truthfully tracelaine

My friend Miranda is a new 2nd grade teacher this year.  She really wanted to do exciting things for her kids and part of that plan, was to make a neat little reading corner for them to "explore" their books.  She had had me work on projects for her before, so she knew we could brainstorm and come up with a really creative and fun idea.  She sent me a few pictures, and gave me some ideas about the colors and icons in her classroom.  Together we decided that a tall post with direction signs leading the kids to places they might read about, was just the right fit.  This is my spin on our idea. It occurred to me, that some of you might be able to use this in classrooms of your own or maybe switch it up a little and create a reading nook for your kids at home.  To create this little gem, I had to go out to the wood working shop and enlisted a little help from my husband.  Here is how we put it together. Gather your supplies. 1/2" Plywood.  (I ...

Have you ever wanted to get your child's teacher a unique gift to show them how much you appreciate what they do, but just couldn't find the right thing?  I have looked through all of the cute little quotes attached to candy or coffee mugs and while I liked them, I still didn't want to give my child's teacher something that they could receive from every other thankful mama in the classroom.  So, I put on my thinking cap and tried to come up with something.  Something that they could use all year long as well as incorporate their style in the classroom.  I remembered my daughter telling me a story about one teacher who had the kids carry a hockey stick with them in the halls.  While his goal was to embarrass the child who might not have been completely honest about the reasons to leave class, I understood that there was a need for it too.  Those kids who had to carry that hockey stick, legitimately had to be somewhere else, and I guarantee that teacher a...

When the kids were small, we had a tradition of taking Christmas pictures.  Living near Springfield, Missouri, we would get all dressed up and go down to Bass Pro to take beautiful Christmas pictures in front of the awesome decorations.  We made a deal as soon as we walked in the door, "You give me ONE great picture to show people and you can take as many goofy ones as you would like".  It worked every time!  It was such a fun time and a happy memory, but time passes and kids grow out of matching clothes and Christmas pictures.  I'm sad that the time has gone but thankful for the time together and the memories of how those happy days felt.   Christmas time, is an emotional time of year.  It seems to effect everyone that way, most people are excited and find the season thrilling, although some may be anxious or saddened by the season.  It is a roller coaster that seems to start sometime in October and tosses you about until after celebrat...

This project is for the birds!!   Just kidding, I have actually had a really great time creating these Christmas bird ornaments.      Recently, I had a great response to a post I had shared on Facebook about my latest crafts.  From that Facebook share I got a few orders and my first order was for Christmas bird ornaments.  I am loving that I get to create these cute little things.   Partly, because it is exciting to find out that someone is interested enough in my creativity to place an order.  But even more importantly, I was able to spend some quality time with my family, getting the order put together.   See, the birds were a hit, but I had only made about ten for the booth.  A friend of mine saw them and thought they would be perfect for her staff at Christmas.  She needed 25, so the "special order" got underway.  After a quick shopping trip, for scrapbook paper, trinkets and do-dads, we called in rei...

I try to get in to the flea market as often as I can, but with work and family, it is not always easy to find time.  I had stopped by not long ago, to check out my booth and see if it needed some attention.  It looked like a few things had sold, but it was still full of Fall and Christmas decor.  As I stood there, I wondered if I needed to create some more Christmas treasures or if it was time to figure out "what's next".  It was time to put my imagination to work again. As I stood in the middle of the wood shop I wondered, "what needs to happen next"?    I had a stack of lumber scraps, chalk paint, and twine, all that I needed was to toss in a little creativity.    Then it came to me!  With Christmas so close, this would be a great time to make some gifts for our teachers and show them some love.  They spend so much time with our kiddos and have such influence over them.  They spend days teaching, growing and loving our ch...

You Guys!!  I am so excited!  As I have mentioned before, my husband has a wood shop that he allows me to make whatever I want out of the scraps that he discards. I use the scraps, along with wood glue, staples, paint, stain, scrapbook paper, and any other trinket I find to make a unique crafty project.        Well, putting these craft projects together has been such good therapy for me. It truly makes me very peaceful.  The only problem I have come across, (besides the occasional sanded knuckles) is that eventually I run out of space to put all of my little projects.  So, with that in mind, I decide to jump in and see what would happen if I made them available for others to see and buy.  I rented a flea market booth and decided to open my own little craft boutique.     It really took a lot of courage for me to jump out there. I worried that the product wouldn't be attractive to to customers.  I worried that n...