Wordless Wednesday

My Little Monster Monday

Well, welcome to yet another saga of my life with a two year old.

After I finish getting the kids down from breakfast, get baby down for her morning nap, get the kids dresses, I start on the kitchen and let the kids go outside so I don't have four extra hands helping me. I can see the kids at all times from the window and I leave the slider door open so I can hear them as well. The only problem is that we have a shed in the backyard and there is one little corner that I cannot see if they are back there.

Well, awhile ago I saw both the kids playing back there and I went to check it out. They had dug a hole in the ground specifically to make mud. So, the other day, I couldn't see my son or hear him, which usually means he's doing something he's not supposed to do. I went to investigate.

This is what I found.

This is not a smile. He is chewing on dirt.

Needless to say, I got the hose out to hose him off.

Jeans into Skirt with a Bustle Tutorial

So, I have been getting a lot of jeans lately from family members to see if I can do something with them for myself, which is great! Originally I had planned on this pair becoming a pair of capris but then I thought about something a little more fun. Here we go!

Step 1: Cut your jeans off from the hem, taking as much as you want off, but leaving enough for the length you want and the hem. Then unpick the inner seam, leaving the outer seam alone. Also, unpick the seam going up leaving about 2" untouched from the zipper and below the pockets in the back.

Step 2: Fold your inseam part over like so and pin it on both the front and back. I find it's easier to sew this part first, then add your fabric in the middle, then it doesn't move while you are pinning.

Step 3: Do two seams, just like the jeans were originally, down from the zipper to the opening.

Make sure you start your seams going horizontal or your will have a nice hole up by the zipper.

Here what your seams look like from the inside.

Step 4: Trim away the extra fabric on both the front and back.

Step 5: Now that you have your front and back sewn, now you need to cut the fabric that is going to fill the center. I didn't take pictures of this with the front, but you will do the front first as it's easier. Just pin your triangle of fabric and sew it down to the hem.

Step 6: Cut strips about 3" wide to make you bustle pieces. Each will be a different length as you are going to sew them onto this triangle, so I found it easier to make the strips of fabric super long and just cut whatever I needed off the end.

Step 7: Pin your ruffled strips to the triangle. Make sure that each strip covers the top of the piece it is overlapping.

Step 8: Sew your ruffles to your fabric. Trim off the pieces that are hanging off the sides.

Step 9: Now, I will give you this step, which I didn't do until the end, but you get to learn from my mistake. Take your skirt before you put your bustle piece on and do the hem around the entire skirt. This will allow your bustle to hang correctly.

Step 10: Pin your bustle piece to the back of your skirt. I worked from the front, so that I could make sure the seam was even and got the denim in a straight line.

Here is the view of your skirt from underneath.
Step 11: Trim away all the extra fabric.Now enjoy your skirt! The bottom part of my bustle would have sat better had I done the hem first, then added the bustle, but it's flirty and fun!

And here is the front! Something fun to wear to your next BBQ or a walk in the park!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

$10 Mirror Makeover

The other day I was in some serious need of some retail therapy. So my sweet sister-in-law offered to come over, watch my kids for an hour and let me borrow her car to get around in. Now that's love! So I hit 3 thrift stores in an hour, it was amazing. Lol

I got some good clothes, but as I was at my final stop I found this mirror. They only wanted $10 for this thing. It needed some work, but it was HUGE and there weren't any issues with the mirror or the wood. It was a mirror that went on a vanity, so it has holes on each side where it was mounted to the vanity.I took my sander to it, put some wood filler in the little holes and smoothed it all out as much as I could. Then I painted it and distressed it again.

Here she is in her new glory on our red wall that will soon be painted and decorated with other things as soon as it is painted.

This is really what sold me on the mirror was this flower detail on it. I love it!

And you can't take a picture of a mirror without doing a silly pose in it.

What thrifty things did you find this week?

Bedroom Reveal

I have had this done for some time now, but as the weather in North Idaho has been so... ridiculous, I have not had good enough light to take a picture of my room. So, I am making the best of the sunshine that FINALLY decided to grace us with its presence.

Remember my canvases from this post? Well, now you know where they went!

For the headboard I used an antique window frame (one of my many) and two shudders on each side. I took all the glass out of the window, sanded the poo out of it (as I didn't know if the paint was lead paint or not), repainted it and then distressed it a bit. I did the same to the shudders. Here is a closer view of the window.

Here is one of the shudders. I took my handy dandy palm sander and just distressed these to give them more character.

The sign in the center is something I did awhile ago as well, but I am still on the fence if I like it or not. I found the inspiration from an Etsy shop, but I cannot find the shop or the sign now.

It says:
"You are the Icing on my Cupcake
You are the Cheese to my Macaroni
You are the Jelly to my Peanut Butter
You are the Bubbles to my Bath
You are the Milk to my Cookies
You are the Ketchup to my French Fries
You are the Gravy to my Mashed Potatoes
You are the Eggs to my Bacon
You are the Ink in my Pen
You are the laces to my Sneakers"

The wording is what I took from that Etsy shop, if any of you know what shop that was, I would like to give her credit. I love the wording, but as I did the letters by hand with a paint pen they aren't super straight. Not sure if I want to redo it and make it more straight and clean. Hmm.

Well, there you have it!

Frustrations in Blogland

Have you ever started on a great tutorial, got everything ready, taking detailed photos, get interrupted by screaming kids and then find your tutorial on someone else's blog because they beat you to the punch? Well, that's what has happened to me. Three times actually! I have had some great projects that I have been working on but I have either had to stop due to missing a piece, having to unpick a seam or twelve, or needed to wait until the next pay day to get the rest of the supplies I need. Here are the three tutorials that I had planned but someone has beat me to the punch.

Kimono Dress
Tea Cup Bird Feeder
Bird Nest Necklace

But, I do have several things that we are working on right now.

I am finally going to start making things with my window collection. Three things in fact!

We are going to be making a table similar to this with boards that we have had sitting out in the rain, snow and sun for the last 5 months.

And I have several refashions that I have been working on, not just as tutorials, but because I have NO clothes right now and I would rather spend my money on fun things for the house than on some clothes.

Stay Tuned!

My Little Monster Monday

Four stitches on top of his head: $300

Learning to not pull on the dog's ears and listen to your momma: Priceless.

Yup, it's true. Even the best dog in the world can only take so much. My son had a rough day yesterday of being naughty. He flooded our kitchen with the faucet hose, ripping branches off of our baby tree, plucking many leaves off of our lilies and tormenting our dog. He yanked on Moose's tail and ears one too many times and Moose reacted. It would have been like a parent reacting to a child misbehaving and snapping at your child. As soon as it happened Moose knew he had done something horrible and was very concerned and has had his tail between his legs ever since. Cooper has been much more respectful of Moose and has stopped tormenting him, which is good. We are still keeping our puppy as he is truly a wonderful dog, we just need to watch the treatment our kids are giving him.

All in all, lesson learned.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

This year is the year of lots of pretty flowers. As we have had stressful summers these past few years, I haven't really focused much on my garden or planted many things in pots. So this year I am making up for lost time.

A few weeks ago I was looking on Craigslist and found a listing for lots of rusty, old planters. Lots of galvanized pots and pans that had great character and even a very rusted Red Rider Wagon for $20! As these were things that I wanted to find from the Farm Chicks Sale but I knew that I wouldn't be able to find that many things for that little amount of money. So I got them and got planting!

I have showed you guys my table before. I got this a few years ago at an antique store for about $10 as it was on it's way to the dump because no one wanted it. I fell in love instantly with it!

This is an old pot that fits our pansies in so well! The bottom was almost rusted out so I didn't have to drill holes in the bottom for irrigation. This was one of the Craigslist finds.

This was one of last years garage sale cast offs that didn't sell. My mother-in-law just gave it to me. We planted African Daisies in it and they are coming up so nicely!

This is another of the Craigslist bunch. I love this sweet little sauce pan. It is just the right size for some wild flowers.

I have had this pan for several years. My mother-in-law gave me the pan and the Chicks and Hens in it. The only reason I am mentioning them now is that they are HUGE! They have never been this big and are growing little starts like crazy! I love when I neglect things for years and then all of a sudden they flourish!

This pan has my Calla lilies in it. I'm not holding my breath that they will actually come up this year, but next year they will be gorgeous!

This is the barn wood planter I got last year from the Farm Chick Sale that sat in my garage for an entire year. I just love how my pansies are doing in it this year and how it has lots of charm.

Meet Patches O'Houlihan. He is the garden gnome my daughter got for her birthday. My husband and I named him, but my daughter isn't super fond of the name. Can you guess what movie his name is from?
I also had to share with you my new do! It takes less than 5 minutes to do, score!, and it's fun and flirty. I love wearing my hair clips with it, the bigger the better!

Well, there you have it. How are your gardens growing this year? Have you planted anything new and exciting?

What a Wonderful World

I swear I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I wanted to share with you all the best thing ever! Remember this post? The lab/bloodhound mix that we wanted but got adopted before we could get him? Well, Sunday, while at the Farm Chicks Sale I got an email from his owner explaining that the couple that adopted "Moose" wanted to return him as they were never home and he began to have bad habits. She asked if we were interested in him still. Um.... YES!!!!!

I would like to introduce Moose to everyone! He is the sweetest dog I have ever been around. We are so lucky to have him in our family finally.

We have discovered that he LOVES our daughter. He has slept in her room all day and has taken a nap with her all day. We have only had him for 24 hours and he has made such a strong bond with both of our kids that it is amazing.

He has to be right next to the kids at all times. He is already protective of them and when one of them cries he gets very concerned and rushes over to them to make sure they are ok and looks at me as if to say, "Come make it stop!"

He was meant to be in our family. Like I said, it's only been 24 hours and he has fit right in, loves us all, is very gentle and patient with the kids and has been a wonderful addition to our home. He may be HUGE, but he is a doll! It's like fate that he is here. This is where he is supposed to be. My family is finally complete, we found our missing person.

In other news, I have a few tutorials in the works, including the kids apron I mentioned a few months ago. I'm getting excited as there are some big projects that are happening in this house! Plus, I have all my super awesome finds from the Farm Chicks Sale that I went to over the weekend. What an amazing experience, once again. See you guys soon!