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Monday, February 28, 2011

We made it through February... HUZZAH!

I'm slowly finishing my son's Hogwarts room. Yeah, I know we started it many moons ago. It has been 'mostly' done for months but I've been dragging my feet on the last few bits. This isn't bad compared to my usual working timeframe for big decorating projects. My daughter's room has been 'mostly' done for over a year now. I figure if they can sleep in it and it makes them happy, I am content. I know I will get to the rest when I can. Finished projects make me happy, but a sane mama makes my whole family happy.

My recent project was to lengthen the curtains that covered the closet organizer (no actual closets in my old house). Feels so good to cross that off the list. Now I just need to finish up the window murals and it will be a wrap. I can't wait to write about the whole process. It has been FUN. Until then, just a few more teaser pictures.

A before shot of the closet without curtains. Mess alert.

Hi honey! I didn't see her waving until I dowloaded these pics.

My hula hoop girly. Again with a matching hula hoop.

Sewing the curtains. I cut up a holiday table cloth because it was the cheapest way to get fancy material for the bottom of the curtains. Using my favorite pin cushion I received in a swap-bot swap from the happy honeybee. It makes me happy every time I use it. :0)

Curtains in a twist on the bed getting good and wrinkled. Awesome.

And they are finally up! Yay! A little Downy wrinkle release spray and the wrinkles will go away eventually, right? I am soooo not one to iron curtains. I'll spend months making my kid's room look like a castle, but I draw the line at ironing large masses of material. Me + Iron = Burns/Sweating. Not going to happen. A girl has limits.

My favorite is the top part of the burgundy curtains. I think the two different colors with the middle ruffle make them look like a stage curtains, especially because they span the whole length of the room. The little planet ceiling thingy was a birthday gift from his aunt and uncle. Such a fun little gadget. The planets actually rotate around the sun and the sun works as a soft nightlight.

Something that makes me happy every time I see it... the nerf sword collection in the above photo that we contained with a garage organizer. It is made for tools like brooms and rakes. I can't find a link to anything similar on the net, probably because I can't remember exactly what it is called. I know it was only about $12 and I got it in the garage/tool organizing section of the local big box store. My boy loves it and I'm all for storage that gets stuff off the floor and is easy enough for the kids to maintain on their own!

What my kids do when I'm not looking, example #1,432...
Making chains out of all my paperclips.

I started working on a freelance project this week. I grabbed a paperclip and out came this monster chain. When did they do this? I mean, it must have taken some serious time. There are a LOT of paperclips and they are almost all hooked together. I saw this as a sign to start the project the next day. I am easy to persuade like that. Errr... which sort of explains a lot.

And wow, isn't this post all over the place tonight? Which also explains a lot. I think that means I'm an easily distracted procrastinator. Yep. I'll own it. That's me in all my glory. And since I'm in full disclosure mode, I'll admit to battling perfectionism as well. So I am an easily distracted procrastinating perfectionist. Which pretty much means it is a miracle that I function at all. Yay for miracles! Wait... what were we talking about?

Hope everyone has a great week! Happy end of February! At the rate I've been blogging this year - Spring is just two blog posts away!

Monday, February 14, 2011

My bloody valentine...

There are some crafts my daughter will have no part of. She was born with rules. Gingerbread houses have always been a no go. "Too cute," she'll sneer, nose in the air. WHAT? What is too cute to a kid who names her stuffed unicorns things like, 'fuzzy, fuzzy princess smooches' or something equally fluffy? I wasn't given her rule book upon her birth. I have to learn on the go. Sometimes I get confused.

So anyway, no gingerbread houses. Actually, no crafts made with food. Too wasteful. No food shaped in animal shapes. It is inedible. She can eat actual animals as we have 'omnivore teeth' therefore of course we are supposed to eat animals. She says this in a very 'everyone knows this mom' sort of voice, btw. As a short, brown-haired, cutesy-craft-inclined, vegetarian-leaning person, sometimes I wonder about my tall, blond omnivore and that old switched-at-birth thing. So okaaay. Pass the cow but animal crackers are a no. Chicken? Heck yeah. Gummy bears? No. No. And No. Maybe with a tear or two. Poor anthropomorphic sugar! Oh, the inhumanity!

Okay, on her new list of what is not an acceptable craft. Ice valentine hearts to hang outside. "Ughhh...." (She actually said ugh!) "Mom. No. Just no." Sigh... It isn't like she's a tomboy as I was at her age, so I don't really get it. Her rule book is complex. So I had to do it myself. So like the little red hen. I did.

Yes. More colored ice. It might be my theme for 2011.

Pretty? Right? At this point I thought my daughter would come around like the animals who wanted to help the little red hen eat the bread. But nope. She was, "You actually did it." All deadpan like the future goth queen she threatens to be underneath all the pink and gems. Well, I'm not worried. Back in the eighties I was all about the Cure, and black lipstick, now I'm all, "Oh, look at the cute ice cube hearts!!!" She'll come around.

So this was my goal. See my kids ignoring me? Yeah. Mom's got her craft on again. We'll be over here planning a major snow battle. Can't blame them really, the snow is finally packing! I did get in my share of snowballs after I decked my favorite tree in some love.

 This tree deserves much love. A big camperdown elm.



Well, it turns out my little realist was right. The sun came out and melted my valentine hearts to freaky bloody looking organs within an hour. A visitor to the house actually asked, "WHAT is hanging from your tree?!" All in horror. The hearts got darker as they started to melt, looking much like red, red meat. The dye looked like blood in the snow. Yeah. When crafting goes wrong. I didn't take pictures of that, because to quote my daughter. "Ughhh..."

What was my daughter doing while I was making the million heart ice cubes last night? She was capturing an amazing sunset. Ooohhhh.... Ahhhhh.... 


 I love the texture on this one.


Nature's Valentine.

So Happy Valentine's Day to everyone who tolerates such shenanagins and even to all that don't. We don't all play by the same rule book, but we all desire to love and be loved. And I love my silly little realist daughter with her very serious rules, and she loves that I try to tease her out of them sometimes.

Btw, my daughter had no problem at all with the little bag of chocolate and gum her father and I gave her this morning. To her that seemed like perfectly acceptable valentine behavior.  Frozen valentines, no. Non-animal-shaped chocolates, yes. Noted for next year.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The groundhog didn't see his shadow?!

Hahahahahahahahahha.... All respect to the groundhog, but I think he's wrong.

 This guy wouldn't mind a longer winter.

 She's pretty content as well.

 Napping in the snow?! We're tough here in Michigan.

 Like much of the country, we got a lot of snow.

 Lots and lots and lots of snow.

 To be honest, we didn't mind. It was a good day. Cookies and legos were involved.

I did this!!! Me and a shovel and a few hours of my morning. I hurt. My husband helped. He hurts too. We thought we'd be fine without a snowblower this year. We are fine, but we do hurt.

Best snow angel of the winter so far. My daughter rocks at these. I can't get up once I'm down and so destroy my angel trying to stand. My snow angels look more like snow seizures.

Still too cold for snowballs. The kids can't WAIT to use the snowball makers they got for Christmas, but so far this winter there has been no packable snow. I imagine there will be time yet, no matter what the groundhog claims.

Poor bbq grill got left outside this winter. I think my husband is trying to put it out of its misery for good. It has been on its last legs for a couple years ever since it was blown over in a windstorm. Obviously, we get some weather where I live. It's okay. We're hearty folk.

Well, she's not so hearty. But she does look cute bouncing through the snow like a little black sheep. What she lacks in endurance, she makes up in enthusiasm. 

Hope everyone in the range of 'snowpocalypse' had as much fun with it as we did. And Happy Groundhog Day! I can't blame the little rodent for his optimism!