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.