Back to School: Sign of Encouragement

With the new school year in full swing, I wanted to give my kids a simple reminder of how awesome their Dad and I think they are.  I love to see our kids grow, learn, struggle, win and blossom.  Childhood is filled with wonderment.

Each day we talk with our kids about their day.  What was great?  What was not so great?  How can we start tomorrow with a fresh outlook.  I wanted to remind them of the words we tend to use when helping them through their struggles and their triumphs.

 I have seen versions of this on other blogs and on Pinterest.  I love how it reminds us that there are many sides to us and that each and every day we should be proud of who we are.  This is a great mantra as the kids leave for school each day and a perfect reminder at the end of the day.

I had the perfect spot for this sign, a small wall right between the kids bedroom doors.  It is right at the end of the hallway so it will always serve a reminder as we reflect on our days.

I used a dark gray vinyl and some craft paints I had on hand.  After painting my board a creamy white, I used my Silhouette to create the words in a variety of fun fonts to help each word stand out.  I placed it on the board, slight off center.  This allowed me to add some color with a simple dry-brush technique using blue, green and gray.

 

It still needed a little something so I decided to put a banner across the top.  I found a fun chevron card stock in my stash with just the right blues and greens.  I used the Silhouette again to cut out a bunch of 1" circles.  I then pulled out the sewing machine and quickly sewed the circles together.  Gluing the end circles in place the banner was perfect.

I love the reminder for the kids (and for me too - as we all can use a little encouragement).

Swim Ribbon Holder

My daughter joined the swim team this year and she is so excited.  They have been swimming since the beginning of April but had their first meet on Tuesday.  It has been such a great experience for her.  We are so proud of the fact that she has found a sport that she loves so much.  We suffered through a couple of seasons of soccer.  And by suffer I mean, lots of tears, lots of "I don't want to go to practice", whining, etc.  This was not fun for ANY of us.

That being said, my little fish is competitive, she loves to win and more importantly, she loves to be recognized!  Swimming is wonderful for that, EVERYONE gets a ribbon in each race they swim (unless they are DQ'd but in the 6 & under division, the rules are pretty lax).

As soon as practice started, I knew I needed to make something for all of those ribbons.  I had a few ideas and knew I had all of the supplies for a wood sign with hooks for the ribbons, so I got to work.

I started with a 2x6 board.  Given the size, I determined my letter height to be about 2.5".  Using my trusty PowerPoint program, I found a font I liked and created my design.  (I don't have a fancy cutter and honestly, I like the painted letters better anyways.)

Since my daughter chose the phrase - peace, love, swim - using symbols for peace and love I first found the shapes using clip art and sized them appropriately.  I then selected my font and layed them out.  They actually worked perfectly on and 11" paper so i added a few inches to each side and cut my board to 17".

I painted the board a pretty pink that matches her room and the got started on the letters.  To assist with the transfer when I traced the letters, I scribbled the back of my paper with a soft leaded pencil.  I then laid it over the board and began to trace.

Once my design was on the board, I pulled out a pretty blue color and painted in the design. I felt like it seemed a bit flat so I created a shadow effect using a complimentary green.  I love how it turned out.

My original plan was to put 7 hooks across the bottom but a couple of them broke off when twisting them in so I had to go with a plan B.  Which, by the way, turned out amazing!  I simply added my daughters name down in the corner and I love it (so does she).

 

So there it is!  (Notice the soccer trophy on the dresser!  Couldn't resist pointing that out.  She has a medal too but I need to find that!) 

I have a plan for a bit of a fun collage on this wall to add some more color and fun to her room but here it is for now.  A place of honor for her 2 first place ribbons!

So far, she has learned freestyle and backstroke.  I am so excited that swimming is her thing!  I was a swim instructor and lifeguard from the age of 14 all the way through college so I love that the love of water has passed on!  (Note, my husband has a huge love of water too and can't wait until she is old enough to scuba dive!)

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