My First Mod Podge Project

I tried my first Mod Podge project!

After a few tweaks, it was perfect.

I had 3 old canvases that used to hang in Ben's nursery.  They haven't been up for a while, and I decided to repurpose them and cover them with a few large prints.  The canvases are 12x12.  I ordered 12x16 prints from Sam's Club and used my paper trimmer to make them square.  

I applied the Mod Podge using a foam brush and then attached the photo.  I decided not to put a layer of mod podge on the photos once they were attached.  The photos already had a matte finish.  I've seen tutorials where people did, so it would probably look good.

The only issue was that the photos weren't a true 12 inches in width.  They did not extend all the way to the edge so there was a slight gap.  You could see a small part of the original design in a few places.  It wasn't that noticeable, but I could see it and it bugged me.

I took the advice of my instagram friends who saw the photo above.  I used paint to cover the small sections where the design showed. It blended in perfectly around the edges.

Below you can't tell there was ever anything behind the photos.

It was a quick, simple, affordable project and I'm happy with the end result.  I have three of my favorite photos hanging in our play room. 

Snow, Small Town, Etc.

Snow is such a big deal for Texans.

We had snow earlier this week.  It wasn't as much as we got on Christmas, but it was still enough to get excited about.  Will had a hard time concentrating on walking into school.  He wanted to stop and play along the way.  I don't blame him.  I wanted to play in it, too.

The cold weather is the perfect reason to wear my favorite, cozy infinity scarf.  It was made by my talented SIL.  I sure wish I had a crafty talent.  Maybe I'll take up embroidery.

Life in a small town is great.  

You see things like "onion sets and taters are here" written on the lighted marquee sign outside of  the local hardware store.  Let me give you city folks a lesson in country grammar, taters are potatoes.  Onion sets are tiny onion bulbs you set out in your garden in the winter and early spring.  (I had to ask my father-in-law just to be sure I described it right.)

Another neat thing about small town life is our local newspaper.  A friend was cleaning out her house and found some old newspapers she'd saved from her daughter's years in high school.  One of the papers happened to have our engagement announcement in it.  She cut it out and laminated it for us.  I thought that was so sweet.  I can't believe that this was almost 11 years ago! 

We don't have a dog, but my in-laws do.  Coco is such a good dog.  Will says that we will get a dog when we move to the land, and we'll name our dog Lad. 

Speaking of good dogs...

Will's had this puppy towel for a long time.  Even though he's getting pretty big we still use it.  I'll be sad when he's too big for it.

Ben LOVES pajamas!

  He's all about wearing his pajamas and he would wear them 24-7 if we'd let him.  He's moved on from his superhero-costume-phase to the pajama-24-7-phase.

My little digital natives.  Isn't life different for our kids than for us when we were their age?

I'm so tired on weeknights that the last thing I want to do after work is prepare a big meal for dinner.  Thank goodness my family likes to eat breakfast for dinner aka brupper.  It's so easy.

I took some frozen blueberries and mixed them with a little water, sugar and corn starch and brought it to a boil.  Once it cooled it was yummy on top of the waffles.

This was yummy too! 

My SIL gave me lots of my favorite tea for Christmas.  

Tea in my favorite Anthro mug is always a good idea.

My good friend, Kacie, let me borrow her beloved copy of Wuthering Heights. I started reading it on Christmas break, but sprained my ankle and didn't get around to it.  I've gotten back into it now.  I love a classic.  Today I had a doctor's appointment (routine visit for my allergies) and I had about 20 minutes to spare.  I ended up at Starbucks and had a lovely moment of peace and quiet that I usually don't get during the day.  It was so nice to drink my white chocolate mocha and read.

I joined the Barefoot Book Club ;)

My first recipe to make was the Raspberry Crumble Bars.  Mark and I loved them.  The almonds on top added just the right texture and crunch.  Ina really knows what she's doing...well, that's obvious!

Have a wonderful weekend!

If you want to follow me on instagram I'm @redbirdblue

Christmas Break Memories

Christmas Break 2012 in Pictures

Ben as the Abominable Snow Monster

Roar!!!

Cutie!

Will's one tough little guy.  He started the break with strep throat (again!) but once he took his antibiotics he was as good as new.

I'm usually in such a hurry when I wake up that I don't have time for treats like hot cocoa in the morning.  I indulged since there was no one to get ready for school and no place to go.

We get out the messy toys since it's Christmas break.

Lots of Christmas traditions

Making cookies for Santa

Santa was very happy with the cookies the boys left him.

We had a good visit with my precious grandmother, Mama Winnie, in the nursing home.

She really enjoys the boys.  At this visit they colored for her.

I love this sweet photo.

More fun in the kitchen.

The boys made a Rice Krispies holiday train.

It ended up being more fun than I thought it would be.

We spend every Christmas Eve with Mark's family.  We have breakfast and then exchange gifts. 

I took Blueberry French Toast.  Recipe here.

These are the gifts from my very talented sisters-in-law.  They are both so creative.  One painted me a cool mug and the other crocheted this gorgeous scarf.

If the scarf was clean, then I was wearing it.  Love it!

Christmas morning chaos!

We ate lunch with Mark's brother's family on Christmas day.  Will and Ben love their cousin Maggie.

White Christmas!

This is the view from the front porch at Mark's brother's house.  If we build our future home at the land, then we'll be neighbors.

Mark and his dad watching it snow.

This is our backyard after a couple of hours of snow fall.

The boys didn't stay in it long because the wind was blowing and it was very cold.

Snow fort!

The boys had a good visit to the dentist over the break.

We watched Elf over and over and over and over!

Toys. Everywhere.

While watching the movie Will and Ben like reenact the World Grand Prix race from Cars 2.

Happy to cheer on our Aggies to a big win in the Cotton Bowl!  

Gig 'em, Aggies!  Whoop!

The boys let me pick the restaurant the final night of Christmas break.

La Madeleine 

We even did some shopping at Trader Joe's.  I stocked up on easy to prepare meals once I'm back to work.

I'm sad that Christmas break is over, but I'm happy to start a new year.

 

Linking up to Life Rearranged

Knitters Without Borders

In this season of giving, I wanted to highlight my sister-in-law Andrea. My talented sister-in-law crochets and knits the most beautiful and useful items. Not only is she talented, she's also very generous. She's to be commended for donating her time, materials and handmade items to a cause called Knitters Without Borders started by the Yarn Harlot. Knitters Without Borders raises money for the praiseworthy organization Doctors Without Borders. She's been donating 100% of her profits for a little over a year and has donated $4500 so far. Truly amazing! The most recent statistics concerning fundraising taken from the Yarn Harlot's website, " Since its inception Knitters Without Borders has raised a staggering $1,062,217." Please go to the links above to learn more about Knitters Without Borders.

Since I'm highlighting Andrea, let me tell you a little more about her. She and I are from the same hometown, but we didn't know each other until we became sister-in-laws. (She's about eight years older than me.) Andrea is married to Craig, Mark's older brother. Andrea and Craig have two kiddos who we adore, and she's a first grade teacher in the small town where we all live and work. Andrea learned to crochet when she was twelve years old. She would "eldersit" for her neighbor's husband who had Alzheimer's. The neighbor couldn't sleep at night because of her husband. To get some rest the neighbor would have Andrea come over after school and sit with her husband. This allowed the neighbor just a little time to take a nap and rest. After her neighbor woke up, Andrea would hang out at their house, and it's during that time that the neighbor would teach her how to crochet. Isn't it neat to know how these things began? I never knew how Andrea learned to crochet until I asked her so I could write this. I'm glad I asked. Andrea learned how to knit about three years ago. She's self-taught and learned by watching YouTube videos. How great is that!?!

Currently she makes scarves, baby blankets, afghans, name doilies and dishcloths.

The first three photos were taken by Andrea. She wanted to make sure there was a disclaimer about the quality of the photos, ha! Let me quote her, "The crappy photos were taken on my ancient 4.1 megapixels point-and-shoot camera. Don't judge; it's about the yarn." She's a hoot!

 

The following items were also made by Andrea.

And, photographed by me ;)

 

 This beautiful afghan was a Christmas gift several years ago.

It's just the perfect size to cover up with when watching TV.

Very colorful and cozy!

 Will's baby blanket. I love that she used non-traditional colors for each of my boys' blankets.

  Ben's baby blanket. Made with organic cotton yarn.

 

 The scarves! Simply lovely!

There's a great story behind the fringe trim that you see on the scarves below. Several years ago (probably five years) they sold it in the $1 section at Target. Andrea had purchased several skeins (yes, I just had to look up how to spell that) but she showed some self-control and didn't overbuy. One evening Mark and I were shopping at a Target in the suburbs of Dallas and we saw that the fringe was on clearance for 25 cents. I immediately called Andrea and she told me to buy all that I could. It was quite a sight to see me in the checkout line with as many skeins as I could carry. Pretty hilarious! She then called on of her best friends and had her buy as much as she could at any Target she was at. Andrea bought all that she could get her hands on. She also sent her husband to any Target near his work in Dallas to clear out all that they had. She hoarded who knows how many skeins? I'll have to ask her and update this.

 

Dishcloths. Such a practical item. If they look a little faded, it's because they are. I use them so much and wash them over and over.

One more thought about Knitters Without Borders. Andrea uses it as a teaching tool at school. With every item purchased Andrea includes a card that explains the charity and how 100% of the purchase price is donated to Doctors Without Borders. The students in her class draw pictures and decorate the outside of the cards. They keep a running tally on the board of all of the money that has been raised. It also provides teaching moments when there's a major medical crisis, such as the earthquake in Haiti. She is able to, in an age-appropriate way, explain the situation and what's being done to help those in need. What a great way to help students make connections between their life and current events that are happening around the world. She says that the students take a lot of pride in helping with the charity by designing the cards. I just love any kind of teaching moment that helps students learn about the greater good.

If you are interested in purchasing an item made by Andrea, please contact me at micheleiww@hotmail.com.

If you are interested in making a donation directly to Doctors Without Borders, please click here.