little free library

have you seen any of these little libraries in your neighborhood?

in the beginning of summer i was on a walk with two of my kids and we saw this cute box built like a house from afar. i thought it was some sort of decorative yard art or large mailbox until we approached a little closer and i saw a whole set up complete with benches. 
it was a tiny library!
 the books inside were free and the sign read,

 "take a book or bring a book or both".

ok, so, as a reader, this was jackpot city for me!

i couldn't believe this completely cool concept. my son and i went online to www.littlefreelibrary.org and realized it's a whole movement!

an idea born in wisconsin, a mission to promote literacy (hope they don't see my blog and shudder at the lack of capitalization's and bad grammar-oops) and love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide.

their goal is to build more than 2510 free libraries around the world-more than andrew carnegie!

they currently have them in more than 40 states and 20 countries. it's pretty darn genius!
and ya really can't steal a free book but it's all on the honor system.
take a book, leave a book.

  little library #1

The very first little library was built in the memory of june a. bol. it sits in the front yard of a home above the st. croix river in hudson, wisconsin. as you can see it was meant to look like a one-room schoolhouse. it's full of books about gardening and community life. not a drop of water has trickled inside....but books have come and gone since it's first week on the river.

we did take 1 book with us and quickly walked home to gather up all our old loved books that we could share. here is our pile ready for donation.

check out a few of these free libraries around the country:

new orleans

florida

los angeles

minnesota

cleveland, ohio

kansas

missoula, montana

vermont

seattle

find your closets free library here!

happy monday!

5 second hug tee diy

so while i am planning my world tour (bringing the 5 second hug to people near and far) i decided i should probably advertise to let people know why i am charging them with both arms open. ya know, to give them a head start to either run or comply.

awhile back i saw a really cool post about painting bleach on tee shirts with sayings.
i can't remember where i saw it to give the street cred to but it has stuck in my mind ever since.

i am a pretty crafty girl but am finding that i have less and less time to craft. but this! this i can do. 

basically my plan is that i will do this in the bathroom. i will lock the door and because i'm using beach i will say i am cleaning. kids know that when you pull out the cleaning supplies stuff's about to get real. they WILL scatter. brilliant! 

here is what you need:

dark tee (if it's too light it doesn't show up, you get bummed, think i suck, it's disappointing all around)

piece of chalk

piece of cardboard

thin brush (bristles should be stiff)

bleach

1. i put my tee on first so i can mark a boxed area (with the chalk) where i would paint. nothing worse than having an "o" or to have to dot an "i" right by your boob so this step is fairly important you see.

2. slip the piece of cardboard between the tee so the bleach doesn't seep through the back- although who knows this could look cool to see the reverse design from the back.

 3. use your chalk to write out what you want to say so you don't mess up when you are using the bleach. 

4. take your brush and dip it in a bowl of the bleach. be sure the bleach isn't dripping off the brush. then draw.

 the heart has already been painted by bleach

5. after it dries you will start to see the words or the design you just made appear. you may need to go back over a few areas. put the tee in the sun for an hour or 2 to help it develop.

 cool secret: if you do this on a heathered tee the 

bleach does the reverse and turns black.

this would be really cute to make for a friend who is gonna have a baby on tiny onesies dontcha think? anyone wanna take one for the team and have a baby so we can get crafty up in here??

i have plans to make more of these fun tee's and this was seriously so easy a trained monkey on CBS could do it. that's my kind of craft!