A few small projects

I recently had an unexpected day when Enma woke up with a gloopy, sloppy case of pink eye.  I knew she wasn't feeling too hot, so this was the perfect excuse to not push ourselves.  It was especially awesome because it was pouring all day, which was another perfect excuse to not have to do anything.  Not do anything?  Hmmmmm.  I used to be able to do nothing.  What happened to me?

So, I spent the day finishing a few small projects.  And, when Scooby Doo was no longer entertaining (yes, don't ask me why, but my 4 year old has an uncanny obsession with Scooby Doo) Emma joined in the craft making!  She was very intent on her work:

I had some extra slabs of wood leftover from a name sign I did and from some pallets, so we just started painting.  Emma made this all by herself.  The ONLY thing I did was outline the flower in pencil because I had originally planned on using this.  But, she filled it in on her own.  Oh, I did tell her how to spell Mommy, but she knows all her letters and wrote it on her own.  This sign is now proudly hanging on my office wall and I know it's one of those things I will own FOREVER.

And, for anyone familiar with ASCP, yes this is that.  That beautiful pink is Emperor's Silk mixed with Pure White and the minty light green is Antibes Green mixed with Pure White.  I'm not sure what Emma enjoyed most, making the colors or actually painting!

Next, I finished up a chair that I had painted a few weeks ago, then it just sat because I just didn't know what to do with it.  A friend of mine had given me this kids chair a while ago.  It came from her grandparent's home.  They were sadly clearing out thier house and before the yard sale, she snatched up this chair.  She gave it to me thinking I could do whatever I wanted with it.  So, after reading Winnie the Pooh's 'Giving is the Best Gift' about 50 nights in a row, I decided to practice what I preach.  I knew this had been a hard time for my friend, and having lost my Grandmother last year, I know how nice it is to have some sentimental things.  My friend has a 6 year old daughter, so this was perfect for her.  I knew the color was right, she loves this color! 

 I have to say, I had SO much fun doing this.  This was the relaxing, fun, creative part of painting furniture that I had kind of lost.  It has become more and more of a job to me and it was nice to do something creative, that nobody was expecting or waiting for and there was no pressure at all.  I've never been an artist and you don't have to be to paint furniture, just have some sort of vision.  But, as I was doing this chair, I felt more artistic and became very brave and daring when I added the flowers...all free hand!  Here it is:

The best part of sanding and distressing something after you paint is that it doesn't have to be perfect and precise.  The flowers aren't measured or perfectly placed, I just eyed it.  My friend was very happy (and suprised!) to have such a cute chair that will remind her of her grandparents when she looks at it.  And, best of all, Abbie loves it!

I don't have any before pictures, but it was just your basic, run of the mill, plain wood chair.

We had such a nice day, I was kind of hoping the pink eye would stick around or perhaps travel to me, but alas, no such luck.  Back to work the next day...