Book slings and butterflies

I am making slow but steady progress on Mary's room. I'm down to the details, which makes JUST painting the room seem like easy work.

Her old book sling fabric wasn't going to work with her pink walls. Plus it was four feet long and had started to sag a bit in the middle.


I still liked the idea though, so we put up two new ones (plus reused the old hardware) and made them all 32 inches long.


One night in the middle of the night, I finally had an idea of what to do with them. I got them all made, but the middle one didn't hang right. Plus, I'd just put an "m" on it, and Mary didn't care for it. I fixed the seam that wasn't right and started over on the letters. I hand stitched them on as I knew I could do a better job that way. I bought the butterflies for probably less than a dollar for all three. I'd had them for almost a year and a half! I'd painted them white, but didn't like them. I think I did them with craft paint first, then tried spray painting them too. This time I did them with craft paint again. I tried to glaze them and.....the craft paint came off! Ugh. I swear I spent 4 or 6 hours painting, ruining, scrubbing all the paint off, and then painting them again. The joys of crafting.

Now for the curtains. I have them cut and hemmed. I just need to sew in the linings and do the tops. Before I could hem them, I needed to move the rods up and out a bit. I got the holes measured and drilled. I got the brackets on the walls. I grabbed the rod. It was too freaking short!!! Am I the only one that has this many dang problems with projects? They were rods I bought in 2000 and moved from our old house. I ran out today and got new ones. Hopefully there won't be any more bumps, and I can get her curtains done this weekend.

Mary has a loose tooth. She told me this morning her tooth hurt. I looked at it and saw it was loose. I told her, and she was so excited. The look on her face was priceless. She was so proud of herself. I, on the other hand, am heartbroken. It makes her seem so grown up. I'll probably bawl my eyes out when it actually comes out. She's my baby! She cannot be losing her first tooth. Didn't it just come in the other day??

Look at those rolls people!!!! Oh and her (barely there) first tooth.

It's supposed to be 50 degrees on Sunday. I see spray painting in my future.

Wordless Wednesday

Thrifty finds - Indianapolis style

I had such a good time on Saturday. It was a great day off work for sure. I didn't get the find of a lifetime, but that's okay. We also hit Target as there isn't one here.

I put it all out on the dining room table before stashing it away. I found a wooden bowl, frames, a man's shirt (which was technically on my list, but I forgot about it). I did not find tables or lamps. Oh well. Next time maybe.

The Easter eggs are from Dollar Tree and are for a project. The pumpkins are in the "to be spray painted pile" already. I loved the vintage cardinal print, but it needs a different frame. Or I'll spray paint that frame too. Pretty butterfly frame from Target. Wreath form from DT. Glass jar for Mary. Mom bought me the painting with the gold frame. She had it already and gave it to me Saturday. I'm thinking spray paint there too. Oh, and a random little Christmas tree that I absolutely love.

Various frames for a project. The one with the little poem in it says "How to be a Mean Mother" and is hilarious. I'm saving it for sure. The crazy bright shirt is for me. We didn't look at clothes, but it caught my eye as I walked by it.

I bought one more thing. It's a mirror for Ellie's room. I got it at Target and paid full price. Shocking, I know! I'll get a picture of it once I hang it up.

I have a million projects started and/or to do. And yet all I want to do in my free time is to knit my log cabin blanket. It finally feels like I am making progress on it.

Shopping list

I'm going on an adventure with my Mom on Saturday. She's scoped out several thrift stores in Indy, and we plan to hit them all. Or at least as many as we can before we get sick of looking at junk.

I thought it would be fun to make a shopping list.

1. Bedside tables for our bedroom. We have tables there now, but I'd love to find a matched pair. I have measurements so I am looking for something fairly specific.

2. wooden bowl for a project.

3. art--cheap, vintage. I'd love to find some old paint by numbers.

4. mirror for Ellie's room.

5. frames. Thinking of starting a gallery wall with pics of the girls.

6. lamp (s) for Mary's room. I'd love to find a matching pair. One for her dresser and one for her desk. Something funky that I can spray paint hot pink.

Of course I can't find it all, and I wouldn't pay much more than a buck or two for most of the items besides the bedside tables. It will be fun to see what I can find though. I'll report back when I return!

The fabric for Mary's curtains has shipped. I have a couple of really good coupons to Jo-Ann's so I am going to line them with black out fabric. Mary and I are planning to have a little shopping trip there (just the two of us) on Sunday. She's taking her own money and is very excited.

Now, I knit!

Three little birds

These sweet little birds on on their way to my friend Lizz for her daughter's bedroom. I'm not sure if they are more for Lizz or if they will be actual toys:). This project was so fun! I love making little things like these. My kids never seem to appreciate them though, so I don't make them very often.

We are so very close to having Mary's room done. I still have the paint the darn door at least one more time. There just wasn't time this weekend. We (John) got the doorknob on, the closet doors back up, the headboard attached to the bed frame, hung up some new book slings I made (pics soon, one is in the do over pile already), and got Mary's ribbon board back up.


I used some of the fabric from her nursery curtains (from our old house) and some red ribbon. It was pink with white ribbon before, but wouldn't have matched the walls.

We are so close to having this room done! I found the perfect fabric on Etsy for some new curtains. The lady is currently out of it, so I am waiting. She should get it this week. Hopefully next week I'll have it and can make them up. I still need to find a couple lamps and pull a few more small details together. It looks like a new room already just with the change of paint though.

Ellie is sick today. I think she just has a cold. We are snuggled up on the couch watching cartoons. She's already taken one nap, and I think she's headed towards another. Maybe I'll take one too.

Pink and red

When I was a little girl, my Mom told me that pink and red didn't match. I was crushed. I disagreed, but I was 6 and she was the grown up. I still thought it looked FABULOUS. I wanted to wear pink and red together every day.

When Mary told me she wanted a red bed in her new pink room, I was excited! My dream had come true. Pink and red, together as they should be.

I'm still painting the trim. I'm just not in the mood. Mary moved back in yesterday. What I really, really want to do is move on to the next project, but we can't until this is done. I guess that means I'll paint more tomorrow. I'm still working on the chalkboard doors too.

Another snowy day.

I should be working in Mary's room. When she gets home from school, I am going to let her put all of her displaced stuff back in there. I still have a lot to do, but I can work around her again at this point.

It is not a good day for taking pictures. It's a sad, dark, cloudy day. But this before and after is worth a not so great picture.

Basement before we bought the house.

That's the room of the basement that we redid. It had this strange, fake, half wall way back when. John ripped it down soon after we moved here. He's since used most of the plywood for various projects. The 4x4s have been outside. He did use a couple of them to make a post/holder for the hose. But the other ones were free for the taking.



Reduce, recycle, and reuse! It saves the earth and can save you some pennies too.

Progress!

I have to tell myself I am getting there. I have to just keep going. Mary has asked for her room back. Hopefully tomorrow. I am currently waiting for the caulk on the trim to dry. I can paint it tonight. Then the baseboards and door trim will have two coats of paint on it. I can pull up the painters tape from the floor. We can put her stuff back. I will still need to put another coat of paint the window trim, but I can work around her stuff. I didn't get to the windows last night so they are off sequence with everything else. It took me an hour and a half last night to do the baseboards and door trim. Maybe I am slow. Or maybe it is the fact that I refuse to use painters tape on the walls and therefore must be super careful. Either way, it is simply time consuming. My hope tonight is to start about 8pm and do all the trim including the windows. That will probably take me almost two and a half hours. I am already exhausted. But the end is in sight!

John and I have signed up for Netflix again. On the nights that we have been watching movies I have been knitting.

Jar cozies. Why? Because I have scrap yarn and these babies are mindless knitting. I keep seeing online projects where people are cutting up cable knit sweaters and covering vases or jars with them. I have no sweaters to cut up, so I just knit them instead.

I guess I should clean or something while I am waiting on this caulk to dry.

Pink hates me too!

Red's first cousin pink hates me too! Isn't that funny? I feared from the moment I bought the pink paint that the it just wouldn't cover the old blue paint. This morning I got up and put the second coat of pink on the walls. I edged and rolled. It took me about 3 hours. I thought I was done. I went back to look at it. And I could see blue. Ugh. Then I hoped I was imagining it. I sent John back to look. He too thought the blue was showing through the pink. So instead of painting the trim this afternoon, I was back in there with the pink paint again.

I got part of the trim painted after dinner. John took the door off this afternoon, so now I can't work in there after the kids are asleep. He got the door to the room and the closet doors sanded down. I've primed and put one coat of chalkboard paint on the closet doors.

We're getting there. I think we're only a day or so behind.

blogging so I don't go insane (snow day #3)

School is closed for the third day in a row. We got an email that they are hoping it will open tomorrow.

The sun is shining today. Everything is dripping and melting. Some of the trees have ice on them, but others don't. I guess it blew off? It's quite strange. Even though it snowed almost all day yesterday there is hardly any snow. Today I went outside for the first time in 3 days. I stepped out and realized I was on top of ice. The entire yard is hard as a rock. Under the snow it is as slick as an ice rink. I jumped up and down. The ice broke. It was 2 inches thick. I bought a huge piece in for the girls. They tried to eat it.

Yesterday I decided I needed some new art work for the entry table.


I gave Ellie red paint, white paint, and a piece of paper. I grabbed a good ol' 50 cent frame from my thrift store stash. I gave Mary some white paint and the frame. Tada! Some Valentine art.

I made this runner on Monday night. I'm usually not a red person, but I thought it would be cute for Valentine's Day.

On Tuesday night while the power was flickering, I rushed to make a new cover with the roosters. I wanted something red for the chair, but nothing with hearts. The other pillow is a wool sweater that I bought at a yard sale last summer.

Working on Mary's room too. I got all the trim primed and the walls cut in with primer. I'll roll the walls once John's off work. Then I hope to cut in the pink wall paint tonight after the girls are in bed. I wonder if I am brave enough to try to roll the walls tomorrow while Mary's at school, and I have Ellie with me. It's easier to work if they are both here and can entertain each other by fighting, er, I mean playing like angels together.

Oh! I hear it "she TOUCHED me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Wednesday....a snow day....

I'd thought we could trim out and paint Mary's room by Sunday night. I did not account for the ice storm that came through here last night! John ended up not working on Mary's room as we were trying to get prepared for the storm and likely power outage.

The power went out at 11pm last night. By 9am this morning, John was out in the garage with his miter saw cutting quarter round. He got as much done as he could, but then needed the router to finish the last 2 pieces. I got busy filling holes in the trim. The power came on right after I started. We ate lunch, John went to work, and I finished filling the holes.

I am not sure if we are behind on our schedule. I think we are doing okay. I should be able to sand down the wood filler later this afternoon. The mud I used on the walls needs 24 hours. If I have the energy, I might try to prime all the trim and cut in the walls tonight after the girls are in bed. Then I could roll the primer tomorrow.

It's going to be close. I still think I can get it all done if the power stays on. It's currently snowing and blowing.

I've been busy sewing and knitting too. Pictures to come!