My new lovelies

For Christmas I treated myself to a little Amazon delight in the form of these clothe covered classic books by Penguin. Who doesn't want to rediscover great literature when it just looks so...appealing?

What better to keep them as my own than these sweet library labels? None, I daresay.

hey sexy

Hello my fellow sisters. I will be arriving in less than 3 weeks, wax pot in tow. Feel free to steal some sex appeal tips from this french lady and throw out those razors!

DVD Storage Alternative

So it's definitely been a while since I've updated you on my latest projects, mostly because all of my projects revolved around the Sundance festivities. Now I'm all moved into the new place and I'm trying to make it "home." I've been debating what to do about our dvd storage now that we have the new tv. I definitely don't want one of those boring dvd towers and we don't have tons of room for a bookshelf. The moment I laid eyes on this framed shelf idea I knew that is what we needed in our family room, especially because I already had my $5 garage sale frame begging for a new look. So I'll let you know how it turns out but this is my inspiration:

Ken Genes

Livy was rocking the ken gap this past week with some nutella in her front teeth.

Mother's Day BBQ

Soccer with LaLa

3 Things I love about this video:
1. The sing song way Charlie says "corner kick"
2. The fact that I had to get that excited about my ONE AND ONLY goal/my heavy breathing
3. The usage of the word "vertex" by Tommy at the end (it was his second time using it that day-he had used it earlier in our scintillating game of I-Spy). What, Angie, you're having him study SAT words already?!

Wicked

Jon surprised us last night with four tickets to Wicked. We squeaked in just before the end of the run here in Utah. He used "funny money" from winning the NCAA basketball pool. Otherwise I'd be sickened at what he paid for back row seats. They actually worked to our advantage because the boys could get up as high as they wanted to see over people, without worrying about blocking people behind us.

The boys loved it, woke up this morning talking about it, and decided they thought Glinda was cute. They've been singing the songs all day - in the tub, during lunch - it's so fun! They were just discussing with each other over dinner that they wish they could see it over and over again because they wouldn't get tired of it. Yes! The Lion King is coming to the Capitol Theater this summer so we'll take them to that next. "If you train up a child in the way he should go, he will never depart from it." This applies to musical theater, too, yes?

busybusy

Call me cheesy that I am doing stuff for my own shower, but I always feel guilty having other people work for me. I actually put work into the baby banner cause I plan on keeping it.

I don't have any tape, so use your imagination.

The dishcloth favors so far.

I feel like from far away, this looks good, but do you think I should use a different colored thread so it doesn't show my imperfections as easily? Taft thinks it adds character, but what do you guys think?

Calling for Creativity

Okay sisters, I need your help. As I sit here spending hours writing a letter to a birth parent, I've come to the conclusion that it is time to start a blog. It will be so much easier (I hope) to post updates on the kids in snippets rather than do a huge one every so often and try to remember everything I want to include. So here's where you come in. I'd like suggestions for a good blog name. I'm sure your brains aren't as tired as mine and can come up with something. C'mon. Ideas. Throw 'em at me.

Star Sighting

Lest you think we are super virtuous for having attended church while on vacation, I'll add this story. After church, while driving to Jon's sister's house, we decided we didn't want to get there and make her scrounge up lunch for us. So we stopped keeping the Sabbath day holy at a Brentwood Chipotle for lunch. While we were eating, Lizzie looked at a man ordering and started trying to get his attention. "Grandpa! Grandpa! Hi, Grandpa!" I looked up to see who it was that so closely resembled Dad from behind. Although I "know" him, it turns out we are not related. And no, Lizzie doesn't stay up to watch Law & Order: SVU with me.

Merry Christmas to Me

Anthropologie was having a huge Christmas sale on the kitchenware. It was perfect timing because I had been wanting to make Robyn a plate clock for Christmas (then she could just take it home instead of me having to try to ship it out there). So I found an adorable red clock for her and I just happened to find this adorable tea cup. I've been wanting to make some candles out of vintage tea cups and this was perfect! It turned into a perfect Christmas present to myself.

Homemade Wall Art

I've been drooling over these wall vinyls forever but don't want to pay $40 for them. So I printed an image out and decided to make my own "renter friendly" version out of fabric. Otherwise I'd have to sacrifice it to the next tenants or sweat my body weight trying to peel it off intact.





I had flashbacks to middle school art classes when I enlarged the image manually using the classic proportion grid. Not going to lie people I was pretty proud of the way it turned out.




Here is the semi-finished product (I didn't actually paste the fabric to the wall as I was moving out of that apartment a week later, and I was too impatient to see the effect on the wall so I just pinned it up)!

Saturday is a Special Day...

While in California last week, we decided to spend Sunday visiting Jon's sister and her family. So we looked online and found the closest ward to her house - the Manhattan Beach ward. Church started at 9:00. We left Anaheim on time and found our way there with the GPS. As we were weaving through the neighborhood area by the chapel, we passed a ball field filled with teams and families of some little league sport or another. The boys expressed surprise that there was an event happening on a Sunday. I explained that in a lot of places, Sunday was just like another Saturday for people so they did things all weekend that we are used to only doing on Saturday. A few blocks later we pulled up to the chapel. It was just minutes before 9:00 but the parking lot was empty, the gates closed. We sat there stumped for a minute (cue the chirping crickets), when Tommy broke the silence. "Well, I guess Sunday really is just another Saturday here."

Getting Soaked in Sewing

Now playing: Meg & Dia - Indiana
via FoxyTunes

Like entering the swimming pool, when people start a new hobby or learn a new skill there are some who are toe-dippers, others graceful divers, and yet there some who are cannon-ballers. When faced with a brand new sewing machine and the stitching world before my eyes I decided, like a fat kid who loves cake, to be a cannon-baller. Instead of taking on an easier project- I don't know, let's say one with an actual pattern-I volunteered to make a hanging puppet theater for Claire and Elise to compliment their new, adorable puppets. Of course my complete ignorance left me confident, overly so. It had not crossed my mind the back spasms, pricked fingers, and lost weekends such an undertaking would cost me. For your entertainment I have chronicled my experience, not just eating a piece of humble pie, but hoovering the entire pie.

Left: Up until this point I had been up at Mom's still, under her tutelage. After that I was on my own except for a few frustrated phone consultations.
Right:
It's pathetic/funny to think of how close I was at this point to being done with the thing. Little did I know I had just gotten started!




With the pretty yellow fabric I was totally picture Belle's dress from Beauty and the Beast so I definitely wanted the ruched look with vertically raising curtains. 2 dowels, some roman blind tape, and a LOT of creativity were all it took to achieve it.












Ta Da! I ended up finishing up at 12:30 am the night before Mom and Dad left to drive to California. They delivered the curtain for me, even though I would have loved to see the girls' reaction.

Holiday Projects

Christmas is coming...and I swear I go through these moods where I CRAVE art/decor projects, literally. I'm in one of them right now so I was totally inspired scanning through the West Elm catalog the other day. I pretty much couldn't take my eyes of the accessories...

I loved the lacey balls hanging from the branch above this bed. Can you say cheap and easy Christmas tree decorations. What a fun project for the kids too. Not like there are any instructions or anything but I was thinking you could achieve the same effect by getting old doilies or lace fabric, wetting it with liquid starch or even glue. Then covering an inflated balloon with it and letting it dry. Pop the balloon once dry and secure it together at the top with a ribbon to hang from. Voile! Instant tree decor.

The wooden ball on the ledge above this bed caught my eye. It seems like these would be easy enough if you had access to the right tools and would make the perfect table centerpiece accessory. The only difficult part would be sawing different wooden sticks into "disks" which you could then glue to one of those Styrofoam floral design balls (which you may or may not want to paint brown beforehand to avoid tacky white spots peaking through between disks). Add some bright cranberries to the table and you've got an elegant, natural centerpiece.

This is actually for sale at West Elm (as opposed to the above featured projects) but I thought it would be a fun project to try to recreate it. I love the look and at first I thought it would be super easy just to find fabric or a pillow case with some sort of design I like and then cut it up as necessary and rig it up into those needlepoint rings. But almost as easily you could stencil a design on fabric for a more personalized look. Maybe I'll practice with the chandelier stencil I made (I'll post pictures of that once I finally get around to downloading those stills of my camera).
I love love love stockings and last year I had it in my head that I wanted to sew my own stocking but I never got around to it. Of course. But This pattern seems really easy so I'll have to make my attempt this year for sure.

This is what actually caught my eye and brought my attention to all the Amy Butler holiday projects. I love throw pillows with texture so when I saw she had an easy to follow pattern available FOR FREE I couldn't resist sharing the news. Since Robyn has that ADORABLE fabric boutique by her house I thought she might appreciate some inspiration forced down her throat. How awesome would this mum flower look in one of those cute fabrics backed with a plain colored fabric over the pillow?! Or better yet give it a quilted look by using some of those adorable scraps lying around your house for a vintage chic look. Hmm, I'm jealous.

Get all the holiday projects (cute napkin rings or tree skirts) from Amy Butler here:
http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/products/me_patterns.php

Opinion Poll: Boots

So I'm in the market for some quality boots this season, preferably brown, flat, and knee high. I'm ready to invest in the right pair but I'm just not sure which one is THE one. I'm having commitment issues and I can't decide so I'm taking open suggestions from the peanut gallery. Cast your vote or let me know if you see any other great candidates.

Option #1 I like how this is slouched but still has a tall shaft. I was going for brown and not gray but I did hear it was going to be an "in" color this fall/winter. $60 at piperlime

Option #2 This one is very similar to the next in line but I like the simple, clean line of both of them. This one has a little bit of texture for variety though. $189 at Piperlime

Option #3 Maybe I'm just particularly fond of this one because it bears my name. No wait, it really is a freakin awesome riding boot. $198 at Piperlime

Option #4 Slouched and Suede. Not sure how winter resistant the suede would be. I'm looking to invest in a boot that will keep my footsies stylish and warm this winter. $100 at Piperlime

Option #5 I like the big buckle for a little variety and it looks like a bigger calf feet (good for my mammoth calves and pant tuckage) $199.95 at Nordstrom's
Option #6 Classic riding boot, all leather. I wonder how comfortable it is for everyday walking though but I guess that could be said for any of these boots. $179.95 at Nordstrom's

Indiana Jones 2008: The Adventure of the Sundance Skull

Here are the Indiana posters my friend Jordan made for our little Sundance adventure-

Miles, Marshall, Kate, and Claire (who looks eerily like Charlie)

Tommy and Charlie

Emily and Elise

Drew

Ethan

All these posters were created from this pic from Ethan's baptism. Pretty rad, huh?

Grosgrain Fabulous Blog-a diamond in the rough

So of course I'm at work, hopping my blogs and suddenly I end up on this adorable site. This women is a sewing genius-she makes the cutest kids clothes, takes these amazing pics of her kids modeling them, and then gives them away as biweekly doorprizes. I would definitely bookmark her blog and check her out often to try to win some of these precious threads!! I'm a big fan and I don't even have kids. Also check out her free daily patterns...

Paperdoll Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!