A Nap time Craft and a few little updates!

Inspired by the wreath that I have yet to order from Ballard Design.. I made a mini initial for our mini wreath on our porch.. kind of a year round wreath, nothing too seasonal. Just grapevine wreath but it needed something.. This is what I thought would work and SUPER cheap!I got the wooden letter at Michael's but have seen smaller ones at other stores.. under 2 bucks for this one! Headed to $ Tree for a bag of moss. Already had some tacky glue.. I am sure you can use whatever glue you have, spray glue would probably work.. and if I had more time I would have painted the "G" a green color instead of the white.. would have been easier! But I only had a nap time to do it all!

I broke up the moss a little bit so there was varying sizes of chunks to use.
Only glue a little section at a time.. learned THAT the hard way.
Attach enough moss and press down to cover the glue and the letter.. the further I got around the letter the better I got.. I went back and added more to where the white was still visible.. easy enough!

It took me less than a GOOD nap time to finish it. I am pretty happy with how it turned out and if I don't get the big wreath ordered I might consider a bigger one.. using a few layers of cardboard, but for now this is good. Once it's dry I will cut off some of the extra so you can tell it's a "G".. looks a little like a chubby C right now!

I have added a few more Back to School decorations too! ( Pictures SOON ) I was having a hard time with just plain school supplies and apples.. SO I added a owl or 2.. Owls are suppose to be smart right? I was hoping they would be more noticeable but Ramsey didn't notice it at all.. and he notices everything! I am burning some Yankee Brand Candles in Candied Apple which seems JUST right.. a little appleish and super sweet, but not cinnamon or spiced at all which reminds me too much of Fall. Still using and loving the Bath and Body Works "country Apple" in their wallflowers and anti bacterial soap! Got both for under $4 each when they were on sale.. went a little crazy stocking up!

We never got around to the moon sand project.. When I gave the kids the choice they wanted to dust instead! Love my kids! Who knew they would think dusting with "special" aka swiffer dusters was such a treat?!

OK these Apples are just from the craft store.. they are really light so I thought I could get Ryan to drill through them.. oops, cement in the middle.. but he did it anyway and I love it! You can see my little owl there too!

I am already kind of done with this back to school stuff.. I am REALLY ready for Halloween! Got some cutesy stuff at Real Deals and am antsy to get it out. I am really going to try VERY hard to wait until after the baby is born to put Halloween stuff out.. A entire week will fly by faster than it is now (I hope) once he gets here and I am hoping to be recovered enough to change it out between all things "baby"!

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August Decorations and Back To School.. already?

I have finally put the 4th of July stuff away and just started to put some August/back to school stuff out.. I have been looking for over a year now and have a really hard time finding Back to School type decorations.. For August though I do apples.. I think it's a nice transition to fall. I hope to add some more pictures soon.. Once I get it all out and find some energy!
The only School stuff I have found is a little tin schoolhouse candle holder.. found it at a garage sale for next to nothing but it is one of my favorite things for August. I found these ADORABLE pillows on Etsy.com but with a new baby arriving next month I am really trying to limit my budget.. But they are SUPER cute and are on my etsy favorites. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23925128

I can't really think what else to use for Back to School stuff ( I have been on the look out for mini school supplies that look vintage-y for my wreath on the front door).
Preschool starts the first week of Sept. here so I still have just about a month to prepare and plan.. Ramsey is already excited and talks about school everyday. We haven't changed the kids schedules much so we don't have to change back which is a relief. Ramsey will be going to the early class which will be different for us.. Kind of excited for preschool not to start the same as nap time.. Hoping he will be tuckered out after school and want to take a nap. The baby should be here a couple weeks after school starts, hoping that won't mess up any routines that are working by that point!

There are some super cute cookies online you can buy that are school supply shaped but they are WAY to expensive for my budget $25+ shipping.. OUCH! I am planning on making some though. I did pencils and erasers a couple years ago.. Hoping they turn out better this year! I'm just doing sugar cookie's with royal icing.. Love the crayons.. just right for preschoolers! These are some that are online.. Hope mine will turn out this good lookin!

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Collage for the impossible wall!

Found these frames at Dollar Tree.. I like the shape, HATED the gold accent( inside the black ).. just used some acrylic paint and painted right over the goldish color! Now they will work.. 10 frames for $11, I had to buy some black paint. They also had some SUPER cute white square frames and the dark red ones..

The White ones are empty still.. need to make it to the craft store for some paper and some letters, and some rub-ons. The little black ledge is from Target $5! I had the clock already, just hadn't been using it, IKEA. The little red star I snagged out of our son's room... he has a lot of stars and won't miss this one. The Willow tree plaque was a gift, it's been in a drawer for a few years.. Glad to find a spot for it finally! I still have some more black frames to paint and add, but they don't have pictures yet. The off white thing on the bottom is a iron rusty key in a lock.. the key stick out so you can hang something. Not sure if I will hang anything though.

Have plans for a Moon Sand party Wednesday, hope the recipe I have works! And I guess I am too late for local strawberries.. so I am planning on a different recipe.. Can't find a Philly Cheese steak one that will work exactly.. so I am going to throw some stuff together and see how it does in the crock pot.

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Summer is going by too fast!

Feeling like summer is FLYING by and haven't done anything with the kids, around the house or tried any new recipe's, yikes! I am hoping to try some new "projects" with the kids, aiming for 1 a week and some house projects that I can do alone.. being pregnant kind of limits me! And I am hoping to try 1 new recipe a week too!This week has been crazy.. My husband was on vacation so we had a long weekend away and it feels like I missed Monday completely! So I have this week to plan and hopefully get some supplies!

Found a recipe online for some homemade "Moon Sand" I want to try, and since strawberries are still fresh I want to attempt a strawberry pie.. I am a pro at messing pie's up! I have been working on one small hard to reach wall area at our house since we moved in, it's had candle holder and pictures there.. I just need to do something different. I am hoping to find some goodies at Dollar Tree I can turn into a collage that will fill the space nicely. I will share the recipe's with pictures.. and let y'all know if they are any good!

Off to look for some frames at Dollar Tree that I can make work. Check back soon for a update!

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