Sanding Sunday

Welcome to Sanding Sunday!  It's been a long time in the making, but has final arrived!  I know you were probably thinking...WTH!  How long does it take her to sand something down?  Well, I'm here to tell you, NOT VERY LONG!  For my first SS project, I decided to do something simple and quick.  I took an old picture frame with an oil painting in it, sanded down the frame, then painted on top of the picture with chalkboard paint.  It was super easy and super quick.  I made my own chalkboard paint.  I got the recipe here.  It's really easy...promise.  All you do is take paint, I used some acrylic craft paint that I've had forever, in black, and mixed it with some unsanded tile grout.  I think my box that I purchased from Home Depot says Non-Sanded, instead of unsanded...same thing.  Plus, the smallest box I could find was a 5 pounder and all I needed was about a tablespoon...so I have enough non-sanded grout to make chalkboard paint for the rest of eternity.  Anywho, then I mixed the paint and non-sanded grout together and painted on top of my painting.  The only thing is that you have to work really really fast. The paint mixture dries almost instantly and your chalkboard paint turns into a really pastey hard consistency.

Here's a picture of my frame and painting before, beautiful isn't it (can you sense the sarcasm?):

Here it is after I painted it green.  Again, I used some acrylic craft paint that I've had forever.  I initially painted the top groove of the frame a pretty yellow, except it wasn't so pretty when I got it in there. So I covered it up with some green and that's why it looks a little lighter in the pic.  It could probably uses another sanding, painting, and a coat of poly, but I was feeling kinda lazy.  I think it's OK, don't you?

Here it is finished.  It now sits proudly in our dining room by the window so the boys can produce one of a kind pieces of art.  By the way, once I had the painting back inside the frame, I seasoned my chalkboard by rubbing chalk all over it then wiping it off.  I read that it makes it easier to write on it with...I didn't find that to be true, but did it anyway.

I do have to say, that the painting was painted on some sort of hardboard...masonite, pegboard kind of material.  It was not on a regular canvas.

I hope you enjoyed my first installment of Sanding Sunday!  I have many more projects to come!

QUESTION:
What projects are you working on?

What it Means to be a Mom

Recently, I was asked to share my thoughts on what it means to me to be a mom.  A couple of friends of mine write an article in an online newsletter called Campbell Patch.  Their weekly contribution is called Mom Squad and they are doing a month long series on what it means to be a mom.  Well, they asked me to help and I said of course!  Here's my contribution:

Most recently, being a Mom means being covered in vomit. It also means having boogers somewhere on your person at all times. And, if there wasn’t some sort of slime or spit on me, then I wouldn’t know what to do. Most of my days are filled with wiping noses and washing hands and bottoms. Now, don’t let me aggrandize this for you... being a mom is AWESOME!

You are their EVERYTHING and that is a huge ego booster, not to mention intimidating as all get out. What mom doesn’t secretly feel a little bit of the ‘nanny nanny boo boo’ towards daddy when their little one reaches for you instead of them? Makes your heart (and head) swell, doesn’t it?

To be honest, it’s the little things that make being a Mom so great. Besides all the glamorous things I mentioned earlier, being there to share in all the small moments that make up their days is what makes being a Mom so great. Getting a good grade on their homework, finally learning how to write the letter ‘B’, being able to wave bye with their tiny little hand, those are the things I love about motherhood.

Being a Mom definitely makes you feel like you are a superhero. You are always on call and you can never take a day off. When my boys are sick, I am there to make them well. When my boys are happy, I am there to share in their happiness. When my boys are sad, I am there to comfort them.

You are constantly giving yourself to them. Your own body feels less and less like your own. It’s a jungle gym, feeding station and paper towel for your kids. But the minute they look into your eyes and hold your hand and tell you that they love you, it all makes sense and is TOTALLY worth it.

My kids are the reason I was put on this earth. They are the greatest thing to ever happen to me.

Well, I hope you enjoyed it!  Stop on by the Campbell Patch newsletter and check out what's going on in Campbell.

Hello...is it me your looking for?

HI!  It's been a VERY LONG TIME!  Sorry for long lapse in blogging.  It's been a very long month and a half.    We have been sick (for most of it), family has visited and I've been trying my hardest to get organized.  By the end of the day, as most of you mommy's already know, I'm pooped!  I thought that if I scheduled a little bit of time every evening for blogging then it would get done.  I feel super guilty for not keeping up with it.  I really do enjoy it and want to continue, but sickness has gotten the better of us.  Our computer has been set up now since the vomit incident and I can now post my pics and start blogging again!  Yea!  So stayed tuned and thanks for being patient! :)