Repurposed wood art

Art on wood is nothing new and it seems that now it has made it's way from the world of pinterest and etsy onto the store racks and after seeing them, I went home eager to make my own version for my bestie. I'm a words kind-of -gal. Words that fuel the heart and soul. Words that speak life and not death. My bestie is the queen of words and is ALWAYS encouraging those around her so it was something that I was hoping would bless her!

I started with a few pieces of scrap wood that we had in the garage. All were the exact same size and had that distressed effect from the paint peeling so they were all ready to go.

Next was adding wood glue in between each panel and firmly placing them together,

and lastly, adding the hand-painted quote:

To make it extra sturdy & for hanging purposes (the glue is not enough to hold it together for a long period of time as I found out the hard way) add metal brackets to the back =) Is it bad that I ended up liking the version that was created at home better then the one in the store??

Bento day is back!

Ladies and gentlemen, bento Friday's are back in session now that the little (and now little-s) are in school. Last year, we started a tradition of creating special bentos for school lunches for Nevaeh. Here is a recap of some of last year's bentos!

Chef husband Johnny has time and patience that baffles me but here is what he did to kick of the first  Friday:

The frog is insanely cute!  Like so cute I want to kiss the little froggie! 

We try to use all natural dyes- beets, celery etc can be boiled down or even added to the rice while boiling in fine pieces. BUT when you are in a hurry and have to get up early to make sushi rice and and and... a drop of food coloring works just as well as you can see! Can't wait to share what's for lunch here and there along with some tutorials. Stay tuned =)

In a blink: A letter to my daughter & capturing her faves each school year

My Dearest Daughter-

My how you have grown. Your inward beauty, your determiniation, your creativity, your attention to detail, your let's play chase and tickle each other side and let's see how to push mommy's buttons stubborn side, your crazy love and natural ability of sports and your artistic eye, your imagination and let's build a house for fairies and let's make daddy's car into a bat-mobile side and your logical black and white side. Your ability to make something out of nothing, your excitement of learning and school, your organized let's create a pattern and do everything like so side (like making check lists for drawings- "Draw the leaves- check, draw the flower- check...") and your caution to the wind/scribble side, your let's clean everything perfectly side and let's get messy side. Your big sisterly protection and teachers' heart with your little sisters. Your leadership. Your HEART. I see YOU.

I Love You A Million Horses Nevarooni-

Mommy