This is HUUUGE...

It's time for the Pinterest Challenge again!  You know, the brilliant creation that Sherry @Young House Love & Katie @Bower Power came up with to get all of us actually DOING all of those cool projects that we continually pin, but rarely act on!

Last challenge my dad & I built an ipod/iphone amp out of wood.  It rocks.  (Hehe...punny!)
Also, last fall I made a huge military style chalkboard map that my almost four year old loves.

Now for the other part of the announcement...drumroll, please...I get to co-host with these 3 lovely ladies this spring!!!  How insanely amazingly awesome is that?!?  Beyond excited.

Emily from Sparkle Meets Pop
Katie from Bower Power
Sherry from Young House Love

If you're not familiar with the Pinterest Challenge, it goes something like this:

1. Take a look through your pins (or pin something new) that you want to try.  No project is too big or too small!
2. Complete your project by Wednesday, May 8th.
3. Post about it on your blog, or take some photos to share in the comment section.
4. Come back here around 10am on May 8th (& also to Emily, Katie, & Sherry's corners of the interweb) to link up & share your finished project with all of us!

Some additional notes:

• Feel free to grab the banners off the top of this post to use on your own blog.
• Remember to link not only to the pin where you got your inspiration, but also to the original source - spread the love! 
• Pinterest doesn't know about this challenge (or endorse, sponsor, etc.) - it's just plain fun!

And now...for what I'm pinning & planning!  One of the very first things I ever pinned was a wooden door mat from Martha Stewart (#4 below).  It's pretty paint had me from the second I saw it!  And the arrival of spring (finally) means I can't wait to get started with outdoor projects!  I've got a few ideas swirling around about how to combine a lot of these ideas in this crazy head of mine.  Haha.

Sources:
one: Yellow Brick Home
two: French Bull (No longer available)
three: How Does She
four: Martha Stewart
five: Lowes Creative Ideas

I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Scrap wood art project

Grady's been home sick with a temp & cold all week.  (Another reason I'm ready for this winter to be over.)  As a parent, I feel awful when Grady isn't feeling well...but at the same time, it's kind of nice cuddling on the couch & spending quiet time together at home.  :)

We were looking for something to do to pass the time, & Grady suggested painting.  The kid LOVES to paint.  I didn't have any canvas board or nice paper, but found some old floor boards in the attic that we had just removed in order to take out an old fan & replaced with new plywood.  Use what you have!

Grady is in Easter mode, so he wanted to paint a bunny.  Correction, he wanted to paint the board, & wanted me to paint a bunny on it for him.  Here's what we came up with...the bunny was inspired by something we found on Google images.

The little artist "orange-washed" his board, then wanted to paint over it with pink, & leave a little bit of orange peeking through.  (PS, you can see the little slit of orange peeking through by the bunny's left ear - on your right.  Funny kid.)  His words, not mine.  Hehe.

After he was done with his orange & pink & white layers, I traced out a bunny & painted it with watered down craft paint.

It was looking a tad Precious Moments-y, so I tweaked the nose a bit & turned it into a rabbit nose.  I think it turned out pretty darn cute for being a collaborative piece of art by a 3 year old & a 30 year old!  The most important thing was that we had fun doing it together...

I wasn't sure at first what I wanted to paint on mine, so I started by cleaning off the surface & whitewashing it.  After a few minutes online I had found a quote from "Fantastic Mr. Fox" that I thought was cute & googled "fox illustration" to find an image to inspire me.

The quote reads: 

"We're all different.  Especially him.  But there's something kind of fantastic about that, isn't there?".

After whitewashing, I sketched out the quote & fox using my Burnt Umber colored watercolor pencil.  Back when I was doing mural painting we used these pencils all the time to sketch on the walls.  The color is perfect for blending in to almost any art, and any mistakes can just be wiped away with water!  You can find them at most art supply/craft stores.

I was trying to be imperfect & quick with this art.  I didn't want to commit too much time to it & knew that Grady's attention span wouldn't last that long anyway.  I quickly dry-brushed some color on the fox & painted the lettering with some watered down brown paint.  After I finished it was looking a little bold for my liking, so I whitewashed it again, right over what I had just painted.  I'm not sure where it'll go yet...probably in Grady's room?

the {not so pretty} porch

There's a long and narrow (think 6x14') porch off the back of our house that started out as a hodge podge of things when we moved in, and hasn't been touched much since then.  There are two different tin roofs that have several holes and dents in them, there was one wire "trellis" that I ripped out last summer, and one lattice wall.  There also used to be a speckled gray and black outdoor carpet on it, but that went away last summer too.  Oh, and the front of it sags slightly.  It's a real beauty (see image below).

Disclaimer: This is also before the new roof that we put on in the fall of 2009...this is what the front of the house looked like at the time this picture was taken...yikes!  And on an even scarier note, it used to have pink exterior doors!

 This is what it looks like now, after removing the awnings, shingling, and getting a new front door...

 And this is a Photoshop rendering of what I'm hoping it will look like by the end of the summer: new gray paint color, yellow doors, and new window boxes.  Better, no?!

Anywhoo...back to the back of the house.

This is what I'm toying around with for a layout.  (This sketch is not to scale...just a quick doodle.)  We're planning on creating a screened porch that we can use for eating, entertaining, and relaxation free from mosquitos!)  There's an ugly A/C unit and all of our utilities meters to the south of the porch that I'm planning on hiding with a vertical planter made from an old pallet.  The plan is to build a small bar directly across from the patio doors that will be able to sit all three of us comfortably, and also be used as a buffet when we have guests over.

To the north will be a small sitting/reading/coffee (beer) sipping area with a cute striped rug and a couple of gleaming yellow Adirondacks that I'm hoping to con my dad into building me for my birthday!  I also hope to reuse the "window" boxes that are currently on the porch.

We'll have to tear off the mismatched roof and replace it with a brand new seamless metal roof, replace the siding with some vertical panels, put a new light in, and paint, paint, paint.  I'm thinking that I'll paint the floor a teal-ish color similar to what's on the house now as a little tribute to what will soon be covered in a warm gray.  Here's the mood board I created as inspiration...

1. Pallet Planter Plans from here.
2. Adirondack chairs (hopefully) built by my handy dad.
3. Floor color (inspired by my house and this lovely porch).
4. Bar inspired by a picture on this site. Although I can't find the direct link anymore.
5. Metal roof that I'll get at Menards - probably in "burnished slate".
6. White frame and trim with black door, inspired by this porch. Originally from BH&G.
7. Dash & Albert striped rug, sold here.
8. Totally awesome and inexpensive barn light ($25!) but not sold online, from Menards.
9. Primed siding panels from Menards - painted gray.

The goal is to get the entire project done in time for Grady's third birthday the first weekend in June...and stick within a budget of $500...wish us luck!