a work in progress spanning generations

Another little fun find over the weekend was uncovered in my parents' linen closet. Rifling through sheet sets and wool blankets, I found a quilt top pieced with mostly patterns from the 60s or earlier and it was stitched primarily by hand.

My mother said she recently found it in my grandparents' attic and it was probably pieced by my great grandmother, as my own grandmother didn't quilt.

 

 So, here we have project-to-complete #212.

I plan on finishing the quilt. How wonderful would it be to curl up with a blanket hand stitched by your great grandmother? And to think, it had sat in numerous linen closets over the years totally neglected, giving no comfort to anyone at all.

little bits of awesome: forgotten harlequins

Okay, so you guys know I love me some triangles and a good diamond pattern, which is probably why I adore everything at ferm living. My wardrobe is starting to resemble a harlequin's costume, so I've been making a conscious effort to acquire and accessorize with them in moderation.

But, when retrieving our Christmas items in the attic, I stumbled upon some plaques I had "borrowed" from my grandmother before she passed away 7 years ago. I say "borrow" because I told her I would sell them on ebay to get her some extra spending money because nothing brought her more pleasure than shopping and she was severely lacking on funds. But that never happened and now she's gone. Dammit.

So anyway, I took them thinking they were the most godawful kitsch pieces only a mid-century obsessed lunatic could love. But ya know, uncovering them again after all these years, I think I have since blossomed into that lunatic myself because I'm smitten, folks.

The orange and aqua combined with gold detailing. The plastic molded faux bois and the ridiculous harlequin costumes. They're super tacky, but oh so fabulous!

I'd like to paint the outer frames aqua to give them an extra pop.

So what do you guys think? Have I absolutely lost my mind?

the power of 3

Little did I know regarding the significance of turning three for a little boy. It is clearly life changing.

However, we do claim part responsibility, as we had built up his birthday as the magical day he would transform into a big boy. No need for a pacifier. No need for pull-ups. We had little faith that our far fetched plan would actually work with our strong-willed child, but miraculously, it did.

Avery was seriously addicted to his pacifier, even though we had strictly limited it to times of slumber. He needed it to fall asleep or give him comfort on long plane or car rides, so when the night of his third birthday rolled around, we nervously hid his pacifier hoping he wouldn't ask for it. And you know what? He never did again.

 Just the other day, he told me pacifiers were for little babies. Yep. So, we officially crossed it off our list.

And so the potty training issues arise. Ugh. Bobby and I are relaxed potty trainers, kinda hoping he'd just figure it out eventually. Luckily, he's not pressured at school because having a November birthday places him in a classroom with younger children. Though surrounded by girl pals who have been potty trained since an early age 2, he was quite comfortable pooping in his pants.

And then he turned three and insisted on wearing only underwear at his birthday party. I was just waiting for the accident, but it never came.

He hasn't worn a pull-up in four days now. It is awesome.

So as we had promised, again thinking our bribe would be ignored, we pulled out the "big boy bed" we had found at the thrift store a few months prior. Needless to say, this is a BIG deal.

We're also hoping Avery having his own bed will encourage him to STOP sneaking into ours. So far, it hasn't stopped the pitter patter of bare feet I hear running through the hall towards our bedroom at 7am or earlier, but it's a start.

Morning after the first night in his own bed. I thought the twin bed would give him some room to stretch out, but he hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet.

Breaking down the crib and finding bedding for the new bed has been an emotional process. It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant and painting the tree mural in his nursery and now...

...he's officially not a baby anymore. Or even a toddler. Pretty soon we'll be packing his room for college. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, we still haven't experienced the power of 4 yet.

thank you

I feel so incredibly lucky to be surrounded by loving, supportive family and friends. Your kindness enriches my life more than you'll ever know, and for that, I'm eternally grateful.

the final selection

I know you guys are losing sleep over which image we're going to use for our holiday card. Ya know, this is a matter of GREAT importance.

So, sorry Mom. We're probably going to pick the first photo. I'm aware I look a bit, um...how do I put this delicately...touched. And I asked a good friend of mine who picked the second image and she admitted to this observation. As she put it, "slightly, ever so slightly."

But, it's the overall emotion that counts. You can feel the love, people! Even despite the wonky eye and the awkward arm positioning.

And well, it looked far better in the designs on Minted.

They've got soooo many to choose from and admittedly, I don't think I could do a better job designing one for myself. Now, if I could only WIN one of the contests I entered for a free gift card...

fields of gold

 

We accepted a friend's invitation to visit her horse over the weekend. It was an unseasonably warm and pleasant day in November – how could we say no?

Just a quick half hour drive from the city and the surroundings change from maritime industrial to peaceful country fields. I could get comfortable with this lifestyle very quickly...

 

...as I'm sure, this little boy could, too. Plenty of wide open spaces for endless running. 

pancake of the week: t-rex

**UPDATED: Don't forget to check pancakeoftheweek.com for more pancake inspiration.**

Avery is currently obsessed with dinosaurs and so his request was not a surprise. Though without the tiny arms and upright body, it could just as easily be an alligator.

I'm dreading the day when he requested his other current obsession: Caillou. He can't get enough of that whiny bald kid.

Trader Joes pumpkin pancake mix, banana yogurt used for dipping the raisin teeth and for the eye. Nutella lips. 

it's holiday card photoshoot time

I need your help in deciding which photo to use in our holiday card!

On the one hand, I love the sentiment and warmth of the image below (though my hand looks weird - ugh).

But on the other, these holiday cards are really all about the child, right? So perhaps a more formal portrait where you can see Ave's face would be more appropriate. But it's technically not as good as the photo above (over exposed and we're squinting from the sun).

 So which one? 1 = top photo. 2 = bottom photo. 3 = use both. 4 = neither, you're all squinting too much.

design*sponge norfolk

Last weekend was spent in preparation for the Design*Sponge book signing tour in Norfolk at Prince Books. The 7 Cities Crafters were asked to contribute to the event by arranging a photobooth backdrop (we used the Hampton Roads map made for Art Everywhere) and I offered to create some additional signage.

I underestimated how difficult it is to freeform cut foam core with an x-acto blade.



But alas, I think the effort was worth it.

The "ribbon" was painted with acrylic and the other color is cut paper. Challenging but fun!



Grace was a sweet host, but that's not surprising since she grew up in Virginia Beach ;)



Her parents sponsored the event and ordered cupcakes from Just Cupcakes. Carla did her research and did a splendid job of customizing them for the night.



My pals and I opted to attend the craft event beforehand. Richelle made a large stamp for her canvas wallet. I chose the easiest route by just cutting a foam triangle and then step and repeating to form a pattern on a canvas tote.  I must say, I love the results (not pictured).



And the night wasn't complete until we all hammed it up in front of the camera.



We were under the impression we'd take a bunch and throw out the ones that didn't work, but embarassingly enough, they all made it on to the Smilebooth site.





Who knew a book signing could be so much fun?

And thanks to Amy Taylor who took so many photos and uploaded them to Facebook so I could steal them for this post.

little bits of awesome: the dinosaur parade

And sometimes a giraffe can travel back in time to join the fun.

e-i-e-i-o

We've never been invited to a "Pigs and Pearls" party...



...until this weekend. An old friend moved to the outskirts of town and threw the biggest party, including a live band, pig picking, pony rides & petting zoo, and oyster roast.



Avery experienced his first pony ride and took pleasure in stroking all the little farm animals.

I also co-hosted a party in celebration of my friend Suzy's licensure as an architect. We are so proud of her accomplishment.

And in the minutes in between, I worked on a volunteer project (x-acto blade & foam core = no fun) and took a break to warm my hands by our fire pit, or as Avery call it, "the fireplace in our backyard."

November is flying by.

chop chop

Sometimes you gotta do something drastic, yet harmless, to shake your daily routine up a little.

I don't know if I like it, but I'm glad I took the risk. It'll grow back someday.



A very common and baffling response to the haircut: "Wow, did you cut your hair?"

Hmm...no. It shrunk overnight. Have you not looked at me for the last five years?

3rd birthday: the activities

Here's a confession: I'm a control freak. I have been affectionately labeled "the cruise director" by friends and have been known to carry a clipboard. So naturally, planning structured activities for Ave's third birthday party seemed the right and sensible thing to do.

And here's another confession: I spent waaaay to much money on our Texas trip so my budget was itty bitty. There's also a satisfaction I get from spending very little and getting maximum style, whether it be DIY or smart shopping, so I'll share all my expenses with you.

To get the Where The Wild Things Are party rolling, the first thing we did when the children entered the house was fit them with a furry tail and a set of ears. And since our entire family is obsessed with this video and the aesthetic seemed right, we added a little face paint to the mix. Admittedly, I am probably one of the worst face painters, but I can do a few straight lines and it seemed to please the children AND the parents (who quite possibly had more fun wearing it).

The faux fur was leftover from the invitations and I used every bit. I sewed and stuffed the tail and fitted it with a clip so it could be attached to the waistband or belt loop. The ears were sewn and hot glued to plastic headbands. I made 11 tails/ears and it took around 2 hours.

The monster bags were used to collect the loot I passed out during the party, instead of sending them home with a takeaway bag. The bags were seasonal Halloween items, but fit the theme well enough.

"Werewolf" faux fur on sale at Hancock Fabrics: $10 a yard - 1 yard used to make all tails, ears, and invitations. Clips for tail: Hancock Fabrics - 2.50 for 2. Bags: Target bargain aisle - $1 each. Plastic headbands: Target - $3 for pack of 4.

A coloring station was set up with scanned pictures from the book.

And nothing says "birthday" better than a good ol' fashioned game of Pin the Tail.

I scanned the image from the book, enlarged, tiled, and pieced together.

A Wild Thing party needs a rumpus. Otherwise, what's the point, right?

And a rumpus needs noise. Lots and lots of noise!

I had been collecting metal coffee and pringles cans from coworkers and friends for two weeks leading up to the event. I made a few colorful patterns in Illustrator, printed them out, and wrapped the cans to create shakers. Each can was filled with a handful of black-eyed peas and the lid was glued on to alleviate mess...

...though that didn't stop the birthday boy from prying it off anyway.

Shakers: recycled - FREE. Bag of Black-eyed Peas: $2.50. Kazoos: Party City - $3 for a bag of 12.

Each child picked out a shaker and kazoo and we headed outside to the backyard. The oldest child was appointed the parade leader (because the birthday boy was no longer interested) and the other children fell in single line behind him.

We shouted, "let the wild rumpus start!" and the children marched and paraded around the yard perimeter, blowing their kazoos and wildly waving their shakers.

We set up a few props for maximum wildness and ambience.

Overall, a memorable 3rd birthday party where all the children had a blast. And now I can relax, phewwww.

Looking for something? Check out the invitations, pinata and the food from the Where the Wild Things Are birthday party.

3rd birthday party: the food

What a wild time we had! Except for the moment when someone else blew out his candle, Ave and the other children had a blast.

Guests were welcomed with a birthday sign and little colorful flags lining the front walk. The invitation was used as a decoration for the front door.

Green streamers were hung vertically and draped from the light fixture to give the illusion of vines, referencing the transformation of Max's room in the Where The Wild Things Are book.

Construction paper leaves and a banner featuring a quote from the book was an easy way to customize the tiered plate rack. A couple figures I purchased over ten years ago danced around the table top (I knew I should hang on to them for some reason).

Peanut butter & Jelly crowns.

And the Wild Thing cupcakes.

Thankfully, having a birthday near Halloween opens up the candy options.

The cupcakes were chocolate cake topped with buttercream frosting and lined by chocolate sprinkles. The white tips of Indian candy corn were cut off to be used as teeth and the remainder was used for the nose. Mouths were drawn with black gel and caramel-flavored candy corn were used for horns. Medium sized cinnamon marshmallows (found at Target) were cut in half for each eye and the exposed sticky gelatin adhered the mini M&M's.

The process was tedious, but fairly easy.

The children had more fun eating the candy toppings than the cake itself. There's the pinata in action.

Turning three has had a profound effect on Ave. He reassured us last night that he was "a big boy now that can do more things like Daddy." It's like a switch was flipped. He went all weekend in underwear and didn't sleep with his pacifier once. It's a miracle.