Inspiration

I blame my sister for my new found addiction to Pintrest. I do. Anyone who has visited her blog knows she does all kinds of crafty things and also has a knack for finding fantastic blogs and internet sites that will inspire you to be crafty like her (or make you feel bad that you don't have a crafty bone in your body). She has turned me, my mom, my sister in law and others into crack Pinterest addicts. The good thing about it is that it has inspired me to do more projects this summer around the house and I have found so many cool projects on there to do for/with Aiden.

I am not the best decorator. My house looks like a bad page out of a Pottery Barn catalog because I don't have the energy to find my own style, so I see a page and I copy it. I am tired of everything being black and tan. I need some pops of color in my house. It needs some individuality. So my first Pintrest inspired project was this...

I took an old frame that I had and spray painted it a bright turquoise color that was in my garage from another project that I never did. Then I went to Home Depot and bought some chicken wire for $4 and stapled it to the back of the frame. I then decided that it needed to be a little vintage looking, so I took some sandpaper to the sides and corners and distressed it a bit. I didn't distress it because I screwed up the frame when I got a little overzealous with the staple gun or anything, no really, I didn't ;) Ha ha.

I bought some small clothes pins to hang pictures, postcards and whatever suits my mood onto the chicken wire. I can change it with the seasons and it only cost about $5 to make. Take that Pottery Barn, I can be creative! I made the little banner to put on it (which I can also change for the seasons), because I loved that scrapbook paper and wanted to use it in my house somewhere. Also, not because I screwed up when I got a little overzealous with the sandpapering and needed to cover a spot up or anything ;)

I was also inspired to make a homemade toy for Mr. Aiden. Who has been really into rolling things across my kitchen floor lately. So, I made this...

I think someone originally made it as an "I spy" game in a tube. I just thought Aiden would like seeing all the colors and shapes pop out as he rolled it across my floor. And it makes a cool noise. It was super easy and only cost because I had to buy a special brand of bottled water to get the bottle (FYI 12 oz. of $2.50 water tastes just like the water out of my tap). Once I had the bottle, I just added rice, some scrapbook chipboard shapes, bright buttons, flowers and whatever else I could find around that house that would fit in the bottle.

 

So, I guess addiction can be good sometimes! Now go check out Pinterest and find some inspiration, too :)