Call me.... crafty?

Okay, so apparently I've inherited the "crafty" gene. I come from a long line of "crafters" (is that a word? I prefer to call them artists.) My paternal great grandmother, Grandma Allen was a master seamstress and quilter and my maternal grandmother, Mamaw Sherman was essentially the craftiest woman I have ever known. Crochet, quilting, painting, sewing, pottery, macaroni jewelry boxes... you name it, she did it. She even used golf balls to make the cutest dog craft you've ever seen. I spent many hours as a child under her tutelage, so it should come as no surprise that some of her craftiness would rub off on me. My mom is also extremely crafty... floral arrangements, doll making, crochet. So why am I so amazed that JoAnn Fabric has become my favorite store and that I've done so many crafty things this summer? I think I've supressed this crafty gene over the years for fear of becoming one of those women who crochets her own matching beret and poncho in that alternating color zig-zag pattern. It seems having Avery has brought some of my "skills" to the surface. In addition to the crafts I did with the kids over the summer, here are a few of the other things I've done.

1. Covered a body pillow with fabric for my grandmother's bench. I only mention this because I probably wouldn't (and didn't) do this pre-Avery. Our small group is meeting at our house again and I was in dire need of more seating. Instead of buying a pice of furniture, I took the bench out of the dining area to use. Unfortunately it is very uncomfortable, so I needed to find a seat cushion to fit. I looked at several places and couldn't find the exact size, so I decided to improvise. I covered a body pillow that was the same exact size as the bench in a great mocha colored fabric and then added some cool accent pillows from Pier 1. I didn't include a picture because it was really no big deal. In fact, my "crafty card" would definitely be revoked if the powers that be found out how I "covered" the pillow. I've only shared this with a select few people and plan to take this secret to the grave. :)

2. Made a name sign for Avery's room. It took me 10 months to actually decide what I wanted to do and literally 20 minutes to make once I had the materials. I didn't want to just hang letters on the wall... I wanted something with more flair. My friend Stephany had covered canvases with fabric to display as artwork in her apartment. I thought this was a great idea, so I tweaked it for Avery's name sign. I found this awesome mod polka dot fabric and the canvas at JoAnn (of course) I purchased the letters, whch I've been eyeing for 10 months, at Lone Star Baby. I covered the canvas with the fabric and then hotglued the letters on. Super easy... and so cute!! I really wanted lowercase letters, but I think these turned out fine. It looks great above her bed. :)

3. When I started envisioning a baby's room, I definitely saw a chandelier. After we got Avery, I had to have one for my sweet girl's room! I had been looking at one at Pottery Barn Kids since before she came home, but didn't want to pay the big price. I wanted to find one at a flea market or thrift store and paint it myself. It took about 9 months, but finally my sister-in-law, Alison found one!! She got it at Goodwill and payed $10 for this treasure!!! We painted it an antique white and then I bought and covered shades with fun fabric and trim. I am so pleased with how this turned out! It looks beautiful in her room. It was exactly what I wanted and all in all it cost about $45 to make. :)

I hope I've inspired you to let your crafty gene emerge! Really, it's not scary. I haven't started wearing my own creations.... yet!

Andi

So long summer....

Alas... summer has come to an end. The kids started back to school today and the lazy, care free days of summer are over. (Well, my days were never lazy or care-free, but it sounds better.) :) I thought I would update you on how we spent our last fun filled month and throw in some great pics.

Here's how August shaped up...

1. Awesome get-together with Amy & Annabelle and Kim & Landen! Amy's dad has this great inflatable slide/pool. The kids absolutely loved it! Amy made lunch and the mommies got to catch up. Such a fun day! :)

2. Lunch at Mooyah! I took the gang to lunch at Mooyah, a fun burger joint. It's no Purple Cow, but it's fun in it's own right. The kids look so great in this picture. Maybe Mooyah will contact me about using it for an ad... great product placement. :)

3. "Read To Rocky" Our library (where we spent many hours this summer), did something so cool!! They brought therapeutic dogs in for the kids to read to. At first I thought it sounded a little strange, but the librarian explained that it was a great way for kids to practice their reading because they don't feel self concious reading to a dog the way they might reading to a peer or an adult. The dogs were amazing!! They just sat or layed there and let the kids read or pet them. It was such a fun outing!!

4. Maddie's 8th Birthday celebration. Since Maddie and Connor were with me during the week and Maddie's b-day happened to fall on a weekday, I had the great privilege of throwing a little "actual birthday" celebration for her. Maddie, Alex & I went to see the American Girl movie, Kit Kittredge while my sweet sister in law, Alison, kept Connor & Avery.(side note... this was the first movie I've been to since Avery came home) After pigging out on some yummy theater popcorn, we enjoyed some very girly pink cupcakes at home (yes I made them). I think this may have been the first time I've gotten to celebrate with Maddie on her actual birthday. It was sweet.

So that wraps up the summer and what do you know, I survived! Now we're in serious, back to business mode and I'm trying to switch gears. :(

I'll have the last of the 10 month pics up tomorrow.

Happy Monday!
Andi

More Summer Pics

10 months already??!!!

Avery was 10 months old on Saturday! Unbelievable... I know I say that in every post, but I can't get my mind around how fast time is going. To celebrate, we went to Madison's 8th birthday party. The theme was a fun luau and Avery had a blast! She was literally the center of attention... running a close 2nd to the birthday girl. :)

It seems like Avery has started doing all kinds of fun things at once. At the end of her ninth month she began pulling up on anything she could and cruising (for those of you who don't keep up with baby lingo.. that just means she's taking little steps while holding onto something). The best surprise was when I walked(stumbled) in to get her one early morning and she was standing up peeking over the side of her crib looking at me like, "I'm ready to get up, where have you been?". It was a bit of a shock at 4:30 AM, but I couldn't help but smile. She also started clapping her hands and saying "Yay" when she does something she's proud of or when she hears music, clapping or cheering. I love it!! She knows where "nose" is now and takes great joy in squeezing the nose of whatever poor victim has been suckered into the "Where's the nose" game. She started saying ma-ma. Pretty sure she doesn't know what it means yet, but I love hearing it. I'm also about 99% convinced that she's saying dog. I could be jumping the gun a bit, but something very close to that comes out several times a day.

She's a joy to be with and I still can't believe that God gave her to us.

I'll have more pictures up soon and I also have a few things on my mind that I hope I find time to blog about.

Happy Thursday... almost Friday!! :)
Andi

10 Month Pics