Bow Board

Two little girls and so many bows! Allison's old bow holder wasn't nearly big enough, so we needed something new. I was going to do something like this...

Photo via Pinterest

But a trip to Pottery Barn Kids (where we only go for story time and to let the kids play... I rarely actually buy anything there) gave me another idea. Here's what I ended up with:

Total cost: under $10

It was $5 for the plywood base (the buy at Lowe's marked a $15 2'x4' piece down for me cause it had a lousy corner), $2.79 for a spool of grosgrain and a little more for hardware to hang it. The fabric and batting I had on-hand from other projects. Its 18x24 and fits so many bows! They're not even all on there, in the picture, but I *think* it will fit all of them. Maybe... if I quit making them...

I'm using this project to audition for American Crafter over at Naptime Crafters... wish me luck!

Bean Bag Chairs

Remember how I said I would really like to be able to find the time in my life to do a project every week?

Well... I have a newborn... so I'm sure I wasn't really thinking quite so clearly when I said that. But in the last 9 weeks I have accomplished a thing or two outside of nursing, laundry and cooking. I just haven't had the time or motivation to take pictures and blog them. But finally, you get some proof.

My kids got beanbag chairs!

I made both out of upholstery micofiber. The pink was off of JoAnn's red tag table during a 50% off sale (I think I got it for $4.50/yard) and the tan is leftovers from when I reupholstered a recliner something like 6 years ago. I still have bunches of leftovers (I initially bought enough to slipcover a couch that we no longer own... I never got brave enough for that project), so when I get around to recovering the glider, you'll see that fabric again.

I used this tutorial and generally liked how it turned out. I put zippers in instead of velcro, however, which I liked a lot better than the way the velcro behaved. Someday, if I'm really ambitious I'm going to dye Carter's dark brown and put ribbon on it to look like football threads.

The kids like them, and I like that these provide a cozy little reading spot... it makes me feel like a good mom to be encouraging them to read. And once I get some book slings up on that wall behind Allison she'll have a great little book nook. Carter doesn't get books in his room yet (not until he can be responsible enough to not read at 2 am, which is what happened last time we let him have books in his room), but hopefully soon.

Oh, and in care you're wondering, I found the bags of fill at Target during back-to-school time. 100 L bags were $5, and I used almost 3 bags to fill both chairs.

Little Miss Lindsey

In January I took Lindsey to get her portraits done. Nothing special, just JCPenney. I wish they were special... but a few shots turned out cute. Wishing they were special makes me jealous of my cute sister Emily, who not only had fabulous hair that I envy, but also has a great photographer for a sister-in-law... AND she lives near her. The pictures of her cute baby boy are always fabulous. *sigh* I mean really, go look at her blog. The top bar picture? Shonda. The Valentines and 7 month pictures? Shonda. Newborn pictures, family pictures, engagement pictures... Shonda, Shonda, Shonda. So jealous...

Anyway, these pictures were definantly not what I had pictured in my head for newborn pictures, but I probably waited to long for the one I wanted. Oh well... I can't figure out how to grab the pictures to show on here... if you want to see them, check my facebook page. In the mean time, you get this...

Which is at least as cute as anything that the photographer at JCP got (even though its not a portrait kind of picture). Plus she's smiling, which she would not do for her "real" pictures.

And this one...

We definantly have another finger-sucker on our hands. I'm looking forward to the end of my binky-chasing days too, acutally. Lindsey will quite happily gnaw on her fists, but I'm thinking she'll be really happy once she finally uncurls those fists. Few more weeks, right?

Other than that, Linds is happy, chatty (our house will never, ever be a quiet house I'm pretty sure!) and generally conent, as long as she's being held. 'Cause if she's not being held, its pretty hard to protect her from the onslaught of her siblings' love.

This is them giving Lindsey space. Normally they're about on top of her if I leave her vulnerable.

By the way, I'm about ready to buy a DSLR camera body... I have some great lenses from the film SLR we have, so I just need a body... anyone have a recommendation for a good camera? I don't expect to do a lot of photography, I just want better picture of my kids than my point and shoot will take. And maybe, with a little practice, I would take my own kids' portraits and be happy with them...

Household Math

1 sick boy + 1 bed x 12 hours = 3 unexpected loads of laundry

1 sick boy + 1 hungry baby = 1 tired mommy

1 little family - spreading illness = 0 errands ran

0 errands ran = 5 oft avoided chores accomplished.

At least some good came from Carter's puke-fest last night...