DIY Button Art

So I was on Facebook the other and saw a post from one of my favorite blogs, Repeat Crafter Me.  Sarah is so talented with her crocheting, crafting and crockpoting.  Anywhoo, the post on FB was of an adorable owl she made out of buttons she did for her soon to be baby girls room.  While scrolling through her post, she mentions she got the idea from the Busted Button.  When I clicked to that site I saw some adorable looking elephants and knew I had to make these for my little girls room stat!! 

I went to JoAnns where buttons just happened to be 50% off, major score since you need alot.  The 8 x 8 canvas I bought was also 50% off so this project was not only easy, but it was cheap - the best combination in my opinion :)

Here's what I used:

• Buttons  
• 8 x 8 canvas
• Buttons
• Acrylic paint

I hand drew the elephant and I was really amazed that it actually resembled an elephant and not just a big lump, (I am a terrible drawer)

I knew I wanted my colors to be purple and yellow since those are the colors of baby girls room.  I used the acrylic paint to paint inside the elephants and once dried just started gluing buttons to it like crazy, I covered as much as I could with the first layer then just put buttons wherever I could still the paint.  I love the overlap look of it and I think these little guys (or gals) are just the cutest!! 

Now, I just need to hang them, which could easily take me a month to do. 

If I could turn back time.......

Stopping over at From Mrs to Mama today to link up for her 52 weeks of blogging with a purpose – I’ve been slacking on these link ups lately so I thought it was time to participate again J

Today’s topic is If I could turn back time….  Now I can say whole heartedly that I would not ever want to turn back time because if anything was changed in my past, my present might not be what it is today, and I don’t want to change anything that I have now…well except for maybe winning the lottery.

Anywhoo, I thought about this topic and something really stuck out in my head – If I could turn back time and change something it would be how I treated my Mom during my HS years.  You see, I was not a very nice teenager.  I don’t know why/how it happened, but it did.  I turned into a mean, verbally abusive nasty little girl to the one person who probably loved me the most – my Mom.  Since my Dad died when I was younger, my Mom struggled to support me and my sister.  She did anything and everything to make sure we had a roof over our head, food on the table, new clothes, pretty much everything we needed and wanted.  And yet, I chose to give her hell through my first couple years of HS.  I don’t really need to rehash any specific details but let’s just say the way I treated my Mom is one of my biggest regrets.  I have a best friend who was the same way with her Mom and we still talk about it to this day how awful we were and we feel so incredibly bad.  We still apologize to our Moms to this day quite often.  

Of course now that I am older, wiser (ha ha) and a Mother myself, I can see everything she did very clearly and I understand it now, which also makes it hurt that much more, I always think, “how could I have treated my Mom like that?? If my kids do that to me I will be devastated…”  And I hear payback is a b* so all I can do is hope and pray I don’t get is bad or worse than I gave my Mom, although I definitely would deserve it.   

I can chalk up my “bad” behavior to many things, but at the end of the day it doesn’t change anything and I am ultimately in control of myself and my actions.  Yes, I was young, and I try to remind myself of that when I start feeling super guilty, but at least now, I can say that my Mom is truly my best friend.  She is the first person I call with any news, she is my shopping buddy, she is my children’s Grandma Deb, and she is a beautiful, caring person who I can’t imagine my life without.  I love you Mama!

DIY Wall Hook Rack

So I have been wanting to add a wall hook rack under our command center to hold mainly the hats that seem to be accumulating for my kids, as well as backpacks, purses, etc.  I wanted to add hooks to a piece of wood for a more country feel since that is the style I think we're going to go when we remodel.  

This project was super easy and although I don't love how it turned out, it has already helped us declutter the hats around here! Since it's Summer, I figured it would be nice to keep the hats out and be easy to grab on the way to play outside.  

I really wanted the wood to look more rustic.  We are going to have to take everything off this wall anyway when we paint so maybe at that time I'll pick a different piece of wood or distress this one.

As you can see, our command center definitely gets a lot of use!

Brayden's 3rd Birthday Part 2

The day after Brayden's actual birthday, we celebrated again with a kiddie birthday party.  We threw the party at one of our park districts' pools.  This was by far the easiest birthday party we've thrown to date, I literally only brought a birthday banner to the place.  Everything else was provided to us - drinks, food, cake, ice cream and 2 hours of unlimited play in the pool/water park. 

When we showed up, my little man was seriously so excited, he sat down like he owned the place and was just looking around waiting for his little friends to come. 

I think everyone had a really good time - it was nice to just relax outside in a pool and not really stress over a party for once :)  Don't get me wrong, I love throwing big stressful parties too, but this was so nice.

First banner made with my Silhouette, love that thing!



An actual photo where everyone is looking AND smiling! :)

Checking out a bug :)

This picture cracks me up, he's like "yep, that cakes for ME!"

So good at blowing out candles this year!

OMG just look at her!!

This concludes the 3rd birthday celebration, although ever since going to the zoo on his actual birthday, (which was almost 2 weeks ago) he has been asking us everyday "Can we go to the zoo on Friday for my birthday?"  Seems this little boy thinks every Friday is his birthday!

Brayden's 3rd Birthday Part 1

This year my little guy was pretty lucky, he got to celebrate his birthday over 2 days! This post is from his actual birthday, Friday July 12th 2103.

I woke up early to make him specail birthday cake pancakes that I found on none the less...Pinterest.  Oooo they were so good and definitely only something to have on special occasions! We lit some candles and sang to him, he was so bashful, it was so cute!

After our yummy breakfast, little man opened presents! He was definitely more into it this year than any other year and he even had a super cute little helper this time :)

Make that 2 super cute helpers! :)

 

After presents, we hung around for a little then it was off to Brayden's favorite place lately...the zoo!

After we got home from the zoo, our families came over for a little party. 

Here is my Grandma reading a book to Brayden, so sweet!

I love this picture, I picture him thinking "Hurry up and give me the cake and no one gets hurt :) "

It was such a fun day filled with so much happiness! This little boy brings so much joy to people's lives, especially mine and his Daddy's.  Life is just so much better wtih our little guy!

Weekend Re-cap

It was another super fun weekend around here for us...this one was actually pretty darn relaxing, which is rare in the summer!

These 2 just melt my heart, literally! Ella just loves when her brother is around!

+

Big brother asked to feed little sister, he did such a good job!

Those little legs, I can't stand it! I just want to eat them..oh wait, I do

Family swimming time over at my in-laws.  They weren't home so we had the pool to ourselves.  This was Brayden's first time swimming with his puddle jumper, I love that thing! He did so good :)

Daddy and Litlte Miss just relaxing...

Saturday the hubs and I had date night - we started by going to a local winery and sharing a bottle of wine..not going to lie, I was pretty tipsy on our way to dinner :)  We ate a steakhouse we've never been and it was so delicous!  It's pretty funny how now that we are parents, our date "night" starts at 4pm and we were home by 8, sleeping by 9:30pm...

Sunday morning started off building legos - this little boy makes me so happy

Sunday afternoon we went back to my in laws and did more swimming!! I can't remember the last time we swam so much over the weekend, it was so nice

Me and my girl watching some tv being goofy :)