Superbowl Distraction: Art Smock & Display

I'm sitting here watching the Superbowl as I type this and it's becoming sort of painful to watch, so I had to do something to distract myself. I really don't care either way who wins, but at this point I'm rooting for the 49ers to get it together and pull off some sort of miracle. The only reason I feel this way is because I'm a Clevelander, and we know all about being the underdog. In everything. To be a Cleveland sports fan means to be hopeful (to a fault) and to keep the bar low, and sometimes even then it's not enough. So I guess right now I'm thinking of the 49ers in a way that I would want other cities to think of the Browns in the same situation. At this point though I'm kind of just hoping they can lose with some semblance of dignity. Seriously, it's like the Ravens are playing against some random flag football team they found running around on a high school field nearby. Not pretty.

Here's the best thing about the Superbowl so far:

Yep. Those would be Fudgy Brownie Cookies that I found on Pinterest. I made a batch last week and they were gone in an embarrassingly short period of time, so I made another yesterday. They are deliciously thick, gooey, dark chocolatey goodness that you should make immediately.

But enough about the Superbowl (and apparently the stadium feels the same way, since the power is now out)--let's talk about art! Every day, at least five times a day, Charlotte asks to do art. She has a basket of random crayons and colored pencils and some scrap paper and stickers that she pulls out and says "art?" about a hundred times until I stop what I'm doing and pull her into my lap to color at the table. Sometimes she'll color by herself and since she's still at an age where she's very tempted to color on everything but the paper, I thought it might be a good idea to make her an art smock.

I used Simplicity pattern #3802 and made the smock, omitting the pocket. I was able to make it using fabric from my stash, since it used a little less than half a yard. It was a quick project to sew, taking only about an hour or so.

For these photos, I hung the smock up on Charlotte's new art display wall. She is constantly making new artwork and of course I want to display it. Our refrigerator is only magnetic on the sides, so it fills up quickly. I wanted a place I could display some artwork that could also be easily rotated whenever she creates new things. I took a long piece of ribbon, about 4 feet or so, tied bows on each end, then nailed it to the wall in the dining room (above her kitchen). I grabbed a bunch of clothespins to use to hang the artwork and it made the perfect solution. Now there's a special place to hang her artwork, enough space to hang several items (but still a reasonable number), and a way to switch things out easily.

Now that the power is back on and the teams have had a little break, maybe now the 49ers can figure out a way to turn this around. But either way, I'm having another cookie.

~Stacy