Pottery Barn Inspiration for my walls!

I got the new Pottery Barn catalogues in the mail and am dying to try to make some of the wall art for the house! My walls are still pretty bare and think these are great ideas. I still have to repaint the butterfly frame white and I just ordered Annie Sloan chalk paint!!! I am so excited I can hardly wait for it to come! I want to paint an old trunk, an old chest I got from a thrift store, a dresser I just bought at a hotel sale on base for $10, another old dresser I have, and a few other pieces and frames. Many posts to come with before and after shots. I will also use my good camera from now on I have decided. Just not as easy as the iPhone, but so worth it for quality. Let me see if you try any of these ideas too. I might add a tutorial on here if one works out really well. I'll also let you know my costs vs the PB costs.

Butterfly Picture Knock Off

I love Pottery Barn. I wish I could have SO many things in the catalogue and that my house would look like the pictures. But, they are too expensive! I have a few pages dog eared of things I want to try and make. Here is my first attempt. This is a butterfly picture frame they have in the kids catalogue. So cute! I didn't take great pictures because I used my phone, but once I have it in my nursery room, I'll take more. I used scrapbooking paper to punch out the butterflies with a Martha Stewart puncher and used glue dots to attach them to the frame. The frame was black, but I painted it white. I need a better paint, and once I get my annie sloan paints, I want to paint over the frame again in Old White.

Baby Nursery Crafts - Owl Canvas

I have been on a big kick looking at Martha Stewart's crafts. I love that website. I found this idea on Martha Stewart and it looked so easy and simple I had to give it a try last night. Voila! So easy! A cute owl canvas picture for her room. I need to do the elephant next. I am wondering if I should paint the canvas instead of leaving it white now... Hmmm. What do you think?

Freezer Paper Stencil T-Shirt Art Tutorial

I finally have Freezer Paper! Last week, we had family fly over from Kentucky to visit us in Germany and we had a wonderful visit. Every time before people come, they ask if there is anything we are missing/craving or need them to bring. Aside from restaurant stuff, we pretty much can get everything we used to buy here. Although I sure do have some Chic Fil A withdrawal going on. This time, I thought of something I really wanted to try out that I couldn't find here in the stores. Freezer paper! So, they came with a huge roll of it for me!

We bought some T-shirts for the kids, and let them each design their own shirts which they loved. I let them draw with permanent markers straight onto the freezer paper. I then cut out the drawings, ironed on the freezer paper, and painted the shirts for each of the kids. Here are the results!

Aidan's Dodo bird and rainbow

Ashley's Maya and Maple (my dogs)

Coop's Hedgehog

Here is how you do it:

You'll need:
A mat or cutting board
A blade cutting tool
Freezer paper (not wax paper)
Fabric paints
Paintbrush or Foam Brush
Iron

1) Trace your image or drawing onto the matte side of the freezer paper.
NOTE: We used a permanent marker and drew directly onto the freezer paper so I wouldn't have to retrace the kids drawings.

2) Cut out the shapes/lines from the freezer paper that you want to have paint with an exacto knife to create a stencil. Sometimes you have to save the pieces you cut out to iron back into the image.

3) Place the freezer paper shiny side down where you want it on the shirt.  Put some cardboard underneath the shirt's front side so paint won't go through to the back side. Iron for a minute or so until the freezer paper is sticking to the shirt.

4) Paint the stencil using fabric paints or acrylic paint with a fabric medium mixed in. A sponge brush works better than a paint brush, but either one will work.

5) Wait 24 hours for the paint to dry. Once dry simply peel off the freezer paper.

6) Throw in the dryer for 5 minutes to set the paint and you are good to go. I have washed these shirts dozens of times already and the paint has not faded a bit.

Birdhouses at the Beach

I wanted a colorful display of grandchildren art for our small beach area near our lake cottage. So I bought several $1 birdhouses at Michaels. I set up painting stations all around an old outdoor picnic table and asked each of ten grandchildren to paint his or her own birdhouse. Some had polka dots, some had glued sticks on the walls, one was painted like a red barn, and still another boasted flower vines climbing up the sides. All in all, the houses were charming. I fastened hooks at the peak of each house. Then I used two shepherd's hooks stuck well into the ground to be the holding ends of an old fishing pole. The bird houses were hung all along the length of the elevated pole. Now the beach area is colorful and fun, and I have a precise memory of each of the ten grandchildren as each one signed his or her own masterpiece!

Our New Blog!

My sister Missy, my mom Jane, and I are constantly calling and emailing each other for ideas on everything from meals to prepare, to books to read, and most importantly, ideas/advice for raising our children. We finally decided that a blog is the perfect way to share our crafts, ideas, design inspiration, and more! So, here you have it. We Three Mothers. A way for us to share our ideas with everyone. We hope you'll visit often and find some inspiration.