'Lil Owl Pillow/Stuffy

Owls seem to be everywhere lately and gotta say that I am totally diggin' the trend.  You may remember that I did a owl felt mobile for the nursery about a year ago.  So, in looking for possible gift ideas/stocking stuffers for my kids I came across a tutorial (they always lure you in with the "tutorials" - with all their promises of "easy" and "quick" and "simple"...) for a cute little stuffed owl pillow/stuffy.  It was a great way to once again work in a few of my fabric scraps to match the quilt my superstar mom put together for our Peanut.  And I think she's totally going to be a fan! 

I of course will be linking up to the super quick, easy, and simple tutorial  over at Make It-Love It so that you yourself can join along!  - 'Cuz you know that's why I post right??  To try and suck you into this sick little 'crafting' obsession I have with trying absolutely everything cute that I can find step-by-step directions for.  to try and make it seem a little more socially acceptable.  it is a problem.  

Fall Pumpkiny Delicious Muffins

So - I must confess that 99% of the time....I completely and universally SUCK at baking muffins.  They go dry and puck-like and,...sit in the freezer for about three months before making their inevitable journey to the place we call the garbage.  Which is highly unlike the shelf-life of ANY other baked goods in this home of these happy happy pudgy hosts.  umm...i'm just going to go ahead and through out a number.  about 38 minutes.  My mother-in-law however is AMAZING at baking muffins and my very very favorite ones on her list are Pumpkin Chip.  Seriously - sooo good.  and how 'Fall-ish' are they?  

So being that it is very cold and miserable outside - although not snowing my poor poor Alberta friends...:) - I decided to give 'er another go.  

Today is the day of my 1%.  And you are regrettin' the absence of that there smellovision right about now, because seriously - SOOO nummy.  Fluffy.  Chocolatey.  Delightful.  Can I hear a 'well done'??  And yes, perhaps I do not need to eat them all, and yes, perhaps there are 'healthier' options I should investigate in said 38 minutes.  I'm pretty sure I can feel my rear end growing.  but we're alllllll good.

So MAKE them.  

Pumpkin Chip Muffins

4 eggs
2 c. sugar
16 oz pure canned pumpkin
1 1/2 c. cooking oil
3 c. flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 c. chocolate chips

Beat eggs, mix in oil, pumpkin and sugar.  In large bowl, sift dry ingredients.  Fold pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fold in chocolate chips to dry mixture before combining.   Do not overmix or use mixer.  350 for about 15 minutes.  And eat them.  All.     

Messenger Bags

Can I just say that I am a big fan of the sewing machine lately!  So, I've started thinking about some Christmas gifts and these hot little numbers were on the list.  There are various great tutorials out there so I did some research and came up with my own little variation (ie. combining the easiest portions of all options :) ) They came together pretty quick - the second naturally faster than the first - but happy to cross them off the to-do list.  :)  

Next Time Won't You Sing With Me?

I spent Thanksgiving with my brother and SUPERSTAR sister-in-law - one of my very favorite people because she's awesome, super crafty and always willing to jump into a project with me.  I might add that she's also smart.  Smart enough to go 'another way' when we began this seemingly easy peasy art project! :)

I was strolling around some blogs for an alphabet idea for our playroom wall and came across my very favorite option at a blog called HowDoesShe?  I am currently obsessed with my Silhouette so it was a pretty easy sell.  However - didn't really think it all through.  the whole 26 squares, 26 mounting plywood pieces, sanding the 26 squares, sanding the 26 mounting pieces, painting the 52 squares (thankful for said superstar sister-in-law who helped!), cutting the 26 papers, glueing 26 papers, picking 26 vinyl letters, cutting 26 vinyl letters, mounting 26 boards on plywood squares, installing 26 frame mounting claws, measuring, remeasuring, leveling and hanging 26 squares onto the wall.  26.  there are 26 letters in the alphabet.  

But it looks FANTASTIC!  And I love it! :)   

I'm also looking forward to the day where I get to be the one to patch 26 little holes in the wall! :)

Make sure to check out Danae's finished project here!  (Like how I set you up there Danae? - pretty sure you mentioned you were waiting for me to 'inspire' your post....?!)

The Great Cereal Shake-Down of 2012

My children are HUGE fans of breakfast.  And large lovers of cereal.  It is definitely their favorite isle at the grocery store and also delivers the most heated conversations when given any input - whether solicited or not - into which of the countless varieties will be coming home with them.   I usually veto any/all choices with the mom card (you know, the one I promised myself I would NEVER do when I  was the mom...'cause I was going to be SOOO super cool and laid back) the one that sounds a little like... "Guys...that stuff is pure sugar.  Here - You can choose between Shredded Wheat and Cornflakes."  Mmmm.  Perhaps you could throw some puffed wheat and Bran Buds to the mix Coolio...

So in nod to my six years of 'responsible mother breakfast decisions' - our family has dedicated the next three months to a little experiment we have coined "The Great Cereal Shake-Down" 

- okay, clearly that is a 'cool mom' decision as well.  my kids would NOT have named it...  Regardless, until Christmas we have agreed to not purchase the same cereal twice and to let the kids make all the cereal decisions (well - paying attention to sales of course - 'cus I'm not THAT cool.) - oh the power!  We're going to let the kids rate them as we go and then crown our cereal royalty over Christmas break.  Naturally then it will be back to Raisin Bran, and I will be crushing multi-vitamins into their yogurt in the interim. 

I am going to make up little flashcards as we go including the cereal label and room for an elaborate 5 star rating system -

The kids are super excited about it and thus far it's been a fun little experiment.  And hey,...try and tell me I'm not cool.   

A Kids Apron

We had a six-year-old birthday party on the calendar this week and so - what a FANTASTIC way to break in the new sewing closet.  (well - for it's intended purpose.  it has also been suggested that it may be a nice quiet place to go in, close the door, and pretend that one is not hiding from their children an invisible superhero accessing a secret portal, needed...umm....somewhere else...) 

So Claire wanted to get her friend something for cooking/baking - and because what mother doesn't think it's a great idea to intimately include ALL children in the 5:00 pm chaos of that which is "what am I going to feed these grumpy grumpy people with absolutely NO planning, foresight, a can of pork and beans, celery, and three eggs" - I was completely on board. :)               

Teamed it with a kid's cookbook by Annabel Karmel - who I think is genius!  and done like dinna'!  :) 

Didn't even have to bravely forge the Wal-Mart toy aisle with a one, four and six year old!  So really - who is the true winner here??

Sewing/Craft Closet

After cleaning out the clutter, painting the walls and the back of the closet door (because well, when I painted the front of the door two years ago I was MUCH too busy to do the back), installing two new shelves, sorting and organizing my whole little bin system, putting up a ribbon dowel, repurposing an old magazine rack for wrapping paper and putting in my corkboard - I am happily content with phase one of the craft/sewing closet.  Phase two of course being blowing out the back of the closet and extending it through to overtake the entire playroom/family room behind it.  Naturally.

I wanted the shelves to look a little chunkier so Aaron faced the melamine shelves with MDF.  I found the blue damask canvas bins as Wal-Mart and thought they would look great in there and be good for housing all batting and flannel as they are bulkier and don't compact as well in the drawers.  The larger bin on the fabric tower is for projects 'in process' - which is a too common reality when I try to find 'uninterrupted' sewing/crafting moments.  And I know that the truth is if I don't build in for this occurrence, the leaning tower of half-done projects will be back in a matter of weeks! :)

And here's the side-by-side sudden replay...

                             Before                               After

  

Of course there continues to be another world to the left of that closet entrance - but it truly is amazing (read...sad/pathetic) how much room is discovered when you organize and tidy a few years of neglected accumulation!

Craft Closet Inspiration Board

So, I did mention that something had to be done about the current craft room closet situation.  So, step one was to convince the other party involved to house something/anything from the closet in his workshop.  And he quickly agreed to take the Christmas tree - which is when I think I let out an actual audible squeal.  You know, like eight year old girls do when their parents agree to a Friday night slumber party.  A little awkward.  Kinda surprised myself actually.  Umm...apparently I didn't expect negotiations to go quite so smoothly... :)

Regardless, this has given me much more space, and with a few hours of organization and a few changes, it is already much improved.  YAY!  So, it's not ready for the big reveal yet - I know, HOW will you sleep right??  But, I do have a little something something to show you which I am quite excited about.  I wanted a small corkboard to pin up pics/ideas/lists (OH how I love me a good list!) and I had this fabulous old gold picture frame that I had painted white and was left empty waiting for a purpose.  So I picked up a roll of cork for $10, cut it to size and glued it to some thin plywood.  I then used some craft paint and a circle template to add some small blue polka dots.  'Cause, you know, it has to be 'crafted' in some fashion.

But, my favorite little addition was the paper flower push pins, taken from the Greenbean's Crafterole.  Umm...CUTEST thing EVER!

My Creative Space...(or lack thereof)

So every once in awhile I get these little epiphanies - kind of like a veil is taken away and a true injustice becomes exposed, a truth hidden among the clutter of status quo and naive contentment.   

This is the kids space...

This is the creative space for my husband,   

and this,...this is my creative space.  It's a closet.  The closet under the stairs.  

Ummm...anyone else seeing any inconsistencies???...Some MAY even argue that I use mine the most.  just sayin'.

And this closet also houses the Christmas decorations, spare picture frames, Kids clothes storage, air mattress, Christmas tree, pack and play, portable high chair and the gifts of sizable stature my family likes to drop off about nine years in advance (...you know I love you :)).  It's a big closet. 

And every few months/weeks it must all be hauled out into the guest room, shuffled around and the amazing puzzle/leaning tower of Pisa recreated back into the closet after getting out the next size of hand-me-down clothes, pack-and-play or various other vital daily provisions we like to keep as unaccessible as possible.   

This can't be okay.

It kinda makes me think that the previous owner may have had the same fate given that there was a wallpaper border in it when we moved in - although ill-guided, an attempt to make peace with her alloted space... 

  

Ballet Shoes Tote

So it was roughly two out of every three weeks last year that the conversation in our house would go a little something like this....

"Claire, we have to leave for ballet.  Grab your ballet slippers and jump in the van."

"Okay, I just have to _____(insert *SUPER* important detail here)"

"Claire, we have to go, make sure you remember your shoes"

"Claire - we're waiting in the van and we're going to be late, are you coming??"

"MOMMY - but I can't FIND my shoes!!"

and THIS is where it ALLLLL fell apart... (not to dispel the no doubt wide-spread belief that we ever have anything less than completely together 100% of the time)

So, the return of ballet classes commencing this week...this is part one of my solution...

Inspired by Homemade by Jill

Cute right?!  How can she NOT want to leave her shoes in there for the entire seven days until her next lesson? It was more time consuming than I thought it would be to sew up the little felt ballerina, but it was kinda fun and I know that she will love it.  And now that I have the little doll template I drew up I have another little idea - coming soon.... :)

Part two may include thinking about said shoes before we are t-minus twenty seconds from leaving and not trusting that my 6 year old hasn't tucked them away behind her dresser/dressed them on her Care Bear/stuffed them into the bottom of the clothes hamper/thrown them into the shoe closet/left them under the seat in the van/placed them in her toy bins,...but probably not.  I'm a busy woman... 

1st Birthday Lemonade Stand

It was our baby's first birthday today!  CRAZY!!  We decided to have a lemonade stand for her party - and that meant SUPER daddy got to build it for us! I LUV how it turned out!  We were blessed with sunshine and a great afternoon with good friends.  And we could not be more thankful for her and the joy and fun that she has brought to our lives and family over the last year. So, here's a few moments from our day...

Now how do I break it to SUPER daddy that I'm thinking about a CASTLE theme for birthday #2...

Summertime Tea Party

So good good day yesterday!  I had the honor of hosting...I mean, my six-year-old had the honor of hosting,...a tea party!  Seriously cute.  Pretty confident to say I was just as excited as they were and perhaps a little lot more emotionally invested in its success.  But that's alright.  I They loved it! And it's all about me the kids right?? :)  The girls all looked so beautiful (even when they ditched the tea cups for the sandbox! lol) Honestly, I LOVE having little girls!  And I LOVE watching them in their rush to be grown up, giggling and talking a mile a minute...  if they only knew, 6 year old tea parties with your best friends in the world and your mom's high heel shoes...PRETTY much as good as it gets! :)

She was so happy.  I hope I can fill her little life with memories like this one...

  

Backsplash Finito.

So, true confession,...this backsplash may have been done for quite a while and I may have been just avoiding the whole blog notion.  I know right?  not really need for a spoiler alert on that one.  Ummm...March 11th.  'nuff said. 

And you know I love bringing in the old pics to help myself feel better about what we have done so far...

But Aaron did do a fantastic job and I am loving it!  There are still a few details to finish up in the kitchen but we are largely happy with it thus far - just have to kill off the other two appliances. :)