Baby {B} and Mom

Here's Baby {B}

He's the recipient of my long dormant creativity.

He looks just like his daddy.

And here's Mommy with the gift. She was thrilled. She always is. It makes me feel all warm inside to be able to give each mother an original gift that will last longer than any of the dozens of awesomely adorable outfits or boxes of diapers, lotions, shoes, bibs, etc.....

I like to give all that stuff, too. It just doesn't make me feel all warm inside. It just makes me say "ooh" and "ahh". And wish I could have another baby.

Okay, maybe not. Can I just have a baby shower? Without the baby?

I've been feeling Crafty!

This past Saturday I had a baby shower to attend. For my close friends I always try to make something personal. Something they'll never, ever throw away.

The problem was that by Friday I still hadn't come up with an idea or gone shopping. So Friday night we ran up to WalMart and I picked out a few items in the infant section: a camoflage had and mittens set that will fit next winter, long sleeve white tees that will fit in 12 months and the most adorable monkey sleeper that will fit 3-6months.

But I still wanted to find something personal. I had about given up when we were perusing the clearance aisles. That's when I found this.

For $5.

Couldn't pass that up. Wish I would've grabbed them all!

So early Saturday I picked out four paints and got to work....

Baby {B} is a boy so I wanted to go sorta primary but picked different shades of primaries. Instead of the typical red, yellow, blue and green, I chose crimson, canary yellow, leaf green and sky blue.

It took 3 coats of paint to get a nice even finish. Sorry, I don't have a close-up of the final coat here.

I thought it was a major improvement from plain ol' white. But it still needed something so I scrounged around in my supply of Stampin' UP! rubber stamps and picked two that I thought would go: safari or bugs.

I went with the safari. Though I borrowed the ant from the bug set. I did his name free-hand in green at the bottom. I added some word stickers to the mat (a favorite of mine). But I wish-really, really, really wish-I would've painted the mat blue. I still could but, eh....that's kinda awkward to do at my friend's house. What do you think? Technically, it isn't finished in my book because I haven't signed it yet....which I'm going to do today....it's a long story. See, if I sign a painting, I'm saying that I'm done and have to be happy with it as is. It's my way of dealing with my perfectionism.

More later about my sudden burst of creativity brought on by necessity.

Why I'm Up So Stinkin' Late

Ever start a project that you just wish would finish itself?

I have, and I have again.

This painting of my kitchen and the boys' bathroom has officially become noisome to me. I want to be finished by Sunday, as in, not having to paint AT ALL on Sunday. But, unless my kids become totally self-sufficient overnight, this is not going to happen.

Last night, Mike begged me to treat them all out to pizza so we wouldn't have to eat at our overloaded table. Today I just shoved it all aside and made room for the kids...they had grilled cheese and fruit for dinner, hot cocoa and GoldFish pretzel crackers for a bedtime snack. It worked...but it's getting old. For them and for me.


So, I'm half done with the kitchen. Unfortunately, I have finished the EASY half. The rest of it, I have to move the fridge and stove, and all my junque on the counters and above the cupboards to even get to the walls to paint.



The good news is that I am falling in love with the color....I think.

I'll let you know for sure when it is ALL done.



Of course I've thrown in extra projects, like the bookcase to keep me busy in the meantime. Right now I have 4 paint pans going: primer, summer rye (k), rice paper (br), and foam (bc and door).

Fun, fun, fun.

Disclaimer: My kitchen doesn't always look this cluttered. Really! Just sometimes. =)

My goal before I head off to slumber land? The last coat in the bathroom (all but the cabinet doors will be done! woo hoo!). Better get to it..... Night y'all!