Whatnot: Mirror, Mirror

A nursery is all about the details, the little things that make it feel warm and cozy and uniquely created for this special babe.  When I did the boy's nursery I had the whole thing done by the time I was 31 weeks pregnant, with baby girl it was another story all together.  I had my theme from the moment I found out it was a girl - modern & understated Little Red Ridding Hood.  And with the theme, my planning stopped.  At 36 weeks pregnant, I finally ordered a crib, clicked 'buy' on the wall decal I wanted for the room, and had amazing friends move the furniture out of the Guest Room so that it could now be baby girl's room.  Needless to say, it was a scramble the last couple weeks and not all the details were even remotely close to accomplished before her arrival.
I knew I wanted a mirror - babies love mirrors!  And every little girl needs a mirror of her own.  So I set out thrift store shopping and yard sailing to find the perfect piece.  I stumbled across this gem at a yard sale for $1 -yep ONE DOLLAR, how could I say no?  It might be dirty, it might be plastic, and it might not look like much yet, but I knew it had potential.
Paint would be my friend, paint can be yours too - and here is how you can create this!

here it is in all its unfinished glory

-You want to start by giving your mirror or other object a good cleaning!  Then flip that baby over and remove the screws holding the backing and glass in place. (it helps to place the screws in a ziplock baggie so that curious little hands don't discover them)

-Remove the glass and backing from the mirror so you are left with just the frame

-Get our your paint (I used Martha Stewart Satin finish) -I like to use paper or plastic cups for small projects like this.  Just cut them down to about 2 inches high.  Then you can throw away everything at the end, easy clean up!

I used a 1.5 inch bristle brush - if doing this project again, I would have used SPRAY PAINT, but i didn't have any on hand.

 -Now start painting, you want to start with the inner lip of the frame, don't forget all those nooks and crannies.

 -all 10 THOUSAND nooks and cranies...

 -Why oh WHY didn't I go but spray paint for this project?!?!?

Notice that the mirror is sitting on two small wooden skewers. You want to find something to give separation between the paper and your project so that it wont dry glued down by paint and you can get all the way to the bottom of the inside and outside edge.

Almost done!!!

WAHOOOO!!!

-  Now let your painted perfection dry.

  - I waned to glaze the frame to give age and depth.
- Take about a tablespoon of paint of the glaze color you want (in my case black).
-Put water in a second cup.
-Wet your brush and lightly dip it into the paint.
-Dip it back in the water and brush against the edge of the cup lightly
-Now slather that watery- ness over your frame (you really can't put on too much, because we will wipe the excess off, but you can always start light and add more!)

before wiping it down - I like to stipple (dab dab dab) with a paper towel to take off the excess. Pay attention to anywhere the glaze may have dripped.  If it is too thick anywhere, wet your brush and wash over that area with water and stipple again.

Look at those yummy details!!

fits the room perfectly!

- Let it dry OVERNIGHT before hanging!  You do not want to mark the lovely walls of your room by hanging a tacky mirror up!

And there you go: A gorgeous mirror to complement an adorable nursery for the fairest of the all - wrong fairy tale, oh well ;op


Featured on:  http://www.sumossweetstuff.com/2012/08/showcase-saturday_11.html

Linked up at: http://makingtheworldcuter.com/2012/08/making-the-world-cuter-2/,  http://www.sewcando.com/2012/08/crafttastic-monday-link-party.html,  http://diyshowoff.com/2012/08/05/diy-project-parade-and-this-weeks-diy-highlights/ , http://www.sumossweetstuff.com/2012/08/market-yourself-monday.html,  http://www.somewhatsimple.com/blog-link-party-with-silk/, http://www.the36thavenue.com/2012/08/best-diy-projects-and-link-party-68.html, http://www.733blog.com/2012/08/sugar-spice-124.html, http://www.hopestudios.blogspot.com/2012/08/tutorial-tuesday_21.html

Wondering: Magic Mondays (1) Ants and Expectations

So I try hard not to complain too often about life (I also start too many sentences with 'so'), but the truth is that there are hard days.  There are days that I want to pull my hair out, scream at the top of my lungs, and potentially drop kick the cat out the front door (aren't you glad I didn't say kids... the thought may have flitted through my subconscious).  I try to push past these days and not dwell, but honestly without acknowledging them I would be dishonest to the life I live.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO (see, did it again), I am going to start 'Magic Mondays'.  The first monday of each month will be open to my ranting and raving about the hardships of life as a mother - who knows, maybe by sharing I'll get some good advice to help me have fewer difficult times in the future.  And then, by wednesday I'll be back to my upbeat, hopefully  humerus, possibly poignant normal postings.
Why 'Magic Mondays'????  Well, when I was in grad school I was engaged to Hubs.  He was in PA, I was in NJ and we only got to see each other twice a month.  We would spend the weekend together having mini dates and cuddling on the couch watching movies; but no matter how much fun we fit in, Sunday afternoon would roll around again and we would have to part for two more weeks - we came to call them 'Sad Sundays' because the anticipation of having to soon separate would seep into the WHOLE day.  But still, WHY 'Magic Mondays'????  You see, there is something magical about the really bad days - they end, they pass, they only last for 24 hours (even if it feels like 72) - and then the next day comes and you have the opportunity to start over, a clean slate, a happy day - or at least a slightly easier day.

*********************************************
Ants and Expectations

I HATE ANTS.  Hate, loath, despise.  The disgusting critters are the bane of my existence and should be smite-ed from the earth.  I am not afraid of ants (that is spiders) I just HATE them, they carry more diseases than any other bug and they are gross.
Long story short, we get ants about once a year, always in the summer, always in the kitchen.  I've done everything, ajax sprinkled along the edges of the wall, Raid, stomping.
So, the ants came again this year - resulting in me frantically clearing everything off half the kitchen, furiously scrubbing cleansers and then spraying poison.  Which leads to desperately trying to keep A&B OUT of the kitchen, because there is POISON.  While hubs looks on obviously thinking 'Meh, it is just an ant'.
I think I have it licked - I keep all food off of half the kitchen counters (which reduces me to working in roughly on one square foot of counter top and on top of the stove (which is NOT a flat top).  I watch daily for the creatures and start to breath a sigh of relief as I do not see them re-emerge on the counter top.  Then I reach for a cutting board in a bottom cupboard..... AHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRG  ANTS!!!
2 ants to be exact, but dang it, what are they doing IN a cupboard?????  Hubs walks in to see me furiously scrubbing.  "Ants" I exhale in an angry breath, "Oh yeah, there have been a few in that cupboard" is his casual reply.  WHAT!?!?!  I freeze, hands plunged in soapy water wringing the sponge in a manner that wishes it was a NECK.  Excuse me, you know there are ants and you have been letting them fearlessly frolic through my cupboard???  I take a deep breath, I say nothing - it is just two ants.  I finish prepping dinner and feed my hungry family.  I am exhausted.  For one evening, I let my war against the tyrants lapse.
The next night, in the midst of the cacophony of screams for a toy taken, cries for a bottle not quite prepared quickly enough, and constant 'mama, up'; I attempt to make dinner.  I have plan, spaghetti, apple sausage, and biscuits.   Good plan.  I go to grab a baking sheet for the biscuits....  ANTS!!!
But not 2 ants, TONS of ants.  I look in the cupboard that I had ignored in my haste the previous evening.  Scores of ants, ants crawling and marching, and laughing at me (I can hear it, I can hear their horrible laughter - ok maybe the poison in the kitchen is getting to me).  With tears in my eyes and my head pounding I pull everything from the cupboard out on to the floor.
Hisssssssssssss - the water pot is boiling over.  The sausage is almost burning.  CRAP, I still need to get the biscuits IN the oven.  Scrub the sheet, plop the biscuits in the oven.  Spray the cupboard with windex - yep it instantly kills the suckers.  Clean it on my hands and knees, spray MORE poison inside the cupboard.  Wash my hands, run out to the screaming children to administer a bottle, return a toy to it's rightful owner, BREATHE, run back to the kitchen, flip the sausage, start the sauce, stir the noodles.  I hear the door open, 'honey I'm home'.  I want him to rescue me, I want him to intuit all that has happened in the last 20 minutes (as well as the whole day), I want him to say 'let me take care of it honey'.  But he doesn't.  He greets the boys with snuggles and kisses, adjusts the baby's bottle, and runs upstairs to change into comfy clothes. BREATHE - stop strangling the pasta spoon.
 Here's the thing, Hubs hasn't done anything wrong.  I want him to fly in like a super hero, to take care of the ants (so that I am not breathing in sprayed poison on a daily basis), to remember how hard it is for me to do my job 8 hours a day while he does his.  But ants don't bother him, he rarely uses the kitchen for more than operating the toaster (so he doesn't recognize what a challenge it has been to function in a dysfunctional kitchen), and he works hard all day too.
My expectations are MINE, not his, and I've never communicated them.  After the boys are in bed, we talk.  Talking doesn't instantly change the world or make the ants disappear, but it is healthy (much healthier than abusing my poor kitchen tools), it allows us to laugh as Hubs makes 'A Bug's life' and 'Ants' references, it allows us to reset.  And maybe next time the battalion of ants attack, I'll have someone at my back.

they are prepared for battle - are you???

(*I will never complain about hubs in a post that we have not discussed already.  He is my number one reader, my help, and my love) 

A Wandering: The Hunt for the HMS Surprise

Additions to a family often equal a new vehicle, so it was only a slight adjustment to our plan in 2009 to switch from looking to replace my Husbands run down junker with an newer sedan to replacing it with a larger vehicle to accommodate the twins who would join us soon.  We were in no way ready to make the leap to a mini-van so we started researching cars that could easily fit two car seats as well as the extra large equipment that comes with twin life (predominantly the double stroller).
It didn't take us long to settle and fall in love with the Mazda Five.  Named a 'best kept secret' of the car world and with insanely high reviews on consumer reports, we went out to procure the vehicle we hoped would be a member of our family for years to come.  If you aren't familiar with this micro van, you should check it out. http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/sem.action?term=mazda5&vehicleCode=MZ5&providertag=MazdaSEM&servicetag=T1MZ50312012&sem=1&s_kwcid=TC|21354|mazda%20five||S|e|8291078632 (nope, not a spokes person - just seriously loved this car!!!)  Sliding doors that make it so simple for getting heavy infant carseats in and out, fold down rear seats for extra cargo space, and that 'Zoom-Zoom' pep that made it a fun car to drive.

But alas, baby number three threw off our plan to keep this car for the forseeable future and back to the drawing board we went.  We knew that our key ingredient to picking a larger vehicle was being able to put all the kids in one row.  While there are one or two SUV's that allow this, I had settled in to the fact that I was going to be a minivan mama (Oh THE HORROR!!!!) - seriously though, a sliding door is the most amazing thing in the world when dealing with carseats, THREE CARSEATS!!!  Our discovery led us to the knowledge that there are only TWO minivans that allow for three carseats across the middle:  The Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna.  Both are popular cars, so we figured - nay, assumed, 'no problem' we'll find a good deal on a used one and be in minivan heaven in no time.

Well, you know what they say about Ass u me-ing ... sigh.  Turns out that in order to fit our two convertible seats and the baby's infant seat  all in one row there are a few factors that lessen the field.  Toyota remodeled the Sienna in 2010, making the whole vehicle more streamline and impossible to fit three across ;op  So you have to find a 2009 eight passenger which just seems not to exist.  With the Honda, they remodeled in 2011 adding a fancy lever to the middle row captains chairs that alowes you to move the seats about 2 inches out towards the door.  That 4 extra inches of space is the difference between seats fitting and NO WAY IN THIS UNIVERSE!  So you have the white whale of vehicles and a practically new Honda which = more than our bank account.

(*You may at this point be scratching you head thinking -ummm Suzanne, your baby is 3 months old and you told us you took them out of the house - how are you just now telling us about your van???)
Here's the thing, we are surrounded by the most amazing and loving friends ever!!!  One of our family friends just recently purchased an Odyssey but were going to Portland for the summer and were unable to take the vehicle with them - so the GAVE it to us from May-July.  WHO DOES THAT?!?!?  So, we had a ticking timeline, but at least an extension past baby girl's arrival.

Do you want to know how much time in your day you can waste searching for cars on the internet?  HOURS, hours every day searching for the impossible, the improbable, the imaginary?  Our budget grew week by week until we realized that we would have to dip into my business account to make this purchase (yep, we buy our cars outright... cash down, no payments - it is how my daddy taught me.)  It didn't help that we have only tiny dealerships in town and the closest big ones are about 2-3 hours away.

We searched through May, we searched through June, we got to July and my nails were down to nubs and my hair was significantly thinner.  I could see the writing on the wall - our friends were coming back and we weren't going to find a car and we would have to take two cars to go as a family anywhere - AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  Finally we noticed something - prices on Hondas were starting to drop.  Used 2011's were starting to show up at dealerships.  Oh, God - you have a funny sense of timing.  We called in our unfettered with children friends and begged them to watch the boys while we went gallivanting off to capture our beast, ummm vehicle.

You may not know me that well, but something you should know - I get car sickness easily, quickly, and badly.  So off we go on a Saturday morning (should I mention this was the hottest day of the summer to date?) 2 hours to hopefully procure our dream car.  After 4 HOURS at the dealership, we left with no car and my stomach doing flip flops.  I hoped that I just needed food and we headed to the Wendy's up the road.  I smelled the fried food and blanched.  But still I thought - 'I just need to get something down and then I can sleep in the car and we'll be fine'.  I sipped on some tea and tried to eat some fries.  Not a good idea.  I knew I was in bad shape but told Hubs that we just needed to head for home as quickly as possible.  Not 10 minutes down the highway I knew my battle was lost. (*note we had cleaned out the car expecting to trade it in - so there was not a bag in sight).  There was no time for pulling over or even warning hubs what was about to come.  I barely got the window down, head, out and lost it succinctly going 60 mph.  Ohhhhhhh how I wish I had a picture of the truck driver's face that was following behind us, poor man.  Turns out I either had food poisoning or a stomach bug... the next 24 hours were not pleasant.

So attempt one: Brutal Failure.  Nails: Nonexistent, Hair: Balding

At this point we had one more shot.  The following weekend.  That was it, after that our time would be up.  Miraculously we found a dealer with THREE 2011's on the lot.  Into the car we go.  Luckily this was a nice overcast day and my stomach felt back to it's normal 'slightly queasy in the car' self.
After two hours of negotiations, we were still slightly off of our target price and decided to get lunch to think things over.  The van we had settled on was perfect - low mileage, gorgeously maintained, good color, and came with an extended certified warranty (which is WAY better than the factory warranty on a new model). I'm a stickler about money - a bit of a Scrooge some might say, and I was stuck on the price. Finally hubs looked at me and said, 'Hon, its just the Time's Out Tax'.  It was true, we were out of time, out of options, and still getting an overall good deal on a vehicle.
We left about a hour later after handing over gobbs of money and signing paperwork until out fingers felt numb with the HMS Suprise.

She is gorgeous, she is a boat, and hubs named her because our surprise led to the purchase of The Surprise.  (and he loves his baby girl very much)

all three carseats in ONE row!!!  The middle seat also slides forward so that we can have easier access to baby girl when needed.

button on the sliding door to open/close the door - and the doors have a sensor so you can't pinch fingers!

MY FAVORITE THING - I see all three babies at once, you can also store a pair of sunglasses behind the mirror. (why is this not installed in every car?????)

from the front seat I can open and close both sliding doors - makes life so much easier when I am on my own

Did I mention she is a BOAT - as in HUGE!!!  Can't even get her whole body into one picture. But I sure do love those dual sliding doors.

All right HONDA, we are ready to be in your next commercial!!! (oh how I wish!)

How do you buy cars and what was your favorite car name???

The HMS Surprise is the fictional ship in the Aubrey–Maturin series, best know for Master and Commander - Hubs is an avid reader and storage facility for facts.  It is also a real replica ship in London of an 18th century ship.

Whatnot: Softies (Sea Horse Tutorial)

So, if you read my Family Reunion Post, you will notice that there have been many new babies added to my family in the past two years - well those aren't all the new babies in my life.  I have friends having babies, cousins having babies, people at church having babies... SOOOOOOOOOOOOOMANYYYYYYYYYYYYBABIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

And of course you always want to get some kind of gift for the baby.  I love it if I can get something off the registry (they registered for it, obviously they need it!).  But when possible, I also love to get or make something personal and special.  I stumbled across the following softie on pinterest.

from:  Sparkle Power/ (CandaceTodd.Blogspot.com)http://candacetodd.blogspot.com/2010/12/soft-baby-rattles.html

Soooooooooooooooo stinkin cute - especially for my little niece whose nursery is an orange and grey giraffe theme-, but sadly there is no tutorial because she had the pattern in a book. Hmmmm - well it looks simple enough - so I free handed a pattern, skipped the rattle element, stuffed it up, and had an adorable little giraffe  to give my niece.

My Cousin and his wife are currently expecting their first child - a little girl - so my family decided to send them a shower in a box (aka: a box of gifts from all of us, since we don't live close enough to go to their shower).  Their nursery is a nautical theme in blues and tans.  What would be better than a cute little sea horse - and I knew I had the perfect fabric to do it in.

This time You are getting a TUTORIAL!!! (this is a simple enough project for anyone to try!!!)

-So the first thing that you need to do is figure out what animal you want to create - I of course am doing a Sea Horse, but you can use this tutorial to create any animal you want.

-Next, pick your fabric and find a template.  You can free hand a template and draw it on paper, or take the easy route and print out an image. (*** Do a google search for coloring pages and you will be amazed by what great images you come up with that are free to download and print)

image found at:  http://www.hellokids.com/c_21392/coloring-page/animal-coloring-pages/sea-coloring-pages/seahorse-coloring-pages/seahorse-online-coloring?print=1

 -Now take a sharpie and simplify or widen any areas of your design that are too complex

 -Cut out the template (following your sharpied lines) and lay it on your fabric

 -Trace your template onto your fabric (add seam allowance) - make sure your fabric is folded over wrong side to wrong side so that you will cut two inverted images at once.

 -Cut with your AMAZING Roto-cutter (wait, you DONT HAVE A ROTO CUTTER?????? - get your keys, run to the store, and buy one - seriously this is the one tool I can't live without, it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE!)

(see the seam allowance left around your template)

-Now pick your embellishments: I like to make some sort of 'Tag' that baby can hold onto or chew on.  For this project I decided to do dorsal fins and a coronet (did you know that means crown).  I had 1.5 inch ribbon on hand, but you can use whatever strikes your fancy.  Cut the ribbon to length (2 fins, 1 coronet) 

 -I decided the ribbon was too wide for the fin, so I folded it in half and liked the look much better.

 

*Top stitch the edges of your ribbon (I did a zig zag to decrease fraying, you could also use fray check)

 -Next, pleat or ruffle your coronet and top stitch so that it will stay put when you sew it into your softie. (there is no right or wrong on the pleating/ruffle, this is your embellishment - customize as you please)

(finished pleated coronet)

 -Now add your fins.  I sewed them down facing the stomach first then folded them back and top stitched twice.  Do one side then repeat on your other piece.

(angled down toward stomach)

(folded back up and top stitched 2x)

 -Now pin the coronet in place:  With fabric right sides together, place your coronet SANDWICHED INSIDE the two.  When the edges of your two pieces ate matched together you should see only the edge of your coronet.  If it is sticking out, it will end up inside your finished softie. (I may have learned this from experience in making my niece's giraffe)

 - Stitch around, make sure to leave a 2 inch opening in the back so that you can turn it inside out and stuff it.

  - Turn it right side out and admire the cuteness.  Now stuff that baby - I used a pen to push the stuffing down into the tail.  Stuff it nice and full!!!

 -AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW  over your creativeness, it is so much cuter stuffed.  Now take a deep breath, we are almost DONE!

 - Hand stitch up that opening in the back

 -I like to bring my needle up from underneath...

 ... so that I can tuck in the tail and knot

-and finally, you are ALL DONE!!!

Now go out and spoil all those little ones in your life!

someone approves of my handiwork!

Shared on: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/07/30/made-by-you-monday-112/,  http://makingtheworldcuter.com/2012/07/cuter-monday/ , http://diyshowoff.com/2012/07/29/diy-linky-party/, http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/2012/07/link-party-craftomaniac-monday.html, http://www.mommybydaycrafterbynight.com/2012/07/ta-da-tuesday-link-party-49.html, http://todayscreativeblog.net/summer-food/, http://www.hopestudios.blogspot.com/2012/07/tutorial-tuesday_31.html, http://thecreativeitchboutique.blogspot.com/2012/07/sew-cute-tuesday-73112.html, <center><a href="http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy351/jdsmit21/SMAbuttonWDIWscissorsbordercopy.jpg" /></a></center>, http://sarahdawndesigns.blogspot.com/2012/07/pintastic-monday-link-party-2.html#.UBkIlZ1lSjY, http://alderberryhill.blogspot.ca/2012/07/make-scene-monday-33.html, <center><a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yA_6K7ea4aE/S6130M3H_II/AAAAAAAABuI/Sl7dtOkX0C4/s320/SugarSpice.png" /></a></center>, http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2012/08/whatever-goes-wednesday-128-plus-chance.html, http://www.the36thavenue.com/2012/08/best-diy-projects-and-link-party-67.html, http://thecsiproject.com/2012/08/22/time-to-link-up-for-the-pinterest-inspired-challenge/

Whatnot: Family Reunion #1

(from left to right: J, R, Uncle Mike, Auntie Kes, littleA, Crazy Uncle Jon, AK, Auntie Erica, B, Jules, baby girl, Me, A)

Families come in all shapes and sizes, some are wrapped up all pretty, and some are scuffed around the edges.  No two families are exactly the same and no family is perfect.  But no matter the differences between us all, I LOVE my family more than words can say!!!

I haven't seen my sister in 2 years -yep years, that says YEARS!!!!  There is no rift between us, we love each other like...well yeah, like sisters ;o)  We'll just call it a 'series of unfortunate events' that has kept us apart (Oh, I'm not supposed to refer to my pregnancies as unfortunate... well...).  To sum it up, I got pregnant, my sister made travel plans, she got pregnant, travel plans got canceled.  I had babies and started figuring out travel plans, I got pregnant AGAIN, and all travel plans were off the table.  We live 14 hours apart.  So to say I was excited to see her would be an understatement.

I have also only seen my brother once in the last two years, and that was for about 6 hours 2 weeks after the boys were born - he was leading a mission trip to somewhere in PA, hopped on the Mega bus, spent the day with me, hopped back on the bus and resumed his regularly scheduled programming.  We don't call him 'Crazy Uncle Jon' for nothing (well there is that and the fact that there is a second uncle Jon and we have to keep them straight somehow).

Family reunions are an amazing thing - they bring people together, they seep laughter, and they can be wildly unpredictable.  There are somehow never enough hours in the day, never enough days, and never enough rounds of settlers played!  But through stolen moments, five minute conversations, and hugs to cover the year ahead - the family grows closer and recommits its love for one another.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!

(Nana with all SEVEN of her grandkids - 5 new ones in 14 months time)

gorgeous little AK

(Crazy Uncle Jon's beautiful family)

'I'm swimming naked in the paddling pool!!!'