paint & peek

new experiences for busy little hands...

 smiles of excitement...

 painting is better without pants...

 i could watch his hands all day...

taking his art very seriously ...

sitting back to contemplate his creation ...

So this is a little corner of our kitchen.

Behind the curtain is an interesting little open space where the previous owners had shelves.

I'd like to turn it into some little kid-craft station, I think.

 But for now it makes a pretty sweet hiding spot.

diy burlap art

Every year my small group does a cookie bake Christmas party. 

We also usually exchange small gifts. 

This year, our small group leader suggested that we have a "favorite things" party. 

The rules were: spend under $5 per person on something that is a favorite of yours. 

We were also told to share our favorite thing that God has been teaching us during Advent season. 

I came up with this:

Frame: Ikea, $2.99. 

Burlap: JoAnn's... like $3/yd, and this is a 3x5 piece. You do the math.

Black acrylic paint & stencils: I've had for years.

Total: definitely under $5!

I chose this because:
- One of my favorite things to do is little crafts.

- I love all things rustic, and I like little touches like this in home decor.

- Finally, it ties in perfectly with what God has been teaching me this season of Advent:

(and one of my favorite Bible verses)

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" - Philippians 4:4

Now for the humility shot - here's what my craft station really looks like.

Also - why didn't I make myself one of these?! 

That's all for now - someone is whining and drooling on my knee. 

(Not Doug.)

diy christmas door spray

A few years ago, I bought a cute fake wreath with fake red apples to adorn our door for Christmas.

Unfortunately, this past year, we had a storm door installed.

And my cute fake wreath didn't fit in between the doors!

So, I got creative.

I took three branches, tied them together, made a little twine hanger, 

wrapped the stems in burlap, and tied that with a little red gingham ribbon.

Took about 10 minutes, max.

I love how simple this looks, but from a distance, it could probably use a bigger ribbon 

- or maybe just a big old burlap bow.

(But that's probably not going to happen. Let's be honest, I'm pretty proud of myself for getting this up.)

So there you have it. 

10-minute DIY Christmas door spray! Ta-da!

refinished roadside find

We've been working on the guest room. And when I say "we"... well, I pretty much mean "I". 

(In Doug's defense - he did help me move the furniture.)

Here's what we have so far:

Embarrassing confessions about some of the ghetto things happening in the above photo...

1. That's not a bedskirt, if you couldn't tell. That's a sheet. Yep.

2. I had to crop out the top of the curtains because they are clothespinned to the window. 

CLOTHESPINNED. Whatever - it's a work in progress.

While we're at it, I'm also not thrilled with that comforter, but it was cheap.

And the colors somewhat coordinate, so it'll do for now.

ANYWAY. 

The purpose of this post is to highlight our new little dresser!

(And if you're a detail person, you'll also notice I had a change of heart with my decor...)

I found this little guy on the side of the road!

And, because I'm completely forgetful, true to form - I forgot to take before pictures.

So imagine, if you will, a jenky little brown dresser, with no knobs. 

First, I found 6 knobs that we, for some reason, had in the garage.

And of course I got a before pic of those. Wouldn't want to forget what these beauts looked like... 

I didn't love the weird textured bronze, so I painted them yellow.

With that cheap-o craft paint. It ended up having no luster whatsoever, so...

I slathered on a layer of clear nail polish! Because I'm classy like that.

Then I primed & painted with leftovers in the basement.

Finally, I cut out some cardboard & covered it with cute fabric to line the drawers.

(How did people craft before the glue gun was invented?!)

Ta-da!

It's not the most solid piece of furniture, but at least it's cute!

All in all, this project cost me $4 and one burned index finger.

What do you think?!

a little project

Um, this is the first thing I've sewn in... well... since Christmas.

 And I'm so embarrassed to say that this was for an order I received in December!

Thanks for your patience, Stephanie!

Glad I've dusted off the old sewing machine, though, 

because I should be receiving the material for B's curtains any day now!

6 on 10?

I've been wanting to do the 10-on-10 photo thingy for months. MONTHS. And every time I forget! So I just saw Manda's post and realized, yet again, I'd forgotten to take a picture each hour! Thankfully, I took a few pictures throughout the day anyway, though! Even though 3 of these are technically the same thing... I present you with my 6-on-10. Dang it.

[1] [2]

[3] [4]

[5] [6]

[1] Newborn onesie for Jeanette's shower today.

[2] Ruffle butt of the same onesie.

[3] All wrapped up & ready to go.

[4] On the way home from the shower - gorgeous drive!

[5] Stopped by the side of the road to pick a little bouquet.

[6] Dinner time.

Maybe I'll remember on October 10th... someone should probably remind me.

p.s. check out my most recent senior session here.

numbered list of awesome 5

1. Afternoons spent sewing & puppy watching: the soft whir of the needle, the sporadic twitching of puppy paws, the sigh Zooey emits when she flops to the ground...

2. Homemade salsa via Brown Eyed Baker. Yum! The recipe is super easy and tastes amazing. My next step will be making salsa that I can ... can. In other words, I would like to make salsa that I am able to can. Whatever. You get it, right?

3. Homemade Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls. Or, in my case - Peanut Butter Pretzel Globs.

Oh my. Oh my goodness. Doug, I am so sorry, but these are AMAZING. I had to change the font size. That's how good they are. The peanut butter. The chocolate. The salty crunch. It's the kind of treat where, after you eat one, you keep thinking about how amazing it tastes and the thought of that delectableness keeps interrupting your thoughts throughout the afternoon. Not ringing a bell? That's just my gluttony speaking? I dare you to give these bad boys a try.

Momentary interruption while I mop the drool from my keyboard...

4. Making jewelry again. It's been awhile! Pictured below: Katy's birthday gift.

6. Sara spending not one, but TWO nights! That means long walks (with a pit stop at Coldstone, of course [banana&pb ice cream w/ pb cups and fudge]), non-stop conversation, a lot of laughter, and oh-so-much fun.

7. Thinking about opening an Etsy shop? Maybe? For stuff like this?

8. Going home this weekend! Getting to hang out with my family & maybe help with some painting??

9. Getting to meet Katie & Ryan's daughter, Karalyn Grace!

10. This pup. Currently passed out on the floor because our time at the dog park was soooo exhausting.

Alright, off to eat more pb pretzel globs pack for New York!

**Edit!

11. This video!

Tim Keller: True & Better (The REMIX) from Grant Jenkins on Vimeo.

"baby scout"

Made for Jeanette's little bundle.

Also... had Chinese for lunch today, and my fortune cookie said: "Someone thinks you are wonderfully mysterious." Wonderfully mysterious. That's me, alright! As mysterious as, say, a chair.

blue dresses

I decided that I never would have forgiven myself if I had a whole week off of school and only sewed one tiny thing. So... I made some more today.

sew what.

My one sewing project of the week. Doesn't look great on that chair, but that's where I took the picture. Made from one of my old dress shirts & leftover material from another project.

In other random news, here's a picture from awhile ago that I don't think I ever shared... Doug was slouching down on the couch watching tv, and Zooey decided she needed to be closer to cuddle. So she climbed on top of him.

snowpalooza

I love it when a snow day is announced a day in advance. Especially when Doug gets a snow day too!

Woke up this morning to about a foot of snow. Doug did some shoveling, while Zooey paced around, traumatized because she could hear Doug shoveling but she couldn't see him.

I did some sewing.

I made grilled cheese for lunch.

We watched Law & Order marathons (courtesy of Netflix!) and cuddled and laughed at Zooey...

Had taco dinner and watched some Burn Notice and laughed at Zooey some more.

I LOVE snow days.

Here are some other dresses that I made the other day...

my favorite so far:

Is that not the cutest pocket you've ever seen?! Look even more closely - it's even cuter close up.

See? Adorable. Adorable! ... if I may say so myself. And I may. Because it is.