Pics of the Faves

June Crafty Project

I squeaked out a crafty project last Friday that I thought I would share.  Remember this simple white lamp that sits on top of this awesome end table?  Well, I dressed it up, just a tad to make it a little less simple.

Here's what I did:

Here's its twin that sits on top of this awesome computer table:

I got the idea from this website.  I chose to use white fabric because we use these lamps every night, so I didn't want the fabric to dim any of the light coming from the lamps.  I chose fabric that already had some waffly-type texture to help add to the texture of the ruffles.  I got it super cheap at Walmart.  I think it was about $3 a yard.  I only needed one yard, and it was something like 58 inches wide.  PERFECT!



I'm happy with how they turned out.  When I look at them, I do think, "Wow, those are frilly lamps."  Frilly isn't really my style at all, but I like them anyway.  I tend toward things that are plain and sometimes more masculine, so I wanted something a little frilly to help balance things out in the living room.  This room is far from finished, but I have lots of plans, most of which involve things that are square.  So these lamps I think help mix things up a bit.  I'm sure I'm way over thinking my whole plan for the living room, but I can't help it.  I watch too much HGTV to under think my design plan!

Noah's turn in the spotlight.

Our neighborhood does a little soccer season for kids who are typically too young to play in a regular league.  I thought I would sign Noah up since he just finished watching his big brother and sister have so much fun playing.  He started a few weeks ago.  He's only gone twice so far, but he loves it.  He got a real soccer shirt.  Combined with a pair of Eli's old shorts, socks, and shin guards, he's ready for action.

Look at the focus!  The first game, he ran around a bunch and was totally focused on the ball, he just never really tried to kick it.  He didn't quite get that in soccer, it's okay to take the ball away from other kids.  He just enjoyed watching the other kids kick it and politely waited his turn.

Fortunately, it ended well.  He got his juice box and fruit snacks, the best part of the entire game.

He had a great time and loved playing.  It had a really positive effect on his work ethic too.  When we got home, we started doing our Saturday chores.  Noah said to me, "Mommy, soccer players do their chores."  I heartily agreed and he finished faster than usual. 

Pics of the Faves

May Project

Apparently, my version of "nesting" includes building furniture, rearranging furniture, doing yard work, lifting heavy boxes, and being in pain for hours after building furniture, rearranging furniture, doing yard work, and lifting heavy objects. 

I didn't have any projects last month because it took me most of the month to recuperate from having lots of fun times with various family members in town.  But I'm back at it, more or less.  I told Mike not to let me build anything else until after the baby comes because building hurts my back so much!  But that doesn't mean I'm not going to be crafty!!

This project only took me a few hours to build last Saturday, then a few hours on Tuesday to stain and polyurethane.

I really needed a side table at my end of the couch so I can put my nighttime drink and snack somewhere while I watch shows with my sweetie.  I was putting them on the wood floor, but it's so far away and hard for a pregnant lady to reach without getting up....and with getting up.  So I found this plan on this website and just made it a bit taller, and shorter (make sense? less long??).  I already had the top board, the stain, and the poly, so the entire project only cost me about $20 for the rest of the wood and some screws.  Not bad!  It does look a little funny from the end because it is so narrow, but it's a small spot.  Anything deeper would have been too big.  And I can't put it right up against the couch because it's a recliner and I wouldn't have been able to reach the recliner pulling thing.  I plan on getting some cute baskets to put on the bottom shelf to store diapers, wipes, binkies, etc. for when little baby comes. 

May Project #2 should be coming soon and it involves that little white lamp in the picture and its twin which sits on the desk.  Stay tuned!

Mother's Day

I just wanted to share a few tidbits from my Mother's Day presents I got from the kids.  In school and at church, the kids filled out questionnaires about me.  I was surprised to see how well they know me.  Here are some of their best responses: (their responses will be in red)

Noah:
My mother is good at: drawing.
My mom likes it when: I hug her.
When I'm not around, my mother: tries to find me.

Leah:
My mother is good at: doing her chores. (I'm not so sure that one is true)
When I'm not around, my mother: does her chores, and doesn't usually do fun stuff other than do her chores.
I love it when my mother: does fun things for kindergarten at my house. (This one really made me feel good)

Eli:
My mother is good at: eating chocolate.
When I'm not around, my mother: eats chocolate
My mom likes it when: I share my chocolate with her.
All of those statements are true.

Eli did this one at school and I had to ask him if his teacher had read it because of his last response that I put here.  Fortunately, he said she hadn't:
My mom is sad when: my sister does not let her do her hair. (so true)
My mom smells like: chocolate.
My mom loves me: anytime!
My mom looks funniest when: she has no pants on!

I loved these presents!  I will keep them forever and I think they will always make me laugh.  I love being a mom!!

March Project #2

I have found that I'm really productive when I have a deadline. My deadline right now is the upcoming visits of several family members. I want my new place to look as nice as possible, so of course I had to build a bookshelf to do that! I managed to build this all by myself in less than a week! I still can't believe it (and my back still hurts). Here are a bunch of pictures:

I painted it the same white as the desk. Instead of having a solid back, I just stapled fabric to the back. It's sturdy enough that I didn't think I had to put a back on. If it starts getting wobbly, I can always nail a piece of plywood to the back. I love the fabric and it goes almost perfectly with the colors that will slowly enter the room. Decorating is a whole lot longer of a process than I thought it would be! Why doesn't it take only a half hour like on HGTV?

Anyway, I love it. I love the brown baskets too! They hold all the desk stuff that we use, but that the desk can't hold anymore. The best part is, if I ever want to change the colors of the room or put it in a new room, I can just change the fabric on the back and/or paint it a different color!