Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Upcycling, My Way


My story begins with this cardboard box. It contained 8--48 oz. packages of spaghetti, and I purchased 5 boxes. I've already done the math for you. (Though you just might want to double check...) That's 40 --48 oz. packages of spaghetti, or 160--12 oz. portions. Just the size to feed my little, but growing family. (By growing, I mean aging...no announcements here.) I'd say that's a respectable dent in my food storage for one trip to the grocery store. While I'm stoked to have just upped my food storage by 50%, that's not the purpose of this post, nor the real purpose for the purchase in the first place.

No, that little cardboard box is actually the star of the show!

You see, with all this purging going on at my house, I literally stumbled into a mess of papers and paintings and macaroni art that I'd stuffed away with the intent of sorting through after kids went to bed, so as not to cause any meltdowns when I chucked 95% of it. Of course, the last thing I wanted to do at the end of the day was pull out another mess when I already had 15 others to attend to, so it has all piled up on me over the last few years. I needed a better way of keeping their "treasures" organized, but with funds pretty much non-existent, I had to get creative. Enter Mr. Box, Mrs. Box and the whole rest of the Box Family. They are the perfect size to fit neatly side-by-side on the big black shelf in Dixon's new room.

How convenient that I have just recently discovered the miracle that is Mod Podge, because Bridget, Dixon and I made a little jaunt to the fabric store to purchase the perfect fabric to cover the Box Family for only $8.00. Here's the result...



I love how these turned out! Seriously! I admittedly hate crafty stuff that looks totally crafty, but I think these look like I bought them that way. And let's be honest, there's no way you could find these 5 boxes for $8. Anywhere. Thank you, Box Family. I shall enjoy looking at you everyday.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Watching our Gratitude Grow

So often, one of our most important holidays is overlooked as decorations, commercials and billboards for Christmas go up earlier and earlier--before Halloween, even! I want my children to look forward to Thanksgiving as much as they do any other sugar-induced celebration, if not more. Thanksgiving seems to be the least commercially tainted of all the holidays--maybe that's why I like it so much. As I was thinking about what I could do to make this holiday stand out (in a good way), I perused a few different sites on the web, and wouldn't you know, Tara had blogged just this morning about her Gratitude Tree. Tara got the idea from a friend, who got the idea from another friend...I just love how good ideas go 'round and 'round! I was so excited to find something other than paper chains to record tidbits of gratitude on that I immediately took down all the Halloween decor and set out to making my tree. Here's what 6 brown paper bags and a little painter's tape got me:I found a bunch of fall-colored scrapbook paper that I no longer use thanks to my blog. (Yay for technology!) So I cut out a bunch of leaves from them and left them in the box at the base of the tree along with tape and a pen. The hope is that the girls (and Mike and I) will be inspired throughout the month to stop and think about what they are grateful for, and make our Gratitude Tree grow. I'm so excited for Family Home Evening tonight! I love the idea of being immersed in gratitude. Hopefully that same feeling will carry on into the next holiday, as Christmas certainly tends to turn us toward what "I" will be getting. I'll post about this again after Thanksgiving so we can check our gratitude growth.