Adventures in my new home- Kids room.LaMe.

kids rooms are hard.

Why?

What is cute, is not always practical- for KIDs especially.

There may not be enough space, right sleeping arrangments, toys are just annoying, books always look messy. And for those reasons I don't think I will ever have a "pottery barn kids" room.

kill for one though.

I LOVE our new house. with that being said however we are kind of squished in here and I'm still trying to figure out how and where to put things. I still have a pile of pictures sitting in the corner of my living room. (you'll see how the kids walls are picture-less).

Because of that we decided to do a trial run of putting Jack and Syd together! {*calm down*} In the same room {I'm never going to sleep again}

Jack LOVEs his crib and LOVES to sleep.

Syd has ALWAYS been the VeRY opposite. no nap. no sleep. who needs sleep.

So why change my perfectly happy lifestlyle? For space?

Yup.

When we visited my parents they slept in the same bed together and loved it.

so, why not try at least try it... and use the other room as Den/study/computer/sewing&craft/toys. It's so crammed in there.

So their room started out like this.

its ok cute. nothing spectacular. little too girly for Jack. My plan was (kind still is) to put up his antique cars on a ledge and make them their own pillow shams (wanna be PBk style) and quilts so half the room/bed is boy and girl. i haven't got that far. I'm slow. I tell ya, moving this 3 times in 2 1/2 years has really taken it out of me. My house is suffering. and I don't care. ok I care a little.

*I did find the awesome duvet, shams and decorative pillow, bed skirt for $5 at a garage sale!* cant beat that.

This is the other side of the room.

I know books spilling out, blankets falling from the closet. I care so much about you that I didn't even clean up. (but honestly I wonder if there is a you out there reading this)

Here is the problem with this arrangement.

by the window my butt doesn't even slide back there. and the kids hit their heads on the window ledge.

and its a slim fit between the foot of the bed and Jacks Dresser.

So since the tikes are so little we figured they can sleep as they were on a sideways bed.

It's not as pretty- right? Tell me what you think.

It does give a lot more playing space.

*gotta find their rug...* still missing to many things.

I moved the bookshelf over under their painting.

Story about that bear? He is an MP3 bear. hook up the IPod and he sings kids to sleep. I love it. It was so cheap at a PB Outlet. Lets all write PB and get them to put an outlet here? PLEASE. You will love it, I will love it.

Things are actually reasonably priced at the outlet, some even CHEAP! (like this bear)

ummm don't know what to do with this, neon pink thing. but we need more bookshelves...I'll put it here.

yup not even 5 min after nicely putting them in, he's destroying.

I really like having hooks.

why? Because I can teach my kids to pick up their stuff easier.

They can hang up their towels and jackets here. Teaches them early...and takes 2 more things off my list.

ok. The end. Not that fabulous but it is working :) we might just keep it this way. haha.

To Heather:

Guess what people, my machine is broke. I need to fix it, I don't know where. If you have a good place PLEASE let me know. The sad thing is I have about 4 tutorials I need to make and post. I'M SOOO excited for them!!!!!!!!!!!

on with what this post is originally about...

I got this sweet email from a Lady named Heather:

Hi there! Just recently found your blog and LOVE it! Made the super huge bag too ----looks like I got the fabric from Joann's online just in time. Did you notice that like 2 weeks after you posted your tutorial and told everyone where to get the fabric, they are COMPLETELY sold out??!

My main question though---I love the fabric that you used to make your church bag. I have tons of red in my kitchen and would love to incorporate the white with the red flowers into some curtains, towels etc. I have looked everywhere online but can not find that fabric anywhere. I also love the gray with the flowers that is the accent to the red and white. Do you mind sharing either the designer or where you found it? I would so appreciate it (and so would my red kitchen!)

Thanks and keep up the great tutorials. Love reading you.

Heather :)

So here is the answer to Heathers question, just in case anyone else wants to find this fabric....

Its made by Windham fabrics, called Botanical Pop! They have several other fabrics all in coordinating colors....

Happy sewing

Adventures in my new house- rugs...

a secret confession...I really love rugs. But I can't afford to buy them. I have even started to fully appreciate the wool, oriental, thousands of dollar rugs that I used to despise.

I LOVE love LOVE Costco's bathmats. They are the only ones that have washed up well for me. They don't "mat" or loose all their fibers and strings in my washer. They {air} dry all nice and fluffy. They totally hold up for YEARS. I'm not talking months, or one year, I'm talking YEARS. I've had a deep purple mat (ok, it has faded some, but I wash with a little big of bleach since....oh ...4 years? and you would never know. its luxuriously soft and plush and feels REALLY good on my toes when I'm stepping out of the shower.

They are reasonably priced too. like $13 for a large mat. (that hold up remember)

Never buy Walmart mats, I've learned.

Targets are hit and miss.

Ross/TJMaxx you really need to know your fibers and construction to tell if they will hold up or wash out on you.

JcPenny's color washed out and corners turned up. trip on the dang thing every time I walk by it.

And Bed Bath and Beyond are too much {$$} for me to justify. so no, I haven't really tried them.

So- for bathmats, Costco's won my heart. I can't remember the brand name- think it starts with a D? Ill look later. We finally live by one...

oh I ALSO love their big kitchen rugs...beautiful. Hold up AWESOME.

Which is why I'm going to Costco today....to price out a large rugs.

We moved to a city. (goodbye my lovely small town life)

A new house with lots a new floors for new rugs.

ok not really. Sadly the doors are too close to the floors so I can't have my rugs by them.

BUT our new house has nice clean ivory colored carpet! I'm glad it's clean, plush and soft...but NOT that its nearly white. No speckles or anything. Everything will show.

Our kids hate the new rule of no food or drinks...not even the no-spill sipee cups allowed. because, they still spill. and then after a week you can see the drips and drops where dirt has stuck to the sticky juice.

Ive been eyeing {large area} rugs, for a very low price lately. {haha I know how it sounds, impossible right?}

I have no doubt that Pottery Barn and all those wonderful store have gorgeous rugs, but I'm on a beggars budget. So I'm not even going to look.

$100 the max, hopefully WAY less than that.

Where do you get your rugs? do you have a place you love, or brand?

I was at Target yesterday and they had some beautiful ones...Syd and I were loving looking at the wesbite today...thought I'd show you some of our loves.

my NUMBER #1 choice for my living room...

Home Exploded..neutral.

I LOVE it because it is colorful but not tooooo crazy. I can choose to decorate in any color, and change it up and the drop of a hat- without having to go out and buy another rug.

I can get sick of floral, but I like this flower, it kind of has an arts and craft feel. lovely huh.

I don't love the price.

so unless you want to make a charitable donation to my living room

....I'll just gawk at it

.

Syd's favorite: totally looks likes like her, match her room too.

White Floral

Other ones I love...

I didn't write this one down?

Nikita Rug

Shabby Chic Damask

Stick Leaf Carolina...love it's simplicity. It kind of reminds me of Katy's Master bedroom...wonder what color her carpet is..if it would really go?

Typography wouldn't this be cool in boys room...or office.

Flower Check rug...thought it was interesting.

Poppy (love poppy's) and in lots of colors

SUPER large Summer Tote tutorial..cheap too

As Featured on Be Different Act Normal 5/10

Ruffles and Stuff 5/11 "Daily Feature"

I really don't like that when I go to the park, the beach, or whereever, I have to take 2-3 small bags AND carry things like blankets and towels in my other hand. While also trying to keep the kids from running in front of cars. YET, I don't want to buy the huge bags for lots of money.

I was looking for interior fabrics in the back of JoAnn's when I saw a teeny tiny section of "utility fabrics" They had 2-3 beautiful fabrics that look and feel a lot like the $1 reusable bags from the grocery store. So my brain started turning.

The best part is, these fabrics are HUGE and CHEAP. $2.99 a yard to be exact. The bag I made used a whole 3/4 of a yard. pretty sweet huh.

I thought I would just show you how I made this basic bag, you can change the dimensions, do whatever you want. and once you have this down you can make any bag and with any material. oh baby, go crazy.

I took my 3/4th's a yard and cut off the bottom, STILL FOLDED 3 inches. Cut it at the fold and you will have 2 3x30" strips

UnFold your lot of fabric and cut on the fold so you should have to symmetrical rectangles. about 24x30"

On both pieces turn the top down 1/2 inch (I didn't need to iron, it bent really well)

Then turn it down 1 inch and pin, sew on both sides of the hem.

Place the fabic right sides together and sew sides and bottom. Top open.

Now comes the tricky part. Take the bottom corners and "box" them. You do this by creasing it the opposite way it currently lays. So that the seams are kissing each other and it forms a triangle.

Pin in place.

Now measure 4 inches down (up to you really, I did 4 inches) and drew a straight line.

Sew across this line.

Cut the top of the triangle.

Let your kids play with the triangle houses :)

yeah, you did it! so easy huh. Now just have the handles.

Fold in half, right sides together.

Sew and flip.

I like to flip by pinning and turning the pin down pulling through. works magic.

I ironed these and with the seam in the middle.

Fold each end of the handles same as the top hem. 1/2 inch then 1 inch.

Measure from outside seam. I liked 8" in from the outside. pin on the inside (make sure the handle seam in pointing inside too) and sew a box with a X in the middle. This will help keep it strong for ALL the goodies soon to be going in.

And your done! don't you love how small it rolls up.

Here to help put in perspective how big it is....all those beach towels...

**CARE** tonight I spilled salad all over it! blast. The instructions on the fabric bolt said to just wipe clean, but this was too messy. SO I put it in the wash on rinse/spin cycle with a drop of dish soap and it worked great. it wasn't too rough on the fabric or ruin the colors.

Camera Strap

I've been meaning to make one of these camera straps for ages. They spice up the camera, add your own personality to an otherwise dull black and lifeless piece of technology.

A freind posted this link on her blog- you can check out sew cute shop's instructions and measurements....but They didn't exactly fit my strap, so be careful. My strap is much skinnier. and a little shorter.

I also wanted to line both sides, not just one. I wanted more padding, my cotton was on the thin side, and extra sturdiness :)

They turned out cute.

I made one for Aub's for mother's day.

Navy

Do you remember Krissy? After her Mother-in-law caught sight of her pleated bag She wanted one! Her specs were pretty simple, pretty much the same as Krissy's...only on a smaller scale. Smaller bag, smaller strap. Same pockets and instead of a flower a button.

She requested a Navy blue bag. It was really difficult finding navy blue/white fabric that would look good as a bag. I wasn't too keen on tiny polka dots, or flannel button-up shirt looking material. But in the back of JoAnns, I found some...as interior decor fabric. It's thick and has the texture of a canvas almost. It will work great! It will hold up awesome. She chose the fabric design...stripes. and I waited for it to go on sale then bought all the supplies.

Here it is!

a Small/Med bag

Med length strap

5 Pockets...4 inside with pen holder. 1 stretchy outside

I really like the interior.....

Accessories:

Key Clip & Big Button

Aubrey's Apron +(full, reversible) Tutorial

At Christmas I had all the motivation and inspiration to make the nieces and women in my family the cutest darn aprons they have ever had in their life. The little girls...I made up. they turned out PDC (pretty darn cute) but after 5 of those aprons I was fizzled.

On top of that, my sis wanted a FULL apron. This is the apron I was going to make her...not full. And My mom hardly wears aprons so motivation gone. I didn't want to make them if they wouldn't need them...?

Well, Aubrey Celebrated her birthday this month, and I finally got her present off in the mail so I can post about it with out ruining the surprise. I made her aFULL apron and gave her a bunch of kitchen things. Some of them fun (like the cheeky gloves) some of them necessities (like a fancy snancy peeler....specifically the titan peeler, LOVE IT)

I made up the FULL apron, since most the tutorials I find are all half aprons. And it ended up being easier than expected.

3/4 yard of 2 fabrics (for reversibility)

1/2 yard of complimentary (this will be the band/ties)

Pocket fabric you'll have plenty of scraps if you want to use the above fabric

bias tape (optional...instruction on another tutorial listed below)

So I started with the bottom. DUE to the numerous tutorials out there for half aprons I'm not going to go into detail on how to make the bottom. I would recommend using Mellissa's Grandma's Apron, I did some of her steps as you will later see.

I took (2) 1/2 yard of fabric, cut to shape and sewed on complimentary color pockets. Even one in the shape of an Apple. Ain't it just adorable?

Then I sewed right sides together and flipped it out. Pressed.

I really liked the look of my friends Apron with the double bias tape... I wanted to try it. She has an awesome Tutorial. Go here to learn how to do the bias tape. But this step was just for decoration, it's not needed if you won't want to spend the extra money or time.

ok so you have the bottom done. Here is how I did the top. using the left over fabric I cut 2 trapezoid shaped pieces. One in both colors.

The top length is 10 inches, bottom length 16, and the height 15 inches.

Press the 1/4 inch of the top and bottom in, so they will be easier to top stitch.

flip so the Right sides are together and sew the diagonal sides 1/2 seam allowance. Flip right side out again and press for nice clean edges.

Cut a 2x22 inch strip. fold and Sew it right sides together, flip it through and press.

insert one inch in top & top stitch the now 9 inch opening, closed.

Now for the band.

cut the following.

(2) 5 inch x the width of your apron (mine was probably about 22-25 inches)

(2) 5 inch x 45 inches (the length of your fabric)

with the (2) 5 x apron width pieces of fabric- press 1/4 inch in, on the top and bottom (long sides)....it looks like this. This is the band.

with the (2) 5 in x 45 fold over, right sides touching. Sew one end closed and down the length. Flip through. press. These will be the ties.

Take the band place right sides together. (so the seam you just pressed is facing out now.)

Place the ties in between the layers, with the unfinished end poking out of the short 5" sides, one at both ends.

The whole length of the ties coming together in the middle.

pin in place. Sew the ties into the 5" sides.

Flip right side and press.

Now pin the top and the bottom and top stitch them together.

Done!