Some Summer Substance :)

(Libby's 1st Reading Log of the Summer)

(Libby's Summer Bucket List, printable from Pen + Paint)

(New printables, links below)

A few years ago, I made my kids a weekly chore tally sheet. I made several copies of it and assembled it in a folder, with Lindsay's "Summer Bucket List" free printable as the cover (her blog, Pen + Paint can be found here. So adorable. The kids loved it. And it really helped give them other ideas of things to do, a way to earn fun things or rewards & set some goals for the summer!

I think it was last year that I added the "Summer Reading Log" to the mix. My older kids have some over-the-summer book reports to do assigned by the school (due when school resumes in August), but the younger grades do not. Libby loves to read & stay busy. I thought that making her a reading log would help keep her focused on one book at a time & give her a sense of accomplishment when the book was completed.

Libby just found her old folder with her previous bucket list, chore chart & reading log and asked if I would make her more print outs for this summer. Her brothers are leaving for camp here soon ... which means a lonely sister left here with "nothing to do". The timing for me to pull this all up & print it all out is perfect. She & I made some updates to both the reading log & the chore chart then we printed them out.

I am attempting to make them available to anyone who also is wanting to add a little substance to their kids' summer. :) Please bear with me as I have never done a printable before. Hopefully the links work, are indeed printable &  if you choose to edit & add or delete your own categories - I hope they are editable, too (might need to copy & paste into your own document).

Don't tell your kids I put you up to this. 'kay? ;)

CHORE LIST found HERE.

SUMMER READING LOG found HERE.

For the Love of Laundry

We refinished our basement a few years ago. It used to be just a 1950's concrete dungeon. When designing the layout of our basement, we did leave one unfinished corner where we have a spare fridge, the furnace, water heater, workbench, etc. We shifted the laundry space [formerly in that same corner] over a few feet & pivoted it 90 degrees. By doing that we were able to put it in the 'finished' [walls, floor, lights] section of the basement. That already was a huge improvement from where we came from. Laundry felt clean again.

Being tucked into the back of our basement, however, it somehow became a catch-all. A lot of it was spill over from my craft room / art studio. Some of it was just junk that had sat there in the corner in a box or a tub because since remodeling the basement it just never got a home. It's been a thorn in mine & Kyle's side ... and while we would have loved to have gotten cabinets & a real counter by now, we've done other things with our $ [like buy a lake house & then buy a new dock] ... so it just keeps moving down on the list.

I recently started following the blog (and Instagram photos) of Emily from the Jones Design Company. I like her style. I saw an old post of hers where she had redone her laundry room. Combine that with the 'catch-all' problem we were having in the basement ... and I knew we either needed to splurge & get the cabinets / counter at Lowe's. Or fix our problem by some other means.



I love thrift stores, including the Habitat for Humanity ReStore & pop into them about once a week or once every 2 weeks at a minimum. I texted this photo to Kyle: "Kind of a cool piece for across from W & D. Places for bins & baskets. Great dimensions. Not bad for $20."

It used to be the top of a desk. It has cork in the back on the bottom & had a light which I unscrewed & can reuse somewhere else. Since the top was unfinished, I knew some work would have to be put into it. I thought about what the top would be used for (folding, stacking, possibly ironing) & decided tile might be best. I went over to look at the tile selection at the HfH Restore & found some beautiful celadon 6x6 tiles. I grabbed some, went over to the piece & sized it up. I knew if I could space them just right, I wouldn't have to use a tile cutter (I don't have one & have never used one. I've actually never even tiled before until this piece.). So I bought enough tile to do this piece + 2 extra. They were 25¢ a piece. Next stop was the hardware store where I kept it simple & just bought a small bucket of pre-mixed adhesive & grout (a combo) for $8.95.

Painted the piece all white, then nervously started the tile project. I survived. And now have some  confidence for any future small tiling projects. This was a great starter piece. :)

I just decided to leave (but paint over) the cork on the bottom. I couldn't think of anything better to do down there & figured that space was only for storing laundry baskets - it really didn't matter what it looked like. I knew I wanted baskets for the big open spaces & hit up Home Goods & T.J. Maxx. I found 2 sturdy baskets with perfect dimensions - $12.99 a piece. Almost doubling the cost of my whole project! :D HA! But I LOVE them. They are sturdy enough to hold the weight of a jug of laundry detergent & a bucket of oxi-clean. The smaller compartments I don't really have a use for just yet. I have a box of fabric softener sheets in one of them. If I wanted to, I could remove the vertical slats & just have a flat shelf - they do slide out in the back. But for now, they're okay. 

The finished laundry counter got me excited about turning up the dial on the rest of the room. I already had the huge rolling metal cart. I had gotten it at Goodwill almost a year ago - for $14.99! I was the envy of all at Goodwill that day - people stopped to talk to me about it in line at the register, out in the parking lot. I knew I had done good. ;) At the time, I wasn't sure of its final destination - but just like the purchase of the desk top hutch, I HAD OPTIONS. I think that's key. It has been in my basement laundry room since purchasing it. We were able to take what we were using [a plastic & mesh flimsy hamper] to the thrift store as a donation. I not only take, I also give. :)  

The only thing I altered on the metal rolling cart was just done as an afterthought as I looked at the finished laundry room. I had a lot of black accents in the room & decided the dingy off white rubber / plastic rim would look better black. And since I have no problem painting things that probably shouldn't be painted, I went for it. Then sealed it up with a spray sealer just so it wouldn't rub off on the wall. 

I didn't want to be 'over the top' with decorative items. The huge canisters of powder is cute. And the drink dispenser of liquid detergent is also cute - but looks like a pain in the you know what. I already had a bag of clothespins & thought that would look good & natural in a laundry room. Already had the jar, I just threw them in. I wanted something else that could buddy up with the jar of clothespins & when I saw this pin for a cute button project Sarah Richardson put in a laundry room, it inspired me. Buttons work for a laundry room.  So I gathered up all my scattered ziplocks of buttons that came with articles of clothing & put them together in a jar. So much handier having them all in one place & out of their bags! I even found a few I was looking for - 1 for my coat & 2 for a duvet. I adore her button art, but already had a few other ideas in mind for the walls. 

Since I like 3's, I decided the iron would just hang out in this grouping. Since all that glass was set on the ceramic tile, I decided to anchor it all with a basket charger I already had. I just faux stained it [watered down brown paint] to match the baskets I had bought. 

Deciding what went on the walls was harder than I thought it was going to be. I started with a large 18x24 canvas I had ... it was kind of abandoned after another project hadn't worked out. Instead of wasting the canvas & being reminded of my 'fail' - I painted over it. I sanded over the letters from the previous project & just slopped paint on there. I adored this quote. And had seen some people pin it with the suggestion to frame photos from 'memorable days'. I did have a lot to choose from - muddy days at Boy Scout or Cub Scout camp; days spent fishing at the lake; toddlers having popcicles & icecream; post-baseball game photos. I had a hard time choosing & keeping it even steven, representing all 3 kids (I try to keep it fair like that). So I waived off on the idea for now. I do have another whole blank wall above the washer & dryer - that's another project for another day. But I just might take some of those photos & turn them into black & whites.

After I finished with the canvas, I knew I needed a few other items to complete the grouping.  I agonized over this way more than any person should. It was redick. I found some really cute free printables, but it was too busy having them both. Too many messages, too much laundry info all in one place. ;) So I decided to stamp out my favorite message that was on the one (from Sweet Bella Roos)... and print off  the other one (from 30 Handmade Days). I decided to just leave just the main part of the message & I trimmed off the rest. Hanging from the wooden pants hanger (99¢ at a thrift store), it was too much length & was throwing off my balance. What am I talking about? I don't know. All I know is that after I trimmed off some of the top & bottom, I liked it better. I got the bulk of the message across - ironing is a JOKE.

I had this frame & mat already ... I just used an old paper bag to separate the white mat from the white paper. Instead of finding an area of the bag that was pristine - I decided to ball it all up in my hands to further the message of 'don't sweat the small stuff'. Even those wrinkles shake out in the wash.

The other idea for the walls was a cute clothespin wreath. I made one, but it didn't look right in this grouping. Again, this might be another idea for the other side of the laundry room. 

During my days of 'sweating over the small stuff' aka figuring out my laundry room wall art [See? I need that wrinkled reminder up above.] ... I hit the thrift stores for inspiration. I found this little resin wall plaque. Cheesy. But ... I really wanted to paint over the sky & paint something super snarky coming out of her mouth. Like ... "WTH". But I didn't want my kids asking what it meant [I for sure wouldn't use the WTF version - but I could have probably gotten away with saying the H stood for "heck"]. But I think I will always look at this as a missed opportunity. I think it was $3 or $4 and I really did NOT need it. And so sometimes I will only get those kinds of items if that particular color is on sale that day [thrift stores often have color codes & certain colors are on sales certain days - i.e. Red & Blue are 50%, green is 25% off!]. This was going to be full price & since I was trying to keep costs down & I didn't want to explain WTH to my kids, I left it. But it. would. have. been. good. 

I am certain it's still there (City Mission on Wornall for you KC peeps) if someone else wants it. I will even do the painting for you if you want. I kind of want someone to fulfill my snarky dreams. :)

Like I said, there's another whole wall - above the washer & dryer. This room is not done, but it's a welcome change. 

Reminders at Christmas ...

Long time, no blog. I might have even had to google how to write a post - well, how to find the screen that allows me to create a post. I couldn't find it. Sorry blog ... but Instagram is just so easy. But I'm back to share one of the most fun projects I've done - and one we're about to start during this holiday season.  

I'll start with the one we did this spring. For the past few years, the 3rd graders had done a nativity scene made of clay as their class auction gift. Me and clay, however ... do not mix. My mom has a bird at her house that I made in about 3rd grade. And I remember trying to construct it carefully & artfully as shown by the art teacher. But the clay was dry & when it all fell apart, I panicked. I believe it had to be finished that day. So I just smashed it all together in a hurry so it could get fired. My mom still has it in her basement on a shelf. And I wince every time I look at it or touch it. It has so many sharp edges, it's not only ugly, it's hazardous.

So ... when I was asked to do the nativity scene with the 3rd graders, I knew it would not be made of clay.

I had just made the tree for the school & had gotten pretty well acquainted with papier mache. And I knew it was pretty forgiving. I know people thought I was crazy. I was even a little embarrassed to tell people what I was doing because I know they had visions of  absolute miserable failure in their heads. And papier mache I think is one of those things that you even doubt yourself until you are just mere minutes away from being done.

I began by asking the students to raid their recycle bins at home. They brought in newspaper, magazines, boxes, toilet paper & paper towel rolls. I bought rolls of masking tape, flour, plastic white trays for the papier mache project and some plastic totes and bubble wrap for them to be easily transported and stored. I already had all the paint and another family at the school generously donated the wooden stable. I can't remember my grand total exactly, but it had to be about $30 - $15 a set.

We made 2 scenes, 1 for each class. Here's how it was broken down:  Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus, Manger, 3 Wisemen, 2 Shepherds, 2 Angels, 3 Sheep, 2 Camels, 1 Donkey, 1 Cow, 4 Trees, 1 Star.  I know we had some last minute changes to this line up, but this was at least the start of breaking down the parts for 23 kids.

We started out just balling up newspaper & taping it up. The people standing up (wisemen, shepherds) were a full size toilet paper roll, the ones kneeling and the angels we had cut down to a smaller size. The sheep were just balls of newspaper. The cows, camels & donkeys were all full size toilet paper rolls. The trees were paper towel rolls cut at various sizes. For the mangers, we cut the ends off a box from a bar of soap and stuffed it with newspaper.

We had the kids come out in small groups, grouped together by what part of the nativity set they were. 

To keep the pieces straight, I wrote their names in permanent marker on the pizza box or on the paper in the space where it was drying.

There's a whole lotta imagination that is used in the beginning. Was I worried? Heck. Yes.   Nah, what can go wrong?

We covered the pieces in newspaper strips dipped in the flour & water paste. After spending 2 1/2 long days at school, I decided it was time to take the pieces home and give them all their finishing touches. Mostly, this just meant more layers of papier mache. But I also needed to put staffs in the hands of the shepherds and gifts in the hands of the wisemen.

Originally, I was going to have the kids paint their pieces. But. I had already spent 2 1/2 school days on this project, pulling the kids in & out of their classroom. And I knew it was going to take up way too much time for me to load it all back up, set up the tables, paints & bring them out in small groups. I knew I wanted a very minimal look to all the pieces anyway (no faces or details), so I thought for the minimal painting that needed to be done, it was probably not worth me loading it all up, setting up camp & dragging the kids out of their classrooms for another day or 2. 

I really loved watching the pasty looking newspaper 'blobs' come to life. It is amazing what paint can do. I wrote the names of each student on the bottom of their piece once they were all dry.

Below are the two finished nativity scenes (*the stars were then wrapped in wire so that they could be attached to the stable). I really love the way they turned out.  Together they raised almost $1,500 for our school. As I told the teachers after the auction was over ... "Not bad for recyclables." :)

I think they are a beautiful reminder of what the season is really about.  The birth of Jesus to show God's love for mankind. Appreciating the simple things around us and using them for good. This was made mostly with things people no longer wanted. Yet for our project they allowed us to create a masterpiece and allowed families to be generous with donations to our parish school. Sometimes so much more can come from giving up what you don't need so someone else can treasure it. 

Just last week I found this project called "Light 'Em Up" which gives some ideas for random acts of kindness you can spread around your city, family and friends. If you have ever been on the receiving end of a random act of kindness, then you know it doesn't take much to have a huge impact (here is  what $10 once did for our family). I love that it helps teach kids that the focus on the season should be about the giving not the receiving. We picked out some stars off the "Giving Tree" at church, but I [mom] did all the shopping for it.  So this week, as a family, we're going to pick out a few items and help bring some "goodness and light" to Kansas City. 

"Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go."- Mother Teresa

THE TREE.

Better late than never, here is the post with some photos of the TREE! :) This is the tree I worked on this summer for our school. My talented architect friend, Dana, used her skills to make some layout changes to our school. In doing this, she found this little room under the stairs (by 1st, 2nd & 3rd grades) and knew it could be better utilized as a reading room. This tiny little room had 2 windows which we all know are a commodity. I never saw the "before" because quite frankly, the windows on the door were literally boarded up with paneling. I never knew this room existed. I believe it was just being used to store some things. (But when my husband went there it was the room for the school nurse! And when the school was first built I believe it was the principal's office!)

Earlier in the year, my friend & I had chatted about some ideas for the school library. We discussed a papier mache tree. So when Dana discovered this room & took on the project of converting it to a reading nook for small reading groups, she asked if I was interested in constructing the tree for this room. Of course I was ... I was just nervous. Because. The only papier mache thing I had made was {this eagle} with Brett for a school project. But I knew that was easy enough. And I figured this would just take longer. Which pretty much was the case, but when you're talking about a floor to ceiling sized tree that's covering up pipes & getting fitted into a corner where there's trim at the bottom & a metal cord cover on one side up on the wall. And knowing kids are going to be in there. Stepping on its roots. Punching its trunk. Okay, of course I hope those last 2 things don't happen. But. I have 3 kids. I know the potentials. And I wanted to be prepared. So besides all that, it was JUST like the eagle. :) *wink*

(Above) The pipes we were wanting to cover. But not permanently. So the structure has been adhered to the anchored wood strips with industrial velcro tape.

More of the room. Pre-tree. :) But my friend Dana had already gotten started painting.

Trying to figure out my plan of attack working around the awkward base trim. 

I was nervous. So I did a lot of stalling ... like taking on the fun & easy part of the project! Picking out the fun paper for the leaves! :) I decided to go with a mix similar to these {other tree projects} I've done. Apparently, that's my style & I'm sticking to it. :) I not only went for papers that worked with the colors in the room, but I also chose some alphabet letters, sheet music & shamrocks (our school is "the Irish") to go with the school theme. 

I can't tell you how long this structure (above) stood like this in my garage. Stalling. Big time. See, when I get scared ... I wait for panic mode to set in. Because then & only then can good things happen. 

Finally, I had Kyle help me anchor the sides to these bases as an attempt to keep its shape. Trying to fit it into its corner remotely (I built this in my garage) was difficult. But, I had 3 kids at home with me this summer. Besides, I'm a night owl & this worked well for me to just go out at 9 PM & work 'til I couldn't work any more. 

Then I started to add on some branches & roots. The trunk was made with really thick wire & I used chicken wire that was more pliable for the branches & roots. Then I snipped up (using tin snips which I also used to cut the chicken wire) bits of wire & wired it all together. I believe I took this photo above to show that I used some pieces of my white garden fence / stakes for support in the 'branch armpit'. I just used my trusty staple gun (which I also used throughout the project) to fasten the chicken wire to the wood.

When I felt confident about the structure, I wrapped the whole thing in brown kraft paper with masking tape. I might have overdone it. :) That happens when you don't know what you're doing. 

These supplies were my friends for about a week straight. These and a box fan to help with drying. I made small batches of paste at a time. I used 2 Panda Express take-out forks so that I didn't have to ruin anything of mine. :) And an old ice cream bucket & a dixie cup cut down for measuring the wall size powder. Oh this brings back memories!

I papier mached for 5 or 6 days. And usually I worked 2-3 hours in the morning, then a 2-3 hours again at night. Definitely time consuming & messy ... but exciting to see the tree start taking its shape & firming up!

When I was satisfied with the strength of the papier mache, I painted it using a semi-gloss. 

The kids were all over helping me paint it. But all were grossed out by the papier mache process. Davis helped me for about 8 minutes, then asked if he could be done. :) Not as fun as it looked, I guess.  But I did like involving them because Davis (3rd grade) & Libby (Kindergarten) I knew were going to be using the room. And I figured if they had invested some time in the project, they'd help preserve it once it was in the school. 

Finally it was time to move the beast up to school. My friend Dana came with their truck & we strapped it in for its short journey up to school. :)

Still nervous (paranoid) about the trunk's strength, I did decide to zip tie this little piece in there. Probably unnecessary, but it made me feel better. 

I had already planned on this happening, but I went ahead & had finished off the roots at home knowing there was a small chance it'd just "work out". It didn't. :) The roots needed to be rebuilt once it was in the room. Not a problem, I just mashed up more chicken wire & wired them onto the roots I had already built. Then spent a couple days papier maching over the bottom portion.

I loved the way the leaves turned out!!!!! I had bought a box of joint biscuits at the hardware store! Cut out a leaf shape in all the paper then used mod podge to adhere it to the wood piece & a coat on top to make it glossy & seal it. I loved these little guys. 

Dana had painted the walls a darker green, the ceiling a pretty robin egg blue & then I used the light green to paint out the tree top. Then I used 3M strips to adhere to joint biscuit leaves to the wall & ceiling! In this photo above, it's not quite finished ... I see a piece of newspaper where it looks like I did a patch job. And it's not fixed to the wall just yet. But my friend's husband did come in & anchor some 2"x8' strips to the walls. They matched the 2"x8' strips that make up the tree's frame, so when it was all done we used industrial strength velcro tape on the 2"x8' pieces and sandwiched it all together.

I mixed together another batch of the papier mache paste for the leaves that went on the tree. Took two cut out leaves (paper only, no join biscuits) & chose a thin part of a branch and sandwiched it in between the wire.

Originally from St.Louis, I'm a Cardinal fan at heart. And I thought it'd be fun to have a little 'life' in the tree. So I hot glued this little guy to a branch up above. 

As an afterthought, I tried out this little treatment on the bark. I just haphazardly dry brushed on a dark brown. It was really just an experiment, knowing if it didn't work out I could just paint over it. But I loved the results. It picked up on all the little rough edges underneath the layers of paint, it looked like real tree bark. SO COOL.

And here is the tree in its corner & two bean bags waiting to be opened. This was a fun surprise for the students, families & teachers at the before school open house.

I love this view. The school carefully cut out the panels in the top half of the door that had previously sealed off this room. Can't remember if it's just open or if there's plexiglass in there. Such a happy view.

It was definitely a labor of love & well worth it. I am happy to be a part of the team that helped bring such an inspirational space like this to our school. My elementary school had so many fun little elements that I still remember to this day. And a few of them were in the Library. I hope in 20-30 years the kids (as grown ups) include this little reading nook as part of their magical memories. Whether it's that they remember dreaming under the branches as they listened to or read a book; or that they remember being cozy in this sunny room on days that it was cold, snowy or rainy out; or even just being inspired by the artistic element & process of making the tree.  As a kid, I know I would have loved all 3. :)