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That’s what I’ve officially turned into. It’s all my sister’s fault. She keeps throwing felt ideas at me like candy. I keep taking the bait. Let me back up…
Meet Jenny and Alex.
photo taken by Abigail Smith PhotographyJenny is the sister of Jbird. Can’t you see the resemblance? Anyway, Jenny married her high-school sweetheart, Alex, about eleven years ago. And, about two and a half years ago, they had this little guy.
Isn’t he the cutest little man you’ve ever seen? He’s not the only kid in that family, though. Because almost exactly five years ago, Jenny and Alex had these girls.
Yup, they are twins. To me, they look nothing alike. And, their personalities are just as different as their looks. Anyway, my precious little nieces are turning five at the end of this month. I wanted to do something special for these girls for their birthday, so when my sister chucked this idea at me, I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t muster up enough will power to say no to a felt project. It’s in my bones.It’s called the nuno doll. A japanese mini doll made from cloth. She got the pattern of the body from this site. The pattern is actually meant for a 6 inch doll, but you can resize the image for as big or as small as you want. I went for bigger. Surprisingly, if you like blanket stitching, it’s pretty easy. Mostly just stitching and stuffing. Then, the fun part came. Once the body was made, I went a hair loco with the personal touches.
Emmy loves dancing while Callen enjoys gymnastics. I was going to make only Emmy a tutu, but didn’t want to be the cause of any violence in their household, so I made removable tutus for both of them. Or they can take them off to have just leotards. Or as a tank/undershirt. Their choice.
Emmy prefers her hair half-up/half-down, but, Callen requests buns everyday. This is exactly how I think of them in my head. Here the girls are sporting their plaid knee-length skirt with brown ribbon belt. Paired with brown mary janes, it’s the perfect look for a romp across the carpet or the arm of a couch.And here they are sporting more of a rugged-school girl look.
This looks screams, “I’m pretty, but not a pansy.”This heart-adorned top is extremely versatile.
Emersen takes it up a notch in the trendy category with skinny jeans and boots, while Callen wears it as a shift dress—keeping it simple, but sweet with her hot pink flats.And when it’s time for school,
the girls get a little edgier. Both proudly wearing skinny jeans, boots, and ultra-sweet cardigan with…
coordinating backpacks!I know what you’re thinking. “No you dih-un’t!”
Why yes, yes I did.
And then, came time for the mini-me’s to meet their me’s…or something like that.
Emmy was so excited. She said, “It’s me!”Callen, on the other hand, proceeded to check out the backpack and rip the jeans off in record time. She’s more about the function.
But, I think she likes it.
All in all, I would rate this project a 8.5 out of 10. Top scores in the enjoyable, addicting, and gratifying category. But, the fact that when I show people the finished product and they look at me like I’ve grown another head takes the score down a point and a half.
Hi, my name is Meridith. I’m addicted to felting.
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And the two winners are…
(Please excuse the messy table and toddler clutter. It’s bill-paying day. What can I say?)Comment #11, Lauren! She said,
We are demo-ing our bathroom and probably going to a movie and dinner!Also, comment #8, Lisa!
well its my husbands birthday so i will be making him a heart shaped birthday cakeHope your bathroom project turns out fantastic, Lauren! And, happy birthday to Lisa’s hubby. Congratulations, ladies!
Thank you all for sharing your Valentine’s Day plans with me. Turns out, Jbird didn’t need any help this year. He did very well. I was presented with this gal…
complete with steaks and all! And yes, I did put a quick edge burn on the photo…along with a slight lighten. Cause that’s how much it means to me.
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Because it’s almost Valentines Day, and because I’m really feeling the love, I am giving away two SB Cupcake One-pieces!
All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment telling me your V-day plans for the weekend. Actually, this is totally selfish. My plan is that Jbird will happen to stumble upon your comments and get an out-of-this-world idea for us to implement this weekend. So, let me know your plans for celebrating this day of love!
Contest ends Sunday, Valentine’s Day, at midnight. I’ll announce both winners on Monday. Buenas suerte!
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My big-a chandelier is on Design Sponge today! Take a lookeroo!
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I just finished re-grouting my bathroom floor. I say RE-grouting, because the grouting process had already been done once before. It was ever so precisely done by our good friend, Chris. You know, the one who just about cut two of his fingers off with a table saw. If you don’t know the story, you can read (and see) it here, but you have to scroll down to September 30th. Warning: do NOT look if you get squeamish at the site of blood! Or, if you’re the kind of person who makes your spouse pat out the raw hamburger patties…just saying.
Anyway, after Chris had finished our bathroom, we hired another good friend to help with some of the staining of the baseboards. No, I will absolutely not mention her name for these reasons:
1. It will make her feel horrible for what I’m about to tell you
2. I will feel bad for making her feel bad
3. She will think that I’m not a very good friend. And I am.I will mention, however, that she was extremely nervous about staining the trim for these reasons:
1. She had never stained anything in her life.
2. We had hired professionals to stain the baseboards first, and they royally screwed them up. I mean, big time. So, Jbird had to re-make all the baseboards, sand them, and install them. 3,000 square foot, people. Lots of lumber.So, in a nutshell, she was terrified. But, being a good friend, she reluctantly took on the task. The next thing you know, we get a photo text of this.
Ooopsie.
But have no fear! These are the photos I took today after today’s Re-grout Rampage of 2010.
And even closer…
See, Lindsay? You can rest your pretty little head now. No harm done. Looks almost like it never happened.
Shoot, I just said your name.
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As you may have gathered in my last blog and previous blogs, I am continuously being pushed, I mean, strongly challenged, by my husband. He is the master of setting extremely high goals and doing whatever it takes to finish them. We’ve been working on our place for over two years now, so he’s really dead set of finishing this project.
The problem is that my personality has always been a little more chilled out. My attitude has always been “whatever gets done is good enough for me.” This attitude, my friend, can really put my man in a tailspin. So after seven and a half years of trial and error, he is constantly trying to figure out what best motivates me. Sometimes it’s a little too much to take. Let’s see, we had “Work November” right before Christmas, not to mention all of the “What are your goals for today?” conversations. And here’s the clincher: last week he asked me to clear my social schedule from then until the middle of March to chip away at “Project List of Twenty-ten.” Seriously?
Okay, I admit, the worst part is that some of his tactics really do motivate me. I said some. And for whatever reason, this honkin’ list really has gotten my propellor spinning.
It took us the entire day to go around the house making the stupid thing. But, man. I’ve been knocking the projects out like bowling pins. I gave every piece of furniture that was ugly or dirty a fresh coat (or several coats) of white paint.
Like this little guy. This was given to us by my mother-in-law the year we got married. And by the way, MIL, this was in the dirty category…not ugly. I promise.
And this big ol’ sucker. Actually, there are two of these. They came from a school auction and I think we paid $7 a piece for them. I know it doesn’t look like it, but a lot of work went into these puppies. Four coats of paint each, not including primer. They were black to begin with. Oh, and very ugly.
Another chest of drawers got in the way of the white paint brush as well, but it’s not pictured. It’s still too embarrassed about it’s ugly hardware that still needs to be replaced. But, these lamps were rescued by a can of pistachio spray paint from Big K.
They felt a little naked until I found these sweet dandies.
Then, there was some sewing to do. Two cushions for my fireplace. The fabric came from IKEA—made the flight with me from Houston and everything.
Score! I ran across these “DIY Tapestries” at Walls Bargain Center (along with the lamp shades above). What a find! Right here in western Oklahoma. I think they came from Urban Outfitters. My heart was really racing when I spotted these bad boys. Definite fabric freak-out in the aisle. As you can see, I only have concrete plans for one of these pieces.
Shower curtains for my bathroom. Still not sure that I love these. They will do for now, but I feel a replacement coming on soon.
Recover my ironing board? Why not? This fabric came from Hobby Lobby.
Window treatment for my craft room. I wanted to keep the natural light peeking in, so I didn’t line them or anything.
Curtains are hung in my room. I love them! It’s very hard to find window panels that long. Thanks, IKEA. You’ve done it again.
A headboard for our bedroom. It’s not quite finished yet, but you get the idea.
And last, but not least. This guy got a definite makeover. In fact, it might’ve actually been more like a gender reassignment surgery than a makeover.
Booyah!
And I’m spent.
Don’t get me wrong. Do I know think setting goals and finishing them is beneficial? Yes. Do I make a habit of writing a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly list of goals in order to check them off with gratification? No. Do lists motivate me? Yes. Do I want to string my sweet husband up by his ***** when he presents/bullies me with his motivational tactics? Definitely. Am I grateful to have a husband that sets high goals and achieves them consistently? Yes. Do I love him dearly despite of it all? Of course. Have I managed to get this stuff done and still managed to hang out with friends and family? You bet your bippy.
***** = teeth. Geesh, people.
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Meet Molly. She thinks outside the box. She says that the SB v-neck tees look amazing on little girls, too.
I completely agree. What do you think?
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When I was hanging out with my BFF in Houston last week, I had plenty of time to sit around and do nothing. No one to cook for, no one to tell me they ran out of clean underwear, no one to deem the week as “Paint Week” or the day as “Clean Wednesday” or whatever. (I’ll get into that a little more later. It’s a whole other blog. Sorry, Jbird.) So, that 6-year-old curly-noggined chickadee in my last blog and I decided that doing a craft was a must.
My sister, Jodi, and I had just talked about wanting to have a go at felt food construction. So, when my friend, Amy, posted about making a felt sandwich and chips on her blog, it really sucked me in. Tractor beams. I found a free pattern at Snazzlecraft. I didn’t have access to a printer, but it was pretty simple to look at the pattern and copy the best I could. It was really fun and I was so happy with the end results!
I had to do all of the stitching, but my little helper got to do a lot of the cutting (the lettuce, the american cheese, and the pb and jelly—not shown). I also didn’t have access to a sewing machine, so I couldn’t make ridges on the chips. No Ruffles. Had to stick with Lays.
I ended up leaving our felt fabrication for her to enjoy with her play kitchen. Be assured, however, that this will not be the end of my felt food extravaganza. There will be more, folks. I’m thinking cake, ice cream, steak, and maybe even sushi. I’m not above any of it. Bring it on.
In fact, my sisters and I have already gotten together and made another sandwich, chips, and pickle spear. Yep, I said pickle spear.
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My favorite Christmas gift this year was from good ol’ Jbird. It was a plane ticket to visit my old college roomie/BFF and her growing little family. So, last week, Wildman and I packed our bags and headed to Houston. I have to say, he was a star pupil on both the trip over and back. It could’ve been because he was born such a sweet-natured child, or my splendiferous parenting skills,...or possibly the fact that I was incessantly cramming apples, crackers, pretzels, raisins, and juice down him as we were reading his Charlie and Lola book for the gazillionth time. Whatever the reason, I was proud of my boy.
It was so good to see that gal. We only get together about once a year, but it’s always the same. I love that. The main objective to my trip was to be introduced to her sweet, hairy boy that she produced about 7 weeks ago. He was even sweeter than I could’ve ever imagined.
She also has a spunky, curly-haired daughter that Wylder holds in high regard. And, how could you blame the boy? Just look at her.
And the fact that she owns a Barbie Jeep only deepens his love for that girl.
Or the basketball goal.
The doll stroller doesn’t hurt either.
By the way, that was seconds before I was on my hands and knees cleaning up two puddles of pee pee on the newly installed bamboo floors. Yes I said two.And it wasn’t from this gal.
Or this gal.
All I wanted was a nakey pic of my son pushing a doll stroller. Is that too much to ask?
Anyway, lots of laughing, lots of shopping, lots of poopy diapers, and lots of fun was had.
But, in the end, with our Charlie and Lola book and an extra suitcase full of IKEA merchandise in tow, we had to say our goodbyes. Goodbye the Barbie Jeep, goodbye to IKEA, and goodbye to dear friends. Unfortunately, we did not get to say goodbye to poopy diapers. Maybe next time.
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Kate, from Oklahoma, was caught reading our book!
Enjoy the adventures of SB, Kate! You look very cute reading, by the way.
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