Projects

I've tackled a few projects this month. Seeing the Hopes super fun playroom inspired me to re-do our girls' playroom which wasn't very functional before. We had three really tall bookcases who's bottom shelves were getting all the use (not to mention they were a danger zone as they could easily topple if one of the girls pulled on them). As well we had an old couch taking up too much room and rarely, if ever, getting used since A + A like to play on the floor. Both of those went on Craig's List and were gone within a few days. Next we made a trip to Ikea on a Sunday morning thinking it would be calm (this is the South... everyone's in church but we went the night before as part of our strategy.) Did our hypothesis work? No! It was super busy and they were out of half of what we came for. Fast forward one week. I had a meeting in the city for work, so I decided to leave early and hit Ikea on a Thursday morning at opening time. Much better plan. Got everything I came for with time to spare.

Here's the transition. New cubbies/shelves for the girls' playroom along with a new table/chair set. We have a foyer on our second story that leads to the upper porch and Ava's bedroom. I have a small craft desk where I keep all my stuff. I decided to give Ava an area for her arts and crafts, so we put her new easel here and I bought her a giant dry erase board on Craig's List to color on. Fun times!

The most rewarding part of the playroom makeover was when Ava saw it for the first time. I got the best compliment ever: "Mommy, this is just like Maddie's playroom!" Ahh, the sweet smell of success...

Before:




After: The new bookshelves are from Ikea as are the inserts. I'm going to buy tiny wooden signs at the dollar store, paint them in chalk board paint, tie twine through, and sew them to the bins so I can label each one for the girls.




Foyer: For now, this is as good as it's going to get. I still need to hang the dry erase, but you get the idea. Someday I hope to have a real desk with built-ins on both sides and above. Talk to me in a year or two...



The second project has been doing some applique work. While in Colorado my girlfriends and I stumbled past the CUTEST boutique called Magical Scraps. I instantly fell in love with all the cute clothes. Prices were fair, but I realized quickly that the project idea itself was really, really simple. So now I'm basically making my own versions of their items for way less. I've made two baby gifts and a shirt for myself so far. Cute, huh?

A friend in the neighborhood just had a baby girl, so I appliqued this onesie.




Another friend in the neighborhood has a daughter turning 1 this month. I'm going to make a matching barret with the help of fabric and hot glue soon:




This one's for me. I mimicked the stitch I saw in Colorado, but have decided I prefer my zig zag stitch that I did on the above two projects. I like the cleaner feel of it.