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Christmas Week: Some Decorations {and a FAIL}

Posted by Nat on Dec 15, 2011 | 1 comment

Today I thought I’d share with you a few random things I am loving.  I will also show you a Crafting Crazy fail.  Woo hoo!

Let’s start with the cute stuff.

Have you seen these at Target?

 If you missed them this year, and you have a pre-K kid, be sure to get them next year.  I snatched some up and somehow got them home without Anna seeing them.  Everyone once in a while over the last few weeks when I need to keep her occupied, I have pulled out one of these.  Next year I will grab every single one- at $2 each, they are a deal.  They really work fine motor skills, but are also fun.  And the pictures make it easy for the kids- they just refer to it to see what to do.  Here’s Anna’s handiwork:

We also did snowmen and penguins.  They are super cute.  Anna insists that they be together on the tree so they don’t get lonely.  Cuteness.

Do you have any favorite Christmas decorations?  I asked Michael what his favorite was, and he told me this story of a paper mache nativity scene that he loved growing up because you could take the gifts out of the three wise men’s hands and put them back.  You had to be there, but it was super funny.

My aunt sent me this little guy several years ago and I still look forward to finding him a spot every year.  This year he’s on our shelf in the kitchen.  I love that his little legs dangle, all the buttons…

…but I especially love his little painted face.  So cute!

And just in case you think my house is spotless or perfect, check out what’s keeping him company.  This shelf is almost always a mess.

And here we are at the Craft Fail. Get ready to laugh…

So, Anna loves crafts.  She loves to draw.  She loves to make stuff.  It’s hard to keep up with her sometimes.  I bought her these fuzz balls for her birthday.  Her birthday is in May.  Whoops.  I’ve been putting her off since then because I wasn’t really sure what to do with the fuzz balls.  I decided to give this a shot, and while I think the concept could work, I need to rethink my supplies and technique a huge tad.  Not a wee tad- a HUGE tad.

Here’s how it went:

Gather fuzz balls and a four-year-old.  Be sure you shove your hand in a basket full of fuzz balls- it’s so nice!  (Heh.)  No really, they are soooo soft.

As you can see above, I had Anna find all the green, red and white ones.  There were a lot.

Below you can see our progress.  We selected the largest styrofoam tree form- probably my biggest mistake.  I painted the glue on and then Anna would stick them on.  We set it on wax paper to keep the glue off the table, and I was hoping once all was dry it would just peel off.

Here’s the problem:  we ran out of Christmas colors.  So instead of a cute, fuzzy Christmas tree we have a psychedelic fuzz ball mess.  I also need to look into getting one size.  This thing is a nightmare to look at.  I kind of want to cry looking at it.  The real kicker, though, is that Anna LOVES it.  I don’t have the heart to get rid of it.  I’m tempted to take all the fuzz balls off and start over.  Who knows.  At least Anna likes it.  🙂

Tomorrow I have one more thing to share before the holidays and then I’m taking a 2-week break from blogland.  Can’t wait to come back with more fun stuff!

Operation Organization: Front Hall Closet, part 1

Posted by Nat on Nov 17, 2011 | 1 comment

*Note:  I’ve decided to make this a series since I have lots of organizing to do.  I’m a bit type A in this area, so I will hopefully have some good stuff to share with you as I strive towards knowing where all of my crap is .

A long time ago I posted about our hallway closet.  I love that closet.  The rest of our closets, however, have been on the back burner.  Back at the beginning of this year my husband and I bought Elfa shelving from The Container Store during their huge Elfa sale.  If you live near a Container Store you should check out that sale- it’s rad.  The shelving we bought, however, has been sitting, waiting to be installed.  Now that things have calmed down on the baby front we are ready to dive back into some house projects, and this is one of them.  We also did not paint this closet upon move-in at this house, mainly because we had nearly 2,000 square feet of house to paint, and this closet was low on the totem pole of paint.

It’s in a tricky spot, right by our front door, and it doesn’t have a light inside it, so these shots will not be the best photos.

I emptied it out, and here’s what it looks like empty.

I can’t believe I’m showing you this, but here’s a corner up close, so you can see all the cobwebs, dust and faded paint.

When I demoed (sp?) the existing shelving it was really more difficult than I thought it would be.  I had to pry the shelf supports off and they had the longest nails I’ve ever seen.  And the dividing board that separated the hanging garments from the rest- it was like moving a mountain.  Okay, not a mountain.  But it was hard. What I was left with was lots of holes in the drywall.  Lots.  That top “oops” and left-pointing arrow are pointing to a hole I didn’t get on my camera, but my husband had to patch it by sawing out some of the existing dry wall and replacing it with new stuff.  Neat.  Oops.

And here’s where we are today:  ready for installation.  I’m waiting for Emily to go to sleep so I can put in the shelving.

The only challenge we have once finished is what to do with this crack in the flooring and baseboard where the previous closet set up was.  I’m thinking a rug?  Not sure…  This flooring will get replaced eventually, so we’re not patching it up.

Inspired by Erma

Posted by Nat on Oct 27, 2011 | Comments Off on Inspired by Erma

Did you grow up reading Erma Bombeck?  I did.  I kind of miss her.  There’s no one like her, really.

When I was old enough to read, and wanted to impress my parents and grandparents, I knew I couldn’t *just* read the comics anymore.  I think I was probably 12 or so.  And conveniently, in our newspaper, Erma’s column was near the comics, so it was an easy migration.  I started with that, and then I think my mom may have read some of her books, so I read them, too.  I love her sense of humor, and her healthy grip on the reality of motherhood and all that it entails.

Pretty soon I’m going to whip my laundry room into shape.  It’s getting there, and I’ve already done a few things, but have so much more to do.  In the meantime, you’ll have to settle for this sneak peek.  There was a little spot over our washer that I stare at a lot.  I decided that it would be nice to have something to look at instead of a blank wall, and I’ve always liked this quote from Erma.  So I fiddled around in Photoshop and here’s what I came up with:

I’ve had this panoramic, 12×4 photo frame for years.  Nearly a century, I think.  So I spray-painted it a creamy white, added some twine, and voila- this is much nicer to stare at!  And this was all free- my husband likes free.  So do I.

I also figured that you might not want one in 12×4, just in case you aren’t a frame-hoarder like myself.  So I also made it in 8×10 format.  Hope you enjoy! You should be able to right-click on either to download to your own computer, but let me know if that doesn’t work.

I can’t wait to show you more of our laundry room, but I have a pretty big project for it before I can show it to you.  🙂

Halloween Decor

Posted by Nat on Oct 17, 2011 | 2 comments

I am so excited for Halloween this year!  I really hate that it’s on a Monday.  I think that we should petition the powers-that-be and just make Halloween the last Saturday of October every year. So much easier.  Just sayin’.

Anyhoo, I thought I’d share our Halloween decorations that we have up.  I am not a “theme” person, nor do I have the time or money to invest in new decorations every year, but I do love to add a few things each year.  I’m an “orange & black with hints of green and purple” person for colors.  Someday I’ll get fancy, but for now, with three little ones, simple is best.

Here’s our mantel/mantle (I can never decide how to spell it).

(Oh, how I long for a new fireplace….)

I love the little pumpkins in our vase- they are the only thing I bought (at Vons!) aside from our squashes and one other thing below.  This is not my favorite part of our decor, but it’s fun to have in this room- we spend lots of time in here playing and (gasp!) watching TV.

This is our entryway.  I used the Martha Stewart transfers, purchased at Michael’s, for the pumpkins (they are fake). Unfortunately they are not holding up too well because the sun sets on this side of the house, so they are getting tired already- but maybe they’ll wash off and I can do something else next year.  I love all the pumpkins I’m seeing on Pinterest this year- just haven’t had time to do my own.

I also made this sign.  I got the idea from this post, which I found on Pinterest (oh, how I love me some Pinterest!).  I thought it would make a cute entry/welcome sign, so I got out the Mod Podge and got to work.  Turned out pretty cute, eh?

Also, here’s a quick tip:  whenever you need to paint a canvas on the edges, if it’s a wrap around canvas, it can be tricky.  I have started doing this, and I’m sure I’m not the first to think of it, but just in case… I put the canvas up on some books that are smaller than the canvas so that you have easy access to the edges, and they don’t stick to anything.  Make sense?

I find it a bit hilarious that I have “The Cake Bible” and “You- On a Diet” together on my bookshelf.

I found this garland and printed it out.  It was super easy to assemble and put together.  Definitely a keeper.  Here is where I found it (also via Pinterest).

In our hallway we have these things hanging.  I just love preschool decorations- they are too cute.  The bats are actually a Papyrus Halloween card.  I bought it a few years ago on clearance- I think it’s much cuter as a decoration.

My favorite part of our Halloween decor is in our kitchen.  I downloaded all of these prints FREE from different blogs (see below for links).  I printed them out on matte photo paper.  Usually these frames just have generic flower photos from IKEA in them, and it’s so nice to see something seasonal in them- I’m going to switch them out with Thanksgiving ones, too, I think.

(This is a tricky part of our house to photograph- it’s broken up by the kitchen cabinets and it’s a very narrow pass-through.  Sorry for the weird angle.)    Here they are straight on:

Download them for yourself:  Left, Middle, Right

Happy Halloween!  I’ll be doing another post about something else I made for these prints soon, so I’m not done yet. 🙂

If you’d like to see my Halloween board on Pinterest, click here.  If you follow me, I’ll follow you!

Shelf Makeover or… {flat surface angst}

Posted by Nat on Sep 21, 2011 | 1 comment

I have a love/hate relationship with flat surfaces.  What would we do without them?  Surely everything would end up on the floor.  But because of them, there is clutter in my house and there are times when I seriously want to just open the trash can and sweep my arm across the length of our counters and swoosh it all away, even if there is a gift card lurking in there somewhere.

I’m sure you also have a love/hate relationship with something in your house, whether it’s a room, a light fixture, a door, something.  Enter our shelf in the kitchen/eating area:

On the one hand, this thing is awesome because it stores much of Anna’s everyday art supplies (soon all the kids will use them, but for now, Anna rules the art roost here), and is a great place to throw our keys, a box of tissue, and because it’s where little hands can’t reach, I can put things up there and know that they are safe for the moment.  On the other hand….. it’s seriously fugly.  And tired.  And old.  Did I mention it was ugly?  Here’s a closeup of the bottom shelf.

I spoke to my husband about it several times, and he mentioned that he was worried it wouldn’t stay up if we took it down and put it back up.  For a while we were distracted with larger tasks with our house, so I just pondered what I would do, and finally the day arrived when I had to do something- I couldn’t take it anymore.  So I took it down and disassembled it.  I told my husband that if it didn’t go back up we could just hang some art in its place, and he agreed after seeing the look of desperation on my face.  Here’s the finished product:

The metal frame I spray painted with this stuff:

It worked really well- it really does look hammered, and now that the iron (?I think?) has a sheen to it it seems so much nicer.

The shelves I spray painted white.  I was going to use go ol’ 12×12 scrapbooking paper to cover it and give it some life, but the paper was too small, and I wanted a continuous pattern.  Then my little genius self remembered that I have a large format printer, so I scanned the paper I liked (I think from a stack of paper from Michael’s) and printed it on an 11×17 piece of paper.  I trimmed it up and used, of course, Mod Podge, to seal it on.

I ended up not really needing to do the top shelves because not very many people will be able to see them since they are so high, but oh well- they look nice even if only my 6’7″ brother-in-law can see them.  🙂

It looks so much better.  I don’t love it, but I like it a lot more.  It will definitely go when we remodel our kitchen someday (oh, how I dream of demo-ing the wood paneling), but for now it’s serving it’s purpose and it’s a lot cuter to look at.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison:

My parents are in town and we’re having lots of fun.  I’m going to post more when I can- I just added lots to our laundry room- but we have to soak up the grandparent fun while we can!

Best. Swagbox. Ever.

Posted by Nat on Sep 15, 2011 | 1 comment

Are you a brand person?  I’m a brand person.  My husband is not a brand person- he’s a “generic stuff is just fine” kind of guy.  The last time he bought me oatmeal at the grocery store he got the store brand instead of Quaker.  I sucked it up and tried it, but it wasn’t as good.  I’m very attached to a brand once I like it, and will buy it whether or not I have a coupon.  I think that makes me a typical female consumer- but I’m okay with that.  I stick with what works.

At BlogHer this summer one of the biggest pieces of real estate on the expo floor was Proctor & Gamble’s “booth.”  You can’t really say it was a booth- it was essentially a house that you could take a tour of.  Throughout the house you could see different products that were in the P&G family.  They also gave you a little questionnaire to fill out, and at the end you gave it to a guy with a bunch of raffle tickets.  I think the raffle was for a new washer & dryer- I didn’t win that.  However, turning in that questionnaire also allowed me to give them my address, and they promised to mail me a “swag box” that I wouldn’t have to lug around the conference- rad!  The guy I spoke with said, “Believe me- it’s a great box.”  He wasn’t lying.  It showed up on our porch a day or two ago and as soon as the kids were in bed, Michael and I opened it up.  It was sort of like “home product Christmas.”

I am amazed at how many of these products I will actually, honestly try and/or use.  Many of them I already use- score!  I also liked that they included a challenge to all of the BlogHer participants to save energy.  Thanks P&G!!!

Here’s a few photos of what was inside:

…and here’s a list of what was in my P&G Swag Box.  I’ve broken it into 2 lists, Health & Beauty, and Home.

Health & Beauty:

1 Box of Tampax Pearl tampons

1 Box of Always Infinity Maxi Pads

1 Jar of Vicks Vapo Rub

1 Bottle of Vicks Nature Fusion Cough Syrup, Honey flavored

1 Box of Vicks Nature Fusion Cold & Flu Relief

1 Bottle of Ivory Simple Clean Body Wash

1 Gillette Venus ProSkin Razor

2 Cover Girl NatureLuxe mascaras, 1 in black and 1 in very black (I’ve been wanting to try this- woo hoo!)

1 Box of Pantene Damage Repair for Curly Hair

2 Boxes of Pantene Damage Repair for Medium-Thick Hair

1 Box/2 Bars of Oil of Olay Body Bar

1 Box of Oil-of-Olay 2-in-1 Daily Facial Cloths

1 Bottle of Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex

Home:

1 roll of Bounty Paper Towels

1 bottle of Febreze Air Effects Air Refresher

1 Bottle of Febreze Fabric Refresher

1 Bottle of Downy In-Wash Scent Booster

1 Swiffer 360 Duster Kit

1 Sample of Tide Washing  Machine Cleaner

2 Samples of Cascade Complete Action Pacs

1 Thumb Drive, 1 GB; this also has some tools for conserving water & energy on it

I think this is an incredibly nice gift- can’t wait to try them all out- thanks again, P&G!