Lately...

Yep, been at it again. PROJECTS!! I feel like I'm running out of time. I have all this stuff I want to get done before the baby gets here because I know that I will be acting the part of udder for quite some time before I can get going on more projects with any amount of gusto. :) You know, I haven't even gotten the 0-3 months baby clothes out of storage, yet? We got a free dresser from a very sweet family from our homeschool group and it needed a bit of fixing up. Sam has a couple more things to do to it to make it functional and then it will go into Ailey's room and be the baby's dresser. Until then, I really don't have a designated spot to put it all. So, I've been keeping myself otherwise occupado with PROJECTS!!! Here, let me show you:

I've wanted one of these for a while, but couldn't find one I really liked. I really wanted an all metal one that just looks like a bare tree, but the ones I found were around $40. Yeah, not really justifying that purchase. So, when the boys and I were in Target the other day, we took a stroll down the $1 aisle and they had these for $2.50. Good enough for me!

I got these eggs at Hobby Lobby a year or two ago and now I have a tree to put them on. Because, you know eggs hang on trees and all..... The pot part will eventually get a new paint job and it will probably grace Ailey's room sporting hanging birds or whatever I come across in the not-so-distant-future....

This is my dining table "structure". I really like it because its rather absurdly out of proportion. :) I'm going to get a square bamboo or rattan platter of some sort to put under it....when I get around to it.

This is my first attempt at a fake flower arrangement. Normally, I wouldn't go that route, but I wanted to do something rather large and Asian-y here and this is what I found at Hobby Lobby to work with.... I'm not satisfied with the total placement of all the excess pieces (candle and plant), but I'm rather proud of the actual flower arrangement. That bookshelf is going to get painted and I'll probably rearrange everything all over again....cuz it'll bug me until I do. :)

Ok, here is the texture technique I did in the dining room. I finally got it textured, primed and painted! Woohoo!

Here's another aspect of the texture finish. I actually got a compliment from a construction friend of ours. He said I did a better job than some of the so-called "professionals" he works with. That was a very nice compliment.

I made this for Ailey. I started out only intending to make the flower princess scepter and then got to wondering if I could make a crown. Of course I googled for ideas and then just took the stuff I had on hand and came up with this one. The pink ribbons on the scepter are actually from a hair band that was found in the $1 aisle on the same visit to Target. Man, I really find some interesting things there at times! Anyway, I googled how to do that to, just to make sure my technique would work.

This set is for a little girl in one of Braden's classes at homeschool co-op. Her mom asked her who she wanted to invite to her party and she said, "Definitely Braden because he's handsome!" I told her that she's gonna have her hands full with that one! :) Braden's really excited about the party.

This is a close-up of Ailey's crown

Close up of Ailey's scepter

Close up of other crown

close up of other scepter

I know...it just keeps going, doesn't it...I can't do nothing....Ok, these are the pillows I made to keep the couch company. We had a mismash of pillows and I'm trying to get the living room somewhat finished up. See that green fabric on the side pillows? I'm loving it! Feeling the need to go and buy the whole bolt. I've got plans I tell ya....I probably totally overdo it, but its my house, so who cares?!

This was my 3rd project involving applique. The green, orange and brown are all appliqued onto the cream fabric. I even found that my sewing machine can imitate a surger. Yay! Oh, and the frog knot embellishments were made out of cord after I googled how to make frog knots. After many attempts at trying to get the right size and all that and actually trying to make it two separate pieces that button in together, I got a clue and just tied a know in the middle and tacked it on. Much better!

I really like how this one turned out. Its the beginning of my orange accent extravaganza...oh, yeah!

We also have a special occasion coming up this week on Wednesday. Here is a sneak peak:

Oh, yeah and Sam has been pretty busy. He is making me a larger pantry by closing off the closet in the garage and putting in access through the kitchen. We are going to take out the pantry that is in the kitchen and make a long counter/breakfast bar combo and open up the kitchen to the living room area more. Its a multi-step process, of course. Here's what he's done so far...oh, and the kids have a really good time playing in there:

He had to take the fridge out of its nook to knock out the wall.

fridge nook

This is the garage closet still open to the garage. (Ignore the mess...it gets cleaned up on occasion;)

Knocked out wall.

Look at that handsome man! I get to whistle at him. ;p

Door installed. Notice he vacuumed the floor and cleaned it all back up! Talk about speaking my love language!!! :D

He has to put up drywall and build up the floor inside the closet as well as finish installing shelves, but he's well on his way and then I'll have a much larger space to store stuff. Its gonna be GREAT!