Little Man Turns Two & It's a Circus!

The past few weeks have been crazy busy.  That kind of busy where you just fall into bed at the end of the day because you are so wiped out.  It all began with Lucas' second birthday.  2!!!!  I can't believe two years have flown by so quickly!  Really, how does it happen so fast?  At two he is ca-ray-zy busy.  Fascinated by outlets and anything with buttons, a climber of shelves, stools, tables, and chairs, a lover of being "ow-side" (outside), obsessed with Barney and coloring, and lightning-fast (especially when he A.  has something he shouldn't or B.  was just caught doing something naughty.)  Despite all of his shenanigans he is quite the little charmer.  Everywhere we go people make a fuss, especially the women.  Lucas just turns on the dimples and eats it up.  Since he was a year old he has had a thing for blondes (traitor!).  Already discriminating hair color at such a tender age!  Although he has his dad's dimples and flirtatiousness, he has his mom's attitude.  During a phone conversation I was lamenting to mom how Lucas can be whiny when he wants something or things are not going his way, and how it is a down right temper tantrum (with kicking and screaming) when he can't have his way.  To which my mom replied, "You were the same way."  Now I am sure she was smiling on the other end of the phone thinking, "Payback's a bitch isn't it?!" 
We celebrated this wonderful occasion with a circus themed party.  The decorating possibilities were endless!  Between the running, playing with friends, cake eating, and gift opening Lucas was exhausted.  But the most important thing was that  he had a blast.  The candy buffet was a hit with the kids.  Shocking I know!  I had a lot of fun with the candy buffet and tried really hard not to go overboard.  The last thing I wanted was to be stuck with enough candy to feed an army.  I also created a photo booth and provided a bunch of props.  It was quite entertaining to see what people came up with for the photos!


Here is the invitation I created in Illustrator.  Wanted to use all of the skills I have learned in my classes!  I put the invites in vintage popcorn bags.

  

Centerpieces:  Mason jars (from our wedding!), filled with flowers and placed in popcorn boxes with raffle tickets.  The tablecloths are also a wedding relic :).



She is just hilarious!



I found these great cake toppers on Etsy and created my own.  Here is the link to the Etsy version

It's amazing what a little frosting in the hair will do!

Soooo tired!

Solution for Doorway Clutter

There are countless items that we keep by our door. Which means there are countless obstacles for me to trip over when trying to exit the door. Between Maddie's backpack, Lucas's lunchbox, my purse, car keys and garage door openers, dog leashes, and so on.... For ease and to maintain my sanity I like to keep these items near the door so I am not scrambling around looking for them as I try to dash out ( and by dash I mean running late.) One of my many attempts at trying to stay organized I guess (not that I am always successful at it.)

While visiting friends a while back I noticed they had hooks on the wall next to their garage door. This is where their three kids put their backpacks and all other necessary items. Inspiration struck! This was exactly what we needed in our house. I knew I wanted something to visibly designate each person/dogs' hook. After a lot of inspiration shopping and Internet browsing I settled on an idea.

I purchased six plain wood plaques and dark bronze coat hooks at Walmart. The rest of the supplies came from my craft arsenal. I determined each hook would have a family member's photo and the letter of their first name on it. I used papers from one of my K & Company pads (I think it might have been one of their Amy Butler collections) so all of the plaques would have a cohesive look. Then I added little details as I went along. Here is the final result, they are hanging next to the door as you go out to the garage:

Thrift Store Treasure

I found this a couple of weeks ago at a thrift store for $2.50 and instantly knew it would look great in the kids' room. All it needed was a fresh coat of paint and candles. I have been into spray paint in a pretty big way lately after checking out Three Men and a Lady. Love that blog!!! She has a lot of great ideas. Amazing what a couple coats of spray paint can do!

When I first brought this home Todd just looked at it and asked, "Why would you waste your money on that?" Fast forward to today... "Wow! That looks great! I like it!" How I love it when hubby is humbled :)!

The print is a vintage rodeo ad I found on Ebay (Luke has the cowboy version) in a barnwood frame. It was on sale at Michael's for 40% off (woo hoo!). I went to Tap Plastics and had them cut plexi-glass to fit in the frame (it hangs over the bed and we live in earthquake country.) The vintage rodeo ribbon I found several years when shopping in San Anselmo with my mom.

Finally! A Completed Task!

The majority of tasks never really seem to be 100% complete in this house. And. It. Drives. Me. Nuts! Something else always seems to pop up. Kids making messes, everyday chores, a new and urgent project, Todd's work schedule, you name it. This is something I am slowly attempting to change. But here this a project that I had been trying to get completed for some time now (probably a year. How sad is that?!) It was an antique mirror I purchased over ten years ago when I was at Chico State. A fabulous $5 bargain at a thrift store. The mirror had an old patina to it (which I loved) and an art deco frame. My grandpa and I fixed the aging frame. I then painted it white and hung it in my apartment.

After I moved home it was stored in the garage with countless other possessions I had no room for. A few years ago the mirror was broken. I couldn't bear to part with it. I loved the frame and it was a restoration project my grandpa and I worked on together before he passed away. I guess you could say it had some emotional baggage attached.

Fast forward to 2010. The mirrorless frame, now falling apart, was sat in the garage driving Todd nuts. To him it was junk taking up valuable space. To me, it was a memory and a future project.

Finally this project's time had come. I was in dire need of a bigger bulletin board over the desk. And voila! The antique frame was transformed into a bulletin board.

Step 1: Applied wood glue to the sides that were coming apart and clamped them overnight.

Step 2: Used sandpaper (I think 50) to rough up the frame a little

Step 3: Painted the frame green (which we already had in the garage)

Step 4: Attached cork to frame back (found a 2'x4' roll of cork at Office Max or Office Depot for $13) with a staple gun

Step 5: Attached toile fabric that I purchased on sale for less than $8 (for 2 yards) at an interior decorating fabric outlet

One project down, countless others to be completed!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Here are the photos I promised. This is our family Christmas tree. Some people prefer to have a tree that looks like it belongs in a showroom. Ours is packed full of memories. Memories of Christmases past, trips and vacations, family members, etc. Plus I have several vintage goodies that I have found over the years. Our gold star sits on top. Having a gold star tree topper was something I dreamed of all throughout my childhood. It was not until I became an adult that my wish was fulfilled. Here are some of my favorite ornaments:

These were hand-me-downs from my grandma. I remember them being on her tree when I was a child.

These are from my/our travels: Yosemite 2006 Kaua'i 2008

Maui 2006

Richardson Grove Camping Trip 2008

Yellowstone 1996

I also love to collect chipboard houses and bottle brush trees. Todd says I have enough at this point because they now fill the mantle. But let's face it, a girl can never have too many! This year I created some "snow" and back lit the village with small, white lights. Some of the houses have been gifts from Todd, and the trees were Christmas gifts from my parents. I created the little pink and blue gift boxes this year while on bedrest. I thought the trees needed some presents!

For the past twelve years I have been slowly collecting the Dept. 56 village. All of the buildings have been gifts. I write the year and the giver on each box so I can remember who they came from and what was going on the Christmas I received them. Like I said, Christmas is all about memories for me! This year I put the village in our dining room hutch. Todd and I agreed, this is the perfect home for the Village.

The pub was an early Christmas present from Todd this year. We both loved it. We're not Irish. But we figured our Scottish ancestry was close enough :)!

Here's our ledge in the dining room. Gail's trees at the cabin were my inspiration. The flag banner was a project I began right around Christmas last year, but did not finish until this spring.

Here are some other tchotchkes that I have around our home:

More of Grandma's hand-me-downs. These three little statues are some of my favorites.

My pink marabou tree (a gift from my mom). I think I can safely say this is not Todd's favorite! I made all of the little ornaments on it. A project I found in Somerset Studios Magazine.
Here are our stockings. Todd's is from his childhood. This is probably his favorite Christmas decoration hands down. Here are a couple little do dads that I whipped up. I stumbled upon this photo last year on another blog and it inspired me. It's amazing the things you can create with your "spare" time while on bedrest.

Maddie created a lovely centerpiece to grace our Thanksgiving table. She loves to build these little foam scenes and buildings. My only conundrum is what what do you do with them? There is only so much space in our home for all of her art projects. But then I got the idea to have her create seasonal projects that can be displayed for the holidays. We bring them out for the holiday, enjoy their beauty, and then pack them up after the holiday has passed. This also makes them more special since we do not look at them every day, like Christmas decorations. Plus she gets to see her own personal contribution to the family's holiday decorations. But this little Thanksgiving centerpiece is so cute and charming. She did a great job and had loads of fun creating it. I keep trying to fan that artistic flame she's got. It is definitely a genetic trait in my family.

Todd was so sweet last weekend. He came home with an armload of flowers for me. Two bouquets of Stargazer Lilies and two bouquets of Mums. I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful husband! He likes to surprise me with flowers now and then (gotta love those random acts of kindness!) Plus Todd knows I have fun arranging flowers (I got the bug after my mom and I assembled all of our wedding centerpieces.) I forgot to add picutres of my Halloween banner in my last post. I was very happy with how it turned out, and even got it completed in time for Halloween! I had a challenging time finding trims and do-dads to decorate it with, but ended up having enough after all. This year I hung it over the mirror in our living room. I was precariously balancing on the couch trying to hang it when Todd was not home (yes, I know, not something you should do while pregnant!) Not sure if we will hang it there next year, or find a new home for it. But here it is, I hope you like!

I just a great new book with all kinds of tips, tricks, and inspiration.

I love, love, love it! I was so inspired I got a few pages done yesterday. Lately Ihave felt like I was stuck in a scrapbooking rut and my pages all looked the same. I needed something or someone to push me to try new things. Elsie's book did it for me. She has so many great ideas! What a creative spirit!

I have some new photos of our crackheads, oops, I mean dogs! They are so crazy. Granted it's not all their fault. Now that I am the size of a house, have chronic backpain, and baby is sitting so low, walking is not as comfortable as it once was. Thank goodness we love 'em so much. Sibes and their energy are definitely not for everyone. Mischa and Leyongo sharing his bed. He stayed with us a few days while his mom and dad were in the hospital delivering our niece, Tana. A rare, quiet moment for our girls. Um yeah... This habit is completely my fault. Our nightly routine, cuddling on the couch. Hands off the blanket and no one gets hurt!