Feeling that Itch!

So, I know it's been over a month since I posted anything.  I do have a good reason!  I have been adjusting to my new daycare business.  It's a long long day of keeping lots of kiddos entertained, happy, fed, and relatively clean :)  I've got 5 kids under the age of 3 years old and they are wonderful and hilarious and I love them dearly; however, they are stealing my crafting and blogging time with their adorable shenanigans.  Little Baby Bear here is all the explanation I need.

 What is it about boys and dirt? And now to what's been on my mind.

Every couple years I get this itch, an itch for change.  Not just any sort of change, a big change- something dramatic.  When I was growing up we moved every few years, or sometimes more often.  I think I got used to the change, and I even liked it.  Now we've been in our house for nearly 4 years, and I'm getting an itch.  My wonderful husband doesn't understand it, he is just fine with things staying the same.  He just shakes his head and helps me move the heavy stuff when I decide to rearrange the furniture in every room of the house.  He was slightly less understanding when I stayed up late redesigning my blog, but he conceded when I told him it was a late night or a can of paint.  (Anything to avoid paint!)

I have to say that I am pretty happy with my new look here.  I wasn't quite sure what I wanted at first, then in my googling I found shabbyblogs.com and found everything I didn't know I was looking for- for free!  It was very liberating to redecorate the blog, doing something for me and the blog and satisfying my need for change.  It's really quite powerful, if it's not satisfied by simply watching my baby grow into a little boy in just 8 short months. He's started eating people food, and he loves it so much that he's now scrounging for scraps of food on the floor under the table like a little puppy.  Chances are if he's not climbing up my leg, he's heading over for a meal under the table.

I have two new(ish) projects to share, one of which hasn't been photographed, and I want to do it justice.  I'm not sure of how much I'll be able to craft for a little while, so I'll post when I can.

Beautiful Girl

 My beautiful girl is getting so big.  She is so much fun!

 She can sit long enough to let Aunt Bri braid her hair.

And she can really belt out her version of "Once Upon a Dream."

The really special thing about these photos is I didn't make one single stitch she is wearing, ha ha.  That is a rarity around here.

Happy Memorial Day!

Vintage Doll Furniture

I received this treasure on my wedding day.  My aunt saved them for me after my great grandmother passed away.

My dad made them himself from soda cans when he was a kid.

 He made this set as pincushions for his grandmother, which is why my aunt saved them for the sewer in the family :)  I love having something that he made to remind me of him.  He was a very handy DIYer and my mom has always been crafty, I think it's safe to say I got my creative spirit from my parents.

 Apparently, this type of crafting was popular in the 60's and 70's.  Tin can furniture was also used as dollhouse furniture.   I was fascinated by the detail, and recreating this project has been in the back of my mind for nearly 4 years.  I finally decided it was time to try it out yesterday.  I googled high and low, but there really isn't much information out there on quilling tin cans into doll furniture.

So I studied the two pieces I had, and tried to recreate them. Here is what I came up with!

 It took about 2 hours to cut up and quill the cans, and the cushions took about 30 minutes. Not too bad, all things considered.

 I learned a few things just from doing it on my own, and I'm planning a tutorial to share what I learned.  I'll share how I made the chair, footstool, and hopefully a rocking chair as well.  Tutorial is up here!

Natalie was ecstatic when they were finally finished and we could play with them (she desperately wanted to play with the originals when I pulled them off the shelf to study them).  She's had little wooden people from her train set sitting on them all day :)

Little Carpenter, Cute Dress

 A little over a year ago Robert added shelves to the downstairs coat closet so that I could access and store my fabric and craft supplies effectively. 

  Natalie is his forever apprentice.

  This is also the only record I have of this adorable ruffly dress that I made for her.

 We measured, made marks on the walls.

 Hung up the boards with screws.

 Monkeyed around.

 Got in the way while being adorable.

 I can't believe how much bigger she's grown in just a year.

  And voila!  Completed shelves, with a matching set on the other side of the door.

The shelves are now chock full of fabric and paper and all sorts of fun craft supplies.

50,000 Kisses

 I would estimate that in the short 4 months of his life, Nathan has received about 50,000 kisses.

 It is quite plausible that we kiss these cheeks at least 200 times each day.

 100 more on that soft little head.

 Another 100 kisses on that little button nose!

And despite the hundreds of thousands of kisses I have bestowed on these little faces, it will never be enough to show them how much I love them.

Side note about the quilt- It was my very first quilt and one of the first sewing projects I attempted after getting a sewing machine for Christmas when I was 18.  I used a "Z Star" pattern from More Fat Quarter Quilts by M'liss Rae Hawley.  The fabric came from a set of fat quarters centered around planes/flight designs.  I tied it together at first, but then decided to try hand quilting a year or so later. It has a lot of mistakes personality, and I love it.

And in other news, Nathan rolled over from his back to his belly just over a week ago, and  a few days later, mastered rolling from his belly to his back.  Here is a quick slideshow of the process, so you can cheer for him too :)




And because I can't help myself.

 I have a cannibalistic baby.

 Mmm... Baby.  The other other white meat.

Happy Birthday Bug!

My girl turned 3 yesterday.  I can't believe how big she is and how much she has grown in the last year.  We didn't do a big birthday party this year. but we did have a special dinner with family.  She loves Peter Pan, so we did a pirate themed dinner.  We had fish sticks and walk the plank fries, mac n cheese, crocodile salad, and Natalie and I made these little pirate ships for hors d'oeurves.

We also made her birthday cake.  Funfetti sprinkles inside and out, Natalie had such a great time with the sprinkles and frosting.  She had a hard time stopping at 3 candles too.  She wanted to put on all 6 from the package.

My family came up and we opened presents and played together.

Then it was time for "happy birthday cake" and ice cream!  My Bug is the funniest kid.  After she blew out the candles, my sister told her to pull out a candle and lick the icing.  She gave her a funny look, but then went for it.

First she pulled out the candle.

Then she licked the icing!

I don't think I've stopped laughing over that one :)

Today was another day of birthday fun with Robert's family, we've got lots and lots of fun toys to play with and pretty dresses to try on.

Easter Sunday

 Easter just isn't Easter without some new duds and a basket full of grass just waiting to be filled with colorful hard-boiled eggs.

  The duds are infinitely more adorable when you make them yourself.

 And you have the cutest children in the world to wear them.

 Nathan with my mom

 Nathan with my sister

 A bona fide picture of me and my girl!

 Natalie and Daddy hunting for eggs