bird magazine art

I realized a few days ago that I had not handmade anything for my niece's upcoming 14th birthday! I always try to make at least one thing for her, although it is getting harder and harder to find things a teenager wants that her auntie can make her! I think it will be money and gift cards in addition to a handmade gift from here on out!

I remembered that I saw some interesting bird art on canvas the other day over at Crap I've Made. I thought perhaps a teen may appreciate some collage art with a twist (fingers crossed) so I tried it out. '

I like how the paint crackled since there are so many layers of paint. I did not go through the extra steps that Char did. Once the paint was dry, I went over it with another layer of Modge Podge (love that stuff!). Thanks for the great idea Char!

I hope our niece likes it!

flash card decor

 I found these amazing animal flash cards in the dollar bins at Target a while ago, I fell in love with the gorgeous photography of the animals. Each card describes an action the animals does (i.e. Dogs beg, hippopotamuses chomp, fish swish, etc). They also had animals sounds flash cards, but since my son already knows the sounds, I felt this was more age-appropriate.

 All I did was use teeny tiny clothes pins and pinned them to an orange pom pom strand (from the 70's that my mom gave me a while ago. SCORE!). I teetered a little on the stool and rocking chair while I hung the banner and had a scary moment. I probably should not be teetering on anything with a belly as big as mine,  but that was the hardest part of this "project" (well, I can't really call it a project).

I took down my son's flying pig painting with glittered wings that I made 15 years ago to put this banner. It was probably about time!

This is the view my son has from his bed. I hope he will spend many hours looking at these beautiful animals.

Try to ignore the Ranger flag-that is the husband's contribution to the room decor. At least it is graphic and kind of modern!

tiny acorn garland

I found these tiny little acorns at work the other day and gathered some up. I had no idea what to do with them, but I knew something would come to me....and it did!

A tiny acorn garland!

It hardly needs mentioning how to make it, but just in case, here goes.  Take tiny acorns that you or your kids have collected (or big ones for that matter) and hot glue them on to a jute string or rope. There you have it! Easy, free (if you have the jute) and cute!

Happy Fall! Now the temps just need to drop like 40-50 degrees and I'll be a happy camper! It's still in the 90's here! Ick!

halloween tree and bats!

I found this cute little Halloween tree in the Target Dollar bins for $2.50. I love it because when Halloween's over, it stores flat. The only problem was: What do I do with it?

 Ornaments were the answer, but since there is not an abundance of tiny Halloween ornaments, we made some!

My son and I made the ornaments (bats, witch's hats, pumpkins, leaves, a cat and my son made a little flat piece on to which I drew a pumpkin) from Filo dough. It was only 99 cents a package at Michael's the other day!

Last night I spent some time in front of the TV (Six Feet Under rerun) cutting out lots of black bats and hung them up this morning with that sticky stuff you use in dorm rooms (what's that called?).

They make our dull dining room a little more festive.

We're Halloweening over here already!

painted doormat

I actually had energy enough to do 2 projects! I made 2 painted door mats this weekend. One for everyday use and one for Halloween. I got the idea from Lowe's magazine and added freezer paper stenciling and painters tape to make the design. And mine is way cheaper. I have enough to make 5 or more rugs for under $18 because I had everything but the rug on hand. I wanted to make an Initial rug like this.

Halloween version:

Here's how I did it.

I plan to make one for Christmas sometime soon too! The possibilities are endless!