Under surveillance

While perusing Pinterest the other night (as I do every night), I came across this cute sign with elf legs and feet, striped stockings and all... that said "This house is under elf surveillance." What a great idea! I can make that!

But as I thought more and more about it, I didn't want to make it just like that. I wanted to take it a step further.

I wanted OUR elf on the sign. We have 3 elves, but one will be just fine for this sign.

So here is what I came up with, and I really love him!

Now I'm debating adding our elves' names on there as PIs or something. Just don't know how yet.

Also waiting for the weather to cooperate so I can spray the final protective coat on him!

I love that's he's cute and creepy at the same time! Lol!

Hopscotch

So I came across this idea on Pinterest. (Go figure!) So the kids and I headed out, bought some 12x12 stepping stones at Wal-Mart (cheap!!!!), some paint, already had some varnish... and away we went!

Each of my kids painted two stones, and I painted the rest. B painted 4&5, E painted 7&8, and K painted 10&2. Then I went over all of the numbers with white paint, outlined with black paint, coated with varnish, and there they sat. For literally a week. Why? Because it rained. And rained. And rained. I couldn't get them in the ground because it was complete mud mess in the area I wanted to put them! (Okay, just where the number 10 goes.... but that was a good enough excuse to put off digging in all that dirt and ground.... for a week, anyway.)

Once it stopped raining, I went outside to assess the damage. Guess what? NO HARM DONE!!! The varnish worked! (The stones were slick as snot when wet, but not an issue when dry.)

This, my friend, is HUMIDITY.

So here is the finished product. Amazing, huh!?!?!? Thanks for the idea, Pinterest!

LARGE door hanging

When I say LARGE, I mean large. Well, for a normal 36", 32" or 28" interior door. Most bedroom doors are the latter, right? Anyway, I had a friend ask me if I could paint one, and after seeing an example of what she wanted, I bought the supplies I needed, and finished in just a couple of days! Would have been sooner, but I have to drive 45 minutes to the closest Hobby Lobby..... anyway, here are the pictures! It turned out great, if I do say so myself. ;-) It matches the little girls' bedding and room theme. Yay!

Teacher Appreciation 2

Last week was Teacher Appreciation week. I posted the gift I made for B's teacher here, and said I would get around to E's teacher's gift soon. (I'd do gifts for K's teacher as well, but he is "too old for that kind of thing." Especially being a 6th grade boy, you know.)

So here it is a week later, and I finally figured out and finished the gift for E's teacher. What momma of a little boy wouldn't love this?

As a young girl, when I read the book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, it left me just with a "meh" feeling. I didn't really "get" it. When I read it now, as a momma of a little boy, oh my. OH MY. I get it. Tears.......

So here is the gift, I hope she likes it! :)

Woo Pig Sooie!

For those of you visiting the blog from the other 49 states (or countries! Woo! I'm international, baby!).... there is a saying down here in Arkansas.....that is ingrained in every Arkansan, natural or transfer. They stop you at the state border and teach you how to call the Hogs, you know? ;-) Anyway, this famous saying is how to root for the Razorbacks. "Wooooooooo.....PIG SOOIE! Woooooooo......PIG SOOIE! Wooooooooooo......PIG SOOIE! RAZORBACKS!" That's how it's done. While I've only lived in the Natural State for 5 years, I've quickly picked up on the hype that is the Razorbacks. Those frightening hogs are displayed all over this state! I've started crafting Razorback stuff, and will be venturing into some painting of the spiked hogs soon.

These were all client orders or gifts that I gave. I am not a graduate of the University of Arkansas, or any (Arkansas) state college for that matter..... I'm a proud graduate of (now) Missouri State University (then Southwest Missouri State University) and then Webster University for my master's. Although with my master's, I didn't attend any sporting events. Just did my work, attended class, made my As, and got outta there! I will say however, those Razorback fans are something special... they make everyone feel welcome! WPS!

Inner Beauty

Our church is having a Ladies' Tea and Brunch this coming Saturday as a fundraiser for the youth's trip to Guatemala. They've asked for "crafty" people to make donations for a silent auction, and I knew instantly I'd make something. I knew what I wanted to make by that evening, just didn't know how I'd do it. A couple of days later, I had the vision. I knew what I was going to paint. Here it is!

Now, I had some inner conflict going on while creating this. Do I leave it plain, or do I jazz it up a bit? Add some flowers and sparkle? Even though the verse talks about inner beauty being worth so much to God, I chose to add the bling. Creatively, it pulled the whole painting together. I probably should have left it plain. But I know deep down it was beautiful without the bling as well. ;-)

Door Signs

Signs. All kinds of signs. Big signs, little signs, name signs, mascot signs, cheer signs, you name it! I've been pumping these door decorations out fairly frequently, but often forget to take pictures of my creations. (Must remember to do that!) I have made signs for babies rooms that match their bedding, signs with tons o' glitter, tweenager signs, little girl signs, little boy signs... I think you get the drift. These are all created on canvas, sometimes wrapped, sometimes board. Just whichever the client prefers. :-) I hand paint ALL of them, so no two are ever alike. EVER. Even when I try to re-create one someone saw a picture of.... I do my best, but often the 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. are even better than the first!

These are just a few of the signs. I'm certainly glad I *did* take pictures of some of them, because I'd already forgotten about a few of these beauties!