Guest Post: Naptime Craftiness

We love our church! But we love our small group even more! It is a fabulous group of young families who are striving to raise their kids in a godly way. We have the same goals and so it creates an incredible bond between us. Jeremiah and I have only been a part of this group for 6 months or so. I think that the Lord knew we would need that group with all that happened with Hudson's birth. And it is even more amazing to know that two women in our small group also had eclampsia and the HELLP syndrome - we have even more in common that we ever thought possible. I can't begin to tell you the gifts, meals, phone calls, cards and words of encouragement we received from these awesome couples. (So, there's my plug...find a church and get involved in a small group! You never know when you might need the support a group like this can give).

One of the members of our group also writes a blog. I noticed in this post that she had a list of 30 things to accomplish before she turns 30. Number 12 on that list was "Be a Guest Blogger." And so, I asked if she wanted to use my blog as an avenue for checking that item off her list...

Hi! I’m Amber and I blog at The Dixon Dialogue. I was so excited when Cindy offered to let me do a guest post on her blog! Cindy is so creative and thrifty – both things that I like to pretend to be too. It took me a couple of weeks to come up with a project and actually do it but I love the results.

The boys and I usually come in and out through the front door {because I need to clean out the garage} and our entry bench is usually a catch all for our stuff. I keep my keys on top of the lantern and there’s usually at least a backpack on top of it too. Underneath the bench are 3 canvas baskets that we have had for several years. I think I found them at Bed, Bath & Beyond or Target. They are the perfect size and we keep boy toys, dog toys and the boys’ jackets and gloves in them. But, they weren't anything special to look at – kinda plain.

I really like the baskets I have seen around the internet and magazines that look a little vintage and are numbered. So, I thought I could recreate that look using supplies I had on hand. This project literally cost me $0 and an hour of time. The first thing I had to do was wash the basket covers. Their tag said dry clean only but I just washed them in cold water on a delicate cycle and they turned out just fine.

I am not a perfectionist because if I were I would have ironed the baskets before painting. But when you have limited nap time to accomplish things – you just do the best that you can. The baskets have a plastic window on one of the short sides so I decided to paint the numbers on the opposite side.

Next, I used my Silhouette machine to cut out some number stencils. I downloaded a free stencil font from dafont.com since I didn’t already have one that I liked on my computer. If you don’t have a machine you could also print out a Word document and then use an exacto knife to make the stencil. My stencils were about 5 inches tall and I think they are a good size for my baskets.

My husband has a large tub of paint in the attic so I went through it and found a nice brown, called Coffee Bean. It’s probably a 20 year old bottle of paint and I didn't have any of the mix to make it permanent on fabric but I don’t plan on washing the bins again anytime soon.

I used a small craft paint brush.  The paint bled past the stencil a bit but not enough to bother me. I didn't measure or mark to place the stencil, just eyed it. They’re not perfectly center but again, that doesn't bother me. If it would bother you – definitely measure!

And now, the grand reveal! I really like how they turned out. They add just a little character to our entryway. And an added bonus, I can tell the boys to put away or get things out of “basket 2” and they know exactly where to look.

Thanks for letting me drop by and share my latest project! You can see more
projects and a lot about the boys at The Dixon Dialogue.

I love the look of her free afternoon naptime project! I tell Jeremiah all the time that I can't throw out any craft supplies because I never know what I may need for a project. An idea is even more exciting when you can complete it in one afternoon without spending any dollars.

Thanks, Amber, for sharing with us! Have any of you finished any naptime crafts for free? Or do any of you have a 30 by 30 list? I just may make a list for myself!