Barefoot Sandals

I have a friend who makes these barefoot baby sandals. They are the cutest little things, not to mention my Livia's little toes.  Here is the link to her etsy shop     http://www.etsy.com/shop/LadybugLB

She also sells patterns for a variety of styles and headbands too!

Ladybug barefoot sandal

Baseball Wall Art/Monogram Letter

This was a lot of fun to make for my 4 year old son.  When we were designing the nursery for his little sister, we felt his room needed a makeover, too.




now.Tools used: Paint, Monogram Letter, Medium paint brush, Small detail paint brush

First I made a small 'x' where the center of the letter would be. I then took a pencil and wrapped a string onto it.  I held my finger in the center of the 'x' and extended the pencil out around 18 inches and pivoted the pencil to draw the circle.

We then painted the inside white and free handed the lacing for the baseball in red paint. 

Finally, we hung the letter onto our pre-marked spots. I might later outline the baseball in a small dark painted outline, but it looks fine for

This little blue chair was found at a yard sale for $2 and was light blue and had rusty legs.  I painted the legs and the seat and voila!

The rest of the room is painted in a blue-gray inspired color from Benjamin Moore and done in a sports theme.  I've been collecting the blue storage baskets from Walmart for 
a while and I've labeled them and it helps Landon keep his
stuff organized and allowed me to find a place for his homeschool books and supplies .  We put a laminated storage bin unit with 6 canvas cubbies in the closet alongside a tall canvas rolling drawer unit.

Here is the most recent project in Landon's room. I had found a baseball bat and glove at an antique store and hung it on the wall using twine.  The baseball hardhat was my husband's when he was playing  and the jersey was also his.  I thought this would be a great way to display some memories. I'm planning on putting a sports pic of Landon in the frame later on.  

This wall has been changed since this pic.  My daughter has been trying to pull the chalk board, marker and memo boards down and eat the magnets & giant thumb tacs, eek!  So, we raised the boards and moved the all-sport hanger display over behind his door. 
The chalkboard was made using a poster frame and I removed the 
glass and painted the cardboard with chalkboard paint, genius, huh?  No, not really....but my son loves it!

On the bedside table, you can see the old lamp I found at a garage sale for $1 and was worth every penny.....it was solid wood!  I painted the hardware and I am planning on painting a '5' on the front and replacing the shade.  Check back for this update. The sports figures and coat hanger on the wall are from Hobby Lobby and got them during the 1/2 off sale and one on clearance.

 Ok, so here's the old water bed my husband had during his college years.  I need to find the picture before the remodel, but it had a 70's style headboard with the round wooden finials. We put cut some 1x4's and laid them as support and added a twin size mattress. 

And, to anyone's surprise, I just sawed off the curved pieces and the finials on the head board and foot board (no, no surprise really)while I was pregnant, using a manual hand saw.  Yes, this took a while, and my son kept saying, "Mom, how long is this going to take", I said...."Well, Mommy has to take breaks because my arm is tired, and my belly is in the way and I simply can't wait until your father comes back from his trip." When I got finished, he said, "Mom, I liked it better before you cut it, can you put it back?" 

Note: Please wait until you can use a hand saw that's electric!  The cuts were uneven and my husband had to finish it off and sand it when he got back..that was my plot to get him  motivated to finish my little project! hee hee, don't tell him!

  

My plans are to re-stain the bed and possibly put baseballs on the four corners or maybe some mini baseball bats: which ever is less destructive for an almost 5 year old!

 

 Here is the ugly stuff covered up.

 And this side has 2 drawers that I could eventually use to make a pull out bed! I changed out the old brass hardware, they were a little loose.

 Here are the red curtains I made. It looks completed but it is not.  I used some Hancock fabric that already had the lining on the back and was on sale.   I bought a grommet kit and you need to know that most household grommet kits are not meant for really thick material. I followed the directions on the package and used my sewing machine to hem the edges and folded over the top of the panel and simply marked where the holes needed to be cut.  I then added the grommets, which didn't stick.
I will eventually need to find some industrial size grommets and they will probably need a tool to assemble which I will have to wait to add that to my budget.   The curtain rod is from walmart. 

I also found these paper folded black out shades for a few dollars at walmart, and they do the job for now; they're just a little time consuming to raise and lower since it's manual and they probably will get bent.
Coming Soon: Livia's Nursery

Memo Board

 Here is my hallway memo board This glass frame was once an espresso brown color.  I removed the glass and used the foam backing to adhere my burlap to.  This was originally a burlap coffee bag, I just reversed the image and used the plain side  for a neutral background.  I took jute twine and started crisscrossing from front to back. You may want to measure the width and length and space evenly and mark at each crossing point. My board was not exactly perfect, since I was in such a hurry in between kid naps.  I tied off the ends and just used my hot glue gun and secured the spaces and then onto the frame.  

I have some mini clothespins for hanging artwork/pics that I'll be mod podging .  And here they are...... (updated 10-21-12)

Painting The Frame

I used a sander/deglosser gel and rubbed it on with an old cloth, using gloves.

Next, I added some white linen paint with a soft sponge brush and let it nearly dry and then used a wire sponge to scratch it up a bit.

Then I used some blue acrylic paint and dry brushed it on, and finally some sand colored acrylic to add some antique effects and then again used the wire sponge to reveal the original expresso frame color. The final step is to spray on a clear top coat, which hasn't been done yet. 

Now we hang anything from special art work, to memo's and reminders, seasonal pictures and just stuff that we want to be reminded of!

Homemade Wipes

I have been researching several recipes for homemade baby wipes so I have this one to share.  Most people recommended the Bounty brand, however I tried the members mark brand at Sam's wholesale club and they work just perfectly for the baby wipes and also adult wipes.


1/2 roll member's mark paper towels with the half perforation
(cut using chef's knife instead of serrated bread knife, unless you want little lint pieces going everywhere)
1 tupperware container with lid
2 cups water
1 1/2 Tbs baby wash
1 Tbs Baby Oil
1 drop tea tree oil


Directions:


Boil 2 cups filtered water or use distilled water, allow to cool
While cooling, mix the following:
1 1/2 Tbs baby wash  or if you make your own from castile soap would work just as nice
1 Tbs baby oil ( some recipes have olive oil) Just as long as it is a carrier oil since we will add the next ingredient requiring this,
1 drop tea tree oil


Mix slowly then pour in 2 cups of cooled water
Place paper towel, cut side down into container and mixture
Let is soak up all the liquid then turn over and soak again, then remove the cardboard insert, voila..... cover with lid. If you don't use these very quickly, check for any signs of odor or mold.  Ours are used up in about a week with frequent baby usage and we smell nothing but sweetness. Note: These are not flushable.

 Now for the adult wipes...

 Same recipe, however you can use any essential oil your tushy cushy likes just make sure to dilute appropriately.  I took the half paper towel roll and unrolled it, making sure to separate half way so that I could divide them easily into two wipes containers later. Since they are half way perforated, it made it easy to fold, accordion style into the dish of prepared soap. Once soaked through, I turned them over and waited. Once they were soaked, I divided them into each dispenser folding them into smaller stacks.   Just perfecto!You can put any extra's into the fridge in a ziploc bag to keep until you need refills.
Note....these are not flushable! just in case you are wondering.

cost : around 25 cents each!

cost: around 50 cents!

 Now for the Mod Podge Idea:
this is my first of many mod p. projects, however was so much fun and easy.
I picked some scrapbook paper that coordinated with the nursery. Used an exacto knife to cut the top.

 Next i taped some ribbon on and measured then cut and did the same with the bottom piece.  I like to tape and measure twice and cut once!   also I can arrange the pieces in different layouts so I can figure out where I want everything exactly.

Trial run with tape

Before mod podge, I decided to change it up a bit

Here she is, isn't she a dandy? (southern term for a cutie)