salad spinning!

i should probably be doing something constructive with my time and energy.  i should be packing.  i should be emailing.  instead i've made a mess with my kiddos and a salad spinner:)

we invented our own artsy game this afternoon and if you're sitting around with your salad spinner--bored to death, with nothing to do...here's what we suggest:

first--gather some random supplies like:

• 6 colors of paint (kinda thin works better...we added water)

• 6 different kinds of paper

• alphabet stickers or markers (or both)

• a dice (oversized is most fun)

• a dictionary or theasarus (or any book for that matter)

• and lastly--a salad spinner (i didn't have one but picked up a cheapy at ikea juuuust for this lil project)

okay, after you've gathered your supplies, number the paper choices, #1-6 and number the paint colors #1-6. get creative (we used some random vintage numbers i got in my stocking this year but you could tear up peices of paper...whatever you got.)

okay so, here's how you play!  a roll of the dice always decides what you will do next--starting with type of paper you get to use.  i tried to choose papers of all different kinds to make it more fun.  so for instance, in this case, if you rolled a 1 you'd get to use the cool white bumpy paper and so on...

once you've rolled to decide which paper to use, next you roll to decide how many colors you get to add to the salad spinner when creating your piece.  THEN you roll to decide which specific colors to add.  

so if you roll a 1 and the green paint is labeled 1 you get a green dollop on the paper...if you roll a 5 and the white paint is labeled 5 you get to place a dollop of white on the paper (in the salad spinner).  i'm the world's worst explainer...i hope this is making sense!

after all this rolling of the dice...which makes things super exciting and suspenseful--place the paper in the salad spinner...we trimmed ours a bit so it would fit properly.  we taped it  down on the backside so it wouldn't slide around when the spinning got crazy!

here comes the fun part!  once you've rolled to choose the paper and rolled to choose how many colors and rolled to choose which colors--you put the lid back on the salad spinner and spin away!!!

the kiddos loved this part!  heck, i did too!  it was fun to see just how fast we could get it going and how fast we could change directions!

wait...don't stop here...it gets better.  then you get to open the lid to reveal the first step of your masterpiece!  

it was way fun to see what the salad spinner does to different papers and different consistencies of paint...your older kids will think so too...now your younger kids--they'll just want to spin spin spin away!

you could stop the lil game here but we didn't want to...we wanted to add WORDS.  so we rolled the dice one last time to decide which page of the book our magic art word would come from.

obviously the dice didn't go up to page 1415 like our theasarus did, so we just rolled for the last number of the page.  so if you roll a 6 on the dice you'd  flip the book open to the first page that ends in 6 and stop there....(example pg 1216.)  THEN you get to chose a word...ANY word you like from that page.  maybe you like the way it looks or sounds or perhaps the meaning.  it doesn't matter...it's your word.  you  get to choose.  this part is soooo fun to me...'specially with wonderboy.  he chose, blast off, belt and numeric. so wonderfully random!  jaeda chose creamy, creative and awesome.  i love how she put some thought and her personality into her choices...also beautiful!

so, here are our finished products!  i can't tell you how much fun we had making these mini masterpieces!!

rhett's 1st

rhett's 2nd (loved that he chose numeric as his "word".  because the piece is numeric since it all depended on the number of a dice:)

rhett's 3rd!

jae's 1st

jae's 2nd

jae's 3rd

and of course i had to do one too!  agh!!!  we had so much fun with this lil artsy game:)  you have to try it or something like it and show us what you come up with!

p.s. this is what the salad spinner looked like afterwards...kinda cool, right?!?

the first time

let's play a little game called...

when was the last time you did something for the first time?

firsts can be exciting...they can draw us up and out of our routines and things. they can also be hard and embarrassing.  sometimes they can be fun, sometimes frustrating...sometimes scary or amazing.  sometimes all of this at once!  helen keller once said, "life is an adventure or it's nothing at all."  

so what's yours gonna be?  

find a first to tackle today.  it's easy.  it's free.  take it all in...stop to wonder at the weird parts all the while enjoying the lovely.

several firsts that could fit into your day:

read a book you don't think you'll like

eat indian food

sing on your way to work/school

give something special to you away

compliment a stranger

send flowers anonymously to someone who'll never guess

dance in your car

celebrate your unbirthday (with a cake and everything)

talk to the postman

start a tradition

collect raindrops

leave a post it note on the mirror in the public bathroom saying something like "you are fabulous"

turn up the music

leave some change in the vending machine or in the little crappy toy machine at the front of walmart

use this post as an excuse to do something out of your comfort zone.  and if someone laughs...tell em there's this crazy girl on the internet that dared you to do it.

happy tuesday.

the monday mornings...

one day, far away--i just know i'm gonna look back and wish i could step into a mundane monday morning when my kiddos were 10 and 4.

 i'll wish i could wake up to the janurary florida sun in my face and sounds of my raccoon rhett scrounging around in the kitchen for something he knows he's not supposed to eat in the morning.

someday...i'll wish i had that blonde haired blue eyed girl o mine crawl into my bed for a few snuggles before the wonderboy comes to crash the party and steal the covers and turn our quiet morning into a wwf smackdown.

someday...i know i'll miss jae's freckled little girl face and the way she wrinkles her nose when she smiles.  oh and that crazy crazy laugh of hers...someday when she's too cool to get the giggles--i guess i'll miss that too.

one day when wonderboy has hair on his face i'll wish i had kissed him on his smooth little cheeks more  often.

someday i'll wish i could listen to his incessant chatter. 

someday i'll probably even wish that i could hear those two hoodlums fight.  i'll wish that they were close enough for it to be my turn to tuck them in.

someday, i'll want this morning back...but today...today feels like i'm just doing it all over again.

sometimes (especially on mondays) it's hard for me to get going.

because today, on that freckled 10 year old face...just under that wrinkled lil nose--is a pink mouth with a dimple that has nothing but negative things to say lately.

today...that wonderboy will wear his mortal momma out.  he'll fight and scream about all life's little un-fun things--and it's up to me to teach him different.

today there is a stack of boxes as tall as me in my garage that need to be packed with all my junk.

today there is a certain little girl's room that appears to be carpetless because someone started cleaning out her desk and quit the hopeless job right in the middle.

today there are emails and phone calls and lots of grown up stuff to take care of....and really on this mundane monday...i'd much rather stay in bed.

so friends...this is what got me outta bed this morning:

homemade chai tea latte
my friend, the sun, promising another yellow day
3 bananas that will make that negative lil girl of mine some banana pudding (just because)
that kissable spot on wonderboy's neck that probably needs some monday morning snuggles
thoughts of decorating my new nest (we are moving in 2 weeks!)
ideas of park hopping and swing flying with my boy
four little squat jars from ikea that beg for purpose
the ocean...so looking forward to the next time i can dig my toes in the sand and stick my nose in the salty air.
a dirty house--and how good it'll feel to get 'er clean again
the salad spinner i bought for a fun paint project this week
a few fun phonecalls to kc friends that i didn't get to talk to over the weekend

most days it's easy to find things to jump outta bed for.  but my mondays seem to start a lil slower...and i have to scavenge to find some things to be thankful for.  today, my monday morning scavenger hunt unearthed some treasures to pull me outta bed and back to life.  i'd love to know what gets you guys outta bed on these mundane mornings...

my lilac story

{picture by blue ampersand photography}

i've always had this thing with lilacs.  there is something about those brown winter sticks turning to fragrant  purple blooms--they never fail to remind me of great possibilities--year after year.  the very shade of purple makes me wonder just how much red and blue God mixed together to make them.  they smell like eden and oh how they sing of spring...


yesterday i was catching up with an old dear friend of mine--who has the best lilac bushes EVER!  her lilacs are like trees!  they are massive and wonderful...absolutely laden with purple and white blooms.  we were just chatting about things and spring and then she said,


"lex, you will enjoy this.  I had to cut my lilacs--all but one--to the ground.  they were in such bad shape.  it will take them a couple of years but they will be lovely for years to come.  i did that to one of them when we first moved in but was chicken to do it to all of them in case it killed them and all of the books were fibbing.  the one i cut back is now BEAUTIFUL."


i was breathless.  i felt like she was telling me my own story.  ever since we talked i've been thinking about those lilacs.  they were seriously taller than me...and to an untrained eye (me), they were perfect.  but my friend is an amazing gardener and she could see that they weren't what they were supposed to be.  they were okay but in their wild beauty they were getting too out of control for their health.  so she cut them back.  not a trim.  not even a buzzcut but she pruned them back to THE GROUND.  they won't bloom for years...but when they do...i should be able to smell them from here...


i feel like this florida move was the Master gardener's "cutting me back".  in the last 5 years i've experienced growth like no other time in my life.  i've gone through alot...and with His help came out better than before...more alive...a little more like Him.  but if i'm honest, i guess i was growing a little wild.  life was busy-out -of -control-topsy-turvy with kids and brighton road and family and church and friends and scribble studios.  to undiscerning eye (like mine) things looked amazing but He knew...He knew some pruning was in order.  not just a trim.  not even a buzz...but a cutting me back to the ground so i could grow back healthier in time.


this time of pruning is oh so bittersweet.  i LOVE the adventure...the ocean mist...the sunshine.  i LOVE the time with my kiddos...and it makes me sad to see how much i've missed while living life at a break neck speed.  i don't miss the pace of my kc life but i miss the people.  my people. and i miss the dreams...


i walked away from some pretty incredible dreams when i moved away from kc. some wild and wonderful dreams like scribble studios.  i had my own space and place to encourage creativity and inspire wonder into the hearts of today's technologically overloaded children.  i made this place with my own two hands...i was in love with it. absolutely intoxicated with the ideas and possibilities of just how far it could fly.  BUT...it was like my 3rd child.  it took all my time and energy.  i was up there as often as i could be...doing the work of 3 people.  and let's face it...i'm no business person...i just had lots of creativity to contribute. but scribble was my happy place...and i was finally using my gifts and living life to the full!!!  sitting and sketching in that crazy attic space was my eden.  and i walked away...


i walked away from my photography business that was just beginning to bloom and grow.  the growth kept me working...ALOT.  away from kids...ALOT.  but it was supporting my family so how could i just stop???  i couldn't just walk away...so He took me away.


my kc schedule made my head hurt.  all the internal expectations from friends and family.  i am a blessed girl.  i have too many kc girlfriends, couple friends and people i just love to spend time with!  over achiever that i was, i tried to do it all...there was no pressure from anyone but myself to keep up all my friendships--it was something i wanted to do.  squeezing them all in meant squeezing my sweet lil family out...and so...He pruned that back too.


in thinking about these lilacs and their pruning...i couldn't help but think there were a few places in the Bible where it talks about Him being a gardener...so i did a lil internet word search and found quite a few obvious spots--He started everything off in a garden for goodness sake!  He tells me to look at the wildflowers...He says He is the vine...He went to the garden to pray and He was first spotted after resurection--in a garden.  He likens Himself to a patient gardener in luke and various other places in the old testement.  it seems He knows a thing or two about planting and harvesting and growing fruit and things of that nature...so i'm assuming He knows what He's doing right now...with me.  i sure am glad He's patient...


after hearing my friend denise's lilac story...i did a little research on lilacs and found out that they prefer full sun (like me) and it made me smile.  here i am, like the lilac, starting over.  no friends, no business, no scribble studios.  i'm back to the basics.  family and God...and i'm hoping i grow up healthier this time--knowing when to say yes and when to say no--honoring only my Father and Gardener with my growth.


i told my lilac pruning friend, denise to keep me posted on the those beauties and let me know how they do this spring...and next--unless they die...that would suck.  she said she would and--like a good friend--said if they died she'd lie and just get new ones without telling me;)


so i guess it's me and the lilacs, racing towards the sun...

practice

this is what i hear in my head and heart lately.  

as homesickness sets in and my grand florida adventure gets umm...a little less sunny...i hear, 

"practice doing the hard things lex.  walk across the room...chat with the waitress...the mom at the park...serve your husband...again and again...no breaks from crazy kiddos in florida--no mama linny's, mama lyssa's, ky ky's, gramma connie's, or darcie's".

i've been telling myself that if there's any chance of being different--of encountering the kind of change that makes me look more like Jesus (and less like lexi), i have to make it a habit to take the road less traveled--to count myself smallest--to be the first to be last.  

these are all great words and i know you're nodding along with me--i can feel it.  but when i drag them into reality--it's not as rosy as it should be...as i thought it would be...practice hasn't made perfect.  practice has made...me pretty frustrated.

tonight this verse kinda shook up my hard working thoughts...

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. wow. all those older ladies that i idolize.  the ones with hospitality pouring from their hands and praise from their lips...the kind, gentle, graceful women that i long to be like...the ones who give hugs and compliments.  the ones you run into at the grocery store and the next thing you know you are chatting with a glass of wine in their livingroom?   there is no practicing doing hard things to get there--there is no road less traveled.  He is the road.  and that is all.   be near Him and connected to Him and fruit will sprout and grow.   now...i think...those lovely ladies probably practice doing hard things everyday...i've watched them...they definitely don't take the chicken exit often...but it's through His strength ALONE. in His upside down kingdom practice doesn't mean a thing.  and that sounds both scary and wonderful...so out of the lines and yet so refreshing... yup, that's the One i love.  always setting me free...in ways i didn't know i was bound...

forts & lunch & hide-n-go seek

someday i'm gonna want this tuesday back...someday when my boy is grown and my house is empty and my hands aren't quite as busy.  so there is some urgency behind how i spend my tuesday.  i could fill it with fb, or email or pinterest...photography, or artwork or reading (and somedays i do) but today i wanted to live it well--to the full.  that's a tall order with no money, no friends and no where to go;)  but factor in a lil imagination and anything could happen...

with the girl gone during at school during the day...it's just me and the wonderboy.  i love the everyday fun we make together. not the kind that costs alot or is really complex or time consuming or all planned out...just a little fortbuilding and song singing and hide n go seek lunch is good enough for me.

so we grabbed all the pretty blankets in the house and drug them out to the screened in porch area to build a fort that wouldn't get in this momma's way in the livingroom;)  we quickly discovered the walls were cement out there so there would be no cheating and tacking our fortress into the wall to hold it up....so we got reallllly creative and used ladders and books and chip clips and things of that nature.  it's a tough job to build a fort with a four year old--they have all these crazy ideas and plans...that are not my own:)  but build it we did....just in time for lunch.  

when jae was little i'd play a little game with her lunch...and i just realized the other day that i've never done it with rhett!  it's called hide n go seek lunch!  so i make their lunch, pack it up and hide it all over the house...then they have to find it.  sometimes the game turns into hot and cold, sometimes it's played with no hints at all and sometimes i just point and giggle.  it's wayyyyy fun and an EASY way to gain SUPERMOM status in a preschooler's eyes.  who knew finding broccoli in the oven and capri sun in the fireplace would be such a riot?  he LOVED it.  just like his big sissy did not too long ago...

so naturally we took our hide n go seek lunch and ate it in the tent (of course)...and rhett sang me songs and we battled mr claw (from inspector gadget) together.  these are the best days.

funny thing, this tuesday was free and i wouldn't trade it for solid gold.    from now on i think we'll find something free and creative to do every tuesday...

{celebrations : letters & emma friends}

"until further notice, celebrate EVERYTHING!"--pinterest

letter writing is a lost art.  it's one of those things that you don't have time to do, never think to do, and wouldn't know what to say even if you did...but when someone sends you a little note via the postman, it's a definite day changer.

in our rocky yet wonderful transition from missouri to florida the kids and i have gotten into the habit of writing quite a few letters to all the people we miss back home.  and you know?  it's been really fun.  when we first started my 10 year old didn't know how to address an envelope...or that sending a letter required a stamp:)  it's been such a cool teaching tool but more than that...it's such a simple and easy way to bless someone who's far away.  jae's got a few pen pals back in missouri now and even has her own lil stash of stamps and envelopes...i'm so glad that letter writing has been revived in our lives!  because seriously, it only costs 44 cents and can change the world.

the most recent letter we've received was a thank you letter from emma, jae's best friend back "home".

here's the backstory--emma is j's best friend from missouri.  they have been kindred spirits for sooooo long.  emma turned nine last week and it was her very first birthday that she's celebrated without jaeda. it was a sad day for both girls.  birthdays in kansas city always started with a trip to the grocery for donuts and shatto milk with our friends.  we'd parade through the old people and sit in the grocery cafe with our wild kiddos.  we'd put our extra long straws straight into the chocolate milk jug and took turns taking sips.  we were a chocolate sprinkle donut mess--everytime.  and i loved. every. minute.

so we didn't get to do donuts on em's birthday this year but you better believe we celebrated in florida without her.  because around these parts...birthdays are trumped ONLY by christmas.  trust me--fourth of july pales in comparison.  i so love to celebrate people and didn't want jae to miss out on celebrating one of her very favorite people...so for em's 9th birthday we celebrated emma well!  we wrote emma letters, drew her pictures, wrapped her gifts, danced to her favorite songs, made her a cake (and blew out her 9 candles), we took a "who knows emma best" quiz, we watched em's favorite movie and enjoyed her favorite snack...buttery popcorn!  it was a fun night...not as fun as it would have been WITH her but way better than nothing:)  see? even missing a birthday party can be fun;)

a few days after we celebrated emma day from afar we received this letter in the mail from that sweet, sweet girl:

(spelling and punctuation all emma's)

Dear, The Dickens,
I would send you all a piece of cookie cake right now.  But it's as hard as rock.  When are you guys coming back? Please do not say in a long time.  There is no fun around here.  I want the passes of Oceans of fun and Worlds of Fun to be for all of us!   Those cards you send were like an art gallery!  Lexi and Jaeda, you are outstanding artists and I mean it!  Eric or Ucky <what she called eric when she was a baby> you need to work on your art skills a lot!!  I am so blessed that God carefully picked out our beautiful family.  I have never met a more "Go for it" family.  I miss you so much!  And love you like  family.
Love,
Emma <3

hands down one of the best letters EVER!  jae's bff is one special girl.  and the friendship we have with that perry family is solid gold.

today...i'm celebrating friends that feel like family--emma friends.  oh and letters.  what are you celebrating???

once upon a saturday

today i woke to busy my hands with cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs...i've been sick this week and have spent every productive moment available looking for a new place for us to land february 1st (our current wonderful rental situation sadly expires then).  so rhett and i have been pouring over craigslist and the penny savers looking for a new nest so our current nest has gotten pretty...umm...we'll just say unkempt.  everyone around these parts knows you have to have a clean house to have fun (duh) so our weekend looked to be full of chores...

 lucky for my lil family i grew up with 3 very fun, very wonderful sisters.  what did we do when we had to do chores on a saturday morning???  well, whine.  but after that we all got to work (except for savannah) and we MADE IT FUN.  i think, if there are people and music ANYTHING can be fun.  

so this morning (just like my sisters and i) my family started out whining...but coming from a long line of funmakers i decided to turn this thing around.  and soooo we had a chore draft.  

what is a chore draft?   well ours looked something like this.

i trust that you will make yours much more attractive than my purple marker on scrap paper BUT this worked this morning for us.  here's what we did:

*first we wrote all the chores that needed to be done on the list

*then we played rock paper scissors for who had the first pick of the draft

*the first person selected their first pick...then the second...then the third...then the fourth...

*this part gets tricky now...then the fourth person goes again...that's right they get two picks in a row...then the 3rd then the 2nd then the first...then the first again.  my fantasy football loving husband tells me that this is called a snake draft and it helps things feel a bit more fair.
*we just circled the chore we chose and wrote our name next to it to remember which were ours.

*don't forget to declare the rules of the race--for those rule followers like my husband it helps keep things simple and argument free.  our rules were just that we'd each check over each other's chores...not to be picky but just to make sure they were done. oh and that trades were okay if both parties agreed.

*then we declared that the winner of S.M.D.C.C. (saturday morning dickens chore championship) would be queen or king for the rest of the day! 
*lastly we turned the music up way too loud and we started the RACE!

i should probably add a lil note for moms here.  at this time please take your expectations for how the house should look when you are done and lower it--juuuuuust a bit.  do your best to remember this:

good enough + fun = wonderful 

but...

good enough + a nit picky mom = TERRIBLE!

and THAT is our chore draft...aka how to save your saturday.

now i should clarify that my daughter is a very helpful 10 year old and she drafted from the chore list just like my hubby and i.  things that actually needed done.  but 4 year old wonderboy had a list of his own.  it had things like, clean the bathtubs (with a sponge and squirtbottle of water), wipe off the washer and dryer (because who cares if that is done well) and clean out his toy box (to find toys he no longer likes and plays with).  so just amend the list as needed to fit your family and keep things fun and productive.

we had SUCH a fun time drafting and talking over our strategies.  we were done in about 45 minutes and off to do fun saturday things with a perfectly clean house.  LOVED IT.  try making your chore filled saturday fun.  lemme know what you come up with so i have something different to do next saturday;)

with my own two hands...

 i have big awkward looking hands--always have.  i didn't get my mom's cute chubby hands or my dad's big meaty ones.  yeah so...i pretty much got the worst combination of the two!  and in looking more closely at the back of my hands i can see little things like the healing blister (from a recent hot glue gun attack), the chipped gold sparkle nail polish (thanks to my dear neice reya),  the badly bitten nails (due to my post-christmas blues) and all the new wrinkles and veins that have popped up lately.  but you know the thing about these hands?  they are busy, busy hands.  

lately i haven't had much editing to do so i've had a chance to busy myself with other things...things like knitting and baking and writing creating and gluing and cutting and stapling and modge podging and painting and sketching and...you know what?  it feels good.  it feels really good!  here are some things these two hands have been up to lately...

i modge podged rhett's bedframe with newspaper! 

 a good friend had given us this old wooden bedframe but i didn't love the dark stain of the wood and didn't exactly want to paint it either.  so.....

 i grabbed the sunday paper and picked out all the black and white sections and started gluin'!  it was kinda hard but super fun.  i did most of it while watching the harry potter movies with my potter crazed 10 year old daughter;)  it seemed to go super fast...except for those tricky posts on the end of the bed (those suckers might have made me curse a few times under my breath).  i painted the back of the headboard blue and gave it all a sealing glaze and i just adore how it turned out.

 okay this next project was all pinterest.  the old map poster and lil dandelion puffs have both been pinned on my "to compose" board FOR-EVER.  i finally just sat down and made them.  loved how they both turned out.

 these little dandelion puffs are super easy to make...even for kiddos!  i gave lessons at the park while i was working on them one day while rhett played:)  all the little girls and their mommas wanted to know what i was making.  it's funny how homemade things create conversations and bring people together like nothing else...

 i made this little garland of tags by accident (kinda).  i was using all of these as tags for my christmas gifts and was tired of them going EVERYWHERE...so i strung them on a piece of string i had and then though..."oohh that's kinda cute...i think i'll hang it up:)"  love life's little surprises.

 now THIS my jaeda girl made with HER own two hands (one of which is pictured below).  she made this glorious snowflake at school.  i was floored at her handiwork!  isn't it beautiful???  she's pretty amazing.

 okay this garland is another pinterest piece.  and maybe my favorite new christmas decoration.   i saw a colorful garland made of a simple strand of lights on pinterest and thought that i could make a more subdued, texture filled version of it for christmas.  and this is what i came up with.

 it was soooooo stinkin' easy.  would have been even easier if i didn't pick the longest strand of lights available at the store to make it out of!!!  i just gathered some scraps and crap i had in my craft stuff.  some yarn, some twine, some ribbon, some pearls and i tied it on to a strand of white lights.  THAT. IS. IT.  i love love LOVE it.  and want to make many more...one for every room.  okay.  maybe that's a lil much.  i gotta learn when to stop.

 one more picture up close...

 oh now THIS was a gift.  one of my lovely 2010 brides had it made for me and sent it to me as a thank you for photographing her wedding.  isn't that the sweetest?  she didn't tell me what it was she just asked me to send a picture that i felt encapsulated 2011 for our family.  i knew just the picture as soon as she asked.  miss morgan warner for blue ampersand photography took our family pictures this summer before we moved from missouri to florida.  this lovely picture is of all of our fingers pointing to our new home on a globe.  isn't that the coolest???  love the picture (thanks morgan) and LOVE the ornament (thanks alli).

 i had to slip a few pictures of my tree in here...

confession-- i have a hard time with all the red and green christmas stuff....so as far as decorations go--i stick with neutrals and stars at christmas time.  i have quite a lil star collection going (although my hubby accidentally broke my favorite one this year <tear>).

we made this paper chain together as a family:)  it was so fun--all that cutting and stapling and those sweet moments shared!  that's my version anyway....they might have a different story to tell... ;)

 i've had this old window frame for awhile now...i've been saving it for the perfect project.  and then i thought of THIS.  there are 9 panes on this old window and there are 9 fruits of the spirit.  just perfect!  love having this up in my home as a reminder of what is central...or should be.

 ohhhh and then there was a sidetable.  i found this sidetable years ago at a garage sale.  it's been waiting in my garage for me with a coat of primer on it ever since--just waiting to be allowed to come into the house.  as you can see, i kinda went on a modge podging spree and one night i had a lil modge podge left over from another project (already poured and ready to go) and i COULDN'T waste it.  so i stayed up wayyyyy too late recovering this cute lil guy.

 what did i cover it with?  sheets from a dickens book (of course, what else?).

okay so these are some of my latest projects.  some came straight from my hands and heart and some were purely pinterest inspired.  what are some of your p-inspirations?  i'd LOVE to see them!  please share!!!