Thompson Family-Life

the process of getting there

I know you've heard me mention many times just how long we've lived in our home (15 years this fall... phew!) and you've seen us go through a short spell where we were looking at homes and then decided to put it off (we thought we were going to be rezoned for our Elementary school, but that fell through). But the idea of moving, having a bigger place - it definitely became more than just "we're moving because of our school situation".

Having some space between now and then, I can tell you the decision to wait was a very, very good decision. We're on a two-more-years plan for now (once Cooper is done with Elementary School - 5th grade - we will be moving for sure because we're not sold on our Middle School. We will either move within Atlanta, or there could be a possibility of moving out of the country where Ethan's boss lives - only time will tell.)

I think it's pretty rare that people stay in one house for any long period of time these days. Gone are the days when people live in their home for thirty, forty years. What's crazy is that our home was built in the 60's and it has had only had TWO home owners! The family before us, and us. Crazy, right?

We live in a world where it's always "on to the next bigger, better thing". That is not to say I haven't had my moments where I wish I was in another house for any number of reasons, but it's been an amazing ride, being in this home. Staying put really allows you to put your money elsewhere, you know? More than anything, it's been quite something seeing the transformations this house has gone through aesthetically.

Remember when people decorated their homes and that one style stayed... for like, decades? Things change so fast now! Our tastes are constantly changing. Mine definitely have. Some of the walls in our home have been painted over two, three times with whatever decorating whim I'm having at that moment. But you know what? That is what makes it all so fun.

It's also... a lot of work. Especially when you DIY pretty much every home project like we do. Last year was the first year in 14 years that we actually PAID someone to paint our walls. I think we creative-types, especially when you're looking at design blogs and you see all of these gorgeous, complete and cohesive home tours - we feel this pressure to have a FINISHED home.

You know what? In 15 years, our home still isn't "FINISHED". I'm not rushing to photograph a home tour. Things are constantly in flux. Always rearranging pictures on the wall. Waiting to find the time to paint that hutch, or this cabinet. Or add wallpaper to that, or paint over that kitchen backsplash. Oh, yeh, and I need to design some decals for said kitchen backsplash... The DIY to-do list is neverending. 

I always feel like there's that thing, and that thing that always needs to be done... but you know.. LIFE happens. School, and homework, and dinner... and, that's okay. : ) I think after 15 years, I'm okay that things aren't "finished" around here. It's a process. And while I do resent that neverending to-do list sometimes, I think having those projects to look forward to is what keeps me going. And when the tasks are (finally) completed, the reward of creating something that no one else has, that is completely unique to your home - well, it's all just plain worth it, right?

I do see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel... things are coming together... and I'm enjoying it, piece by piece by piece.

If you follow Kitschy Digitals on Instagram, you've seen my progress on the boys' room. We decorated it a few years ago because they just started sharing a room, and we wanted it to reflect both boys. It was cute, lots of vintage, fabric cloud decals I made for the walls (see a peek here) - but it was never very functional. It's a very tiny room, and having one twin bed and a full sized bed just didn't work. It was too crowded with not a lot of space to move. We finally took the clouds down and painted the room white, hoping it would make the space feel bigger. And things stayed that way for a while. We finally got our butts in gear a few weeks ago and bought some new furniture (a new bunk bed! opened up SO much space!), donated a ton of decor, and started buying new pieces we knew the boys would love - but would still retain a sense of style and good taste. (fine line isn't it?)

There are (of course) still a few more DIYs to take care of in here (see what I mean?), so once things are fine-tuned in here, I'll take more photos for a proper room tour. I'm happy to report that the boys really seem to love the room! Honestly? They seem to SLEEP better in here! There's something just really cozy about bunk beds. I always wanted a bunk bed growing up but my sister and I never shared a room. I was lying on the bottom bunk one day and I was totally wishing I could sleep in there.

I was saying this on Instagram - it's funny... there really is something to feng shui. The boys always seemed unsettled, and having beds right next to each other - well it just promoted trouble. They were always bugging each other and bickering. With the bunk beds, they can't really touch each other as easily (ha)... they still chat before they go to sleep (which I love) but they seem to drift off to sleep much easier. (phew) This makes for a happy Mommy & Daddy.

Aren't these little guys above funny? They're a set of vintage shot glasses I found at a flea market on the way home from Florida. They were too unique to pass up.

I found this large scale vintage fabric (below) a while back and finally stretched it around a large painter's canvas, and added it to this wall. This arrangement is still in flux.. but it's getting there (you don't want to know how many holes I've strategically covered - I'm not much for forethought in hanging pictures... i just start banging away with a hammer and nails.. and then, you know, regret it later.)

I'm always keeping my eyes open for special finds when I'm at thrift stores, flea markets and antique stores (and you know the virtual aisles of ebay and etsy). We've donated A LOT of things over the past year, and I've been pretty successful at only bringing home what I really, really love, and what will play a good part of a bigger aesthetically pleasing picture. I'm a knick-knack junkie, but I'm getting better. ; ) Oh, and that hutch up there? "Needs a coat of coral paint" has been on the DIY to-do for a while now. 

I'll try to list all of the sources of things below - bare in mind that many of these items are vintage that I can't really source.

And speaking of DIY to-do's... how about you? What to-do's do you have? Our boys' last day of school is tomorrow. Woot! Looking forward to getting outside and attacking some projects while they play. Share with me your projects. I want to hear! Let's see if we can scratch these babies off our lists!

Here's some of mine:

- paint two hutches

- paint tile backsplash in kitchen (ugly images on tiles). Design retro vinyl decals for said tiles.

- remove rust from craigslist outdoor chair finds (I've heard naval jelly works great!), spraypaint, make cushions from vinyl fabric

- paint and attach mid-century wooden legs to the boys' bookshelf find

- paint mid-century headboard that you thrifted two years ago (!!!) for master bedroom

- hang lighting

Sources: mid-century cat pattern: my "Groovy Kitty" digital kit // coral and turquoise "gumball" lamps: Urban Outfitters // white dresser: Stolmen unit from IKEA // white floating shelves: IKEA // bedding: IKEA // donut pillows: designed by Heidi Kenney for Kid Robot // large print in the boys' room: by Lily Scratchy // picture frames: IKEA // cloud pillow & polka-dot brown round chair: Land of Nod (chair was from a few years ago) // bunk bed: IKEA, painted yellow by me // french fry pillow: Society6.com // crocheted lion: made by me // black and white clock: IKEA // white wire baskets: IKEA // minecraft sword: handmade by my husband & son // Warhol Campbell's Soup cans: been hoarding these since they came out at Target last year! // polka-dot bear: handmade by me // handmade elephant: aliceapple // Spirited Away print: Society6.com // 2013 calendar: Misako Mimoko // painting of Ramona by friend Leigh Slingluff // three dolls in last photo: here

Mid-Century Inspired Vertical Record Storage DIY

I'm a huge fan of those tension pole lamps from the 50s and 60s. You know the ones! The designs of some are simply incredible. I can admit that I search the words "tension pole lamp" quite regularly on Craigslist, but I'm never lucky in finding anything. And the ones you find online or in vintage shops are pricey. As they probably should be - they are so unique! They make me so nostalgic, too. I'm not sure if I remember seeing one in a family member's home when I was little, or elsewhere, but they make me feel nostalgic for some reason. 

I think what I love about them is that they add this dimensional and almost architectural element to a room, instead of it just being a table or floor lamp. 

Several months ago I was searching all over for vintage record storage. There are lots of cool floor racks you can find, but I really wanted something off the floor. Since our rooms are small, we don't have a lot of floor space. I've seen many vintage commercial record storage racks at antique malls, you know the ones they use to store the records they're selling, and they usually have a big fat "NOT FOR SALE" sign on those. And even though they're really cool looking, they are still on the floor taking up a lot of space.

Supply list: wall-mount magazine rack (mine is from Container Store), tension pole shower caddy (mine is from Bed Bath & Beyond), wire cutters, thin craft wire, thick craft wire or twine, and your records!

SO, when I stumbled onto this vintage record tension pole rack, I thought, "that's it!" So, I came up with my own solution. As much as I'd love to have a vintage one, they're hard to find. I started googling tension rods and I soon found out that they don't make them for 8' and up ceilings, as tension rods are of course usually used for bathroom shower curtains or windows. I was bummed! But on a visit to Bed Bath and Beyond, I came upon the bath section and saw a tension pole shower caddy! Knowing that it's used from floor to ceiling, I thought I might could "hack" it into something I could use. And it was white, which was the color I was looking for. At $20, I bought it and it sat in my studio for a couple months (ha).

When it came to the actual "shelf" that the records would sit on, I thought a magazine holder of some sort would work. After scouring the nets for wall mount magazine files, I found this at the Container Store (I can't tell you how many times that store has come to my rescue!). It was open ended on both ends which was important because most magazine racks are only wide enough to hold a magazine, which is a smaller width than a record (12"). They were white and I loved the design, and at $9.99 each for two, I bought them. So the entire set up cost me $40 which I think isn't bad at all for a unique storage solution as this. If you are smart (unlike me) you could use one of those Bed Bath & Beyond coupons you probably get in the mail.

The great thing about the shower caddy, is they already come with these little "stoppers" where the bath shelving would be attached, so I had a place to jerry-rig my magazine files to. So nothing would be sliding down vertically. Here is how I crudely attached my magazine file to the pole. Hey, it doesn't look pretty, but it worked! I first wrapped thin craft wire (which I already had on hand) around the oval part of the clasp that clamps around the pole. (see #1 below). The wire pulls it tight (it would've been pulled tight by attaching the bath baskets, but since I wasn't using those, I needed to pull it tight some other way). 

Then the magazine file just sits in the top groove of that oval and then I used thicker wire to wrap around the magazine file, the pole, and the oval clamp (#2 above). This helps the magazine file to stay put and not teeter-totter to the left and right. You could also use twine for this step, which might be a better idea because I did stab myself a few times with that thick wire! (i have the cuts to prove it.) Wear gloves for sure. I would stick with the thinner craft wire for wrapping around the oval part though, because the wire keeps it nice and tight.

Each rack holds a handful of records. It definitely holds the weight! And if you're aesthetically anal retentive like me, you can choose album covers that have a similar color palette as your room. I also use it to hold the current record I'm listening to. It's a great way to use your albums as art as well. Right now our's is holding lots of holiday records, so it serves as holiday decor, too!

And it looks pretty bathed in pink-christmas-tree-light at night. : )

Bring it on, Halloween. (& my Grandmother's resemblance to Dolly Parton.)

I'm feeling pretty happy to finally have this room looking like a livable space! The painters were finished many weeks ago and soon after we had a photo shoot to complete (using this room as a backdrop), and then after that - it just sort of sat in shambles. No pretty things on the wall. But slowly but surely, I've been pulling it together. Halloween was a perfect excuse to get my butt in gear and finish up all the little details. Frames got coats of pretty spray paint. The color palette I've had in my mind seemed to all come together. I'm so happy with how everything looks. When I was done yesterday, I just sat in the chair and took it all in. Even Ethan likes it (ha). The white walls have proved to be so calming. 

Since we put house-hunting on hold, I've been approaching our home in a much different way. Embracing it and making it what I want it to be. It's not a place-holder anymore. Just because you've been in a house for a very long time, doesn't mean you can't see it with new eyes. All it takes is a little (or a lot!) of paint and experimenting with new things. It is incredibly fulfilling to me putting rooms together, gathering things for wall vignettes and seeing how they all go together visually. This is when I'm most in my element I think. It's like a huge canvas!

Certain elements will be replaced after Halloween, like the masks and vintage mystery novel covers. I have a stack of those I bought at a flea market a while ago. I love them so much! I'd love to scan some of the covers and blow them up for wall decor. The illustrations and spooky storylines go so well with Halloween.

The masks are all leftover from my last Halloween vignette. The Batman and Wonder Woman masks - they are actually just hung on the reverse side (the other side is full color). The red and white color palette ended up working perfectly! All the paper masks are vintage and found on Etsy. The red/orange and white typography print that says "Die gedanken sind frei" ("Thoughts are Free") is from this shop. I knew I wanted to add some bold, graphic, typographic prints to this room to introduce some modern elements (so it wouldn't be all vintage, vintage) and when I saw this on Etsy, I knew it was perfect. Unfortunately, it only came in an 11"x17" size so I had it scanned and enlarged at Staples. He has some other beautiful prints in other languages like French, but I'm not really a romantic languages kind of girl. ; ) I love the way German looks.

The rest of the artwork, as I've mentioned before, are all original drawings and paintings from Estate & Garage Sales. And then there's the Dolly record. ; ) I painted the backgrounds on several pieces so they'd match my palette better. I wanted the arrangement to have a gallery feel. 

I handcut the spider webs from leftover origami paper, one from cardstock (because I ran out of origami paper, and let me tell you, origami is way easier to cut into!) and the large one was cut from BLACK VELVET PAPER. Yum. I found it at Michaels. That stuff is amazing. I want more. I like it because it's a really rich black. A lot of black paper just isn't that dark and rich. I used this tutorial for cutting the webs. Super easy and a little addictive! I hung them from clear fishing wire.

I found these light up jack-o-lanterns at the thrift store yesterday. Perfect timing. The boys of course loved these. I had some other Martha Stewart decorations and paper silhouettes I bought on clearance at Michaels several years ago, most of which I haven't put out ever. I kept forgetting I had them! I put them around the house and let the boys find them when they got home from school yesterday. Campbell said his fav is the witch. I made the fabric pumkins a few years ago. You can make some too using my tutorial here. (This is my most pinned tutorial and I'm still amazed at how many people come back to make these every year. A grandmother left a comment saying she made some with her grandson this year! Heart melt!)

(fox and owl masks are vintage)

Ok, let's talk Dolly. I love her. Many of us love her. Honestly, I think it's a bit trendy to like her these days. It's the hipster thing to do to love old school country. ; ) (That is not me being a grumpy old lady at all.)

We all have our reasons for loving certain people, certain music. I love Dolly because I grew up listening to old school country music. I know at the time I probably thought it was LAME when we'd hop in our station wagon and my Dad would turn on old country. (Where's my pop music?! Where's my Whitney Houston!?) But now I appreciate this music SO MUCH. And I appreciate that it was always playing around me, either at home, or at my grandparents' homes in Louisiana. It sort of feels like it runs through my veins. When I hear it now, it transports me back to my childhood. All those warm-fuzzy-memories. 

I've gathered quite the collection of old country records at thrift stores over the past few years, and this Dolly record is one of them. I think I'm most drawn to his photo of her because she's so young, and it's before she did all those crazy things to her body (granted, I still love her crazy, plastic-surgery-inflicted body, because she's still DOLLY underneath it all. And I love that she has such a great sense of humor about her body!)

But I realized yesterday that I'm most drawn to this photo of her because she reminds me of my maternal Grandmother!

My Grandmother ("Mamaw" to me!) has always been beautiful. She still is. She's just always been striking. I always remember my Mom telling me that when she used to go places with her Mom, men would do the double-take and turn and look at her. Embarrassing for a kiddo right? Ha! 

That's my Mom on the left. She will probably shoot me for posting this photo of her. I think she looks beautiful though (bitchin' specs, Mom!) And why couldn't I have inherited her rich, dark hair?!

Here's my Grandmother with my Grandfather at the motel they owned. She's definitely channeling Dolly here.

I remember my cousins and I even finding a blonde wig at her house when we were little and thinking it was SO DOLLY. (If I remember correctly, one of us donned the wig and stuffed our shirt because as you know, Dolly's boobs are FAMOUS!) I don't think my grandmother wore wigs a lot - even without the wig, she reminds me so much of Dolly (minus the boobs).

And speaking of my Mom, here she is on her wedding day. I thought it was funny that the colors in the room remind me so much of what I have in my own house. The floral print on that couch is amazing! I wish I had been so into vintage when I got married, because I would've LOOOVED to have worn her dress. Although, even as a size 8 or so when I got married, I don't think I could've fit in her dress. My Mom was teeny-tiny. So pretty.

Thanks, Dolly, for bringing back all of those wonderful memories. You make me miss my grandparents even more. I'm so happy I get to see them all soon. It has felt too long.

trying new things: home decor edition

I know I mentioned a few posts ago that I was going to try and go in a different direction with my color palette with some of the rooms we recently repainted white, specifically the living room and kitchen. The kitchen still has a ways to go (hello knobs on cabinets please? can't the hutch paint itself?) but I'm making some progress on the living room. So I thought I'd share some peeks. 

I'm not ready to hang anything or perfect the furniture arrangement yet because we're doing two (!) photo shoots in this room for Kitschy Digitals this week & weekend. I'm super excited about those, but wow, they take a lot of preparation! Lots of nerves over here. I'm going to try my hand at some affordable studio lighting (courtesy of this e-course at Arrow & Apple) - going to practice on the boys beforehand. Wish me (us) luck! I have some suuuper cute models coming over to help me out including this talented lady and her gorgeous daughter and a kind blog reader and her girls! We plan on releasing the products we're photographing NEXT WEEK. Please check back for those - I think you'll find them really fun for the fall holidays coming up, for kiddos & adults alike! :D

Ok, back to the living room. I've been working on the main picture vignette that will be hanging above our couch. You might remember these pics from the holidays last year, what the room looked like before. Very eclectic, very kitschy, lots of vintage. 

While I'm keeping a lot of the vintage furniture, a lot of it is going lighter. Either by painting it, or introducing new stuff (thanks to Craigslist) - blonde colored end tables. Since the couch and walls are neutral, I feel like I can have bold pops of color with the accessories. But my goal is to: keep the feel of the room LIGHT and uncluttered.

A lot of my kitschy decor from this room is gone (Goodwill, I hope my donation brings me good thrifting Karma ; ) or it will be placed in the hutch in this room to keep it dedicated to one place. I DID keep all of my original portrait finds, a couple I don't think I've shared with you yet. I do love these originals because, well, no one else has them! I love the idea that I was able to continue the life of these unique pieces, and in some way, honor the artist and the subjects.

This beautiful lady on the left below is a painting that I don't think I've shared. I probably paid the most for her, around $30, at an antique mall. She had a dark blue/green background. This weekend, I painted it and the chair, colors that reflect my chosen color palette more. It never dawned on me to just alter these pieces until I had a lightbulb moment this weekend. And then I couldn't stop painting. The lady on the right (I got for free at a garage sale!) also had a blue-ish background that went lighter as well. By painting the objects or background of old portrait paintings and drawings, you're not taking away from the most important part: the person. 

New/old curtains!

This little trio of siblings is what I think is a chalk drawing on a flocked sort of paper. Have you ever seen something like this? I didn't realize it until I pulled it out away from the glass. It's fuzzy paper! I used the same acrylic paint for the background and also the oldest's shirt (again more blue I'm trying to get away from). I love how it came out! This was actually hanging on the wall at an Estate Sale, with no price tag. I asked about it and they told me $5. Sold. The girl with the white headband (seen in the second shot from the top) was $10 at an Estate Sale for a local artist. 

The other thing I've been wanting to introduce into our decor, especially this room, is more graphic/bold modern artwork. I'm a sucker for illustrations or screenprints. I found the Buddy Holly print at one of our local handmade stores, Youngblood Gallery. I'm not sure who the artist is, I'll have to check the print out and let you know. I think I've always steered clear of BLACK in any form in our decor, but I'm slowly changing my ways. As a graphic designer, I'm such a fan of bold, graphic statement pieces and I'm determined to feature them in some way.

Aiming for a tad bit more sophistication while still incorporating the homemade and vintage touches that will always be a staple in this home.

Trying new things. Maybe even trying to grow up a little? 

On another note, have you seen this course that my friend Katrina, at Pugly Pixel, released recently? As a person that has always struggled with CSS and coding, this looks pretty incredible. And if I know Katrina, it will be perfect, well-thought out, with LOTS of bang for your buck. Check it out if you haven't already!

Family Art Gallery

It seems like I've mentioned this before, but as one of those crafty people, I can say for a fact that my craftyness has never easily translated into getting crafty with my kids. I think I'm a typically Type A person, and as we all know - crafting with kids is messy. AS IT SHOULD TO BE. And honestly, I don't think it's the messes that have ever bothered me (Ethan is much more bothered by messes than me, which is ironic because when we got married, messes were NEVER a concern to him. haha - I think we've switched brains in a lot of ways over the past 14 years.)

It's the stress of just dealing with kids' personalities while crafting. And not just any kids, my kids. I think every parent deals with this in some ways. Our kids generally behave much better for other adults - at least that is what I typically see. And when Mommy is involved (especially Mommy!), there's a certain needyness and whineyness that comes with it all. I also feel that my kids have been generally... no better way to put this.. more high-strung in the past. The least little thing would just set them off. If something didn't go perfectly when crafting or creating, if they made a "mistake" (and as we all know, there are no mistakes in art! mistakes make art) it was just... over. 

But with everyone, you just typically chill out as you get older, and even Campbell being five, he's chilled out in a lot of ways. And Cooper is super chill compared to the way he used to be (Lord thank-you.) 

I think I've always held a bit of guilt that, yes, I'm that crafty gal... non-crafty people assume that we will be just as crafty with our kids.. and since I haven't been - I've felt pretty guilty about it. (What is it with parents? Always so guilt-ridden! ha)

All that said, this project went SUPER smoothly! I was thrilled! I was browsing around Atlanta's Art Supply Mecca, Binders, many weeks ago and it really inspired me to just jump in and try my hand at crafting with my boys again. We've had so many fails and meltdowns in the past, I had almost admitted defeat, but I was determined to try again.

And I'm so glad I did. I knew I wanted to do something that we could display in our home. Something they could look at every day and be proud of. I wanted them to know how proud of their work I was, too. They know if Mommy puts something on the wall, well then IT MUST BE PRETTY AWESOME.

I tried to have a plan beforehand so it wasn't a free-for-all, to eliminate any possible stressful situations for everyone. They were really excited about this big project Mommy had up her sleeve, and really, that's half the battle: getting them excited. They asked about it daily after I had bought the suppli1es "when are we going to do the project?" We finally did it one Saturday and dedicated a good part of the day to it because you have to let each layer dry in between.

Here are some things I kept in mind before we started, that worked out really well. I thought I'd list them here in case you've had the same problem as me in the past, just coming up with a doable project that everyone could enjoy, and also something that you could actually display in your home:

1. Limit Your Color Palette. I chose a handful of colors that would be used by everyone to create a cohesive look to all three canvases.

2. Make sure you let each layer dry! If you're like me (and my kids) you might be impatient. It's worth it to let each layer dry so that the colors don't mix together and become muddy. We had 3 layers.

3. Have repeating elements throughout all three canvases. We all used a limited color palette, but used all of the same colors in some way on each of our canvases. We also repeated the circular shaped elements as well on all 3.

4. Don't stress! And don't micro-manage. Part of me doing this with them was to teach them a little bit about creating art and knowing "when to stop" or when it needs "something a bit more". But do that in a way that is encouraging and not telling them exactly what to do (no matter how much you want to.) For example, Campbell didn't really want to stop adding more and more colors and "dots". I was worried they would all start to blend together in a big blob, but I was surprised that he did end up stopping after a while, and in all honesty - his painting is probably my favorite! Similarly, I was really impressed with Cooper's Minimalism! Usually kids want to add more, more, more, but he was very pleased with the "white space" and didn't want to bother with it too much - which was awesome!

5. Be sure to protect your surface and your kids' clothing. Those IKEA smocks have definitely come in handy that we bought many years ago and we put down kraft paper on our table.

6. Be strategic with the day you decide to take on a project. For us, a school night would've never worked. They are generally much more rested on weekends and you can devote a lot more time to it. All of this is common sense really, but good things to remember.

7. And this might be obvious, but use acrylic paint (or watercolors), not oil paint. Oil paint takes foreeeever to dry and is super smelly. It's also more expensive. I bought the generic brand of acrylics at Binders. They were perfect!

There was not one meltdown or stressful moment. Total victory (and relief!)

I bought lots of new supplies because we were in dire need of them. I'll say that we hardly used these Martha Stewart paints. They have that pearlescent look, which is pretty, but doesn't really stand out like I had hoped. Not really worth the purchase in my opinion.

I chose black for the line art drawing, because I knew it would stand out so well on top of these bright saturated colors. I knew I wanted to stick with just one color to keep it from getting busy, and I liked the graphic look of the black line art coupled with the larger abstract painted shapes.

You can always identify my sports-addict-son's work by the football and soccer imagery (below). ; ) And of course course weapons. I was thinking "awe, look how cute they are drawing and painting" and then they both started pointing out the weapons in their drawings and the "battles" that were taking place. Oy, what is it with boys and the weapons? It must be in their DNA?

I took inspiration for my painting loosely from a vintage fabric pattern I found online, that I can't seem to find now! I have to say it was the first time I'd created a piece of "art" in a really, really long time and I found myself all night doing that thing you do in art school.. where you hang it on the wall, stand back, critique it in your head, add more paint strokes and line drawings, a little here, and a little there, until it's just right. It took me back to college in a really great way. It was a great feeling. My piece might not be anything special, but the process of it was really fulfilling.

When you're done, you can finish off the edges if you'd like, or not. I added washi tape and other decorative tape and I love the finished look.

I love the way they compliment each other hanging in our playroom/living room. Seeing my boys create art reminded me of a fantastic quote by Picasso that I heard in college. It couldn't be a more true statement. Art by children isn't self-conscious in the way it becomes for adults - it's so expressive in the purest sense.