crafting

Five Things Making Me Smile Lately

1. Garage nights with Jimmy. We’ve both been working on some projects a few nights a week in our garage and I so cherish that time we spend together painting, sanding, sawing, and creating. I’ll share what we’ve been working on soon! Completing projects together reminds me of the time right before we got married, when Jimmy helped me make a shoe shine box for my dad. Good memories 🙂

Working in garage

2. Indy. My sister’s puppy, Indy is so sweet. Hannah, Indy, and I spent the day together this past week and it was such a sweet day of laughter, pet sitting, and catching up. Hannah and I filmed a vlog that day, too, if anyone wants to see Indy in action! He got along so well with Lola and the dogs I pet sat. He’s a good boy 🙂

Golden Retriever Puppy

3. Baking Projects. I’m on to my next baking project! I’m making Princess Leia cupcakes for Leia’s first birthday party! I can’t believe she’s going to be a year old already. Time flies when you’re having fun 🙂

Princess Leia Cupcake

4. Gardening. Jimmy and I both agreed that our zucchini is the biggest it has ever been before. I think it’s from all the rain we’ve been getting here in Pittsburgh this summer. It’s kind of hard to tell in the picture, but the zucchini plant is up to my waist! Crazy, but we are loving it. Something else we’re loving? The landscaping fabric we put down in the garden this year. We have done zero hours of weeding and it is glorious!

Garden with zucchini

5. Pet sitting. I think I’ve mentioned pet sitting in every one of my posts for the past couple of years, ha. Business is busy and fun and challenging. When I was a child, it was my biggest and wildest dream to be able to work with animals one day. Now, I’m with animals all day, every day. I know a lot of people probably think it’s silly that I’m pretty much living out my career dream by pet sitting, but that’s just who God made me to be 🙂

Dog walking

What has been making you smile lately?

Button Art

I promised to post about how I make the button art I’ve been obsessed with lately, so here we are!

Below are a few examples of canvases I’ve made for family and friends. I usually do the first letter of someone’s first or last name. You could totally get creative and do something different, though!

I decided to photograph the process of making an “M” for my cousin’s daughter, Macie. First, let’s take a moment to reflect on how adorable she is!

Okay, back to the button art.

Supplies needed:

  • Canvas, your choice of size
  • Paint brush
  • Acrylic paint
  • Pencil
  • Buttons
  • Multi-purpose glue
  • Stencil or letter printed out and cut into a stencil
  • Mod Podge gloss (optional)

Directions:

  1. Paint the canvas your choice of color and allow it to dry completely. Lightly trace your printed letter or stencil onto the canvas in pencil.
  2. Glue buttons inside the letter, starting with larger ones and finishing with smaller ones. You can put the glue onto the buttons or directly onto the canvas, it’s up to you.
  3. If using Mod Podge, apply with a paint brush to the canvas, careful to avoid the buttons.
  4. Allow glue and Mod Podge (if using) to dry and show off your artwork!




Ta da! Pretty simple, right? Let me know if you have any questions!