It's time to gear up for Earth Day! After Noah's birthday party is over, and my life returns to normal, I'm planning on making an Earth Day...

After we made our superhero Mother's Day Gift last month I knew right away we'd have to revisit the idea for Father's Day. After all, Dad's have some mega super powers just like Mom's do,

The other day I was walking down 65th street in Manhattan and ran across a a row of brownstone buildings with gorgeous, colorful doorways. I stopped to take a photo with my phone of my favorite one: Here are the rest of these doors! All four in a row looked very cool on Manhattan’s Upper […]

We have all had a flat tire at least once in our life and usually we patch it up and try to drive it a few extra miles, but eventually we end up throwing it away. The car tire is an incredibly endurable rubber contraption that can be recycled and…

This Grow in God's Word Craft is the perfect way to reinforce important Bible verses, all with a theme of growing closer to Him. This craft is perfect for Sunday School and at home Bible lessons.

I love doing plant experiments and sprouting seeds with young children in the spring. Not only do they get excited to see how plants grow but planting seeds also teaches them patience and how to wait for gratification which is very important in this fast-paced, instant gratification world in which we now live. In this […]

I'm kate and these are a few of my favorite things Xx

I'm sure we all have similar memories growing up of standing with our backs straight against a wall while our parents marked our height with our names and the

These simple and do-able yard & garden ideas delight me. They needn't be expensive. Recycle what you have already to save a bundle.

What to do with crayons? Besides coloring, you can create art and crafts with crayons, or even learn or play activities with crayons.

Don't throw out those old t-shirts! Turn that pile of sentimental t-shirts from trips, school, family outings, and sports teams into keepsake T-shirt pillows and put them on display in your dorm or apartment for all to enjoy.

Summer is nearly here which means that it’s time to get those legs in shape for warmer weather. Once you get them ready, you’ll need something to show off those legs, right? We have a

You've all seen the Robin Egg Blue Bench and that was one of four benches that were done in the last two weeks. Pretty crazy, Right!! Thank goodness...I didn't have to do everything on all four of these benches. But, I wanted to show you how all of them turned out!! This is the client's bench! A real beauty!! This is my sister's bench! So cool!! My sister had bought a headboard/footboard about two years ago and she had told me,"the next time you make benches, will you help me make mine?" SO....once I was making the custom order bench (already had my power tools out) it was a no brainer. This is my neighbor's crib bench!! Lovin' the style of this one! They all turned out different yet, SO cool!  My neighbor even got in on the action and made a bench out of her crib because they are done having kids but, was keeping the crib for sentimental reasons. Perfect reason to make a bench. You get to keep it yet, it's something new! Let's start with the custom order bench. This is the custom order bench...pretty sad way to start out....being scraped and sanded. She was a beauty in the making!! I spent about 2 hours scraping paint and sanding. A little more than I expected but, it was worth the result. The paint underneath was cool but, needed a little taming. The client mentioned that she wanted a bench like these two different benches that she liked. One she had seen at target(it had three baskets underneath for storage and only liked that part of it) and my black/white bench I made quite a while ago. I had her come pick out the headboard/footboard that she liked and then I went to town building it! She knew that no two benches turned out alike and that's what she wanted...a custom peice for her entryway. I built the seat out of thick boards with a skirting of 2x4's for sturdiness and used MDF for the shelf with 1x1's with "L" brackets for support. There was only so much space between the seat and the bottom to build in this shelf so I didn't want it bulky. Every screw I counter-sinked, so it all had to be filled with wood filler. This is extra work but, I always like it to look finished. You can see here, the filler holes. Between the four benches we used an entire box of screws. These are VERY sturdy benches and will LAST!! Primed the bench because a lot of it is raw wood and would SOAK up the paint. Purdy...all white...but, the client wanted black with white showing through with a little distressing. With all the detail of these benches, I opted for spray paint this time. I wanted a perfect finish. A vinyl was customed designed to personalize the bench because it was going to be in an entryway. White was chosen for the color because the distressing on the edges showed the white coming through. Then the back of the bench was sealed with polycrylic. I had already sealed the entire bench except for the back of the seat because I was having the vinyl custom created. So, as soon as I got the vinyl....I got it sealed and ready to be taken home. Here she is all dry and ready for baskets. You can see the slight distressing. This helps show off the details of the bench and add character. Here's the bench in the entryway of the client. Isn't she GORGEOUS!! I have never had anyone ask for a shelf on the bottom for baskets but, it's definetely a WINNER!! Now she has a place for her kids to take off their shoes and store them away. I love how this turned out!!! Now, my sister's bench. This bench is the one I helped my sister make. She calls me the master bench maker but, I didn't have to help her that much to get hers done. A lot of building the bench is taking the time to cut everything to size and then drilling, drilling, countersinking and doing it again and again and then filling the holes. She came a few days in a row but, as I was finishing my clients bench (my sister wanted hers black as well) WELL, it sorta got primed and painted and finished while she was away. I don't think she minded! Her headboard and footboard aren't identical but, had the same feel. The spindals are more square on the back and circular on the sides but, when it's all painted out...it looks really similar. Here is her bench at her house. I can't wait to see what pillows she puts on it! So cute!! My good neighbor was watching all the commotion in the garage and was looking at all the benches being made. She had discussed with me that she wanted her crib made into a bench because it was sentimental and she didn't want to just store the crib. So, because my sister was building hers...I helped her by showing her how to build hers too. Tools were already out...the more the merrier!! It was a bench building party for like 3 days!! When I started this bench build...I really hadn't planned to have four done but, it just sort happened that way. Because the back of the crib had a rise in the center she decided to use that as the back of the bench and to make it a long, slenderer (spp? is that even a word) bench. She had the perfect wall to put it on. She had started accessorizing the room in a deep turquoise blue color with brown and green as the other room's main colors. She went bold and painted her bench in her accessories color. (You can always repaint....RIGHT?...that's what I told her) Cribs have lots of hardware holes so it took lots of wood putty. She painted it this beautiful blue color (it looks brighter in the picture than it really is) and then sanded to show some of that dark walnut original color of the crib. Pulling the brown from the room in. It turned out SO beautiful. I need to get a picture of it with her pillows on it. She's not home today or I'd run over and take one...I'll add one soon. So, now you've seen the other three mysterious benches that I was talking about. Here they are and they turned out each beautiful in their own unique way! I love them all but, I especially love the shelf for baskets...I might have to do that style again!!

Topsy Turvy Planters Put your garden on the Slant These planters feature several pots held together with rebar rods for a dramatic effect.

Discover creative DIY projects for your garden markers to organize and add charm to your little garden. Build something beautiful today.

National Geographic Kids has an easy project to make a terrarium. I love the added little gnome figurine. Related: Tiny Terrariums

End of the year free downloads. Free end of the year memory book and end of the year crowns. Save time at the end of the year with this post!

We don’t know about you, but our kids get so engaged with a simple cup and ball catcher. Now you can upcycle their good2grow spouts to make this fun game at home for craft time and playtime all-in-one! This also makes a great party craft! Supplies: 3 oz. white cup markers glue gun knife twine... View Article

Summer is officially here! It’s hot, humid and the bugs are having parties on my exposed skin when I go outside. (why is it if there is a mosquito within 50 miles he will find me?! )But, what I love most of all about Summer is gardening. My vegetable garden is coming along nicely, and ... Read More about Creating a Container Herb Garden

Tuck teeth awaiting pickup by the tooth fairy into this simple-to-sew pillow.

This was one of the first blocks I designed. It takes a more modern approach – ignoring lines that define the border and corner blocks. It is not difficult, just a little more involved so the…