Sleep deprivation and a really sweet window seat

I am very tired.

I know that is to be expected.

I have a four week old and an 18 month old,

which means long sleepless nights and long active days.

I am not complaining.

I am strangely really enjoying myself,

but

I felt the need to build my defense before I tell you this embarrassing story!

My sister turned 34 on Tuesday! Whoop!

We went to celebrate at my parent's and had a fabulous time.

But, as all you newborn mommas know,

 any activity that requires you to leave the house

takes that much MORE energy that you do not have!

That being said, when we got home I was tired!

So I nursed baby-M while Brent put Z-baby down.

I laid her down in her bassinet and went to brush my teeth.

Did I tell you yet that I was like crazy zombie TIRED?!

I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

I put toothpaste on my toothbrush and began to brush my teeth

only to realize I was using the wrong toothbrush.

At this point I wish I could say I was using my hubby's toothbrush

but that wouldn't be that tragic.

NO,

genius me was using the toothbrush I used to clean the

TOILETearlier that day.

Seriously.

It makes me throw up a little bit just thinking about it.

Luckily mouthwash cleans 99.9% of germs ;)

Brent walked in just in time to witness the entire event.

He laughed until he was crying.

Sometimes I hate him :)

On a happy note,

Now I have a new joke!

You know you have a newborn if...

You brush your teeth with the toilet brush!

I also got myself stuck in a mud hole in my mommy car this week...

with both my children in the backseat.

Leaving a Superbowl party.

So there were PLENTY of witnesses.

Good thing I lost my pride a LONG time ago!

Now, I told you in an earlier post

that Z-baby's big girl room was my biggest project of 2011.

Today I am going to show you the project that took the most time.

It is also my very favorite element of her room!

I need to start by apologizing about the lack of pictures during the building process.

I was in a serious state of nesting and taking pictures never crossed my frantic little brain!

We built this window seat!!

Have you ever heard of Ana White?

If you have not, you really need to take some time to look around her site.

She is SO talented.

And her instructions for building projects are so clear and easy!

First we built her 5- cube bookshelf.

Then, I took her plans for the 3-cube bench

and doubled it to fit under our double window.

(I also added extra support)

Finally, we painted a bookshelf we already had and

Wha-La!

We have an entire window reading/ toy nook.

Now, I need to make the cushion for the window seat.

My goal for Z-baby's room was to have a place for everything.

Hopefully this will help us teach her to keep her room clean.

(Don't worry, I'm not getting my hopes up about that!)

Anywho, I hope you liked our window seat

AND

my humiliating story.

I really hope it made you giggle!!

~happy building

I made it!

Today was the first day I had both of my girls

by myself

and

I Survived!!!

We even had fun.

Whoop!

My house may be a disaster and I may feel like a Zombie

But

I still feel successful.

Z-baby also played dress up for the first time that was not Halloween.

She saw this in her play chest and just HAD to wear it!

She also HAD to play outside.

Jeez

I love her!

We also got a few pictures back from our photo shoot yesterday.

You want to see them!?!

I know I am biased but I have the

sweetest babies!

Now it is off to bed for this Zombie momma.

To bad there is no sleep for the weary

in this house...

:)

~happy sleeping (i'm totally jealous)



Glazed and confused... Except not confusing at ALL!

This is going to be a short post because I am

TIRED!

Today we had our newborn photo shoot.

We also tried to get some family pictures done with a newborn and a one year old..

On just a couple hours of sleep..

With two mini hell doxi dogs getting in the middle of EVERYTHING!

So here it goes.

One of the biggest projects I worked on in 2011 was

Z-baby's big girl room.

EHHH!!

I can't wait to show it to you!

But

For now...

I am just going to show you one project I worked on.

I decided to try my hand at glazing.

This is not the best picture.

I meant to take a finished project picture before my sweet girl went to bed

But

of course...

I forgot!

So I will add it later.. I promise!!

I am going to give you a quick tutorial on my glazing technique.

If you have ever looked up how to glaze you know that there are TONS of different techniques out there.

I read a lot of different blog tutorials before I began...

Some were VERY complex.

I decided to just use what I had and see how it turned out.

Well it turns out that I loved the finished product and it was SUPER easy!

I started with this mirror my grandmother found at a yard sale years ago.

I LOVED the ornate design

But I was not so wild about the white and gold paint.

Step one:

I painted the frame a bright turquoise and let it dry.

Step two:

I got my glazing supplies ready.

water

black paint

sponge brush

paper towel

Step 3:

I squirted a small amount of black paint into the cup with the water.

The ratio is 1/3 paint to 2/3 water.

You do not need much.

I painted a layer of the watered down black paint using the sponge brush.

Step 4:

I used the paper towel to wipe off the black paint until I got the look I wanted.

Then I simply let it dry!

SO SIMPLE!

I hope you like it!

You should totally give it a try!

~happy glazing

P.S. It REALLY sucks when you accidently sit on your finished mirror and crack it... Trust me, I know!

I'm back!!!

So VERY sorry for the sabatical!

I know I just kind of dissappeared

BUT

I also know all you Mommas out there will understand.

I TOTALLY pushed myself to hard this Christmas by:

1. Procrastinating (always!)

2. Trying to do way to many techniques I had no experience with for projects!

3. Being 9 months preggers!!!

So, I took a much needed rest before and after Baby Brown number two made her appearance!

Well, she has been here for 3 weeks now and I am ready for some action!

I have A LOT of projets to share in the next few days...

So be watching!!

~happy newborn baby days :)

Christmas gifts.... Star calendar and popsicle sticks puzzle

Last week I gave myself a pretty hefty goal.

One homemade Christmas present finished a day.

Every day.

And I almost accomplished it! :)

Here are two projects I did that I LOVE LOVE LOVE!

I made four of these bad boys.

I make calendars every year for the grandma's and great grandma's.

I usually do them online at Walgreen's or shutterfly.

But this year I found this amazing tutorial

and I just had to give it a try!

It did save me money in the end-

which is a GREAT thing.

And I think it turned out VERY cute-

which the grandma's will love.

But it did take a while-

Be warned.

I will say that the author had not added the link to the calendar until the end of my project so I ended up starting almost all the way over which was the best idea because making my own calendar was taking FOREVER!

Then with my leftover pictures I made two of these babies! :)

Finding stocking stuffers for a 16 month old is no easy task.

When I saw this tutorial I was so excited.

My baby girl is going to love it!

She is just now starting to (kind of) understand puzzles

and she LOVES looking at pictures of herself.

Then while I was at it I made the puzzle you see pictured for my

2 year old niece.

I made hers a little harder by putting a picture on both sides of the sticks.

I think this will make a cute "bow" to top her actual gift.

As for her actual gift......

Ahhhh....

I have A LOT to learn about sewing.

I will show you my  first attempt soon

(well as soon as I have successfully finished a

second attempt and do not feel as worried! :)

Hope these little gifts inspire you some!

~Happy homemade Christmas

Floor Cushion

I am REALLY excited about the project today!

I made a cute little floor cushion for Zadie baby as a Christmas present.

Isn't it SO stinking cute?!

I followed a wonderful tutorial made by Susan

at living with punks.

It was simple and took me about two nap times to make.

BUT

Of course I couldn't wait until Christmas to show Z.

Good thing her little memory is short.

I am REALLY going to have to get better at keeping secrets by next year!

Not so sure...

She thinks it might be kind of okay.

And you can bounce on it.... We have a winner! :)

We LOVE our new floor cushion!

And it STILL looks cute even after play time!

That is a mommy winner!



You should totally go make one of these

like - right now!

:)

~Happy holiday gift making!

Baby Blanket

Have I told you yet that I am going to be an Aunt again?!

This will be my 8th niece or nephew!

I just LOVE being an aunt!

I decided to make this newest bundle of joy a baby blanket.

I thought....

Easy peasy, who could mess that up?!

Well, ME!

And, as always, I learned a lot along the way.

I got the inspiration for this blanket here.

Notice the title "EASY baby blanket."

Obviously I have some learning to do :)

I mostly followed her directions except I added and applique.

Here is how I did it:

I printed out the letter I wanted, in the size and font I wanted, from Word.

I backed the fabric I wanted to use for the applique with fusible interfacing and I ironed them together.

I put my letter on top of the fabric and I traced it with chalk.

The chalk came right out with a quick swipe from a damp cloth.

Then I just sewed it onto the fabric using a zigzag stitch.

Lesson one:

This minky fabric is VERY stretchy!

An amazing seamstress I know gave me the best tip- after I finished this project- that I will definitely use next time.

She said to use spray adhesive instead of pins and it will not stretch as much...

GENIUS!

She also said the adhesive will come right out in the wash.

Now for the actual blanket I could ( and should) have used the spray adhesive too

because I REALLY struggled with the stretch in this fabric and

was not entirely pleased with my finished product.

I set out each of my layers in order:

batting on bottom

then the minky fabric

finally the quilt top

(right sides together with the minky fabric.)

Cut each layer to size and then pin (spray adhesive)

the layers together.

For the rest of the blanket I used the tutorial above

which I thought was clear and easy to understand.

Thank goodness! :)

It may not be perfect (or close to it!)

But it is still cozy and made with love!

{It would REALLY help if I learned how to sew straight-

I'm working on it. ;}

So let this be motivation to you today:

You are your harshest critic.

Be nice to yourself and

enjoy the projects you make,

Imperfections and all!

Photo shoot

Hello Friends!

What a BEAUTIFUL day it was today!

I hope you got to spend some time outside if it was as pretty at your house as it was at mine.

Do you remember a few weeks ago when I posted about some props I made

for upcoming family photos?

Well, the pictures have arrived and I wanted to show you how they

turned out.

First I showed you this pendant necklace I made for some maternity pictures.

Well here is the finished product in the pictures...

Hope you like it :)

I also showed you the Christmas tree I spray painted for our Christmas card picture.

To bad we didn't get to use any with the tree...

Zadie didn't feel like smiling ;)

I'll show you a few more ideas from pinterest I tried to recreate.

Warning: You will see bare belly and bare baby booty.

I love this Bubble gum picture.

It is such a cute idea, but it did not turn out quite as cute for me.

I also loved this picture.

I think it is so artistic and tasteful.

Mine is a little more scandalous but I still like it.

This baby picture stole my heart.

I actually like the way mine turned out better.

(Probably because I just love THIS cutie bootie!)

I adore this photo.

We couldn't remember exactly how it went so we kind of improvised.

Here are a few more I just love from the shoot.

(Sorry for the picture overload,

but if you're like me you are ALWAYS

looking for new ideas!)

~happy family photos