The Inspired Momma is getting a facelift

Only in bloggy world. I'm not personally getting one but my blog is. So what do you think of my new header? I love the colors and patterns so much. It is more me. More my style. My only issue is the size but I'll get to that in a minute.

When I started this blog almost a month ago, I was sooooo pumped up to start it that I just used a free header from a wonderful website that offers those. If you would like to check out their site it's Shabby Blogs. They have soooo many cute things it's crazy. And it's free. Awesomeness all together.

But...even tho their stuff is super cute, it wasn't exactly what I had imagined for this blog when I started it. So last night I FINALLY got around to working on changing my header. Last week sometime I bought some digital paper from Etsy to use. Until then I seriously didn't even know they sold that there. You can buy a pack of 12 different patterns for about $3. As much as I would love paying someone to design it all up for me, I can't exactly afford that right now. I'm really trying to put any extra money into fixing up the house.

So I had to just make my own. I stayed up until 3:30 am last night making it. I got a really late start, like around midnight, because my baby didn't want to go to sleep last night. Then it took me awhile to pick my pattern combo, font and all that went in it. Then I had trouble finding an free editor online that I wanted to use. It was a lot of trial and error. I kept making it too huge. And I finally figured out how to make it fit better. Then I woke up this morning to realize it's still way too big! I guess I was so tired last night I didn't notice it's still too big. I now have so much more respect for blog designers. It is so much harder to make a header than I realized. They really must know their stuff!

But, anyways the header is good for right now so I'm not going to touch it until I have time. It may be this evening, this week or even next month (I hope sooner than that tho!).

So I would love to hear what y'all think of it. Do you think it looks ok (other than the size)? I feel like it is so me. I love those colors and patterns so much. I'm hoping it really looks alright and it's not just my lack of sleep fooling me. Haha!

I need to get a tweeter account

Ok so yeah I know that's a twitter account not tweeter like my title says (or at least now I do thanks to my husband hehe) Ok my point of this post is to share how dumb I am about twitter. I just don't get it. Ever since I started this blog I've been reading up on how I can make it better. And I keep reading "make a facebook and twitter for your blog." I see how this can help your blog a lot. You can connect with other bloggers which is always good. And I can follow my favorite bloggers and keep up with them.

Facebook is no issue for me. I will say the new timeline took some getting used to. But now I've got that down too. Well kind of. And as of Pinterest, well needless to say I learned how to do that really fast ;-) Uh yeah I spend A LOT of time using that one.

But Twitter. It feels like a whole new world for me. I don't quite get the hashtags and twitter parties and all that. And I see so many people use it. I should know how to tweet, right?

Me and my hubby were talking, we got married in 2004 and back then we had never heard of Facebook, pinterest or Twitter. And now those are like household names. It's crazy how fast the world can change, isn't it? It kind of makes me think about when I'll be a grandparent, telling kids "in my day we didn't have no youtubes!". And yes I said Youtubes because that's what my husband's aunt called it one time and it cracked us up. She said "don't be putting this on youtubes now!".

Back to my original point, sorry I tend to ramble, I need to learn how to tweet. So I've made my Twitter account and you can follow me at @AllieTheMomma. So if you would like to follow me that would be awesome or if you wanna share with me your username on there I can follow you. Hopefully one of these days I will be a Twittering Pro (sorry that just sounds funny to me!)

Maybe this will help me! Haha

(Image Source)

Using my kid's art for my home

So I got another one of my Pinterest projects done! Yay! It's kind of a combination of a couple ideas on Pinterest. 

And my two little kiddos got to help me out! I used their drawing to make it.

My Inspiration from Pinterest

 (if you want to pin any of the following 3 images please do so from the source so the right person gets the credit)

I seen this adorable project where she took her kid's scribbles and put it on a canvas. 

(source)

And then I seen this one. They cut out a design and put the kid's art behind it. Also very cute.

(source)

I really really liked the idea of doing something like this. I love the little masterpieces my kids come up with. I would love a way to preserve it for a long time. And plus the idea of letting them have a hand in decorating our home sounded so cool to me. 

So I found this picture on pinterest for inspiration of my design. It's not scribbles, but fabric someone put on a canvas. Unfortunately it had no source. It went to a broken link when I clicked on it. So if you know who I can give credit to for this photo please let me know.

(Unknown Source)

I loved that design. But, I also liked the idea of making a cutout like the bunny and putting the art behind it. So I used some poster board, a hobby cutting knife, a picture frame from a yard sale, and of course my children's beautiful scribbles!

So here is how I did mine:

I set up my stuff on my bed so I could draw out my design to cut out.

This is what I ended up with.

I then took my photo frame I bought at a yard sale for a whole dollar and spray painted it a matte white.

And even tho I have a bunch of papers of my kid's scribbles, I asked them to make a new one for this art project. I wanted it to be on nice paper with no notebook lines in it. They are at the age where they love drawing suns, trees, people and sometimes monsters! But, I asked them if they would just do scribbles with all different colors for me. And of course they went for it! Who doesn't like to just go crazy on some paper with crayons? It's fun no matter how old you are.

And so that's what my little boys did. And yes they are wearing Spiderman costumes. It's kind of a regular thing around here. They LOVE superheros!

So after they gave me their masterpiece I then put it with my cutout in the spray-painted-yard-sale-find-for-only-a-dollar-frame. 

I think it turned out really well. I'm not too sure where to hang it up yet. I'm thinking about making a pretty gallery wall in my living room and adding it there. So this makes my second Pinterest Project done! You can see the first one here.

Now I'm on to the next one to do! Thanks for stopping by!


If you would like to learn more about us and this blog please go here.

Joining these awesome parties:

Monday
Making Mondays Marvelous @ C.R.A.F.T
Debbiedoo's Newbie Party Every Monday @ Debbiedoos
Made by you Monday @ Skip to my Lou
Making the world Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter 
CraftOManiac Monday @ CraftOManiac 
Inspire me Monday @ Singing Three Little Birds 
Motivate me Monday @ Keeping it Simple
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On the Porch
Tuesday
The Inspiration Board Link Party @ Carolyn's Homework
Tip Me Tuesday @ Tip Junkie
Take-a-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts
Get your Craft on Tuesday! @ Today's Creative Blog
Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
We Did It! Wednesday @ Sew much ado
Hookin up with HOH @ House of Hepworths
Show And Tell @ Blue Cricket Design
Thursday
Link Party Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursdays @ The Shabby Creek Cottage
Creative Thursdays @ Michelle's Tasty Creations
http://www.52mantels.com/
http://savedbylovecreations.com/
http://www.craftyscrappyhappy.net/
http://thriftydecorating-nikkiw.blogspot.com/
http://www.the36thavenue.com/
http://www.theartsygirlconnection.com/
http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com/
http://www.livelaughrowe.blogspot.com/
http://www.gritsandgiggles.blogspot.com/
http://radcrafter.com/
Friday
Friday Block Party @ Curb Alert
Weekend wrapup party @ Tatertots & Jello
It's a Hodgepodge Friday @ It's a Hodgepodge Life

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Flaunt It Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 
I'm Lovin' It Fridays @ Tidy Mom

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Watcha got weekend @ Lolly Jane Boutique 
Spread The Love Weekend Link Party @ Love notes by Lauryn
Unveil Your Genius @ Goings on in Texas
Saturday
Saturday nite special @ Funky junk interiors
Think Pink Saturdays @ Flamingo Toes
What's Shakin' @ Shaken Together 

Sunday
Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty 
Sundae Scoop @ I heart nap time
Sunday Round up @ Heatherly Loves
Sister Sunday @ Sisters of the Wild West
DIY Project Parade @ DIY Showoff
Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming by Stephanie Lynn
Overflowing with creativity @ It's overflowing
Sunday Round Up @ A Rosie Sweet Home

Please wipe your feet! (Doormat makeover)

Today is so nice outside. Seriously so beautiful. And we even have a chance of rain which would be awesome because of this horrible drought we are in. Our neighbors are literally doing rain dances out there right now. And I'm not kidding. They use drums and gather friends over to do rain dances.

So while I was outside hearing the drums beat, I was spray painting. Yay I finally tackled one of my many Pinterest projects!! Since I'm working on the outside of the house this week, I chose to give our doormat a makeover. 

This is what our doormat looked like before. I bought it several years back and believe it or not it used to say "Welcome". And years and years of wiping our feet on it, the letters finally wore off. 

So I stumbled across a how to article from Martha Stewart's website from Pinterest. They used painters tape and letters to make a custom doormat. So this got me inspired! And I did it. It's really simple. 

I made sure to clean the doormat as well as I could before I started. 

I had some 3M blue 2" painter's tape and also Green Frog's 1" tape. They both worked pretty good. I bought some cheap house letters at Lowe's. You can also print out and cut out your house numbers. But I really liked the style of the numbers. And plus I'm not that great at cutting out printouts! 

So I picked up these numbers at Lowe's for about $1.50 each. I was planning on going to get wooden numbers from the craft store but they were already closed last night. I just went ahead and bought the ones at Lowe's and I will figure out something else I could use them for later. 

Then I did a thick border using the 2" tape. And a smaller one using the 1". You can use a ruler or some sort of measuring device to help make sure it's even. I then just carefully placed the numbers in the middle. 

Then I went over it with black spray paint and let it completely dry before I removed the tape and numbers.

AND VOILA! Meet Matt! Yes I just named my doormat :-P

I think there is an improvement right? And it's not done "perfect" so please do not compare it to Martha Stewart's version! I'm happy with it tho. It's definitely better than before and I barely spent any money to get it done. 

So I got my inspiration from Pinterest to give Ol' Matt his makeover, the first being a Martha Stewart how to article, and the second is from Pottery Barn. The prices start at $69 there. So I'm happy with my thrifty makeover! :-)

Image via Martha Stewart (Source)

Image via Pottery Barn (Source)

So happy to mark one of my smaller DIY projects off my list. Now on to the next! 

Joining these awesome parties :

Monday
Making Mondays Marvelous @ C.R.A.F.T
Debbiedoo's Newbie Party Every Monday @ Debbiedoos
Made by you Monday @ Skip to my Lou
Making the world Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter 
CraftOManiac Monday @ CraftOManiac 
Inspire me Monday @ Singing Three Little Birds 
Motivate me Monday @ Keeping it Simple
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On the Porch
Tuesday
The Inspiration Board Link Party @ Carolyn's Homework
Tip Me Tuesday @ Tip Junkie
Take-a-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts
Get your Craft on Tuesday! @ Today's Creative Blog
Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
We Did It! Wednesday @ Sew much ado
Hookin up with HOH @ House of Hepworths
Show And Tell @ Blue Cricket Design
Thursday
Link Party Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursdays @ The Shabby Creek Cottage
Creative Thursdays @ Michelle's Tasty Creations
Friday
Friday Block Party @ Curb Alert
Weekend wrapup party @ Tatertots & Jello
It's a Hodgepodge Friday @ It's a Hodgepodge Life

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Flaunt It Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 
I'm Lovin' It Fridays @ Tidy Mom

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Watcha got weekend @ Lolly Jane Boutique 
Spread The Love Weekend Link Party @ Love notes by Lauryn
Unveil Your Genius @ Goings on in Texas
Saturday
Saturday nite special @ Funky junk interiors
Think Pink Saturdays @ Flamingo Toes
What's Shakin' @ Shaken Together 
Sunday
Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty 
Sundae Scoop @ I heart nap time
Sunday Round up @ Heatherly Loves
Sister Sunday @ Sisters of the Wild West
DIY Project Parade @ DIY Showoff
Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming by Stephanie Lynn