Lofty Ambitions

It's been a plan of mine that the boys should have loft beds when they were big enough to be trusted.  And it was finally time.  Also, they have been wreaking havoc with their matchbox cars in my living room for long enough.  So I decided to rip out their old carpet and install some super-for-zooming laminate flooring while I was at it.

And I only smashed one finger this time.  That is DEFINITELY a flooring record for me and hammered digits.  

New floor in.  Starting to build lofts.

My helpers doing an excellent job with the primer.

Finished product!

Enjoying the new floor - exactly as intended.  :)

   

Christmas Jammies

Every year my boys need new Christmas jammies.  Ok - "need" might be a strong word here.  But kids just need to be all cute and matchy on Christmas morning when they come down to see the tree, right?  Usually these jammies are from the store.  But this year I was inspired.  So I made them some extra cute jammies with plenty of time to spare.  Did I mention that they really like penguins?

Workin' On It

So the craft room progress has begun.  With a very limited budget for this project, I am forced to be creative and resourceful (ok, I never really need to be forced into either of those...).  And that may mean picking up a desk from someone's trash pile and repainting it white.  And using old pieces of pegboard found in my grandmother's attic.  And picture frames from the dollar store.  Don't judge.  It may end up being a slow process, but I think that it's off to a good start:

Don't look at the floor.  I haven't gotten around to painting it yet.  I think I might wait until Christmas break or some other time when I can possibly get a few uninterrupted hours.   Sigh.

Costumes: Installment #3

I promised that I would post about the costumes that I made for my boys this year.  They are really into Legos.  We must have them in bins by the thousands.  So there was no better idea out there for them this year.

There were (alas) some design flaws to these costumes.  Apparently at Shane's pre-school party, he tried to sit on the rug as instructed and promptly fell over square onto his back (I'm just picturing the flailing limbs...)  He had to be rescued back up and re-duct-taped.

Also, while trick-or-treating, we realized that neither of them could sufficiently walk up any steps.  This actually poses quite a problem as most houses around here have some sort of porch or front landing.

Oh well.  Next year, I think I will be back to sewing costumes.

Warning: Big Project Ahead

A big project is on the way, people.  BIG.  HUGE.  Just wait 'til you see what I've gotten myself into now.  I few days ago I had the urge to sneak a peek under the carpet in the closet of what we loving call "the blue room".  And just as I thought...  hiding under the old, stained, blue carpet are the house's original hardwood floors.  At first glance they actually appeared to be in pretty good condition.  I thought maybe a sanding and a new coat of poly would do.  But now that I have ripped up the whole kit-n-caboodle, there are a few spots that leave a bit to be desired.  

So I'm thinking of painting them.  I know that we Americans will all gasp at the thought of painting wood floors, but Europeans have been doing it for years.  Not to mention Quakers.  Plus I think it will look really cool.  It is going to be a craft room anyway.  And I am supposed to be creative in there.  So I thought of going for a look like one of these:

Now the only problem is that someday this room will belong to a teen-aged boy.  So I might have to tone down the girly.  Maybe grey?  Maybe some chevron stripes?  Any other ideas out there?

Grape Fan

So recently I've been updating our bedroom.  Mostly out of necessity because I had to fit my new (kick-your-butt) elliptical machine in there.  We got some new armoires which I stained a nice dark brown/black and added new hardware.  I built a new bed and constructed an upholstered head board.  It was all starting to come together. There was just one last serious eyesore left in the room.  I call him "Grape Fan".  For months I have been debating what to do about Grape Fan.  He's perfectly functional and we do like having a fan in our room.  But I just couldn't go one more night of staring up at this:

Complete with grape vine motif, fake plastic "wood" blades, hunter green accents and flower light covers.  Not to mention years of collected dust bunnies.   Awesome, right?  So I looked into new fans.  Now, some ceiling fans are actually quite afforable.  But I didn't want to replace Grape Fan with an equally ugly version, if it if was sans grapes.  I wanted a nice modern looking fan to match my decor at a reasonable (read: very low) price.  Is that too much to ask, Home Depot?  Needless to say, what I wanted doesn't really exist in my price range.  Also, the thought of rewiring a ceiling fan (even though we have done several light fixtures in the past) was looming over me.  And the I remembered - I am a crafty girl.  If there ever was anyone who would want to tackle the refurbishing of Grape Fan...  

So.  I got out my screwdriver and disassembled him.  Two cans of spray paint, a wire screen, some black fabric and three new glass shades later and VOILA!

Grape Fan no more.  Doesn't he look like a whole new fan?

Costumes: Installment #3

My niece is 2.  And talks in complete sentences.  Actually, she speaks better than some of the 4 yr olds that I know.  Apparently she likes to carry on conversations with her dolls and other inanimate objects.  Also, she speaks THROUGH her strawberry shortcake doll.  As in, "Daddy, strawberry shortcake says that she wants to watch a video right now."  Mmmmm-hmmmm.

So clearly I had no choice.  She just HAD to be strawberry shortcake for Halloween.  But not the old-school, pinafore strawberry shortcake of yore (otherwise know as my childhood)...  My niece only knows the slightly more hoed-up version.  She is no longer red really.  And only sports one strawberry, but whatever.  

So I had to walk out of Joann's with an armful of fuchsia fabric.  I also had to size down a pair of child size 8 leggings to fit a 2 yr old.  And I had to paint them with green stripes using blue painter's tape.  I guess these are the things that you do when you love costumes your niece. 

Costumes: Installment #2

The other day a friend made a request for a Dorothy costume for a certain 5 year old young lady whom I have known and loved since she was 18 mos. old.  Needless to say, I was an excited woman.  Excited as in ran to Joann's the moment that Jay got home to watch the kiddies.  Excited as in finished the entire thing the next day while taking two kids back and forth to their respective bus stops and nursery schools.  Also made them eat lunch in the living room because of the mess that I had created on the kitchen table.  (This girl is in DIRE need of a craft/work room).  Special thanks go out to my 5 yr old son, who was forced to try on this dress on several occasions.  Even with the protesting, I couldn't have done it so well without him!

I am happy to note that this is one of my finer works to date.  I followed directions and cut patterns precisely.  (who does that?)  And who knew?!  Patience sometimes does pay off.  

All it needs are some red shoes and braids.  I can not wait to see it on her!!

Costumes: Installment #1

So it's October.  And you know what that means.  Costume-making time!  I can't remember the last time that I actually WORE a costume...  but I love to make them for other people.  So my sister's idea this year was for her and her boyfriend to be Dharma workers.  (from LOST, in case you were...)  Making a tan jumpsuit shouldn't be hard, I said.  Without a pattern?   No probs.  So I got some cheap tan Walmart sheets and got to sewing.  It took the entire living room floor and the bulk of the day on Sunday, but here is the almost final product.  (only finished with hers, not his...  better get my butt working!)

Also - if you are a LOST-watcher, you would realize that I hadn't yet put the name and job description on the pocket.  Since she ended up working at the "hatch" (see patch), we decided upon "Mary - button pusher".  Hehehehe.

The Bug Bites Again

Every so often I get the urge to sew something.  Maybe the urge came because this year's Halloween costumes have not needed sewing. (don't worry.... more on that to come later in the month) And the sewing machine has been staring me down since I busted it out the other day to fix up the ugly crate.  So today I sewed.

The E shirt is for the baby of a friend of mine.  The S shirt is because Shane got jealous.  The brown and yellow fall bag is for me.  And the little girl backpack purse is for whichever little girl would like to claim it first.  :)  Any takers?

Pink Is Not Really My Thing

I'm not a pink girl.  But when you have a boatload of pink fabric that you've been hoarding for years, there comes a time when you should just girly something up.


The kids and I were in Sal's Boutique the other day (that's the Salvation Army, for all of you less sophisticated folk), when I stumbled upon these beauties:

$4.99 their little tags said.  Two chairs for $10?  Sold.  That's a steal.  So I dragged them (along with an armful of other crap) up to the counter and guess what??  It was my lucky day.  Apparently the day that we were there was pink tag day - all pink tags were 50% off.  Now you know what color tags my little ugly Christmas inspired beauties were sporting, right?  PINK.  $4.99 for TWO chairs.  Who could believe it?!?


Now...  since I had actually spent money on these chairs (albeit, 5 bucks), I decided that the rest of their redo needed to be free.  Hence the pink fabric.  But if you were an 8 or 10 year old girly girl, wouldn't you want these chairs in your bedroom?

I'm going to try to Craigslist them.  For more than $4.99.

From Crate to Great

So I had to find a place for my kids to stash library books.  You know... instead of under the couch or in the lego bin or the car.  The only truly suitable container that I could find was this grey plastic crate. 

 

What can I say?  It had the right dimensions and the right price.  But I can't deal with ugly.  So a few bucks of fabric and a half an hour later and THIS is the new and improved version.

What do you think?  Better, right?

Roadkill

The other day I found this awesome little frame on the curb.  Who throws stuff like this out??  My grouchy husband was forced to pull over to the side of the road and hide his head as his wife went scrapping through other people's trash once again.  With a few replacement boards and a coat of primer and paint, he's good as new!  I was going to paint some sort of design on this little guy, but I haven't worked that out yet.  What do you think?

The birth of a blog.

So.  Why blog?  Well.  I guess it seems to be the thing to do.  I have a lot of ideas.  I have a lot of work done.  And I have a lot of work to do.  My favorite type of project seems to be refurbishing.  There is nothing quite like finding a $2 gaudy red and green chair and using your imagination and handiwork to create something useful and beautiful.  Hence the chrysalis.  Hopefully the ugly little caterpillars that I put in will keep coming out as magnificently beautiful butterflies.  (Actually, I kind of like caterpillars... no offense intended towards you little guys.)  We shall see, I guess.