More Than Words

Words are powerful. Not all words, of course, but the right words at the right moment can change a person's perspective or their mind, or even ~ I dare say ~ change a person's life. There are three words that I think of whenever things in my life get a little crazy. Words that ground me, and remind me of the way that I {want} to live my life.

Patience
Presence
Purpose.

I wanted to have these words displayed somewhere in my home, but I've recently come to realize that my home is becoming just a wee bit {verbose}. Subway art, our family name, some sayings that I love....lots and lots of words. Not wanting to add more obvious word art to the mix, but wanting to have these words around me, I came up with this...



I wanted the colors to be {subtle}, and the braille to really be barely more than a hint, so I chose a lighter grey background and a slightly darker grey for the dots. I simply typed the words that I wanted in a font that I could read (I wanted to know for sure that everything was spelled correctly) and then converted them to braille using a free font I found online.



I really like how it works with the black & white photos on the wall. I also like the way the dots on the frame {mimic} the braille. Not bad for a $2.50 frame from the dollar store.



There are so many things I love about it. The simplicity and subtlety, and the fact that it is a message for {me} that doesn't scream out to everyone who comes into the room.

If you'd like to download one for yourself, you can find the 5x7 printable here.

The Things You Didn't Know You Needed: Part 4

OK, so first things first - I am not a Cricut girl. I am totally, completely and 100% {devoted} to my Silhouette. But... I recently found myself in need of a device that could make perfectly straight & measured cuts to things like photographs ~ and as much as I love my Silhouette, I'm not good enough with it yet to pop a photo into it and ask it to trim off a 1/4" on each side. The Cricut Trimmer turned out to be {exactly} what I needed.




If you're a paper scrapper or a paper crafter, this is obviously something that you would get a lot of use out of. If you're a photographer, digital artist, or digital scrapper ~ and {especially} if you commonly design or print things in "off" sizes like 5x5 or 8x8 ~ you will find plenty of uses for it as well. I found that I needed it when I ordered a pair of 8x8 prints from Costco with a photo floating in the center of a white background. I found out that day that just because the lab offers an 8x8 print doesn't mean that they can actually measure & cut the correct size ~ they rely on the edge of the photograph to know where to cut. Highly annoying, yes ~ but a problem? Not anymore!

This little do-hickey is very affordable (I paid around $10 for mine at Meijer) and it cuts very well. The reviews I've seen give it credit for cutting paper and cardstock, but last night I decided to test it on some matboard and it {rocked}. I had to do a pass on the top, then flip the matboard over and run a pass on the bottom-side of the cut to get all the way through, but it worked perfectly, and folding the matboard after the first cut left a crease on the back that was easy to follow when I went to do the second cut. What this means for me (and probably for some of you, too) is that I can now mount my own photos & digital art pieces on matboard without having to hurt my hands by asking too much of my scissors, or bust out a box cutter. And ~ added bonus ~ this cutter has none of the terrifyingly guillotine-like qualities of those super heavy old-school chop cutters popular in classrooms across America, so I'm not worried about my kids messing with it and amputating a limb. ;)

And now, I'm off to bust out the spray adhesive & mount the above-mentioned photos to the newly cut matboard! Yippeeeee!!!

Little Artists

Earlier this summer, I sent the kids outside with some paint and paper, and let them loose. They had a great time, and it was fun to watch them paint and create. They immediately asked if we could hang their paintings in the house, so I set a couple of their paintings aside. This week, I framed one of each of their paintings.






I happened to take photos of the tiny people in these beautifully colored dresses last Spring. I'm {giddy} that the dresses go so well with the paintings they made a couple of months later!





I was actually paying enough attention and thinking ahead enough to initial each of the paintings on the back, so I knew which kid had made which painting. I framed one by each of them, then paired them with a photo of the artist.






And I'm {very} proud of myself for thinking to make hand prints of both of the kids before sending them in to get cleaned up! All 3 frames wouldn't fit on one photo ledge, so I chose to hang the hand prints on the slowly-growing photo wall in my craft room!






The girls are very excited to have their art displayed in the kitchen, and they love coming in and looking at their hand prints, too. :)

The Things You Didn't Know You Needed: Part 3

There are a lot of cookbooks on the market ~ and there are a lot of websites dedicated to giving you all sorts of cooking and food-related information. But I find that there are very few things that you'll ever {need} to know that you can't find in one of the tried & true cookbooks....Joy of Cooking



Originally printed in 1931, this cookbook has been updated several times over the years. The 75th Anniversary Edition (printed in 2006) boasts a grand total of 4500 recipes ~ 4000 of which were re-tested and updated for the most-recent edition of the book and 500 that were new to this edition. It has all of the usual stuff ~ lists of acceptable ingredient substitutions, charts to help you convert from metric to US measurements, etc. ~ but it also goes out of its way to {explain} the techniques used in the recipes so that you're not stuck if you come across a term that you're not familiar with. I'm telling you ~ this cookbook is a rookie's dream.

{Joy} is also chock-full of tidbits that you don't need to know all the time, but that come in handy ~ like how to figure out what sized bird you'll need to feed the whole family on Thanksgiving, which kind of wine or beer goes well with what type of food, what equipment you'll need to make certain things, and how to store various types of ingredients.

If you're someone who loves to cook ~ if you're someone who wants to learn to cook ~ if you're looking to buy a gift for a cook ~ you should pick up a copy of Joy of Cooking. It's {well} worth the $35 price tag!

Happy Friday!!!

I'm cooking up some blog-worthy ideas for next week, but to hold you over until then, head over to Jen's fabulous blog for some great inspiration!

Sneaky Mommy

Ahhh, back to school. It's that time of year when moms all over the country are forcing their children to try on every article of clothing they own to determine what fits and what doesn't....then dealing with the same children arguing about the cool shoes, trendy backpack, designer jeans, etc. they just {have to have} for the new school year.

Want to avoid all that? Yeah, me too. So how about this little trick.



First, I had the tiny people take off their shoes and I traced their feet. (Make sure you label which foot belongs to which kid!) There are online resources that will tell you how to measure your kids' feet, but I find that shoe sizes vary from store to store, and even brand to brand, so measuring their feet for size and writing down a number is probably not the best way to go. This way, I have a visual when I shop. I can hold it up to the sole of a shoe and know whether or not the shoe is long enough and/or wide enough, and how much room there will be for growing. Perfect!

I also wrote the rest of their information on their individual foot prints ~ their height, weight, inseam and waist measurements, so I can buy clothing when I'm shopping solo, based on their measurements rather than size. I pop the foot-shaped cut-outs into my wallet and have them with me all the time ~ which comes in handy when I start doing the {Christmas} shopping, too. ;)

So, what are you waiting for? Leave the kids at home and go shopping!

My First Piece of Furniture!

I can't tell you how excited I am to share this next project! Over a {year} ago, I picked up a beautiful spindle bed frame at a garage sale, with the intention of turning it into a bench. If you google "headboard bench" you'll probably find lots of posts about these pretty little creations, and I found inspiration on several blogs myself. Finally, over the weekend, I got started on making my own (with help from the hubband, of course...).

I'd show you the end result now...but I want it to be a surprise, soooo... ;)

We started out by assessing the headboard & foot board. Both ends of the bed were exactly the same in size and shape. There was a broken piece on the headboard, and a missing spindle on the foot board. {Luckily} what was broken on the head was okay on the foot, and we knew that we could take the foot apart and replace the broken piece on the head. Not that it was easy to do...it involved a rubber mallet, a carefully used sledge-hammer and a lot of pounding, but we did it!





Once that was done, we built a box to use as the base of the seat using 1x4s, using an extra piece of wood in the center of the box for added support. Of course, I sanded all of the boards, and I got to use the compound miter saw to cut the boards to size. (OK, so I only got to cut a couple, but I did it!) We used a brad nailer (FUN!) for the box.




Then we put two boards across the top to finish off the seat. (Again with the nail gun.) We left a small gap between the two boards to that there would be a place for water to run through (since our bench is meant to be used outside).



Once the seat boards were on, we attached the legs to the underside of the seat using screws. Since we knew that we wouldn't be able to use the foot board to make a second bench, we went ahead and cut off the legs of the foot board to use as the front legs of the bench. After we attached the legs to the seat we went back and added some brackets underneath the seat just to make sure it wasn't going anywhere.



We then used some pretty serious bolts to attach the seat to the headboard....which I suppose I should start calling the back of the bench now! ;)



Here's what we had at that point.




You can see that there are several different colors of wood happening here, even without the unfinished wood we used on the seat. We filled the holes, then chose a brown paint (the name of the color is mudslide) and applied a couple of coats to the whole bench. And here she is!




I'm {thrilled} with the outcome! :) And it was fun to get to use a bunch of serious power tools in the process. Now I'm thinking about some sort of colorful pillow to put on the bench to give it a little bit of a pop. Hmmmmm.....

The Things You Didn't Know You Needed: Part 2

This next item isn't all that exciting or sexy ~ but I promise you, if you're a mom, having this puppy in your home will change your life.



http://www.exergen.com/medical/TAT/tatconsumerpage.htm

This is the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer. {Wha-huh?} Let me explain. With this thermometer, you can quickly and easily ~ and non-invasively ~ take someone's temp. simply by running the head of the thermometer across their forehead. These thermometers are being used more and more in hospitals, and there are so many things I {love} about ours.

First, at around $35, it's totally affordable. And it requires no probe covers, unlike digital ear or mouth thermometers ~ so not only will you not have to shell out more money down the road just so you can keep using it, but you're also not going to be stuck in a situation where you'd *like to* use it, but you can't b/c you don't have the probes. It's quiet & non-invasive enough to use on a sleeping child, but because it's so quick & painless, kids will actually sit still so you can take their temp. In fact, my tiny people can take their own temperatures ~ it's that easy to use. Most importantly, it's accurate ~ even more-so than a temp taken in the ear. And, because it doesn't come into contact with the mouth, nose, ears, etc. it doesn't spread germs from person to person ~ and cleaning is super quick & easy. Just wipe the head with a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and you're done!

Like I said, not all that exciting or sexy ~ and it's certainly not something we use every day, but it's something I am so so glad we have. After having one of those fancy digital ear thermometers, and dealing with the kids not wanting me to stick it in their ears (and they've never had ear infections...so it's not like they were in pain!) I'm thrilled to have something that's so much more convenient and simple. I can't tell you how great it is to be able to go into a quiet bedroom at 3am and check a child's temp. without waking them. Or how great it is to be able to check as often as you want without going through tons of those ridiculously overpriced probe covers! I'm telling you ~ it's one of my {favorite} things, for sure!

Days to Remember...

You all know of my love for {Pinterest} ~ and I know you all love it, too, because I'm finding items from my blog Pinned on a regular basis! :) Two things - 1) That's super exciting for me! And 2) It's also a little frustrating! Having items pinned repeatedly when no one has commented on those posts drives me just a scosh nutty. SO....if you love something enough to Pin It ~ please take a few seconds to comment on the post and let me {know} that you love it so I don't feel like I'm blogging to no one. Please? Thanks! ;)

I noticed that I kept going back and looking at one project on my DIY Pinterest Board over and over again ~ and that made it pretty clear that I needed to go ahead and make my own. The project in question came from Andrea Steed and it's a beautiful piece of art with important family dates ~ specifically birth dates for she and her husband, their wedding date, and the birth dates of their kids. It's {personal} and pretty and perfect....so I made one of my own!



Andrea's art piece was made using her Silhouette ~ and while I have one that I {love} I also have a craft room that was, at the time I was working on this, in a total state of chaos. Lacking the patience and the clean workspace to do my own in the traditional way, I took a suggestion Andrea made on her blog and just made mine as a printable. This is what I started with...



I worked on it late one night, and when I woke up the next morning and looked at it some more, I wasn't in love with it. It needed more character and soul ~ so off I went to search for some {texture} to add to it. I found these amazing (and free!) textures on flickr, which I used to add a layer to the original piece. Once I had done that, I wasn't happy with the coloring I had been working with, so I tweaked it some more and ended up with this....



Next up, I ordered it as a 5x7 from my photo lab. I forgot to turn off the "auto correct" option from the lab, so it came back looking different than it did in the computer ~ but I'm happy with it! I popped it into a mat and frame, and here's the final product...




And now...I'm off to get some more work done on a pretty {big} project the hubband & I have been working on! :) More posts this week...I promise!

The Things You Didn't Know You Needed

Each of us have a few items that we {love} so much, and use so often, we're not sure what we did before we had them...or what we would do without them! So I'm going to do a little series here on SNDR, sharing a few of my {favorite} things with all of you.

*disclaimer* Being that I am not Oprah, you will not all be going home with the items mentioned. ;)

So...here comes item #1. (drum roll, please....)








A Tripod! This is not the one I have, but it's the most similar I could find online. Tripods are available now at every price range, and with all sorts of fancy bells & whistles ~ they are lightweight and fold down to become very compact and portable, many have cleats to keep them from sliding around, and levels built-in so you know when you're camera is straight.

Now, if you're thinking that you don't really need a tripod b/c your just using a little point and shoot, let me stop you there. How many times have you propped your camera on a table, a rock, a fence post, etc. and used the timer to take a picture....running into the frame before the time runs out and {praying} that nothing happens that will cause your camera to tumble to the ground before you can get back to it? Uh-huh. I'm guilty of that, too. Now, granted, a tripod can be knocked over, too...but it's a lot more stable than some of the things you're probably doing now.

Having a tripod also allows you to take a series of photographs, knowing that the distance to the subject/s will be the same in each shot ~ thus making adjustments like head swaps much easier for you to accomplish after the fact. For example...

See this lovely photo? This is my family. Notice how my very classy brother (he's a very serious attorney, as you can see) has his arm flung haphazardly into the air. Notice also his very lovely Hall & Oates t-shirt. Take a look at my nephew, too. And my mom. Everyone else looks pretty good - and this photo was the best choice overall...it just needed a few {tweaks} in photoshop.







Because the camera was set on a tripod, I was able to look through each of the photos that were taken, find the best faces from my brother, nephew and mom, and do a few head swaps to make this photo a true keeper. See?






Using a tripod also eliminates the issue of camera shake, and gives the person who's pushing the shutter button a few less things to worry about if you're not using a remote or a timer.

Also ~ and this one is {big} for us ~ if you've got kids in school, in sports, in dance classes, etc. you'll definitely find out quickly just how great a tripod can be...because these babies are made to hold video recorders, too. Yep. No more tired arms from holding up a camera for an hour and a half. No more shaky shots or nausea-inducing spinning around ~ it can all be carefully controlled.

So there you have it ~ the first item on my list of favorite things that you might not know you need...but you {totally} do. ;)

What are some of your can't live without items? I'd love to hear!

Lappin' It Up!

Traveling with kids can present a lot of challenges...especially when you're going on a long road trip without the benefit of a DVD player. So it's understandable that I tried my best to stack the deck in my favor before we left on our {11 hour} each way trip to Philadelphia. I packed writing tablets, crayons, coloring paper and workbooks ~ and I made my own Road Trip Bingo cards, too. (Those were a LIFE SAVER, let me tell you. You can find cute free printable RTB sheets HERE if you don't want to make your own!)

The only problem with my little plan was that the tiny people would have a difficult time coloring, drawing, writing, etc. if they didn't have a hard surface to put the paper on. I thought about going out and buying them lap desks ~ but I wasn't about to drop $20+ of my limited vacation funds on 2 lap desks for the trip. So I decided to make them myself!





Cute, right?

I started out with 2 large boards I had swiped from the hubbands stash of previously mentioned {free} wood.




After giving them a good go-over with the sander, I hit them each with a couple of coats of brown spray paint that I already had on hand.




I sprayed around the outsides of the back of the board, too, just so no unfinished wood would show.




Then I took my fabric (in this case, a pillow case that I cut in half) and started stapling it onto the board across what would be the top of the lap desk.




Next, I folded the extra fabric under and stapled it down the sides of the board, making sure to leave it loose enough for the stuffing to fit in without tearing the fabric.




I used some pillow stuffing I had on hand and just crammed some in there. Make sure you get it into the corners!




Then I folded the remaining fabric under, again, and stapled across the bottom to close the hole.




Finally, I busted out the good 'ole hot glue gun and glued down some decorative ribbon to cover the exposed staples. Yes, this makes it pretty. But also, since I was planning on using these in the car, I didn't want to worry about the exposed staples getting hot.





Here she is all finished!





I did hot glue a clothes pin to the top ~ thinking that it would work to keep the paper/s held down on the lap desk. Unfortunately, both of the tiny people managed to break their clothes pins off of their desks within the first 24 hours. I may try it again using Gorilla Glue, but the lack of a clip to hold things down didn't seem to bother either of the kids.

So, all in all I ended up with 2 pretty & functional lap desks for right around a buck a piece. Seriously. I had the wood, spray paint, pillow case (fabric) and stuffing already. The only thing I bought was the ribbon - for a whopping $2. And I have a bunch left over!

And, most importantly, the kids {loved} them and got a lot of use out of them. They'll be nice for homework when school starts back up, too!