framed....

i love these little clip frames from hobby lobby. they are sleek & simple, don't require matte boards or dry mounting, and are ridiculously inexpensive. inexpensive, as in $10.99 for a 16*20. so on half-price frame week --- well, you can do the math. i really needed something to adorn the boring wall space in my master bath, and decided a black & white photo gallery in clip frames would do the trick. while i would normally prefer gallery wall images to be from the same shoot, i decided to go with a few of my fave recent, but random, photos. i ordered several 11*14's and a couple of 16*20's - and i'm loving the way they turned out. i used additional clip frames to start a fine art gallery (thanks to lucy & her rock-star art teacher, mr. sorrels) above the sink area. to begin each day surrounded by treasured images of my precious imps (and some happy, vibrant art) is simply fabulous...

p.s....while these frames may not be fancy-schmancy enough for some living spaces, they might be perfect for spicing up a lonely hallway, or for displaying your little artist's latest work in the playroom...

home, home on the range...

impish (adj.) - mischievous; implike [hastert]

ghostly footprints...

have i mentioned i've always had a thing about halloween? i love the crafts, the decor, the pumpkin carving, the haunted houses, the costumes...everything! you've probably seen versions of this ghost print craft before. i decided to put a new twist on it this year, and get the whole fam involved. as usual, my husband was so excited. that guy will do almost anything for permission to play in my craft paint collection. well, not exactly. but he didn't even roll his eyes once when lucy kept insisting on painting yet another layer on his ticklish foot. good boy, shane. good boy...

to begin, we bought a large canvas from hobby lobby. they are often on sale, but if they are not, did you know they will scan your phone so you can redeem their weekly 40% off coupon? it's true. pretty tricky.  we then covered our workspace carefully with newspaper.  wait, i'm making that part up. we always do our crafts directly on our kitchen table surface - i love how all the colors from our past projects lend a little character to our kitchen.  we painted our canvas black with hobby lobby craft paint. next, we took turns painting each other's tootsies and stamping them in a row on the canvas. i'd recommend using a shade of cream as opposed to white, as white tends to yellow over time, especially when covered with a layer of gloss. next, i used big foam letters to stamp "booooo" across the bottom for that extra scary effect. we added faces with black paint pen. i also wrote the year on the edge of daddy ghost and covered the canvas with a couple layers of clear gloss. it will happily spend the halloween season on a black easel on the fireplace mantel.

my girls loved this project, and are so proud of our ghost family. you don't necessarily need the whole family involved to make a cute project, though. the first ghost print canvas i did is shown in the last image below. it features the feet of a two year old lucy. it stays up in the playroom all year long as a friendly reminder of yet another enchanting season to come...

a monster cupcake party!

had to share this simple little party plan to kick off the season...

last year lucy was in preschool three days a week, while some of her friends were already in kindergarten. the thought of her being in school 5 days a week the following year (let alone the TWELVE after that) had me brainstorming for ways to make those remaining days at home with her special. lucy & i decided to have a cupcake decorating party before halloween, and invite a couple of her pre-school buddies.

first, we put together invitations using scrapbook paper, stickers and my color printer. the week of the party, we went to the dollar store to pick out some candy (a.k.a. monster parts). licorice sticks, marshmallows, candy corn, gummy worms, m& m's, tootsie rolls, red hots...anything that might make hair, teeth, eyes etc. we printed out pictures of monster cupcakes from the internet and from a few halloween magazines, and displayed them on pumpkin place-card holders for decorating inspiration. then, we bought colorful cupcakes at sam's. yes, i could have made them. but 30 pre-made cupcakes for $12? yes, please. on the morning of the party, we placed the monster bits & pieces in halloween bowls & containers and displayed the cupcakes on our big black kitchen table. we hung three aprons and three chef's hats on the kitchen chairs - we were ready...

lucy was so excited for lauren & lyndsay to arrive! all three girls were immediately ready to dig into the candy and get started with their monster cupcake creations. they got creative with their monsters (and their candy sneaking). they loved showing off their silly frosted frankensteins to each other! i had orange and black cupcake to-go boxes awaiting their finished products.

when the cupcakes were complete, we enjoyed a bit of an orange-themed brunch: pimiento cheese finger sandwiches with little halloween picks, carrots and ranch, Cheetos & orange slices. a jack-o-lantern tin held some vintage looking orange drink bottles complete with skeleton straws.

craft time was next. lucy and i had purchased three little hobby lobby canvases and painted them black ahead of time. the moms helped each girl make a little white hand-print on each canvas, then the girls added a face with a black paint pen. (i love that lauren added glasses to hers...) we sent home tiny easels so our guests could display their "ghosts" at home.

party favors were cans of orange silly string tied with halloween treats & personalized tags. as the party came to a close, the girls giddily chased each other in the front yard until the cans were empty. perfect ending to a magical morning...

photo display - small print collection

i sent this idea to my client list awhile ago, and i thought i'd go ahead share it here, too. it seems people are always looking for something to do with their photos once their session is over. clients generally order lots of prints, big and little, for frames, wall galleries and gifts. however, it would be impossible to frame all the photos from the image gallery. so... what to do with the images you want to have in print, but do not have room to frame?

Order a collection of 4*6's (or 5*7's) from your photo session (or an event, holiday etc...). Take time to find the perfect container in which to display them on a shelf, coffee table, end table, desk, bedside table...the list goes on. A print collection can also make a very personal, sentimental gift for members of your family that may not need yet another framed 8*10. Look around flea markets & antique shops for appropriately sized items to re-purpose: vintage cigar boxes, pewter serving pieces, unusual pottery bowls, kitchen tins, wooden carved boxes...anything that will house your priceless compilation of photos. If it's a gift, spruce up the presentation by wrapping it in cellophane (so the photos kind of peek through). tie on a handmade gift tag with a pretty ribbon if you are feeling extra fancy! Of course, you can find generic photo boxes just about anywhere these days, but I think it's much more interesting to think OUTSIDE the (photo) box! I keep an ever-growing collection of prints in a worn woven Indian basket. It sits on an immigrant's trunk from the 1700's between two arm chairs. It's been shuffled through countless times by visitors to the LaDuke home - it really makes a warm little conversation piece.

Stoerner & HaVas

Had a great morning with the steam from Stoerner & HaVas!

Please check out their link:

http://www.stoernerandhavas.com/

lulu's treasures...

it seems we have the 5 year old female version of opie taylor living in our home. this kid never comes home without a multitude of treasures hidden in her pockets and backpack: marbles, rocks, feathers, "crystals", butterfly wings, pine-cones, fishin' worms and a few discoveries i don't quite recognize. she rarely empties those pockets completely before her clothes hit the laundry basket, but - no worries here. i've actually grown quite fond of the metallic ping ping in the dryer. the challenge has been finding a suitable home for her growing collection. the old sock drawer storage wasn't working anymore. (and i was getting a little tired of the petrified butterfly in the tupperware container showing up in odd places...). i wanted something plastic and transparent that was large enough to hold a whole kindergarten year's full of findings. i finally found this container at walmart, and labeled it with some scrapbook stickers. opie is so proud of her treasure jar and has been begging me to let her take it for show-n-tell. i sure hope there will be extra show-n-tell time that day if that ever happens....