Summer--Part 2: Projects

 I spent the summer trying to cram in as many things as I could. Much to Steve's dismay, I just might have been more busy during the summer than during the school year. Here are some things that kept me busy starting clear back in May:

Making a new pillow for our bed

Making lots of strawberry freezer jam. It's our favorite. We go through it way too fast.

These were some projects from our "Girl's Night" before Howie moved. All of us sisters got together with my mom and worked on things we wanted to get done. --No hubbies, no kids, no babies. It was a nice break. I hemmed my pj pants, re-covered the pad to my grandma's old piano bench, made some decorative balls out of old sheet music, and made a net toy bag for Michael's bath toys. It was so fun to get more than one project completed in a few hours.

Making burp cloths and a carseat cover for my sis-in-law, Michelle and her new baby, Alyse.

This is another carseat cover I made for my sweet friend, Kim. She's having her baby boy very soon.

Potty-training: We tried the whole potty-training thing

...

For 3 days it went great, but that.was.it.

Disaster struck too many times so we'll try again in December while I'm on Christmas break. He showed more interest in the potty as soon as I put it away. Go figure. He sure has a mind of his own.

My creative sis, Abbie, came up with this idea to make matchy-matchy shirts (and necklaces) for the Stadium of Fire. They were fun to make and dorky to wear but we did it. :)

Baking chicken...enough said

This was a total last minute project. Michael needed to take a blanket to day care that could just stay there. It needed his name on it. I didn't want to write on it with marker so thought I should stitch his name. It would've turned out better had I written the name on it first but I just started stitching. Thirty minutes later, this is what I had. A good alternative to sharpie on fabric.

Months ago I got the idea to hang a variety of plates on my wall so I started looking. Every time I saw a cute, unique plate that matched my color scheme in some way, I bought it. Most of these plates came from DI and the prices ranged from $.25-$3. I love the way it looks! I'm glad it came together and worked out because putting that many holes in my walls and then hating it would be slightly irritating. I just love plates. I still check the plate aisle in most stores just to see if I need to replace one of my plates with something better.

 

My biggest project of the summer though was re-doing Michael's bedroom. We moved him into a big boy bed the night we got back from Disneyland so it would be a good transition for him. He did great but I wanted to make it into a big boy room instead of a nursery. I went with the cowboy theme and I think it turned out pretty good. I love looking at yard sales probably more than I should. But it was fun to find things that I could fix up for his room. Thanks to Hobby Lobby, Joanns Fabric, yard sales, and family heirlooms, I was able to complete his room. I know there is a lot more I could do (like paint) but I'll just keep adding things as I go. I'm not brave enough to start painting walls in my house yet.

I can't give up having my rocker in there. He still lets me hold him and read or sing so I couldn't put that away just yet.

I found most the rod-type decor at Hobby Lobby for pretty cheap so it made decorating easy and inexpensive. The letters were in his nursery and mod-podged with colored paper. I just spray painted them and then hung burlap behind them.

This star I got at a yard sale for $.50 and spray painted.

This little bed was mine when I was a toddler. My grandpa Hawkins made it for me and my mom gave it to me to use for Michael. I just spray painted it brown.

I bought this lamp at Shopko for $3. It had lime green, blue and black retro squares on it so I spray painted the base and recovered it with burlap. The little red tin was from a yard sale for $.25.

I bought this little chair at a yard sale in Kamas for $2. I sanded it and took the seat off to spray it. It's darling when Michael sits on it. The only thing I don't like about having this in his room now is that he will carry it over and stand on it to turn his light on when he's supposed to be sleeping. I love the wicker seat though; it's in such great shape.

The burlap curtains were made from big grain sacks. Steve's family has these in their cabin and my mom-in-law gave me a set for Michael's room. It was so nice not to have to sew burlap.

This is my favorite part of the room. These little leather chaps were Steve's grandpa's when he was little. He actually wore them which I think is adorable. The rope, which I guess is called a latigo or something, is real. I found it at a yard sale for $2. It's hanging on a little rod cowboy hook from Hobby Lobby.

I saw these at Hobby Lobby and immediately knew what I could use them for. They're supposed to hold a hand towel in a bathroom but I bought two of them and used them to hold the burlap drapes.

This was my least favorite part of the project. I saw this fabric months ago and it just stuck with me. Then I decided I would use it to make Michael's bedding. His new bed size is in between a toddler size and a twin size so I made the comforter to fit a twin so that when he grows out of this "in-between" bed, I can still use the same comforter for his twin size bed. It was really frustrating. It's not that it's difficult to make; the idea is simple. But trying to sew something that big and keep it all straight and not bunched was a nightmare. I had to un-pick my crooked lines which my mom helped me with. (Thanks mom! I was tempted to just throw it all away.) But once it was un-picked, I carefully re-sewed those parts and it was finally complete. Yay! This is the first and only comforter I will ever make that is bigger than a crib size. :) I still want to make a matching pillow sham but I haven't had the time yet. Someday... hopefully.

Mirror with pegs from Hobby Lobby spray painted with cowboy themed rod keys hanging.

Shelf ($1) and antique lantern ($1.50) from yard sales, spur and wood container from Hobby Lobby. I still want to find some wheat/straw looking plant to put in the wood container but I haven't found anything yet.

This dresser we bought at an estate sale a year or so ago and I just spray-painted it to match the bed. I think the only other thing I got was the little garbage basket by the side of the dresser. This is actually a wicker planter and I bought it on clearance at Walmart for $1 but because the wicker matched, we use it as a trash now.

So... during the times I wasn't having fun with family or friends, this is what I did for fun. I love working on projects and completing something especially when it turns out half decent. Some upcoming projects include window valance for kitchen, pillow sham and coordinating pillows for Michael's bed, re-covering two ottomans, and painting some little wooden bird houses along with a skeleton for Halloween and a wooden sled for Christmas. We'll see if I ever get any of those done :)