Note to Self

Couches with removable cushions are great for several reasons.  Easy to clean, just unzip the slip cover, throw it in the wash, let it dry and you’re back in business.  Removing the cushions allows vacuuming.  Rotate and flip regularly to keep wear and tear even, prolonging the life of the piece.  All great benefits.

But, they will become a fort, everyday, for the foreseeable future.  Benefit?

My boys play together.  {Yes, that is a diaper door.}

They make each other laugh.  And me, too.  They hide.  They climb.

And sometimes (rarely), they fall asleep in the fort.  Even though the mess drives me crazy, they have a blast, and I have fun watching them.  If you have kids, I highly recommend choosing a couch with removable, slip covered cushions, for several reasons.

My sisters and I used to make a fort out of our drop leaf dining table, so if you just bought a couch, but need a dining table, that would work well for fort building, too.  What did you or your kids use to make a fort?  I dreamed of having a canopy bed when I was a kid.  How about you?  What’s your dream furniture?  What was your dream profession as a child?  I had two.  To be an artist, and if that failed, I wanted to make architectural models, like Mike Brady.  True story.  I was a strange kid, now I’m an even stranger adult.  Ha.

(Re)Organized Boys Closet

As our boys grow, I find the need to reorganize their belongings, namely, their closet.  With Ev out growing clothes at a rapid rate, I need access to larger sized clothes without the hassle of digging them out of storage.  Without a dresser in the room, I have to get creative with their storage.  When we last shared our closets, I had it organize, keeping larger clothes on the shelf in a clear covered bin, but it became cumbersome for me (being 5 feet, 4 inches tall) to get large, heavy bins down often.  We needed a change.

Here was Vincent’s side.  All of his current sized clothes are hanging, larger clothes in the big bin on top, diapers in the small bins in the cubes, and socks in a bin.

Here’s Everett’s side.

Everett’s side was pretty much the same story.  After a while, I started hating that I had to slide the doors to get to their stuff.  As I mentioned above, the large bins were really becoming a hassle, too.

What was our solution?  Ben installed a second closet rod.  We didn’t move anything around, so the rods are close together, but they’re boys.  They don’t have anything that really hangs down, so it’s fine for a while.  By installing a second bar, we can hang both boys current clothes on one side, eliminating the constant sliding of doors.

Another benefit, we now have room to hang larger clothing on the other side of the closet.

We still use a laundry bag to save shelf space.  A small hook holds it securely and out-of-the-way.

As for the storage cubes, we keep our baby wipes (which we buy in bulk from Costco when we have a coupon), bedding, Everett’s socks, and one bin of diapers for each boy, rather than all their diapers.  The clear bins on top of the cubes have Vincent’s socks and underwear and the yellow bin has pajamas.  I love those yellow bins because they fold flat when not in use, saving space.

We still have a large bin of clothes, but we don’t need to access it often.  We also have shoes, puzzles and a bag of other random items that I still have to sort through.

Where did all the diapers go?  On the top shelf of the right side.  The yellow bin is our donate box.  Anything that I decide our boys no longer need, I put in the bin until it gets full.  The next time I go to a thrift store, the contents get donated.

Previously, we had a plastic baby bath tub.  Everett has since outgrown it, so I donated that, too, which freed up a lot of valuable space.  Now we have a box in its place.  Whenever one of the boys outgrows something, I put it in that box.  When that box is full, I sort the clothes into the proper bin in our basement.

By adding a second closet rod, we’ve doubled our storage space and we have plenty of room to expand.  Score!  Do you have any storage tips, tricks or products you can’t live without?  What do you do with outgrown children’s clothes?  Do you hang your kid’s clothes or prefer to fold?  If you hang, do you use the size dividers?

Refinished Bookshelf: Reveal

Last week I shared how I refinished an old wooden bookshelf for our boys’ room.  It wasn’t quite done then, but it is now and we love it.  Ben was skeptical when I started sanding, but he does admit that it’s pretty now.  I really love that we’ve brought new life into an old, seen-better-days piece of furniture, without paint.  Well, there is some paint.  The back panel had a little damage.

I knew I couldn’t fix the back and keep it stained, so I filled the damaged area with putty, let it dry, sanded, primed and painted everything.  After three coats of plain white paint, hours of drying, and a vacation in Minnesota, I was ready to finish what I had started.  Using a pin nailer, I carefully attached the 1/4 inch plywood back to the bookshelf.  I chose the pin nailer because it shoots nails that are literally the size of pins, without a head.  It’s great for small pieces that might split if larger nails were used. 

Once the back was secured, all that was left was to bring the shelf back inside.

Have you refinished a piece of furniture to give it a new lease on life?  Do you have any tricks or tips to share?

Animal Artwork

My cousin, (and pseudo sister) Jenna, is pregnant with her first baby and is due November 5.  (My sisters and I threw her a baby shower a few months ago).  She knows she’s having a boy, but she wants gender neutral decorations.  We gave her a hand-me-down crib bedding set that has jungle animals, similar to the Tiddliwinks Safari bedding at Target. 

Jenna asked me to create two custom art pieces for the nursery.  Her only requests were to include the nursery colors (chocolate-brown, sage green and cream), monkeys, giraffes, and birds (to coördinate with the bird mobile I made as a shower decoration/gift).  That’s it.  The rest was up to me.  I love free rein designs.  Jenna had already purchased two IKEA Ribba frames with mats.  I considered designing two custom 12 inch square prints to fit the frames, but decided to create custom cut paper scenes.  A year or so ago, I created a cut paper scene of Ben and I in our wedding attire as a custom art piece for our home. 

The first piece features a cartoonish monkey hanging from a palm tree with a bird flying by.

The second piece has a giraffe standing in tall grass, a little bird perched in the giraffe’s back, and an Umbrella Thorn Acacia type tree.

Both pieces are entirely hand-made with pieces cut from cardstock.  While in Minnesota recently, I visited her house to help with some final nursery touches, including matting and framing her new artwork.  We didn’t get around to hanging the pieces, but we’re both very pleased with the result. 

I am taking orders for custom art pieces, including cut paper scenes, silhouettes, prints and modern paintings.  To see samples, ask questions or place an order, please visit our Etsy shop.

Paper Party Banner

Vincent’s third birthday is tomorrow!  I cannot believe he is already three; time flies.  We’re having a birthday for him on Saturday with friends and family, so I whipped up a simple, affordable and reusable party decoration. 

To make this banner, you’ll need paper or cardstock in any color(s) that tickle your fancy, a circle cutter or punch, string, glue or Mod Podge, and an old paint brush.

I used a handy-dandy adjustable circle cutter made by Making Memories.  I got this as a hand me down from a friend and never used it until now.  The beauty of this tool is the ability to cut circles from 2 inches to 9 inches in diameter, all with one tool.  I set the blade at three inches and started cutting.  It takes a few tries to get it to cut nicely, but after that, its smooth sailing.  The trick is to lightly run the blade around a few times, rather than one heavy round, which will tear the paper. 

So, cut out tons of circles. 

Then, fold in half, aligning the edges.  If you used cardstock, you may want to run a bone folder along the crease to make it sharp.

Gather your glue, paint brush and string and get ready to assemble. 

First, tie a loop in the string, to make it easy to hang.  Do not cut your string yet, unless you have a specific size you need.  Then, apply a thin layer of glue or Mod Podge to one side of the folded circle, adding a little more in the crease.  Try to keep the glue thin so it won’t spill over the edges.  

Place the string into the crease and fold the top over, pressing tight.  To make sure your spacing is even, cut a piece of scrap paper to the desired width and place between each circle. 

Continue gluing circles until the desired length has been reached.  Cut the string, leave about 6 inches from the end of a circle.  Make another loop for hanging.  You’re ready to decorate. 

I plan to hang these banners in the trees at the party, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek.  So, for now, the banners are hanging from the ceiling  in the boy’s room.  The colors of the party happen to be the same colors we chose for the boy’s room. 

Just a little note: if you are interested in this project, but don’t like the look of the half circles, you could do this with any shape.  You will have to cut twice as many shapes, then follow every step except the folding.  Instead, place another shape on the other side. 

What are your favorite DIY party decorations?  Cupcake toppers?  Tissue paper pom poms?  Do tell!