Year Books

It's a three day weekend. Yahoo! I'm going to hopefully finish some yearbooks.

My friend Samantha is the one that first introduced me to the idea of putting together a book for each year of your favorite pictures.
I know it's not a new idea. I 've seen numerous people do this around blog land.
I've done most of ours through Picaboo.com and have really liked how they turned out.
They have thousands of backgrounds to pick from and their shipping is super fast also. If you sign up for their email list they occasionally send out promotional codes.
The best way to motivate myself to get them done is to buy a Groupon and then about two weeks before it expires I decide I better get busy making some books before I waste the money I spent. It's great motivation.
Nothing like working under pressure, for me at least.
I haven't done each year faithfully, so now I'm having to go back and look through each year of pictures, pick the ones I want to put in the book, edit them all, and upload them to Picaboo.
Since I don't scrapbook this is my way of recording each year so the "nestlings" have something to look through and our pictures don't just sit on the computer never being seen by them.

It can be overwhelming task, but so worth it when the books come in the mail.

What do you do to record life's memories?

Note: I'm not affiliated with Picaboo, nor am I being paid to mention them, although I wouldn't mind if they wanted to compensate me with some free books:)

Before and After Dining Chairs

Do you remember this post from my old blog when I bought some used dining chairs to go with my lone table?
They reminded me of these ones from Pottery Barn.
Well, I attempted to paint them last summer. I got them primed and half painted.
Then while preparing for the baby to come I decided I needed some help getting some items painted and finished instead of them sitting in my garage collecting dust,
so I hauled them over to Sausha's house from Show and Tell and
let her do the work for me. Painting furniture is her thing and
sometimes it pays to get help, like when your nine months pregnant.
Before the baby was born my mom helped me cut out some Richloom fabric I bought.

Then last weekend, in between nursing sessions, the "husbird" and I finally stapled the fabric to the seats.

Getting these chairs finished definitely took a team effort, hiring Sausha, getting help from my mom and the "husbird"...but they are finally done!

They look so much better.
If you're a Utah local and are in need of having furniture painted, Sausha will do a great job.

From Pink to Blue

My favorite swaddling blanket was like the pink one pictured on the bottom,

so what's an expectant mother to do,
but buy some Rit dye and get busy turning it blue.
Now I have a navy blue blanket, perfect for swaddling my baby boy,

when he arrives.

Vinyl for a Valance

We added a little pizazz to the boys room.
Here's a picture of the before.
It's cute, but lacking something.

Here's the after.

If you want to know more about missions and why I would put a sign about them in
my son's room, you can find out more here.

Homemade Valentines

I saw these cute cards on the former Made with Love and Glue last year,
but didn't have time to make them.

We decided to spend the time putting them together this year and I'm so glad we did because they were a huge hit for the "nestlings" at school.

Homemade Laundry Pedestal

When I saw the laundry pedestals on Show and Tell and Stories of a House

I felt like the lady on Napoleon Dynamite.

Since I'm not as talented as Sausha from Show and Tell who just made hers herself,

I showed the "husbird" and I told him I wanted a laundry pedestal,
granted I have never known him to build anything, ever, so I knew this would be a stretch. He's not what I would call a handyman. He'd rather call someone to fix things around the house, but after about a month of planning and buying tools and wood and a month of cutting and putting together
I have my 5 foot 10 inch self a bonafide laundry pedestal.
Yahoo!
I spent the weekend priming and painting it and now it is in place and I love it!
I love not having to bend over to get the laundry where I need it to be,
especially in my very pregnant state.
This is a big deal for the "husbird" and an incredibly sweet gesture for me.
Now laundry almost seems like fun, with the key word being almost.

Magnetic Map

When I accidentally broke the glass in this very large frame I didn't want to spend money on new glass, so I opted for the less expensive alternative of putting a piece of sheet metal behind the map to make it magnetic.

I put some burlap over the sheet metal, attached the map with spray adhesive, and then brushed some matte mod podge on the map to seal it .
Unfortunately the mod podge made it bumpy, because of the burlap on the back.
I think if I had done it on a hard surface that wouldn't have happened.
Oh well, it adds character.
The map hangs in the "husbird's" office and now he puts a little magnet wherever his company sells a software system.

Hopefully he keeps needing more magnets:)

Another Batch of Gifts

Remember when I made these wedding gifts, well I made six more,
but this time I added the est. and the year.
I hope the brides and grooms liked them.

Summer To Do's a la Flashcard Style

The "nestlings" and I made a list of things we want to do this summer.

I first saw this idea on whatever and then eighteen25 did a really cute version.

I took down all of the school pictures from the refrigerator.

We wrote our list on the back side of index cards, rounded the corners,

hung them from clothespins,
and called it good.

Homemade Laundry Soap

I decided to try making laundry detergent from scratch.
It was really easy, works great, and saves a bundle.
If you're interested here's the recipe I used:
(from Made with Love and Glue)

Liquid Laundry Soap-Family Sized Batch

Water

1 bar grated Fels Naptha soap

5 gallon bucket

1 cup washing soda (Arm and Hammer)

1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

4 1/2 gallons water

Put grated Fels Naptha in saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved. Fill bucket 1/2 way with hot water and add soap. Stir to combine. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax and mix well. Fill bucket with more HOT water (I added enough water so it reaches the rings near the top of the bucket) As it cools, it will thicken.
If mixture becomes too thick, add hot water to thin it to desired consistency. May be used immediately. Mix well before each use.
Use 1/2(normal) to 1 cup per load (heavy). Cost per load .04

TIP: The above recipes will NOT make suds in your washer so don't be alarmed. Fels Naptha Soap is a pure soap and typically makes little or no suds in the water. This makes it perfect for use in the new HE washers as well as traditional washers. You will also notice the need to either reduce your laundry softener or in most cases you can even eliminate the use of softener completely, depending on your preference.

I ladled some from the 5 gallom bucket into an old apple juice container,
so it's easier to use everyday.
I had a hard time finding the Fels Naptha soap.
I finally found it at Winco for $1.06 a bar.

It looks like a vat of lemonade, so as long as someone doesn't drink it

then maybe we'll have clean laundry. Maybe ......if I do it.
Happy Washing!

Whose Towel is Whose?

At our "nest" we like to use white towels. I love that they can be bleached and laundered easily. The only problem with that is that we can never tell whose towel is whose, so when I ran across this color coded towel tag idea from
Martha Stewart I was excited to try it.

I bought 1o inches in four different colors of grosgrain ribbon
for the four "nestlings," of course.Then I made my own version.
In her directions she says to hand sew them, but I used my machine with
white thread on all of them, that way you can't see the thread on the white towel,
just on the ribbon.
She also says to use color fast ribbon, but I didn't even bother looking for that.
I've washed mine a couple of times with bleach and they've been fine.

I also sewed mine different than she said to do it.

Don't look too close. I'm embarrassed to show you this,
because I can't sew a straight line if my life depended on it.

Each child picked a color.
The little colored loops make it easier for the them to hang up their own towels too.

I love seeing them all hanging in a row,
but the best part is knowing whose towel is whose.

Just so they (the "nestlings") remember...

how they should strive to "Be"
I hung up this arrangement outside the "nestlings" bedrooms.
And who am I kidding?
It is also reminds me of how I should Be.

Be
True
Prayerful
Humble
Smart
Grateful
Clean
by Gordon B. Hinckley
I also hung up more of the "nestling's" artwork.
They say, "Trees have blossoms" and "Flowers smell Sweet."

On another note, I think I'm cursed. While trying to move a picture today the glass broke. It's so large. I'm sure it will be a pretty penny to replace it.
Then the wire broke to hang it back up.
If that wasn't enough a stack of papers I had in a certain order, fell to the ground, getting all scrambled up. It's not my day. Again.

Just so I can remember...

how small they ("the nestlings") were...

I framed a onesie and a little gap hat that "T" wore.
He was my smallest baby at 5lbs. 2ounces. He was so itty bitty.
The nurses called him "peanut."

The art work to the sides say "Birds Build Nests" and "Baby Chicks Hatch."
"T" made then when he was in preschool. They are so fitting next to the small onesie.

When I walk past this wall during a particularly hard mothering day it helps me gain perspective and reminds me of how sweet and innocent the "nestlings" came.

Privacy Solution

The fireplace in my master bedroom is double sided so it is also seen in the master bathroom, not a bad problem to have, except sometimes my nine year old son, "T" is in our bedroom when I'm showering and he can see straight through to the shower and that's a problem, so I hung up this some cute curtain tiers,
but they always bugged me.
Whenever I see them they make me think that at any moment the bath water is going to come up and flood the surrounding area, so I had the "husbird" move the curtain rod down, but then I didn't like that because it showed the tile above.

It was time to break out the sewing machine.
After my hunt for the right white fabric and a little bit of sewing
my privacy issue is solved.

Linking to DIY day at Soft Place to Land.

Fireplace Before and After

The fireplace in my master bedroom didn't turn out quite like I had pictured and
it needed a makeover in a bad way.
It took me a long time to figure out what to do with it.
(before)
I used the picture below for inspiration.

First I primed it and then painted it white.

(during)
Next I wiped a brown stain all over it with a rag and
then wiped it off with another.
It's better than the two shades of gray.

(after)
I've always had a hard time accessorizing it because there is an angled ceiling that runs into it and the mantle isn't very deep.
Here's what I came up with for now.
What do you think?

Inexpensive Filing Solution

I've needed a new and stylish way to file papers for awhile now.
I would love this filing console from Home Decorators that my friend Samantha has,
but, it wasn't in the budget so when the
"husbird's" old work was giving away some old filing cabinets I had him get me one. He couldn't understand why,
but I had a vision for what I wanted to do with the big metal box.
Of course I forgot to take a before picture, but the picture below is very similar.
It was a light grey lateral filing cabinet.

You can get these on craiglist for cheap.

First thing I did was prime and paint it an off white.

I bought little legs at Lowes, took off the metal feet it had,
and screwed the new legs on.
I added ribbon pulls for now, until I find some hardware I love.

I glued some wood appliques to the front of it with epoxy.

Ta Da!
Here it is in all its transformed glory.

The best part is I got my papers under control by filling it up.

Until little hands empty it.