Fabulous picture frames (knock off)

There is this website, theorganicbloom.com/ and they have beautiful and unique wood picture frames. They come in a ton of colors. I love them. The are so cool looking but when I went to their site to look up the prices, I was shocked! The frames range anywhere from $55 - $450. Maybe to some people that is a reasonable price, but it blows my mind! 

Aren't they cute!? Well they say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery so this tutorial is just that.... a knock off. AND it is going to be so much less expensive then if you were to purchase them from their website.

I went to Micheal's and walked through their unfinished wood isles. They have wood plaques in different sizes and shapes. I'm pretty sure that most any craft store should carry these as well. The great thing about these plaques is that they are between $ .79 - $4.00 a piece. I grabbed a variation of sizes and took them home. I put them all on the ground and one by one, I gave each plaque 3 coats of paint in fun and bright colors. Once the paint was dry I took them out to the garage and sanded all of the edges to give them a older roughed up look.

Then I took them back in and put them on the floor arranging and rearranging the soon to be frames, to get the best layout for the wall I am going to put them on. Once you like a particular arrangement, get a pad of paper and a pen and sketch out the arrangement so you don't forget where everything is going to go. I found the center on the back of each one of the frames and marked it, then gave them over to my husband who used a keyhole router bit to make them easy to hang.

I ran to walmart and printed out some instant photos in black and white. To adhere them to the frames I just brushed on some Mod Podge to the back of the photos and smoothed them out on the plaque.

I love them! I think they are adorable! Do they look exactly like OrganicBlooms frames? No. Do they resemble them close enough to give that same feeling? Absolutely. My phone pictures do not do them justice. Are they way less inexpensive then the OrganicBloom frames? Heck Yes!

I hope you try this one out. So fun, so easy, so inexpensive!

I put them up on the wall in the stairway while my husband was sleeping but, he saw them on his way to work in the morning. When he got home that day he gushed at how great they looked up on the wall and how happy he was with them. If he likes them then I know I did good!

Just imagine the cute photo collections you could create! I plan on making more at some point to continue to fill up some more space on this wall. But for now they are high enough to keep my kids from grabbing at them on their way downstairs. What do you think? I would love to hear what you would do differently. Leave a comment bellow.

No empty chairs *Tutorial*

Alright, my computer crashed a few days ago. On my facebook page I promised a new post on Monday. Sorry to all of you who may have been watching for that. But I'm back now and have lots of things to show you! This first project was a lot of fun to do.

Here is the back story. I met my husband 11 years ago. About a month after we started dating and about three weeks after we knew we were going to be married to each other one day, he took me to meet his family for the first time. I was so nervous. I had never met a boyfriends family before and had never introduced anyone I had dated to my family either.  So I really didn't know what to expect. We drove 2 hours to his parents house to spend the weekend. I wanted them to like me as soon as I said hello to them but knew that, that wasn't how it usually works. Plus I am extremely shy when I first meet people. Like PAINFULLY shy! I crawl into my shell and do not start conversations. I stick close to the people I know, leaning on them to diffuse the discomfort. I generally don't look people right in the eye but rather I look just pass them so I dont feel like they are judging me with their judgy eyes, and if I am asked a question I tend to give short answers not exaggerating on anything. Basically, I suck when I first meet people. I honestly don't know whats wrong with me. For the record, that really isn't me at all. I'm loud and outspoken, when you get to know me.

Anyway, My husband comes from a large family. Honestly it was overwhelming meeting my husbands parents, and his 6 siblings. Not to mention that his father called me "Lacey" (my husbands ex- girlfriends name) for the entire weekend. Actually he did this for the first year of our relationship. Anywho, Bry's mother has said something to her family over the years. I guess its a constant reminder to herself and her children. I never fully understood the weight of the comment and how important it is to remember. She would say, "No empty chairs". Some of you are bound to know what that means. But for the rest of you who are like me, I will explain.  "We must cherish one another, watch over one another and gain instruction, that we may all sit down in heaven together" - Lucy Mack Smith.  No Empty Chairs: This means when we look at our family eternally, we should always remember our goal is to have no empty chairs at the celestial family table. We should use love for one another to encourage and lift each other to the goal of eternal happiness. if you do the things that are asked of you by our Heavenly Father and are sealed to your family then you will be together in heaven (as a family) as you were in life. This is so sweet and meaningful to me. So that is what this project represents. A constant, quiet, and loving reminder.

So to begin I ran to hobby lobby and looked at their unfinished doll furniture to see if I could find some small chairs. I was lucky and found some that were perfect, but there were only 3 and I really wanted 5. I gave my husband a looked that could only mean, "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make me a couple more chairs!" So he picked up the materials he thought that he would need and we headed home to start our new project.

Below is a picture of one of the chairs I bought. We (and I mean HE) used it as a template to cut out his own version of the chairs. he put the pieces together with wood glue and let them set for a bit.

So here are the chairs ready for the next step.

Now we attached a couple of pieces of soft maple together. 6 1/2" h x 19" L  x 3 1/2 D

I didn't attach the chairs at this point. So hold off on that part until the end.

Now pick out the colors that you want to paint your chairs. I went with bold colors red, yellow, navy, green, and a baby blue.

I painted the maple shelf/plaque thing a taupe color. Then I stenciled on the words "No Empty Chairs" If you are cooler then me you might have a cricut in which case you should pull that sucker out and make yourself some vinyl letters. Or another option would be to go to the craft store and pick up a pack of those small wooden letters that you could just paint and then put on. I stenciled because that's what I had.

Obviously you fill that in with some craft paint.

And because I didn't really like the spacing that I left myself with, I added some flowers between the words. This is where you are going to want to attach the chairs. You can used would glue or hot clue. Whichever you have on hand will work.

And that's it! I love it! I think its a fun pop of color and the words are very meaningful to me. What do you think?

I blame June Cleaver

I blame June cleaver! And not just her, I blame all of them! June Cleaver, Mrs. Brady, Laura Petrie, Shirley Partridge, Angela Bower, all of them! They were the "perfect" mother's. Their homes were always spotless, even the Bradys home was perfect with six kids, granted they had a live in maid. They all had perfect hair and perfect make up. Nothing was out of place. They cooked meals with smiles plastered on their faces. They always knew the right thing to say and could come up with the perfect solution to any problem or behavior. I also blame society and the so called parenting "Experts". I’m so over all of the do this, do that, this is the right way, you’re doing it wrong, don't spank, don't yell, research shows this, the doctor say that, the other doctor disagrees with the first doctor, if you don't do it this way they may grow up to be serial killers, let them cry it out, don't let them cry it out, your going to cause anxiety, if you tickel your baby then they will grow up with a stutter. Ahhhhh...... there is no "perfect" or "right" way! There is no manual. There are so many unrealistic expectations put on us mothers. 

In my opinion, parenting is trial and error. What works for one child is not necessarily going to work for the other child. And its exhausting. At least for me it is. I know that in my home Its like I live with little drunk people. Standing on the furniture, babbling non-sense at each other, and eating out of the garbage. Oh yes, I just said that! They leave messes everywhere they go. And I'm so tired all of the time. Like I feel as though I will never see another day that I'm not tired every second. I don't know about you but there are times that I look at the clock every five minutes longing for it to finally be my kids bedtime so that I can have a couple sweet hours of silence. I have my selfish moments of just wanting to soak in a bath tub with the lights off, candles burning, and an I pad playing my favorite TV show or movie. At times that seems like heaven.

People say, “You should enjoy every moment!” and to those people I need to tell you that I want to stomp on your big toe, and slap you in the ear when you say this! Not because you are lying but, because this is not helpful advice. We all know that they grow up fast, that we will forget the cute things they say if we don't catch them on camera or wright them down in our journals, we know that the baby chub will disappear and the little voices will change. We know that it's inevitable that one day we will overhear our children complaining about how we are unfair and annoying. We know that every second of their lives is a gift in our own.

We also know that not every second is a moment to be enjoyed. some moments are down right awful! You parents, with children who have grown up and moved out have obviously forgotten that. I get it, its like you have mommy amnesia. You only remember bits and pieces. Remembering only the joy. You remember family game nights, afternoons spent at the beach, your children drawing pictures of the family on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. You don't (or you choose not to) remember, little Johnny sticking the Monopoly top hat up his nose and the frantic drive to the doctors office. You don't remember the being driven crazy those afternoons at the beach when you had to tell your children to stop trying to drown each other over and over before you finally gave in and screamed "we're leaving!" and then standing at the shore line yelling at your children like a crazy person to get out of the water over and over while they continuously dive under water pretending not to hear you, just so they can squeeze in another few minutes in the water. You don't remember that the simple drawings on the driveway ended up getting boring to your child so they then moved onto drawing pictures on your car, inside and out.

To all of you moms out there, know that its okay to not enjoy every moment. This doesn't make you a terrible parent. You are a mother with limits. You are not a terrible mother if you struggle to stay calm when trying to give consequences to your child when they make mistakes or are down right rude. You are not a terrible mother if while at the park you throw the ball a little further then necessary so that it takes longer for them to get it and bring it back. Your not a bad mother if you tell your kids, "Oh did you hear that? I think dad is calling for you." because you want a few seconds to yourself. You're not a bad mother if you turn the sprinkler on in the backyard after dinner for "play time" when your real intention is to get the remains of the meal you made off of them with minimal effort on your part. You're not a bad mother if when your husband walks in the door after work you hand the kids over to him for an hour. You are not a terrible mother if you cant make another meal this week, so you take your kids out for fast food. I read something recently that said "sometimes happiness comes in a red box with golden arches." it's okay if you let the kids watch TV, you give your child soda, you sometimes yell when you get frustrated. Your not a bad mother or wife if you cant do the dishes, sweep and mop the floor, make three meals a day from scratch including snacks, and do all of the laundry, while being the perfect mother every day!

Its time to give ourselves a break.We are so overwhelmed with what sort of parent society says we should be. Maybe its time for a different perspective. Maybe we should stop beating ourselves up. We are our worst critic. At the end of the day this whole thing is about our children. We made the life altering choice to become a mother. I joke a lot on this blog about what a pain they can be. Honestly Its more amusing to talk about my experiences that way, then to write about the ordinary everyday stuff. I know that my children are such blessings in my life. We all need to remember that about our kids. There are people all around the world who would give anything to experience what we sometimes take for granted. There is a blog written by a christian mother with five children. She commented: “[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.” She then adds: “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.” I love this. It really speaks to my heart. I will continue going forward, reminding myself that I have been given such an amazing gift. I am a mother of two wonderful boys. They love me unconditionally. They look to me for love, comfort, and guidance that I will happily provide. Do not spend your time comparing yourself to your friends that are mothers. Do not beat yourself up if you do not do all of the "Top Ten Best Parenting Tips". Do not put yourself down when you think that your not giving your kids as healthy of food choices and your friend gives theirs. Don't allow yourself to feel guilty because you didn't breastfeed your baby for whatever reason. What a blessing it is to live in a time that science has been able to closely simulate breast milk. do not get discouraged if you struggle from day to day to be the best Mom you can be. I don't think that God wants us to struggle so hard, beating ourselves up striving for perfection. Our children need such simple things. All you have to do is love them. Children are so easy to love. Give yourself a break, skip one of your daily chores today, and use that time to just be with your kids. You don't have to do anything big. You can just read them a story, or have them tell you what their favorite part of the day was. hold them in your arms and remind yourself that they are the most important thing in your world. kiss their cheeks, smell there hair, listen to them giggle. Tell them that you love them. And PLEASE, give yourself a break.

                                                   My angels C & D


Until next time my lovely's

Re-purposed Shower Curtain

Upon moving into this new home of ours, I realized that we had no need for shower curtains anymore since all of the showers have doors on them. Now, that's great and all, but I loved my shower curtain. It matched my bedding perfectly and it was only a couple of months old. So I had to come up with a way to save it. At least some of it. I ran out to the garage for some inspiration. My husband woodwork's for fun in his spare time and I thought there might just be something that would inspire me. As luck would have it, behind a pile of scrap wood was a good sized wood frame. It looked like it was probably a project that he started without a clear idea of where he was going, so it just got dumped in a pile of scraps to be fished out at a later date. It wasn't in the best shape with some dings in the wood, and a bad sanding job (sorry babe). But It just needed a little love. I fished it out and sanded down the edges. Then I grabbed my black paint and had at it. While it was drying I grabbed my freshly washed shower curtain.

 Isn't it adorable! I love this print! My entire bedroom is black and white, so there was no way I was parting with this shower curtain. It had to be re-purposed.

Once my painted frame was dry, I put my shower curtain on the floor and took my time moving the frame around the print to figure out configuration I liked best. Then I flipped my frame over and put the curtain print facing down over the frame. You are going to need a staple gun. Start at one corner and begin to staple the fabric to the frame. space your staples about every 4 inches. As you make your way around the frame make sure that you are applying pressure to the fabric, but not so much that you are stretching and disfiguring the print.

Grab a pair of scissors and start trimming the fabric. leave at least an inch between the staples and the end of the fabric. Now this does not have to look nice, so just breeze through this step.

Flip it back over and fix any scratches in the paint. I would recommend after you paint the frame and before you staple the fabric to the back, that you take some time to seal the paint with a nice finish. It will take more time to dry, but the finished product will be much better.

Here it is, up on my wall. I love it! You would have never known that it was a shower curtain! Try this one out!! It's fun, easy, and cost me next to nothing to complete.

Come by and like my Facebook page "Motherhood- What The BLEEP Am I Doing?"

Until next time my lovely's

Where do babies come from?

The other day while running errands Corbin said " when you and dad turn back into babies, I will take care of you." Bryan and I looked at each other and laughed. "Corbin, your dad and I will not ever turn back into babies. In life you start out as a baby then you become a kid, and a teenager, then an adult, and lastly you turn really old like Mema (just kidding mom). We may need diapers when we are really old, and you can help with that, but we won't be babies." I said. Now this begged the question, "where do you think babies come from, Corbin?" Now hold on to your seats folks because of all of the possible answers (ie the stork, angels, a bean that grows in your belly, whatever) I did not expect this answer! "We'll you get on the computer, then you pick out a baby you want and download it to your belly. When it's done downloading you go to the doctor and they take it out in twenty seconds." So apparently you can just jump online and design a baby. Race, hair color, eye color, gender, whatever you want! Then just download it. Slowest download in history! Not to mention all off the "viruses" that comes along with that download. Like vomiting for months, constipation, hernias, uterus cramps, and so much more! And isn't that sweet that he thinks it only takes twenty seconds to be born!? Someday I will tell him that it took 2 days to vacate him from my womb! Twenty seconds.... Pff.... My aunt fanny it takes twenty seconds! I do have to say that I love how his mind works. It's so much fun watching your child's imagination run wild.