Happy Fourth!

We watched some fireworks last night and plan to spend the day at home, doing a little Independence Day art, before heading to my parents' in the evening to celebrate with family. I hope your day is filled with hot dogs, corn on the cob, apple pie and all other things American!

Photo Credit: konditorandcook's flickr

Too Short Slipcover Solution

Like tons of people out there, especially bloggers it seems, I have some Ikea furniture. I'm not a big fan of all the store's stuff, but I do love my Ektorp Jennylund chair. You just can't go wrong with a comfy armchair and its slipcover that can be washed at a moment's notice. Especially with an afforable $200 price tag. I do have one complaint though...


It's a little hard to see in this photo (taken just after we first painted), but the slipcover is so darn short. Ugh. That floodpants length really ruins the look of an otherwise nice piece of furniture. It's irked my nerves enough that I decided I needed to do something about that 2 or so inches of empty air. Wanna see my solution?


Do you see what I did? Need me to go in for a closer look?


I snagged some white pom pom ball fringe (from this Etsy seller) and added it to the bottom hem of the slipcover, going all the way around. I love the result! You really don't see the gap any longer, and it's such a fun addition. And since it only took about 1/2 hour from start to finish - taking the cover off, sewing the trim on (I didn't even pin) and putting the cover back on - and cost less than $7 including shipping, I'm left asking myself why I didn't do it sooner. I'm ready to add pom pom trim to just about everything now!!

Have you found any quick and easy solutions lately?

Happy Valentine's Day

Originally posted 02/14/2010:
















Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Favorites

I've been such a bad blogger. Christmas was 45 days ago and I never shared some of my gifts - the stuff that my family was gracious enough to send my direction. I don't have photos of my personal stuff, but here's a roundup of online images I found for some of my favorites:


Moving clockwise from top left: Design*Sponge at Home, Kindle Fire, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Trees (Christmas just wouldn't be right without these!), Recollections Glitter Assortment (found at Michaels), Kindle Cover, Nifty Fifty Lens

Everything has been much enjoyed! The chocolate trees didn't make it to the New Year (no surprise there), the Kindle Fire and cover have been used almost daily and the lens is sure to get it's biggest workout to date over the next few days. So, even though it was a while ago, what were your favorite gifts this year?

P.S. I pinky swear this is my last Christmas post. At least until December rolls around. After that all bets are off.

Merry Christmas?!

Yes, I know that it's been over a month since Christmas, but my friends and I just got around to celebrating. Procrastinators (nearly) the whole lot of us. Waaaay back in October we drew names and agreed that our presents could have elements that were purchased, but had to mainly be homemade. Some of us thought up gifts easily, while others had to really get creative. Here are some of my favorites. And by that I mean the ones I had the best photos of.


My sister and I drew our friend Kate and her boyfriend Darryl. They have a long-running feud about which is better - a pirate or a ninja. We figured we'd help them find out and created a cookie battle box, complete with cookie dough, frosting and pirate and ninja cookie cutters.


Mandy received a gift that had me literally laughing out loud. If you lived through the 80s/90s you'll remember the game MASH. Kristin made Mandy her own version, in which she's married to Henry Cavill, planning Disney World trips as a career and living in Phoenix (where there's no humidity to mess with her hair). So hilarious! And Regina exacto-knifed out a silhouette of our group that, when backlit, will be a great addition to Christian's home. I wish I'd been able to snag a photo of just how cool it was lit up!


Joe's gift was definitely my favorite of the night! Kate painted pegs into Star Wars characters and grouped them around a stable to create a Star Wars nativity, complete with Yoda as baby Jesus. Now, don't think us heathens - we actually all know each other from church. But scratch that, my favorite gift of the night was actually my own. Christine, who watches Charlotte during the day, gathered together a list of funny things she's said and started a notebook for me. So prepare yourselves, because Charlotte anecdote posts are about to get longer!

Christine was also nice enough to put together a little gift for Charlotte, so she wouldn't feel left out. She turned some photos of Charlotte and Oliver to black & white and then washed them out, printed them and had them bound, to make a coloring book for Miss C. Chuckles added some color to them immediately after waking up the next morning!!


So now I look forward to our next group party. We may have other big get togethers between now and then, but for now I'm looking forward to our trip to NYC to see Newsies on Broadway in May. Can't wait!

Valentine's Day Pins

If you follow me on Pinterest, you've no doubt noticed that I've been pinning Valentine's ideas like crazy. Maybe it was the roses I got for my anniversary yesterday, or finally packing up the last remnants of Christmas, or the holiday section of Target -- I'm not sure, but I'm definitely gearing up for Valentine's Day. I think my favorite pin thus far has to be the Golden Girls valentines I found. I mean, can you get much better than Rue McClanahan's smiling mug with the words "I Blanche at the thought of losing you"?! The answer is no. No, you can't. But if the Golden Girls don't get you going, there are tons of more traditional Valentine's pins to check out:


And I'm always looking for more ideas, so please share some of the Valentine's Day ideas you've been spying!

Holiday Rewind

I realize Christmas has come and gone, but we're still celebrating around our house. Stockings are still hung, the tree is still decorated, lights are still on the house and get lit in the evening. Don't judge me, I just can't get enough of the holidays!! But don't worry, we plan to put everything away this weekend. I figured while I'm still in the spirit (and whether you are or not), I'd share some photos Mark asked me to take of the Lego creations he and Charlotte have been working on.

First up, a Christmas village, complete with bandshell, tree in the center of town and horsedrawn carriage rides. Santa even paid a visit to the townfolk.


And not to be discriminatory, Mark made sure to make a small setup for Halloween too. Love that little dinosaur!


They've done a fantastic job I think!

Over 200

This post is a testament to just how awesome a digital camera is. Only with digital can one take 200+ pictures of one little girl opening up presents for about an hour. Seems a bit ridiculous looking back, but I just couldn't help myself. Have a look:


Not long after we finished Charlotte ran upstairs, changed clothes and came back down ready to play. Her present of choice -- her LaLaLoopsy set. It, along with the LaLaLoopsy treehouse that Gramma and Grandpa got her, continues to be her favorite new toy. She also seems to love the LaLaLoopsy outfit I got her. Must snag a photo of that to share!


You should count yourself lucky that I didn't continue snapping photos at her cousins' house and my parents' house. Needless to say, she got more than her fair share of goodies. And for that we are very grateful!