Sunday Funnies

More "kids say the darndest" this week, from Biggest Boy:

While he was practicing writing he asked me, in all seriousness, "Mommy, can I put the llama wherever I want?" He meant "comma."

Later in the week his Grandma was joking around with LB, saying "I'm gonna put you in my pocket and take you home!"  To which Biggest shouts, "Don't!" {pause}  "He's TOO big!"  {bigger pause}  "Plus...he's ours."  I love that giving the baby away is a secondary concern to his ability to actually fit into a pocket.

And, overheard while the boys were watching bumblebees: "Don't get too attractive, LB.  They might sting you."

Try Try Again

What's that they say about giving a new food to a baby?  You have to try 12 times before they really taste it?  Or 14 times before they'll like it?  Whatevs.  I have been "presenting healthy food" for four years, with nothing to show for it except enough wasted food to feed a continent.

That is, until yesterday.  For FOUR YEARS the only chicken Biggest didn't gag on was a Dino Buddy.  Or a Chick Fil-A nugget.  Every other bit of poultry he ate launched him into fits of spastic heaving.

Until I made Chicken Curry.  You heard me right, chicken curry.  First he tried it.  Then he asked for seconds, then thirds.  Until we ran out.  It was amazing.

Photo: Life's Ambrosia

So, moms of picky eaters, there is hope!!!  I can't believe it, but they might eat something someday besides plain toast and applesauce!!!  Hallelujah!!!

Summer Mantel

I'm so excited to show you my super-simple summer mantel today.  I've been craving something pared down and simple ever since going crazy on my ephemera-inspired spring mantel.  (If you blinked, you mighta missed it but you can go back and see it here if you are so inspired).

For summer I wanted something truly cool, and for that, I knew I had to bring back the zebra.  Here it is:

And the view from straight-on:

I brought in the driftwood I stole collected from the beach last month, a little silvery bling from my decor closet, and of course a pretty little sea-star, because what is a summer mantel without one?

Every time I walk in the room, it feels like I've taken a fresh breath of clean air.  And I love that it is simple, in keeping with my motto for the year.  Now, we'll just have to see how long it takes me before I want to change it up. Again.



P.S. Lovin' the Linky's at:

The Lettered Cottage

Pardon Our Dust

I don't know if you've noticed, but my blog has been suffering from a severe lack of attention over the last few weeks.

You see, my life is undergoing some construction right now.  Some things are changing around here (no worries, they are good things!).  If I only had a precarious balance before, I have about zero balance now that I am doing a little extra.  I'm like, "Blog?  What blog?"  And I'm sorry.  I'm still here!  Just maybe not as much.

So, pardon this interruption while we kick up some dust around here.  Hopefully I will be able to share with you what it's all about real soon.

Sunday Funnies

Pretty much every day I have to laugh out loud at something one of my boys says.  Usually it is some confused phrase that only loosely mimics English, or just something a grown up would never ever say.  This week's highlights:

As we're getting buckled into the car, my 4-year-old keeps asking me some gibberish from the backseat.  After about thirty thousand iterations of me asking "What?!" and him saying "What's a Chester's Taint?"  I realize he is actually asking "What is a chest restraint?"

Littlest has a counting book.  By now we've read it so much that I just say the number, and he fills in the rest.  I say, "One..." and he goes, "cute tiger cub!"  And so on.  I die laughing every time we get to the page with seven penguins and I say "Seven..." and he says, "Pengins of Mad-gas-car!"  I promise he's never even seen the movie!

And one of my favorites from my precocious big boy.  When when I showed him my new chair and asked him what he thought he said, "Mommy, I think it looks splendid!  Just splendid!"  Sweet thing.

Bringin' Home the Gold

I don't know if its my love for Swedish design, or what really...but I love painting furniture.  I love doing it and I love the results.  Latest case in point: this boring consignment-store chair:

I picked it up a couple months ago for $30.  Not bad, but I only paid that much because it is super sturdy and has great carved details.

And it was being eyeballed by a woman who told me if I didn't snatch it up, she was going to!  I had this internal dialog where I told her, "Step back, chica, cuz that aint happenin'."  Then I got a hold of myself and bought the chair.

First thing I did was cut off the fabric to reveal a nice, clean foam pad--good stuff.  Then, as with all my projects, I spent like two months deciding what to do next.  I had seen these chairs at an Antiques show:



And fell in love with the gold and burlap combo.  I ended up going gold, but not quite so much...and am thrilled with the outcome.  Remember that before picture?  Well, here it is now!

After priming with BIN Zinsser primer (no sanding required!), I painted it the same color as my closet dresser--Valspar's Autumn Fog.  Then I painted the gold details (FolkArt Metallic Pure Gold acrylic paint) and distressed the almighty out of it.  Some shots of the details:

And of course I covered the seat with burlap.  I like to imagine this chair has fallen from great heights in aristocratic society all the way down into my humble home.

Can you be in true love with a piece of furniture?  If so, I'm totally there.



P.S. Lovin' the Linky's at:

The Shabby Nest

Finding Fabulous

Beyond the Picket Fence

Mommy's Summer Camp

With summer coming on like gangbusters and everyone I know scrambling to find camps and activities for their children, I thought I would share my plans for keeping sane for the next three months.  It's called Mommy's Summer Camp, and I came up with it two years ago when I had a 2-year old to entertain with a newborn in tow.

The idea behind Mommy's Summer Camp is to give both me and my boys some structure without spending a lot of money.  All I do is choose a different theme each week, and I plan them out in advance so I can coordinate them with special events going on that week.

Visiting the Nature Center during Nature week.

For example, Our Country week is July 4th-8th, so it coincides with the Fourth of July.  And Racing week will culminate with the new Cars movie at the end of June.  Having a theme motivates and inspires me to find related activities, and I think my boys will really enjoy it (at least, Biggest did when he was two years old)!

Firetrucks are so cool!  And in my experience firefighters love getting visits.  Especially if you bring them cookies.

Here are some more ideas for activities:

• Go through your child's books at the beginning of the week, and get him to help you!  Pull out the books relevant to that week's theme, and keep them out for the week.  We also go to the library to borrow books on that week's theme.
• Look online at your local children's museums to find out which displays are coming this summer.  Two years ago we scheduled Pirates week when our local museum was having a pirates exhibition.
• Visit http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/index.htm to find themes and snacks, songs, and crafts to coordinate.  During Farms week we made the Slop Snacks (trail mix) from this site and have enjoyed them ever since.
• Another great website, especially for craft ideas: http://kidscraftweekly.com.
• Get creative!  Use what you have on hand to do little activities, like digging in the sand for dinosaur bones (twigs), or turn your couch into a submarine during Oceans week.

I'm sure you can think of plenty more ideas, and if you do, please let me know so I can do them too!  Happy Camping!

Monday Funnies

Yep, I am a day late on Sunday Funnies this week, oops!  Another Funnies this week from Little Boo, who went with me to shop for a new bra this past week.  Do you hate shopping for bras as much as I do?  It is so annoying.

Anyway, I was in the dressing room feeling annoyed and not paying much attention to LB when I hear, "Put it on, me.  Put it on, me."  I look down to see that yes, my little boy already has one arm through the strap of a brassiere, and is totally thrilled with himself.

And, much to his future chagrin, I took a picture and am sharing it with the entire world:

How much is he gonna hate me someday?

Summer Mantel

I'm so excited to show you my super-simple Summer mantel today.  I've been craving something pared down and simple ever since going crazy on my ephemera-inspired Spring mantel.  (If you blinked, you mighta missed it but you can go back and see it here if you are so inspired).

For Summer I wanted something truly cool, and for that, I knew I had to bring back the zebra.  Here it is:

And the view from straight-on:

I brought in the driftwood I stole collected from the beach last month, a little silvery bling from my decor closet, and of course a pretty little sea-star, because what is a Summer Mantel without one?

Every time I walk in the room, it feels like I've taken a fresh breath of clean air.  And I love that it is simple, in keeping with my motto for the year.  Now, we'll just have to see how long it takes me before I decide to change it up.  Again.

Before and After Lamp Revamp

I have a confession to make.

Even as I was writing my Bloggy Bucket List, I was already working on one of the items on the list!  In fact, it was probably working on this project which inspired me to ponder my many crafts-in-waiting in in the first place.  The great side-effect of my rambling mind is that I can already cross one of the projects off the list!  Which one, you ask?

That's right, it's my drab-to-fab brass-lamp re-vamp!  (Can you say that three times fast?)

Here's the Before:

Found this little gem at the thrift store for a mere six bucks.  It's not really a true solid brass lamp, more like a hollow, shell of a lamp.  Just crying out for a new life, I tell you.

After a very cursory sanding to rough up the surface just a bit, I gave the brass three coats of Valspar's Mediterranean gloss spray-paint, and painted the base and new finial in (my favorite) Oil-Rubbed Bronze.  Spraying on two colors meant I had to unscrew the base from the lamp, but that was still much easier than my first plan of hand-painting the base.  Easier on me, not my manicure.

I got a new shade at Homegoods, and just went with white for now.  Here's the After:

I love her!  She is just so...so...well, so blue.  And I'm thinking she'll be beautiful on my yet-to-be-purchased cabinet or console for the new Music Room.  Yep, I am still working on the Music Room.  If I ever finish, I'll show you, promise;)

P.S. Lovin' the Linky's at:

The Shabby Nest

House of Grace

Designer Garden

Bloggy Bucket List

Since my Mommy-brain can no longer keep track of all the projects I want to get to in my copious free time, I present to you (drumroll, please) my Bloggy Bucket List!  It's my list of "someday" projects, complete with inspirational photos from some of my favorite bloggers.

Spray-paint  a brass lamp.  Isn't this one awesome?

Photo: Billie Monster

Create a fabric-covered magnet board.

Photo: Centsational Girl

Turn diaper boxes into beautiful bins, like this creative gal did:

Photo: Positively Splendid

Paint some large area of my house with chalkboard paint.

(I already know where, but I'm not tellin' yet.)

Photo: Cape Love Blog

Create a fabric banner for stringing from my mantel, with a cute saying on it.

Photo: Redberry Barn

Cover something, somewhere, somehow in a feed-sack or a grain-sack or some other kind of sack.  Much as Miss Mustard Seed does so very, very well.

Photo: Miss Mustard Seed

Make my own starburst mirror.  Loved this one at Red Door Abode:

Photo: Red Door Abode

Subway art.  Hopefully before it goes out of style, but at my current pace that is unlikely to happen.

Photo: The Shabby Nest

Make a wreath out of old books or sheet music.  I love this one from Cha Cha:

Photo: Sit Relax & Read

Of course, I have already hit some of the biggies in my blogging career...I made dollar-store hurricanes, hand-painted my own sign, burlapped almost everything, created silhouettes of my children, made a coffee-filter wreath, repainted two dressers (one here and one there), and tackled various organizing projects.  Phew!

Still...I know I am forgetting something!  What am I missing that every crafty blogger should strive to accomplish in her blogging career?  Because I need more on that Bucket List...