Lesson Learned

A few months ago I got super duper excited because I saw a cast iron daybed at the thrift store. I had my husband rush right over and buy it before anyone else could look at it. At $25 it was a steal.

I spray painted it white and we bought a mattress for it. We disassembled Alyssa's toddler bed, rearranged her room, and set up the bed. Once we threw the mattress on top we stopped and said,"Oh s*^&." There was a good 8-inch gap on either side of the mattress--enough for my 3.5 year old to fall through and hang herself.

Mind you, I'd taken everything else apart and packed it all up in the garage at this point. So my husband jumps in the car and drives all over to try and find a new daybed spring set that will work with this bed. Come to find out that the bed we bought at the thrift store must be an antique because day beds aren't made with the mounting apparatus like ours had. Today's day bed springs aren't manufactured to fit this bed style.

So we took the thing apart (after I'd spent two weeks spray painting it) and shoved it into the far recesses of the garage. And Alyssa's new bed is a mattress on the floor. She could care less, she's so happy to be in a big girl bed.

Yes, we learned our lesson the hard way. Thankfully it only cost us $25 for the bed and maybe $10 for the spray paint. But I won't get back those hours of huffing paint fumes. Next time I'll make sure to either put the thing together before I bring it home.

Getting Crafty

I'm finally getting crafty in my old age. I learned to sew at 33 and at 34 I'm embracing artwork.

The first it the Typewriter Keys board, a Pottery Barn knockoff. I did not come to this myself of course (see post "Lagging Behind"). It took me at least 6 weeks and I was frustrated at a point, but once I stained the piece I was pleased. It is so nice to have artwork on our walls for one, and unique artwork for another.

Last weekend we started on piece number 2 (drying rack), but ran out of lattice strips. So Al went and bought them this week and I finished it up today. The kids and I decided on some of the sayings we wanted up there. The first is a tribute to my Grammy who loved her 'sayings': A Stitch in Time Saves Nine.

This again is a Pottery Barn knockoff that I found online. I made it larger so that it would cover the big wall above our couch. And I wanted the sayings to be ours, special to us.

The second saying made me think of the kids, especially Samantha, who has an great love for snails. :)

I've got one other piece in process and then it'll be on to Alyssa's bedroom. Green walls (her request) and a cast iron daybed we got a the thrift store for $25. It's hideous, but nothing a little paint can't fix.

Lagging behind

I've been seriously lagging behind my grand plans. Samantha's desk and chair are still in their original ugly state and I haven't even begun to sand off the old paint. It's probably just as well considering I haven't got any spray paint on hand and the local hardware store always seems to be out of white spray paint.

I also (blame this one on my mom) got into an artwork project for my bedroom--vintage typewriter keys. We (Mom and I) found the tutorial on a website and I just couldn't resist: http://www.acharmingnest.com/2011/06/diy-pottery-barn-knock-off-vintage-keys.html Anything to do with letters, ampersand included (&), and I'm bound to want to put it in my house somewhere. It goes with that whole love of books and writing thing I've got going on. I've got most of the letters done and the numbers are next. I think it's really neat.

We'll probably use it to torture Alyssa--gotta memorize those letters kid!

School is almost here and the girls are excited. I am too. It means there will be hours of silence in the house and no more daddy daycare! Our calendar is already filling up fast and that doesn't even include ballet yet.

Cheers for the last two weeks of summer vacation! Enjoy.

Easter dresses, etc.

Finally, a day off to do what I want . . . painting and cleaning and organizing. I know, not relaxing for most, but it's my day off. Actually, I have a very real need every few months to clean the mental clutter. I get in these moods where I am not happy and cannot function normally unless I clean up the house or reorganize. Chalk it up to Feng Shui's principles of cleaning the mind--the idea is that you move 27 things around and it helps clear your mind. I have done that my whole life in order to find my peace, but there is really an actual ancient Chinese art to it. Try it some time if you need to clear the mind. It works every time.

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Things have been hectic around here. May is always a busy month with Mother's Day, our anniversary (7 years), Samantha's birthday, and the culmination of school. This year it started in April with Easter and a trip to Grandma's and Big Papa's house for Easter Break. My mom and I drove down to AZ with the girls and had a wonderful time. Samantha cried when it was time to come home and again when she woke up in her bed the next day. She can't wait to go back. This is the first time Alyssa will remember going and she can't wait to go back either. I love that my girls love to be with their great-grandparents!!

When we got back from AZ and school started again, Samantha started ballet. She's going to be in the recital in June, so there are extra practices this month. She's been quite sore, but absolutely loves it. My mom and I are working on her Jack-in-the-Box costume and once we have pictures we'll post.

With Samantha becoming more serious about reading Al and I decided that Samantha needed a desk. So we've been looking around. I can't believe that for a new (non-particleboard desk) we'd have to pay about $600. So we decided to shop around garage sales, etc. But other day I got on Craigslist--mind you, I've never bought or looked for anything on Craigslist before--and I found the cutest little girl's desk with bookcase and chair for $50. We picked it up on Monday. It needs to be refinished and I can't wait to do that, but I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do it.

Samantha loves to sit there each day and do her homework, draw, and read her books.

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I've been sewing a lot too. I enjoy going sewing with my mom two nights a week. I made Alyssa's Easter dress and my Mom made Samantha's. The girls were so excited about their dresses . . . they looked so cute. I bought the green eyelet remnant and wanted a pinafore for Alyssa's dress so I found a pattern that centered around that. Samantha asked for purple polka dots and we decided on an apron to soften it and match Alyssa's. Samantha can take the apron on or off.



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Al and I are almost done with our bathroom. Hopefully next post will show our final results. It's so pretty.