move-away

A Design Dilemma: Post Flat-Screen Mantel

Posted by Nat on Jan 5, 2012 | 9 comments

Hi friends,

I need your help.  Our lives have changed drastically in the last month.  Why?  We got a flat screen.  Holla!

Surprisingly, I wasn’t thinking it would be *that* amazing to have a large, wall-mounted TV.  I was actually most excited by the fact that my kids would no longer be able to stand millimeters away from the screen, and I wouldn’t have to clean fingerprints off of it anymore.  But let me tell you something….

It’s amazing.

The color.  The picture.  The clarity…  We’re holding off on speakers until we figure out a few other things, but eventually the sound will be great, too.  For now we’re doing fine with the TV speakers (gasp).

Here’s where I need your help.  Where I once had oodles of decorating space, I now have… very little.

(Pardon the cords and such- they will disappear…eventually.)

Vertically I can’t fit much because the TV is in the way.   But it looks so… bleh.  My poor little clock is so lonely.

Pre-flat screen, I had some photos, a really cool trio of vases, and a round mirror up there.  Now it all seems too much.  I’ve pondered making a new mantel cover, as the “real” mantel is super tired and depressing.  This cover is a sort of chocolate espresso brown. Can’t do much about the fireplace as of yet, either.  I just don’t know what to put on the mantel itself.

I would love your help.  Please leave me a comment if you have any suggestions- I’m at a total loss!

Felt Obsession

Posted by Nat on Jan 3, 2012 | Comments Off on Felt Obsession

This project was a little toooo fun for me.  And for my mom.

Did you play with these when you were little?  If you’re a child of the mid- to late-70s, you may have.  They are flat, sort of like a glorified paper doll/Flat Stanley.

They are called “Twigs and Wigs” dolls, and after a little research I found that they are not made anymore, so I have officially dubbed them “cool retro dolls.”  We had 3, perhaps because I am one of three {awesome} girls.  My sisters and I wore them out!  They came with felt clothes that were uber-easy to put on and take off, which is one reason we loved them so much.  After a visit last winter where Anna played with the old, tired clothes, my mom and I decided to give them a new wardrobe and then give them to Anna at Christmas.  We started during my parents’ visit in late-September, but I finished them up just before we left for Christmas.  Before I go on, check it out- they even had a patent number and everything- aren’t they official?

Felt is addictive.  Not as addictive as Pinterest, but pretty addictive.  It’s so easy to work with, sews nicely, and just feels yummy under your fingers.  We used the old hair-do’s and clothes to make templates, but then I tried to add some new flare to the clothes.  The following pictures are not everything we made, but a nice sampling:

(not so happy with the hat, but Anna loves it)

(the rainbow shirt is my favorite)

Here a few dolls dressed and ready for action:

To keep everything together I also made a little bag with a divider in it so she can put them all away when she’s done (in theory, of course).

She’s played with them several times since Christmas- she loves them.

(Side note:  can anyone tell me when the “I can’t smile for the camera” phase ends?  And yes, that’s my arm tickling her, trying to get her to smile a natural smile…)

Linking up to:

Today’s Creative Blog

Ta-Da Tuesday @ Mommy By Day, Crafter By Night

Hookin’ Up with HoH!

Fingerprints on the Fridge

2012: Resolution Schmezolution!

Posted by Nat on Jan 2, 2012 | Comments Off on 2012: Resolution Schmezolution!

Happy New Year!

(photo taken by the lovely Amber of LifeArt Photography)

Hello everyone!  Happy 2012!  I hope that you had a marvelous holiday season filled with family, friends, and food.  Don’t forget the food. 🙂  I had a wonderful visit with my family in Kansas that included lots of giggles with grandparents, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as… you guessed it… FOOD.  My family knows how to EAT- I love it!

Every year I sit back and marvel at what 12 months can bring.  One year ago I was pregnant, anticipating the arrival of our baby girl, Emily.   Now she’s here, adorable and healthy, and our family is complete.  I’ve left my teaching job, I’m a SAHM but soon I’ll be a WAHM part time. Un. Real.

The trend, of course, is to talk about what resolutions we might have this time of year.  I have done resolutions in the past- entering them into a list on my phone to “help me remember.”  Yep- doesn’t work.  Out of sight, out of mind- that’s me.  Plus, life with three kids always keeps things busy, interesting, and crazy, and other things tend to creep over those resolutions.  So this year, I’ve decided to have a theme.  I’m going to come up with a print or something to put somewhere to remind me daily what my theme is and try to stick to it.

What’s my theme?

“Keep it happy.”

Why?

Who doesn’t need happiness?

I’ve seen too much hardship in 2011.  Too many friends losing loved ones, too many struggles, too many battles with illness.  And really, all anyone wants, is to be happy.  So I want, this year, to make sure that everything I do focuses on keeping things happy.  Sort of like Ella Fitzgerald and her song, “C’mon Get Happy.”

I do have a few “must do” items on my list that will likely disappear.  I need to go to the dentist yesterday.  I need to make good on a laser treatment that I bought on Groupon- I’m thinking upper lip.  I need to go to the dermatologist because I have NEVER BEEN to the dermatologist and I live in flippin’ “TAN” DIEGO!!!!   But those should not be resolutions- those are more like, “Dude, it’s 2012 and you said you’d do this stuff in 2010!” kind of things…

I look forward to posting more this year, learning, and hopefully expanding my little corner of real estate on the WWW!

Do you have any resolutions or themes for 2012?  I’d love to hear about them!

Christmas Week: Disney Reveal

Posted by Nat on Dec 16, 2011 | Comments Off on Christmas Week: Disney Reveal

Michael and I decided to take the kids to Disneyland!  We’ll take them in January while the crowds are thinner.  While they will get some gifts this year (okay, I’ve had a hard time holding back, but they aren’t getting anything huge), we are failing trying to keep things simple.  I wanted to have something to give them when we tell them we are taking them to the Happiest Place on Earth because none of them have been yet, and we are really, really excited to take them.

I rounded up some supplies, including some Disney paper I found at Michael’s Crafts.  I also downloaded the Waltograph font from Dafont.com.

I typed up a message to the kids from Mickey and got to cutting and pasting.

I am so pleased with how it turned out!

Here’s the cover:

Don’t you just love a good, layered sticker?

And here’s the inside:

(sorry it’s so blurry)

This is my favorite part- the message from Mickey underneath the black.  Anna loves Minnie right now, so I had to include her, too. 🙂

I’m not sure what we’ll do with it after-the-fact other than put it in a keepsake box, but it sure is cute.  Would you like a tutorial?  I was thinking this might be something to sell or share the process of how I made it, though it really is self-explanatory.  If you’re interested in either, please leave a comment and let me know!

And so, dear readers, I leave you until after the holidays.  We are excited to see family and friends for the holidays, and this mommy needs a break from technology for a while.  I’ll be planning lots of posts for the new year, including a closet update, fun with felt, and more!

Happy Holidays to you and yours, and may you have a safe and fun New Year!  See you in 2012!

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!

Christmas Week: Our DIY Christmas Card

Posted by Nat on Dec 14, 2011 | 1 comment

I had this rosy picture in my head of how our Christmas card photos were going to look this year.  I would put my plan into action, the kids would perform for us, we’d get some stellar pics, and hooray!  Cute Christmas pics!  Ahem.  Well, even if things weren’t in our favor, it still turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

We decided not to get professional photos done in order to save some money.  So I went and found some cute Christmas pjs (something I would have done anyway), some white sheets at Wal-Mart (I have a love-hate relationship with that place), and also a few props.  Remember my glitter letters I shared with you a few weeks ago?  I tried to use them.  Didn’t work out.  Turns out 4- and 2-year-olds do not work well with props (for the most part).

Timing was difficult.  My husband, who dutifully knew he was needed to help, was sick.  Thanksgiving came and went and I was getting desperate to get it done.  The weather was also a factor- it was either raining or super cloudy, and I wanted outside light.  Finally the stars aligned…  Not really- I just saw the sunshine and started setting up even though my husband was still sick.  Sorry, honey.

My big take-away from this:  I have SO MUCH to learn about photography, and I REALLY REALLY REALLY want a *real* camera.

I used two sheets to set up a sort of outdoor staging area.  I hung one from a tree branch, and another I laid on the ground.  I covered our Bumbo with white for Miss Em.  I got the props, set the ISO on my camera to “high,” and started clicking.  Here’s an outtake so you can see what the set up was kind of like.

My wedding photographer said to me at some point, “All you want is one great shot.  If you get one great shot, you have accomplished your mission.”  It was slim pickins, but we got some good ones.  I started editing in Photoshop and created our card.  Many thanks to Rita at the Coffeeshop Blog– her green freebie is my background.  I found it here.

Here’s what it looked like as a digital file.

The little props we used I found here via Pinterest.  Where else, right?  Coincidentally, the best shots of the kids were when I had them lay down on the sheet rather than sit or stand.  Go figure.

The next part I wanted was an insert.  I saw this on Pinterest and wanted something similar, but knew I could never find something online that would put it together, so I started looking at fonts.  I decided on Budmo and Honey Script.  I made a list of our top 10 for the year, and this is what I came up with.  I. Love. It.

The last phase was printing.  I didn’t want a flimsy photo this year.  I wanted a nice thick print.  My friend Amy over at 10:02 told me that I should try Mixbook. They turned out so nicely and are exactly what I wanted.  The best part?  Mixbook sends you EXTRA ENVELOPES.  And not just 2 or 3- there were at least 10 extra.  Awesome!

For the “Top 10” insert, I went to Office Depot and had them cut down a bunch of cardstock.  I think I had 125 cards made.  Guess how much it cost to have them cut for me?  Including the cardstock, it was less than $8.  Super cheap.  I am so, so happy with this.  It will probably be a new thing for us.  It was honestly easier than a letter and so much more fun to do.