Left Overs

I mentioned the other day that I did my first ever craft fair last week with my sister in law over in WI. We had NO idea how it was going to go, but left excited about a future in crafts and an Etsy store! We sold out of almost everything we made except for a few items. I decided to post them on here in case anyone is interested. What is not sold will be going into our Etsy shop once we get that up and running. Get in touch with me if you are interested in any of the items! 

Baby Girl Hat - $8 

Toddler Hat - $10 

Baby Hat - $8

Baby Hat - $8 

Baby Hat -$8 

Adult Men's Hat - $15 

Stuffed Whale - $5

Set of Christmas Ornaments - $5

Christmas Stocking - $12

Christmas Stocking -$12

Baby/Toddler Girl Headbands - $4 each

*If anything needs to be shipped then I will add $5 to cover the shipping costs. 

The 12 Dates of Christmas

I got this idea from my friend's blog, honeysuckle.blogspot.com, and decided to do my own version. I simply wrote out 12 "dates"  for Kurt and I to do together. Some of them include the kids. I'm sure next year I will do an Advent Calendar with the kids which will probably include a lot of these "dates" plus more.

To mkae:
I already had green card stock so I just wrote out the dates, put a whole punch in them, and hung them with ribbon or strips of material on yarn over my kitchen sink. We'll pick one to do every few days. We start tonight with...Watch the Christmas Hallmark movie and drink hot chocolate!

Other "dates"
Go downtown to see the lights and get Waterstreet coffee
Shop for the kids stockings
Make bread and deliver to neighbors
Address christmas cards
Make cookies
Try a new restaurant
Watch Elf
Breakfast in Bed

Family Photos

We went to WI this weekend for a visit and to do my very first ever craft fair with my sister in law! I see an Etsy shop and more fairs in our near future! We had a blast and got to sell things we created and love! 

I also got to take my brother's family pictures. It was one of those sessions that was quick but every picture was great! It was hard to pick favorites! Here's a little sample of them. Hopefully soon I was start doing photo sessions again. I'm feeling settled in MI and am excited to start doing photography again. 

Extra $

I have been thinking of some extra ways to bring in a little money recently...

My mother-in-law came for a visit this week bringing with her a Christmas stocking pattern. I didn't have stockings for the twins yet, so we headed out to our local fabric store and purchased some fabric to make these adorable stocking. Mae's on the left and Luke's on the right. I also made another one for a gift, but can't post it on here. (it's a surprise)

This got me thinking...I could sell these to make some money! Well, not these ones exactly, but I can make more. So, if you want to put in an order in time for Christmas, get in touch with me. I'm selling them for $20 + $5 if I have to ship it to you.

Can you believe Christmas is already coming up!

Exterior Update

Kurt's parents came for a visit a few weeks ago and we happened to mention that we were thinking about painting a portion of the exterior. It would require painting a part on the garage, side of the house, and front. Their response was, "let's do it tomorrow!" So, we picked a color and got to work the following morning. I didn't think the house needed any changes but thought it was just kindof boring. There was nothing that really popped. The colors were too similar. Nothing a little paint, OK, a lot of paint, couldn't change.

Let me finish by saying that I don't think there is really anything "cute" about the exterior (I really love the interior) of our house. I prefer a cottage/bungalow style with a front porch. Something that is a little more quaint and welcoming. I do however, LOVE that it is our house, our first house, and that we can make changes for it to be a bit more "us".  I think that changing the landscape is going to do a lot and give the house some more color and warmth. More updated pictures when that happens.

So, here you go!

Before

After!

What we changed:
-anything that was green, we painted gray
-hung the American Flag
-spray painted the house numbers and mail box black
-spray painted the door hardware (that doesn't work) black to match
-painted the front and side door white
-installed a new storm door
-hung a new light over the front door
-power washed the exterior

Still needs to be done:
-landscaping by the house
-remove old basketball backboard on garage and replace with new

*Thanks to my in-laws for the motivation and help! It would have taken us months to accomplish what we did!

Bathroom Update

So our bathroom wasn't horrible when we bought the house but something about the mint green walls was making me hate it more and more every time I walked past it. Thankfully, paint is an easy fix! So, is buying a shower curtain that fits your personal taste. Funny how those 2 things (paint and a shower curtain) can do wonders to the bathroom.

Side note: the bathtub and bathtub walls are pretty old, probably original to the house which was built in 1947, hence why the shower curtain is closed in both the sellers picture and in my newly decorated picture. Maybe one day we'll replace it, but for now a few simple and cheap changes have made me a happy girl as I walk past the bathroom.

Before-sellers picture

After

After

DIY Lamp Shade Cover

I had this pretty plain lamp that I wanted to spruce up for the babies room so I searched around on the old web and found some inspiration to cover my lamp with fabric! It's really easy and really fast!

Here's what you'll need:
-fabric (amount would depend on the size of your shade)
-hot glue gun
-some sort of tracing paper (wax paper, news paper, parchment paper)
-scissors
-spray paint (if you want to change the color of the base)

1.Trace the lamp shade on paper (I used wax paper), cut it out and then wrap it around the shade just to make sure it works. 2. Lay it on the fabric. I put some painters tape to hold in place while I cut. Leave an extra inch or so on either side as you cut so there is fabric to tuck under the shade. 3. Cut the fabric!

There it is, all cut out.

4. Now wrap the fabric around the shade to double check that it will work before yous tart gluing. You want to make sure there is extra fabric on the top and bottom to be able to wrap under the shade. See how the fabric is taller and longer then the actual shade?

5. Start by hot gluing along the shade seam and then put very small amounts of glue along the bottom and top edge as you go around. When you get back to the seam fold the last bit of fabric you have left under and glue to create a nice finished edge.

When I glued under the top part of the shade I cut little slits in the fabric so that it would lay nicely inside. You can sort of see it in this picture.

Complete

 If you want to spray paint the base, just take it outside and tape off any parts you don't want painted. Let it dry completely and then attach the shade.

There it is in the babies room.

Baby Update

A Twin's Update (13 months)

Luke: 25 lbs
LOVES: stealing toys from Mae, screaming at the top of his lungs just for fun, playing on the bottom step, to cuddle when he wakes up from a nap or in the morning, being in the water "swimming"
GAMES: peek-a-boo, so big
FOODS: literally shoves hand fulls in his mouth of anything except avacado. Hates avacado!
WORDS: cheese, dog, da (daddy), car, dis (this), la la, lu lu
Teeth Count: 7

Mae: 22 lbs
LOVES: climbing the stairs, pushing her new race car (she looks like an old granny with her walker), having a stick in her hand at all times if outside
GAMES: so big, blowing kisses
FOODS: almost everything and eats one piece at a time. Very lady like
WORDS: dada, dog, ma
Teeth Count: 5

They LOVE to eat leaves and sticks

About to eat a leaf. Also you can notice Luke's hair here is starting to have an Emo look. straight down and to the side. Time for a hair cut!

Playing Peek-a-boo

What happens when you play peek-a-boo at dinner time!

They are playing together a lot more...

and racing after the same toys. (Luke's hair is still hilarious) oh and Luke pretty much steals every single thing Mae plays with

Loving to walk around with her new race car and show me leaves and sticks she picked up along the way

Playing together again!

Before and After - Babies Room

Before (picture from previous owner)

After

Yay! I finished the babies room yesterday with help from my in-laws for the 2 remaining things. I have to say that the room turned out EXACTLY how I was hoping. It is HARD to put together a room for both a boy and girl at the same time! My only hesitation was the rug b/c it had some pink in it and some of the shapes were flowers but after MANY second opinions, no one thought it was "girly". One said, "I wouldn't put it in a teenage boys room, but for a baby, it is great!" So, I went with it and am really happy I did.

Ok, here's the run down!

-painted walls. Valspar color Delicate Mist
-DIY lamp. It used to be a brown base with a cream shade. I covered it with fabric from an old table cloth I bought at a 2nd hand store and spray painted the base
-Rug from IKEA
-Alphabet picture (see previous post)
-Bookshelves - IKEA spice racks painted white (Idea from Pinterest)
-Painted cribs white
-New/old metal basket on floor for toys
-Painted cross stitch frame white
-Hung white curtains I already had
-Name signs, used wood we had in the garage and hung it with twine
-Baby pictures, set up an old quilt as the backdrop and took headshots in the back yard. I bought the frame for $4 at Goodwill and painted it white. The glass broke when trying to remove it so I had to improvise. I hot glued twine across the frame and then secured the pictures with tiny clothes pins I already had.
-Dresser I already had from my dad
-Chair from Target that I already had

So there you have it!

Pinterest Inspired Craft

My inspiration found on Pinterest (from Land of Nod)

My finished project!

I saw the above wall hanging a while back on Pinterest and followed it back to it's source which was the store Land of Nod. I can't remember the exact amount it was selling for but it was around $50-60. I thought it looked easy enough to make and it was!

Here's how I did it in case you are interested:

I bought the frame at a Re-store for $4 and painted it white with paint I already had.
I hot glued white fabric to the cardboard back
I cut out the letters from fabric I already had.
I used spray adhesive that I use for quilting to attach the letters to the white fabric background.
That's it! Easy! and done in 1 day!

If you wanted it for a boy room you could do blues and greens and for a girl pinks, yellows, and reds. That's what the store was selling, a boy and girl version. I made mine gender neutral since my boy and girl twins share a room.

Now I just have to hang it. 

Minor house improvements

 Ok, I can't get these pictures in order and I'm not going to keep getting frustrated trying! I think you'll figure out which is the old and which is the new. Enjoy!

Hair

Honestly, this is exactly how his hair is EVERY day. I don't do anything to it...seriously! Also, love these faces. I'm glad I captured these pictures so I can always remember how funny his hair stood up. I LOVE it. It is actually starting to lay down a bit more. I'll be sad when it's no longer his baby hair look.