DIY Stamps, Weird Little Rooms, Metaphors & A Pinterest Poser Challenge

When I feel overwhelmed or powerless, the first thing I turn to is chocolate.  Cake, candy, whatever, as long as it's chocolate.  The second thing I go to in times of uncertainty is wine.  Red wine makes everything better.  My third, and least destructive, thing I turn to is crafting.  Making, creating, painting, gluing makes me feel in control, it makes me feel happier.  Crafting is my happy place.  You might think I'd be better at it, but I'm usually drunk when I do my crafts so you know...

This week's Pinterest Poser Challenge isn't about drunk crafting, but it is about control. And decorating and making a weird little room a little more fun and putting all the corks from my many bottles of red wine to use. 

Details on this crafty project below.

In an attempt at not being a Pinterest Poser,* every week I  detail a new Pinterest challenge whether it be a new recipe or a craft.   

**My definition of a Pinterest Poser is someone who is all pins and no substance.**

There's this weird little room off the bathroom upstairs.  It's part linen closet, part craft storage room, part playroom.  Since we moved in almost two years ago, it has evolved into a Dump Everything In It Room.  And it has driven me crazy.

So in an unplanned, un-thought-through move I decided it was time for a weird room makeover.

And I found myself in an even bigger mess.  I actually got stuck in the doorway as I tried to shove Wade's old crib/toddler bed through it.  

"I may not like how you get there, but I always like the way your projects turn out," Tim said reassuringly after he snapped a picture of me stuck on the other side of the crib.  

This sort of describes my whole life right now.  It's the perfect metaphor.  I've been stuck in the messy part of a transition.  But just like my weird little room off the bathroom upstairs, my own makeover is happening.  And just like most of my crafts and Pinterest Poser Challenges, nothing turns out perfectly but I usually end up loving the results (flaws and all).  

One of the best parts of this room makeover was that it was free.  I used stuff I found around my house to make a new reading nook.

There's no door to this funky little space,
so we hung a curtain I found (and stamped-details below).

This is Wade's old crib/toddler bed and Lucy's old canopy/tent.  I can't wait to add more pillows to this new couch/daybed/old crib/toddler bed. 

These covers fell off our beloved books a while ago,
so I framed them.

This shelving was in our basement in the old house and held tools.  I love that now it holds books and old puzzles.  Like really old puzzles from when I was a kid.  I might spray paint these shelves sometime soon.

Tim and Lucy used the nook right away.

Not wanting to be left out,
JT joined in on the reading nook fun.

This week's Pinterest Poser Challenge isn't just to do a room makeover with stuff around your house, it's also a DIY stamp project.  I got the idea for the homemade stamp from this pin, but I made it my own.

I used a sheet of foam craft paper and a pair of old hair-cutting scissors (the same scissors that JT used to style his own bangs last week).

I found a few corks laying around.

 I cut the shape I wanted on the stamp.  I drew stars and hearts on the paper and then cut them out.  I then used super glue to stick them on the corks.

We found some paint in the weird little room and used that.  I wish I had used different colors, but we used what we had.

The kids and I used small paint brushes to paint the stamps.  Then we started stamp, stamp, stamping.

For some added fun, we sprinkled glitter on the more paint-filled stamps.

We used fabric, but all of us agreed that this year we are going to make our own wrapping paper for Christmas.  It was fun and easy and an all ages type of project.

And then we hung our curtain in our weird little room off the bathroom upstairs.

Have you made something from Pinterest lately?  Had any great successes? Or advice?  Or warning about a project that's a total waste of time? Do tell.

Please share whatever you're working on in the comments here or over on Facebook.

Come on over and follow my Pinterest boards.

Here are some of the projects I've already attempted, the good and the bad:

Birthday Shirt- click here
Gluten Free Pop Tarts- click here
Front Porch Kid Art Display- click here
Door turned into Table- click here

Summer Wish List Chalkboard-click here

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookie Sandwiches-click here

Painted Mason Jar Vases-click here

Cinco de Mayo Paper Flowers- click here

Earth Day Cupcakes- Click here

Nail Art-click here

Homemade Photo Booth Fun- click here

Fake Bangs- click here

DIY Subway Art- click here

Furniture Painting and Bench/Chest Makeover- click here

Thanksgiving-y Project/Gratitude/Holiday Countdown- click here
The Smoothie-click here

The Free Printable Turned Artwork in a Boring Hallway- click here

The chalk board-click here
Seven Layer Dip in Individual Cups (my favorite so far!)-click here
The pumpkin address-click here
The Kitchen Dancing Sign--click here

Come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

Oh yeah, and come follow me on Twitter @AngelaYBlood and subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel here.

About Time

Time was on my mind a lot this past weekend.  Everywhere there were reminders that it was going fast.  Reminders to pay attention.  Reminders that even though we may do our best to over-complicate, over-think, over-dramatize life, it's really pretty simple--time goes fast, make the most of it.

Date Night
Friday night Tim and I went on our first date in almost six months (which speaking of time, is waaaaay too long to go between date nights).   Our time is usually filled with kid activities.  When we finally get to sit down on the couch to watch a show together one of us usually falls asleep.  Yup, real romantic.  But we managed to stay awake for our movie date this past Friday (bonus- we went to a 7 o'clock show and we were home falling asleep on the couch by 10).

We went to see a movie about time called um, About Time.  It was sweet, funny and very British.   It's a love story, the love story of a family really.  And it's about time travel. And it has main characters saying things like "I try to live everyday as if it were the final day of my extraordinary ordinary life."  

Turning 12

My oldest child had a birthday this weekend, he turned 12.  

We didn't have the right candles for Peyton's cake so we improvised.  "4+8=12"  The "+" sign was made out of tooth picks.

This will be his last year before he officially becomes a teenager.    

In some ways I can't believe my baby is getting so much older and in other ways it makes perfect sense.  Peyton has always been an old soul.  He is serious and cautious and compassionate.  He is a hard worker.  He is smart.  It sort of makes perfect sense that he is growing up. 

Daylight Savings 
Just like every other person on Facebook, I am not a fan of Daylight Savings Time.  I'm a creature of habit and routines.  My kids were up at 5 a.m. and ready for bed at 6 p.m. yesterday (not our normal routine).  I felt late for everything and confused and annoyed.

I'm not so into change.  And that sucks because time is all about change.  Time is constantly changing it all up.  Whether it's the exhausted nights and weeks between date nights, our kids growing up, the seasons changing, the new wrinkles on my face, Manic Mondays to TGIFs, time doesn't stop changing everything.

Since yesterday felt like the longest day ever, we had time for a walk through our woods.  

While walking through the trails near our house, we noticed that the nature center was open for a "special Sunday time."  

Once again, a walk through our woods, our trails
just makes everything make sense.

"Look where you are going," I told Lucy who was running and pulling the wagon down the busy-ish trail."Why? I already know where I'm going," she said.  

Change. Time. Not in my control.  These words/phrases make it hard for me to breathe.  But this weekend reminded me that sometimes change makes sense, sometimes change is beautiful.  Long days can give you opportunities to explore and spend more time together knowing exactly where you are going.

You should see this sweet movie About Time.

Faith in Frivolity, What I Know For Sure & #iPPP

Every year we go to a pumpkin patch, go on a tractor ride, pick our favorite pumpkins, buy caramel apples and then go home.  This year, we waited too long and ran out of time to go to the patch.  So we went to the pretend/fake patch in the parking lot of the Kmart near our house.  Peyton was disgusted and boycotted the whole scene by staying in the minivan while we all enjoyed the pretend/fake pumpkin patch.

You'd almost never know it's a parking lot--I mean if you ignore the cement, traffic, Kmart sign and the actual surrounding parking lot.

It's odd to watch my oldest be so in the middle.  It's also sad, frustrating, awkward, painful, stupid, and bittersweet. Watching him struggle with the middle.  The whole literal middle school, but also the middle of being a little kid and a teenager.  Watching him wonder if he still wants to dress up for Halloween and then thinking duh, of course he wants to dress up and play and get candy and hang out with his friends.  Watching him want to move on but stay.  

I get surprised by him too.  Like the pretend/fake pumpkin patch boycott, I kind of love that he did that.  I love that he wants to do all of our traditions even though he's all stuck in the middle.  

That's another thing I totally appreciate about Halloween, it's a chance for everyone to have a little fun, be a kid.  I know, I know,  people get all sappy about Christmas and how it brings out the kid in all of us, but for me it's Halloween.  

Lucy loves Halloween as much as I do (for now).

Not to get all Great Pumpkin on you again, but Halloween means something.  Halloween renews my faith in frivolity and fun and dressing up and being silly and spooky and letting go.  Not to mention the feeling of community that comes from walking through your neighborhood and actually talking to your neighbors and laughing together.  

Some people get annoyed with the bigger kids that come to the door trick-or-treating, not me.  I love that I saw so many kids in the middle dressed up being silly and having fun, not worrying about what's cool.  I love that I saw so many parents in costumes with their kids.  

Tim and I getting in the spirit.  We dressed up in our Kroger wigs.  Tim took the kids out in the neighborhood and I stayed home and gave out candy.

I believe in Halloween, I believe in traditions, I believe in honoring the middle but giving those stuck there moments to not worry about it so much, I believe in pretend/fake pumpkin patch boycotts, I believe in being silly.  I know that for sure this week and always.

Here's what else I know for sure (right now):

• Fall + sunshine= perfect-ness.  It wasn't a very nice weather week which is foreshadowing what the next seven months will be like here in Michigan.  But we had one day with sunshine and it was wonderful.

Let's hear it for the front porch!
It was so wonderful to get outside and hang out on my beloved front porch.

Peyton praising the beauty that is Autumn.

• I've got some advice to give.  In my latest vlog, I'm handing it out to newlyweds and it involves honeymoons and sexting.  Check it out.

• Wade found some interesting reading material at the hair salon this week. And was shocked/fascinated by what is going in in Hollywood (according to People magazine).

• I've been thinking a lot about this video I watched last week, it's an interview with Kurt Cobain.  I'm fascinated by it.  I'm fascinated by his sensitivity, his creativity and how his parents' divorce made him feel.  It's not too long and worth a watch.

• One of the scariest things I saw this past week is JT's new haircut he gave himself.  I mean he's adorable and cute and I love him, but what in the world did he do? He just chopped off the front of his hair!

What do you know for sure (this week)? C'mon, we're friends, share what you know. 

Leave a comment here or on my Facebook page.

Please come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed. 

All the pictures in this post were taken with my phone.

I'm linking up today with my friends Greta from  Gfunkified.com and Sarah from SundaySpill.com for the #iPPP link up.  They host a link up where they encourage people to share "your funny, your yummy, your heartfelt, your favorite photos of the week" from our phones. 

Check them out.