tagged for life.

liv’s newness today are these fabulous fabric tags.

(say that five times fast.)

as you can see, I am still incredibly in love with the woodoodled papers too..

(click on the layout for full list of credits.)

I am still just so in love with this pic!!

I did touch it up, just a smidge.  like removing the speakers that were in the background..  I am a little anal that way.  it was a spontaneous shot, I didn’t want it to be too posed or orchestrated, so those things that end up bugging me when all is said and done need to be dealt with afterwards.

it’s the way I am.

I have this relationship with photoshop that I thought I would never have.  I was SO AFRIAD of it!!  but I can tell you, that getting my feet wet with photo editing was what got me comfortable and excited.

I think we all know that I got that start at jessicasprague.com.

(and if you didn’t know that, well, welcome to my blog!!)

jess is doing her yearly free class, to help us all learn, for the experienced ones, it helps us to get excited, for the newbies, it helps show them that this is possible!!

I have signed up, you should too!!

among other things going on here..

I am up to my neck in soccer stuff.  I am the newest (insert title here that has to do with age group coordinating) with our region AYSO board.  my two youngest love soccer!!  it takes involved parents to make it happen.  seriously, in EVERY SINGLE AREA.  if you have kiddos who love something, get involved.  it makes their experience so much better.

we finished our last day of little laker cheer in prep for the parade tomorrow. 

yesterday, peyton wasn’t really much about the whole “participation” thing, aside from clapping. 

today I might have bribed her with a slurpee if she would just raise her hands!!!

she did.

lynn was selected to be the filer for their little stunting group.  she loves it.  all she has been doing for the past 24 hours now is cheering.

she is sad that today is the last day.

we’ve also had a couple of days of dam fun.

and the bathroom re-do has begun.

it is such a wonderful sight to look up, and have WHITE ceilings!!

that’s right, there is an “s” on the end of ceiling..  I decided that while I was at it, I might as well tackle the ceiling in our master bathroom too.  I mean, I did do our bedroom last summer.  it might be about time..

I only wish I dared (i.e. had the energy) to paint ALL of the ceilings white…  6 down, 6 more to go?

so we are saying farewell to “botany beige” (we won’t “miss” it, since it is ALL OVER THE REST OF THE FREAKING HOUSE.  (someday…)  and hello to “turquoise mist”.

we are having so much fun this summer!!  I am so happy with how slowly it is going.  I just love having the girls all home, having non-stop fun, and little drama.

we are making the most of it, and wearing ourselves out  most days..

(if this post seems a little dejavu-ish to you, well, that’s probably because you saw all of this already on instagram, and I would apologize, but hey, now you have the story to go with it, right?)

(you’re welcome.)

some newness, some oldness, some awesomeness…

shall we start with the newness?

let us..

AC Digitals has some newness in store today:  Crate Paper -  Maggie Holmes collection.

perfection in softness, femininity, and fun.

I just love this photo of peyton, in fact, I have loved all of the photos of her that I took in this little sitting of sorts. 

she’s gorgeous.

(no, I am not biased.)

(papers and embellishments are from maggie holmes collection, tape frame from liv.edesigns, staples from design by dani, and stitching from anna aspnes.)

speaking of lovely things, father’s day was quite lovely.

this “merrill working seven days a week” thing was old the minute it started, and hasn’t gotten any newer or more exciting since then. 

I have been having a hard time with it, and he has too. 

yesterday wasn’t easy for either one of us.

I sat on our bench in sacrament meeting and fought back tears as the girls sang father’s day songs to me, while I sneakily (and perhaps a tad inappropriately) recorded them with my camera phone so I could send it to merrill.

I guess I should look at the positive, I was able to be there and record it.

nevertheless, it sucks that he is gone SO MUCH.

in other news, there will be some re-doing going on here, starting today.

meet the main bathroom:

this bathroom bugged me the second I saw it.

just what bugged me?

- the size

- that shelf thing behind the toilet

- the lack of storage

- the lack of light

- the lack of space

- the fact that the light IS NOT CENTERED OVER THE SINK.

(seriously, can’t plumbers and electricians just work together?)

- and it’s small.

(or did I mention that already?)

the main bathroom at the old house was spacious.  there was a lot of counter space, tons (TONS!!!! I tell you) of storage.  there was all of the space in that roomy vanity not to mention a FULL CLOSET.  everything had a home.  I was severely comfortable with that bathroom.

I mean, okay, it did have it’s faults..

the floor, no shower, the tile in the bathtub area, the floor..  but the size was awesome!  and all those other things could be fixed.

here, the size thing is not fixable.

we have also had our dear towels since I bought them when I was a senior in high school.  I loved them so much, had to have them for my future house, and they stayed packed away for two years..  I still do love them, well, the parts that aren’t dingy, stained, or fraying. 

the ducks have been with us since we bought our first house.  they were a gift from my mother-in-law, and we have loved them, but sadly, the whiteness of the towels isn’t what it used to be, and even sadder, the girls really aren’t into rubber ducks like they used to be (something about getting older I suppose).

the plan is to lighten, brighten, and simplify.

so, here’s the battle plan:

- remove that dang shelf

- paint the ceiling white

- replace baseboard with foamboard that will resist (RESIST!!!) water.  (unlike the MDF that is there and soaking up water like a sponge..)

- frame out the plain old contractor mirror with the same foamboard trim.

- add our new paint color to the walls

- board and batten the east wall

(I am more than a little excited about this part.)

- new shower curtain (buh-bye duckies!!)

- replace all towel bars with hooks

- all linens will be replaced with white which will mean that we will not have as many, which will also help on that whole “lack of storage” issue that exists.

I have started the day off right with a banana and a scotcheroo for breakfast, so I am more than ready to go.

(breakfast of champions I tell you.)

another challenge: the scary thrift store.

so, for ffa, we have another challenge.

we actually got it a couple of weeks ago, but now I am finally getting around to it.

the challenge:

(quoted from the fingertips of miss mandi herself.)

“buy a piece of furniture for your house that freaks you out just a little.  Not like “This is the ugliest thing I have ever seen but Mandi says I should push myself.” kind of freaky, more like “This is cool…but I will put it back because I don’t know if I could pull it off…but it might look really cool painted _________…no its freakin me out a little…..ok ok I will do it.”  kind of freaky.”

now, lemme tell you, I didn’t really do this challenge the way it was supposed to be done, but I guess that would just be the rebel in me and so forth.

so, I bought something I loved, something that I have been looking for for about..  hmmm..  5ish years?  so I really wasn’t freaked-out about it, persay.  I was freaking excited about it.

(and the story of how we met is pretty awesome.)

I was freaked-out about where I bought it.  the store where this miracle item was finally found is a spot that I stop at, maybe once a month, whenever I find myself in the immediate area.  it scares me, and it always has.  thus, it is appropriately called (named by myself):

“the scary thrift store”

I brought my youngest, risked her life and my own going to “the scary thrift store”, to find something “freaktastic”.  as we walked around, her always (very obediently) staying right by my side, I found a pretty freaktastic chair that was olive green and yellow striped.  it was in pretty great condition, and it thought for a sec, “this could be re-upholstered and it would be pretty freaking awesome for my most ugly master bedroom re-do.”

then I was afraid of re-upholstering it.

like, maybe I would make it uglier than it already was?  and it was pretty ugly, but not the kind that induces vomiting, but the kind of ugly, that makes it pretty cute, you know?

so at 34 bucks and change, I was seriously considering it.

and then we walked around, with little one staying right with me, because the place is pretty freaky, yo.

so as I was looking at an old sewing table, starting to consider that as a re-doable piece, but telling myself it wasn’t freaktastic enough, I looked up, and locked eyes on the beauty I have been hunting for for so long…

wouldn’t you know, I walked right past it when I entered the area where furniture is kept in that scary thrift store?  right there, against the wall, right inside the doorway it was.  I didn’t care how much it was, it was going to be mine.

I checked it out, and it was perfect in all of it’s scary thrift store glory.

the price tag read $49.

not bad.

I have been dreaming of this for 5ish years!!

I went to the cashier, immediately, and did not hide my happiness or my excitement, and she saw.

she wasn’t so scary in that moment.

we walked to it together to check it out, and I still didn’t hide my excitement as we walked back to the register.  and wouldn’t you know it, she knocked off $15!!

it still smells scary.

it is in the process of being made semi-amazing.

it will be black.

and I say that with less excitement than the rest of this story is told with.  I wanted something fun, like turquoise, or mossy green, or bright yellow…  the dude I cohabitate with, is not so much about these fun colors.  he is all about “blaaaack”.  (and to say that the way it is meant to be said, one needs to say it in their best drawn-out monotone.)

credit goes to my mother-in-law (the mom to the dude I cohabitate with) who seconds me strongly on the turquoise.

we shall see my friends.  we shall see.

and the sad part of this whole story, if I had had room, I might just have bought that scary chair, that really met the requirements of this here challenge.  I would have bought it thinking that I could do anything exciting and perfect with it, you know, being high and all with the find of my dreamy buffet.

sadly, they couldn’t both fit in my suv, so one had to stay behind. 

maybe I will return one day…

so I totally think that this qualifies for our challenge, not so scary piece of freaktastic furniture purchased at a pretty freaky store?

(afters laters?)

An After..

Remember these chairs?
Well, I said I would post the afters..
The now BLUE chair kind of had it's own reveal..
Here is this one..


After going through various options in my head, I decided to prime the frame with automotive primer, and paint it a bright silver.
I wanted to re-cover it in vinyl, but couldn't find just what I wanted, so I got creative with Duck tape.
Not your ordinary Duck tape..
"CHA CHA CHERRY" Duck tape..
I like it, but may be altering it later if I find something I love more..
Right now, it sure is easy to clean! ;)

Thrifty!!

Here's another peek..


If you know me, I won't post it until the WHOLE area is complete. :)
But I was in need of a special chair for my special little desk. I saw this a while ago, and loved it!! I have been dreaming ever since.
I put on my hunter orange (okay I really didn't do that..) and went hunting.
It also added to my list of good reasons to go to the DI.
On that list:
- 2 garbage bags worth of clothing and shoes
- 3 boxes (2 of which barely fit in my trunk..) of other household goods no longer employed by this particular household.
Went there and found no success.
A lot of fun people, but no success.
I was thinking of somewhere close to go, and stopped at the thrift store on Wall Avenue where U & I furniture used to be..
I went there with my parents when I was 3 to get my bedroom set.. the salesman kept playing footsie with me.. creepy.
Now I wonder if I was the one who started it... hmmm.
Anyway, there I found success, in triplicate.


I really wanted at least 3, and I got 'em!
So here's the before, and I will show you afters of each when I get there.
Total I paid $21.95 for the trio.


Not too shabby, eh?

The Butterfly Project..

I had mentioned the butterflies would be taking flight, and while it took a bit longer than I wanted for them to take off, they have.
Flight took off a while ago actually, but with all of this moving fun, it took me even longer to get to this post. :)
The first step is to find an outline to use for tracing purposes and print it off in various sizes to get you different sized butterflies.
I used a FREE PhotoShop brush, found here.
I stamped it down on my project sheet, then stroked the outline to get my lines. I printed it off and used one of my favorite tricks to get the lines on to the wood.
You pencil in a wide line over the printed line (sloppiness is appreciated in this step :D).


Then do the same on the back side of the paper.


When you put your paper on the wood, and trace over the lines again, the lead transfers onto the wood to leave a faint, but noticeable line to help you in your cutting.


This way, you don't have to print out your shape, cut it out, and trace repeatedly onto your wood surface.
See, easy.
Then you cut, sand, and paint them the desired color.


I traced some so they were in half, then painted and glued them at an angle so they looked like they were flying off the wall.
You could stop at this step, attach the ribbon bodies and hang away, but I took it a step further..
I used the same tracing technique on the WRONG side of some fabric (same fabrics used in Peyton's duvet cover..) and cut those out.
I then took Modge Podge (this is my new favorite finish of Modge Podge, Hard Furniture, I used it on her nightstand project too.) and adhered the fabric onto the appropriate butterfly.


After letting that dry well, I took my trusty emery board (some people call them a nail file) and sanded the edges so the raw fabric edges were clean.
I measured ribbon to two and a half lengths of the butterflies middle section, folded it in half and looped it through the other end, securing it around the body with a knot.
That gave them some cute little antennae and a great way to hang them.


Couldn't resist the cute quote from one of Merrill's favorite songs.. when it comes to his little girls, he loves this song.. but don't tell him I told you! ;)

Long time coming..

I took Peyton's name sign down when the room re-do began, and knew what would be going on it..
For the other girls' signs, it has their first name, and nickname layered over the top in vinyl lettering.
Well, Peyton's nickname has been around for a while, so I knew that was going on there, it just took me a while to get it all put together..


White lettering is in the Cuttin' Up font in the serif option, and the pink is in the hello kitty font.

I love my scroll saw..

I always have..
He and I have just lost touch.
The last time I used it, it was honestly 2 years ago.. we were finishing our floors. There was some small detail work that needed to be cut on one of the trim pieces, and it was used then.
I used it much more often back in the days before three children became my life..
I have had a couple of projects lined up that required it's assistance, and I finally dusted it off, and got to work.
It also helps that my mouse needs little to no attention now. :)


For Peyton's room, I wanted to replicate the tulips that are on her flat sheet and pillow case.. I will forever be thankful to all the tricks I learned from my ex-boyfriend's (okay.. fiance..) mom who was a crafter..
Tracing is not the fastest method to this madness..
Cutting, I learned tips for that step too..
And painting..
It was my job for a while..
I think they turned out cute.


I also loved the long-grain rice that found a home holding them up, perfectly in the flower pot.
This lamp was a purchase when I was preggers with Lynn (#1).
I loved it then, it matched the nursery colors and theme so well! I just couldn't toss it into the DI box, I re-purposed it.
DI-d the dusty blue shade and replaced it with a new pink one from Target, and took the yellow star pull off the beaded chain, and put on one of the tulips that I cut while cutting the others.


For tomorrow: "The Butterfly" project..

One more down..

One more item on my "to do" list is done!!
Peyton's "quilt" which is now a duvet cover, is FINALLY done.


I had to re-work it, and re-work it again, into something that would work, and fit my vision.. I am more than happy with it, and she is too. :)
I think I am going to have to tally how many feet of stitching that is....


I am happy to say that there are more projects in store for her little room.
I also managed to scrap a couple of pages as well with my two hands and new paper trimmer.

Using the good, old fashioned scrap stuff is good for the soul.


Love these stickers I bought a while ago from Making Memories.
I am off to crochet a little on a hat for this project..
Will you be joining us?

I am getting there..

I should have a Chicago song playing right now..
"You're My Inspiration"..
Ally is that to me today, thanks girl!!
She is awesome, getting so much done with all of her fun finds..
I have had this project waiting around for a LONG time now.

I finally got around to it.. not that I have been doing things that I would rather be doing, just what needs to be done. Now my house is PERFECT and I can play!!
So here it is:


This is a nightstand, that if I am correct, my mom got when she was 16. My older brothers both used it while living at home, then I got it, loved it, painted it, re-painted it, then re-painted it again and now, have re-finished it, again. (I forgot about some of those layers of paint hiding in there.. until I scraped it all off, of course.)


I love spray paint!!
Oh, and Mod Podge.. :)
I scraped, sanded, patched, and sanded again, then painted it. I used double stick tape to help adhere the hot pink fabric on the inlay, cut that with my rotary cutter and exacto knife for the corners, then mod-podged it down, and coated the top a couple of times.
I basically did the same for the drawer front, and drilled holes for the new handle.


For the back on the inside, I wanted it to have a pop of color, so I cut some fabric, 3 times longer than the width of the back, and four inches taller than the height on the back inside. I pressed it an inch and 3/4 on both of my long sides and did straight stitch on the largest setting my machine has, and then gathered it to the desired length. Hot glue and bam!
Isn't it cute?!


It now lives in Peyton's room.. still waiting for the matching duvet (the quilt is now going to be a duvet.. long story) but has an equally, if not cuter one that my Grandma made for her and sent from Michigan last week.. I love those "Sun Bonnet Sues".. she has made one for each of the great-grandchildren.
It is in my blood I tell ya.
I still have more projects in the works for her room.
Stay tuned!

Another look..

Here's another peek..


Still not finished..
This will be another part of the room.


You'll have to be patient with the after.. consider it my contribution to "Thrifty Thursday". :)
Can't wait to get some more digi scrappin' done!!

Here I am....

..somewhere..
Life has been so crazy around here, I am afraid I don't quite have the words to adequately describe the craziness...
I have prizes to send off, if I could find them..
I began the scrap room re-do.. and well.. I thought it would be quicker.
The hotel ate in to most of my time...
It's almost all put back together..
..and then you will have you fun new things!

My mess..

Old color (green) meets new color (fudge.. it does make me hungry!)

Diamonds in fudge are here now, blue tape is gone :D
Keep watching!!

UFOs...

Jaclyn taught me a cuter, non-creepy use for this acronym... Un-Finished Objects.... that's what I have been busy working on. It sure helped that I needed to clear off my window sill in order to keep the cold out.. but I procrastinated because I miss the natural light... and discovered a few things that needed my attention... just a few details and they were finished!
Here are a few:
Bathroom wall...
Peyton's name blocks...
Peyton's "Baby's First Christmas" ornament... I used the same method and steps as the memory blocks, but as the last step, drilled a hole, just big enough in the top, to glue (using E6000) a brad with my rick rack tucked underneath, to hang it up. It's a 1 1/4 inch cube that I bought at JoAnn's.. Brooke inspired me!
Peyton's month by month layout.. What?!? Only three more spots empty!?!
A layout damaged by spilled water.. happened during mom's Sunday nap when dad was "watching the kiddos"... before:
After...