Baby girl...

...no, not in this house.  My friend Lori just had Baby #4.  She asked me to help her decorate the nursery, hence the trip to Omaha over Christmas break.  While the kids played we trekked around town for thrift store finds, fabric, etc. and then holed up in the baby's room and got to work.  I love to do home projects, but this was especially fun since it was for a baby GIRL!  Here's what we came up with in two days' time, without spending tons of money.  We tried to go for something a little vintage, not too matchy, not too babyish, fun colors.  I couldn't share until now since Baby Stella's name was a secret.

Ruffles are popular...bedskirt is from Pottery Barn.  Polka dot sheets (everyone needs some polka dots) are from Land of Nod (matching changing cover).  

We found this little half bird cage on clearance at Hob Lob--it had an ugly bird and quote on the frame which we pulled off and covered with burlap instead. $6!

I'm a sucker for chalkboards and bunting!  We painted the board onto the wall and made our own frame  (complete with distressing) with some trim from Home Depot.  I hope she wrote the baby's name on the chalkboard.

This collage wall is above the changing table.  The most expensive thing was the $9.99 "S".  Everything else was practically free (thrift store finds).  I should have taken some before pictures of these once ghetto frames.

 Burlap lamp from Target.

 Can't pass up a fur pillow, also from Target.

Tissue and felt flowers, also cheap but super cute.  

Thanks Lori for letting me help you get ready for little Stella.  Can't wait to meet her in person.

Jewelry Shop

My mom gave me this old ironing board cabinet thinking it might make a fun jewelry cupboard.  Indeed.  We ripped the iron out, cleaned it up, added a new knob and a bunch of hooks, and it is working out great.  (My jewelry used to hang IN SIGHT of Graham, and he was always pulling it down or breaking things).

 Some skinny necklaces hang from the bird that Quint and Susan gave me for a birthday one year.  (Adam has since started hanging his watches on here.... I suppose he can have a few hooks).

And speaking of jewelry.... this is my favorite piece right now.  I love letter/word necklaces and "Apricot Lane" (might be my new favorite store) just happened to have a "D." Woo hoo!

Kitchen Redo

I finally talked Adam into a kitchen makeover.  No tearing down walls or building on, just a facelift.  I've always wanted a white kitchen, and figured it would be a good idea to do it in this house since we probably won't live here forever.  That way if I decide it was a mistake I'll know better when I get my "forever house."  It wasn't awful before (actually it had been updated shortly before we moved in five years ago), just not my taste.  It used to be sky blue, which I hated, and I was still in the red/brown phase in 2006, so red it became.  We did get a new stainless stove and fridge soon after moving in, but the old dishwasher (which I painted faux stainless), microwave and sink were still in use.  We also put in new windows and blinds.

Old kitchen (with some test paint).

Old kitchen workspace.

Old kitchen, bar side.

Old kitchen, plus high chair that has since found a new home at the Say's.

Here is the new and improved space:  lighter paint--of course, it is tan Sharla--throughout the upstairs (done by me), painted cabinets (thanks to Brad Ficke and his crew), new countertops (Home Depot), new sink (Adam's contribution), and backsplash (by Jake Zeka).  These were the "planned for" items.  We also ended up with all new plumbing and garbage disposal, dishwasher, and microwave.  I also found some covering for the sliding doors going to the deck.  Better late than never--wonder if our backyard neighbors will miss looking in???  And, I bought new bar stools (gift to myself for all the painting I did :) and made a new curtain.  

I'm on a home improvement spending freeze, so any remaining projects I come up with this summer will have to fall into the "free" category.

Projects Part 2 & 3

I take a lot of pictures.  Fortunately I stopped making prints in 2009 or I'd have a whole closet full of photo albums.  So, another one of those undesirable jobs was putting the photos I had developed into albums (done) AND sorting five years worth of pictures that are on my computer.  This was actually kind of fun--easy to delete the extra poses or meaningless pictures, and entertaining to go back and look at the kids when they were younger.  

I look my whole library of photos and made each of the boys yearly folders with pictures of them taken from age 2-3, for example. Now they can go through and look at them when they want AND they are organized (with many of them filtered out) for me.  I've been saying I should do this for at least three years.... DONE!

Next up:  school papers, certificates, birthday cards, etc.  I love that my kids bring home so many papers from school and daycare so I can see what they are studying and how they are doing, however, we would need to invest in a storage shed if we kept everything.  Here's how I sort.  1.  Throw most papers away daily.  2.  Really good artwork gets displayed in their room or taken to work by me.  3.  Items worth keeping (interesting things they write/draw, certificates, projects, etc.) get put in a file like these in their closet.  

At the end of the year, I go through the box and decide if I still think it is an item worth saving.  If so, I put in the "2nd Grade" ziploc bag.  

I also have a ziploc bag for 1. Money (special coins, savings bond coupons, etc.), 2.  Medical  (baby height/weight, etc.), 3.  Certificates/Programs/Special Events, and 4.  Miscellaneous (odd ball items like things from friends or stuff made at home).

And finally:  Birthday Cards, Baby Cards, Holiday Cards.

And then it all goes back in the storage container and into the storeroom.  This is Owen's, but they all have one.  Not bad for 8 years.  

I love plastic boxes!

Projects Part 1

I didn't make a written summer "to do" list, but I've got it in my head.  I'm getting close to being able to show you my big kitchen reveal, but for now I'll start with the projects that fall into the categories of "undesirable" and "mostly free."  I made myself a deal (do you make deals with yourself too?) that if we made some upgrades and changes to our kitchen, then I'd get all of the other "undesirables" done too.  Here's project #1:  basement bathroom closet.  We (as in Jake Zeka) updated the bathroom this winter with new floor tile, sink, toilet, and light fixture.  We also added new white baseboards and I painted it to match the rest of the living space in the basement.  I did not paint the closet.  And while it's not that big of a deal, it bothered me.  Plus I didn't like how the stuff in there looked, but where else do you store a humidifier, first aide supplies and cleaning products?

Before

After

Here it is after a couple of hours of painting (with help from Miles) and fabric storage bins from Home Depot, $25.  Don't you like how the tan handles match the paint?  It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally HD will offer something I like better than Target.  Sorry Target.  What's in the baskets you wonder??  1.  First aide supplies.  2.  Travel bags and supplies like small toothpastes.  3.  Cleaning supplies.  4.  Hair cutting tools.  I like the look of soap and towels (minus the mismatched ones that moved onto rag status), so they got to stay out in the open.  Unfortunately I had to keep the humidifier and plunger, although I strongly considered throwing them out.  

Back to Work

Two days back into "real life". . . Back to getting up by 6:00 and trying to be out the door by 7:20. Back to sequences, and factoring, and new seating charts, and grounding from iPods, and construction, and 125 teenagers coming through my door!

People always ask what we did over Spring Break and I say nothing because we didn't travel anywhere, but when I thought more about it we did a lot: ran the St. Patrick's Day 10K, spent a lot of time outside on the early warm days (including trips to the lake and park with friends), watch party for the KSU game, TONS of play dates, a day spent with my mom during treatment, a little shopping, a little crafting, some grading/planning, cleaning and re-cleaning, Target x 5, meal for a friend, to-do pile tackled. . . . See, who needs a vacation?

A trip to the lake = football time.
Graham got to venture out of his stroller and try the slides. It seems like they have a hundred of these little play areas around Tuttle...

I'm a sucker for flower accessories--not real practical in a house of boys, but still fun. I don't think Miles noticed I was using him as a model. Must have been a sticky situation for Mario (he's on his DS).

More Wedding Fun

Sharla and I hosted Amy's shower (at Sharla's parent's house in Lebo) on Saturday. We had a great time making fun decorations. Despite the rain, everyone had a good time and Amy got a lot of really nice things. Two more months until the big day!

Banner and flowers.
Some of the food, more flowers and our fun napkins!
Party favors.
Bachelorette party invitations--fun to make--idea stolen from a blog I can't remember.

Fall Party

We were on the list to bring treats for the fall party at Owen's school. I really don't like to cook, but I do like to make treats/favors. We made these mummies and bats (idea stolen from here) and added them to a goody bag that also had some semi-healthy snacks. I think they turned out cute, especially the mummies!

Yard Before and After

The south end of our backyard has been neglected for a long time (long before we moved here). This summer we are fixing it--well not really us personally, but we are paying for it, so I'll say it's us. It will take work to keep the dogs off, right?
Before and after. . .

Playdough Cookies

We made these cookies for Owen to take to school last week.  I doubled the recipe (to take some to school for para appreciation day) which is good since the first half were deformed--Miles took those to Debbie's, and the paras got doughnuts :)  They were fun to make once we got the rolling part perfected.

Some Finished Projects

In between trips to the park and playing outside as much as possible, I've managed to get a few projects off my to do list.  I saw similar notebooks on etsy and figured it would be an easy way to use up ribbon I always buy for no real reason.   Found this notebook in the dollar bin at Target.

A normal person would make one, maybe two, but no I have 12.  Not sure why I bought every interesting-looking or cheap notebook I saw.  I suppose it was my obsession with trying to use up every scrap piece of ribbon.  Maybe I can use them for gifts???. . . 
Sharla, credit to you for putting this idea on your blog.  I knew I saved our Nebraska plates for some reason (luckily we lived there long enough that we had both these plates and the ugly "we live in Nebraska, but like for it to look like Arizona plates")

Baby Shower Invitations

One of my other projects was finishing these invitations.  I stumbled across this idea on accident (from here), and they were so cute that I couldn't resist trying it myself.  With the exception of being a hair too big for the envelopes, I think my knock-off worked out pretty well--very fun to make!