The Graphics Fairy

sorry I've been away for so long

we went on a child-less road trip to Washington!

which was a blast, until I got very sick.

luckily the boys were still at Gramma's so I could spend a few days being very sick all to myself.

It snowed here last night, which is big news because we live near the ocean and almost never get snow.

My darling babies are finally coming home today (they have been gone for a week and 2 days) and I can't wait!

admittedly, I have been a little crazy for them the last few days : ) 

I'll be back soon with a few fun projects and inevitably some more baked goods!

Peace!

The Small Mr. Darcy

Romantically speaking, we do not celebrate Valentine's Day. My husband I prefer to make daily attempts to show our love throughout the year. 

However, when it comes to small hands carefully cutting, taping, and writing each name, my heart simply melts. To me Valentine's day is when I am showered with sweet misspelled love notes written in crayon, not roses and expensive dinners.

So with that, I will allow my very small Mr. Darcy to share his valentines with all of you...

"In vain have I struggled. It will not do..."

" ...My feelings will not be repressed..."

" ...You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.''

Happy Valentine's Day!

Someday, he will be grown.

and he will shine his love into another's heart.

But, for now, I am the woman he loves the most.

I am his Valentine

I am his Mommy

May you all know Peace and Love today, and always!

Kiddie Car Seat Covers

A few months ago we bought a new car, a car with very nice leather seats. 

My husband and I love the seats but the boys were having a harder time adjusting to the very slippery leather. each time Orion would jump out of the car his booster seat would come tumbling out after him. 

After looking around I still couldn't find anything affordable that would be both comfortable for the children and protect my seats from the little monsters. I wanted something fun, not blah grey and black, so I decided to make my own.

it just not my style, and they are $25 bucks each! 

So instead I made 2 of these

Piratey car seat protectors for my little mateys

Sorry about the cruddy pictures, the rain only stopped for a few minutes!

I simply took some freezer paper, laid it on the seat, and sketched out a rough shape and size for the covers. I made sure to note on my template where the head rest connected to the seat and where the LATCH carseat hooks were so I could anchor the covers to my seat. Then I took my template back in the house, and laid it out on my fabric. I wanted my seat protectors to be thick enough to absorb and spills but also be snuggly for Orion whose back sits against the seat. 

I suppouse you could use batting, but it wouldn't absorb much, so I sandwiched old towels in between my top fabric and the backing. I simply laid the fabrics right sides out, traced my template and sewed it all together. I cut away the excess material and pinned bias tape all aound the edges and sewed them together, just like quiltmaking.

the top of the covers

At the top I sewed button holes for the posts of the head rest to go through. We push our head rests down all the way, so I really  don't care what the button holes look like. This keeps the top of the cover in place and keeps the whole thing looking very tidy.

center ties

bottom ties (complete with non matching bias tape, I ran out of blue:) )

I also added ties at the center of the cover to tie to the LATCH seat components and I added ties to the bottom of the covers, which I tied up to a bar under the seat. None of the ties can be seen,  but they do need to be long enough to be easily tied and untied.

See the non matching bias tape disappears completely!

I backed my covers with a soft flannel but since they are not visible the backing isn't really necessary.

All together the car seat covers were about $10 in fabric, $5 in bias tape (cause I was too lazy to make my own that day), and an afternoon of ironing, pinning and sewing. They couldn't have been easier to make, and took hardly anytime to do. If you did not want to tie them at the bottom you could even add pockets for toys and books.

I love the way they turned out and how unique they are. Plus they wash nicely, stay in place perfectly, and look much more fun than the boring black polyester ones you can buy! I mean what's cooler than a starfish with a broadsword?

Hope on over to the Parties to see all the other fab stuff

Peace Me Mateys!

Aww thanks...

I have been awarded the Stylish Blogger Award by one of my newest readers, Dana, over at The Boyers At Home

Thanks Dana!

& here are my 7 things

1. Tonight I forced Jess to take us out for Pho' which I have been craving for over a week.Orion gobbled up his dinner while Mason pretended to be a schoolbus.  It was delicious and I cannot wait to bust out  the leftovers after we put the kids to bed.

2. I search Craigslist at least 10 times a day, because I am looking for a glass and brass hanging light fixture from the 80's and I want to be the first person to contact the seller. Because obviously, if someone is selling one of those it's gonna go fast, I'm crazy I know! but if any of you have one maybe you could send me, please!

something like this, I have a plan, don't worry

3. I love strawberries but dislike almost anything strawberry flavored, go figure.

4. Today I started reading The Wide Sargasso Sea, I'm halfway through but probably won't be able to pick it back up for a week or two, it made me sad :( Nevertheless, it is a beautifully written book and I am enjoying it immensely.

5. I have a love for both writing and photography and have taken several college level photo and English classes, neither of which are evident by reading my blog. I just refuse to spend days taking photos or rewriting my posts. I prefer to be more conversational here, and for that I apologize.

6. My kindergarten aged son is the most advanced in his class, like, by a lot. I am terribly disappointed by this fact, and terribly disappointed in a lot of the parents of his classmates. They are all very smart, but I'm not so sure about their parents.

7. I probably ate 2 or 3 cups of cream cheese frosting over the weekend, one spoonful at a time. I think if left to my own devices I'd live solely on chocolate and frosting. Gross, I know!

And since I am just so grateful for all of you I am awarding all of you

the 

let's hear your 7 random things...

Peace & Pho'

An *almost* finished kitchen

I have been waiting FOREVER for my kitchen to be finished so I can show it off! I am so happy with the way it turned out and I just cannot wait any longer. There are only a few tiny things left to do, but you are all creative and imaginative people so you can just imagine it, mkay?!

In our kitchen we have done almost everything by hand, and on a very tight budget!

This is my Wedge, and honestly I couldn't live without her! Here in Humboldt county we have loads of natural gas and old Victorian homes so finding a fantastic Wedgewood stove is pretty easy and usually cheap. 

We painted our cabinets, made the pendant lights, made the LED under cabinet lights, made the cabinet knobs, made the flooring, made the copper counter tops and made the butcherblock counter top too!

This is definitely the kitchen that love built, and by love I mean my love, my husband!

The kitchen went from being a dark crumbling cave my favorite place in the house. 

It may not be perfect but it's pretty darn close for under $1,000!

I think removing a few of the cabinet doors made the biggest impact of all in this tiny kitchen.

Green cabinets are not for everyone but I just love the dusty grey/green color of them, especially with the copper counters, which are also not for everyone!

This is one of the areas yet to be finished. Just picture the top of the bead board on the all white wall with some trim and a cute little shelf for displaying a small art prints. Also, there is usually a bowl in my mixer but it is currently in the fridge filled with some yummy cream cheese frosting, yum!

This antique bon bon jar is one of my most prized objects. Prized like I'd grab it and the family photos if there were ever a fire. On second though maybe I should keep a USB key of the photos in the jar, then maybe I could grab a cat or two also!

This is my other favorite item, a super rusty old soap dish I keep heart shaped rocks in.

Well that's it for now, I wish it was completely finished but I've already sent live-in carpenter (aka Jessie) to start work on the master bathroom. Looks like it's going to be a while before I get the little shelf above my mixer installed.
Thanks for coming by!

Peace stay for cup of coffee!

Sticks and Stones

 A few weeks ago I showed you all how the hubs and I made our kitchen lighting. Today I want to show you how we made our cabinet knobs, for next to nothing!

River rock cabinet knobs

we made ours out of river rocks we collected from the banks of...you guessed it, a river!

creek rocks work well too : )

each knob is unique and handmade, and if you get sick of it you can switch them out.

I love how each rock is a different size and shape, plus look how great they look with my drawer pulls

Restoration Hardware pulls I got for .50 cents each at their store closing sale!

 So do you wanna make your own?

Start with these, I think they are called machine bolts. I bought mine at ace hardware with the screws to mount them for .60 cents each, and they already have the oil rubbed bronze finish!

then I mixed my favorite 5 minute epoxy on a paper plate with a toothpick, very technical!

I applied a little epoxy to the back of the clean rock and a little to the clean flat face of the hardware

After they dried for a few minutes I turned them over so the rock was on top, I figured the weight of the little rock would help set the epoxy, I dunno I'm crazy!

when they have dried overnight they are ready to be affixed to your cabinets and adored! the best part about the machine bolts is that they are the perfect length for you to be able to get your fingers behind to open the cabinet door. We have had ours on for a long time and have never broken one.

*Before starting the process I cleaned my rocks in hot soapy water, rinsed them and let them dry for a few days. Then just before applying the epoxy I cleaned just the glue areas with rubbing alcohol. The cleaner the better!

** You want to find rocks that look like they are not made of conglomerated mud or sand as they are not strong enough. The harder the stone the better it works, a good test is to try to scratch it with a knife, if it scratches easily find a different rock.

***If you want, you can spray them with a clear coat so they look wet, We chose to leave the rocks the way they were but they do look more colorful with the wet look

**** You can do this with anything, not just rocks! I have tried tiles, glass, shells and all sorts of items your imagination is your only limit!

I'll be linking this up  in a few places later today

Sticks and stones may break my bones but Peace will never hurt me!

Bad Mommy

Oh white slipcovered sofas I love you so! 

So much in fact, that I spent loads of money on a nice slipcover for my burgundy colored sofa about a year ago.

yep, I'd say about a year ago was when this lady lost it all together!

The lady with 2 little boys, a geologist (read: dirt covered) husband, 2 cats and a dog has a white sofa.

Pretty much only the lady is allowed to sit on the sofa now, even though she spills more than anyone else.

but oh, how lovely the untouchable white sofa looks amidst all the other "boy" junk in the house, or at least the lady thinks so!

But the lady's love, and the white slipcover could not stay untarnished forever. 

She herself was the one that splattered white paint on the white slipcover (which you'd think would not be all that visible but it was)!

One time when the lady washed the slipcover the little metal D rings that hold it snugly to the ugly sofa rusted in the wash and got rust all over the white slipcover. 

The lady was so sad to be stuck with the burgundy sofa again, but at least the lady could drink red wine on the sofa again, that was nice. 

So the lady took it back and got a new one, from another nice lady at target, for free! Just like that the lady and her white slipcover were back together, given another chance, and the lady was happy. This time, however, the lady had added a new love to the relationship. It was the lady, her white slipcover and Scotch-guard! 

For a while the lady felt badly about spraying chemicals on her furniture, chemicals that might be harmful to her children. Then she remembered that the children are not really allowed to be on the sofa anyways so they wouldn't be absorbing all those nasty chemicals. 

The lady was once again happily lounging on her white slipcovered sofa...sipping white wine, and feeling like a good mother for not exposing her children to those nasty chemicals!

Girlie Nursery Decor

I have been wanting to show you the gifts I made for Lenae for days, but I had to wait until she received them so I would not spoil the surprise.
Having 2 little boys means that making uber girlie stuff is completely out of my repertoire. I had so much fun making these and I hope little Quinn enjoys them just as much.

First is the butterfly garden mobile, I know it doesn't move, so technically it is not a mobile, but what else am I to call it?
As it turns out, it's called a stabile, who knew? Well actually my husband did, go figure!

First I wrapped a 10" floral foam wreath with the pink ribbon

Then with the wreath all wrapped I removed all the flowers from their stems and cut the hard plastic bases off of they so they would sit flush against the wreath form. On a few of the flowers I had to use a little dab of hot glue to keep them from falling apart after cutting their bases off.

Next, I added 3 equal length strips of ribbon to the sides to hang it with. I layed the wreath facing up on my table and began adding flowers starting with the largest flowers, then moving to the medium and small to fill in. Once I was happy with the it I hung it from my dining room chandelier, filled in all the little spots and added some flowers on the sides. I chose to leave the top mostly uncovered with the exception of where the hanging ribbons attached to the wreath but you could cover the entire thing if you wished. 

Can you spy my little red headed helper?

I did mine in all pink and white silk flowers I bought on sale at Michaels. To make sure the flowers would be very secure I hot glued the flowers on and used a few pins for adjustments.

While at Michale's I also purchased a few butterflies and attached them onto the mobile to give it a more whimsical look.

I know it's so sweet it almost makes your teeth hurt, but I love it.  I only hope Lenae likes the sugary thing as much as I do!

Then because I love little wall plaques I made this out of a metal sign I had lying around. The "Q" is a little wooden element I found at Michael's and painted. I simply covered the metal sign in some pink paper and then made all the little embellishments out of some coordinating papers I had lying around. 

A handmade silk/button flower and some rhinestones were the icing on the cupcake for this super sweet wall plaque. By the time I finished I was wishing my initial was a Q!

Here's to hoping more of my fiends have girls!

Peace and pretty butterflies!