Another Dining Room Chair Job

I had inherited a dining set from my parents, who inherited it from a great-grandparent, when they left me and moved away.

It has served us great for the first 4 years of our marriage but it's time to say goodbye. We want to sell the set but it needs a little attention after surviving two little boys learning to eat by themselves.

No tricks to this project - we just removed the current covers and used them as a pattern on our new fabric. Then, we just stapled them back on until our staple gun stopped working. We figured out if you hit the trigger in just the right way, you could still get it to staple. (We keeps things safe here in our house.) Here's the end result:

All in all, a great first project for my debut on this blog. (and no stapled legs either)

Pre-Prom Date Shirts

Josh has a fun day planned for his prom date, which includes a fun adventure in the morning, before prom. It's a surprise so I can't say more, but they designed and made shirts to wear on their pre-prom date. I had a friend cut them out for me on her Silhouette so I didn't have to do it with an X-Acto knife this time. Hooray! 

I ironed the freezer paper cutout onto the shirts and then showed them how to paint them.  We did three layers of Tulip Soft Fabric Paint, drying it really well with a hair drier in between layers.  Then carefully peeled off the freezer paper.

They turned out AWESOME!  Josh and Brittany were super happy with the shirts.

I think that it was a really cute idea and that they will look great while they are out having fun.

Learning your Family History with Games for Kids

So....

I've been really focused on family history lately.  It's so fun!!  I also wanted my kids to be involved and to learn about and have a relationship with their ancestors, some of which are alive and others passed on.  I decided to make a matching game (idea from Stephanie) with pictures on one card and names, dates, and/or facts on the other card.  Some of the people were repeated, but at a different age or with spouse.

Well, we played it as a family last night and it was a hit.   They are beginning to learn their names and faces and some stories.

(This is just one family line...4 generations in the pics. Once this one is mastered, we'll move on to another line.)

So today, with all my still over flowing enthusiasm and excitement from last night, I made a "Don't Eat Pete" game board with 6 generations, including my kids.  As they guessed which picture was chosen, they had to say who the people in the pictures were, until they found "Pete."  We play with M&Ms.  They didn't want to stop because of the candy, probably, and I didn't want to stop because they were learning the names and faces of their family tree.   Too awesome!  I'm going to get both laminated, so they will last longer.

Mantles- I love them!

I currently have a mantle and I LOVE decorating it!  Yes, it's always basically the same with the fabulous FREE subway art from Eighteen 25 and a few random do-dads here and there, but it's still fun!  I love the color-your-own-vase idea I got from here. I've done it several times now! It's so great cause you can just choose any color you want and color an old vase you have sitting under your sink or a $0.70 second-hand one.

ST. PATTY'S DAY

 

 

EASTER/SPRING

BIRTHDAY'S

This is the first pennant banner I've made and, man alive, it was easy!

Tutorial for how I made this one here. I was using scrap materials that I had on hand, so mine were about 4 in across the top and 5 1/4 in long.  It really was fast, easy, and fun!

 

As for the mantle, we're moving to a home that doesn't have one.  So, I'm planning on making one similar to my friend Nikki's over here.

Temple Pictures

It's important to my husband and I to have a picture of one of our Church's Temples hanging somewhere in our home. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)  I wanted it to be important to my children as well, so we let them each choose a different temple and purchased it for them and framed them. 

Then, I wasn't sure where to hang it.  I thought about their room and the hall, but I really wanted it to be a place they would see everyday.  Then it dawned on me.  Across from the toilet in the bathroom.  My mother always would put motivational quotes in our bathroom growing up and I read them all the time, over and over.  (I think she brainwashed us) lol 

But I realized, "I have boys! They don't sit down all that much, they stand and face the toilet." So, I placed them above my toilet, where they HAD to see them everyday.  (I think brainwashing is GREAT) lol

I am please with the final result.  Nothing too crafty, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

They decided on the London Temple (his cousin lives near that one), Hong Kong (just because) and Mesa, AZ cause it's our nearest one, currently.



Car Seat Make Over: Girly to Sweet Baby Boy

Dandi is about to have a boy and I have been hustling to get her car seat transformed from this girly one I had made for her daughter to something more baby boy appropriate.

I finished it last night and handed off to her so she can finally relax and go into labor.  I am sure that waiting on her car seat was the only stressful thing on her mind, NOT.

It turned out super cute!

 I really do LOVE polka dots!

Love you Dandi!

Sewing with my girls

My girls along with one of their friends have been wanting aprons.  I told them that they could choose the fabrics and design their aprons and that I would help them construct them.  We spent the last couple of days putting them together.  They are super proud of how they turned out.  I know they will get used a lot, they love to bake.  And now I don't have to worry about my aprons disappearing!

Sara's friend had to leave before we finished, but this is Sara modeling her apron for us. Cute!

 Laney did a nice job, especially for a 6 yr old, with matching her fabrics.  She really wanted a ruffle on the bottom and was happy that it turned out looking kind of like a dress.

I love Sara's apron!  I am a sucker for polka dots.  It turned out so cute!