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April 26, 2007

new room

Ok, this is bound to be a long post because there was much that went into this big room change.  Its nice because it feels more appropriate for a five year old and ,though everything was done on a tight budget, we are so happy with the results. She helped pick out the paint and then I took it from there. I knew that a desk would be good and that I wanted to use a hoarded piece of Amy Butler fabric for the bulk of the fabric. So here is the before:P4210289

Blue walls (dirty blue walls!) and my Grandma's bed.  She has a habit of snuggling right up to the wood and it was getting cloudy spots so I knew I wanted to make some sort of slipcover for the bedframe.  There isn't a photo here, but she had the grossest off white sheer curtains that we had knotted at the bottom to shorten them. Not pretty. When we moved into this house there was so much to do that a lot of little things (and many big things )got put on hold. So here is the new bed with cover and a pillow I made:P4220317

The slipcover fabric was $1.12 per yard so that was a good deal. The appliqued butterfly is the Amny Butler fabric I had been hoarding. I love this print! Here is a detail:P4220319 The canopy was a post Christmas bargain find at the Disney Store. She had been asking for something like that. At first I struggled with it's tackiness but when you turn out the lights at night and look up, its all sparkly with tiny glitter. And you know she loves it. Here is a photo of my first log cabin pillow that I put on her bed:P4220305 That horse fabric in the center is one of my all time favorites. I made she and her cousin skirts out of that  (in pink and blue) last year for her cousin's birthday. And some of the other fabric is from her last year's birthday present. I love the whole log cabin idea when you can use little scraps of sentimental things. I can see how this is addicting! So onto the thrifted furniture finds. I found a desk at an estate sale for $20 and a chair at Salvation Army for $10. Check out this chair:P4170162 It had such a cute shape, was sturdy and the right price. But it was gross! I pulled off four layers of fabric, (musty stinky fabric)a layer of batting, and a heap of straw from the seat. Then I took the plain wood and covered it with new batting and fabric and this is how it turned out:P4220324 Wow! I was so happy with how the desk and chair turned out. They are the perfect size. The only thing was I had to track down the right size handle for the desk. It is old and the handles have different sized centers now. But I found them on ebay for $1.20 each, so not too bad. So here is the corner of the room all finished:P4220327I love the little butterflies hanging from the light. They were just some cheap o box of feather butterflies that I , you guessed it, put glitter on. Which takes me to my favorite thing- the bulletin board.  I found this frame for $4 at the Senior Center Rummage Sale. I almost passed it up (!) Its big and sturdy and in pretty good shapeP4190187 I painted it two colors (the light purple dry brushed over the blue to bring out the details), cut a piece of foamcore to fit and stuck self adhesive cork over that. Then I put my fabric on by stapling it to the back. Then I glued vintage millinery flowers to thumbtacks. I love how it turned out. Cheaply made and just cute. Can you believe I almost passed up that frame? Here is a detail:P4220302_2

Here is the wicker chair with the embroidery made into a pillow:P4220295 More of that Amy Butler... And one more photo:P4220310 That big sparkly M is from Joanns- painted and covered in glitter. I do love glitter. I have to say that I love this room but it makes me so aware that we could use the same attention on our room! But now I have to start gearing up to do her brothers in August. If you made it this far, thanks for checking it all out!

April 22, 2007

Five!!

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Tomorrow my girl turns five! I can hardly believe it. I remember when my first child hit five- how significant it felt.  It still feels significant with her but the sting is off a bit with number two.  I want to slow the pace of the days so that I can soak them up even more.  We celebrated tonight with my family. My sister has a birthday a few days after hers so we celebrated them together tonight. This cake I made was from a pan set I bought at a garage sale for $1.50. I think it was money well spent as we all got a kick out of this edible princess.  We spent the last two days re-doing her room for her big birthday. I will post some photos later of all the fun things we did. It was a little money and a lot of elbow grease.  We are pretty wiped out!  Here is a little preview for the next post.P4220300

April 17, 2007

Geez

P4170167_2 Spring always seems like such a busy busy time. I always think I will ease into spring , loolygagging the sunny sweet smelling days away but then the growth gets all out of control in the gardens and the house seems dusty and in need of a good clean, oh and then there is the spring baseball schedule to contend with and then here I am.  Plus, we have a big birthday coming up in a week and the promise of a room makeover for her fifth birthday is looming ever larger as the days tick on.  By makeover I mean new paint and some gussied up furniture to help her make the shift from toddler girl to a little too big for her britches girl.  I think that 5 must be the new 13 because the sassiness is laying thick around here.  I am not really all that well equipped to deal with the onslaught of five year old know it all-ness. My older boy is pretty straight forward and she has an energy that is at the same time wonderful and amazing and pretty $%^&$#@!! frustrating. Any thoughts from the Moms who might have a better idea than me as to how to approach this?  So in the midst of all this craziness, I have discovered something new and wonderful.  That there at the top is my first real embroidery.  It was so relaxing and nice to work on.  I find that it is replacing knitting as my evening activity of choice. There is no counting, just sitting and putting the needle in, pulling it out, putting it in, pulling it out. So relaxing. And fun to see your picture come together.  I have such a block when it comes to ripping out my knitting so I tend to feel a bit pressured but with embroidery, I can just let it happen without thinking too hard. This will be a pillow for the room makeover.  Here is another detail. I love how the little flowers turned out though the big one looks sort of off to me.P4170170

This pattern was graciously sent to me by Vicki from Turkey Feathers. You have to check out her website The Pattern Bee , which is a gold mine of fantastic embroidery patterns.  Thanks Vicki for the pattern and the inspiration!

Better feed the kids. Have a fun wednesday!