Love Sac Cover (project 62)

While in Utah for a family wedding, I got to hang out with my sister-n-law and my sister. SIL wanted to make a cover for her Love Sac (which is a giant bean bag. Except that it's not filled with beans. It's filled with shredded foam... very comfy) You can see the Love Sac in the background. It had morphed into a shapeless blob. She wanted to make a cover for it that would give it more structure and shape.

 Buying a Love Sac cover costs about $300. She had seen an idea on a blog where you could sew a big tube and then circles on the end- like a giant bolster pillow- for a lot, lot less. So she bought $50 worth of fabric instead, and we got to work figuring it out.

 Once we figured out the circumference of the sack (after measuring it and taking off about 12-15" that we wanted to "squish" it) we dusted off our old Algebra skills to figure out the diameter the circles needed to be. (you can see her cutting out the circles in the pictures above.) And by dusted off, I mean, we googled the answer...

 She sewed the tube, and we tried it on for size.

 Which was a difficult and somehow hilarious process...

which is why we are laughing our guts out!

 Then we unpicked it so we could sew velcro along the whole opening, because we (wisely) decided that would be the easier way to get it on and off. (Because it is highly likely that it will need to be washed at some future date. And/or she will want to sew a different one to change up her decor with the changing seasons... at least, that's what my sister- the photographer not pictured thinks)
Oh, we were so wise. Stuffing it in was a 4 person job. Which meant no one could take pictures of it!
Oh, and we also sewed the circles on the ends. Which had to be eased in, which just goes to show that algebra is not a perfect science.

 But we got it on- and BAM! shape, structure, less blob-like, and stylish fabric focal point of the TV room.
So of course we high-fived each other for a job well done!

 And then we tested it!

 And then we let my brother and 2 of my daughters test it out!

 And in the midst of it all, my nephew never missed a beat on the video game he was playing!

AND, just in case she does decide to make another one, since this turned out so fun and awesome- here are the dimensions- so we don't have to repress our creativity with any more math and algebra!:

Radius: 21"

Diameter: 42"

Circumference: 132" (but do a little more so plenty of overlap for velcro and hem)

Width: 59"

But, before you forget, put in the comments how many yards of fabric you bought- because it was the perfect amount.

Blueberry Bread

I've decided to start posting my recipes. This is mostly for my own benefit, so that I always have access to them even when I am traveling. Plus, I have found that pieces of paper get lost. I recently searched everywhere for an old recipe for syrup that I can't find. It makes me so sad.

So, here is BLUEBERRY BREAD:

(This recipe came from an old ward cookbook, printed in January 1994. It was contributed by Judy Cash. I've doubled it here, so if you only want 1 loaf, or only have 1 cup blueberries, just halve the recipe)

1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. milk
4 Tbls. melted butter
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 c. fresh blueberries

Cream sugar and eggs. Stir in milk and melted butter. Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture. Fold in blueberries and turn into (2) well greased bread pans. Bake 50 minutes at 350.


(In case you are wondering if I contributed any recipes, here is mine from page 4:
HONEYMOON SALAD
Lettuce Alone

...I know, I was such a funny 18 year old!)

Bathroom towels (Project 61)

My first confession: I have 5 kids. Five.

That probably explains a lot right there. Whew! Glad I got that off my chest.
So, keeping my house in order with 7 people living here is a challenge. I came up with something to help, so I thought I'd share.

About 5-6 years ago, when we lived in our old house, I bought the kids all matching towels and embroidered their names on them. Thinking that they would be responsible for the towel with their own name on it was giving them far too much credit.
No one wanted to bother actually reading the name on the towel. Including me sometimes my husband. So, everyone just grabbed whatever towel was handy, and then when I yelled, "Who didn't hang this towel up?!?" Everyone denied responsibility.
Then I had two more kids.
Who didn't have their own names embroidered on the towels.
And even though I had like 15 towels, none of them managed to get hung up.
Ever.

When we bought our current home, it was still under construction. I asked the builder to put hooks instead of a towel bar in the bathrooms. I told him that I didn't know a child or husband who would actually take the time to fold a towel and nicely hang it up.
He must be someone's husband because he concurred. I also asked him to reinforce the wall behind the hooks so they wouldn't get pulled out of the drywall.

I'm brilliant. I know.

But, although I still don't think my older kids had any excuse, my little ones got really frustrated. If the towel wasn't hung up right in the middle (it can be hard for a little one to find the middle) it will fall right off the hook.

Despite my brilliant ideas, my bathrooms were not anymore orderly, and my children were still leaving towels on the floor and denying responsibility.

SO... I got even more brilliant!

I bought 3 each of 5 different colored (and bright!) towels. I also bought a washcloth in each color. I cut the washcloths into thirds and made 3 straps which I then sewed onto each of the  towels. Viola! They each had an easy to find hook for hanging! (This did require unpicking part of the towel so I could sew it into the seam to really make sure it wasn't going anywhere)

Then, at family home evening, the kids each drew a number out of a hat. Kid who drew number 1 got to choose their towel color first, and so on.
Now, I don't have to read any names, and everyone knows whose color is whose, and I know exactly who to yell at when I see a towel not hung up! (this is my pet peeve, can you tell?!)

 

 
And, it's easy for the little ones to find the hook, hang it up, and not feel so frustrated!

(Sorry about the unpainted patching up.... this used to have 3 hooks, so we added another one.)

I also found some matching rugs and shower curtain to go with the bright colors.

And yes, I do have four kids sharing one bathroom, and one child who has a bathroom all to herself. Not fair?

Trust me. This works out best for everyone.

Lime Green Dresser (project number 60)

I'm way behind on my posts! We did finally finish the addition for the baby's room. BUT... I haven't posted any pictures yet because:

a. I was waiting for my new camera lens to arrive. My husband forgot to order it for my birthday... but it did get here for Mother's Day.

b. I wanted to finished the curtains first.

c. I wanted to finish the dresser  first.

d. I wanted to hang stuff on the walls.

e. None of the above got done because I was cleaning messes like this

SO... a. got done.

b. is half done.

c. IS DONE!!!

Here is the Before:

 I got this dresser from my in-laws basement about 10 years ago. It was being used to hold sports equipment by the basement door. I got it for my daughter (who is now 12) and have been planning on painting it... for 10 years!! It had kinda this white wash on it.
My in-laws have several of these exact same dressers. I think the story is that they were bought by my mother-n-laws parents after WWII from the US Army. They look like they are from that era.

 This government stamp on the back seems to confirm that too... I really should ask what they story was...

 It was solid wood and in pretty decent shape.

 I decided to just be bold and paint it LIME GREEN!!

 I've also decided- since doing a few dresser now- that I like to paint the inside of the drawers, the sides, and anything else that might show. It looks so much nicer. I also paint the bottom and the back.

 I mixed my own paint from the leftover paint from the Lockers, and some sage green I had. It was a teeny tiny bit more yellow than I wanted, but close enough for me!

 (can you see that Chevron fabric on my hutch? That's for the curtains!)

Well, I was afraid I would never get this done! My garage is a disaster, and every time I clean it up so I can work on something, another disaster mess project takes over. So, I decided that the only way I was ever going to get it done was to bring it inside. 

To my kitchen!

A friend helped me move it.

And then my husband justifiably complained that it was going to sit in our kitchen for a month! 

So I HAD to prove him wrong!!!

I ignored my children all my household jobs and the laundry, and pulled out frozen dinners, and got it done in 2 days!!!

Of course, I did have lots of help from my 3 year old

 And the baby kept wanting to help as well... I think there were several whiny texts sent to my husband about how hard it is to get projects done with baby's pulling on your leg. He was only sympathetic because I had left him with all 5 kids the previous Saturday afternoon.

And, I need to add, that I tried something new:

Chalk Paint

Homemade, of course. And now I'm going to share my thoughts on chalk paint (just skip down if you want to see the "after" pictures)

Besides having a chalky finish (not chalkboard paint- just Chalk paint- please don't try to write and draw on my dresser!) Chalk paint is touted as a paint that requires no prep work, like sanding and priming. It's also supposed to cover well and not require multiple coats of paint!!

Hey, sounds great to a girl trying to get something done and fast!!

Well... not so much. 

After the first coat, I saw how badly it needed nail holes filled, and just how dinged up it really was. I filled it in a little bit and sanded before the next coat, but it probably wasn't enough.

So, I still think that even if you use chalk paint, you still need to prep. (insert frowny face)

And, it needed 3 coats of paint.

I finished it with minwax furniture wax in natural, which is what I have used on stained pieces and I loved it on those. 

But, I actually wish I had use a poly finish on the dresser. But I don't wish that enough to sand it off and put on poly. I just wish it enough to use poly the first time on the next piece I paint.

Also: rinse out your brushes immediately after you use them. Soaking them in a cup of vinegar water doesn't work with all that gritty grout. 

Also, I was going to sand and stain it. I tried it on the back of the dresser to see how I liked it. 

I didn't. 

Maybe the stain was too dark, but I didn't want to load the babies in the car and head to Lowe's and buy more and delay it getting finished, so I didn't distress and stain it. I can do that later if I really decide I want to.

I probably will use chalk paint again... but I will prep first (although next I want to try milk paint...)

But, despite all of that, I LOVE how it turned out! I'm thrilled with it. And it doesn't have to be perfect, because it is just a fun piece of furniture to hold my sons clothes in! And, it didn't cost me anything!!

Project of the Year: How to Fit 7 People in our house... for the long haul

So we tried to buy a bigger house. It's a long story. It didn't happen.

So, now I am left trying to make the house we are in work. We had our 5th child last April, 10 days after my husband was made a Mormon Bishop. That meant that we were somewhat committed to living within a certain geographical area while he serves in this capacity.

We found the perfect house. We saved for a down payment. Then the loan was sold, the new bank won't foreclose and it for who knows how long. Then the owners declared bankruptcy, and before heading back to Mexico, completely stripped the house. They even took the air conditioners and the 2 car garage shed!!!

So we probably don't even want that house anymore.

We looked into building.

The one builder who would build us a 5 bedroom house counted everything as an upgrade. It looked like we were going to add over $100k to our mortgage just to get one. more. bedroom.

We didn't feel good about that option.

And trust me, we have looked at every single home for sale in our ward boundaries that would be big enough. They would all be a huge step down from our current home except for that one. more. bedroom.

Some even have fewer bathrooms than we have now.

So that really has left us one option: Staying put.

And really, it's not a bad option. I love my house, I just need one. more. bedroom.

So, I finally had a brilliant plan to turn our front balcony into the worlds smallest bedroom. If we can get the permit ok, construction should begin by the end of next week, and finish up about 2 weeks later.

But the reality is that if we truly want to be comfortable in this home for the long run, there are a few other changes that need to be made. I am slowly getting rid of stuff. It's like peeling off a band aide. I know I should just rip it off at once and do a total purge, but I'm doing it slowly. And painfully.

But we won't get into that.

Another solution that I came up with is to use the walls in our garage for extra storage.
I hired a handy man to put these up on each side of my garage.

They are each 16 feet long, which means I have 32 linear feet of extra storage space! I think I'll be filling them up pretty quickly, but with some purging along with it, I think we'll be able to make it all work out.

So, over the upcoming weeks and months, I hope to be able to share with you ways that we have made this house work. It will involve a lot of little projects and many before and afters.

And, if any of you have any great ideas to help us fit, I'm all ears!!

Lime Green and Red Christmas Stockings (#59)

12 years ago, I bought a set of 6 matching stockings. At the time, I planned on having more than 4 kids, but six was all they had. So, they lasted us a long time. 

But, last Christmas I knew would be our last time using them since I was pregnant with baby #5. So, I bought some coordinating red and lime green fabrics, and planned to have them finished LONG before Christmas season rolled around this year. 

As you know, this year ended up not being anything at all like I had planned. 

Needless to say, these stockings were NOT done by Christmas Season. In fact, I finished them on Christmas Eve at 7:00 pm.

Just in the Nick of time!

My 6 year old was so worried that Santa wouldn't have anything to put out gifts in!
I hurried and hung them on the "ice cream parlor" Then she was concerned that they weren't hung on the fireplace mantel.... Santa will understand. We have too many to fit there now!

 You can see our tree in the mirror there, we decided to put it in the front room because with the super tall ceilings would could get a really tall tree. Ours is 10 feet and it is beautiful. So, I liked that I had something to hang the stockings on in the same room!

 Here's a few close-ups. I quilted the fronts of them after blanket stitching on the toe and heels. I did each cuff a little different, mixing and matching fabrics and trims. I also made these bigger than our last ones, they were kinda small, and once they had an orange and apple in them, you couldn't fit anything else.

We also didn't have our own names embroidered on the previous stockings, so it was lots of fun to not have to guess whose was whose.
And here they are in the daylight:

And yes, I did notice that they match my lamp shades!

Satin Christmas Stockings (#58)

My husband and I have a lot of siblings.

A lot.

I am the 2nd of 7 kids.

He is the 2nd of 13 kids.

Yep, thirteen.

So, we don't give a gift to every single sibling, we do a gift exchange.

This year we had his younger brother who has 2 kids.

 I decided to make them stockings. I am also in the process of making a new set of stockings for my own family. For us, I am making them all out of cotton, and I am quilting them.

 But my sister-n-law is a little classier... and so I went in hunt of the right fabric for her. I loved this green:

 It reminded my of her wedding colors... which were pink, brown, and this green. (You can see the diaper cake I made in those colors here, and the quilt here)

 I thought that green, with the flowers and sequence might be too girly, so for the boys I found a satin red with fuzzy polka dots. I thought they coordinated ok when I added the ruffles in opposite colors.

I forgot how hard it is to work with this kind of fabric, and I am excited to be back working with cottons again! But over all I was happy with how they turned out! Kendra called yesterday to say that they had gotten them and that they were already hanging up!