Having Fun

Boy the time has been flying by, I haven't posted in almost two weeks.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my Aunt and Uncles house in Atlanta.  It was a mini reunion and I am so thankful to have been a part of it, something that may not have been possible if we hadn't been living in Knoxville.  Hopefully I will have the pictures posted later this week of all the fun we had.  Thank you Aunt Germaine and Uncle Jack for a lovely time.

I am trying to get organized this week, decorate for Christmas, paint the master bedroom, shop for a rug, buy countless things requested at school and get crafty.  We'll see what I can get done.  I didn't have a chance to write what I wanted to for my Thanksgiving post, maybe I'll be able to get to that too, but please know how thankful I am for all of you-readers I know about and even the ones I don't-my blog is precious to me so thank you for stopping by. 

Just a Few of My Favorite Things...

Over at 320 Sycamore she is hosting a favorite things party and I love a good get together!   Here are a few of my favorites, at least for today.

Well worn tennies that all three boys have tottled around in.

 Cheap fun

 Iowa barns.  A little piece of home that I especially cherish on those homesick days

 Something that will stay organized(because it's out of some body's reach)

 Everything in this magazine is just my style

Swirly overgrown baby hair. 

Go ahead, join in the fun! Link up here

a tour: the basement playroom

Well...it's not totally done, but it's time to show you some updated pictures of the basement playroom.  The craft room needs just a few more things like nobs on the cabinets and some under cabinet lighting, but that could take a year to finish those little details.  It's kinda the way it seems to be going in this little house, every room is almost done.

craft room before...

craft room after

The organization of it all is what gets me really excited, but I must tell you the truth.  My kids bring all this stuff upstairs to the dining room table to get crafty. Say what!? They have a designated room and they just have to be next to me-story of my life right now.

I'm vulnerable here people-showing you just how sick I am.  cardboard labels-I need a 12 step program or  a life.

I ended up putting the boy's art work outside of the craft room.  I love the ease and the look of the plastic frames

My husband doubted the choice of the paint color, but I am super happy with it.  We added recessed lighting and the whole space looks bright and cheery.  I wish I had a before of the entire basement, but I struggle with the details people.

Yep, I'm the proud owner of the Rocky Hill Heartprints canvas.  Thank goodness I painted it to match.

Only in a boy's playroom do you have a bin marked guys.  Guys are very important.

 

The. Best. Purchase. Ever. After moving into closer quarters and spending the summer with these monkeys, we decided they needed their own space and T.V. It has kept me sane.

More "afters" to come.

Maybe not so Nonna, but I love it

I guess I was lying, my posts aren't back to normal and maybe never will be.  Why is time flying by so fast? And why can't I seem to get a handle on all I have to get done.  All I really want to do is lay on the couch and read, but all I seem to be doing is trying to organize clutter .  You know how I feel about clutter. 

I have managed to finish the wreath from Jones Design, and while they are not just like hers, I am really happy with them.  I used wool from Joann's Fabric and the wreath forms were from the $ Store.  Jones Design used wool from a thrift store blanket and I have to say she is brilliant because wool is pricey-you'll seriously want to be armed with a coupon for this project. The wool blanket also looked considerably thicker than the wool form the fabric store and seemed to maybe hold shapes a little differently than the thinner wool I used. I am trying one more in hope to perfect it a little better.

The blue wreath is 12 inches, the brown is 10 inches.  I like the 10 inch the best-just a cuter size I guess.

I'm giving the brown one as a gift and I think the blue one will look cute hanging on my fireplace screen when I (ever) get that done.  I get a little self conscious giving people things I've made sometimes-does that ever happen to you?   

I think I have entered my blue period.  I was tickled to find this lamp at Home Goods.  Boy that place is just so....good.  Des Moines doesn't have a Home Goods.  I keep track, you know, of the differences between shopping in  Knoxville and Des Moines.  It helps me feel better about the move ;)

Fun and Finds

Mom and John were here for about 10 days.  We did a little bit of everything and (I think) fun was had by

all. We played and went to the mountains.  We trick or treated and investigated the neighborhood.  We ate a lot of BBQ and even visited replicas of the Nina and the Pinta.  John checked out the local Golf Courses, mom and I checked out the local antiques. It was just a great time.

 lunch at Apple Valley in Townsend on our way to the Smokies

 A little hike at Cade's Cove 

 Holden and Gabby share a love for nature.  The picture previous to this one in my camera was her hoisting him into the river to get a rock-she has earned a 7 year olds respect for that move :)

 Sloan and his Gabby

Not a lot of pictures of Asher this time around. He refuses to pose-stinker

The antique(or junk-doesn't matter what you want to call it) stores in Maryville were awesome.  We could have spent more time there, but had to make it snappy in order to get all our shopping done without the kids

A seriously adorable paint-by-number. I can't wait to get my paint brush on that frame.

While this little find doesn't exactly fit the bill for my decorating, it does work perfectly to cover up the black hole called my fireplace.  I am thinking about doing something like this from Jones Design(not a surprise) to it, although I seem to be stuck on what colors to us. Maybe even something like this over at Isabella and Max rooms would work as well. I'll show you the after :)

A Mother of Boys

Let me start by saying I would take one million black eyes to one broken tooth. Let me also say that this black eye was not nearly as painful as telling my husband I ran my minivan into the side the garage last week.  With that said, I am lobbying for mothers of boys to get an extra week of vacation every year.

Don't ever let an 18 month old play with a wooden spoon while you put on his shoes...

D.O.N.E.

I am so happy to announce that we are finished with the canvas for the Rocky Hill Heartprints fund raiser!

This project gave me a whole lot of unneeded(and in the end unwarranted) stress.  Go ahead and remind me I said that next year when I sign up again to do this :)  Now that I know what it's all about I feel challenged to do better, but am certainly pleased with the end result.  Several of you reading this are all ready emotionally invested in this project, so...tell me what you think.

The auction is on Thursday night and I just hope somebody bids on it or it will be hanging in the boys playroom and my husband will be ready to kill me.

A little closer look at the art work.  Holden did the elephant and frog.  The kids were supposed to paint their favorite thing in nature. They were fun to work with.  I'm crossing my fingers it goes for a respectful price(they claim this isn't a competition, but I know the truth) 

Enjoy your Monday.  I should be back with more regular posts, although I am mad at my blog and can't figure out why my banner at the top is so super huge.  I guess I don't care that much because I have kept it up, but it has something to do with being in love with the picture.

flower pins

My mom and John were visiting this week.  We had nine days to cram in all the things we love to do.  One being something crafty. Over at Jones Design she had a tutorial on these darling little wool flower pins and we had to try them.  I bought wool at Joann's fabric and I have to say it's just a little expensive.  Jones Design has used wool from old sweaters and blankets from Goodwill-she is clearly a better shopper than I am. 

This is all you need.  A cardboard pattern that we free handed(perfect is not necessary), pins, wool , hot glue etc..

We found that smaller flowers turned out better. Between 5-7 flowers, one small round piece for the center. Fold the flowers twice, snip the end flat(when unfolded it looks like the above).  Hot glue onto the center circle(I forgot a picture of that step-typical!-Jones Design tutorial is 100% more informative).

Glue the pin and enjoy!
 Go ahead and make one for all of your winter coats.

Mom's purse

Mom!

I had to try burlap and it turned out adorable if I do say so myself.

The possibilities are endless

My next project

Better late than never

Oh how Dumbo makes me want to have just one more baby, just about everything makes me want to do that, but this costume really makes me want to.

Technical problems

Seriously...blogger has made me mad.  I wasn't looking to change my whole blog, but it looks like I'm in for a redesign.  Bare with me, this could take a while...