Ranger School Craft Challenge

When Zac left for Ranger School, I had no idea how I was going to occupy my time. I had a part time job, two fur babies and a whole lot of free time. We talked about all of the things I COULD do to fill my time, like working out, trying to make friends, or trying new recipes. And although I ended up doing all of those things, at the time the only idea we came up with that I thought I would stick to was a craft challenge.

The challenge was simple. For every week Zac was away, I had to complete at least one project and blog about it. In the end, he was gone for 13 weeks and I completed over 13 projects. There were a couple weeks I didn’t blog about my project because I didn’t want Zac to see it online before he saw it in person.

This challenge started as a way for me to fill time, but by the end of the 13 weeks, I had to find time to complete each project. I stepped out of my comfort zones and made friends, started going to the gym, and trying new things. When it was all said and done, this challenge jumpstarted my own “Ranger School” journey. I have changed and grown so much since the day I dropped Zac off. I did so much more than just wait for him to come home.

Well here it is! All the projects I completed in 13 weeks!

Ranger School Craft Challenge

Week One: Patriotic 4th of July Wreath

Week Two: Travel Globe

Week Three: Open When Letters & Batman Care Package

Week Four: Office Chair Makeover

Week Five: Rolodex Makeover

Week Six: Keepsake Treasure Box Makeover

Week Seven: Anniversary Care Package

Week Eight: Paper Anniversary Gift 

Week Nine: Olaf Painting

Week Ten: Hawaii Care Package

Week Eleven: Ribbon and Lace American Flag

Week Twelve: Anniversary Date Wall Hanging

Week Thirteen: Belle Dress & Beast Sign

I am so glad I decided to do this. Not only did it give me something to do, it gave me something to talk to people about on the Ranger School Support groups. It made reaching out to make friends a little bit easier. And once I made those friends I found myself stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new foods, going to the gym, and eventually jump starting a new lifestyle. This challenge helped get me out of a funk that came from being in a new place by myself and now I feel completely at home. And completing a weekly craft or project has almost become a habit of mine now. I have several other projects in the works and I can’t wait to share them with you!

Brushes and Beverages – Uptown Columbus, Georgia

Uptown Columbus, Georgia has quite a bit to offer. After living right outside of Uptown for seven months, I thought I had found all of its gems. But recently I stumbled onto Brushes and Beverages. I must have walked right by it countless times without ever knowing it was there.

Brushes and Beverages is a cute little art studio where anyone can paint a masterpiece while enjoying a glass of wine. The set up is very “beginner friendly”. I went with two of my friends on a Saturday night. They were pretty busy, but they were still very helpful and got us set up and painting as quickly as they could. When you walk in, you are greeted by an employee who explains prices and set up to you before you are seated. After receiving your canvas, you are free to walk around the studio and choose a painting off the walls. Once you find one you want to attempt, the workers get your pallet and prep your canvas for you to start. If you need shapes drawn, they will draw them for you and walk you through everything step-by-step. If you are a seasoned painter, don’t shy away. If you want to attempt it on your own, they are more than happy to let you do your thing. Either way, they make their rounds and help who ever needs it. 

Katie chose a beach scene, Tabitha chose an elephant painting and I chose a picture of Marilyn Monroe. The workers warned me that Marilyn was not a two hour painting, but I confidently told them that I could do it. Boy, was I wrong. But they let me stay an extra half hour after they closed, sent me home with extra paint, and a brush, and even took our picture for us. I was very impressed that they weren’t rushing us out the door 30 minutes after they closed on a Saturday night. They really did want their customers to be happy.

We were already planning our second visit before we even reached the door.

Brushes and Beverages gets the “Lyssa Stamp of Approval”

Name Canvas

This morning I had the pleasure of having Miss. Anna Kate over for a few hours. She loves arts & crafts just as much as I do, so as usual, we made something fancy. A couple weeks ago, we were scrolling through Pinterest together and we saw some paintings made using painters tape. She didn’t understand how it worked so today I picked a project to teach her. She had so much fun painting it! It is such a simple project for the little ones in your life.

Supplies:

• Canvas or Canvas Board
• Painters Tape
• Paint
• Old T-Shirt or Apron (not pictured)
• **Be prepared with lots of paper towels.**

Instructions:

1. Cover your table with paper towels or newspaper and get your little one in an old t-shirt or an apron. This is going to get really messy.
2. Use the tape to write out the child’s name (or any other word you may want) on the canvas board.
3. Have them push the tape down as hard as they can. Make sure it is flat to the canvas. You don’t want any paint sneaking under.
4. Hand them a brush and let them go crazy. Try to make sure they aren’t getting the paint too watery if they are washing their brushes off. Anna Kate learned that watery paint can get under the tape.
5. Let dry. About an hour. If you are under a time constraint you can cut down the time by turning on a fan or using a blow dryer.
6. Peel off the tape. If watery paint made its way under the tape, it will come right off with a wet paper towel.

The possibilities for this project are endless. No matter how many times you or your little one make it, you will never make the same project twice. You can also try to use letter stickers or stencils to get a new feel to your painting. Have fun creating your own masterpiece!

DIY Unity Canvas

My husband and I got married in August of 2014. We wanted a mix between a traditional wedding, and something as unique and different as we are. So when we reached the point of planning the unity portion of our ceremony, we spent days researching different ideas. Pinterest offered a lot of great inspiration, but we couldn’t find anything we liked. We knew we wanted something that we could keep for ever and display in our home. After days brain storming and walking through Hobby Lobby, I finally came up with a rough idea.

We bought three canvas letters to make our monogram. Our wedding colors were pink and navy blue, so Zac painted his “Z” navy and I painted my “A” pink. Then we took the large “C” and painted the left side blue and the right side pink. It took us a while to get them to blend in a way that we liked, but we eventually got them perfect. Then we bought two rectangular canvases. We wanted our parents and grandparents to be involved in the unity ceremony, so we decided to make a shape for all of them. Zac’s family shapes went on one canvas, and my shapes went on the other. We drew them in lightly with pencil. Then we picked a palette of four colors: pink, navy blue, purple and light blue. We figured out the best lay out of colors and assigned each family member a shape and a color. By figuring that out yourself before hand, you take away the guess work of what colors will be next to each other.

We told our family members not to worry about painting in the lines or being neat. How ever it ended up would show every person’s character in their shape. As each grandparent and parent made their entrance , they painted their shape and then sat down. Their were two shapes painted prior to the day of our wedding. Zac’s grandma passed earlier in the year so we had his grandpa paint her shape. And my grandpa was unable to leave the nursing home to be there with us, so we visited him prior to the big day and he painted his shape beautifully. Each painted canvas represented the people who made us who we are today.

When it came time for the unity part of our ceremony, Zac and I very carefully brought the two canvases together. This represented our two families becoming one. Then we took the canvas letter “C” we painted and placed it over top. (There was no way to hang the small letters, so we didn’t bother with them that day.) This was to symbolize us building our lives on the foundation our families had made for us. There were a few things we didn’t account for, like the navy blue and the purple looking almost the same next to each other. There was also the small issue with the “C”. We had put a nail in the board that the canvases were hung on where we wanted to hang the “C”, but we didn’t account for the space the canvases would take up. So when we tried to hang it, there wasn’t enough nail sticking out, so we had to sit it on top. It still looked beautiful.

After we got settled into our new apartment, I hot glued the two canvases together and then hot glued the canvas letters on top. They sort of blended in to the canvases in some spots so I painted a white boarder around each letter. Now our unity painting hangs in our living room, above our TV. It is a wonderful reminder of our commitment to each other and the best day of our lives and we get to look at it every day.
I am so glad we didn’t give up on coming up with a unique and new idea because this was one of the most talked about parts of our wedding. It is one of our most cherish possessions and it makes our living room look great!

Hopefully our Unity Canvas has inspired you to come up with a great unity idea, or to give our idea a try! Either way, good luck!

**Update: We finally put decided to put the money towards two canvases to compliment our Unity Canvas. We purchased canvas prints of us with each of our families to hang next to the Unity Canvas. We now have two photos of all the people who helped paint our beautiful master piece. I find it even more meaningful now, and it looks amazing.