creative little souls.. family time and pinterest.. the perfect match.

Hey friends! Happy Wednesday!! Such a beautiful week this week.. really soaking in the fun with the family and enjoying summer like nothing else. My family and HUGE extended family on my dad's side are all coming this weekend for a big Campbell Family reunion! This is my most favorite reunion. My dad had 12 brothers and sisters and most of them had large families as did he and my mom (I have 6 siblings) and so those reunions are just HUGE and so fun. Oddly enough.. though there are hundreds of us.. we are all really close? isn't that so weird? I love it. Family is so important to me.

Anyhow.. Monday we found ourselves at the new/old house again.. (i swear it's a nightly thing now.. just going over to see ben and braden who are always there working away on the house or shipping for Scarlet Lime... and then hanging out on a blanket, under the trees.. talking, laughing, creating something, looking on pinterest.. shooting bow and arrows, throwing the football. Something.)  but monday night we found oursevles there having "family  night".. FHE as we call it.. and after a wonderful lesson on being honest by Preston.. we decided to get a little artsy and have some fun. One of the goals I set for myself in the Living Canvas workshop, to create balance in my life was to do some kind of art project as a family at least once a month (I have actually been doing it twice a month so far). Ben and Braden (who is my oldest, 16 and too cool for just about everything).. also participate. I have to say.. Seriously that class has helped make my life SO much more organized and meaningful Reminding me what matters most (this class is currently closed but opens again next month!)

Anyhow... I am a lover of Pinterest as of late.. and saw this idea Elsie from a Beautiful Mess took a mug from the dollar store and transformed it with sharpie markers. Then you are to bake them for 30 mins at 350 degrees (though I saw on another site it was 150 Degrees..) but  This the example I saw here.. SO if I would have taken the time to read the post.. instead of just look at the picture, I would have KNOWN that they are not dishwasher safe.. but I didn't.. so here is my experience with it.

 

 

So i went to the dollar store and grabbed my buckets of sharpies and we went to town.

 

 

 

The kid really had fun with it.. including ben...

 I wanted to make a set of mugs for my new art studio..so when friends come to play and get messy.. they also have something fun and inspirational to drink out of.. so i took my doodling and went to town as well..

 

 I even wrote a little note in the bottom of them

 

 

 

We had a TON of fun just being creative, sitting on blankets outside on the lawn.. kids truly had a blast.

SO then was the real test. I baked them for 30 mins at 350 degrees. I actually  let them all cool in the oven for another hour.. so I could take them out one by one and make sure they wouldn't smear or brake when I was taking them out. (yeah I am pretty clumsy..lol)

  Then I  stuck them in the dishwasher.

and well..

nope! lol.. it wasn't quite as permanent as I had hoped. While some of the designs still stayed on them, you could see  alot some coming off and since then we have washed them a few more times (because we have been using them) and they have continued to come off.

So then I decided to go BACK to the post and read a little more.. and she did end up saying she tried handwashing and even scrubbing with a sponge and it held up just fine.. however when she put them in the dishwasher it came right off.

SO i learned two things from this..

One: Always READ the research you are doing.. dont' just look at the pretty pictures lol.. and two: pinterest pretty much rocks. :)

I know you can probably also use porcelain pens on the mugs as well. DecoArt makes some that are permanent. I am going to try next time as well too. so we will keep you posted!

Anyhow.. just wanted to share with you!

Next week I want to do THIS fun little project by Chrissie Grace,  I saw on pinterest as well.. a few different version..

 

 but just rocks, paints and probably more sharpies (or even Faber Castell pens!) I loved her idea that she put them on her front table and when people came to visit, she would ask them to take one with them. I also love the idea of randomly leaving them on peoples doorsteps.. as a little bit of love.  Great project for the kids on both accounts.. creating and sharing.

So I will keep you posted on what happens! I have started to pin a ton of project that I "Must create".. so when I do.. whether for family night or just for myself.. I will keep you posted on how it goes!

Have a wonderful wednesday!

Comments

[William Stephen]

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[Judy]

Hey Christi! stick a magnet on the back of the rock for a great fridge magnet!

[Suzy]

Your rocks rock. I can't wait to try the mugs.

[SheilaH]

I love that you are making wonderful memories @your new house & you haven't even moved in yet! Definitely going to do some of these projects with my kids. Thanks for the inspiration

[debswanson@gmail.com]

Love your rocks!
Lol my friend & I are currently painting rocks to "plant" around town. They say things like, Jesus loves you, God loves you so much He can't take His eyes off you... We are trying to make encouraging & uplifting "surprises" for people to "discover". Blessings~deedee

[Carrie/scrapchick]

Love the mugs! And love how you are living the class - I just got to the wheel last night and I realized my life is a little more of a bumpy ride then I thought. I love the idea of Art w/ the family and am totally stealing this for my 80/20 list!

[Wendy aka Roo]

Huge fan of Pinterest as well. Have lots of your stuff on boards! Sounds & looks like you all had agreat time-they turned out awesome! I have those rocks pinned too, I want to attempt to make them some time. I tried a Pinterest Project too-Have an old Kitchenaid Mixer (I mean really old), have you seen those pins where you personalize it with vinyl or that one girls ws who does custom order mixers for celebrites? Anyway-talk about diving in feet first-you should never just start taking apart something like that on the spur of the moment, you find you don't know what screws goes where etc & then you find that the internet has videos on how to take apart & clean your mixer...ugggh. I have it all apart & mostly all cleaned-next is figuring out what goes where, seeing if I need to reorder any missing parts then will begin the fun part-painting & making it my own! or who knows maybe I'll win a new one with all the contests I've been entering! Sorry to make this so long, but thought I'd share. ;)

[Coral]

I've seen this idea on Pinterest too. So great to see you trying the projects and sharing them - even if they haven't gone to plan. When you try a project, you really throw youself in. I admire your fearlessness!

I get distracted by looking at the pretty pictures too - Don't we all :)

I adore your next Pinterest project - the thought of leaving them on peoples porches as a surprise to find (RAK) is wonderful. Might just have to try this one out myself.

Big hugs - Coral.

[Jolene Eborn]

Love your projects! I have to tell you that my kids and I painted the rocks last year. We wrote uplifting messages on them and left them in places all along the greenbelt for people to find. It was a blast! We "patiently" waited for a few hours and went back to see if they had been found. They had and we were so excited. My daughter even imagined stories about who found her favorites. It was a BLAST! Your post reminded me that we need to do that again! Thanks!

[Marsha]

Ooohhh looks like so much fun! Thanks for being the test subject on the coffee mugs...was on my to do list from Pinterest (but I was a big skeptical)!! The rocks are so cute too...just put a bunch of plain ones in a planter on my porch...may have to paint them now (put it on my to do list anyway)! Glad you are having a fun and family filled summer and can't wait to get wild with you and Junelle in the fall!

[Christine Herman]

Hi!

Try Pebeo pens and paints for your mugs. I paint on plates and that is what I use. Dishwasher safe (top rack).

Here's my site for more inspiration!

Www.hermanscreations.etsy.com

[Kelly W.]

I love it -- so real, so true, right?? I am so totally stealing the rock idea -- I'm going camping in the U.P. next week with my daughter - no electricity, no running water...totally unplugged. This is a great idea for collecting rocks on the beach and transforming them into little pieces of art -- perfect project if it rains one day! (Of course, schlepping the rocks home on the airplane might get tricky...) :)

[joe]

i love pinterest too!(i'm following you lol)
we did the mugs too...love it!
for the rocks it's a very great idea!
And we can also ask people to do one when they come here! So funny to sit and look at them in the future!

[Jean McNulty]

What great ideas. I am going to give them both a try..thanks for sharing:)

[Sue W.]

LOVE the rocks! I may have to do some of them for Christmas gifts. I'd also like to try the coffee mugs, once YOU (!) get all the bugs worked out and tell us how to do it without all the hard work coming off, of course.