Table to Plate Rack

I'm having a somewhat productive day. Nick took the kids to get haircuts (well, not Nora - he isn't ready for her to have a haircut yet), so I had some time alone with the house and all its projects. I planned on getting more work done on the bathroom walls, but I got stuck, so they'll get finished later this week. Since I already had the nail gun out, I finished this project.
I have been collecting state plates for a few years now. In our old house, I used plate hangers to hang them on the wall. I really wanted a plate rack though. So when my in-laws found a broken table in their new house, I saw my plate rack!
I separated the legs from the apron (the tabletop was already removed). Then I added the greenish shelf across the middle and the back pieces on the top and bottom (scrap wood). I had to add those so it would sit flat against the wall.
I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and I don't think I'll paint it for now. I have several more state plates, so I'll still have some hanging on the walls too. All that took longer than the boys' haircuts, but it was okay. The kids got into very little mischief: Nora only climbed the ladder once and briefly played in the dog's water bowl, and Jack spilled an entire glass of chocolate milk (but I got to use my new floor steamer again, so that wasn't so bad!).

I owe some people big time!

This past week Nora went to my mom's so I could get some big projects done. We painted her ceiling, the boys' ceiling, her windows, molding, and closet doors, the dining room, and the doors going into the dining room. I hung a chandelier in her room and a new light fixture in the boys' room. I put new knobs on her closet doors too. I made curtains for her windows, hated them, took them down, and hung sheers for now.
The bathroom project began as well. It's not finished, but I included some pictures anyway.
I'll have to do posts for each individual room when they are finished, but here is a look at the progress so far.
This week was fun and productive, but I was exhausted by the end of it and missed Nora terribly! I'm just grateful that I have an awesome mom who stopped everything to watch her! I'm also a lucky girl to have a mother-in-law who will paint trim and friends who will help me build and cut and paint and never laugh at me (maybe with me but never at me) when I do stupid things!

You put your fabric and yarn in there.

If you are a stasher like I am, you know what happiness this FREE dresser means! It was missing all its drawers (easier to see my stash!) so it was a giveaway. I painted it with a high gloss paint called...sunset something? It's a pinky red anyway. Maybe with some orange in there. Looks awesome in my dining room (where the crafting happens).
Anyway, it took about three rolled on coats and four coats on the edges. It was a nighttime/nap time project, and Nick never complained about the mess once. (That may have something to do with my refrain, "This is going to make our life so much more organized!" and a big smile. He's a sucker for organization.).
Today I put all of my fabric and yarn stash in it. Deciding on a grouping system was hard. I ended up going with whites, tiny florals, pinks/vintage style, brights, classics, and dark neutrals. It might not make sense to anyone but me, but oh well.
Another thing about my fabric stash: about a quarter of it is clothing that doesn't fit anyone in my family anymore but is too awesome to get rid of. If you love something, but it doesn't love you back, make it into something that works: baby dresses, dollhouse linens, aprons, napkins, dishtowels, etc. Dad's shirts can become mom's or kid's shirts with a little tailoring. No shame in letting cool be cool.

White Christmas!

Nouns: Snow, fairy wings, gorilla bread, coffee, Switch and Go Dinos, Chinese food, owl toboggans, and tutus.
Verbs: Eating, playing, laughing, and freezing.
Things I never want to forget: Owen saying the perfect prayer at dinner "...thank you for the joy of Christmas...thank you for Jesus...", the talent show (oh my goodness, I hope cameras were rolling); Jack snuggling with me, watching a movie, and eating popcorn; Nora bringing us chocolate to open.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
P.S. Big League Chew is as bad as candy cigarettes, but Santa apparently doesn't care. Tsk tsk.

Toddler Tuffet and Tray

My niece Lily had her 2nd birthday today! She is adorable and so very, very smart. And she's so polite! She says "thank you" with the sweetest little voice (and "Mine!" with the mightiest!). I could make things for her all day long!
So here are her Christmas/Hanukkah (she's growing up like I did, getting to celebrate both holidays!) and birthday presents.
Tuffet: The top and bottom fabrics came from the stash (originally from Hancock's several years ago), and the sides are from Nora's crib bumper. It was time to repurpose them. Don't tell Nora, but she is getting a tuffet for Christmas made from the other long bumper panel.
Tray: from Hobby Lobby. I painted the owl and bird from the sweet plate that I also got a Hobby Lobby. Coloring book and crayons round out the snacking/crafting station.

A Good Mantel is Hard to Find

My friend Laura said I needed to show everyone my mantel, and I agree - because my mom's painting must be shared!
Every bit of my creativity and ability is nothing compared to my mom's. She is oh so very talented. I'm going to do a blog post just about her Christmas paintings, so look for that soon.
Here's the breakdown:
Painting - by Judy Falkoff 1991. I remember this painting hanging over our our fireplace in the big white house I grew up in (Ooo...another blog post idea...).
Garland - got this a few years ago at Pittman's in Magnolia, AR.
Mantel - Canton, TX treasure. It's been with us for 7 years and 5 houses.
Stockings - I made those last year for the kids from a bunch of different patterns. Just go online and search for free stocking patterns. There are lots of good ones out there.
Chalkboard - I think I bought this from my friend Vanessa's booth several years ago. When I had a really stressful job and was trying to figure out a way to be able to stay home with the kids and help Nick with his ministry more, I wrote this verse on the chalkboard - "...keeping us alert for whatever God will do next..." from Romans 5. I find that so comforting - when we are going through something difficult, God is working and working and working. He's got something great planned, so try to be patient even though it's hard. And you know what? Soon after I started praying about that verse and our situation, Nick got a job that made it easier for me to stay home! We have enough struggles to keep us humble, that's for sure, but definitely enough blessings to keep us going!
And I love that even though we live very very far apart now, my friend Vanessa is still a big part of my life. She gets me. Craftiness, thriftiness, stay at home mom-ness - she's a kindred spirit. And I can always count on her to pray hard for me! Check out her blog over there to the right - Bloom Right Here.

Put the "Happy" Back in "Happy Holidays" & Twig Sign for a Hunter-type

It's that crazy time of year again! School parties, family Christmas get-togethers, parties with friends, shopping, wrapping, addressing Christmas cards (oh man...did I forget to mail those? Oops.), menu planning, and getting in those last few "Christmas must-do's" ("Ackkk! We haven't watched Home Alone or Elf yet!"). It sneaks up on me every year. I think I'm going to have time to do all these things (and make Aunt Ronnie's Pecan Balls...yum...), and then it's days away and my to-do list is largely unchecked!
So I did something wonderful about it. Seriously the best thing I ever came up with. (I need to apologize here to my friends who are sick of hearing this, so Liz, Mandy, Lisa, Laura, if you're reading this, you can skip this paragraph. I can hear you now - "Oh, we know what YOU think about it!") Last year, I decided that I wasn't attending any party where I had to bring a gift for a gift exchange (you know, Dirty Santa or White Elephant). Who wants to haul the baby to the store to buy some random gift AND wrap it. You can spend the money on a bag or use up your at-home stash of lovely things? No thank you! And then you can spend thirty minutes play-fighting over the best of the worst? Not this girl.
It was a liberating decision. We had so many of these parties taking up so many valuable evenings. Plus I didn't have to cook or buy food to take to these parties. Bonus.
Anyway, the whole point of this post was supposed to be a gift I made. One of the drawbacks of stay-at-home momming is a smaller gift budget. However, one of the perks is more time for projects! So all the parents are getting handmade gifts this year. The theory was that the kids would make the gifts, but they are rebelling against crafting due to an unfortunate incident where they saw the Christmas card list ("We gotta glue stars to how many cards? You're crazy!"). So I had to do my dad's on my own. Hopefully they'll be more cooperative when it's time to do the rest (gotta finish those...hmm, maybe between cookie decorating and driving around looking at Christmas lights).
My friend Shannon generously gave me this busted mirror. Good good junk. I turned my head sideways and saw a cool last-name sign for my dad.
I made twig letters held together with jute and hot glue. The background is duck cloth from my stash. The frame looked a little too nice, so I took inspiration from the colors and shapes on a horse blanket we have on the couch right now and painted it green, red, and navy. I made a little stamp out of foam stickers I cut into arrows and stripes. It looks really good in my dad's cabin-style house.

Gotta go get ready for three Christmas events at the boys' school! And a party tonight (no gift exchange - just food and friends!).
Merry Christmas!