It's Fall Y'All!

Yes, cheesy title but it rhymed and I am tired =) Earlier in the week a great girlfriend of mine came over to do some crafting? I had my mind on doing some fall decor. Did I mention she has a little one like Avery? The funny thing was, we actually thought we were going to get some crafting done with newborns?! Haha, joke was on us! None the less, we had girl chat, fun talks about poopy diapers and lots of cuddles with our little boys (our toddlers were on "Daddy Dates")

Check soon for variations of the pillow and wreath in my new etsy shop, which will hopefully be up by the end of the weekend. Pending blow out diapers and a little girl potty training!

Whats your favorite part about fall?

WARNING: Scrapbooking will cause you to neglect your household duties and your personal hygiene!

That's right, I'm addicted...full on addicted!

My very first page was Averys "Womb with a view." And I am proud to say I got the idea myself, no inspiration except that I love robots =)

Rileys first page was her 1st Birthday page, since then I have made her 2nd, her labor and delivery (I cried the whole time I was making it), swim lessons, Mommy & Me, Daddy & Me, her big girl room & closet. For Avery, I finished his labor and delivery, 2 pages of me pregnant with him, hospital guests and alittle bro page. I am out of paper so I need to make a trip to Michaels, they are having a sale 5 for $1.00 rather than 59 cents a piece! I scoured the clearance section at Michaels and have used a lot of it! Michaels is moving to a new location here so they are trying to clearance out a lot of their products. Anything $5 or more I don't buy unless I have a 40% coupon. Luckily, every time you purchase, there is a coupon on your receipt!

I am going to try Walmart and see if their supplies and stickers are cheaper. My next page for both kids is our wedding, kind of like "where it all began." I have always wanted to know how my parents met and stories behind their dating life together. Pictures to come of the shelving unit my hubby made for me this weekend that houses all my crafts! I am in L.O.V.E!!

Switchin It Up

I have to admit, I have not really had any luck with my sewing projects lately. So I am trying my skills on some new projects. I made this Bless Our Nest sign last week and I am in LOVE! I made it out of this huge piece of plywood that was on our side yard when we bought our house. I had my hubby cut it up (One of my 2010 goals is to learn to use his tools!) so I can make many signs! I have so many different ideas that I probably need to scale them down a tad!

My 2nd project is Averys scrapbook/baby book. I received the most amazing scrapbook/baby book for my baby shower when I was pregnant with Riley from my aunt. It actually could be one of my all time favorite gifts. Many hours went into it and I absolutely cherish it. I have never scrapbooked in my life but I figured I could go page by page through Rileys and make Averys, just the boy version! The problem is, my wallet does not like scrapbooking! I spent $30 to get me started, this doesn't include the album!! Which is $50 on EBAY! So I figured that I would only buy materials when they are on sale or if I have a 40% off coupon. I was able to buy a set of 20 decorative scissors on ebay for $12.00, which retail for about $30 I think. I have decided that I will do a page per month per child. I still need to play catch up on Rileys but my first page for her will be graduating Level 1 of swim lessons! Although she hated every minute of it, I just have to document it!

A Place for Mommy

I have only been working on this desk for weeks! It was painted blue with an antique finish on it. So there were many layers to sand off. I painted it white and sanded the edges, I then decided to modpodge paper on the drawers to give it some funk!

I needed a place for my sewing machine and a place to retreat to when I wanted to craft. The other day while the kiddos were sleeping, I turned on Pandora and retreated to my new space. It was pure bliss! I bought the two picture frames at a yard sale for .50 cents a piece and at the same sale I bought a huge cork board for $1.00. I popped the glass out of the frames and cut up the cork board to fit in the frames. I made the tack flowers out of paper and glued buttons on the center. This will be a place where I can tack up reminders or just special encouraging notes to myself! I finally have a place where I can feel inspired and calm!

Quatrefoil Craze!

Quatrefoil has been all the craze around the blogging world. And I am as equally in love with it as some other bloggers! Remember I posted here about using the Quatrefoil template from Tatertots and Jello. We really have been wanting to purchase new furniture for our bedroom but came to the realization that it is not in the cards right now. We have a light wood (not even sure what it's called) bedroom set that is about 15 years old. It actually looks pretty good but the light wood was not our style. I asked my hubby to go pick out a brown paint color at the store (yes, I let him pick it out!) I was quite impressed that it had an olive tint to it and I loved it!

Well, I tried it on a much smaller scale than my planned laundry room. I am so glad I tested it on a smaller area because I learned some things. 1. Listen to my husband 2. My husband will re-sand the project after I mess up! 3. Do not spray the adhesive directly to the piece of furniture, spray it on the stencil. 4. Use a sharp exacto knife to cut the stencil and if you are not patient, have your husband do it =) 5. Let the paint completely dry before you try to peel it off! 6. For a small piece of furniture, it works best to use a sponge brush and almost do a "sponge painting" motion.

Overall, I am really happy with how it turned out. I would really like to update our lamps and find some more decorative things for our bedside. But this was definately a start! Stay tuned for a peek at a big kitchen project we worked on this weekend that completey transformed our house!!

I love FREE things!

I have about 5 minutes to myself. Both kiddos are sleeping and the hubs is at a movie with his brother. So, I wanted to share something I came across the other day, Printable Alphabet Bunting

from Ruffled. I love the idea of being able to download any letter to make up your own banner in minutes! I printed out READ to hang above the rocking chair in Rileys room where we read to her everyday.

When you download, make sure you notice there are sometimes several options per letter so you can mix and match! Have any other free downloads you want to share?! I'll take 'em!

Enjoy!

Not Just a Bag!

See that ugly looking bag on my dining room table? And yes, I do all my crafting on the table. I am constantly wiping chunks of hot glue off of it! Lord, please bring me a craft space, amen. Ok moving on. Every time I pulled the car into the garage Riley would yell, "Mommy, your purse!" Finally one day I looked up and saw this bag on the top shelf. I have a mustard color purse that looks alittle similar so I totally get why she thought it was my purse. I pulled it down one day to see what was inside....golf balls! Go figure. I asked the hubs if I could have it and of course he sure, "Go ahead, it's lined with fur, maybe you can make something out of that." Well, to be honest, the fur grossed me out, so I cut it out and threw it away. And started making these little flowers out of the bag. I l.o.v.e them! This one has an alligator clip on the back so I can either wear it on my clothes or in my hair. I also bought a plum colored purse at the LuLu's Outlet sale ($3.00) only to get it home and realize the zipper was broken! Bummer....But I cut that up the other night and made flowers similar to this one. Next up, headbands of course! My friend Stephanie made these embellished flip flops and I may just have to invest the $4 for the shoes and use my left over leather to embellish with these bad boys! Happy Weekend! I am thrilled my husband is coming home tonight after almost 3 days of being gone. Hopefully Mommy can get some sleep!

What We've Been Up To!

We have been mighty busy around here. Playing in the creek, driving all over town looking for Toy Story toys, finger painting in the backyard and spending endless hours staring at the most gorgeous, smiley, happy baby boy! I feel like life is going by in lightening speed and I am just trying to soak up every minute with my two little ones. I have even found a little time to get my craft on. I have been working on a baby shower for a special someone who reads my blog, so pictures will have to come after! =) Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

This and That

I love this picture of Riley and I. It was taken on my 25th birthday. I still wear that shirt and it happens to be one of my favorite! I get so many compliments on it that I thought I would make a similar one but with a plain white tee. I bought the OP shirt at Walmart for $3.50 and bought the fabrics there as well, most of them costing me $1.50/yard. I love the feel of the shirt and of course the price so I must go back and get more colors. I really enjoy embellishing shirts and after being at TJMAXX this morning, I have many ideas in my head.

I have really been wanting to buy a pair of plum color sandals so this shirt inspired me to go spend a giftcard I have had since my birthday. Yes, I have had a gift card in my wallet for shoes for two months and haven't spent it yet! Now thats discipline. Actually, I was just waiting until I could reach my feet to spend it! Now that the baby is born, game on!

Avery Update: He is soooo yummy! I am smitten! He loves his mommy. He smiles already which warms my heart (and it's not just when he poops!) He is allllllll boy! He makes really loud grunting noises when he sleeps, sometimes it's cute, but at 2am, not so cute. He rarely cries. He rocks the mohawk and makes it look effortless. I am obsessed with my little man!

A place for my pretties!

I have had this oval shaped frame for some time and just haven't had the time or the imagination to do anything with it. Until I saw this post by a wonderful blogger named Disney. Isn't that such a great name? And she is equally as darling! But I was so bummed to visit her blog yesterday and see that she is hanging up her blogging hat for now! She is going to keep her site running so we can all check out her amazing tutorials!

I wanted a place to hang my favorite necklaces, although I only really wear the one with all of our initials on it. I just love being able to represent my family on my neck =) When I look in the mirror, it reminds me of how blessed I am! Anyway, I just sprayed the frame, sanded it a tad and added a burlap and 2 muslin rosettes. Then I just used the wire that was on the back to hang the picture. I love it and so easy!

A Year of Change

It feels somewhat funny to say a year of change when we are only half way through, but that is exactly what our life has been so far! We bought a house earlier this year and now we are awaiting the birth of our baby boy any day.

I have really struggled with being a mom and then doing things for me that are fun. One outlet that I love is crafting. I LOVE trying new things. Whether it be sewing, painting, using my hot glue gun, figuring out how to make something that is ugly into a master piece!

So I have decided in order to fuel my addiction to craft, after the baby is born I am going to open an Etsy shop and see how things go! I have been thinking of a name for some time now and still haven't come up with one, but I am sure Avery will bring me some inspiration.

I made this clutch and now I am obsessed with making these flowers. They are somewhat time consuming but so worth it in the end! They are a great project for when you just want to watch some TV but also get your craft outlet!

Wish me luck on our season of change! We feel so blessed to be where we are and like I say every post, we can't wait to welcome our baby boy anytime! Come on Avery!!

Soooo Easy!

A couple of weeks ago I ran across this tutorial on Ruffles and Stuff and thought I had to try it out. It was so super easy and fun, in fact, I made about 3 different ones for Riley out of my old tops. I decided to skip the belt on all the dresses but I am sure it would be easy enough to make those as well. My model is pretty cute if I must say so!

Baby Update:

We had an appt today and I am 1cm. I tried not to get discouraged and so far I am doing pretty well. I wasn't dialated with Riley until I went into labor so I am holding on to that. So I am spending my days walking walking and more walking!

Bags & Babes

I just got home from being monitored at the hospital this morning. I woke up with a bad bladder infection and my midwife was worried that due to the pressure I have been having, maybe I was in labor and that was causing the infection. Thank goodness everything was fine. Unfortunately Jim is out of town and couldn't be at the hospital. He felt sooo bad. But luckily we are A-OK!

I have been working on Mothers day gifts this week and ran across this tutorial and had to give it a try. And then I ran across literally the most brilliant tutorial and had to try it too! I mean, how can you go wrong with an old placemat?!? Now my problem is, I don't want to have to give any of them away!!

Things to think about

A good friend of mine just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Actually she is one of my 3 girlfriends that are expecting a boy along with me! She was the first one to give birth and let me just say, when I went to visit her in the hospital I was giddy with excitement thinking about our little boy coming.

When she got home we talked a couple of times and she told me her daughter, who is friends with Riley, was having a hard time with the new addition. I thought I would bring her daughter a gift to see if I could cheer her up. I scored this table cloth at a yardsale down the street last weekend and wasn't sure if I was going to cut it up or use it. I dug through Rileys old onesies and cut the bottom off. Unfortunately this was a lot of work because I was trying new techniques to see what worked best. In the past I have hand ruffled as I attached the bottom fabric, this time I ruffled with my machine. I think ruffling with the machine was a lot harder to attach.

Anyway, she loved the dress and that is all that matters! I have been on a crafting frenzy lately and I think it's my way of nesting. I need to start washing the babys clothes in the next couple of weeks and get them in his dresser. I am so anxious to get the nursery done and MANY more projects before the baby comes.

Pillow Talk

Jim and I scored two of these wingback chairs from craigslist last weekend. When we got them home and put them in the room I was so giddy but they needed a little something to them. So I whipped up these grey pillows and I am in LOVE! The best part was I already dad the pillow forms, so all I needed to do was purchase the fabric. I think I spent about $6.00 on the fabric, now if you know the price of pillows, this is REALLY cheap! Did I mention the chairs recline?! They are glorious! And are position right next to the window where I have about 100 roses blooming right now. I find myself over there many times a day, just sitting and if you know me, thats not typical for my personality! This room has turned out to be more than I could have ever imagined and has given me a place to go to just RELAX.

Everything is temporary!

Or so I have been telling myself that all day! We've had somewhat of a rough couple days with Riley. So this morning I took her to the Dr. and poor girl has a sinus infection and double ear infection =( boo! Her pediatrican gave us an antibiotic and told me to give her Dimetapp Cold and Allergy, because it would wipe her out. Well, that sure didn't happen. Her eyes are droopy but she would not take a nap! I took all her toys out of her room and her books in hopes that she wouldn't be distracted but the girl can find anything to play with. It looks like 6:30 bedtime again until we can get back to a routine. She weighed in at 28lbs! I knew I was carrying a heavy girl but my goodness! Pregnancy is so much harder the 2nd time around, not only am I carrying my "new weight" I am hauling around a toddler!

Anyway, enough complaining for now. Jim finished painting the little ones room lastnight (bless his heart) and I have been really getting the URGE to get it done, which goes right a long with my personality. My friend Stephanie made a darling mobile for her little one who is due right after us. I told her I may need to copy her idea! Here are some things I came across today while looking for ideas. I am thinking about purchasing the bird decals and I have an antique window that is painted blue that I am going to put over the top to give the illusion that it's another window (does this make sense?!)

I am really big on having Averys name somewhere in his room but didn't want to do the letters like I did in Rileys room so I thought of doing a banner made out of burlap. I found some online that I like but will need to tweek them a bit to match his room.

Horizontal Time

According to my midwife I am suppose to be having 1 hour of uninterrupted horizontal time every afternoon to help stop my early contractions. Did she notice the two year old I brought to the appointment? You know, the one that was crawling all over me and would barely let the midwife conduct the appointment?

Anyway, Riley has decided to try and stop taking her afternoon nap. Every time I think about it, I want to cry. Long story short, rather than laying "horizontal" I have been sitting on the couch doing crafty fun things as my way of resting. It's a pain to haul all my stuff to the touch (fabric, glue gun, pins, etc) but I am really trying to do as much resting as possible. For instance, yesterday Riley wanted to play in her sandbox so I took an extension cord outside so I could plug in my glue gun (my bestfriend).

Here are some of the things that I have been working on lately. The $5.00 boring white Ikea lamp is vamped up with some fabric flowers. And who says a boy and girl can't have matching outfits? Yes, these are for the 4th of July. I am due the week before so I wanted to make sure their outfits were done before Avery makes his appearance!

Crazy for OWLS!

Lately Riley has been absolutely positively OBSESSED with Owls. It all started one day when Jim was leaving for work and she noticed a small little owl on one of his shirts (rather than the RL horse, I guess?) anyway, ever since then she daily, sometimes more than once, asks Jim if he has an owl on his shirt. This began the Merrill Owl craze!

Since owls are kind of in right now it has been really easy to get ideas for crafting some great owl things for her. During these past rainy days I scoured the internet for different ideas. I discovered this frame with the fabric already attached at my MIL yardsale this past weekend and knew I had to have it. I think it came from my SIL antique shop. This is how her very first owl turned out! I think it goes great with the flowers hanging on the right side that I got from another antique store and spray painted it white. I think I paid a whopping $4.00 for the thing.

When she wakes up in the morning and I can hear her talking to the owl!!! She is a pretty hilarious little girl! I smell an owl themed party in the future!

I had to think of things to do inside during these rainy days so I decided to bust out the handy sewing machine. I like sewing but don't do it very often because of the "four letter words" that go through my head when my machine is acting up! I used some scrappy squares I had ruffled them up and added them to the bottom of these lavender cords. They look a bit ridiculous on Riley but if you know me, I'm over the top!!

Have a happy beautiful FALL weekend!

P.S. Sorry I haven't quite figured out how to position the pictures!