Monday, November 23, 2009

Mama's Projects

For my birthday this year Grandma Judy gave me the book "Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures" by Amanda Blake Soule. I have been having a lot of fun with different projects from the book. Here are two of them.

Towel Rug:

The bottom is made from an old red towel that we had, the top is some froggy material that I had from my Grandma Ginya and strips cut from a towel that we didn't use anymore because half of it had been discolored. It adds a little funky color to our bathroom to step out onto when you are done in the bath.


The second project is the Art and Hooks Rack. Here the girls are doing the artwork for the rack:
Anna wrote each girls name on a piece of paper, drew a picture of that girl, and added some other colorful artwork to the paper. Josie did some little pictures as well to go in between Anna's on the board. Next we painted the board (dark purple, of course), glued on the pictures, added ribbon, and screwed in two hooks for each girl below the picture with their name on it. Then Daddy mounted it to the wall where it was promptly filled with coats and hats and sweaters:
I like it! If you come over for a visit you can look more closely at the artwork and we'll tell you exactly what is in each picture. The girls are pretty proud of their work and like having a place of their own to hang their winter layers.

With a birthday in the house less than a week away and Christmas just around the corner there is a lot more crafting going on in this house, but we're not going to show you all of it because some of it might be coming your way! What crafting have you been doing lately as the weather turns colder and the days grow shorter? I'd love to know what has been keeping your hands busy as you go through your day, what materials you're using, what colors you like lately. What are the handmade parts of your home?

5 comments:

Michelle said...

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!I love the coat rack! we(my mom and I)decided to make our own, and i was wondering if you used mod-podge on it or not. thanks
-Nora

Kim said...

Katie, I love your projects! How fun! The bath mat looks like one we *need* to do pretty soon with our old towels.
I rarely have a minute to do anything involved it seems these days, but one kid craft that we like to do is make "quilts" out of construction paper, fabric scraps, and Elmer's type of glue. The kids paint the glue onto their papers using cheepy paint-brushes, then stick small patches of fabric on it. I was thinkin' you might just have all those materials on hand? ;0)
Kim

becky said...

Yay for do-it-yourself projects! Please will you bring your book with you when you fly out here? I love funky handmade things with character. tell Anna I was very impressed with her drawings: I made the photo bigger just so i could see them better. It certainly turned into a beautiful rack! Your pictures are exciting and inspiring, makes me want to get to work right now! ;)

April said...

Such cute projects Katie! The coat hanger is adorable! I've been wanting this book for ages now. I follow her blog and love it! Yesterday Sarah made ornaments out of simple dough. She cut the shapes out from Christmas cookie cutters, baked them and painted them in festive colors. I'll have to post some pics when she's done. Lots of leaf collecting has been going on as well, mostly by Justin. He makes little "gifts" for the family with them and then recycles them for another project. :)

akamilby said...

Wow! Totally amazing and creative! I read Becky's comment, and then I made the pictures bigger too so that I could see them better. Anna is an amazing artist, and I can't believe how well she wrote everyone's name, or even that she can write their names. You guys are all amazing to me!