Made by Alicia

Traveling and teething and increasingly mobile childrens and lots of other bad excuses have kept me from some projects I’ve been dying to tackle like three frame collages that need to go up on three different walls, an upholstered headboard, turning our new/thrifted coffee table into an ottoman, and lots more ideas waiting to be born.  I’m a pretty patient person except when it comes to matters of decorating and doing-it-myself.  I have a “need to make it happen now” attitude that is only hampered by the fact that harried runs to Lowe’s and other diy palaces is close to impossible with twins always at my side.  Hmmph, the life of a mother…absolutely, without-a-doubt wonderful and very, very good at teaching patience.  :) 

To make up for my lack, look what my sister-in-law Alicia and her hubs did to their dining chairs:

Don’t they look incredible?  They reupholstered them just like we did our dining chairs awhile back.  Remove the seats, remove the old fabric, cut and staple on the new, put the seats back on and, BAM, your dining room gets all funky-cool just like that.  When she sent over the pictures, they were just enough to satisfy my diy-deprived heart until I can get a free naptime to do and do and do some more.

Speaking of naptimes, we’re in the midst of one right this moment which means that I probably should be taming my mane and finding something to wear for the Matt Maher, Chris August, and Bellarive concert we’re rockin’ to tonight!  With Lightning McQueen ear plugs in each canal (courtesy of Lauren), it’ll be the twins first-ever concert!  I’m pumped and the twins are too…I think.  I hope your night is as great as mine even though, if you’re not going to the concert, chances are it won’t be.  Juuust teasing.  Or not…  :)

Hope to see you tomorrow!  I’ll be the one in the polka-dotted shirt!  :) 

Three Ways to an Infinity Scarf

I love scarves, especially infinity scarves.  They’re my accessory of choice over necklaces any day.  That’s why I figured out how to turn just about every scarf I own into an infinity, whether it’s a plain, oblong scarf, tasseled, or a simple square.  Here’s how: 

For this one I simply lined up the short edges, pinned them together,

and then sewed them together, stitching as close to the edge as I possibly could.

Easy peasy.
 

No sewing machine?  You could easily hand-sew the edges together or even use some heat ‘n bond tape depending on the fabric your scarf is made out of.
 

 

With a tasseled scarf, all you have to do is tie the tassels on each end together.  If there are lots of tassels, you can get away with tying every other or every third one or even grabbing a few from each end and tying them all together all along the edge.  I tied the tassels on this scarf in bows in case I ever want to ‘un-infinity’ it…which will probably never happen.

 

My mom bought me a few square scarves last year and I didn’t know how to wear them until I figured out this little trick – fold the square into a triangle and then tie each end of the long side together.  Throw it over your head and wrap it around twice or three times and it’s “to infinity and beyond”.  Think of how easy it would be to grab a square of a fabric you love at a fabric store, hem the edges, and turn it into an infinity scarf using this tiny tutorial!  Endless options…endless I tell ya…and cheap to boot!

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Anyone else have any little tricks they’ve used to whip up an infinity scarf?  Anyone else prefer them over necklaces like me or are crazy enough to wear them (light ones albeit) during the hot summer months?

39 Hours

That’s about how many hours we spent on the road last week visiting my family in Nebraska.  It’s also the number of hours the twins spent getting to know their car seats.  It was spring break so we decided to take the opportunity to make our way up for Easter, to introduce everyone to the twins, and then to attend my cousin’s wedding last weekend.  We made the trip from Alabama to Nebraska (and vice-versa) overnight, hoping the girls would sleep through most of the drive.  Lucky for us, they did.

On the way up, we stopped by my best friend’s house in St. Louis for breakfast before banking the last six hours.  The way back took us four hours longer than the way there due to more stopping to ease sore baby bottoms.  If I were to write up a “How to Survive a 16+ Hour Car Trip with 9-Month Old Twins”, it would include 1) a portable DVD player, played in 15 minute increments for maximum attention grabbing, 2) one parental unit sandwiched in-between babes in the backseat at most times, 3) overnight travel, 4) lots of annoying noise-making toys within tots’ reach at all times, and 5) just enough 5-10 minute stops to add a few hours to your already long drive.  And, if you were wondering (which you probably weren’t), we didn’t stop for feeding which means I got lots of practice in body contortion and hunching over strapped-in infants.  Lucky for me, I was smart enough to use my nursing cover to shield passers-by from feeding sessions.  I was under the impression during the drive to see my sister last year that our windows were tinted so I went about my merry way and nursed the girls while my other sister drove.  I found out months later that they are in fact NOT.  so. embarrassing.  I’m still praying I don’t find fame on YouTube because of it.  Aaanyway… 

Sunday circa 2:30 pm:

So now that we’re home (but definitely not unpacked yet), it’s back to the regular blogging schedule starting tomorrow with a post all about Buzz Lightyear…ooor maybe just his infamous “To Infinity and Beyond!”  Hope to see you then!

Easter 2013

While I’m puttin’ back loads of leftovers and lots of cheesecake (on my seventh piece in four days), here’s some Easter pictures for you all to munch on.  I’m usually not a huge fan of photo dumps so I apologize to those of you who are bored out of your mind and I won’t hold it against you if you skip out.  I’m also not sure what the internet access situation will be this Saturday so I can’t promise a post but h0pefully this’ll hold you over until I can get some diy up.  I’ve got four completed projects – two cardigan makeovers, an easy diy infinity scarf, and a diy polka-dotted shirt – ready to be put into words and out onto the web with a click of a button so stay tuned next week.  It’s gonna be good, I promise.  :)

Until then, gaze upon the cutest grandparents ever:
  

 

 





 

 

 

Last but not least, a sneak peak of one of those new cardigans the scissors, sewing machine, and I cranked out last week:

See you next week!

Thrifty McThriftster

I had high hopes for this post but they all came crashing down when all of the dumbphone pictures I took on my quick 20 minute  thrift store run (without twins in tow) were accidentally erased while being transferred to my comp…  Needless to say I’m ANXIOUSLY awaiting April 8th, when our current cell phone contract ends and we can move over to a better deal and for me, a new SMARTphone.  Yip to the yee!

Anyway, Mary over at With My Sisters is having a great link-up where all you have to do is write up your best thrifting tip and share your wisdom with the web at large.  My plan was to hit up a thrift store (check), take pictures of home decor and clothing items I spied that were great deals (check), and show them to you all with notes on what you could do to each to make it even better (foiled).

So, in lieu of my thrifting experience by way of poor quality pictures gone missing, I give you some words to thrift by:

1.  What Mary said.  If it doesn’t “wow” you 100% in the thrift store, it’s going to “wow” you even less when you try it on or set it in your own space.  Then you’re plum outta luck because most thrift stores have a no-returns policy.

2.  Learn to sew!  It opens up a WHOLE NEW WORLD of possibilities and options…seriously!

3.  Be creative.  Snatch up a few boy’s belt to wear as waist belts.  Love the shoes but want to spice them up?  Take some spray paint to them!  Love the fit but not the color?  Dye it!  Wish it wasn’t so plain?  Add some studs, ribbon, leather pieces, rhinestones, etc…  As far as home decor goes, think outside the box.  Used, clean throw pillows can serve as inserts for new covers.  Fluffy comforters can be padding under fabric for headboards and cushions for whatever might need a soft place to land.  Curtains can be made from sheets, duvet covers, tablecloths, and vice-versa.  Old lamp shades can be reupholstered and set on a lamp base or attached to a ceiling fixture for a modern update.  Old coffee tables can be turned into new ottomans or benches.  Entertainment centers can be turned into storage meccas.  Chairs can be painted and their seats reupholstered.  I could go on and on.  And always my main mantra stands - spray paint can make anything new – baskets, wooden plaques, picture frames, lamps, ceramic animals, figurines, vases, desks, shelves dot dot dot 

4.  Pretend you’re not in a thrift store.  I can tend to see something that I would love if I saw it in say, Target or in a Pottery Barn catalogue, but since it’s in a thrift store it’s really not that great.  For example, I found this set of 12 green, quality drinking glasses shaped like pineapples and they totally looked like they came straight from Anthropologie.   If we didn’t already own too many glasses, they’d have been mine.  But, with a “thrift store” mindset, I might’ve passed them off as old, used glasses someone didn’t want so why should I.   However, the other extreme is also true - you see something you might use and since it’s only $1, you buy it, even though you wouldn’t even give it a second glance in a department store.

I did walk away from my quick thrift excursion with a few things.  I’ve been itching for some printed cardigans but my usual haunts, clearance racks, are turning up short.  Lucky for me, I found a couple of sweaters and one XXL cardigan (total spent: $9) I’m planning on transforming into cardigans made for mwah:
 

I’ve already taken a scissors and machine to this one:
 
You’ll have to stay tuned for that tutorial.  :)

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Happy thrifting everyone!  Remember, “One (wo)man’s trash is another (wo)man’s treasure”! 

P.S.  I’m spending Holy Saturday with family and the dude in the tomb so I won’t be posting but I’ll be back next week (with a possible WIWS appearance Sunday) with more of the same DIY stunts I’m liable for!  Happy Easter in advance!