Thanksgiving Art

This year I didn't get out many of my fall decorations. However, I have been wanting to get some Thanksgiving decorations made and out. Thanks to Kim at Newly Woodwards and her annual Dare to DIY link up party I met the deadline by over a week and a half! (I know!!)
I started with a blank canvass. (Don't most projects start this way?) After several coats of brown acrylic paint, this is what I had.

I tried to find some sort of paper embellishment at the store, but couldn't find what I was looking for. So, I took one of my leaf stamps and with my Versa Mark ink, I stamped the image onto some orange paper. I cut it out and double stick taped it onto the canvass.

I then applied some fabric letters that I had purchased at JoAnn to read Give Thanks.
Simple as that. I had a thanksgiving decoration.
While I was at it, I printed up these pennants to spell THANKFUL from Shabby 2 Chic. I attached them to the hutch and had two Thanksgiving decorations up!

I was on a roll and decided to change the chalkboard while I was at it.

And finally, here is the shelf when you come up the stairs at our house. I had the table runner, pumpkin, and garland up, but I added a canvass print I got from Canvass People from our recent photo shoot.

Ah, now it feels like November and now we can celebrate Thanksgiving.
Thanks for hosting and encouraging, Kim.

http://www.newlywoodwards.com/

Foodie Friday: Thanksgiving Leftovers

I am looking forward to next week Thursday. Getting together with family over a full Thanksgiving spread. This year I find that I am also looking forward to the day after Thanksgiving. I have been seeing all of these yummy ideas for Thanksgiving day leftovers.
Starting with these Cranberry Turkey Sandwich from number-2-pencil:

Followed by this Turkey Cranberry Salad from the craving chronicles:

And finishing up with Thanksgiving Leftover Nachos by CHOW:

So bring on Thanksgiving and bring out the leftovers!

The Hazards of Blogging with Children

Sometimes I am asked how I have time to blog with my children around. The truth is that I just work it into our regular everyday activities. Sometimes I do have posts set to publish ahead of time, but not always. Take this morning for example. I intended to blog about a great thrift store score. I just didn't have the pictures to go along with it. So, I set up a little photo area in the kitchen and got ready to take some pictures.    I immediately had two little helpers by my side. So this is what my pictures ended up looking like.

See the photo bomber in the bottom of the shot. I decided to humor her and add her in.

Oop, there is photo bomber number two. Time to get her in an the action.

Such a photogenic child, too. Do you like her outfit? Here is a better shot.

She woke up this morning and wanted to wear her turkey shirt from last year. Okay, next week is Thanksgiving. However, the jeans that I had chosen for her were not what she had in mind. Why not some tights? Okay, I can handle that. It is a pretty nice day here. And then, to top it all off? Her Christmas skirt from last year as well. (I am not sure whether this bodes well for her future fashion sense or not. Will she be so creative with her ensembles that she will be thought of as cutting edge or rather eccentric? Time will tell!)
There you have it, while it is not the post I had originally intended for the day, it is true to my life. And that is really what this blog is about.

Sunny Side Up Headband

I like to create fun homemade items for the girls when we have pictures taken. For our recent fall shoot, I quickly whipped up these clips using eyelet lace and a covered button. I put Cream's on a headband and Peachy's is just a clip.

Since I made them so quickly I don't have any pictures of the process, but I will try to walk you through the steps.
1. Cut a circle out of felt. (Mine were about 1 inch in diameter.)
2. Using a glue gun, I coiled the eyelet around the circle. I went around once on the outside and one more time just a little bit further in.
3. I made a covered button and glued it to the center.
4.  Attach to a headband or clip and you are done.

Working Woman

I dipped my toe into the working world over the last week. I had the pleasure of returning to the preschool that used to teach at as a substitute. The girls were left in the hands of good friends, and their dad one day. Peachy was sad that she couldn't come to preschool with me. She made this note for me. This side says "real preschool." The other side said my name. I think she intended that I wear it around my neck while I taught.
In the end it was fun to be back in the classroom. I enjoyed being with the preschool set again. It was pretty relaxed since I was the teacher's aide and the main teacher took over lots of the roles. I didn't necessarily enjoy getting the girls up and out the door at a certain time. Also the fact that it coincided with daylight savings time ending made for a little rougher time. (For some reason this year the time change has really kicked me in the pants.)
For now I will not be quitting my day job, but it was fun having a little time back in my old role again.