DIY Art Display

To know our girls is to know they are crafty. Not sure where that comes from!! Our problem is that they want to save every scrap of paper that they've doodled, glued, cut, glittered, or colored on! We've tried several different methods of storage, but haven't really had much luck in finding something that worked for us.

Because our house has a playroom, we decided to kill two birds with one stone: decorating and a place for the girls to display their artwork. Here's what we came up with:

Once they run out of room, they have to decide what goes in the trash (we haven't actually reached that point yet; we'll see how that works!)! We simply bought a few bulletin boards, painted the frames, personalized each with wooden letters, and hung them up (Katie does have one too; it's just not pictured).

Total cost: Bulletin Boards ($7 on sale @ Target); Letters ($1.99 @ Hobby Lobby); Paint ($.99 @ Hobby Lobby); Total (approx. $10 each)!!

A few things I learned along the way:

1. The frame of the bulletin boards had a laminate that had to be sanded off. This was the thing that took the longest during the whole project.

2. My original plan was to mount the letters on the board with double sided tape. I didn't buy the tape in advance, so balanced the letters as they are pictured. I like them so much this way, that we've decided this is how they should stay!

3. It is so nice to have a place to put the girls' projects and they are so proud of their displays!

Our Easter Baskets

We've never done the "traditional" for Easter baskets. We skip the chocolate bunnies and jelly beans (don't worry, we got tons of candy from the Easter Egg hunts with our friends and family). One year each kid got a new DVD, one year a new baby doll...

This year the girls hunted for eggs with clues inside that led them to the coat closet where their baskets were hidden (thanks, Tracy, for the fun idea)!

This year, they found art boxes in their baskets.

Each box contains things the girls can work with independently: scissors, crayons, foam stamps, a glue stick, pom poms, google eyes, etc. The theory is that they'll be able to clean up independently also (we'll see how that goes!)! The boxes are small enough that they can easily be transported to the doctor's office, a restaurant with a long wait, gymnastics, an extended car ride, etc. For the curious, Katie got a new set of markers designed for little ones and her very own Magna Doodle (which she's dragged along behind her all afternoon).

What about you? What did your kids get in their baskets this year? Any creative ideas for us next year?

"He is risen..."

"He is risen indeed!"

Our church has the tradition of using this traditional greeting on Easter. It was a joy to teach it to our girls today and hear them use it throughout the day! Something was different about Easter this year. We did the traditional egg hunts (three to be exact!), dyed eggs, packed Easter baskets (more on that tomorrow!).
Still, there was something different. I think it has something to do with a more acute awareness of who I am. And what Christ did for me. And who I am because of what He did for me.

It was different because we heard our kids articulate how happy they were that Jesus is alive and ask questions like: "What does salvation mean?" Hope your Resurrection day was blessed!

Wait for it...Wait for it!

Easter Egg Fun

Wishin' for Freckles

Ella Grace: "How come Adam [a boy in her class at school] is younger than me but has SO MANY more freckles than I have?"

GO MSU!