Bigger Kids... Bigger Schedule

One of the things about being a (self-diagnosed) OCD'er is that I always have to have lists.  Lots of lists.  And calendars - multiple calendars.  With lists on them.  Basically, if it is not written down, it does not exist to me.  One of the ways that I have managed to stay on top of our increasingly more demanding schedule is to have a weekly dry erase calendar that I update every Sunday night so that I will be aware of how the week will unfold and the family can easily see it while eating or passing through the kitchen.  Up 'til now, this little organizational tool looked like this:

Recently, I decided that I could improve upon this situation.  The dry erase calendar above was starting to get a bit small for weeks that were filled up with little boy things to do.  And I had this old frame with broken glass which once held a painting that was above our bed that I still loved.  And I had this old piece of plexi-glass sitting in our basement left over from the days when we used it to cover the railing area at the top of the stairs so Shane would stop trying to stick his ginormous baby head through the slats.  And so the light bulb went off.   I found 'a guy' who cut the plexi for me to fit in the frame (after, of course, I tried several times to do it myself and failed in each and every way).   I painted the days of the week backwards on the underside of the plexi so they will not wipe off with my dry erase marks.  And I found a piece of white fabric and some ribbon in my continuously growing stash.  And so this was born:

also I cleaned up a bit...  :)

A Place For Me

When we moved to this house over 6 years ago, I was excited that there was a work area down in the basement. In our previous house, we hadn't even had a basement.  But I was also pregnant and working and tired at all times.  I did manage to slap a coat of some leftover pinkish paint on the work area, but after that update, I pretty much called it a day.  Since then, I have found that I have actually been working around my workbench.  First of all, the lighting was horrible.  Secondly, the area that would have been the workbench has this ridiculous cabinet taking up the left side of it and also sported a 30 degree slope from the front to the back wall.  How am I supposed to build anything on a slopey work table?  On top of that, with two young children running around, I barely had any time to put away any tools that I took out, so they mostly just got throw in a heap on the remaining work surface.  I have been building furniture for the last few years on my back deck or on a crib base that I placed over an old rolling kitchen cart in the middle of the basement.  Suffice it to say that my "work area" was a hot mess.  Observe:

tool area mess

"workbench" disaster area

Recently I decided that in order to be a more productive and creative me, this situation HAD to change.  I roped my Dad into helping me fix several lighting situations.  (thanks dad!)  I sold the old rolling kitchen cart on craigslist to clear out some space.  And then the demolition began.  I ripped out the weird cabinet and the funny step type thing in the back of the workbench.  I built some new legs on the right side where it was sort of droopy.  I covered up that horrible brick basement wall with a whiteboard.   I painted with some oops paint that I got at Lowes for $3.  I covered up the paint can area with a curtain to keep the sawdust out.  And best of all, I leveled the top!

Now that I have my work area all straightened out (literally)....  does anyone need anything built????  I have the itch again....

Crazy Roll-Ups

I've just finished my first bulk order!  So, it was for my sister-in-law.   Whatever... still counting it.  A couple of years ago I made her kids some cute little crayon wraps that I saw on line and decided, "hey - I could replicate that...".  She loves them.  The kids love them.  I had to make more when subsequent kids were added to that side of the family.  So it was only fitting that for her youngest's first birthday party, my sister-in-law wanted to give every kid a crayon roll-up as a party favor.  So she placed an order... for 35.  (an "order" - sounds fancy, no?)  Needless to say, I have been at it all week on these crayon wraps and I'm not sure that I ever want to see one again, but they are cute, right?  And it really was good practice for me and good to see if I could handle an "order".  ;)  Does anyone else have a toddler birthday party coming up?  Or just a toddler?  Or just a love of coloring and roll-ups?

Close-up of the girls' versions 

Close-up of the boys' versions (Don't worry - I made some unisex ones too.  Just in case some random party-crashing one year old shows up.)

All ready for your purse or diaper bag!

White bean wreath amore.

Remember the white bean wreath?  It is now in it's full Valentine's Day regalia.  I think it will look even nicer once I move it to the outside and paint the door bright green this summer.  ;)

She's Done!

Final chair update.  (see the start of this project here)  The upholstery tacking strip that I ordered finally came in the mail and so on this past lovely Wednesday/blizzard/snow day, I set to work.  I just had to finish up the sides and the back.  It took some practice, I'll tell you...  but after the third piece of 'curve-ease', I started to get the hang of it.  Here she is in all of her finished glory (reeaaallly not sure that I want to give her up!)

Lighten Up A Little

Ever since redoing the back splash in my kitchen last year, I have been pondering painting my cabinets (see - these things are not ALWAYS spur of the moment decisions).  My kitchen, when we moved in, was an odd combo of log cabin and 80's sky blue laminate.  Little by little I have been changing it up.  I put in a new floor, but I chose it purely on durability and mud-hiding ability since I have two young boys and we use the kitchen as our main entrance.  So function won out over form on that one.  I put in a new neutral tile back splash and we forked over the big bucks for the new counter tops and appliances (refrigerator that doesn't tip backwards - score!)  I painted it.  Twice.  But it still felt dark and overwhelmingly caramel (no help from my choice of floor and the first color of paint).  So (probably because of my winter blues...) I finally decided to commit to painting the cabinets with the goal of lightening up the place.  I also painted a floor canvas to break up the caramel by the table area.  I fixed up the ugly bulb problem over a week ago, and I sewed some new valences from a table cloth.   Here is a photo history of my kitchen and it's many phases of redo.

Before we bought the house.

After we moved in - fix #1 - knobs (they didn't have ANY... weird, right?)

New boy-friendly floor (white just wasn't going to do it for my family!).  Also unfortunate caramel paint color that I chose and instantly hated.

New counter tops and appliances.  New paint color.  Redid the blue back splash..

A couple of days ago. (This is what a kitchen in use looks like....)

See how everything is was caramel? 

NOW - painted floor cloth

new valence

painted cabinets = less caramel  :)

much brighter! (hmmm... wish I had closed that drawer...  oh well!)

Up, Up, and AWAY!

This is how I spent my Sunday!  In my super-hot purple fleece jammies and big furry slippers...  There was a certain 2 yr old nephew who has been using his sister's tu-tu as a batman cape.  Don't ask me how...  So I fixed that problem and made superhero capes for the whole family.

No - they don't have six kids.  These babies are REVERSIBLE!  Boo-yah.

Buh-Bye Ugly Bulbs

A few years ago I decided that we needed more light in our kitchen/dining area over the table.  But I didn't want to have to pay an electrician to hardwire a new light fixture.  So I bought a vanity fixture and rewired it myself to plug into an outlet.  (Don't worry, it works fine. I asked for lots of advice before I spliced anything.)  Then along came those CFL lightbulbs.  Now, don't get me wrong....  I'm all for using them and saving energy, but they are U-G-L-Y (they ain't got no alibi...).  Just look at how they were hanging out of my light fixture:  (yeah, I know - also quite crooked)

Not to mention that it has always kind of looked like it belongs in a bathroom (hmmmm, wonder why...).  So I decided that it was high time that I fixed this look.  After bringing home (and then subsequently bringing back) several new glass shade things, I had an epiphany in the lighting department of Lowes.  Pendant shades!  They are longer than the ones meant for these fixtures and therefore cover up the ugly bulbs!  Woot-woot!

I tried to take a picture with the lights on, but it really wasn't coming out so great.  Too bad, because they look prettier with the light shining through the silver.  But don't they look better?  And less like a bathroom?

Next in line to go:  ugly tan valence.  Stay tuned...

Chair Update

Almost done!  Just waiting on the back and sides which need the 'curve ease' tacking strip.  Which, if I might add, is just a finger impaling death trap.  But whatever... still need it.  Going to have to order this lovely item from ebay and so the last bit of reupholstering must wait.  Alas.  But here is the latest up date.  Let me remind you of what she looked like before...

And now...

My New Boyfriend

I realized that I haven't yet dedicated a post to the new love in my life.  His name is Kreg and he is awesome.  I have wanted this for a long time.  I have heard all of the reviews and I knew that I needed him.  So (with a little behind-the-scenes hinting from the hubby), he was the Christmas present that I received from my brother.  I first used him in making the loft beds for the boys and I will tell you, it is a bit like having a DVR.  I have no idea how I lived without this for so long.  KREG - where have you been my whole life??  Ok, I'm done now.  Just had to share my love.

Wingback Chair: Modern Edition

My brother and his fiance have been looking for a cool wingback chair for their furniture-impaired living room.  A few months ago my friend Lindsey who was in the process of moving said to me, "hey, I know you like to fix up a good chair and I have this wingback chair that I don't want to take with me"....

The rest is history.  You know I followed her to her house that day and jammed that wingback chair into my trunk with the two kids in the back seat.  (Thanks Lindsey!)  Then it sat in my garage for a few weeks.  Until the day that I saw that clearance upholstery fabric was an additional 50% off at Joann's.  So I dragged my brother with me and we picked out fabric.

Now, I have upholstered things before, but nothing of this difficulty rating.  This is going to be a long process, for sure.  What I have learned so far is that reupholstering is like sewing and reverse engineering all in one.  Right up my alley.  I have also learned that there is an item called 'curve ease' and that I need it.

So I am doing this in very small pieces.  Take a piece off, replicate, put it back on.  So far so good.  But I have a long way to go.  Stay tuned!

1977 called...

There is this print that has been calling me from the shelf of Joann's for months.  But it is definitely calling from 1977.   Like my brother and I would have had little matching outfits made out of it back in the day.  So....  what to do with this fabric???  Hmmmmm....   how about making some little matching outfits for the next generation of siblings that are forced to wear homemade clothing??!!  Perfect idea, if I do say so myself!  :)

(Yes, yes, my 4 yr old has painted toenails.  At least they're black, right?)

Also - the background of the top picture gives a little hint of my next project (started last night...)!  Can you guess?

Lima Bean What?

I'm not really one for over the top holiday-decorating.  Except that this year I felt like something was missing from my Christmas-y decor.  But I don't really love the whole red and green thing and I don't like clutter.

I stumbled upon a tutorial for a diy lima bean wreath and I thought it was really cool.  Problem was, when I went to Hannaford to get them, they didn't have any in the dry variety.  So I bought navy beans.  Which are like 1/2 the size of lima beans.  Causing the already time-intensive hot-gluing project to double (of course).  Hellllooooo.... didn't think of that in the store.  Oh well.  After three days of gluing beans to my muslin covered hay wreath (don't ask), I finally finished it.  I chose to leave it natural for now so the color varies from white to tan and I like it that way.  But up against my tan wall, it kinda washes out.  So I think that I might spray paint it white (like the tutorial writer did).  Then I can just change the ribbon color for the next holiday.  :)  Next up, pink.

Who doesn't love a good fort?

Several weeks before Christmas, I found myself in a super-cool toy store looking for ideas.  And then I saw the mother of all ideas.  They were selling a fort kit!  A FORT-KIT!  Having two boys means that there have been  perpetual forts being built around my house (and my mother's) for years.  The store version of the fort kit was something in the line of $45.  For a fort??!?  So I did what any good crafty girl would do.  I copied it. For MUCH less than upwards of forty bucks.

Twin sheets with ties sewed all down the sides and middle.  Some rope in case you need to hang the center and create a teepee effect.  And some super-awesome clamps for, well...., clamping stuff.  Which, by the way, have proven to be the most fun part of the whole thing.  Sewed some initials on each one for clarity.  Packed it all into some handcrafted tote bags and voila!  HOURS of entertainment for little (and big?) boys and girls.  (Made one for my niece too.  Although she might be slightly too young, as seen by the rope = lasso incident.)

My mother thinks that I should sell these puppies.  Any takers??  :)