymore. 

I know he doesn't really mean it, well, I'm sure he means it in the moment, but you know what I mean. It still isn't fun to hear! I am hoping this new development will not last long! He's going to like mom forever, right?!

And with that, let's move on to the wonderful loving bible verses I put together tonight to start tomorrow - when hopefully - I will be liked again! 

I got this idea from my sister who found it on Pinterest. She always finds great ideas and so I find myself copying them often! Thanks sis!

Here are the links that you can use to make these for yourself!
-Heart Verses-

http://thecraftyclassroom.com/blog/2012/02/06/love-bible-verses-for-children/

Fabric Envelope

http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/2013/01/diy-valentine-fabric-envelopes-and-use.html

What are you doing with your kiddos for Valentine's Day?

Framed burlap. Sounds super exciting right? Well maybe if you are crazy about burlap, but I think this craft turned out really cute and can't wait to make more!

I started with a wooden frame and sanded it to help the paint stick.

I mixed two yellows together to get a nice soft color and began painting.

First coat does not look so great, but after a second one it looked pretty good. I didn't want the wood to be shining through.

After the paint had dried, I used some rough sand paper and went over the top and sanded some areas to make it look distressed. I didn't love the frame until I did this step!

I had measured some thick cardboard I had gotten from some pictures in the mail and cut it to fit inside the frame. I cut around the board leaving some excess on each side so I could fold the burlap behind it to keep it from fraying. 

I hot-glued the burlap onto and around the cut out.

After glueing the burlap on, I had to glue the board to the frame. I placed the board inside and it fit very nicely. 

Since the frame I was working with did not have a back, I had to make my own.
I filled up the back with some more cardboard pieces and some burlap to make it sturdy, then glued one final piece onto the back. 

Then I took one of these clips I found at Office Max and used my hot-glue gun to fasten it in the middle of the front of the frame.
The clip came with a magnet attached to the back but I just used a pliers to get that off. Wah-lah!

Even though this frame did not have a back, it did already have a hook so it could be hung. 

And here is the final product!
This was another gift to my friend for her baby, and she has utilized it quite well!

I went to a friend's shower not too long ago and she was given a super cute bird mobile made of felt. I guess it's the new craze. It got me thinking that I would like to try to make one for one of my best friends who is having her first baby boy. 

She likes foxes, and owls, and both her and hubs like outdoorsy type things, so I thought a forest theme would be just right.

Now I've never made a mobile before, but the internet is great for looking up ideas, so that's where I started. I looked up felt foxes, felt mobiles, felt owls, whatever I wanted to have in the mobile, then I hand drew a pattern for each.

Work station - pins, felt, patterns, hot chocolate!

I cut out the shapes and traced it onto tracing paper and then pinned that onto the felt. I glued the top pieces (belly, ears, nose...) onto the top of the main body. I also used floss to make knots for the eyes. Then once the glue dried, I hand sewed around the critter using embroidery floss. I left a small opening to stuff with stuffing, and then sewed it shut.

Cut pattern, glue, sew, stuff, sew, repeat... until you have all your desired creatures done.

I used a dowel and cut it into two same length pieces and had holes drilled in the middle and one on each end. I used some more embroidery floss to tie the two together and then kept wrapping the floss around the dowels until they were tight in place. (this is hard to do so I just did what I could to make it the tightest, tried super glue but that failed)

(I was a bit partial to the fox, it was sooo cute! I loved the over-sized head.)

Using some more floss, I strung the floss through the hole and down through each critter and tied a few knots so it wouldn't go right back through. If you try this, make the knot on the TOP of the dowel, not the bottom like I did, and make sure the floss is actually THROUGH the dowel before making the knot. -oh dear-
Make sure you leave plenty of floss available above the dowels to tie all four ends together and make even. I attached all four strings together with a circle key chain.

I'm happy with how it turned out and hope baby enjoys it! 

Step One: Find a cute plain platter.

Step Two: Grab some Frog tape and a can of chalkboard spray paint.

Step Three: Stick tape around the places you do not want the chalkboard paint. (I may have been a bit particular and may have had to peel, and re-peel multiple times, maybe)

Step Four: Spray in a well-ventilated area. Spray two coats. (I sprayed in my garage and then moved it downstairs to dry since it has been well below freezing lately)

Step Five: Use some chalk, write something sweet, and give it away! (I gave this one to my sister for Christmas)

I do not see this being the end of my chalkboard paint fun...
Any ideas?

I copied this idea from a picture I saw of two little boys while I was looking up ideas for a John Deere birthday party. 

Since my boys share a birthday month, starting this year they will be sharing a birthday party. The plan is for them to wear these somewhat matching shirts. I don't think I thought I would be the matching mom type, but I think it can be so cute. 

1. Cut out the number desired out of a piece of paper.

2. Using an old shirt - ours is a very sentimental Hulk shirt turned rags from Dad - fold the shirt so you have three layers of material.

3. Pin the number to the shirt and sew. Be careful not to sew the front and back of the shirt together, not like I ever did that. I used yellow thread to incorporate the other John Deere color. I also originally was going to stamp on the shirt "One" and "Three" but then decided against it. It would be cute to do on the back or the other side of the shirt.

There they are! The finished product! And they are finished in plenty of time before their party! How often does that happen!

They're pretty excited about them too...

Leg warmers may seem like a more girlie clothing item, but after seeing this handsome guy aren't you convinced that they are so cute!
I made my little babe these leg warmers with a matching tie onesie out of a pair of women's knee-high socks. 

I started by cutting the socks at the angle and then I measured the sock by setting it next to my son's leg. 
Then I cut 2 1/2 inch cuffs, folded them together with right sides out and pinned them to the end of the sock.
I sewed all the way around, which is a bit tricky since the opening is so small.

And there you have it! Now repeat for the other one!

The tie was a little tricky since the sock material is so stretchy. I cut down the back of the ankle sock I had left over and opened up the remainder. I tried ironing it but all that did was make it roll up! I got my tie template from this blog - http://www.crapivemade.com/2009/03/appliqued-tie-onesie.html

Lay the template over the sock material and cut out leaving some allowance to be folded underneath so as not to allow fraying.
Then cut out the exact shape of the tie from some Steam-A-Seam.

One the edges are folded over, position the tie knot under the neck in the center, using your iron, press the top half of the knot onto the onesie. It may curl up a bit because of the stretchy material, so I used some pins to hold it down until I was able to sew around it. 
Now tuck your tie up under the knot a little and iron.
Pin your tie in place and sew around the tie. You can make one fluid sewing path (which you can check out from that blog from above)

Finished!

Maybe I can blame it on the Polish in me, but WHO takes a shelf, sands it, paints it white, and then sands it AGAIN so it's back to being just wood??! WHO!?
Well, this gal does. I'm a bit indecisive. On like. Everything.

I was at my parent's house recently and noticed this oldie sitting in their back room being all forgotten about. And I thought, hey, I need another project to do, I'm always bored (please sense my sarcasm here). Anyway, I thought this shelf would be a good addition to my oldest's room. I could sand it, paint it and distress it (something I seriously enjoy doing, really) and then I could have bins go on the shelf and help organize his room and have his toys accessible. Win-Win. Raef get's a shelf, I get to spend some time doing something fun. Well...
Here is what I got this shelf down to.

And looking back now, I see how amazing it looked. But then I went and gave it a coat of white paint. WHITE. For some reason I always go with white. I wish I could go back and just slap a nice coat of stain on it and be on my way. But here is what I am currently in the middle of doing...

Yep. Sanding! Sanding it allll off. And since this wood has grooves in it, it's not as easy as the FIRST time. But I do have a vision, and this is not over... and it WILL look amazing! ;)

To Be Continued...