too hot to handle

What do you get when you take an old worn out pot holder, some fabric scraps and few minutes of your time?

I have noticed that the main pot holder I grab most of the time is not lovely. at all. Something about the size, shape, and thickness must be just right, though, because I use it a lot. I'm not even sure where it came from (if you recognize it as your own, feel free to claim it ;-). The other night I was carrying stuff down to the basement while waiting for water to boil. I grabbed the pot holder on my way and decided to make it look a bit more presentable. The pieced front was stitched together before the water boiled. I LOVE and quick project like this... My most used potholder now makes me so much happier every time I use it and I didn't have to put more than 15 minutes towards giving it a makeover.

As my mama always said, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever."

how does your garden grow?

Ours is well on it's way. We have been enjoying a cherry tomato here and there... plenty of basil and squash... and the beans are about to start really kicking!

We have spent a good bit of time in our garden getting ready for our tiny informal community garden tour... it is always nice to have a reason to get everything tended to and looking nice at the same time. I think everyone was here to see the chickens, but we used it as a reason to tidy up all the spaces in our yard.

The garden path was weeded and mulched.

Our gorgeous Snowflake hydrangea only needed to be told how absolutely beautiful she is!

The hosta hill was weeded and tucked into a fresh bed of pine straw.

Our work in progress waited patiently until the tour was over and then we finished framing two more walls...this little playhouse is swiftly becoming a reality (and a berry juice restaurant -- there are wild blackberries growing behind it and Elisha has been smushing them and dropping them into water to serve us ;-)

This lovely blue hydrangea was also happy to just look lovely with no help from us... it is no wonder I love a hydrangeas so!

My lambs wool is also doing just fine on her own thank you very much...and has received glowing reports on her children ( I have divided and shared from this huge thriving plant with great success).

This was the biggest ordeal we tackled lately. I do not like heights. My husband does not like heights. However, we spent a good bit of time on friday at the top of a tall ladder and hanging out of the upstairs window getting this Lady Banks rose tamed. I kept asking myself if it was worth it. I have a feeling that come next March when it is in glorious full, fragrant bloom I will be so glad that we went to the trouble.

We have enjoyed being the token youngsters in our community garden... and it was great fun to introduce them to Baby Princess and share some sweet tea and deviled backyard eggs.

celebrating 5. castles in the sky.

We have been celebrating some more birthdays this week. We spent the weekend in Alabama celebrating with Andrew's grandfather (he and Elisha share a birthday... not too gracefully- they enjoy bantering back and forth about whose birthday it is ;-)... Andrew was celebrated on Sunday and then we came home to celebrate Elisha on Monday. We wanted to be home so that he could thoroughly enjoy his gift:

We decided that building a house with Daddy would be this little guy's dream come true. He is always asking us to do projects with him... a number of times he has piled the scarp wood he can scavenge around the yard and claimed to be building a house. Now it is official! In the morning he did a treasure hunt with drawn clues to find his instruction manual... He loves to follow directions (or at least study them with importance), so I sketched out some drawings of the process for him to decipher.

And, you can't get through birthday month around here with out a cream cheese pound cake! I made the bouquet to show Elisha all the flowers that bloom around his birthday. We have some irises that bloom on Anna's birthday and we call them her birthday flowers... As we watch them getting closer to blooming we talk about how her birthday is approaching. Elisha had been asking, "what are my birthday flowers?" ... Well, as you can see late May has many many birthday flower options!

building team making plans

front view

supply list and first steps

door and window detail. more process directions

last steps

I think my newly five year old is looking pretty pleased with our summer project ;)

I'm a homemaker

I don't do the dishes. Really. Ok... maybe every now and then... I rarely clean my house. I am not really all that good at having dinner for my family every night... But I promise I AM a homemaker!

See! I made this lovely little home a while ago and have really wanted to share it here. I made it for Anna's first Christmas and finished it completely by the time she turned one. The idea came to me as I tried to fall asleep on the eve of Christmas Eve. I got so carried away in my planning that I hardly slept ;-) Mind you this was all in the dark of my bedroom as I tried my hardest to get to sleep. I finally made a voice memo on my phone so that I could get the ideas saved and be at peace to sleep... Listening to the whispered (I didn't want to wake Andrew) details the next day was kind of bizarre... crafty creepy. After a bustling Christmas Eve, working into the wee hours of Christmas morning, this darling little cottage took shape.
Can I take you on a tour?

I like to think the front door would be welcoming to a hobbit. The house has different shapes for windows: circle, square, triangle. I was so pleased with how the Folksy Flannel print made a perfect picket fence... and of course there is a chicken in the front yard ;-)

Another chicken lives in the side yard under the shutters that open and close.

Every true cottage has a somewhat wild backyard and this one is no different. The minky fabric adds a nice tactile detail.

The window box under the triangle window is so nice and cheerful... and the precious little fish pond makes me smile... but, the button apple tree might be my favorite.

Can you tell that the door knob is a little bit of bling?

Now, you are welcome to take a peek inside (Beware of the owls in the attic).

raining love

 So, it's one week until Valentine's Day and here is a fun little way to feel the love. I am usually pretty cynical about this holiday- too cheesy, too commercialized... and in general I don't care for heart shaped things. But, this year I have made the choice to celebrate love. It is THE most important thing after all. My little children think that heart shaped things are extraordinarily wonderful... so all in all this little craft has been a hit.

banner of love 

I used my 40% off coupon at Michael's to purchase this nice heart-shaped punch(Martha Stewart), then just dug up some old paint chips in the red family and an old book that wasn't worth reading. The kids had a big old time helping me punch the hearts. I took them to the basement and stitched through them on my sewing machine(using red thread) pulling extra thread in between each heart I sewed through... it makes a lovely, simple little garland.
If you are local and want to borrow my heart punch, please do! I'd love to feel like it was being thoroughly useful.

can't help myself!

we are going to the beach at the beginning of june and i just thought these would be so cute... i don't know why i have a compulsion to match my children.... but i do! these are almost ridiculously preppy- seersucker and sail boats... but seriously what could be cuter on children at the beach in the summer...? i am loving the wood grain pattern on the fabric i used for the boats.

these are two of the pillows i made for our sofas while the boys were away. the birds make me so happy! and i even sewed them w/ velcro hidden on one side they could be taken off for cleaning-- very necessary w/ kids... i have already been thankful for the cleanability of our leather sofas(elisha got a stomach virus a few weeks ago :-(

nesting...

here are a couple of my nesting projects- a bean bag chair... yes, i used the link i mentioned in a previous post and it wasn't difficult at all. i filled it w/ the inside from a $20 one form target, but mine is fairly large, so i will be adding to its filling whenever we get packages packed w/ peanuts. i think this will be a great place for elisha to sit and look at books while i nurse the baby-- at least that's the plan ;-)

this is the chest of drawers i made for anna-- yes we have named our little girl... i'm not sure if i have shared that here or not... but her daddy picked out a lovely name ;-)
i bought a chest of drawers from craig's list and then covered it w/ pages from a mother goose book from 1960 that i got at an estate sale for less than $1... it was time consuming for sure- but we all just love it. it is fun to read the bits of nursery rhymes- some of them are very quirky!