Q is for Quotes

You didn't think I could do it did you? When you read about me doing Decorating A-Z you thought, "Sounds like a neat idea, but I bet she has to skip Q, X, and Z."
Well, little naysayer, here I am:

Q Week and I have a post!

I love a good quote. In most of my papers (for my undergrad and master's classes) I manage to squeeze in a good quote. I sprinkle them into conversation from time to time.
One I used just the other day:

"If you don't have something nice to say...come sit by me."
spoken by the one and only Truvy from Steel Magnolias.
(she and I must be kindred spirits. I am sleeping in her beauty shop!)

I'm not completely sass and meanness. I also like to use quotes to inspire from time to time.

I have been known to recite "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." when I want my students or my kids to keep going.
(That might qualify as sass and/or meanness, depends on your point of view I suppose!)

I could fill my classroom with quotes, if I had a cricut
(cricket? criket? how in the hey diddle DO you spell that thing) I probably would.

One of my favorites, I couldn't wait on a cricut for, I painted on a canvas and it hangs in my classroom:

Another favorite quote is painted on the wall in Little Man's room:


You can see how I did it here

I also love vinyl and have been looking for the perfect quote for my entryway. I was going to paint the verse about the Lord knowing our comings and goings, but I decided to search for the same quote in vinyl.
It took some time, but I found it and am now anxiously awaiting its arrival.
This is not my entryway, this is the picture from the website.

It was less than $20! I found it at www.stickywords.net
Granted I would have preferred the "non-KJV" version, but I still love it.


Stephanie over at Under the Table and Dreaming is having a great give-away from Wonderfully Wordy. I am going to link up to her because I think this post fits in perfectly! Wish me luck, cause I already have an idea where to put the prize!!


It is also time for Ms. Jenny and her Alphabe-Thursday.


I'm not making any promises, but I just MIGHT have another Q post later this week.
I know, I'm amazing. It's a curse :)

Mighty Warrior

Welcome to my first post of "M" week.


I have mentioned "Little Man" in previous blogs and today I am going to show you a project from his room.
First of all, he is called "Little Man" because he is very small for his age (he is 5 1/2 and looks about 3). I try to encourage him with "big" talk and expect more from him than a lot of people do. That being said, he is IN LOVE with Star Wars
(but, heck, what 5-105 year old man-child isn't).

I love vinyl quotes, but most of the time I can't find the quote I am looking for.
Yes, I know I could get some custom stuff, but I like the embellishments and variety of fonts the pre-designed stuff has
(plus I don't have the patience to create from scratch. I am a tweaker, not a creator).

I LOVE the quote from Judges 6:12, referring to Gideon,
"The Lord is with you mighty warrior."
That is PERFECT for little man. He is my mighty warrior, even in his size 7 (toddler) shoes. And that quote fits wonderfully in a semi-Star Wars theme room.
(I am also not a "theme-y" room person. That means I do it subtly-no Star Wars bedding or curtains, just little touches here and there.)

Here is how I created this quote for my little man:

Step 1:
I decided how much of the wall I wanted to take up, then drew level lines using chalk. (I did top and bottom lines to make sure my letters were somewhat the same size.)

Step 2:
Write the quote on the lines also with chalk.

Chalk is super easy to erase and you can easily paint over it. I used to use pencil, but could still see the pencil marks under the paint.

I free-handed this design. Now, first let me tell you I am no professional by even a stretch of your imagination. I just have pretty decent handwriting and a fairly steady hand. I simply found a font on the computer that looked "kiddish" and used that for my inspiration. This is doable for just about anyone, but you could print this out and create a stencil if you'd rather.

Step 3:
Step back and make sure it is large enough, centered, in the proper scale, etc.


Step 4:
Paint over the chalked-in words. I just used craft paint (the kind you can get for like $1 at Walmart, etc.)

Step 5:
Erase the lines and step back and enjoy.

Here you can see the chalk lines. You can even see where I don't write EXACTLY on top of the chalk. I almost always write bigger with paint than I do with chalk--another sign that I am no professional.

The sweetest thing was just this week I was putting little man to bed and he was staring at the quote. (He is in kindergarten and learning to read). He asked me what the last two words were, so I told him and he then read the whole thing to me.
I told him that meant he was strong and brave.
He just said "I know."
Awwwww...

Linking my warrior to: