wordle for boys

Have you ever heard of Wordle?  It's such a fun way to play with words.  When I taught, I used it a couple of times with kids.  I love how you can change fonts, colors, and the shape/design of the word layout.  Most importantly, you can change how big the words are according to how many times you use the words in the text.

The boys are going to share a bedroom, and I've been trying to incorporate a few touches for both of them, rather than just 7 year old boy stuff.  I wanted some wall art above the crib, so I decided to make my own Wordle.  I played around a little on the actual website, and then decided to just go for it myself with vinyl.  It's a little hard to tell, but I used light blue, dark blue, bright green, olive green and red.  The red is for "big" and "little" because I wanted them to stand out a little.  I asked Conner for a couple of words that meant boy and brother to him, and added some words that made me think of the boys too.  After giving my (sporty) brother a preview, I realized I forgot to cut one of my Silhouette files - so I'll be adding "sports" "baseball" and "soccer" another day.

I also added a little border above the yardstick chair rail on the crib side.  A few tools for the baby to dream of using when he gets older.  My Silhouette has been getting a workout!

I think the boy's room is officially done now - only seven more weeks until the due date.  Just in the nick of time!

rainbow room

Now that we have a four year old in our house - it was time to put some of the finishing touches on her big girl room.  It's been painted for over a month now, but we just recently had the vinyl rainbow installed and added some finishing touches today.

Here's her bed - with a rainbow from the floor to the clouds.  To the left of the rainbow is the quote "Follow every rainbow until you find your dream".  (name the musical!)
The canopy above her bed is IKEA - I just added the rainbow ribbons hanging down from the clouds.

After that first picture was added, we installed her name.  It is between the canopy above her bed and the window to the right.

On the other side of the room (between the door and the closet) is her dress-up area.  The rainbow polka dot tubs hold a bunch of brushes, hair ribbons, elastics, and her "earrings" (stickers).  Then of course, her bows and purse are hanging there as well.

The dressing table has a rainbow on it, as does the other side of the chair. Perfect for checking herself out when she's done primping.  She is such a girly-girl and loves it all!

In the other corner, above her dollhouse area are a couple little white shelves.  She chose the unicorn, which just cracks up my 80s loving self.  The shelf above has a new frame (decorated by Aunt E) and waiting for me to get around to printing a picture.  The shelf above has her class picture from preschool.
The one corner left is the one with her dresser and bookshelf in it.  We're waiting for the last detail, some rainbow bookends and then her room will be totally complete.  Now if I can only get her to clean it up!
I am also working on a rainbow quilt for her bed instead of a simple blue comforter.  That may take a little longer though... but believe me I will be sharing it here someday!!!!

rainbow vanity

We haven't transitioned Abby to a big girl room (yet) but when we do it is (probably) going to have a lot of rainbow in it.  We ordered a chair and vanity from Total Class Creative.

Shawn set up a spray paint area in the garage for me.

Then I got busy and painted a rainbow on the table and a rainbow on the chair.  I did a clear coat and put the pieces together.  The "mirror" is white like a cloud... right?  The base of the table is white too.

I hung some 3M hooks on the wall to hold her necklaces and gave her a small box to hold a couple hair clips and bracelets.  She loves dressing up now even more than before!

change of latitude

SO - 5 days before Christmas I started moving my studio downstairs.  {YES, I realize I'm crazy.}  I finally have things {mostly} organized and picture worthy.  I don't have nearly as much natural light because it is our basement, and there is only one small window.  I'm working on lighting and how to take good pictures in the dark.
The books have been down there since we moved in - most of them are from my teaching days and from my childhood.  However, I will own it.  I LOVE children's books.  I have a LOT of books.  We have a good library in our town, but we rarely visit it because we hardly have time to read the books we do have!  Anyway, back to the studio.
When we moved in we had some flooding issues and replaced the carpet with the foam squares.  I love it, and think it will be nice bright fun flooring for the craft room.

The green chair is my "dreaming chair" - perfect for reading a book, reading a magazine, sketching, or working with the kids at their craft table.  The quilt is one made by my grandma - it is poofy and warm and I LOVE it!!!

The kids craft table is in perfect view of my work space, but all their supplies are on their side.  There are two plastic drawer storage units holding their supplies, and a cardboard box full of boxes, toilet paper tubes, and other fun recyclable bits perfect for random creations.  I have two task lights by my cutting table and drawing table, and my sewing machine is at a right angle to the wall.  Behind my tables is a shorter bookshelf to hold sewing books, business paperwork, and information for my sewing machine.  Lots of other supplies are mixed in with the bookshelves on the far wall.

Behind my work table there is a ledge.  On it sits different projects and works-in-progress.  Above it is my shelf of ribbon.  Underneath the ribbon shelf is a cork strip holding the order forms.  Looks like I better get busy!!

My stash.  Yeah.  I better get busy sewing!!!  There are more empty tubes, rolls of freezer paper and contact paper.  There's also a few electronic components and speakers from when this used to be shelving for our TV room.  Not everything is in its perfect spot yet... but electronic components are my husband's arena.

The last shot is just for fun - my collection of Sharpie markers sitting on my drawing table.  I love Sharpies.  Bright. Bold. So versatile.  LOVE them.

I'm really happy with the set-up, and I feel like I'm on the brink of really getting going again.  It's not necessarily the perfect set-up, I wish the walls weren't that weird textured stuff so I could paint them, storage isn't perfect, but it's MY space and I'll keep adding little touches to make it more creative and inspiring.
Color & inspiration - where do you find it?

a kindergartener's desk

The next big milestone has reached our house - Conner started kindergarten today!!!!  I don't remember who had this idea, but they had their kids write what they wanted to be when they grew up (in their own handwriting) and then write their names.  When he got home, I had him put his nametag on the back, and we wrote down a couple special memories (the name of the book his teacher read, the name of his friend he met at his table, and the snack he ate).  I also traced his hand and measured how tall he was and wrote it down.  It will go in his memory box, and if I'm lucky I'll remember to do this every year.

When he came home, he found something new in his room - his very own desk!!!!  He's been asking for one for a while, and this just seemed like the right time.  After Abby & I got home from dropping him off, I put the desk and chair in his room (that had been hiding in the crawlspace waiting).  I added some of his favorite supplies in the little cubbies - a glue stick, tape, pencil sharpener, eraser, and scissors.  In some plastic jars inside I put pencils, markers, and colored pencils.  I also included a couple different note pads and a "sketch diary" for his creations.  He has been so artistic lately, and I am happy to encourage that as much as I can.

The best part is the story behind the desk - it used to be my Grama's when she was little.  My grandfather refinished it and my mom played at it as a kid.  I also used it as a child after the hinge was fixed.  I am now beyond excited for the desk to get its fourth generation of use!!!

just keep swimming...

I've been spending some of my crafting time this past week on a different project - but I promise I do have a dress to show off tomorrow too.  May I introduce you to our very own aquarium?

The kid's bathroom was originally painted all white, and had a blue and white striped bathroom curtain.  It had duck deco and although cute at one time, I was getting a little tired of it.  Curious George & the ducks had to go!!!!  I didn't even do a before picture.  I'm sure you can envision an all white bathroom.  This is definitely a darker bathroom now, and since it's all interior the pictures are a bit dark too.  We're discussing ways to change the lighting a little.  We will probably end up changing out the fan to a light/fan combo and will leave the fixture above the mirror.

We were definitely inspired by Nemo - he and his friends are swimming all around us.  The cabinet above the toilet was from the previously all-white bathroom, and we decided to leave it as is.  Check out the awesome tie-dye swirly shower curtain!

Sit down on the toilet and have a conversation with Nemo and his Dad... or make faces at the pufferfish in the corner by the tub.  We decided not to redo the {ugly} brown linoleum floor, tan toilet, tan shower, and tan sink.  Instead, I'm just pretending that it's sand in our aquarium.  Can you pretend with me?

Above the kid's towels are pictures of them looking in the Caribbean Reef aquarium at the Shedd.  We went this past weekend {they LOVED it} and Abby can't stop saying "fish, fish, fish" when we go in there.

Of course I had help painting.  He was eager to help with the orange cabinet and he helped a little with the first coat on one of the blue walls too.  He thought the roller was tons of fun!!!  Most of the painting I did after the kids went to bed.

The front of the cabinets - do they look like they're missing something?  Ha.  Yeah, the cabinet doors aren't painted yet.  But I just couldn't wait to reveal it all to you.  So imagine blue cabinet doors with orange handles.  I lined the inside of the {ugly} dark brown cabinet with white contact paper to lighten it up in there a little.  Toys on the right, TP, bubble bath and Clorox wipes in the tub on the left.  Drawer on the left - band aids and nail clippers.  Drawer on the right - some of Abby's hair stuff.

The mirror used to be just dark wood around the edge - another orange accent now!
Silver towel rods and faucet were also leftovers from the previous bathroom design.

Dory (the forgetful fish) is full of reminders for the kids on the chalkboard speech bubble.

There's even a place for other fun notes to each other, reminders for the day, whatever inspires them!  Just to the left above the white hand towel is a picture of Conner meeting Crush at Disney World ("Turtle Talk" at Epcot).  I forgot to include that in the picture, but it's just another fun touch to the bathroom and a reminder of our trip.  I wrote "just keep swimming" on the chalk board because that was a line from the "Finding Nemo: Musical" we saw at Animal Kingdom.
We did consider putting some kind of fishing net or fishing boat on the ceiling, but for now it's just blue like the walls.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!


{linked to this party}

craft room redo

I've updated a little, reorganized, moved furniture and I am loving it!  Here's the new and improved studio!  You may note a big pile of fabric on the far wall - it's supposed to be put away on the shelves underneath.  But I wouldn't want you to think I could actually have it all organized at once?!!!!  The piano is just to the right around the corner, and the display shelf is still on the wall there.  The fabric shelves in the middle of the room have some of the small things like burp cloths, hairclips, etc. in tubs on top.  The cutting table is against the far wall under the ribbons.  I keep some of my paperwork stuff in a vertical file on the wall.  Scrapbooking stuff is in tubs underneath that table.  Kids' messy stuff is next to the cutting table.  Their craft table is right in between my sewing table and the kitchen table in the next room.

Here's the other side of the fabric shelves - I got a new table to hold both machines.  Woo-hoo!

This is now my dreaming table.  It houses my tub of colored pencils, my tub of Sharpies, and a tub of index cards for little notes and sketches.  It's also my music center - gotta have tunes to craft to!  It's next to the shelves that hold some of my idea books, portfolio, patterns, etc.

Just a shot of some of the pretty stuff on top of the bookshelf.  So many cute things to use on my next project!

set the table

Time to try something new on my serger - a rolled hem!  It took no time at all - setting it up and reading my booklet to make sure I had the settings right was the hardest part.

Each napkin is 18" square which made four from one yard of fabric.  I used two different kinds of lighthouse fabrics, so I made a total of eight napkins.  That left a few lighthouse scraps to use on a centerpiece for the table.  Don't you love the salt and pepper shakers?!

My parents also get two placemats to match out of a simple red broadcloth.  Enjoy, mom & dad!

wreath for march

You may remember my Christmas and Valentine's wreath experiment. Well, now that it's finally March maybe I should move on to St. Patrick's Day, right?
So... I added a rainbow ribbon, green beads for a little sparkle (left over from Mardi Gras) - some sparkly shamrocks, and gold coins.
Here's a view of how they're attached to the wreath. Because I want to keep using the wreath, I had to figure out a way to make the coins and shamrocks easy to detach. I hot glued the coins together, and then cut short pieces of pipe cleaner and hot glued it onto the coins. Then I just bent the pipe cleaner around the wreath "branches" so it was out of sight.
Happy March everyone!

how does she?

Have you ever seen How Does She? They are such creative ladies and they are good at compiling ideas from all over. I sent in Conner's room and it was featured today! What an honor to be with so many other amazing people!!


If you want to see the original post on Conner's room... hop over here.

wreath around the year

I decided to try a little outdoor experiment this December. There's just so much snow and so little green.
My craft group at church was cleaning out our room and we came across some old greenery we didn't need anymore. It was kind of pathetic looking for putting on a mantel or where someone would see it up close. But I had an old wreath form sitting around, so I wrapped (and wrapped and wrapped) and made myself a wreath. The striped ribbon is something I've had for a couple years now. What a perfect greeting by the front door through the Christmas season.
I don't really like my bow very much, but was kind of rushing and didn't feel like messing with it. I think a wired ribbon would be much better don't you think?
Yes, I think wired ribbon works much better! (That and paying a little bit better attention to how bows are made on other people's blogs.)
Add a couple glittery hearts and we're ready for Valentine's Day! I'm not exactly sure I love it hanging off the light (that was my cheap easy solution) but for now it works. Maybe I'll hang it on one of the porch columns the next time I change it up.

room redo

I was going a little stir crazy. I usually do when things are a mess. I love to rearrange furniture too. So this was just calling my name! Luckily, he was happy to play along!
Have I ever shown you my son's bedroom? (I couldn't remember, and after a quick glance through my old posts didn't see it listed. If I have, then feel free to just skip this post!) Well, the picture above was his room at about 1 pm yesterday afternoon. The rest of the pictures are how his room looks now. ahhh....

The shelves are dusted (woohoo!) - they are metal shelves with Where the Wild Things Are magnets on them. The other stuff on the shelves are just little momentos from "the early years". There is also a little mailbox where Daddy leaves him things when he has to be at work early (things like a little toy he finds laying around the house that hasn't been played with in a while, a little snack for later, a short note). The memo board I made using denim fabric wrapped around a styrofoam piece. I used silver pins & tape measure ribbon to make the lines to hold papers and pictures. Right now it holds a picture of his cousins, and a picture of him with a preschool friend. There's also a cable wire strung to hold some of his artwork, important papers, etc.
The chair rail is one of my favorite touches in the room. He counts on it when he's laying in bed trying to fall asleep. LOVE that! The comforter will soon be replaced with the music one I'm making. The pillowcase is one I made out of John Deere fleece. Soft and comfy!
Part of the reason for the rearrangement is my ADD with room design. Part of it is that he wanted a light by his bed, and I had this lamp all ready to go, just no outlet close to where his bed used to be. So now he has a lamp to read books in bed! He's so excited - he wanted to close the curtains and turn off the light and try it out as soon as possible! We keep his Legos and Matchbox in pull-out tubs underneath his bed, so the rug is perfect for right there.
The CONNER letters were painted and hung above his bed when we originally put his room together. They were probably hung a little bit high at the time, but I didn't want him reaching up and playing with them when he was supposed to be sleeping. It worked out perfectly now though because they are the perfect height above his dresser. The curtains were just plain chambray ones we had at our old house - I added the tape measure ribbon along the bottom, and they were perfect for his room!I love this corner. It's just a whole lot of family craftsmanship in one place. The rocking horse was a 1st Birthday present for him from one brother-in-law. (the same one who made Abby's doll bed. which reminds me I need to show you the doll quilt my mom gave her for Christmas.) Anyway - gorgeous workmanship! The bookshelves were a 3rd Birthday present from him. LOVE them too. They have three full shelves for books, and three cubbies for bins of "stuff" - marble run pieces, Mr. Potato Head, you get the idea! The bean bag chair is new - and he is loving it! (Slept on it the first 2 nights he had it!) We have a Mike Mulligan print hanging on the wall, and an alphabet rug on the floor. The pegboard has hooks for hats, dress-up shirts, his calendar, tool alphabet cards, and his chore chart. (We don't make a big deal out of daily chores, but it's something we keep trying to do!)
Then at the bottom of the pegboard - book racks made by my brother. They're perfect for holding some of our current favorites so they don't get lost on the big bookshelf.
Hope you enjoyed the tour of a CLEAN room! Woo-hoo!

harvest time, Strega Nona

My favorite new fall book...
and my way of decorating. The librarian in me just can't stop!One of the best parts of the book is that Strega Nona's loving, overflowing bounty is shared with her village. What a wonderful reminder for all of us.