Fridge Frames

My kids are not even in school yet and we seem to have an endless supply of art projects that they do at daycare. Thus far they have either been piled up in the closet, floating around the house or car...or crumpled...or lost altogether. I wanted a way to display the art without having to visit the framing department at our local Michael's store, and also did not want to just tape them to the fridge...and then have to re-tape every time a new masterpiece came home. So I came up with Fridge Frames.

I started with a layered 11x14 mat that comes in a picture frame or that you can buy separately for a couple bucks. Next, I attached a clear 8.5x11 sheet protector over the 8x10 opening to make "glass" for the frame. Then I cut some foam core board into 1/2 inch strips and attached them along 3 sides of the mat, being careful to ensure there was enough room for a 9x12 piece of paper (the size of construction paper) between them. Finally, I attached a piece of thin cardboard to the three strips of foam core and stuck on adhesive magnets. I also made a little cutout in the cardboard backing for easy access to the inserted works of art.  Now my fridge will always be decorated for the season!

Here's the first Fridge Frame I made for the lil Rooster. I will be making another one for the Chick and I will update this post with step by step photos and instructions.

Time Saving Tip for this installment: I worked on this a little at a time while cooking dinner, chatting with the Daddy Rooster, and while doing my taxes.  Isn't multi-tasking great? :)

The Chicky and The Mama

 

Menu Planner

This is my take on an idea from Make and Takes. It was so easy! It's also practical and made to match my kitchen. The best part was I did it while watching a TV show with my family! Sure, it would've taken less time if I wasn't watching TV...but my whole goal is to be creative and not sacrifice my time for family! Another good thing is that I didn't even go to the store. I made this from things I had on hand: a frame from my last jobs' farewell luncheon, scrap booking paper and some old stickers. Hey, maybe all this efficient crafting will also get my closets cleaned out! :) 

Creativity

I'm posting this picture as my first entry because it helps me keep creativity in perspective. I tend to be a perfectionist about my projects. Fortunately my son is usually working along side me and keeps me in the right frame of mind.

We made salt dough pumpkins at Halloween last year and of course I was painting them perfect orange and green while he was slathering on orange and all sorts of glitter paints. At first I said 'no' but then it dawned on me...that's a really good idea! The project turned into our "Funky Punkin Patch" and looked wonderful! Last night he asked for apple juice with some strawberry syrup in it and at first I thought, "Weird!" But I tried some too and it tasted great!

So remember, you don't need to be perfect to create. You don't have to know exactly what you're doing to try something. And even if your an "expert", you should let loose and color outside the lines once in a while! 

Starting a blog...

Well, I never thought I'd be doing this. I'm not sure how big an audience I will have, I'm really just starting this blog to keep track of my crafts and organizing projects. We will see if it turns into something more! I'm working on a couple of ideas right now so I should have my first actual post soon. Stay tuned!

A little about me...I'm a working mom & wife. I've done crafty things all my life and I can't live without it...but having a busy family life is putting a damper on that! I hope to find more ways to incorporate crafts in to my schedule (I like to work on little projects while cooking or commuting or watching TV with the fam) and find more inspiration for my creative juices!