first post and countdown to motherhood (not for me!)

Everything is a song in my little family, and fittingly so is the name of this blog. When it comes to me and crafting, there are always "days like this." First things first -- don't expect to see some mind boggling crafts here. Cheap, crafty, and crazy. That's what I stick to. (Crazy because I'm a procrastinator, so crafts have to get done in record speed before they're needed.)

With that said, if you're like me, and most of your craft projects have to go to Plan B (or in my case, Plan H), this blog is for you. If you watch HGTV and think, "wow, that doesn't look too bad." Then you attempt to do the same thing, and it's a disaster, this blog is for you. If you can relate to the picture on the left, then you're in the right place!

I love being crafty, but the good Lord just didn't see fit to make me as crafty as I'd like to be. So there will be plenty of "days like this," and I won't sugarcoat things. If you see a project on this blog, you CAN repeat the same craft without failing. This is the no-fail blog, because trust me, if there's a way to mess up the craft, I'd find it.

Also, the big time crafty bloggers seem to update their blogs everyday or nearly every day, I can guarantee you won't find that here. I'm a mommy of N, my assertive one-year-old who loves her playtime, so craft time is highly limited.

Ok! Now let the crafting begin. First up, I put together a pregnancy countdown for my lovely sister-in-law who's expecting her first baby. Honestly, I wasn't too sure how this would turn out, so I didn't take any photos until I was done, but E-A-S-Y.

Here's what you need:
- brown paper mache box (I used one about 3.5 inches wide)
- mod podge
- craft paint brush
- craft paint
- scrapbook paper
- cutting board (or scissors, if you can cut better than I can)
- two square wooden blocks (I bought a pack of them, around 1.5 inches)
- letter and number stickers
- glue

Making your pregnancy countdown:

1. Paint all the edges of the paper mache box with a color that coordinates with your scrapbook paper. This will help non-perfect cuts blend in better.

A box like the little one on top of this stack.

2. Determine the size of paper you need to fit each side of the box, and cut the appropriate sizes. I didn't add paper to the bottom of my box because I flipped it upside down and glued the box lid to it (so the top of the lid is glued to the bottom of the box, if that makes sense).

3. Use mod podge to attach the appropriate sizes of paper to each part of the box.

4. Add wording using stickers (or nice handwriting ... which I definitely don't have!) to one side of the box. Use mod podge over the letters and entire box to seal everything up.

5. Glue lid and box together.

6. Paint wooden blocks and attach number stickers (or write them with a permanent marker) to each side. I didn't do this part correctly because I was thinking about the days in a month instead of weeks of pregnancy. (That's where the "crazy" comes in.) But here's what I figured out from my mistake: You need to have two zeros if you want your blocks to say "09" "08", etc. Otherwise, you can just remove one of the blocks when you get down to nine weeks and not have a zero. To have two zeros, you'd have to use a 6 and 9 that are interchangeable and can work for both numbers to free up a number on one side of a block. Also, you have to repeat numbers 1 and 2. The countdown can only start at 32 or lower, but 32 weeks until the due date is around the time when most women have their first OB appointment, so by the time you're aware of the pregnancy and make this, they'll probably already have 32 or less weeks to go.

7. Once you figure out the number fiasco, use mod podge over all the sides, and BOOM! You're done. Easy enough?

This would be a fun gift for any expecting mom-to-be in your life, or even yourself! Let me know if you try it out.