Bed Knobs and Broomsticks

Since I finished the dresser, I have been wanting to replace our bedspread. The green and brown bedspread was no longer matching with the rest of the furniture. But since I am on a budget, I was trying to come up with some creative solutions that I could do now, rather than wait and be annoyed every time I walked in my room. I already owned a down comforter, but haven't used it in a while, seeing as we live in Houston and all. I began my research on Pinterest for some DIY ideas when it came to duvet covers. One site had mentioned just using flat sheets, measuring, and sewing together to make a duvet cover. I figured I was capable of sewing a few straight lines. Luck would have it, when I went to Ross a few days later, I was able to find a double set of sheets for a good price. I got two flat sheets that were color coordinated, two fitted sheets, and four pillow cases.  And here is the end result. I still have a few finishing details to do, but all in all, I pretty pleased with the results. 

Aaron is still a little hesitant about the floral pattern. But I absolutely love it! He wanted more blue...

Here is another project I started before we moved. I wanted to get Ella a twin sized bed, so I needed to get twin sized bedding. Once again, trying to be thrifty, I took an old duvet cover we had, that we were no longer going to use. I cut it down to size, then added the tulle flowers and strips. I had to hand stitch all the flowers on. Ella wanted them all over the bed, but that was a little more work than I was willing to put in. Eventually, this will turn into a ballerina themed room with some tulle window coverings and art work. But this is a good start. 

  

 I totally forgot to post Halloween costumes on here. Ella has acquired some princess dress-ups so I decided to let her choose which princess she wanted to go as. She choose Cinderella. I think she makes a fabulous princess don't you?

And then there is Ty. I was too lazy this year to think of something to make, and too cheap to buy my two year old a costume. And since I am a Pinterest addict, this is what he got stuck with. Luckily, most people thought it was hilarious. Everything we already owned, plus a make-up beard and card board sign and we were good to go. While were trick-or-treating, Ty got really scared of going up to people's houses. So he spent most of the night, NOT working for candy, but sitting in the stroller. He is certainly a lazy bum. :-)

 These are pictures of Ella taking pictures of herself. I thought they were cute and wanted to share my child's cuteness with you all!

New Pride and Joy

I have a new pride and joy at my house. We got rid or our old dressers when we moved. They were dressers that we got from Ikea a few years ago and they completely fell apart. So once we got settled in the new house, I was on the hunt for something that I could make my own. I cam across this dresser on Craiglist and I made Aaron go pick it up for me. I have been in love with all this colored furniture that I have been seeing a lot lately, but I didn't want to pay full price for any of it. So I did it myself. 

Here is the before picture:

And here is the after:

I am so excited that I was able to accomplish this. My good friend came over and helped with a lot of it so I can't take all the credit. :-) Now I am on to finishing up some projects for Ella's room. Stay tuned for more! 

We're home!

We finally made it to the new house. After living in a hotel for a few days and then staying with some awesome friends for two weeks, we are homeowners again. We are so grateful to be in our new house and the kids are loving all the extra room to play. Here are some pictures of the places that were mostly clean. I am still working on rooms upstairs, but the down stairs is pretty much done. 

New House

For those of you who don't know, we SOLD our house! We got an offer the day we left Utah and signed the papers two days later. We are really excited and relieved that we can move forward on the new house now. 

Here are some pictures of the new house:

This is a view of the kitchen from the living room.

Butler's Pantry. 

Doors to the office. There is clear plastic on the glass and will be removed once they are done painting.

View from the front door into the living room.

Master bathroom

Bay window in master bedroom

The brick is finally going up.

We feel really blessed to be able to do this. We close on the house in three weeks! 

A Year in a Day

I have been so bad at updating my blog. My camera was having issues uploading pictures to the computer. I finally realized my printer has an SD card reader. So here we are. We have had a fairly boring year this year and I will totally take it. The kids continue to get bigger and they are so much fun... (most of the time). 

As I was looking back at some of our pictures I ran across these. The first one is Ty when Dad dresses him for church. And I dressed him in the second. Notice any differences? I was out of town for the first picture and that was what I saw when Aaron and the kids picked me up from the airport after church. I loved it. :-) Proof that they do need me around. 

This is Ella's first day of pre-school. Her teacher is a lady in our ward and we absolutely love her! Ella has done so well in school, learning all her letters and numbers and she is really close to reading. I would like to say it is because I am so dedicated to her learning, but I think the credit goes to Ms. Sylvia and to Aaron. He reads with the kids almost every night. 

This year I decided to make Ella's Halloween costume.  I just told her what she was going to wear and tried to get her excited about it. When she saw the skirt, she was sold. (I think the pink hair helped a little too.) She went as Abby Cadabby. It was a lot of fun.

Before ^

< After

We also painted our house. We are wanting to move in the next year, so we are starting to get things ready little by little so we don't have to do it all at once. I was kind of sad to see all the color go, but I love it now. The house feels so open. We also got new blinds in the living room, which I installed my self. I am so proud of myself for figuring that out. 

Things that happen while Dad is suppose to be watching the kids. Ella did the same things. Silly kids!!!

I have been on a crafting/sewing binge. My friend was having a baby shower, so I thought that I would take this opportunity to try out some the things that my Aunt Colleen taught me last summer. I hope I did you proud Aunt Colleen. Above is a nursing blanket.

I also made a single layer flannel blanket with a matching burp cloth. I made these for Ty and absolutely loved them. especially in Texas. They are bigger than a typical flannel blanket so they make it easy to swaddle. 

I also crocheted these adorable Mary Jane booties. They turned out so cute. 

And my first car seat canopy. I almost didn't give this away. I love butterflies.. and pink. What a perfect combination. It's a good thing that I bought more fabric. 

I also made a diaper clutch. I didn't have a pattern for this, so I just kind of winged it. But I think that it turned out pretty good. I have since made another one that I think is a little more polished, not bad for the first time. I am also thinking about selling these, either individually, or as gift sets so if any one is interested just let me know. These will not be the only color combinations I can make.

Then these are just of my cute babies. I am so lucky to have such great kids. They are certainly my pride and joy! Hopefully now that I have figured out how to upload my photos, you all can get better updates. Love to all!!