Archive for the ‘good ideas’ Category

The fact that we are moving to a house, a perminent dwelling, a place we won’t move from in less than a year, gives me the design bug. Bad. Like really bad. I lay awake at night designing the house, the studio, the kid’s rooms…I even have the halls figured out.

It’s a curse really….but I love it.

And I don’t even have the keys yet. Tomorrow, folks. Tomorrow I will be a home owner!

The big “decision” we are figuring out in our house right now, is who gets to sleep with whom and where. Addie and Ian have been together since infancy, and surprisingly want their own rooms in this new house. But, that leaves Ella having to sleep with a big kid, and I just don’t know if I am ready to have her disturbed by the nightly ritual of getting out of bed 32 times for urgent demands like “another story”, “bedtime snack” or “I’m scared of the dark” incidences. Truthfully, I don’t think they could sleep apart…they have grown up as twins really, and miss each other after 5 minutes of being separated. So….since we haven’t decided yet, I have been designing up a few alternatives.

This is what I have so far for a possible Boy/Girl or Gender Neutral Room. Addie is for sure a girly girl, and Ian is my 1960’s school boy. The colors match up just right, and I am loving the color going on.

Here’s the round up:

(Left to right)

1. Vintage Map

2. Favorite room from blog land here.

3. Anthropologie quilt I found on Craigslist ($40 thank you very much)

4. Room Seven Inspiration

5. Image here.

6. Le Balloon print available in the shop

7. Via kikiandpolly.com from Bloesom home tours here.

8. Le Petit Prince: a fav. book and design inspiration

9. Designs from Shinzi Katoh

10. Summer Tea Party Print available in the shop

11. Red chair found here.

I’m having a ball scouting out Craigslist, my local classifieds, and second hand stores. I’ll let you know if this is what we go for…or if we end up going with the girls room/boys room idea. Personally, they only have so much longer until they really won’t want to be together…I want to keep them together for as long as I can.

And so far, I’ve convinced them to stay together with this design:) I’m a tricky one, I am.

Off to the paint store….!

Christmas on a shoe-string: we’re on a budget this Christmas, as I am sure many people are. We are desperately trying to get into a house and I can’t think of a better reason to be “tight.” But we are still decorating and making Christmas things. Last week, we made this banner for oh, about .25 cents. But besides how easy it was to make, it is super functional and fun to double as an advent calendar. I cut out 25 triangles , strung them together with yarn, and stuck a sticky label on the back with a christmas task. Tonight, the task is “make wassail.” Tomorrow, it’s “Dance like snowflakes.” This is a wonderful month. And the ceiling is looking festive: and the simplicity is inspiring me to be even more frugal and grateful for what we do have this year. What are you doing for DIY decor?

…to announce it is time to go play in some leaves. Get up. Turn off the computer. Take off your shoes. Throw on your super hero cape (sure, why not) and run.

Play.

Jump.

Frolic.

Right now.

Somethings don’t last forever.

But I promise….you’ll love it.

Need last minute Halloween Crafts?

Help Mazie choose which of the 3 halloween costumes she should wear trick-or-treating.

Print out these FREE halloween Paper dolls, color them in and cut them out for hours of spooky play.

*these are from last years archives….they don’t match the current paper dolls in the shop. Sorry!*

Download here.

Halloween has never been an exciting holiday for my husband and I before we had kids. But of course, with children in the mix, the idea of dressing up, baking treats, and spooky stories as a holiday has changed our perspective a bit…and we’ve been having a lot of fun!

As well as spooks lurking around these parts, we’ve also been dealing with the seasons first set of coughs and colds…so with three sick kids, I really didn’t want to hit the stores for Halloween children’s decor. Here’s what we have come up with so far…

Spooky portraits: so fun to make with the kids.

How we made them: On one particularly sick day, we laid around the house making spooky faces in the camera. The kids sat with me at the computer while I made them ready for printing. I had originally thought of framing them in these frames from IKEA, but since we were all too sick to get out, I drew a frame into photoshop inspired from the IKEA one I love, inserted the photos, and printed the whole thing out! Voila. Instant framed decor for Halloween!

And since we had more than enough spooky photos of the kids, I have since printed out the pictures, and we have had fun making spooky embellishments in marker and crayon…like pirate eye patches, cat ears and sharp teeth. It’s like dress ups without the mess on the floor!

Halloween floral arrangement: Hardly floral! We spray painted some dead branches from outside, adorned with glittered butterflies and black crows (which I did purchase earlier in the month). The spray paint was a hit…and even though the kids just watched me, they wanted to turn everything in the house black after watching the transformation. Good thing we ran out of spray paint!

Bats in the doorway: Oh these took minutes…and cost use pennies..but they really look great as they hang in our entry way. Something about the silhouette factor. These were made with construction paper and string we had on hand.

The kids are begging for more…but alas…I still have costumes to figure out! More on that later…

If you have any fun links of kid-friendly Halloween fun, do share!

Happy Spooking!

The other week I received a request to design some September appropriate embroidery designs for the blog Sew, Mama, Sew. I couldn’t have been more excited! I have wanted to offer some free embroidery designs here on the blog, and I never really got around to it. Hand sewing is so therapeutic, and I rarely do it for the amount of “other things” there is to do around the house.

But I decided this week to try out one of my patterns, and even get the kids involved. Oh, it was so wonderful! My hyper-active-super-hero-or-bust 3 year old even spent a good half hour going in and out with his very own blunt darning needle! I think it was the most focused he’s been in days:)

Remember this post? Thankfully my kids have always loved to sew, and I loved every second of it, too. I am determined to hand sew more often. It’s good for the soul.

These two embroidery patterns are available at Sew, Mama Sew! blog in two different sizes. I intend to sew some on my kid’s new school bags (which have still yet to be made, if they ever do get made!). So enjoy! My blog is in the process of getting a facelift, and I’ll soon have more free downloads here to choose from. But for now, enjoy Sew, Mama, Sew!

Oh and I must take this chance to shout out to the vast, infinite cyber space why I am in the best mood this morning: my 2 month old, colicky, allergy-ridden, fussy baby slept through the night last night. For 10 hours. These are the choice events that make a Mama very very happy! Ella, mind trying that again?

This past weekend, we picked a few bushels of basil from the garden, and made several batches of pesto that we hope will last us a long time! Many of you inquired about my husband’s pesto recipe. Here it is:

2 cups fresh basil (packed down)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts

2-3 garlic cloves

salt/pepper

1. In a food processor, PULSE the basil, pine nuts and garlic.

2. SLOWLY add the olive oil while it is mixing in the blender

3. Add the parmesan cheese

4. Mix thoroughly and dash in salt and pepper to taste

5. Keep refrigerated or freeze

6. TIPS ON FREEZING: freezing in ice cube trays creates portion size cubes perfect for spreading on sandwiches and salads. After they are frozen in the trays, transfer to a freezer bag for freshness.

Bon Appetite!

Julie from the blog On the Dot Creations just sent me a link to this E-Book full of tips and advice on improving your ETSY business. It must have been a ton of work to put together! She invited over 30 ETSY sellers to spill their secrets of success. A great reference for anyone who has a shop or is thinking about one. Thanks for the link Julie!

Read it here.

Ok! Due to popular demand, you can now make your OWN art gallery. All you need to do is click on the links (don’t click on the picture: too small), download the image and follow the instructions! Horray! Have so much fun…there are so many others you can make, but for those of you who prefer tracing, this should be a lot of fun!

Sparrow Template

Seal Template

Elephant Template

**EDIT: And yes, I am VERY aware that the bird template is a swallow, not a sparrow. This only goes to show the state of mind a mother can be in when she has her 2 toddlers crawling on her while doing art projects! I could go in and change this posted picture, but instead, let it stand as proof that I am mother and often make silly mistakes at the expense of just getting projects finished in time to please excited little ones!

I found this via Modeco blog today. FREE DOWNLOAD among other great prints. Just download it, print it and hang it in your kitchen when your brain gets in over-drive. Live simply.

**And thanks for all your great comments about the wall art below! Speaking of FREE downloads…I will be posting the animal templates to my blog in the next bit so you can make your own art galleries. Be watching!