These canvases all have personalization of some sort. I love being able to make a canvas unusual and personalize it in some way for it’s recipient.

The first canvas is Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Florida. With the central feature being the new fountain that Grandpa put in all by himself! Making the fountain the center focus made the painting of the house seem a bit more whimsical as you see most of the house as the background, not the central focus.  This painting was done by “morphing” two photos together.

The second painting shows off Virginia and TJ scaling the double black diamond trail “True Grit”! Whew! I know I would have gone down the “No Grit” one myself. This painting was done by morphing three different photos together and using a bit of imagination to incorporate both kids on the same trail in different locations. I envisioned Virginia swooshing back and forth down the trail with TJ ahead a bit and launching himself off of the snow ramp into the air!

The third painting was a request from Lori for sunflowers.  Hidden inside each of the flowers is a different name-Elizabeth and Elijah, her twins, and Joshua, her oldest child. The middle two larger sunflowers are for herself-Lori, and her husband Brad. I loved the quote from Helen Keller, and found it a perfect fit for this canvas.

For your own custom grandparent canvas, or family action canvas, or any other canvas that you can think of-e-mail me at shannon@coffeycreationsforkids.com or check out my Etsy shop!

This little Jaymar children’s piano is adorable and in perfect working condition. The piano was painted a pale yellow and accented with all of her mommy’s favorite flowers-sunflowers, blue bells, snapdragons, and tulips! Mommy wanted lots of fun butterflies, insects, frogs and more on the piano for Ashlynn to find. Mommy also had a special quote for the top of the piano and a special prayer for baby Ashlynn on the back. What a lucky little baby to be so loved!

I also created a fun “I Spy” poem for Ashlynn and her Mommy. Here it is:

For Ashlynn Rayne Brokaw…

See if you can find….

A snail warming in the morning sun,

Of them you will find only one!

Snapdragons of pink and blue,

Of those, you can count way more than two!

Lots of little red ladybugs,

Let’s count them-1,2,3!

Mommy had this piano made

Especially for me!

Black and yellow Bumble bees, 1,2,3,4….

A grasshopper, a frog, a dragonfly, and more!

A caterpillar-with lots of legs-more than five!

Little Ashlynn, what else can you find?

A little faerie under a bloom,

A caterpillar inside a cocoon.

So many things you can count-6,7,8,9,10,

Go back to the beginning and do it all again!

Merry Christmas from your Mommy! 2011

Thank you so much Lindsey for being so great to work with! Have a great Christmas with your little sweetie! I hope she has lots of fun with her piano!!!

For your own custom coffey creations e-mail me at shannon@coffeycreationsforkids.com or check out my etsy shop!

This kid table top had been scratched, gauged, basically ruined. The disappointing thing is that apparently it wasn’t solid wood. For a pretty expensive table from Land of Nod, I was pretty disappointed to find that out. I loved the table because it has a storage area underneath, but ever since we’d gotten the table it kept coming apart. I was resolved to fix the whole thing! My kids use it all the time-many times a day. And, I wanted to make it even more fun!

I tried sanding it, priming and repainting it and you could still see the large scratches in it. I was also concerned that even if the scratches were only visible by looking at an angle that they would get wet and would swell up since the table wasn’t made of real wood. It’s a kids table for goodness sakes! I want them to be able to play on it not worry too much about it, you know?

Well, after exploring many options I finally found the one that seemed to fit our needs. I bought a ready made table top from Lowes. It was solid wood, perfectly round, and even stainable. It only cost 30$ and if the kids scratch this one up I figured I could sand it, strip it, whatever I wanted to do later on. I decided to paint a checkerboard pattern ont the top of the table to play games on-checkers, eventually chess, made up games-whatever. I picked cream, a medium sand color and a darker khaki or tan. I made the edges the darker color-hopefully hiding fingerprints, etc. Then I found this stuff by Rustoleum-it says Maximum scratch resistance, it’s basically a spray on polyurethane. It didn’t dry nearly as quickly as I would have liked it to, but it seems to be holding up really well so far!

We’ve played checkers with lego blocks, chess, made patterns with shaped wood pieces, used the bucky balls, the kids have used their crayons, pencils and markers for drawing on it, and even eaten countless meals on it. So far, so good!

I attached the table top to the existing one by predrilling some holes-not all the way through, of course! Then attaching them with wood screws. I also used small metal braces to secure the legs of the table to the middle wood pieces all the way around so the table will actually stay together. All in all, this table is now meant to last! It is a lot heavier and sturdier-perfect for my three boys!

You could even make your own sturdy kid table by checking out the supplies at Lowes-they have the table tops and all different sizes of legs! Or take a small regular table and cut the legs down a bit. It’s something your kids will use again and again.

Want a play table created and painted just for your little ones? Maybe you have the idea but aren’t sure how to do it? I’d be happy to help or make it for you! Contact me at shannon@coffeycreationsforkids.com

Here is a sneak peak of a couple of completed projects for this Christmas! Can’t show you the whole piano or the little guy’s name will show-don’t want to ruin a surprise!!!!!! Check back for updates on these and more projects later!

The piano is a Jaymar brand piano made in the 1950′s, it is in beautiful working condition and the keys sound like little bells. It is truly a remarkable little piano! This little boy has his ABC’s done in animals all over his very own personalized piano. Some letters have more than one animal, some items you can count-jellyfish?! And riding in the seat atop the elephant are a little boy and his sister-a rendition of the little owner to be and his sister!

The mini rocking chair is the perfect size for an American Girl Doll! And, for goodness sakes, she must have a personalized cushion as well! The chair has several “hiding” ladybugs and bumblebees. This chair is personalized with the little girl’s monogram-as is the cushion. The cushion is attached to the chair with coordinating pink gross grain ribbon ties.

For your own custom children’s creations e-mail me at shannon@coffeycreationsforkids.com !

The food toss game was such a hit I decided to “upgrade” it to a wooden toss game instead of the cardboard box! I actually made this last year and forgot to put it on the blog! How nice to be able to pull this out again and let the kids and their friends have a blast throwing “food” into the pilgrim’s tummy, mouth and hat! And “stuffing” the turkey! HA!

The board is approximately 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide. It is propped up by two hinged angled “legs” in the back so that it lays slanted (like cornhole boards!) when in use. Then when it’s time to put away the legs fold behind making it easy to store.

To check out the play food and the original cardboard Food Toss Game, click here.  For lots of other fun Thanksgiving ideas, click here.  Not the crafty type? Woodworking not your bag? Contact me at shannon@coffeycreationsforkids.com and I’ll make one for you!

Oh, the fun of a snow day! These penguins are having a blast! One holds a snowball ready to let fly-watch out! A baby penguin looks lovingly up at his mommy as the melee all around them ensues. Several other penguins are sliding down the hills on their tummies as the snow laden clouds let a little more snow fall onto the scene. Personalize this canvas for your little one or have it personalized as a perfect baby, child, or nursery gift!

To purchase this hand painted canvas item go to my Etsy shop!

This birth canvas was hand painted to coordinate with baby Hadley’s Serena and Lily Bedding and room decor. To see more of little Hadley’s items click on the following links: Coordinating onesies, mini blanket, bird mobile and personalized note cards, Mommy and baby bird shelf, Handpainted wooden tree playset,  and Handpainted frame and matting and Handpainted paper mache decorative birds .

For your own custom Coffey Creations e-mail me at shannon@coffeycreationsforkids.com . Also check out my Etsy shop

I love seeing this little cutie on her rocker! I had so much fun doing this rocker-I love being able to go wild with the pink and the flowers-really girly it up! But, the best part is seeing little Lyla enjoying it! Thanks so much Melissa for sharing these adorable photos of your little sweetie on her rocker!

For more pics of Lyla’s rocker click on this link. To check out some other fun rockers-for girls and boys click here!

E-mail me at shannon@coffeycreationsforkids.com for your own handpainted children’s items. Also, check out my Etsy store!

Check out this little sweetie on her own personalized rocking chair and cushion! The design on the back top of the chair emulates the design in Natalie’s curtains (shown behind her chair). The two “damask” designs flank Natalie’s monogram in the middle of the top of the back part of the chair. To see more of the chair and the fabulous peacock inspired cushion click on the following link.

Happy Birthday little Natalie!

Click here to see some of my other custom rocking chairs-and Natalie’s Mad about Madeline step stool!

For your own custom children and babies items e-mail me at shannon@coffeycreationsforkids.com or check out my Etsy shop.

Baby Hadley’s room has Serena and Lily’s Lola bedding and these hand made items continue with that theme. The hand painted paper mache birds are all painted differently, with ornate designs of pinks, greens, and yellow. The 11X14 frame (matted to fit a 8X10 photo) has been accented with pink along the wooden beaded edge and green along the inner part of the frame. The matting has been custom painted with Hadley’s full name along a flowering tree branch. The painted mat also includes the mommy and baby bird theme that is present in her room.

Oh! I can’t forget the personalized notecard! This little hand cut card shows a mommy and baby birdie each on their own branch looking at each other. The branches show off the same fun pink and green flowers as Hadley’s bedding. Hadley’s first name is “framed” at the bottom of the card in coordinating cardstock. The branches, birdies, flowers and Hadley’s name are all set on mounting tape to give a sense of depth the the card.

Check out baby Hadley’s other custom items-the mommy and baby bird mini blanket, onesie trio set, custom flower and bird mobile, mommy and baby bird shelving, custom coordinating canvas (all on one link) and the hand made wooden tree play set (link number two)!  Oh, I can think of so many more fun things to make for little Hadley!

For your own custom creations e-mail me at shannon@coffeycreationsforkids or check out my items on my Etsy shop !