Kid Art Gallery

Once again, this is a post about a project that has been waiting for a more permanent home.  Not that I couldn't have done this in any of the other places we've lived, but when I saw the idea on Pinterest, we were in the holding pattern before finding a new job/moving.

Now that we are settled, I have just relished getting to actually get to take some of the pins from my Pinterest boards and make them into real projects. 

Brooks has been coming home from nursery school for a couple of years now with lots of artwork and crafts and so far the fridge has been the best place to display it until now.

With a few cheap (really cheap) frames and a can of my favorite- spray paint  I created a really cute gallery for kid art!

The frames came from Goodwill- a favorite place to shop!  I chose 5 in a variety of shapes and designs.  The most expensive was $3.00.  I took all the glass and artwork out and recycled it.  I sanded the frames lightly and then spray painted them all the same color with a glossy orange to match our playroom decor.  

I wrestled with painting them all the same color or each a different color, but ultimately chose the same color since artwork would add more color.  

I played around with the layout and then hung them up with nails.  Binder clips are attached to the wall inside each frame with poster mounting tape.

Brooks gets a kick out of hanging his artwork on the wall (so does Lucy, when I can get her to sit still enough to actually color something). I love that it is super easy to display and change out artwork and projects in a way that isn't cluttered looking.  I like the intentionality in showing off and celebrating the creativity of my children.

You've got to try this

"fresh bread would be great with dinner tonight." This was my thought as I prepped our meal at 5:30 this evening.

You might think it was a bit late for me to attempt fresh bread but thanks to www.artisanbreadinfive.com it's a snap.

I started these loaves at 6:15 and by 7:30 have beautiful crusty hot bread ready for dinner.

I randomly stumbled across the blog of two cook book authors called "artisan bread in 5 minutes a day."

I bought it on my kindle and have loved trying all the great recipes for great tasting easy bread. The authors have figured out the must do things for great bread and in turn left out all the steps that are not necessary.

Purist bakers may not like this method but I love it! You've got to try it!

Our Year in Pictures

Not really in this post- BUT I did finish a great project this week and had to share!

Several years ago I saw a set of frames in a friend's home, each with a different month of the year painted on the frame.  They were hung all together and chronicled the family's year in fun candid pictures- one per month. I thought they were just wonderful and whimsical and a great way to celebrate the family.

I've always wanted to have something like it in my home, but for so long we've been living in what I considered "temporary" places, putting 12 nail holes in the wall in one spot seemed impractical.  Seriously, the longest we've lived anywhere in the past 6 or so years is about 2 years in a row.

I have now figured out how to have my 12 "frames of the month" and only put 1 hole in my wall!  I will also confess the inspiration came from... you guessed it...Pinterest!
This project involves all my favorite Pinterest resources: Goodwill, Hobby Lobby, spray paint, and the Dollar Store!

For the The Big Outer Frame:
Step 1: Find a big frame.  I found a huge (ugly) framed print at Goodwill and removed the print and glass.  I spray painted the frame white.  The print and the glass went into recycling.

Step 2: Create the fabric covered insert for the big frame.  I had a thin sheet of plywood cut to fit the frame at the local big box home improvement store.
I covered the plywood with a layer of spray adhesive and then some fun fabric (hot glue the fabric on the back).

Step 3: Secure the fabric covered wood into the frame.  I used some hot glue and my staple gun.

For the Small "Month" Frames:
Step 1: Buy 12 frames at the Dollar store.  Step 1.5: I found  5x7 frames that had the width I wanted and spray painted them silver.  They had smaller silver frames, but I just liked the larger size.  I added mats that made the picture opening 4x6.  The mats were also from the dollar store- 3 in a pack for a buck!

Step 2:  Add the months to each frame.  I found some great clear stickers at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbook section that were uniform and the kind of graphic style I wanted.  I stuck them to the bottom of each frame right onto the glass.  The whole sheet of 12 stickers was $3.00.  If you wanted each month to be more unique and reflect he holiday or season, I am sure there are stickers or embellishments that would accommodate.

Step 3: Select Pictures for the frames.  This was the best part!  It is also a great motivation to have some of the hundreds of digital pictures I have stored in various places actually PRINTED!

Final Assembly:
I use Velcro to attach the small frames to the larger because it made the monthly removal and picture change easier.  You could use nails or hooks depending on what kind of hanging apparatus came on the smaller frames.

Step 1:  Play around with the layout.  I went back and forth between a horizontal lay out with a 3x4 grid or a vertical layout with a 2x6 grid.  I chose the vertical because it fit best in the place I really wanted to hang the finished project.
I got the layout  of the frames where I wanted them and then measured where the center of each column was and placed the Velcro strips in the center of each line.

Step 2: Attach Velcro to the fabric covered wood. The Velcro was the permanent sticky type but I also stapled it into the wood for good measure.

Step 4:  Put the other part of the Velcro on the small frames.  I had to trim the Velcro to fit the width of my frames.  The Velcro was also sticky enough that I didn't think any staples or glue was necessary.

 Step 5: Affix the small frames onto the big one and hang it up!

I hung our Year in Pictures in our dining area.  All total I have about $33 in this project and that includes all the frames, paint and Velcro.  The kiddos love it and have stopped to look at it multiple times daily.  Brooks keeps asking- "how many months until Christmas?  or my birthday?"  So we get to practice counting and the months of the year using our frames:).