weekend craftiness :: kitchen display

Another home craft project can now be checked off my list!

In a previous post I wrote about us deciding to renew our lease and the fact that I now had a bunch of projects that I want to do to jazz up our place.

Well, here is the latest one:

  

It's a little display crate for my salt and pepper shakers and various other knick knacks.

The idea originally came to me when not only had I run out of space for my (inadvertent) S&P shaker collection, but the space that I did have for them was getting on my nerves.

I used to have them lined up on the back of my stove top and I was constantly having to wash them because they were always getting the splatter from whatever was cooking on them. Yuck!

I have a small apartment kitchen with only one usable wall in the space, which previously housed a small dry erase board.

Going into this I knew that whatever I did would have to be extremely inexpensive, so of course I wanted to upcycle something I had on hand.

Enter a pair of old video/dvd/cd storage crates that I've had for well over 10 years.

Kid A is using one in her room for it's intended dvd storage purpose, but the other one was just sitting in her closet.

A few coats pf aqua craft paint and some scrapbook paper cut to size for the backing and VOILA!

Instant kitchen display!

Eventually I want to change the paint color and the paper backing to a scheme that I like better, but for using what I had on hand, I don't think this turned out too shabby!!

 

 xo

this, that and the other :: the weekend, crafty projects, etc.

Happy Friday, y'all!!

Yes, I'm from Texas and I say, "y'all".

No, I don't ride a horse or have an accent (that I know of).

Random sidenote - speaking of the word y'all, one of my pet peeves is when people spell it ya'll instead of y'all. It's a contraction of the words "you" and "all", hence the placement of the apostrophe. 

Get it right people!!

Anywho, the weekend is ahead of us, do you have any plans?

I plan to finish a home craft project that I've been working on today.

Here's a little hint, it includes aqua paint and my kitchen.

Stay tuned for a look-see.

Also on the agenda is a whole lot of reading.

Currently I'm going through two books.

One is 700+ pages; the other 800+.

Why do I do this to myself?!

Baby LL sleeping update - for those who are interested, Baby LL is sleeping SO much better!!

The hubs, bless him, came home from work the day I posted about making a baby nook and promptly moved some furniture around in our room and set up the crib.

That was two nights ago, and guess what?!

Those are the two best night of sleep that Baby LL has had in several months!!

He's also taken a few naps that have lasted more than two hours!

Who knew that just putting him in a new sleep space would make that much of a difference?

We're not on to a FULL night's sleep yet, but I'll totally take this over the waking every 1-2 hours.

I might be around here this weekend; I might not.

I also have something in the works that I'm (tentatively) planning to unveil on Monday, the 16th,

so stick around!!

xo

3 on Thursday :: sights to see

I don't know what really got me thinking about this, but I was recently contemplating not only places I would like to visit one day, but also sights that I wanted to see.

These are three things that I honestly think would give me chills to see in person, as they are already amazing in photographs.

1. Machu Picchu

via

2. the Northern Lights

via

3. the Loy Krathong Festival, mainly to see this -

via

If you could see anything in the world, what would it be?

routine

Tomorrow starts "real life" for us as a family again.

Kid A goes back to school and Baby LL and I go back to work (the hubs started back at work yesterday).

With that comes the need to get back into a routine.

When Kid A started school in August, I had a nighttime routine down pat.

After about two months, I started relaxing bit by bit in the routine, and (of course) over the Christmas holidays that routine completely flew out the window.

I've also noticed that over the past few months Baby LL's attitude and sleep ability has really deteriorated, could there be a correlation??

No matter what, I know that having a routine with these kiddos brings at least me some peace and comfort.

I know that everything gets done, nothing gets overlooked.

And selfishly, I know that at a certain point each night, I'll have some quiet time to read or watch tv or craft.

Lately Baby LL's sleeping has been so screwed up.

He wants to be held and he wants to be nursing.

He wants to sleep in my bed and if I'm actually able to put him in his own bed, he only sleeps for 1 1/2 hours, TOPS.

This is the same kid who used to sleep a 6-8 hour stretch, followed by a 3-4 hour stretch EVERY NIGHT.

And with this erratic sleep pattern, his days can be less than pleasant.

Baby is tired. Mama is tired.

I have to keep in mind that he probably won't just jump back in to an incredible sleep habit, it will probably be rough for a few nights, but hopefully getting back into a nightly routine will help us get back there.

As a mom, all I want to do is make my babies happy.

So when Baby LL gets fussy I hold him; I nurse him; I do whatever I can to keep a smile on his face and tears out of his eyes.

Obviously this hasn't completely worked out, as he spends a good amount of time each day fussing, whether I'm holding him or not.

And simple tasks such as doing my hair, folding laundry or cooking dinner have become frustrating for me because I have to do them with a baby screaming.

Time to toughen up, mama.

Hopefully since his crib is now set up (yay, baby nook!!) and his sleeping space is now bigger and comfier, he will start staying asleep longer.

I know that when he learns to self soothe and is sleeping longer stretches and more soundly, we will both be FAR happier.

I just have to be strong enough to get us to that point.

And I have to realize that it's not going to happen overnight.

So, routine, my old love, we're coming back to you.

creating a baby nook

Recently the hubs and I decided to go ahead and renew our lease.

Despite being on the small side for our growing family, the pros of staying outweighed the cons.

So now comes the fun part of figuring out how to reorganize our stuff (and redecorate a bit!) to better accommodate our stuff and create a comfy and cozy abode for our little familia for the next 13 months.

Honestly, as soon as the decision to stay was made, I had multiple projects buzzing about in my brain.

One of them being creating a "baby nook" for Baby LL Cool J in the master bedroom.

We are in a two bedroom apartment, for now, and while I will eventually have the kids bunk together, that is just not feasible right now, what with L's erratic sleeping/eating schedule.

It's just not fair to sacrifice Kid A's sleep for that.

As of right now Baby LL has a pack n' play set up next to our bed, and being that he is 7 months old and nearly 19 pounds, he is fast outgrowing it.

He actually spends more time than not sleeping in our bed.

So the faster we get his crib set up, the faster thee hubs and I can reclaim space in our bed.

This will also help solve some of our space issues as we can store the bassinet and move the pieces of crib from the various corners of our apartment.
 

The area where I would create a nook is basically just big enough for his crib, so there is not really a whole lot I can do, decor-wise.

But I figured I could at least get in a wall hanging (or two) and a mobile of some sort.

I really am excited about creating a little space specifically for my lil' monkey. :)

Here is some baby nook inspiration that I found while scouring the interwebz.

How about some wall hangings/mobiles?!

{all photos via}

Lots of ideas to ponder!!
Of course, I will keep you up to date with our progress.

artsy fartsy :: finger knit garland

A few weeks back, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Gussy Sews, and came across this post where she talked about doing some different crafts, including finger knitting.

In the post she also included a link to a finger knitting tutorial that she did at the beginning of 2011.

After seeing how super easy it is to finger knit, I thought I'd give it a go.

I had just bought a ball of charcoal colored yarn (for a different project), so the timing was perfect.

That first night I made two super long garlands.

I was hooked!!

This past weekend I was at Michael's and saw that they were having a great sale on yarn, so I scooped up a few more colors and yesterday I whipped up a couple more garlands.

And being that I just took down all of my holiday decor I had the PERFECT spot in mind for my new handcrafted garlands.

My mantle!!

I have to admit that I've caught myself admiring my fun new decor, multiple times.

I plan on doing a few more finger knit projects soon.

It really is addicting.

 

HAPPY CRAFTING!!