Buttons for little fingers

For my job I am an OT Aide for the school district here. I LOVE what I do. I worked in Early Intervention for 2 years before I found this job and LOOOVED that one too. Little kids are just fun for me.

We do a lot of work with our kids that need help with handwriting, correct 3-finger grasp, fine motor skills, finger strength, isolated finger grasp blah blah blah (you guys don't care:) BASICALLY we need them to be able to lots of tiny little things with their fingers as a pre-cursor to writing. Our kids get tired of the same-old clothespins, pennies, thera-putty, pegboards. So we are always looking for new things to interest them and get them to use those 3 fingers. FOUND ONE!!! And using things I had laying around the house. Oh how I love that!

Materials:
Sticky backed velcro
scissors
buttons (shapes, sizes and colors up to you)
paint sticks (yep, the FREE paint stirrers from Home Depot and Lowes. I spray painted mine black before I got started.)
(Ignore the Gorilla Glue. I forgot the velcro was self-adhesive. That's how smart I am...)
I'm doing 4 button sticks. I thought "Why not mix in learning colors too?"
I wanted a couple more colors on my stick and since I'm making them I can do that:) Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white. So I can say "Put the red one on" or "Pull off the yellow one."
I cut up strips of the sticky velcro and put them on the stick. I put the soft side on the back of the buttons and trimmed them to size. (upper right-hand corner)
VOILA! That easy. I did it in ONE (1) UNO Episode of ColorSplash ( I heart that show)
I can't wait for my kids to try this on Monday.

Spray Paint and Mod Podge really do love each other

I have been wanting to do a fun magnet board. But the plain ones are like $15, even at the craft store. Sorry amigo, no can do. I found this little friend at DI...$1.50 for those of you who can't see the price tag. That's more like it:)

I pried the front pieces off the back using my flat head. Sophisticated right?:)
I then un-screwed the rings holding the hanging wire.
It pretty much looks like someone made it for High School shop class. The metal is all unevenly cut and rusty around the edges. I washed it off and cleaned it all up. Then I painted the frame pieces black. Black spray paint is the fastest, easiest, cheapest transformation ever. I am convinced.
(I blame my camera for the blurri-ness) I got this scrapbook paper a while ago and have been saving it for a living room project since this is my color scheme (turquoise and chocolate brown)
I then trimmed the paper down to size and Mod Podged it on. (I didn't get a picture of this process because the oven timer went off and you have to get it on while it's wet...too many hats, I know. Heaven forbid I try to do one thing at a time.
It looked a little blah, so I free handed an "M" on white paper and cut it out and stuck it on with Mod Podge.
While it dried I made this cute little flower magnet. I already had the magnet and made one of these ribbon flowers. They are so easy, I have made like a brazillion of them for cards, scrapbook pages, and other crafts.
Stuck the magnet on with Gorilla Glue.
Ta da! I think I love you...

Artwork Magnet Board

Now that Christmas is over I can post my projects! YAY! This one was one of my faves. My Brother-in-Law Marc and his wife Michelle have 4 darling little kids and live in Salt Lake. They have a GORGEOUS house and my favorite thing about the house is this little art/work room they have. Each of the kids have a built in desk and cabinets to do their homework and artwork and have their space. In the middle of the room there is this HUUUUUUUGE (seriously probably 6x8 feet) glass top island that Michelle puts the kids artwork under to display. I thought it would be fun to give them something to display their artwork on the wall too.

I started with 2 pkgs. of magnetic clamps from Wally World. The black and white matched my color scheme perfectly.
And Gorilla Glue- I am officially converted!
I picked up one of these metal plaques from Robert's. I got it for $10 since I used my 40% off coupon. Score!
Sorry it's blurry. I am uber aware of my need for a new camera. But isn't the crackle lovely? Mmmmm
I glued the magnets on. Just to make sure they stayed. With little kids I didn't want to take any chances.

Put the vinyl letters on from my darling friend Andy. (Someday I will tell you about how she was so sweet it made me cry when I opened the vinyl letters)

On my wall
All fresh and ready to hold their artwork!

Ruffles

I PROMISE my next post will be of a craft that I did. I have been really busy lately and really only have time for scrapbooking and people don't want to see my scrapbook pages sooo. Anyway I have a love affair with ruffles, among other things. I have always loved them but gotten more into things with ruffles lately. They just suck me in! I have purchased more than a couple shirts and shoes lately with ruffles. Delicious!

Are you kidding me?! My 2 favorite things: ruffles and damask.
I think I could make one of these pillows fairly easy
Pretty!
I love the stripes. Kinda sailor-ish. I even like it displayed on the easel. Very beach house-y.

Ruffly pillows in all shapes and sizes...
And colors...
I LOVE THIS! It looks like actual flower petals all over the pillow.

I think I like this. It would probably be pretty easy to do...
I bought some back satin flats identical to these. I LOOOOVE the ruffles on the top.
I am wiping the drool off my chin from looking at these. The color is fantastic. They're $500 Jimmy Choo's. (not) Awesome.
My 2 favorite things: ruffles and polka dots!
This dress is so cute! Wouldn't it be great with a cute little white cardigan and steel silver flats?!
This ruffled pencil skirt from Victoria's Secret is on sale!
This is just lovely! I want to try and make one...we'll see how I do
Wouldn't this be fun to wear dancing?
Normally I would say this is over the top. But it's a wedding dress. And don't you want everyone looking at you on your wedding day? I know a couple girls who could pull this off beautifully.
My wedding dress was VERY similar to this. I wish I woulda shown this to my seamstress. Those ruffles along the sides are BEYOND gorgeous!
Oh I love this dress!

Furniture Love

I am already decorating a house I don't own, or am even shopping for. I, for one, consider it a hobby.

For knick-knacks in a corner of a living room

Wouldn't this be grrrrrreat for an entryway/front hallway to gather shoes and such?

This would go in my turquoise and chocolate brown themed living room now.

I want these for dining room seat cushions! Too bad they have pink flowers, the hubs has veto-ed them...:'(

I wanna put our flat screen on this someday. It's sleek and classic but not TOO big and bulky.I want this pretty lady at the foot of our king bed that will have a frame (someday:)