And here's the reason we now paint outside!

So ,we like to do messy art projects at our house. Normally I'm all for it and love it. But while the weather has been decent, I have redone my perspective on things. Mainly - we now paint outside instead of inside. Nicholas can paint inside. But Abby must paint outside. Or else I am investing in a very large tarp to cover everything. Thank goodness it was all washable. Although the red didn't really wash out of the grout. Anyone know a good grout cleaner?

Nicholas and Abby painting inside.

Abby painting outside.

My recent craft projects.

So I have been working on a few projects, all for Abby's room. 

The first thing I worked on was a princess thing to cover her crib. The while walls in her room - in all the house - are driving me nuts. I feel like I am in an institution.

So, 10 yards of tulle, 8 yards of ribbon, 200 sequins, 14 beads and a heart charm later I am done. There is enough fabric in this that when she is older I can hang it from the center of the ceiling over her bed and tie it down to the bed. I can add more sequins balls on the top if I need to, or attach more tulle to the bottom.

All I did was use the white tulle to cover the ball and stitched it together underneath. Then I alternated the purple and blue tulle, gathering it and then stitching it to the white tulle. The ribbons are pinned into the ball with pearl headed pins and hang down on the inside and outside. The ball is covered in sequins and ribbons. It's quite pretty up close. There is a heart charm hanging in the middle off a beaded chain. At the moment it looks less than graceful because I have to tie it up to prevent Abby from grabbing it. Her new name should be grabby Abby.

The princess thing came from seeing all those netting things that cover little girls' beds. But they are all so delicate and white, and I certainly didn't need any more white in her room.

The idea for the A came from a friend's house. She had these letters in her girls' bathroom and had ribbons hanging down. On the ribbons hung their hair clips. So I decided to do the same for Abby.

The purple paint has glitter over it. The ribbons are odds and ends from other projects (it is nice to be able to use them for something!). Now I can see all her hair clips. Which is the only good thing about them since she doesn't like to wear them much. This way, they at least brighten up her room instead of sitting on the shelf doing nothing.

It turns out that I should definitely stay away from anything involving painting. First, I'm not patient enough for it. Second, I'm bad at it. There's nothing to make your self confidence fall to the bottom faster than having your 3 year old son say, "Mommy, that doesn't look right."

And he's right - it stinks. I got these canvases from Michael's on a $1 sale. They had some paint (I also used the paint I had at home because it was better) and were like coloring book pages - the drawing was already on it. All I had to do was paint it. And I couldn't even manage that. It really does suck.

 But for the time being, Abby won't notice so they are hanging in her room because that's where they were supposed to go.


So what did I learn? Stick to fabric and sewing and stay away from painting.