DIY: Silhouettes Made Easy

For the longest time I have been wanting to make silhouettes of my children.  My sister came last week and we got our craft on.  One of my friends says that silhouettes are a great way to freeze time.  I love that thought.  These silhouettes found the perfect place in our home and they are my newest treasure.

I searched MANY ways to make a silhouette.  Some suggestions included: publisher, ipiccy, 

pic monkey....  I downloaded ipiccy for free and honestly just got frustrated with my inability to really follow the curvature of their faces.

So here is how we did it.  It was not rocket science at all.  And, I am sure that somewhere in my search engine I could have found 100 people who would have suggested it this way. (I probably really should be on Pinterest).

Sorry the pictures are a little grainy....that's what happens when you snap with your phone!

Here is what you will need:
Camera
White Background 

(we used a white blanket draped over an air mattress standing on it's side)
Sunlight
Exacto Knife
Computer
Printer
Black card stock (we used black construction paper)

Mounting paper (I used brown and my sister used blue)
Double sided tape or regular ole scotch tape

Position your child in profile position with a white background behind them.

We tried a dark background but found that the white background worked best for detail.

Open the blinds of your windows to let the natural sunlight kiss their face.

Snap some photos

You might want to have someone stand right in front of them 

to keep their attention from looking over at you 

Load your photos on your computer (We used iPhoto)

Pick your favorite photo

Print at 8x10 (we printed in color for precision and detail)

Take your exacto-knife and cut out your child's profile.  You may want to practice cutting something else out if you are not familiar with your exacto-knife.

Tape your child's printed profile to a sheet of black card stock or black construction paper

Use your exact-knife to trace and cut around your child's profile.

Detach printed photo from black card stock 

(this will leave you with a black card stock profile as well as a color printed profile). 

Place a few pieces of tape or double sided tape to the back of the black card stock profile and adhere it to the center of your mounting paper (our mounting paper was 8.5"x11")

Then frame as you like!

Such a FUN, EASY, and QUICK project and a promise full JOY for many years to come!  These would be great mother's day, grandparent's day, father's day gifts.  Or just a special treat for you.  How fun would it be to surprise your friend with silhouettes of her children!?

I don't know about you but on the eve of America's birthday, I sure am thankful for the men and women who have given their lives for my freedom and for the opportunity to raise these sweet little children in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

**I hope you have a WONDERFUL 4th of JULY**

The Weekend Project {Kid's Clothing/Shoe Organization}

The last 2 weekends have left me cleaning out, organizing, and purchasing new clothes and shoes for my daughter.  Last weekend we took advantage of a great sale at Osh Kosh and got her some fun things.  I love Osh Kosh clothes.  They are durable and cute {for both boys and girls}.

We got her a few new kicks during Nordstrom's Shoe Sale.  I love Nordstrom,

too.  They always have free shipping on online purchases as well as orders placed in the store.  Nordstrom always impresses me with their organized and well laid out stores, their women's bathrooms {complete with a nursing mom area}, and the impeccable customer service.

Here are all of her shoes from the summer.  I was sad to put away the white sandals {we are after labor day now}.  I also cleared out a few sneakers that no longer fit since she surprised me with a whole size larger foot from the beginning of summer!  Most of her summer shoes came from some jackpots I scored at local garage sales.  Hoping to find some great deals this fall as well.

I covered the boxes her new shoes came in with fun paper and organized her bathroom drawer a little bit better.  The paper came from the dollar section at Target.   I love to reuse boxes.  See what I did for Valentine's Day last year with cereal boxes.

And finally, I cleaned out our hall closet.  I packed away all of the swimming pool gear.  And reorganized the door closet organizer.  It looks so clean and organized....I give it a week before it is back in shambles.  {One can dream}

Next up for clothes and shoes....#2.      

The Weekend Project.....Ticks Gone WILD!

My weekend project was supposed to include some sewing for my craft room but that did not happen.  We have some major snotty noses, fevers, and coughs in this house.  And, to top it all off......TICKS!!!!

Yes, you read that right!  T.I.C.K.S.

Really it is such a long story it is not even worth rehashing the entire thing.

Here is what it involved in a nutshell: both of our dogs outside in the rain for a potty break, one dog ran off into the brush behind our home, finally got both dogs back, vizsla covered in seed ticks, me attempting to pull 100's of seed ticks off of the vizsla, then me bathing the vizsla on the back deck with a water hose stretched up to the deck, water hose getting kinked off, going back down the stairs to unkink the water hose and the vizsla escaping, getting the vizsla back and back onto the deck only to have her escape again, chasing the vizsla through the neighbor hood (her soaking wet and still covered in ticks), me getting into the car to go find the vizsla, finding the soakin' wet/tick infested vizsla at a neighbors down the street, putting the vizsla in the car and driving her home, getting her back on the deck for further tick removal and bath and she tried to slip through the slats of the deck gate, carrying the wet vizsla through the house to my bath tub to bathe her and the weimaraner, got the dogs clean, fed the baby, came back down to find my bed FULL of seed ticks (this is not a joke), googling how to rid your house of ticks, shop-vacing ticks off of my bed, stripping down all bedding, pulling out furniture, shaking Borax onto the mattress and the carpet, shop-vacing the carpet and the mattress and the dog bed, calling the husband at church (work) to have him stop by PetsMart on the way home to get powders and sprays and shampoo for fumigation, making up a Borax concoction to clean my hardwoods, husband bathing dogs in tick shampoo, cleaning my bathtub out for the second time in one day....

Worked from 11:30am-5:30pm NON-STOP!  Took a break from 5:30-8:00pm to eat out, get kids in bed, and feed the baby.  Worked again from 8:00pm-10:00pm to clean remainder of bathroom up and put up everything clean.

Thank good my MIL was still here to help contain my kids during this fiasco and help shop-vac my bedroom and hopefully rid my home of the TICK infestation!!!!  I owe her a TON.

Honestly, I never in a million years thought that many ticks could be in one place at one time.  It was unreal.  The events just kept getting worse with every moment.  I stomped my feet.  I slammed some doors. I raised my voice. I smacked my dog.  I WAS HUMAN!

For those of you who have had lice (which we have never had and hopefully I am not jinxing myself) I can only imagine that this process is equal counter parts!  Worst thing I HAVE EVER been through with my dogs and my house.  It topped: husband out of town, 18 month old and a new baby, two dogs with constant diarrhea, and WHITE CARPET!!!! (Did I mention....we WILL NEVER again have white carpet).

Anybody else itching?!?!?!?!

The Weekend Project

 

This weekend a new life was celebrated in my home.

We pulled out the china and silverware and honored a sweet friend

and her baby girl to be.

I spent the afternoon with hands in a sink full of bubbles thinking.....

Often china and silver seem like a frivolous thing to own.  

You may use it a few times a year, if that. 

{Especially when your home is full of little people}.

But china and silver have a past story, a present story, and a future story.

I have a buffet stacked full of china.

China that belonged to my dad's mom.

China that belonged to my dad's grandmother.  

{He can't remember it never being in her home}.

China that was given to me as wedding gifts.

With each piece that I washed, my mind was filled with precious memories of my Granny Jewell.  

I remembered her beautiful smile.  I could hear her giggly laughter.

 I couldn't help but miss her greatly and remember my best days with her.

With each piece that I washed, my mind was filled with memories of my wedding showers.

I remembered vivid details of the love that was bestowed upon me as a bride 

waiting in anticipation to marry her groom.

I remembered the person who gave me each piece.

And as I washed, I prayed for them and for their families.

With each piece that I washed old and new, 

I gave thanks for my mom who taught me that some celebrations in life are worth china and silver.  

With each piece that I washed old and new, 

I gave thanks for the generosity that was given to me through these pieces.  

With each piece that I washed old, I thought about the celebrations of generations past.  

With each piece that I washed old and new,  

I thought about celebrations of our present: marriages, babies, family.....

With each piece that I washed old and new, 

I thought about celebrations of our future: graduations, marriages, grandchildren, showers.....

These pieces of china and silver are not so frivolous.  They hold deep meaning.

And while I may not use them as often as I should, 

they hold deep history, memory and thankfulness to me.

I hope my children will set their tables with china and silver

, as they host celebrations of their own,

 and remember their past, present, and future story.

Thanks mom!

The Weekend Project

I have decided to try and use Mondays on the blog to highlight...

>>>>>>>The Weekend Project<<<<<<

I have several projects that I would like to complete.

Some are large and some are small.

Some will take several weekends and

some will just take a few minutes or hours.

>>>>>>The Weekend Project<<<<<<

I hope to use as a way to keep me on track and knock out my projects

 out one by one.

Our son's 2nd birthday was last month and I made paper chain garland to decorate 

our chalkboard 

and our mantel

I wanted something that was a little different from the triangle buntings or banners.

And something that looked a little more masculine, if you will.

So I made paper chain garland.

Over the weekend I took all of that garland and instead of throwing it away

I hung it from the ceiling in our playroom.

I thought it would add a nice touch of color to the beige walls.

I also made some felt garland and wrapped it around a very plain white lampshade.

I think it ties in nicely to the paper chains and circle garland as well as

the alphabet print that my sister gave me.

{I took a few of these pictures tonight (sorry they are so dark)

But it was the only time today that I had to snap a few photos.

And the playroom is a wreck right now but you should know.....

this house is RARELY picture perfect!}
 

I am hoping to make or purchase a large wall clock for this wall.

And surround it with various styles of letters to make up the alphabet.

But that is for another...... 

>>>>>>Weekend Project<<<<<<