The Finished Product

Remember this?



That's right. The weird box looking thing that I planned to give my mom for Mothers Day (or is it Mother's Day, whatever). Well with my box of misfit tools in hand my boys and I headed to the garage for a little makeover magic. Or at least a little demolition which is always good for the soul.

With just a little bit of effort and a hammer I was able to remove the sides. I used the saw for the bits that just wouldn't come off - that was some kind of special glue they used there! The sandpaper was for the even smaller bits that refused to budge. And voila! All that's left is the bottom and a few scraps. You'll see what I did with those scraps in a minute.

Preston helped me paint the edges and those mysterious scraps white and the flat part a pale blue. Connor supervised. He's not really good at that though - too many coffee breaks, sheesh!

With the paint I had on hand (no pun intended) the boys left their mark. Just FYI, five year olds are better at this than one year olds. How Connor didn't end up rainbow colored, I'll never know. Then Preston helped me paint the grass.

I used the left over pieces to fashion a little fence and then added a few artistic details. And there you have it. A little sign for my mom's garden from two cute grandkids and one kind of crafty daughter.

Happy Mothers Day, Mom. Hope you enjoyed it.

In Progress...

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Seriously, Mom. It's all yours. Do you like it?

Ok, ok it won't exactly look like this when you get it.

Preston, Connor and I have been working hard to transform it into something else.

Unfortunately, one of them had to go take a nap so hopefully we can get it finished in time.

And for all my other readers - if there are any - I'll be sure and post

a photo of the completed project. After Mother's Day.

Help Wanted - and a Giveaway!

Do you have a way with words?

Do you have a creative flair for writing?

Do you like to talk?

Do you use words in your every day life?


If you said yes to any of the above, then have I got a job for you!

I have a concept for a future project and I'm stumped for what to call it. And to help get your creative juices flowing I'm going to entice you with a little bribe prize.

Hold your horses, I'll get to the prize in just a minute. First, here's what I need from you.

I need a clever name/title for a prayer group for moms/women. Here are just a few guidelines:

• It does need to be original. So while Women of Faith is a great suggestion, I unfortunately can't use it.

• You can mention "moms", "women" or any other name suggesting as such in the name. However, there should be an emphasis on prayer, faith, or Christianity as that's what the group is all about. You can use alliterations, acronyms or any other verbiage you like.

• You must leave your suggestion in the comments section of this post. If you tell me in person, over the phone, on Facebook, or in a text I will forget it. That's just how my brain works.

• One suggestion per comment please, but you can leave multiple comments. (This is to your advantage - you'll see in a minute.)

• Be sure and leave me a way to contact you if you win. Something like an email address, blog address, or your handle if you are on my moms board. If I know you in person you must tell me three things you like about me - just kidding! Just let me know who you are when you leave a comment.
  

• You have until Friday, August 14 at midnight to post your comment.

• I will pick a winning name/title from the suggestions in the comments on Saturday, August 15. If, for some reason, I don't use one of the suggestions, the winner will be picked at random using the random number generator. So make as many suggestions as you like, no matter how lame you think it is!

And now to the good stuff. Here is what the winner receives!

It's not much, but it is hand made by moi. And I'm sure it would look beautiful in your home, or office, or kitchen, or in your friend's home. Hey, I won't tell if you re-gift it!

This little beauty will be either delivered to you via the postal service of when I see you in person, whichever is the fastest.

So lay it on me. Give me your best suggestions!

I Spy Cup

Have you seen these I Spy bags going around Etsy lately? They're these little fabric pocket thingys that have little trinkets hidden in them. Kids can spend hours playing with them as they hunt for treasures. I have several friends who keep them in the car for long car rides or boring doctor visits. They're really cute, but kind of pricey for us.

Recently a friend pointed me to this blog where a mom made her own I Spy jar. Nifty! I had been looking for something like this for Preston for our upcoming road trip. However, I had visions of that heavy glass jar laying in a million pieces on the pavement at the first pit stop. Not good.

Ingenuity struck and I came up with my very own version: The I Spy Cup.

I remembered I had a plastic travel coffee mug that I had purchased at Dollar Tree (yes, for a dollar) for another project that didn't happen. This particular mug allows you to remove the portion that holds the liquid so that you can insert your own customized liner. (Cute idea, just never got around to doing it. Besides I don't drink coffee and the mug is too small for my iced tea addiction.)

Here's what it looked like with the liner removed.

(As you can see I already cut it, I forgot to take a picture before I got started.)

First I needed to remove the "cup" portion so that I could preserve the lid. This way just by simply unscrewing the top I can fill it (and refill it) easily. Using a razor knife I cut around the cup.

Once the cup is removed it was time to find the trinkets to put in it. After a quick search around the house I was able to find several small pieces to fit inside my I Spy Cup. Here are just a few of the things I found: game pieces, a marble, a bouncy ball, an eraser, buttons and some jewelry beads.

I just filled up the remainder of the cup with rice(uncooked of course) and now Preston has his very own I Spy Cup!

I can't wait to use this on our next road trip. I'm thinking just about the time the DVD player has lost it's appeal would be the perfect opportunity to surprise Preston.



I even took a picture of each of the hidden treasures and made Bingo cards. I printed two different ones so that he and Daddy can play together.