More Crafties (...or... discovering the joys of chalkboard paint)

In an effort to liven up our dining room wall, I came up with this project that consists of four 14-in square canvases and some chalkboard paint. All in all the project totaled about $45, and we now have endless possibilities for dining room art (and interesting conversation starters for dinner time).

(One note: I'd recommend the canned chalkboard paint - I found it at the hardware store, rather than the craft store - you get a LOT more bang for your buck, and I felt a lot more comfortable using it over spray paint.)

Craftiness

I've had a bit of a surge of craftiness lately, due mostly, I think, to my introduction to Pinterest (if you're on it, you know what I'm talking about!) It's been fun to have some new ideas to tickle my creativity. I've also been pretty proud of some of the things I've created as a result, so I thought I'd share:

 DIY personalized gift plate (inspiration here)

Pine cone door hanger (inspiration here)

 Felt finger puppet nativity (inspiration here)

Christmas cake balls (inspiration here and here)

There are a couple of others that just haven't gotten pics yet, but don't worry, I will be sharing when I take pics of my other crafty projects!

2011's Top 12

Given that I went m.i.a. from blogging for a good portion of 2011, I figured it was only right that I start 2012 out on the right foot by giving a recap of some random highlights from our happy year...

January -- Happy Chinese New Year from James!

February -- Happy Valentine's to Daddy! (from James, again)

March -- Not so happy, not sure why (also from James)

April-June -- Happy Hiking time now that Jon passed his oral exam!

June - Happy Half-Marathon! (Not my prettiest moment, but I figure completing a half-marathon is worth posting a gross, sweaty picture of yourself on the internet)

July -- Happy Wedding Day, Kaitlyn and Jordan! (check out those adorable cake balls!)

August -- Happy Vacation, Mommy and Daddy! (Thanks to Grandma Ami!)

(more) August -- Happy this-could-only-happen-in-Mexico vacation ... holding baby sea turtles!

also August - Happy Green Night! (complete with everything green salad, green treats, and the Incredible Hulk)

November -- Happy New Camera so that I can start making up for lost time!

December - Happy Family Time!

Happy here we go into 2012!

I hope your 2011 was a happy one, and that 2012 is even more, as James likes to say, "Hap"!!!

Just the 3 of Us

I am this close to giving a thorough new year update about our 2011 adventures. But, I'm not quite there yet, so in the meantime I have to share some fun photos my awesome sister took for us while we were visiting Utah. (She's so talented! ... and our new camera wasn't too shabby either :)

Happy Birthday, Sir James!

As promised, here I am to really wish our big boy a happy birthday! As any parent of a 2-year-old boy could probably guess, we celebrated with a weekend full of trains...

Trains to ride

And trains to play

And lots of fun in between.

I can't believe the little guy is such a big guy now! He is such a good kid, that makes us laugh and smile on a continuous basis. We ask ourselves on a regularly if we are doing something right as parents, or if we just got really lucky. Either way, we love our little man!

I'm Back!

Okay, I know that I've had issues with blogging lately. I'd like to blame some of them, at least, on some camera frustrations. We've been without a working camera for at least 3 months now, and it's amazingly hard to feel motivated to do a blog post when you have no pictures to go along with it. But, the good news is that I'm back ... new camera and all! (long story short, I've decided to boycott Canon cameras for a while, and I've come to the conclusion that not all things are better done using the internet ... camera repairs included)

So, for those who are still checking in on my quiet little corner of the blogosphere, stay tuned as I will have much posting to catch up on (including a 2-year-old big boy that celebrates a birthday today!!)

:)

Word of the Day

Gelotology = the study of laughter

... I know I'm a blogging dropout lately, but I promise to be back right after I've had a few good laughs ...