Evie's Room, Part I

So, the room decor has begun.........about time, right?  Since she's due in about 2-3 weeks.  Today's project was the handles on an old dresser.  It's an antique, but it's got a perfect wide top for a changing table.  When I got it from my grandmother's stuff, it was already missing a handle or 2 and I've tried several times to replace them but apparently the old handles are different from today's standard sizes.  Today, Jackson and I replaced them with beaded handles.  I like them!

 

Started with a mix box of beads from Michaels and some 20 guage wire.

I decided to use the flowers, the animals, and some large ball beads from the mix box.

 This is the dresser and one of the original handles

 took all the handles off.

 Strung 9-10 beads on a length of wire and threaded it through the holes and twisted it tight on the back.

  

 So easy, even the 3 year old could do it!

 3 done!

 All done!!!

 Matching bedside table.  ignore the splatters on the wood.......that's next.

A Garden Left Alone

So, we're back!  Had a wonderful, sacred, annual week at the beach!  Rained a lot and was cold and windy, but any day at the beach is better than a great day at work, right?  We arrived home this afternoon and after the obligatory unpacking, I had to go check out the garden.  We have 2 good size pumpkins coming along (much more manageable than the 12 we had last year).  I'm wondering what will become of the pumpkin vines growing up the fences though, do those produce pumpkins or just take over space?  The cucumbers are about done for.  Looks like a combo of too much rain AND too much sun, maybe?  Update on the tomato plant that came back from the dead of the compost bin.  It's the biggest tomato plant i've ever seen.  The smallest stem is as big around as my thumb and the rest is huge and strong and covered in flowers.  I saw a few green balls, but nothing red yet and nothing big enough to call a tomato just yet, but i have hope. It has pretty much taken over the compost bin at this point.  And, the sunflowers!!  They are massive!  The pics below are taken from about 10 feet away in order to see the tops.  The tallest is about 12 feet tall!  Also got 4 giant squash out and several more on the way.  Didn't get to look at the beans much since the mosquitoes discovered I had invaded their territory at this point.  I'll probably send the boys after the beans tomorrow.  how are your gardens doing?

Craft Show "Browser" - Ethical Issue?

Ok, so this evening I have made one of the cuter things, in my opinion, that I have ever made.  I made a tooth monster for holding lost teeth and collecting the 'mullah'(sp?).  I found it on Pintrest (duh).  Now, I pretty much made a rough replica of exactly what I saw and upon making it again I will be making all sorts of different shapes and colors and such.  (They were actually super fun to put together!)  The Pintrest pin, though, was not of a craft someone made and was sharing, it was a pin of something someone saw on Etsy and liked.  Me, I tend to browse Etsy for ideas.  Never, have I bought anything.  I look, memorize, and do it myself.  Is there a problem with this?  I am also that person at the craft show who walks out looking like she just hit the mother load of greatness but is carrying not a single bag.  It’s all locked upstairs ready to unpack the moment I hit my craft table.

For me, I figure if I make something and someone sees it and wants to copy it, go for it.  I'm not going to give you my pattern, but I’m certainly not going to put up a fuss about you using your own diy-ness and figuring it out.  There are more than enough lovers of crafts without a crafty bone in their body to go around and keep the market going, right?  Also, I never sell anything.  I love making stuff for people, but I would never take money for them.  Too much pressure! 

So, my question, is there an issue with replication?  

Btw: our first tooth monster...

The Pregnant Gardener 2013: Whataya know?

So, who would have guessed it?  I am able to grow more than a kid this summer!  This year has definitely been slow.  I was slow to prep, slow to plant, slow to everything.  Never did get to the rest of the boxes that had overgrown with weeds AGAIN, but We do have pumpkins plants taking over (only a more favorable side of the yard this time), the great cucumber monster has risen from sleep, we have the great bean field, giant sunflowers, and squash (did see a squash bug, though, so we'll how long that lasts).  That's about it.  

We had a little run-in with some garden bandits.....yard people, that I had cancelled, randomly showed up, weed-eated the new-ish pumpkin vines that had found their way over the garden box, took out my husband's hopps plants, and then to top it off, cut up the tubing to out pool pump.  Yes, I tried to call and yell at them, I emailed them, I FB messaged them, AND I left a nasty note on the site where I found them, but, NO, I have not heard from them again.  At least I have never received a bill.  They better not even think about it.  Anyway, the pumpkins have repaired nicely, the hopps, sadly, are gone for this season, and my pack-rat of a hubby, had extra tubing.  So, back to normal, for the most part.  Luckily, we have found a yard crew that knows the difference between food plants and weeds.  You wouldn't think that would be hard to find, right?  Sheesh.

So, went out today, and the monsters of my yard are starting to produce baby monsters, just ripe for the picking!  I had a little help bringing in the first harvest.  Yay!  Hopefully, I can keep up a little better now that our weekends are starting to settle out some.

Choo Choo Train Birthday

So, we finally made it to June and the Choo Choo Train 3rd Birthday.  This will be the last BIG event until the after the baby comes.  I had fun putting it together and I love seeing my kids have a blast, but I really am glad our last planned weekend is over and now I can just rest and work on baby stuff!  As with the pirate ship I took photos step by step in the making of the train and some extras.

The train was a total of 3 cars: the engine, a boxcar, and the caboose.

The Engine:

 2 boxes

 the smaller one, I added a large piece of cardboard to the top to get a rounded shape

 

 cut out the door opening and some windows

 

 tape them together

I wrapped the train in wrapping paper because I don't have a big enough space or area that I wouldn't mind having paint everywhere as a result.

The Box Car:

 a box - cut an opening in the side...

...and wrapped it.  this was the easy one!

 

The Caboose:

 2 boxes

 closed the big one up at one end

 cute a semi-opening and some windows

 cut some windows out of the top window

 put one on top of the other with the openings facing the same way

 wrap it up

Other stuff:

The Cow pusher (snow plow)  I took a rectangular peice of cardboard and semi-cut two triangles and folded them together and taped them.  Then I fully cut two traingles from the remaining corners.  Then covered it in foil.

 The wheels: 

I have to admit this was my husband's genius.  I had decided to use black paper plates, however, i didn't know how i was going to attach them as well as the cow pusher.  He suggested pipe cleaners.  So I took a knife, and while holding the plate up against the box, i punctured 2 slits and then used half a pipe cleaner to secure it.  Slipping it through both sides and twisting it like a twist tie in the back.  The technique worked on the cow pusher as well.

Front walk - Just a train track on the sidewalk made with black duct tape.  Came up easily afterwords.

The cake:  Used mini loaf pans (5 in a pack at walmart) for the train cars.  Got a board from the garage and covered it in foil.  Then I used those astro-belts or sours strings, whatever your local store calls them, to make a track.  Just used a little icing to glue them down.  Then on each cake, i just iced the top, not the sides, then we put different candies on each on.  I put the "3" candle on the front car.  Each kid got to pick a car to have a slice from.  1/3 to 1/2 of each car is an adequate piece for a kid.