Joyfully Weary

I've had a couple readers asks me to do a post on Little Lady's bedroom. I put it off because it's not quite finished; I'd had hoped to add a rug and spruce up a few things. But we are getting the boys bunk beds for Christmas so in just a few short days she'll be inheriting one of their toddler beds and her room will change a little bit. Even though I've never considered her room "finished" I love it. When we got pregnant with Little Lady we didn't have extra money in our budget for decorating a nursery but I really wanted a pretty space for my little girl. God provided in some amazing ways. Including paint and everything we've spent around $170 on her room and a large portion of that was an unexpected baby gift from a relative. Our big splurge was fabric; I fell in love with Timeless Treasures' Perch collection . With it my mother-in-law (aka Maca) created crib sheets, a dust ruffle, curtains, pillows, and stuffed birds. My sewing...

Today is our last Christmas celebration and my boys can't wait to open more toys. But this poses a problem - they (the toys) will all need a home. Which is why I thought I'd share my favorite craft discovery of 2011 - taking old boxes and turning them in to pretty, storage containers. I found this brilliant idea on my friend Katie's blog . Katie has a wonderful, and more calculated, tutorial (check it out here ) on how to make these with hot glue.  However, calculations and hot glue have never been my friends, so I guesstimate and use mod podge. supplies: diaper box with flaps removed (i put a coat of white paint on my box so the logo wouldn't be visible under the burlap) fabric, scissors,  mod podge, foam brush, & brayer (not neccessary but helpful) I don't use exact measurements for the fabric but instead lay the box on top of the fabric and cut out a rough cross shape making sure there is a least an extra inch of fabric on each side. I tr...

A couple months ago I asked for some embroidery hoops on free cycle. My plan was to use them to hang scrap fabric in Little Lady's bedroom. It turned out to be one of those times I received way more than I could have hoped.  Not only did someone have embroidery hoops to spare, they had ten, and they were vintage metal hoops. I only wanted 4 or 5 for the bedroom so I decided to make a "Noel" sign with the rest.  I really like how the hymnal advent calendar we made for our niece turned out so I went with the same theme. My original plan was to use black & white patterned fabric but I didn't find any I liked at Joanns. I did however find some fabulous scrap-booking paper.  It was pretty fibrous so I decided to give it a try and it worked!' supplies i used: scrap-booking paper, embroidery hoops, mod podge,  foam brush, pages from hymnal, scissors, and a pencil steps: 1) fit embroidery hoop around paper, pull edges tight, trim off excess paper ...

I think Freecycle  is one of the greatest ideas ever. We discovered it almost three years ago and it's been a huge blessing to our family. We received items we've needed (baby equipment & children's clothes), items we wanted (toy dinosaurs & holiday decorations) and items we didn't need or know we wanted  but quickly fell in love with (mink collars & a tassel necklace).  It's also been a blessing to give clothes, toys, and other household items we no longer need to local families. This summer when I was offering up some boy clothes I noticed that someone else was giving away a child size wood table and benches.  I'd been looking for a table to put in our dining room but couldn't find one that fit our space and wasn't too expensive.  I figured since it was free, the table was at least worth checking out. I'm really glad I did. The table is the perfect size for my boys and when I fold up one the benches it fits the space perfect...

As previously mentioned , I don't do well with undone and living with Kayleia's not-quite-finished nursery has required a lot of patience. For several reasons - Josiah, Micah, & an old needy house - finding time to work on our the third nursery in less than 4 years has proven difficult. When I found out we were having a girl I was ecstatic and had a lot of fun dreaming about how to decorate her room.  I knew I didn't want pink or pastel. I wanted rich colors and a theme that wouldn't scream "baby" in a year.  When I found this fabric I instantly fell in love...perfect. Perch by Alice Kennedy I thought it would be fun to carry the bird theme to a mobile and began scouring the internet for inspiration, it wasn't long before I stumbled upon this... Spool Bird Mobile and Pattern which then led to this... Tip Junkie   Love & perfection again!  It took awhile to find the perfect branch (my boys had a lot of fun bringing home many opt...

Our bathroom is not quite finished.  We started remodeling last summer and still have some undone areas as well as more decorating to do. Door Frame 7/11 Heating Vent 7/11 This can be a problem for someone like me.  Someone who loves the feeling of crossing a task off a list and the sense of accomplishment, peace, and control that follows. Unfinished and I just don't get along. He's annoying and exhausting.  Instead of focusing on Unfinished though, I've taken to looking at these... View from Hall 9/09 Bathtub 9/09 Or these... View from back wall 8/10 View from doorway 8/10 Suddenly Unfinished doesn't seem quite so bad. View from doorway 7/11 View from back wall 7/11 I'm actually quite fond of him .

Have you ever notice something you want to change and then it starts driving you crazy? It's been fine for as long as you can remember, but now you can't stop thinking about it? Until Thursday this is how I felt about our dining room. Our house still has a LOT of the original wood work; this is one of the reasons we fell in love with it.  We did not, however, fall in love with the dining room's almost original -  but not even close - built in bookcase & wainscoting. We quickly painted the wainscoting - leaving behind a not quite right chair rail - but left the bookcase alone. I'd been happy with it until about two months ago & then all the sudden every time I walked into our dining room all I could see was how the wood was trying but failing to match up.  It made the room feel dark & for some reason dirty.  Then on Thursday, Husbandie took all the kids to Maca's (grandma's) & left me alone in the house.  I co...