Toy Story Boys Room....

My littlest guy is a total fan of Toy Story. He loves Thomas almost as much. Buzz is his favorite! As I am preparing and collecting ideas for my other son's room I thought I should do something for the 2 little ones room as well. When I saw this banner I thought it would be perfect. Little man's room has a odd shaped ceiling due to being vaulted and on the edge of the house. Anyway, it has a perfect spot for this kind of banner. Adding it to my wish list...

from Oopsie Daisy

While I'm at it I may have to copy her plans for a Toy Story Birthday Bash!

Activity Day idea...

I had to share this post mostly so that I would be able to reference back to it. I love bookmarks and this would be so simple for my girls to do.

Scripture Power

the scriptures are always 'sweet' too....

from LDS Activity Days

Love 'em!

Trash to Treasure...

Remember this table..

 Yuck! But free! Yeah!

 I started with a fresh coat of paint.

 I used this spray paint for a good coat and to help seal all the stains.

 Then I picked 3 or 4 other colors and started dabbing it on. Google and You-Tube brings up all sorts of hits on how to do a granite finish. I just used a paper towel and dabbed until I was happy.

 A little rust color, cream, tan...

 And a touch of black for that pop.

 Painting the checkerboard was a little more of a challenge. How to get those beautiful and even squares? Start by painting a large black square. Then tape over it all with painters tape. Then, measure out the squares.

This is one of my favorite tools, a simple razor cutter. I cut the 2 inch squares. Mark the red ones and start pealing every other one off for the checker pattern. I didn't like the red so I went with black and cream. Then topped it with resin for a beautiful shine.

I LOVE it!

Total cost was about $30. The resin was $20 itself.

Once more, the Before

and After

What do you think? It's gonna make a great game table for the family room!
Linking up:

Beating Spring Fever....

I have fallen in love with Tai Pan trading. Each time my sister comes we make a trip there. More than anything we get great ideas for making our homes express us. I was on the look out for decor for dear son #2's room that will soon be finished. I got a couple of things but more on that later. Dear sis on the other hand came away with some amazing finds.

She got this little ceramic watering can. Then we stopped by Michaels for the $0.99 flowers. They were long stemmed so she just cut them down a bit. I L.O.V.E. how she arranged them in the can.

They just scream SPRING!

She also found this lovely mirror on clearance for 50% off. We added the flowers. She plans on hanging it above a desk for her little girl to use as a desk/vanity.

Her little boy is a HUGE momma's boy. I could just keep him with my boys though. He is adorable!

So after all's said and done I come away with great laughs and fun with my sister and a few fun crafts...

So my St Patricks Decor is up. Do you think I could convince her to leave her flowers and blocks? They just go so well all together. Don't you think?!

More St. Patty's decor...

This project was simple. The lucky portion is actually a sticker from Michaels.

I just painted the block and mod podged it. I wish I would have sanded the edges too. When it was all dry I simply applied the sticker. Simple. I loved the texture and depth of the sticker.

Here's my sis'!

So $3.99 -50% cpn= one cheap holiday decor! Makes it even better!

A boys room decor ideas....

We are nearly finished with the sheet rocking of Keegan's room. Then comes the taping and texturing. Then the fun part- painting! His room will be blue and green. It will be more geometric is design.

When I saw these clips I thought they would be a great addition. I would make them slightly smaller and use them to hang artwork.

From Shanty2Chic

Boys room decor ideas...

I am still on the look out for room decor ideas. I like the old world style maps. I like to travel. We try to go somewhere (big or small) each summer with the boys. The great thing with boys is we can just camp along the way. Lodging is the biggest part of your trip, well that and food, but with our camper in tow we can just stop at the grocery store and safe even more. I recently did a spotlight poster for my little kindergarten guy. We added his favorites and all the places he has been. Interestingly he has been to 11 states in his 5 years. Imagine where my mind went to when I saw this post on Our Journey.

I love the idea of posting all the fun places you have been privaledged to travel. I have been needing some sort of wall art for a large open wall in Keegan's room. This is perfect! I even have a poster that I think will work. I just need to build a frame for it from our trim pieces. His walls will be about this color...

maybe not as bright but you get the idea...

the bottom will have bead boarding, like this...

It will be white. The blue accents will come in the curtains, bedspread and wall art.

He already has a navy blue bedspread. Add some jumbo hooks for wall art on each side of his window and a map of the USA with blue pins where he has traveled.....

hmmm, his room is coming together. Can you see it? I can. Don't worry, I will post pictures of the finished project.

Craft room storage ideas....

I came across this post on a craft/laundry room redo. She posts some great ideas. Some of these ideas are helpful in my temporary storage needs too. So of course I had to post about it for my own needs. This is the only way I know to remember great ideas I want to follow.

The Exchange: Laundry redo

2x4 Irish blocks

With all the building we have an overabundance of 2x4 blocks. We don't have a wood burning stove and I just couldn't fill the garbage can with all those blocks. So now, I have 10 less to wonder about.

My letters are hard to see in the pictures but they stand out more than that....

These are my sisters. I like hers better.

It's always funny how small changes can make a big difference.
Linking up...

St Patricks Crafting......

My sister came down this weekend. That always means shopping and crafting. Keep watching. I will be posting all the great craftiness we did. 

Like these 2x4 shamrocks.  Undermyumbrella shared this on her blog.

I was a little puzzled by her measurements and couldn't get them to work out for me. Maybe I was missing something but the shamrock looked too wide. Anyway I just made some adjustments and voila. I wonder if her shamrock is 2x2 instead of 2x4. Hmm, maybe I will try a 2x2 one too.

Lots of fun!

Digital Scrapbooking

I am hoping to get going on more of my scrapbooking pages this year. I will be resuming my Sunday Scrapping posts and will try to highlight the sites I use and the kits I collect. I am also hoping to take a couple of online courses to learn a few new tricks. I use Photoshop Elements. It is a great program with lots of versatility but it has a bit of a learning curve. Not as bad as photoshop but still... I would love to be able to make my own templates. Perhaps once I learn this I will share some free downloads.

With my sister visiting I didn't get any scrapbooking done but hope to later this week. For now I thought I would share some of the sites I get freebies from.

Digital Daisies- Hand Picked Freebies

The Blog Train

Elegant Wordart 2

Suzze Q's Stuff

Check them out. There are others that I have in my google reader but this is a good start. Share your layouts. Let me know what you are working on and any tips you have.

Cooking from my Pantry menu....

I have been tracking my budget a lot closer and really trying to stay in budget. We have gotten a bit lax after struggling wtih job loss last year. Time to reign things in a bit. We are working hard to get out of debt. With all of that in mind I was a bit down to see I have gone over (again). So this next week it is all about cooking with supplies already on hand. I have several tried and true recipes for cooking from my pantry. We enjoy them I just had to remember them. Once I started writing ideas down I couldn't stop. I will only need a couple of items that need restocking anyway ie. potatoes. So if you need pantry menu ideas this is the week for you. I have learned over the years what we like and shop accordingly. Nothing out of the ordinary for this country gal....

Chicken Noodle (found out this is DH's favorite meal from me!)

Sloppy Joe Pot Pie from RMK

Smothered Patties- gotta look for this recipe at home....

Cheesy Potatoe Soup

Taco Ring

Chicken and Rice Burritos

Breakfast for dinner- the boys love this! 

Of course lots of soups and chilis are also great pantry recipes. I may even have a baking day and make some bread and rolls and muffins. My boys would love me!

Celebrate the Boy(s)....

I love blogging. I love all the great craft ideas and clothes and furniture redos and home decor....

BUT!
I am a mom of all boys!

I need boy ideas. Boy clothes tips. Boys furniture redos. Boys room decor ideas. Boys crafts. All things boy. Have you noticed the abundance of pink and lace and ribbon? Darling but not BOYISH! I doubt my 11 yr old would love the latest pink room decor like mom would. So when I saw Celebrate the Boy fun going on at Made by Ray I was all over it!

All month long these 2 ladies will be featuring boy inspirations. From clothes to who knows what else. So head on over and check out the fun. I'll see you there!

Made by Rae

Made by Dana

Thrifty finds for future projects....

I just realized it has been a while since I posted one of my craft projects. Could be because I have been busy with other projects ie. class parties and working. BUT! Never fear! I picked up some fabulous finds this past week and will be posting those redo's over the next week as I finish them. My favorite (I think?) is a free table from my work. They replaced it and were just going to toss it. I asked to have it. The bones were good it had just lost its top finish. Trash recycled!

My dear sister has been on the lookout for a nice bedside table for a while. Since her room is miniture itty bitty a bit small she couldn't get something the usual size. When I saw this at the local thrift store I sent her a picture and ended walking out with it. $10 is all! Once again, good bones, still sturdy, just needing a bit of TLC.

 Even though I have a house of boys I couldn't resist this lovely chair. It has beautiful lines and was begging to be redone for a little girl. I thought of my dear friends daughter but she already has a chair in her room. Oh, but don't worry dear hubby, I still have several nieces who would love this little chair. How would that be for an $8 birthday present?

 Last but not least my globe. Now, you may not find a globe something to write home about but I have been eyeing the old world style globes for a while but they aren't cheap and I always end up walking away from them. Imagine how quickly I snatched this baby up when I walked in and saw it! Only $3! It's a little worn and wobbled but my darling hubby loves me and fixed it up nicely.

The worn look will go right along with the decor I have planned for our "Man Cave". Yep, that's what I am calling our soon to be finished (hopefully) family room in the basement. I will have my crafting room and I plan on this room being a place the boys can retreat to with their friends so "Man Cave" it is. lol

It's funny how I look at things completely differently now. Rather than just seeing something broken I look past the finish and see potential. Gotta love it! My total for this weeks upcycle= $21 for 3 peices of furniture and one decor item!

Dew This: Blog Spotlight

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If you need some ideas for St. Paddy's day decor check out Dew This!

She is a new blog I follow and I am impressed. I love the downloads she offers. Plus she has lots of other stuff too: recipes, mom tips, subway art, craft projects. She already has some done for March. I wasn't sure I was going to decorate for March, thought about going right to Easter since that's what I have but she has convinced me to do up some tiles and blocks for St Paddy's day. Something like this....

And a little of this....

How about some gift tags for those spring baby showers...

Of course you can get the girl tag too but I am, after all, Mom24Boys! ;-)

She is planning on doing some giveaways too. Of course this will be when she gets a few more followers, she's still a baby herself. Shouldn't be too long though cuz she has some great stuff! Check it out, follow and leave some love after you download some great stuff (cuz I know you will be)!