Thank You Notes, Handmade by Toddler (& Mom)

First of all, many congrats to Jaisa who dropped some big news ever-so-casually in last week's post!  I'm basically over the moon and can't stop texting her about it at all hours of the day and night.  I'm just hoping she will share the Instagram picture that she and Charlie used to announce it to their friends... so darling.

Speaking of darling, let's get back to my two year old son.  Smooth transition?  No?  Moving on...

After his second birthday party, Will had a whole lot of thank you notes to get in the mail.  Like last year, I wanted to have him involved in the making of the cards and, like last year, I had a lot of finger paint laying around.  We kicked it up a notch this year, though...

It helps that Will is actually VERY into finger painting now.  I'm not that into it myself and always make excuses for why we shouldn't (it's a huge mess!  it's more hassle than it's worth!  the paints say non-toxic but they're probably loaded with all sorts of sneaky carcinogens!) but a few minutes in it's always apparent that Will is having a blast and it's totally worth it.  Also he isn't eating it, so it could be worse for him, I'm sure.

I let him go nuts on a huge sheet of white paper (Ikea paper roll FTW) and when it had dried the next day, used a heart-shaped stamper cutter ("I can't believe we own that thing.  Its ONLY function is to cut out heart shapes?!" -Jesse) to get some hearts we could use on thank you cards.

Gluesticked onto blank cards, the hearts were the perfect combination of THANK YOU/I LOVE YOU/I'M SORRY THESE WENT OUT A WEEK LATER THAN I HAD PLANNED.  Everyone got handwritten notes and a bit of Will art.

Easy peasy and totally kid friendly.  These could also work as a set of stationery for the grandmothers in your life... Mother's Day is coming!

I want Will to be a thank you note writer when he grows up, so starting early is key.  Thanks again to Will's awesome friends and family... check your mailboxes!

Thank You Cards (Made by Baby!)

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Will's first birthday party.  Once the guests left and the balloons deflated, we were left with a stack of awesome gifts from Will's generous friends & family.  I wanted everyone to know how much we appreciated them coming to Will's party (guests from as far as Chicago and DC!) and I wanted to make some sort of unique thank you cards.  At first I had a vision of Will with balloons on the front of a photo card, but the baby didn't feel like modeling and so I quickly gave up and went in a different, messier direction.

Here's how we made some homemade thank you notes in just a few (colorful) minutes:

I started with blank white notecards (from the craft store) and taped them down to some brown paper on my dining room table.  Instead of individually painting each card, which could get extra paint inside the card or on the back, I figured it would be faster and cleaner to paint all of the cards at once.

Next step - put some nontoxic finger paint on your baby's sweet little fingers.  Don't get too alarmed when he wants to climb all over the table.  He'll cover more territory that way.

Make sure he gets every card with some color...

...then whisk him up for a bath while the cards dry.  The next morning, remove the tape and - voila - a set of personalized cards made by baby.

Next step is to teach him to write out his own "thank yous".

We got lots of positive feedback from recipients on the cards.  I think DIY thank you cards might be a yearly thing that we do with Will.  These painted cards could also work well if you were making a set of cards as a gift - just make sure you have a recipient who likes to send snail mail and is okay with abstract baby art (hello, Grandma).

All in all, I'd say that Will's first art project was a big success!

A Handmade Baby Quilt

This weekend I went to an amazing shower for my friend Meatball (a.k.a. Abi).  Abi and her husband are expecting a baby next month and she will be the first baby girl among my close friends.  Since Abi is one of my closest college pals & a true blue friend, I wanted to get her something special as a baby gift.  I decided to try making a mini quilt and even though I still have a lot to learn about quilting, I'm really excited about how it turned out.  I just wish I had blow dried (or maybe even just brushed?) my hair for this picture:

The front of the quilt is gingham style with a red hearts, pink floral, and white squares.  I didn't use a pattern or anything, I just sort of winged it and it came out pretty close to what I was hoping for.  The back of the quilt is pink seersucker:

I made a mistake when finishing the quilt - I ran out of binding and so there was a very small gap.  I could have maybe handstitched it together with pink thread but I decided to make a little heart tag to cover it all up.

As you can see, the stitching is not exactly perfect, but each stitch was done with lots of love and good wishes for little Meatball.  It's totally machine washable, so it'll be great for tummy time, laying in the grass, stroller walks around Boston, etc etc.  I can't wait to see it in action in April when the baby arrives!  Congrats, Meatball & Brad!

Embellished Dishtowels, Take Two

It's March, which means that my family members are scrambling to find something that's red or cooking-related for my dad's birthday.  Ideally both.  This project fits the bill, though it may look a bit familiar to you.

Two years ago, I hunted down red fabric to make some dishtowels for my dad's birthday.  Two years later, they're still in use, but battered, burned, and well-loved.  I was in New York this past weekend at my parents' house and tracked down those 2012 dishtowels to do a "Where Are They Now" photo.  Here's the one in the best shape:

Clearly two years of use has aged these guys and it's time for some new handmade red dishtowels.  I trekked to Joann to find some different red fabric to use this year.  Finding red fabric in non-girly patterns is surprisingly hard, so I grabbed a red polka dot pattern (manly) and a red heart pattern (since if you can't tell your dear old dad that you "heart" him, who can you tell?).

I sewed these the same way as last time, but I added a double seam to make sure the fabric stayed on for years and years of use and abuse:

Happy birthday, Dad!  Now that I've found a go-to gift for you, I hope you're okay receiving these dishtowels every two years.  Here's to many more years of chocolate cake, "go around the table" toasting, and you cooking your own (always delicious) birthday dinner!

Beadboard Ceilings for a Half-Bathroom

This was a productive weekend for us - the first one in a long, long time.  I don't know if it was the unseasonably warm weather we've had or the excitement of a new year, but this weekend we tackled a project we've been meaning to do since we moved into this house.  We have a very small, very windowless half bathroom on our first floor that visitors use.  

Pretty sure that lightbulb has been out since 2011.  We sure know how to treat our guests.

The pictures are terrible, but it gives you a feel for the room.  I didn't even photograph the popcorn ceilings that were stained by a leak before we moved in, but it was dismal.  All of it.

(The photo above is the reason I shouldn't buy seasonal anything.  I guarantee that box of reindeer tissues won't run out until June.  And I'll get super annoyed but what I am supposed to do besides use them up?  Throw them out?  Box up the Kleenex with the rest of the Christmas stuff and bring them out next December??)

Since we magically woke up on Saturday morning with a newfound zest for life and home improvement, we packed up Willbo Baggins and headed to the Home Depot where we bought some beadboard & trim to cover up the ugly popcorn ceilings and then haphazardly chose a paint color for the walls.

After we made it home, we put Will down for a snooze and Jesse got to work cutting the beadboard down while I started painting the bathroom.  

Once that was finished, we headed to the basement to use our miter saw to cut 45 degree angles in the trim that would go around the wall under the beadboard.  On some DIY projects Jesse and I have a blast and on some projects we want to kill each other.  I'd say it's a 50/50 split on that but luckily the home improvement gods were smiling down on us this weekend.  Jesse and I high-fived our way through even the trickiest math and measuring.

With the ceiling components cut to size, we both squished into the tiny bathroom and used nails (find the studs!), Liquid Nails, and our arm strength to get the beadboard panel onto the ceiling.  Once it was up there, we added the trim along the sides.  

I realized that we aren't exactly pioneers in beadboard ceilings (2011 called and they want their hot blog project back), but I'm so excited about how it's coming out.  The ceiling makes the bathroom feel so much more finished (& here's a peek at my new paint color, Behr's "Heron", which I lurve).

We're taking the rest of this week to finish off the bathroom - filling in some holes, painting the ceiling, framing art for the walls, hanging the mirror and cabinet back up, and perhaps finding some neutral Kleenex.  Stay tuned and stay homey!

Kraft Paper Table Runner

Last week, Jesse & I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for 22 people.  It went off without a hitch - delicious, cozy, and fun - and I actually want to do it all over again.  The food was great but I can't take much credit for that (thanks to my family & to Jesse, turkey fryer extraordinaire), so I'll focus on the way we turned our breakfast nook & living room into a table for 15 adults (the kids sat on pillows around our coffee table, decked out with paper & crayons).

Our regular dinner table fits 6 people, so we used some folding tables and borrowed chairs to create one very long table for Thanksgiving dinner.  I wanted to have a cohesive element among the hodge podge of chairs, the tables of varying widths, and the mismatched cloth napkins and so I used kraft paper-style wrapping paper (cut in half, width-wise) to run the length of the three tables.

The brown paper managed to be rustic enough to tie in the mums I had running down the table and the various fall-hued napkins.

Place cards were just simple cardstock cut and folded in half.  I didn't think through last year's seating very well - it had my family on one half of the table and Jesse's family on the other half.  Jesse requested that this year we shake it up a bit and mix the two crowds (everyone knows each other anyway).  We spent a few minutes the night before the meal deciding who would go where and it seemed to work out well (vegetarians seated together, my brother the teacher next to Jesse's cousin the teacher, etc).

Here it is right before we ate (next year I may do it buffet style with so many guests but this year we served it family style).  You can see in the top of the photo how the tables are uneven but the runner helped to draw the eye away from that.

I hope you all had as great of a Thanksgiving as we did.  And with Thanksgiving 2013 in the books, I'm ready to move full steam ahead with Christmas prep around here!

Over-Door Decor Hanging & Gourds Galore

Jesse & I are hosting Thanksgiving again this year and gearing up for a table to fit 22 people.  Though I should have more pressing issues on my mind (like, you know, cooking turkey for that many people), I'm (of course) most interested in how to make my house feel cozy & autumnal for all of our guests.

Last year I posted about hanging a wreath over the glass door leading into our mudroom.  The secret is a Command Hook upside down on the back of the glass.  It's not QUITE time for full throttle Christmas decor yet, so I strung up some ornamental corn & ribbon.

Here's a close up shot (a little confusing because the glass is reflecting the side of the house):

Besides our corn-decor, we've also gone nuts with gourds everywhere.  Hanging out with our mice candleholders, joining a photo of Will the Baby in our mudroom, sitting in a flowerpot on the front step...

As usual, I'm dreaming of a fancy and elaborate table setting for Thanksgiving but I know that, for the sake of my sanity, we'll need to go simple.  I'm thinking more gourds, more corn, and a few flowers.  Stay tuned and stay homey!

RhiNO or YES?

Here's a little disagreement that Jesse and I are having when it comes to decorating the baby's room.  Jesse bought me this paper mache rhino bust from Anthro for my birthday years ago and it used to live above the bedroom door in our Brooklyn apartment.  I knew I wanted to hang it up in a nursery as soon as we had one to decorate.  And now we do.  So I hung it up.

But Jesse HATES that it's in the baby's room.  He thinks that Will is going to have nightmares about the "horned beast" hanging on the wall.  I guess I will concede that he looks a bit grumpy...

...but he's made from recycled french books!  He's some nice 3D art for the walls (...not that we've hung much else yet... it's been a busy 7 months...)!  He's a rhino and we got to see real rhinos on our South African safari while I was pregnant with Will!  And it's not like he lives above the crib... he's tucked into a corner near the closet.

So what do you think?  Too creepy?  Should I dress him up with some sort of silly hat to make him a big goofier?  Let us know and stay homey!

A Different Kind of Guest Book

When planning our wedding, I decided I didn't want a traditional guestbook but this was in the pre-Pinterest days so I didn't  have a bajillion different ideas laid out for me.  After some brainstorming, I decided to get some small pieces of paper in our colors, leave out some pens, and see what people came up with.  I put together some brief instructions, popped them into a frame (fun fact: this frame now hosts a map of Colorado on our map wall), and left everything on a table that guests passed coming into the wedding:

A few weeks after the wedding, I bought a book that held a small photo in front...

...and had plenty of blank pages inside for the kind wedding notes mixed with candid photos from the wedding...

I hate to play favorites with all of these thoughtful and sweet notes, but Jesse and I cracked up when we saw this one, from one of my Bates friends, which simply reads "Yo Yo Yo Congrats":

It was quick to assemble the photos and notes afterwards and turned out to be a simple way to keep all of these well-wishes in one place.  The book now lives either tucked away on a bookshelf in the living room or out on the coffee table.  I love how it turned out and I could spend all afternoon reading and re-reading all of the messages from our friends and family.

What did you do for a wedding guest book?  Have any memorable wedding messages (or guests)?  Let us know!

Bumblebee Doorknocker

I logged into Pinterest last night and the first thing that popped up was this pretty teal door with a gold bumblebee door knocker:

I want!  I need!  The perfect front door touch for burgeoning beekeepers like us!  Though the link on Pinterest sent me back to the HGTV main site, a quick internet search turned this up:

Do I really need a $125 door knocker?  Probably not.  My front door is obscured by a screen & used fairly infrequently (we mostly come in and out from the mudroom), but a girl can dream.

Speaking of bees, I also came across this family's costume when searching for Halloween ideas for us.  I LOVE IT!

Stay busy & stay homey!

A Household Command Center

First of all, is there any term more mom blogger-y than "Household Command Center"?  I apologize.

I've seen a bunch of colorful & functional designs for a family's organizational hub and need to implement something similar for our house.  Even with our work calendars synced up online, weekends and evening are booking up so quickly for us that we need a paper calendar hanging somewhere prominent so we can keep track.  I could also use a place to consolidate bills & paperwork that need attending to.  It would be helpful to also have a spot for things like the key for our tractor (oh, I haven't told you about our tractor yet?) or a shopping list for the week.

I've searched online for some great options... here are a few I came up with:

Vintage Violet Style

While I think chalk paint is a little too trendy to have on a full wall, I do like how you can add notes right along the command center.  Vintage Violet Style has a simple wall with a phone charger, calendar, key hooks, & some organizational functions.

The Caldwell Project

The Caldwell Project's Command Center (above) utilizes some printables found online & part of Pottery Barn's Daily System.

Fabulously Organized Home

I love the idea of keeping a shredder right underneath your command center as Leah @ Fabulously Organized Home has done above.  We always have a ton of stuff I need to shred that ends up in piles for weeks.  I'm also into the wire baskets.

Speaking of trendy, this chevron command center seems to have most of the organizational elements I need - a spot for mail, a calendar, a place to charge phones, & a spot for keys.  I also like how they utilized the side of the fridge (something we'll probably have to do because of the limited space in our kitchen).

Stay organized and stay homey!

Special Gift Idea for Your Favorite Teacher

My sister, Michaela, posts lots of cool home projects and beautiful cupcakes on Facebook.  I've asked her a few times to feature her cupcakes but she always politely (sort of) declines.  Caitlin saw this on Facebook before I did told me that I had to post this on the blog right away.  So, if you're reading Michaela: 

 

1) I'm sorry I featured this without your permission.

2) This is what happens when you tell me no.

 

My Mom always sent little presents to give our teachers at the end of the school year to thank them for everything they did for us.  Or maybe she just sent them with me because I was the problem child?  Maybe that's why it was a bottle of whisky?

 

Anyway, whatever the reason, my sister made this (with the help of my niece Kenzie) for Kenzie's Kindergarten teacher. 

 

I think this is just SO CUTE and crafty and out of this world and totally outside the realm of my creativity.



I love all of the little details.

I found step by step directions on how to do this on another blog, which you can check out here.  Thanks Michaela...:)

Stay Homey!

Roof Deck Lights

I am the least homey person.  I consider "keeping a home", double checking to make sure my hot iron is off before leaving for the day...as in "keeping my home" from burning down.  Charlie does most of the homey projects around here.  Sometimes I assist, sometimes I don't.  I always try to photograph it though.  I've been keeping you guys posted on our roof deck progress...this weekend, we Charlie hung lights! 

Charlie picked up a $20 staple gun from ACE Hardware.  He began by securing the main line of power from our condo to the deck.  We get some wicked nasty storms up in Chi-town so we figured it would be best to lock this baby down. 

Doesn't this look like the guy from Scream/a worm?

We bought these weather resistant globe string lights from Target.  There were fancier ones, but these were simple and less expensive so we sprung for these.  They were approximately $12.50 per box/20 feet, so the cost to line the entire deck was on $62.50!  Not too shabby.



We unraveled the lights and then I held one end while Charlie stapled them in.

Look at those buff forearms...


Charlie and I are both risk averse, or...lazy.  We tested ever single string before stapling it up.  The thought of having to redo one was too much to bare.

I still need throw pillows.  Pillow post to follow...except I will not be making mine.  I will be purchasing them and color coordinating.  That's a homey worthy post, right Caitlin? No?  Ok. 

Here the lights are at night...

This is a better picture, albeit a little blurry, without the flash.

Here's the section behind the couch.  We have the cover on because it was a little rainy...but you get the idea.

Stay homey!