A make-shift canvas on the cheap!

After making the photos on canvas for my mom a few weeks ago. I decided that, of course, I want some for myself! I only had one 8x10 canvas leftover and wanted to do some smaller pictures too. I went perusing through the linen closet where I stash all my project leftovers and found a massive stack of cheap unpainted wood frames from Michaels that I bought one day thinking "I'll find something to do with these". And now, who knows how many years later I finally found a use for them.

So here's whatcha need todo:

A cheapo frame{I'm pretty sure these were $1 or less a piece, I have 20 of them so they must have been cheap!} and fabric, canvas would be the obvious and best choice for this but I didn't have any laying around so I used cheap quilters cotton.

Cut your fabric so that it's about 1 inch larger than the frame you're using - as you'll see in the pics below I cut  way more than an inch larger and it was too much!

Staple the fabric on the back side of the frame on one side then the opposite side pulling tight as you staple the second side.

For the two remaining sides you want to fold the edges like you're wrapping a present. If your frame has nice sharp right angled corners this will be easy-peasy, my frame is rounded so I had to play with it to make sure I didn't end up with pleated corners.

After it's all stapled and nice and taunt you can trim away all the excess fabric. Excuse my messy cuts, I couldn't find my scissors and was using a pair I found in the garage - it's the back no one's going to see anyway {except the internet, of course}

As you can see the longer I use the staple gun the more staple-happy I get! 

The last step is to slap some paint on this puppy. I used white acrylic paint but you can use whatever you prefer. Since I'm probably going to use these with black and white photos I'll be painting this one black over the white later. Paint the front and all 4 sides. If you're using something other than canvas you'll want to flip it over and sweep any paint that seeped through off with your brush.

After it's dry you have a super-cheap cute little make-shift canvas!

5 Months of Pure Awesomeness

Five months ago today, the most awesome-est (that's a word, no really) girl in the world was born. The doctors interrupted her non-stop game of kick mom in the ribs at 12:32pm and at that very moment she stole both our hearts. The day of her birth was both the most exciting and scariest day of our lives, she was having trouble breathing as was swept away by the nurses to NICU and put on oxygen but being the awesome girl that she is, she was off the oxygen in under 12 hours. She even helped the nurses out by removing the oxygen tubes herself :)

 fresh out of the "oven"

The nurses raved about what a great baby she was and they were right, I didn't hear her cry until 8 days later when we were finally able to take her home. 

Her first day home

She's the happiest baby ever. She slept through the night for the first time at 4 weeks old and has every night since. 

She amazes me every day with how smart, funny, and beautiful she is. She's got her first tooth trying to make it's big debut...my little girl is growing up so fast! 

I'm a winner!

A few weeks ago I was the lucky winner during Blog Spa Week over at Twelve Crafts Til Christmas I won not only one but two fabulous prizes a body polish from Lemongrass Spas and a manicure set from O.C. Styles

The body polish was just what my sad, dried out, not used to cold weather skin needed and Amber was super sweet!

Photo Cred: Lemongrass Spas

And the manicure set from OC Styles is awesome! It's super cute and even came with all the stuff in it! I love the fabric and it's nice and cushy enough that I can actually tote my beloved glass nail file in it without worrying that it will get broken in the mess that is my purse! And the absolute best part? It came with a personal note...I love when I get a personal note!

I'll definitely be adding a few items from OC Styles to my momma-wants list! First on that list is this mini-wallet love the yellow, white, and black print!

Photo Cred: O.C. Styles

Big Thanks  to Twelve Crafts til Christmas, Amber at Lemongrass Spa, and O.C Styles!

Pictures on Canvas

So I found this tutorial a couple of weeks ago over at Sassy Pepper and knew that my mom would love it.  I did mine just a little differently but the idea is basically the same and as such I can't take any credit or call it an "original thought". But here's what I did:

 What you'll need:

 

 

photos of the cutest baby EVER

Mod Podge (I like the Glossy), acrylic paint, 8x10 canvases, ribbon

 

Paint the outside edges of the canvases and around the top edge to so the white doesn't show when you trim down pics to fit. I used shiny black since I was using black and white photos.

After the paint is dry, coat the top of the canvas with Mod Podge

 I also Mod Podged the back of the photo but this is probably an unnecessary step.


Carefully place the photo on top of the canvas smoothing out any air bubbles. I've seen some tutorials that recommend flipping the canvas over face down on wax paper and weighing down with books and allowing to dry but I just let them dry as is and they were fine.


After they've had time to dry a bit, you can Mod Podge over the top of the photo. I used glossy MP but you can use whatever finish you prefer.

I chose to do 2 coats of Podge, the first brushing hortizontally across the photo and then again vertically after the first coat has dried overnight - this gives it a bit more of a 'canvas-y artwork' look. 


Once your Mod Podge top coat(s) have dried, I let sit for a full 24 hours but mostly because Mommy-duty took priority, staple your ribbon on the back of the canvas frame to the length that you want. I tied bows in mine only to discover after they were stapled in that the bow wanted to come untied when it was hung so I ended up sewing down the knot part of the bow so it stayed tied.


Here's the end result:

3 totally awesome pics to send to Grandma and just in time for her birthday!

 

Super Terrific Tuesday

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a pessimist, I got this affliction from my mother, who got it from her mother, who's the GRANDMOTHER of all pessimists. It's not something I'm proud of but it's ingrained in my personality - part of what makes me me. Now that I have a daughter of my own, I don't want to pass on this "family-trait"; the buck stops here, it's the end of the line, stick a fork in it, it's done! I want my daughter to see the bright side, to stop and smell the roses, to have a full cup (why stop at half full?!) so I'm trying very hard to see the good side of life. 

Here's where Super Terrific Tuesday comes in - every Tuesday I'm going to talk about something "super terrific" in my life. My hope is that if I take the time each week to see the good, maybe it will become easier to do so each day.

 First on my list is my husband, who is indeed super terrific! In July, we'll celebrate 10 years together, how anyone has put up with me for that long is beyond comprehension. I'm the anti-wife, I hardly cook, I hate to clean, I'm a cranky-pants and yet he loves me anyway. Over the years, he's helped me through some really tough times, he's never said "I told you so" even when the opportunity was there, he's mellow when I'm enraged. He's the peanut butter to my jelly, the yin to my yang...He's my best friend.

On our wedding day, he danced with me for more than just the 'mandatory first dance' even though he hates dancing. When I was 9 months pregnant, 40lbs heavier than I'd ever been, swollen, and miserable he insisted I was beautiful. When our daughter was born, he teared up. When they took her to NICU, he was torn he didn't know who to look after first. At my insistence he went with her. When I was unable to see her for the first 36 hours of her tiny little life, he insisted that I be the one to hold her first. During the 8 torturous days that she was there and I was falling apart from the stress of not being able to bring my baby home, he was my rock; he let me cry until I couldn't cry anymore, made sure I ate something, and even forced me to get some sleep. When we finally got to bring her home, he was attentive to both of us, if I got up in the middle of the night, so did he. After he went back to work a couple of weeks later, he'd come home and take over so I could take a nap or a shower or just sit down and do nothing for an hour. He's a terrific dad, this little girl has brought out a side of him I would have never imagined existed - he makes up songs to sing to her, talks to her, he lights up whenever he sees her.
I'm super-lucky to have such an awesome dude to love and who loves me in return!