An Office Chair for O

I took O to Ikea yesterday after school. Which can be a bit painful if I actually want to browse. But this time I just needed coat hangers. And a couple vases for a booth display idea I had.  Which meant we really just needed to visit the Children's section and then head out.

In the middle of the Children's section (literally - sitting in the middle of an aisle) sat a child-sized office chair.  Oh, the exclamations of excitement.  "It's just like Dad's!"  It swiveled.  It had a lever that made it go up and down.  It fit him perfectly.  And it had a big sticker on it that said it was from the As Is section and was previously a floor model/display and was marked down.

As he sat and swiveled, a salesperson came over.  She had never seen one before.  She didn't know they carried those.  She looked like she was going to take it if I told O no.

I don't very often buy the kids things just because they ask for them.  But really, this was just cool.  And less than $14 dollars.  And actually useful.  I put it in the cart.  Ollie sat on it.  In the cart.  For the rest of the shopping trip.

We were stopped again by another staff person on our way out.  Where did we find it?  A child size office chair?  They'd never seen it before either.

So I checked online when I got home.  And found this.  It turns out it is not actually 'child-size', though it fits perfectly and is just right for his art table, and can be found with all the other office chairs.  It is noted on the Ikea website to be 'appropriate for children'.  For O, it is perfect. Score.

An Unscheduled Weekend

For the first time in what felt like a long time, we had a very unscheduled weekend last weekend.  And I was reminded of how important this is.  Especially with school in full swing and afternoon free play for the kids shrinking with the commute home from school, home work, and an earlier bedtime, it was wonderful to just let them be.

We found that it is easier for us to be creative in this free time, too.  I was able to steal away to the studio for a couple hours to finish this commissioned bunting.  A local school has an (amazing) annual used kids' clothing sale every year right around Halloween.  (It is here this weekend, October 30th and 31st) This year a friend asked me to make them a bunting that they could use as signage year after year.

I've made bunting before and really love the process of finding the prints to put together.  I hadn't appliqued letters on before, but had done enough applique on other things to know what I was doing.  The request was for a wool or felt binding, ( I used wool) which I wouldn't have thought of but I love the way that came out.  It adds a more classic feel to what is a mix of more contemporary fabrics.  And I must admit, laying the triangles out, rearranging the order, picking and choosing fabrics...  made me start itching to make a quilt.  Hmm...  we'll have to see what happens with that.

And, while I was up in the studio, The Dad and the kids were hard at work out in the yard.  As I said earlier, the yard is definitely growing as our family does.  And while I am constantly amazed at my children's creativity, I am also usually quite impressed with my husband's, too!

This weekend, they added two new elements to the yard:

A 'Bar' made out of some PVC pipe (filled with a wooden dowel for extra support) and lashed between two trees.

And a cargo net.

I love the repurposing of things, too.  This cargo net was originally purchased in pieces at Ax-Man and made into a retractable fence to keep the kids in the back yard and out of the driveway when we lived in Minneapolis.  It was three years age this week that we moved so it was beautifully ironic to me that The Dad decided to pull it out now.

I know...  A bit cheesy.  But they are growing so fast.  It's nice to have reminders of life when they were so little.

The Fort v.3.0

Our backyard is always changing.  The kids play out there, forget about it, rediscover it, and recreate it constantly.

Introduced way back here, you have also seen bits here and here. This is The Fort.

What began as a small fort with an attached sandbox has grown.  An upper level was added.  Some sides and a door.  A pulley.  A roof.  Some ladders. A trap door.

It has grown with the kids. I love that they have designed and drilled and hammered and helped. I can't imagine what will be added next.

A Peek into E's Room

 I know I've said before that I would show some pictures of E's room.  I've shown you O's, but E's never seems to be clean enough to take pictures of!  We did some major purging in there this weekend.  She was all for it.  It just seemed that it was impossible to get it clean and organized because there was just. too. much. stuff.  Way too much dress up, too many dolls, stuff just ended up all over the floor and the room wasn't very often inviting for play.

Sunday, she filled three laundry baskets of debris to be stored away upstairs for awhile (and hopefully some soon after to be passed on or discarded).  What a difference it has made!  She played in there almost all day today.  And it was so easy to clean up tonight before bed.

Her room is definitely still a work in progress - and is definitely in need of a fresh coat of paint (minus the orange!) this spring.  We're getting there, though.  Slowly but surely.

The Fabric Covered Head Board - Take Two

A little over a year ago, The Dad built E a bed.  He did it over a weekend while I was away with the kids and surprised ALL of us with a great fabric covered headboard.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any great pictures of it.  I did at least get this:

It's a little hidden behind the pillows and multitude of stuffed animals, but it is there.  Pink batiked and embroidered fabric, taken from my stash, over a layer of cotton quilt batting and a piece of plywood.

I was very impressed.

Fast forward a year or so.  We have inherited a set of nice maple bunk beds and are setting those up for E, passing on her low dad-made platform bed to O.

Now, O is not really a pink swirly little kind of guy (unless he's running around in E's leotard and tutu).  I pulled a couple pieces of fabric from my stash for him to choose from (strongly discouraging his preference for the yellow flannel with monkeys) and ended up with this:

 So fun and so easy.  We actually did this one right over the other layers.  All done with fabric and a staple gun.  I think it took me longer to iron the fabric than to actually attach it!

It's A Crafty Advent - Day 6

For about 15 minutes yesterday, the beginnings of our little Christmas Village looked like this.  That's a little felt squirrel, if you can't tell.  I found the two little woodland creatures at Wonderment when we were in Minneapolis.  And in the background - my first attempt at a felt tree (which I love, but which won't stand up on its own) and, of course, our impromptu cardboard-box-manger.

More to be added every day.  Stay Tuned!

The Nature Table Revisited

Our nature table is pretty full these days, though not at all as I expected it to be.  I don't know why I thought it might look like this.  Or this.  Ours is definitely more reflective if my children's personalities.  The table is scattered with leaves, pinecones, acorns, and cicada shells (with a couple dead cicada among them) from outside.  Intermingling with some berry containers from the farmers market, two 'toad abodes' E made at her sleepover at the zoo, and a random slinky.

While not how I pictured it, the kids have taken ownership and are using it as I had hoped.  As in, "Look at this leaf!  I want to put it on the nature table!"  Located on a radiator cover on our enclosed porch, it also serves as a nice transitional space from outside to in.  "That can't come inside...  but you can put it on the nature table!"

It's all about the process, right?

30 Days of Summer :: Day 29 :: The Pillows are Multiplying

I joked here about using lots of some colorful pillows throughout the house to perk up some family spaces, but I was really somewhat serious.  I've done a couple now (including this one) backed with linen that I really like the look of.

While the one pictured above actually seems to blend in with the rug, it pops perfectly on the tan living room couch.

And have I mentioned how much I love Michael Miller prints?

30 Days of Summer :: Day 11

A Peek into O's Room

Both kids' rooms are still a work in progress, but I'm excited about some of the little touches we've added recently.

Even more important, we've culled through toys and books to minimize the clutter which makes it oh-so-much easier to clean every day.

Right now I'm all about minimizing the extraneous and surrounding ourselves with beautiful (to us) things that we love.

Thanks for looking!

The Backyard: A Work in Progress

The night after The Dad and I moved into our new house, we stood out in the backyard, scanning and imagining. We had a great amount of space for an urban lot, secluded by hedges and feeling very residential in the middle of a city neighborhood. It was overgrown and unkempt and we knew we had our work cut out for us.

Fortunately, we had similar visions. A variety of 'elements' the kids could play on. Ones that blended into the landscape. That would grow with them and could be used for open-ended play. Things that would challenge them, but keep them safe... We have slowly but surely been building this little 'adventure playground'.

The newest addition is 'The Fort'. This is Phase I, the first level. Soon to be added is a slide, followed by a second level, and eventually some type of catwalk from there over to a yet-to-be built treehouse.
We also added a giant old shell that made it's way here from Martha's Vineyard (via a storage locker in Portsmouth, NH) filled with pea gravel as another little sensory spot. O has enjoyed transplanting the gravel into little piles all over the yard...
The wigwam has gone through various repairs and reconstructions but remains intact on the corner of our lot. Still with our old Christmas tree branches making it's roof.

We've also still got the double swing. We have begun pondering what will take it's place when the kids outgrow it, and I'm leaning towards this, but I think we still have another year of what reminds me of the Pirate Ship ride you see at amusement parks.

The zip line also went up this weekend, just in time for us to host the end-of-camp potluck in the yard last night. Over 50 people, half of them kids, spent a good couple hours out there without it feeling overcrowded and with no signs of boredom. We consider that a success!

Signs of the Season

We put away winter clothes this weekend and pulled from the "summer bucket" as things warmed up around here. While you can tell by the blooming of the flowers and trees that Spring has arrived and Summer is coming, I could tell even more by the sudden appearance of little bare arms and legs.


Other signs of the seasons changing:

Bucket hats,

reclaiming our sun porch as a playspace,

and the joy of peeing outside - over and over again.

A Little Shelf of Friends

Our whole house is really still a work in progress. We've lived here for 15 months now and are finally adding the decorative touches we've been missing. We're really anxious for spring so we can throw open the windows and get some fresh paint on the walls.


The kids' room is a fun, eclectic mix full of color. Including the orange wall. We recently (in my attempt to do something every day to make the house look a little nicer) added this little shelf of wooden push button toys above the arch. I love the touch of whimsy. And so easy using a pre-made photo ledge.

As we get more and more done, I will post more photos of our interior. I hope to have a studio tour for you after the weekend and the climbing wall debut by Valentine's Day!