A Girlie Night of Pink

I go through phases when it comes to creating. Painting is something that I have a love hate relationship with. I used to paint everything in sight and it was usually very impulsive. But, that was a lot easier when my kiddos were a lot littler and when there weren't 5 of them!! Pulling out a can of paint can be a bit treacherous now. There is usually someone in every inch of our house at any given time and I have actually experienced the horrible and crazy experience of a can of paint spilled on my carpeting(more than once!!!) Imagine red paint on an almost white carpeting and a very happy little 3 year old holding the paint brush very proud of her artwork!! I think I could have passed out if I hadn't been in such a panic to clean it up. I can laugh now-I think!?

Spring has brought in a wave of inspiration with it this year. We moved into our home 4 1/2 years ago now and we painted every room right away. Most of the rooms have stayed those colors until this year. The 7 of us live in a little 3 bedroom ranch, so everything gets very loved! No wall goes untouched! I never realized that washing my walls would be as regular as washing my floors-yikes! It seems that a year for our wall's wear and tear seems to equal about 5 years for others. Wow! So, I have been tackling many of our rooms to clean them up. But of course, not just the walls need new life, all the furniture does too! And part of me is thinking, why did I have to paint every piece of furniture!!! ???

Last week, Madison, who is the oldest of our three girls, went treasure hunting with me one evening. We came across a very beat up old bookshelf that used to be attached to some sort of dresser at one time. We snatched it up for $3.00!!! It was perfect for the top of my bedroom desk. So the next evening after putting my littlest guy to bed, I pulled the shelf, desk, and a fresh can of girlie pink paint out for the makeover. Well- guess who came running into the room wanting to paint with me!? My former 3 year artist daughter, Joslyn who is now 7, and my youngest daughter, Bell, who is 4. My first response was , no sweeties, this is a grown up job. But it didn't take long for the heart to win out on the battle. The shelf and desk are only things, nothing compared to the joy of my little ones! I truly enjoyed painting with them and they did a great job. Including them in projects like these gives them such a confidence and a love of creating. They are really proud of the desk and I love that they are a part of my tasks. I am really hoping that allowing them to help when they are young will encourage them to continue to love helping when they are older. Joslyn has taken to doing her schoolwork at my desk now and I have found her just looking at it at times-I am so glad I got the chance to paint with her!!

Here are some pictures to show the project. A perfect trash to treasure project.