The Curtains that almost never were

See these lovely curtains?  You'd never know the back story on a project like this - or believe that these curtains survived a 4 year old's scissors and eye for a "project" (like his mama), a series of marital miscommunications (real life), and just the general time dilemma which is always a huge factor.

I have a very, very bad tendency to need to be geared up for a project.  Oh my goodness, I wish I was not this way.  I wish I could waltz into a room with 15 spare minutes and be productive on the project I want to be productive on.  Instead, I end up cleaning a desk, picking up toys, or noticing that the ceiling fan blades haven't been dusted in a good 6 months.

On Memorial Day morning, I woke up and decided to get going on my curtains.  I walked past a kitchen that I should have cleaned the night before, keeping my eye on the curtain goal.  I cut, measured, ironed seams, and got them "sew" ready.  Half the battle, done.  In the middle of doing all of this, a precious 4 year old woke for the day and he came in and watched me, chatted, and played with my pins.

After the day got going, I was headed back to sew the curtains and - guess who I found, scissors in hand?  Yep.  A good 6 inch gash taken out of my diligently prepped project, in multiple places.  I think my heart really did stop. I felt so many things in a millisecond - anger, major frustration, tears, sadness, desperation.  Okay, so I can be dramatic.  Calvin's first response was "Mom, I was just getting some fabric, you don't need all of this; this is so much fabric!"  Bless him.  I pulled from waaaay down deep and did not get angry, but I did send him immediately to his room.  I surveyed the damage.  Thank goodness it was out of the side and not the middle. 

The left panel of my curtain is 7 inches wider than the right, but that's okay.  In motherhood, I've been surprised at how quickly a temper can flare, frustration can erupt.  I am so very glad that when I look at my happy curtains, they can remind me of a moment when I showed Calvin grace and love, instead of erupting in anger.  (Believe me, I have so many examples of the wrong way to respond.)  I do love these curtains, though. In our old house, our kitchen was lime green, yellow and coral; I miss that level of color & I'm glad to bring it back in a more, ahem, grown up way.  I've never made curtains before and 90 inches of fabric (lengthwise) is a lot. I took a tip from my favorite house/ design blog (Young House Love) and "cheated" the window...i.e. hange them higher and wider to give you the look of an even bigger window.  Here's their great post on choosing the right curtains....so helpful.

Baby Bunting

I saw this baby gift option on etsy, I think, and I just thought it was so sweet.  Seems like the etsy artist used buttons and a different variation, but I think the simple bunting is perfect.  I was happy to make these for two new babies I've met in the last two months.

My general life philosophy seems to be: let's just stop and make a bunting, okay?  And if it is a rainbow bunting, even better.

Dad & son share watermelon & a root beer

As the parent of only one child, I'm surprised by things frequently - the relentless work load, yep.  But better things, too, like when your child adopts interests that you have or your spouse has.  I did not know how sweet this could be - a genuinely precious moment, and reminder, of how much your child watches you and learns from you.  Jason loves watermelons, a love that goes back to his childhood.  There's some watermelon lore in there - how to grow them, how they grow best, when to pick, when not to pick, yellow meated vs. red meated . . . I could go on. (He could go on).

So it was just precious today at the store when C saw the first watermelon of the season (admittedly from...Mexico?) and he had a total excitement freak out to buy it.  He said he and daddy would cut it first thing for lunch and they'd eat it all up together.  And that's just what the boys did.  Two root beers were added to the mix, and they were set in their adorable, father-son moment.

New breakfast idea

Our morning schedule doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room.  A teensy bit, but that's about it.  When we started having breakfast breakdowns, I got worried - "I don't want that....I don't like _____ anymore!"  (oh yes, you do! Eat it and put your shoes on!)

So yeah, I like to avoid the above response. 

Well, raisin bread came to my rescue.  Good ol' raisin bread with honey.  It's the little things that make a mom grateful.  We added this to our morning mix, and we seem to be back on track.  I'm sure next week we will not like any of our shoes, or we might start saying that all shorts are too scratchy to wear; I'll work on that when we get there.  But for now, it's raisin bread and honey a few mornings a week.

King Derwin

I'm so grateful when small things come together.  When a good idea comes and it does not involve a trip to the Walmarts for supplies. 

Little Pickelo is to dress up as his favorite storybook character tomorrow for school.  Totally NOT a big deal (they're only 4).  But these things mean a lot to me and I try to make them into fun, interactive experiences.  And helloooo, I am a librarian! So this is serious!  It was decided last week that Calvin would be King Derwin, of the Kingdom of Didd {The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss}.

I tossed a few ideas around that would be low maintenance, but nothing stuck, and we don't have dress up clothes for a King anywhere.  Then today, while unpacking a box at work, I came upon some stiff but flexible white cardboard.  Took that home.  On the way home I thought about my fabrics and the idea came to simple cut a neck hole in a piece folded over and make a King's Robe, of sorts.

It took 5 minutes to make and I'm quite pleased with my little King Derwin.  A great deal of fun was had decorating the crown.  We talked about patterns and how good hot glue smells, and we decked it out! A crafter after my own heart.

Every Mouse needs a blanket

3rd birthday, 2011



Mousie is an important member of our family.  I did not know when I gave Mousie as a present on a 3rd birthday that he would become a treasured friend.  Mousie's attributes are many.  He's clever and sneaky.  He loves to tell secrets.  He is fairly well behaved as mouses go, and he likes to come along for all adventures.  Seems like he follows in the footsteps of many great literary mice - Ralph S. Mouse, Stuart Little, Santa Mouse, the Downstairs Cranston's {Secrets at Sea, Richard Peck}.

A request came up for Mousie to have his own blanket.  We talked about it what it should look like & Calvin decided upon stripes, rainbow stripes.  I took him into my fabric stash and he picked out each color and picked the flannel backing. 

After agreeing that I'd make it, Calvin checked on my progress for many days - asking when it would be finished.  "You're a Maker!" Calvin declared.  Stop my heart, baby; what a precious compliment. 

All moms are makers.



Easter 2008

Before you have kids, you have no idea that one photo can drop you into tears.  Case in point:

It is just when you are looking back, you cannot believe how fast it goes.  And when you are looking forward, you can't wait for the current moment (circumstance, crying child, job, car problem) to change, go away, get better.

The other night I got stuck looking at pictures (started out just trying to locate one for a project). And 2 hours later, I was still there - well after my bedtime - in tears, watching this sweet precious boy grow before my eyes.  This is a very good way to decide to have another child - start reminiscing about the 1st one (2nd one, 3rd one) and promise yourself to hold on just a bit tighter to any future children.

I think this is something moms just know, after becoming moms and making it a year or two.  You give other moms an understanding nod when they mention how fast their little ones are growing. You reflect on your own kids and you promise yourself to hold on a bit tighter, see more closely, love more fully. All you can really do is slow things down and work at being more present.

Burlap Door Hanger, part duex

My burlap door hanger skills have evolved!  {see the original Valentine door hanger here.} As it turns out, spray paint is not the best mechanism for painting your burlap.  Plain ol' acrylic paint is far better and gets you a sturdier, thicker, better end result.

• Cut whatever shape you want out of burlap.
• Paint the burlap with whatever details needed. Do you want to paint the back a solid color?  Totally up to you. Since my front door is glass, I typically do one or two quick coats on the back of my design.  If I had a wood door with no glass, I wouldn't be going to such trouble.
• Cut some wire and arch it so that you have that ready for the "hanger" part.
• After all paint is dry, stuff your design with plastic grocery bags and glue your design shut as you stuff.  I recommend doing this outside since hot glue can get everywhere and burlap dust can also get everywhere. Don't overstuff - it doesn't need to be too bulgy.
• Go slowly around your whole object and make sure you are glueing each seam nicely.
• At the top of your object, put some extra glue on there for the wire and then glue shut. 

Be careful of ears.  Like those bunny ears you see there?  Well, they ended up being a bit too top heavy for my sweet bunny.  This maybe could have been fixed with internal wires, but I think they are too tall to stand up on their own.  You can't see this, but I strung some fishing line through the tops of those ears and it is taped, ever so discreetly, to the top of my door frame. 

Next up on the burlap door hanger list?  A cupcake, for sure, for birthdays.  But other things, I cannot even say!  It is going to be so adorable you might fall out of your chair.