Starbucks in Autumn...

I think that's what I'm going to name this gift set I just finished.

Something about this delicious chocolate brown fabric
with little birdies & peace signs all over it
totally reminds me of a Fall Starbucks giftcard or coffee cup.

This set was made for a very special little girl
with a very similar story to one of my best friends.
You can read about {and pray for!} her here.

waving not walking

Please enjoy this video
of my super precious little man.
(Yes, as his mother I'm allowed to say that.)
It was supposed to be a video of him walking but
once the camera came out he was all too consumed with waving
and posing for me. ;)

short & sweet

Wow. Did I talk too much in my last post or what?!

I get tired just looking at all that typing.
Today I'm going to keep it short & sweet.
I know I keep showing Starbucks (aka. coffee lovers) onesies
but I'm tellin' ya, each time I make one I like it better than the last!

Here's one for little Lola.
This one is special cause I've added
something new to the ensemble...

{I apologize for the photos, I guess it was cloudier than I thought!}That's right! A baby skirt.
And now its my new favorite thing to make.

* I have adjusted the prices in my shop
so check it out if you're in the market for a baby gift!

* There are some really special things going on over at this blog.
Check it out and keep your eyes peeled SKC goodness!

It may not be much, but its mine.

A couple of months ago we finally

finished our basement
and I swear I didn't leave it for a week. :)

We live in a townhouse
and we rent
so we have lots of {crappy} rules.
The biggest one,
is we are not allowed to actually
"finish" our basement.
Meaning no new walls, sheetrock, etc.
But we needed a separation from our storage/laundry space
and our living space.
Solution: {removable} shelves!
Yay for extra storage too!! :)
(My dad's FABULOUS idea so, naturally, he was hired to make it a reality.)
So here's a quick{-ish} rundown of what we did to the space:

1) painted the walls from suicide dark blue to a nice neutral off-white color
(My husband did this like the day we moved in
cause he couldn't stand how dark & depressing it was.
I totally agreed about the color but had a little different
reaction to the basement:
flashbacks of the movie "Saw" - yeah, never see that movie
and never paint your basement DARK blue.
Also, we had a HUGE bucket of this off-white color
cause we mixed a whole bunch of random
neutral colored paints together from our old place,
so we didn't waste and we didn't spend money - a win/win people. ;) )

2) my brother came over and painted the exposed ceiling
an awesome warm gray
(like my favorite color right now...other than that blue color I mentioned...)
and installed 2 outlets
(since there was ONE in our gigantic basement, seriously)

3) my dad built and installed 3 4ft wide shelves that go to the ceiling,
creating a separation from the storage space,
that I painted the same color as the walls
(and yes, we STILL have more of that paint...)

4) my dad installed a "neutral"
(yeah, I really don't know what color it is...is cheap a color?)
colored carpet
(and yeah, he's pretty much awesome)

I stuck to a very neutral color palette
(how many times can I say "neutral" in this post?)
cause I wanted the play area and craft area to have pops of color
and anytime you use bold or dark colors
it makes a space seem even smaller and darker
(not good for an already small and dark basement).

Jeez. Tired of me talking?
Ready to see actual pictures??

- Warning -
This craft/play space IS in our basement
(ie. terrible lighting)
so the pictures are next to horrendous.

The first half of the room
(right when you come down the stairs)
is for the kiddos to play.
Its a big open area with bins of toys
and a train table against one wall.
That area of unfinished wood to the right
is part of the stairwell that has yet to be completed.

The second half of the room is alllllll mine...
(and a little bit of Jeff's. Who by the way
completely dragged his feet
helping me with this project
until he started to see how nicely it was coming together.
All of a sudden he was talking
flat screen tvs, couchs,
and using words like "man-cave".
I don't think so buddy.)
It has our computer desk
(which I sort of use as a divider for the room.
And its facing the play area so I can look over my computer screen
as I blog and yell at my children.
Oh, and toys are not allowed to cross over into "mommy's side".),
my craft table & supplies,
and my sewing table & supplies.

I finally threw away the broken rolling chair
I bought for COLLEGE from KMART and replaced it
with this chair I found at Target for $10
and I love it!

Craft stores sell these little lamp shades
that are sticky so you can cover them with paper or fabric
and decorate them however you want.
I hemmed the edges of my fabric to give it a finished look.

Here's the curtain I made to close off the storage area.
(The picture makes the fabric look gross but I promise its cute. ;) )

After seeing my friend's post
on these adorable silhoutte pictures
I had to do one of my own and I love how it turned out.
I also made the frame using the same technique from this post.




That completes my tour.
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoy this space!
Which is a lot. ;)

little monsters

My niece & nephew's 2nd birthday
was a couple weeks ago and I wanted to make them
coordinating twin t-shirts.
{But not too matchy-matchy ;) }

I thought these were quite fitting with
Halloween just around the corner. :)
I've also been wanting to make something for my shop with monsters.
Especially using this little guy...

My sister-in-law likes ribbon bows for her girls

so I thought I'd give it a whirl and make one to match the tee.
I saw the idea to add googly eyes on etsy and couldn't resist. :)

Happy Freaky Friday!! :)

{my last monster craft}

1st day of preschool

This was a big deal for me people.
My little man is going to school.
I realize its only preschool and its only 2 days a week but still.
Big deal.
Am I even old enough to have a child in school??
(the answer is yes)

So, we had to start the year off right
and take him to breakfast on his first day.
And where better than the glorious red & white clad Chick-fil-a.
Chicken minis - the breakfast of champions!
(or in this case, preschoolers)

We never did this growing up
but my husband's family did and I think its a great tradition
and one I plan on carrying on every year. :)

Like his jorts? :)
I made those the night before his first day.
I was laying out his outfit for the next morning
(cause 1st impressions are a big deal, hello!)
and needed some jean shorts.
I grabbed a pair of too short jeans and cut them
right above the knee holes that were just starting to form.
Now, here's a little jean hemming secret I learned from a
Nordstrom employee...
Cut off the bottom of the jeans
(you know that hard denim trim piece that just
canNOT be replicated at home?)
and re-sew it to the new desired length!
Amazing! :)
Cause who likes that "home-sewn hemmed" look on jeans??
Seriously, if you need jeans hemmed, take them to Nordstrom.
Not to me cause these shorts are so not perfect
- don't look too close -
but hey they work, and not totally wt right?
Maybe just like 75% or so...

This is not what it looks like people...
He just wanted to show me his backpack. ;)

this cabinet...

...needed something

...and I was pretty sure it would have to involve
naked babies
being that it's in the hallway by the upstairs bathroom. :)

{p.s. don't you just love it?
my stepdad made these for me and my sister-in-laws
one year for christmas.
I love how they were brand new and already looked old.
this is pretty much my favorite piece of furniture}

and here are my naked babes.
I had to do quite a bit of editing on these suckers to get them to have
similar coloring.
I wanted "warm" black & white
(not sepia :) )
here's a close up of the frames...

I didn't want to spend a whole lot
{ok ANY}
money on framing
so I used cheapo black 8x10 frames I bought
{half price} from hobby lobby
a few years ago
and spray painted them with the
blue color that I'm obsessed with right now.
then I took some sandpaper to them
to give them that beloved worn look and walla!

...close ups of the photos...
{jettison's was taken by my sweet friend Allyson}

the best of summer

I'm officially saying goodbye to summer.

Something that is very hard for me to do every year. :)
I realize we're halfway through September
but there was no way I was going to write this post
until after I got home from Florida. :)
But now I know its time.
And I'm actually ready for the change in seasons.
One of the few things we get to enjoy here in Kansas. ;)
So here are my favorite photos from the
glorious summer months . . .

daddy & jett, chillin' in the poolswingin' at the park on a summer eveningplaying "spies" until its dark outside :)
jett holding his breath. . . well, kind of. . .
{check out mama's boobage - ha! - I only have it when
I'm nursing so yeah, pictures like this make me happy}This is my adorable nephew, I had to throw this one in
cause all my brother's kids are half mermaid and
practically breathe underwater from birth yum jett's first trip to the poolroyals game with jay4th of july, love it.jaymin toting his 17-year-old aunt around,
well, trying to anyway ;)first trip to peach wave with friends :)

racing jaymin in grandma & grandpa's backyard
on a summer evening
chillin' at the lake with good friends. . .
wait a minute, this is from LAST summer!
alright, so I just like this picture. :)
and its fun to see where
my sweet little Jettison was a year ago. :)

Happy September Monday friends. :)

I'm back...

...not entirely happy about that but I'll try to fake it for ya. ;)
I had an incredible trip with my hubby
celebrating our 5 years of marriage
{and 8 years of together-ness}.



We are
refreshed
relaxed
& rejuvenated.

My mind is pretty empty
{as it should be}
so I'm ending this post. :)

Happy whatever-day-it-is.