Helper Stand for Max

 

David did a lot of projects around the house this weekend. One of the things on his to-do list (assigned by me of course) was to build a helper stand for Max.  Leah's Dad had made one made for Emery and I always see her using it.  We checked out Ana White's website and man, is it a FANTASTIC website for building things.  She has so many FREE plans that are awesome. 

David's nephew Kaleb came over to help him with the project.  He did a great job measuring and assisting.

Max was upset he couldn't come down and help, but we had fun playing upstairs.

The project was only suppose to cost $20 to build, but of course David needed better quality wood and other supplies while at Home Depot so he easily doubled or tripled that number.

Finished product!  Sorry the lighting is horrible, I took this late last night.  I still need to paint it, but I am researching the best way to paint furniture as I want to do it right and I have zero experience doing it the proper way.  I don't like brush stroke marks and I don't think I want a stain, more of a color.  I think I will try to match the blue in the new seat cushions mom made.

 It was pre-primed and David sanded it a bit, that's why the color looks like that.

 Max was a little hesitant at first and would just sit on it, but he has really warmed up to it.

He helped Gigi wash and put the beans in the pot last night for dinner, had a little ice cream at the counter with us, brushed his teeth (well as well a 15 month old can brush them) and helped make his breakfast smoothie this morning.  There was definitely less whining coming from him wanting to be picked up all the time to see, so definitely worth it! I'll post pictures when I paint it.

Forgot to mention this disgusting creature that I found in our house last night... I was playing with Max in his room while David was  putting up his curtains and bookshelves (yup, took this long to do) and I look at his light in the ceiling fan and notice something walking around in the lamp.... It was a freaking scorpion... alive... in Max's room. I FREAKED OUT, grabbed Max and ran out of the room. Thank God David was home to get it.  We checked everywhere else, but I hope this was an isolated incident.  David said he was trying to eat a dead beetle that was in the light.  How it got there, I really freaking don't know. I am so glad I saw it though. YUCKKKKKK. Update- bug guy said he crawled up the house and into the attic so they are bombing the attic today (don't worry Max will be out of the house with Mom).

Bar Stool & Chair Makeovers

I wasn't sure/still am not sure about what kind of stools I want for the kitchen.  There isn't a ton of room to tuck the stools under on the long side so we knew we needed them small.  

For the time being we went to walmart and bought $24 saddle stools. 

 

If you recall, mom started this project during our pinterest party. I don't really have formal instructions but I can try to list them out. All you need is a staple gun, staples, fabric, foam, and batting.  A strong hand would help too, that staple gun is hard to use.

She put the foam on the chair, then put batting around it and secured it with staples.

 Then she folded over the fabric and stapled it to the underside of the chair as well.  They came out great. I love the fabric!

Gigi was feeling a bit over ambitious and decided to take 2 of the chairs you see her standing by (we use 2 for the deep side of the island overhang) and cover those chairs.  They have a hard sturdy seat that comes off.

I had a coordinating fabric in the same color from Premier Prints that works PERFECTLY! She just used the batting and fabric. No foam on these.  I love how we were able to transform the space cheaply since I am not sure what I really want. Thanks Mom!!

Teacher Appreciation and Random Weekend Items

This week is teacher appreciation week. You may not be aware if you don't have any kids in school, but my sister is a teacher and she doesn't let me forget. I wanted to send her some virtual appreciation as most teachers don't get enough praise and recognition for the hard job they do every day (minus summers-yep still jealous about your well deserved days off). 

 Here is your bouquet of flowers since you didn't receive any by your class. They told me they wanted me to send them to you online :)

I loved these etched pencil and pen holders from HowDoesShe.com

Or how about these CUTE cupcakes from living locourto

Or this journal set by Nichole Healy. Presentation is everything ladies and gentlemen!

or lastly these apple cookies from 3 Four and Under! Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, be sure to thank a teacher you know!

Here are some other random thoughts from the weekend. We went to a few garage sales in David's parents annual neighborhood garage sale (they live in a huge, nice community that we always find good stuff). We found this Ember grill for $100 and negotiated down to $80.

Our grill is about 4 years old and is rusted out beyond use. We've fixed it a few times with various parts, but it was time to get a new one and we didn't want to spend over $300 on a brand new one. This one is in great condition and we already tested it out. On the left side is a spot for a beer bucket (that is really what sold David on the grill, lets be honest) and the right side is a burner. It also has a light inside. We had more food than these sweet potatoes for dinner, just so you know.

I put together this cute basket of baby gifts for one of our friends who recently had a baby girl. The baskets were on sale from Walmart (stock up on these and Easter baskets right now at walmart). I love the decorative liner it came with and I used cellophane to wrap it all up.

Handmade Fabric Flowers

I decided that I wanted to learn to make my own fabric flowers. I've seen people in the crafty blog world do them for a while and wanted to give it a try. David was camping all weekend so I was busy around town gathering supplies. I went to Hobby Lobby to find fabric. I also got some feathers thinking I might spruce them up (I have yet to use them though).

The fabric flowers will be for my steeplechase hat. I have a hot pink dress and I am accessorizing with the white hat and white shoes with aqua beads on them. I also went to charming charlies saturday and got some really pretty aqua jewelry (I'll show you later this week). I wanted to tie in the flowers to match all the colors I have going on.

Since we sold the gym last month, we decided to make it my sewing/craft room. Right now it consists of a table and all my equipment. Thanks to Davids Mom for letting me borrow her hot glue gun set. Don't ask me why David took ours with him camping. I also got a new hat instead of the one above. The ribbon was a bit out of control and I had no where to put the flowers so I got a more plain white one that suits me better. I used the computer to watch the step by step tutorial.

Let's get started. I was going to show you a step by step guide, but I will let the experts show you. Click here for the flower tutorial. She uses satin ribbon, but I used fabric. I made mine approximately 2 inches x 3 inches. You can adjust based on how big you would like your flower. You can also cut extra material from your petals once you start attaching it if its too long. Don't forget the felt that she mentions when picking up your supplies.

Here is the first one I made to tie in with my hot pink dress. This one has the double layer of petals like she shows in her example.

 The second one I made a bit shorter (prob. 2 inches x 2.5 inches) and single layered. I wanted it to complement the bigger flower but not compete with it. I got really good at the inner twisty part. I made it really tight and I like the way it looks.

Here they are together. I might make another aqua and green one. I still have to attach it to the pins I bought and put them on the hat. You'll see the final product after steeplechase this weekend! I final thought for all the people who think that you aren't crafty- You should really give this a try. You don't need a lot of materials and you will feel so crafty at the end. It did take me about 2 hours to really figure this out for the first flower. I starred at her pictures and tried to imitate what she did for a while. It finally paid off and I feel craftier than ever!