House Project Mania

So I've been on quite a kick with getting our house to feel less like a remodel and more like a home! It's been a 5 year (yes, I did say FIVE) project and I've vowed to myself (and my family) that this year while the kids are in school I will be deep cleaning, completely overhaul our organization (or lack thereof) and actually decorate our home!

The moment the kids went back to school I was scouring (literally!) all our local thrift shops, goodwill & some antique shops - although there is quite a difference in pricing between all these! I've also been garage saling and craigslisting (did I just make up a new word?). Tomorrow I'll be meeting a woman at a halfway mark for a cool olive green velvet chair for our new little reading nook.

I've been such a fanatic about this new vision for our home, that I have completely neglected everything else - like blogging, even finishing sewing projects! Those cool grocery bags are still half-finished in a heap on my table. I haven't even thought about touching my watercolors - although I have painted, glazed and decoupaged quite a bit of furniture & room decor! I now have a pale blue wall opposite a burnt orange wall. I've bought at least a dozen fat quarters of coordinating fabric so I can make throw pillows and other stuff to pull it all together.

Anyway, I will be a lot more sparse this year with my blog because I am trying to be truly dedicated to finally finishing our home. I still have to work out cabinets thoughout the house, tile floor in the mudroom, closet organizers, floor, door & window moulding, painting all the trim, carpet in our bedroom and most likely engineered hardwood in the living room. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to coordinate all this and am looking forward to feeling great accomplishment at each step of the way.

I don't have any photos right now of my progress because a) I haven't taken any yet and b) I think I may have left my camera in Oregon over the weekend. I will be searching through our bags with the hope that it's deep down in a pocket somewhere. I will definitely post photos intermittently during the year.

end of summer recap

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post! We've been running around to the pool, library, sewing camp, VBS, birthday parties, school shopping, etc. I think it's been because of our busyness, our lack of a schedule and the heat (which hasn't been all that bad, I have to admit!) that has prevented me from being inspired to post. Blah, blah, blah!

Anyway, since I heard from Beth at SewMamaSew today, I went running around the house collecting all of our summer projects so I could have something up-to-date on the blog. The girls' doll quilts will be on the Create and Celebrate post tomorrow - they're pretty excited about it!




Here's the list of cool stuff we made (including their camp):
drawstring backpacks, zippered pencil cases, long rectangle pillows, bolster pillows, aprons, placemats, bandanna shorts, old-fashioned dishtowels, pajama pants (I love the trim!) and a shopping tote (1 of 7!). It's pretty fun to line everything up - makes a girl feel mighty successful! Oh, and the girls and I made an apron for my mom when she visited last week. They just changed the color scheme in their kitchen, so we wanted her to have something fun to wear when working in it!
Tomorrow we're spending the whole day packing for our annual camping trip - we'll be gone for 3 nights (the absolute most I can do without a shower!). We'll be taking our dog, Tenna, with us - we'll see how that goes....

Then next week the kids are back in school! Everyone in our household is pretty ready for it. I might start getting some time to paint again, too.

Oh yeah, here's another reason I've been busy




These girlies are so cute! Sunshine Girl named them all: Caramel & Peanut, Thunder & Lightning, and Tweetie & Sweetie. We've had them for about 10 days and they've already doubled in size. Gavin's working on the coup and I told the kids we'll get to paint it and 'cutesify' it. More photos to come. The kids are thrilled that we're on our way to becoming a 'farm!' The only future additions I see are a pair of goats - no cow, pig or horse for me! I think I've forgotten to mention our 3 kittens, though...here they are napping in my craft room.
I keep remembering stuff, so it's making this post really long - go figure! We also finished off another part of the house: the woodstove hearth and mantle. We're very happy with the results.


Gavin created the mantle with an oak tree off our property. We left the cultured stone up to the professionals and they did a fantastic job. And then we could get the woodstove installed so we won't have such a huge output of propane heat! I'm inspired now to work on finishing other parts of the house while the kids are in school.

If you've made it this far down the post, I'm impressed! I promise not such a long one next time - and in a shorter time span. Thanks for visiting!

celebrating four years

We had such a fun day celebrating Worker Boy's 4th birthday.


After 'pirate training school,' the kids went out on a treasure hunt...


and found the treasure chest hanging up in a tree!


Then we celebrated afterwards with cake and ice cream!



At the end of the party, we (Gavin and I) sacked on the couch while the birthday boy ran around with one of his new presents: a superhero cape.


The custom cape came with a personalized story and a really cool mask.


He is one happy camper!

Fun at sewing camp!

The girls have been having so much fun at sewing camp this week. First they made these great backpack bags that close with a drawstring ribbon. They're so great for swim towels, books, dolls, etc. We found the headband pattern in their book, so we made coordinating/reversible headbands to match!


I even joined in and made a couple of headbands for myself. If you know me personally, you can probably count on getting one in the near future! Just let me know what color scheme you want. They're so easy and quick - I made one in under 10 minutes!


The girls also made placemats and started on bookmarks out of felt. They ran out of time, so we'll finish them at home. They get to go back to the camp the week after next. So fun!

We've been really busy this week getting ready for Worker Boy's 4th birthday party. It's going to be a pirate party - and it's tomorrow! I stayed up way too late last night making a somewhat authentic looking treasure map with watercolor. I'll have photos after everything's all done. We're all pretty excited - the girls are not only helping with the party, but they've choreographed a skit for the kids! But for now, I'm pooped out!

Doll Quilts

I signed up the girls (Pumpkin Girl is 9 1/2, Sunshine Girl is 7 1/2) for a couple of 2-day sewing camps this summer. The first one is next week and I decided I better give them a primer on the sewing machine before they go! So we decided that making a doll pillow and quilt would be a great way to practice.



The girls had a great time picking out their fabrics (most are from my scrap pile), planning the layout of the quilt and cutting the squares. They were very patient with each row, wanting to be careful to line up the pieces and pin them together. They also really enjoyed ironing their seams along the way! I was amazed at how much they enjoyed the entire process and didn't peter out. The only parts where I helped were the first half of quilting everything together (I didn't want too much puckering), and sewing on the binding. We added the bows for a little bit of character. Oh, and the pillows were fun too - I think by the end of the summer, their dolls will have quite a few additional pillows!

It's so much fun to see my kids attempt, accomplish and enjoy a new craft. I especially enjoy the fact that it's an area that I find so satisfying myself. I hope in the next year or so I can get Worker (almost 4) started on some sewing. You may chuckle at that because he's 'all boy', but he helps out quite a bit in the kitchen and of course, always wants to do what his sisters are doing!

I will be sure to post the girls' projects from their camps.