Cocooon of Chaos

Homemade Hideaway

Remember how I said Devin was awesome? Well, he is. After the bedroom separation, Lillian did not want to give up the bunk bed and seeing that an extra twin mattress is just not in the budget right now, we were left with an empty bunk. That clever husband of mine made a trip out to the garage, found some cheesy wains coating from 4 years ago, grabbed the nail gun, and got to work.

They have named this special area "The Imagination Station". The rules are quite simple: no adults and little brothers are allowed most of the time. See what you can do with what you have?!

I should mention, Devin took vacation this week and worked like mad every single day on projects around the house. Words fail to express my gratitude for all that he did.  He did, however have some super cute helpers.

As I've said before, Lillian does everything in style.

To my sweet, handy husband: you've come a long way from the crooked window boxes 15 years ago, my love. Thank you for giving our three children a childhood filled with creativity, love, and magic. I know you know this, but you are awesome.

Great Big Ol' Book Swap

Yes, another idea sparked from my summer purging of this house: a book swap. I'm finding we are outgrowing books at a much faster pace now that both girls are reading and I'm reading the same books I read to the girls when they were toddlers, to Oliver. I'm sorry, as much as I love Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?, there are only so many times in my life I can read it...over and over again. So, I reached out to some friends and we did a great big ol' book swap. Everyone brought books, put them on the table, and we swapped. So much fun seeing books I knew, didn't know, and wanted to know!

 
And, of course, we had to have some kind of bookish craftiness, so I set up a table with scrapbook paper I found on clearance at a local craft store (much sturdier than regular paper), ribbon, stickers, and markers. The kids had great fun making their own bookmarks. It is a great feeling passing something along that was loved by our family to another family. This sparked more swapping ideas in my head...after all, the holidays are not so far away!

 

 

Repurposed Dress for Lily

So, one of my favorite things to do is to bring new life to old items, hence my intense thrift store addiction. I was doing the arduous task of packing all the girls' winter clothes up and bringing out the new Spring items when I came across a blue dress that Ava absolutely adored when she was four. So much so, it had a giant stain right in the center of it. So, rather than turn the dress into rags, I ventured into my fabric box filled with old shirts, sweaters, and the like and found the perfect rainbow striped sweater that Devin shrunk years ago. The print is so colorful, it makes me happy just looking at it...how can you not be touched by a rainbow?! So, I gathered my materials and began...

 
On the sleeve of the rainbow sweater, I cut out a heart and pinned it right over the stain on the dress. As I was stitching the heart to the dress with embroidery floss, I marveled at the fact this little blue dress went through at least four little girls; it was a hand me down from my aunt, as are most of the girls' clothes, and I love knowing that each little girl brought a little bit of themselves into this dress. I have vivid memories of my cousins wearing them and love seeing my girls in them, too. And, I have a rule that if it was a hand me down to me, I hand it down to someone else. The circle seems somewhat complete when I see another little girl running around in these clothes, reminding me of when Ava and Lily did the same.

 
A happy little girl in her "new" dress...

Repurposing Pippi's Tights

  
 While going through the girls closet yesterday in preparation for our Spring consignment, I found myself a bit saddened by the fact that my little girls are growing up so fast. I was holding a pair of tights that both girls wore and found myself somewhere in between nostalgia for these little girls slipping through my fingers and excitement for this little boy entering our lives. I am not one to hold on to material things, I am a chronic donator, actually, but something--pregnancy hormones maybe--could not dispose of these tights. So, I repurposed them into sachets using organic lavender and old buttons I found in my grandmother's sewing desk. There is something deeply satisfying about these little sachets...

 
 
 

 

Our New Tree Topper

For the past thirteen Christmases, Devin and I have proudly placed a glittery star he made in preschool atop our tree. However, now that we have our own little people, I decided that this year would be the year to retire the glorious star. (Devin, I do sincerely apologize for throwing it away, glad you dug it out. Bad wifey.) So, when I asked the girls what they would like to put on the tree, they both said an angel. Lily wanted one that sparkled with lights and danced, but I reminded her that those are beyond my creative scope. So, we all agreed on an angel as long as she had a crown and a tutu...

Materials:

Cardboard cut into a triangle for body, a circle for the head, and a crown

2 coffee filters for wings and tutu

paint, glitter, and glue

sharpie for face

pipe cleaner and hole punch tie to wrap around the top of the tree

 

Instructions

Paint all parts of the angel, including the wings

Once the paint has dried, glue wings and tutu onto the cardboard and draw the face

Place two holes underneath the tutu and thread the pipe cleaner through, adjusting it to fit the top branch of your tree

Voila! A repurposed Christmas angel

Revolution of a Sweater

Inspired by Amanda Soule's book, Handmade Home and desperate for some creative distraction, I repurposed an Old Navy sweater that I paid a whopping $2.99 for when Ava was a year old. It has gone through two children and showing it's wear, I knew it woul not be accepted at my local consignment store.  Rather than throwing it away or adding it to my thrift store pile, which grows each day thanks to my nesting instinct, I made it into 4 other items....

 
 A hat for Bean

 
and three reusable coffee sleeves for Bean's art teachers

Yes, my time should have been spent on my 25 page thesis due in 9 days, but really, this was so much more fun!