Moss covered Monogram tutorial

Well, Christmas is almost upon us, and I have been so insanely busy, it's been hard for me to even just sit and take a breath.  I found out today that I did not, as previously thought, strain a ligament in my foot.  Instead, I have a stress fracture.  Oh, goody ;P  Custom orthotics, here I come!  I'm bringing sexy back ;P  Ha!

Anyhoo, since I just haven't had time to document anything I've done recently, thought I'd pull out something I did a while ago.  SUPER easy.  If you have a glue gun, you can do this.

Supplies:
Bag of moss
Glue gun and glue sticks
Wooden monogram - or any kind of monogram, I guess.  The possibilities are endless ;)

I've seen several tutorials on this via Pinterest, including here, here, and here.

I know the picture shows Mod-podge as the glue of choice - but I quickly learned that it was not going to cut it and I needed the sturdiness and fast-drying nature of hot glue.  Trust me...

 Glue patches of moss to the monogram with hot glue.  Seriously, that's it.  When you're done, if you want, you can spray it with a clear sealer, or if it's not green enough for you, you can spray paint it with a touch of green as well.  AND...that's it.

You can put it on a shelf or hang it in a vintage frame with ribbon.

Once my hutch is done and in place in the dining room, I want to do this:

http://firstladyofthehouse.blogspot.com/2011/03/pottery-barn-inspired-moss-monogram.html

Have fun :D

Christmas in Crazytown

Well, the house still looks like a construction zone in most places, but I really wanted to make it feel like Christmas for the kiddos.  It's not much, but it's enough for us.  We had an awesome time last night putting up and decorating the tree, then rolling out cookies and decorating them :)

Love my $6 frame from Goodwill!

The kiddos did most of the decorating :D

DIY Mercury Glass Nativity

Or at least a semi-mercury glass looking nativity ;P  This would have gone much more smoothly if I had read the directions on the Mirror glass spray paint can that said "Clear glass"...Oh well.  This will work for this year, and if I change my mind next year, I can spray paint it something else!

Here's what I started with:

I got this as a gift from my mother when I first got married.  Cute, but with our bland walls, it kind of disappeared.  I wanted to make it more noticeable.

I didn't take any pictures of the process, because I wasn't quite sure what I was doing ;P  I followed several different tutorials like the ones found here, here, and here.

I didn't clean them at all, because I wasn't 100% sure how to clean porous, unsealed ceramic.  I just sprayed 2 coats of the mirror glass paint, letting it dry in between.  Then I sprayed it with a mix of equal parts vinegar and water and sprayed another coat over that.  I let it sit for a minute or so, then got a paper towel and started dabbing at the wet spots.  That made it look mottled, and if it had been clear glass, might have been all I needed to do.  But, it wasn't - so then I took some black spray paint that I had nearby, sprayed it on a paper towel and started dabbing and wiping in random places.  I didn't want it TOO dark, so I wiped most of it off almost immediately after dabbing.  Spray paint dries quickly, so you can see how I didn't get as much off in places as I would have liked.  Oh well...

But I like how it settled into the crevices and made it look weathered and worn.  All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out.  Looks pretty nice on our new-to-us antique piano :D

The most ridiculous coat closet in the history of ever...

Well, maybe not EVER, but for the size of our house, it's pretty stinkin' ridiculous. Let's see, our house is over 3,000 sq ft., and the coat closet is a 2'x2' space. Yes, it goes up pretty high, but for all intents and purposes, that space is useless except for longterm storage. The everyday stuff just has to be down where the kids can reach it, and my husband really wanted to get it ALL in there so it's not out in the foyer. Yikes. So, here's what I attempted:

It. Is. AWFUL.  There's not even a light in there - OR in the little area outside of it :/  I'm thinking hubby may be doing some electrical work soon ;P

I found this wire basket stand thingy that's numbered 1 to 4, so I figured that could hold all the kids' shoes.  Then, I tried to hang hooks on the walls around it at different heights so the kids could reach it, but let's just say that our walls are made of floam, because the screws - AND anchors - came right out of the wall.  Ugh.  No clue what to do about that now, so I have the kids' coats shoved into their shoe bins.  And the backpacks are just resting on the floor.  Ideally, I'll find a way to get little baskets for mittens/hats/etc., and some sort of organization system for their school papers.  Oy vey.  Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated :D

Toys in embarrassing and awkward situations.

My children really enjoy taking creative license with their toys.  They very rarely play with them the way they were intended to be played with.  A headband and toy baby bib become a pirate eye patch.  Toy coins become pancakes that they" cook" and "eat".  Things like that.  But sometimes, I'll find toys in random places and positions that make me laugh out loud.  Here are a few for your viewing pleasure during this Icepocalypse ;P

Wearing the build-a bear shoes

Hanging her baby up by its toes.  

I think you cut that bear's hair a little TOO short, sweetie...

Elmo the stalker

I walked into the room, saw this, and immediately thought of this song...

Someone got their hair did...with spit...

The Barbie zombie apocalypse came to our house.  That, or they all got food poisoning.  Not sure which.

Nice makeup job, kiddo.

At least he's smiling while he's tortured over the burner.

Eugene had a rough night apparently...there are way too many inappropriate subtitles I could give this one.  I will refrain.

Giddyup cowgirl!  Er, I mean Bobcat.

This is a toy spider they left on the floor - under a pile of dirty laundry that I had to wash, no less.  I can only assume it was to give me a massive heart attack.

Legos make the best tree decorations.

More haircuts...

And some mural painting.

And this last one was not done by my kids, but this is seriously how someone packaged the doll for resale at a JBF sale.  Creepy...

Got any funny pictures of your kids' toys in compromising and awkward situations??  I'd love to see 'em!

House Update - November

Well, things have been insane here in our house.  First, I strained a ligament in the center of my left foot and have been in a LOVELY boot for about 3 weeks.  We'll see what the doctor says when I go this week, but I'm thinking I'll have to be in it a bit longer.  Needless to say, there has been no getting on ladders to paint...and It. Is. Driving. Me. CRAZY!  I just want to get it all done already!!

So, between that, the holidays, and Brian's crazy work schedule, not a whole lot has been finished.  As of right now, here's a recap of all that has been done and is left to do:

Downstairs -

Study still completely a wreck and unfinished :/
Dining room is waiting for floor to be finished and furniture to be painted.
Entryway is in need of better organization for kids' stuff and coats, etc.
Kitchen and breakfast area ceiling has been painted, but the walls are still poopy brown.  Cabinets need a good coat of stain and handles as well.
Living room has been PAINTED!  WOOHOO!  My husband is such a stud, getting up on that scaffolding and painting the walls AND ceiling :D
Staircase - we're still figuring out how to paint it...
Powder room - needs new trim and beadboard.
Master - still a complete disaster area full of boxes.  The bathroom has been painted and cabinets have been stained, but have not been reassembled.  Mirrors and lights still need to go back up.

Upstairs -

All the baseboards have been put in except for the playroom and craft room.
I painted one door black, and then my sister came for the holiday, so we put the doors back up unfinished ;P  That will have to be worked on at a later time.
Kids bathroom is almost done!!  I just have to finish the shower curtain and hooks for the towels, get a toilet paper holder and it will be completed :D
Craft room is a mess, but I use it anyway ;P
Playroom bathroom has painted ceilings, but we've been waiting for the kids' bathroom to be done so we could transition everything over there and put this one out of commission for a while.

I think that's everything.  I'll try to post some pictures soon.  I've got to find them in the abyss of my iPhoto dump.

I also got the chance to take some pictures of some SUPER cute babies today in my holiday line of hair bows.  I'll edit those and post as soon as those are done :D

Thanks for stopping by!