Door Decor

I bought a foam ring at Joann's probably 6 months ago with the intent of making a wreath for the front door. I really wanted to use stuff that I had so, I first wrapped the wreath in the orangey-yellow yarn you see at the bottom right of the wreath. I did not like the color and the more I thought about it, the more terrible I thought it would look on our door since the wood has an orangey tone already. So......it sat in the spare bedroom. For months.

Last week, I found this pretty bluish-gray yarn at Michael's that reminds me of the color in our Master Bedroom. I took a gamble and bought one spool, thinking it would cover the whole thing. It didn't. SO, I had to come up with an alternate plan.

I had some extra lineny-type fabric and hot glued it around the orange yarn.

Then, I added a felt flower and some twigs to the bottom and a banner I made out of metal scrap-booking letters, paper, and twine.

The most time-consuming part was wrapping the yarn, but it was super easy.

All in all, it was a quick morning project!

SIDE NOTE: The awesome table in the bottom of the first couple of pictures was made by my husband! He is super talented, and a post all about the table and the building process is coming SOON!

I have had

First Day of School / Nap Mat Tutorial

E started Preschool last month, so I wanted to take the 'first day of school' pictures in front of our house like my mom always took of us. And J cried and cried and cried until I took some of him too, even though he stays home with me. Poor thing, he felt SO left out. I DREADED those pictures every year, but now I TOTALLY see the joy on the other side of it. I HAD to document this monumental day! And who would have known that I would be so sentimental after having kids?!?

The school that E attends had a list of items we had to buy. One of which was a nap mat. I looked them up online because, honestly, we are new to this whole needing a nap mat thing and I wasn't even sure what I was looking for.

I thought E may have a hard time going to sleep on a mat that was solely that, a mat. So, I began looking into covers and came across some really cute ones on Etsy. But one look at the price and I quickly decided that I could make something similar for a fraction of the cost.

And who do I turn to when I need inspiration, tutorials, and beautiful pictures? Pinterest, of course. I saw this:

The tutorial can be found HERE. This one has an attached blanket and pillow, and I could just picture E all snuggled up at nap time. I was going to do it.

The tutorial looked easy enough. So, I gave it a try. I did make one adjustment because it ended up being a little cheaper. Instead of making the attached blanket double sided, I just used fleece and then blanket stitched the edge.

This project helped me learn how to make a buttonhole with my sewing machine as well as blanket stitch (which I WILL say, was not an easy task through the thick fleece). All in all, it was a fun project and now I will know what I am doing when I need to make J one next year.

My cuties posing for the camera with E's nap mat.

And, lo and behold, E has slept every day at school despite my worries. And I just KNOW it is all because he is sleeping soundly on the nap mat I made for him. Ha!

It's Fall Y'all

Can you believe it's Fall already?!? I'm so excited to get into some cooler weather, unpack my boots and sweaters, and decorate my house with Fall garb.

The first area of my house that usually gets decorated in Fall attire is the mantel, since it's the focal point of our living room and I look at it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

I don't have a whole lot of Fall decorations but also had no desire to spend any money on an updated Fall look, so everything I used was stuff I had around the house or could get for free.

Here's our "blah" mantel to begin with. It's probably been like this since I took last year's Christmas decorations down.

Blah, blah, blah-biddy-blah. That's how I roll. { Come on, you know it sounds TOTALLY natural for "That's how I roll" to come out of my mouth. Ha. }

SO, I got the inspiration from this "pin" on Pinterest. {Side Note: If you have yet to discover the black hole, also known as Pinterest, you've got to check it out! And I mean black hole in the best possible way. It will SUCK. YOU. IN. But it has been a great source of Inspiration}

I didn't have a heart cutter (and I wasn't too keen on the heart shape anyways), but I did have a circle cutter. So, I went with that.

I went to a local home improvement store and picked up a few Fall colored paint chips. The best size for my circle cutter were the square paint chips that contained only a single color. The ones with multiple colors were a little too small.

I cut out a variety of colors, then punched two holes side by side on the top of each circle. I then took some twine I already owned and weaved it through the holes.

I wrapped the twine around the two end mason jars and tied a knot in the back. The green vases on either side are quart size mason jars I spray painted green, and I filled them with twigs from some trees in our neighborhood. {Don't worry. The branches had already fallen. I didn't tear them from their home.}

So, not a super intricate project, but a festive and CHEAP one! Have you decorated for fall yet?

Moments to Remember

Last week we had the opportunity to vacation in Orange Beach, AL with our family. The day we drove down was the day that Tropical Storm Lee hit the Gulf Coast of AL. Luckily, the drive was pretty uneventful until we made it to Orange Beach when the first drops of rain began to fall and the winds picked up. We were on the side of the street right next to the bay, and at times the rain was so intense that you couldn't even see the water. It was like a gray sheet was hanging right outside the window. The winds were also SUPER strong and I kept getting scared they would suck the kids away when we stepped outside. (A little paranoia on my part and OBVIOUSLY not a legitimate possibility, but I was scared, nonetheless).

This was the boys first trip to the beach, so I was a little nervous about how they would like it and if it would be worth the effort to take 2 toddlers. Thankfully, they both LOVED it! J was a little shy when it came to getting in the the water, but E loved rolling around on the sand as the waves broke on the shore. It was so fun to watch them both have SO much fun! They apparently needed a break as much as much as we did because E made comments over the first couple of days like, "Momma, I love you SO much (as he sweetly laid his head on my arm)! Now for those of you who know E, he is not usually that verbally sweet or affectionate-totally opposite of his brother-but it was so sweet to see him this way and have such a good time.

We videoed E and J's first beach experience. We took them down to the beach immediately after dropping our bags in the room. You could see the beach across the street from the hallway in front of our room. They had already caught a glimpse and were DYING to get their feet in the sand and water! Ok, who am I kidding? It was ME who was DYING to get my feet in the sand and water. Whatever the reason, we rushed over there and they were in awe.

I built them a turtle out of sand (something I remember my mom doing when we were younger) and wanted to take a picture of them in front of it....which led to a cry-fest. Sometimes I wish I understood what goes on in those little minds of theirs. What about taking a picture would cause such a reaction? Just thought it was a little humorous.

M soaking up the rays on the beach. The kids played so well on the beach that we were able to relax more than we thought we would be able to. Can we go back?

Ready to swim!

E proving that he is a boy after my own heart. He LOVES order maybe even more than I do. I get it, E, I really do. Order allows us to relax and enjoy, strange as that sounds.

Since the first few days were rainy, we took the opportunity to take the boys to their first movie - Cars 2! There were only 2 other families in there, plus we loaded up on popcorn and drinks and they actually did surprisingly well. They started to get antsy at the end, but I did too, so I couldn't blame them. They both LOVE cars right now, so I think this was a good movie choice for them!

E loved holding Daddy's hand, running towards the water as the waves receded, then running as fast as they could back to the shore as the waves chased them!

A childhood memory of mine associated with the beach is going to a fair/carnival type place to ride a few rides one night. So we took the kids to a local spot and let them ride the train together and then each choose another one to ride. I couldn't ever get a good shot of J's face :(

For E's ride, he chose the Carousel.

And J chose the Ferris Wheel. He was the only one on the ride and sat perfectly still in his seat the whole time. It was really cute!

I didn't just pick a picture that was good of M and I, I promise. This literally was the best one of the boys too where you could at least see their profiles. M was DYING to wear khakis and a white polo and has an awkward picture taken of just himself on the beach to put on his facebook. As hilarious as that would have been, I refused. (I apologize to anyone who has a khaki and white picture......they are cute, just not for us :)

We had an amazing time at the beach and couldn't believe how well the kids did! The weather turned out to be great at the end of the week and not too hot because of the previous storm. We created many fun memories together as a family and are thankful to get the opportunity to go. What kind of adventures have you and your family been on lately?

My hubby is 'da bomb' - DIY project

Please don't let your jealousy of my oh-so-hip lingo cloud your view of the main point of this post. (Because we all know 'da bomb' is 'hip'. Not to mention the fact that to say something is 'hip' automatically disqualifies you from being 'hip' in the first place. But, I digress.)

M built both of our boys toddler beds about a year and a half ago and they were really cute, but I hadn't settled on decorations and colors for the kids' room at the time. Last week I decided to paint (clarification: I decided to paint, but we both actually painted) the boys room after 2 years of living in the house. (Pictures of the newly painted room coming soon!) This led me to pick out bedding that would go with it, which led to wanting to change the look of the beds. You know how that goes.

I took the beds Mike had already made and removed the fabric and batting to reveal the wood underneath. Mike then built the headboards based on this pin I had on one of my Pinterest boards. Then, he attached them to the beds.

I sanded them down and used a stain made from leaving a shredded piece of steel wool in vinegar for 24 hours and then applying it with a paint brush. I sanded once more after the stain dried (it dried SUPER quick; literally a matter of minutes)

The bedding is Dwell Studio from Target. I love the print, it is super soft, and is one of the only reasonably priced toddler bedding I actually liked.

M did such a great job and E especially loves that his headboard looks like a barn door!

What DIY projects have you been working on lately?

Absent no more!

For the 2 people who actually read this on a regular basis (and I really don't even have 2 specific people in mind, I just thought that would be a good number to assume read this blog. I mean, my kids are cute enough for 2 of you two look at my blog, right? Ha!)

Moving on.

I've totally been MIA from this ole blog for a few months now and thought I would entice you to 'come again' with some fun pictures of my boys.

Wow. I'm awesome at the whole 'moving on' thing.

So, without further adieu.............

Summer with my boys