Every Girl Needs a BFF Period. Dot. The END.

 Every girl needs a BFF.  Period. Dot. The End.  A friend who will brush your hair while watching the worst reality tv with you... (Polygamy USA... don't tell anyone I watch that)...

 someone who will make a homemade music video with you singing along to Pink like the rock stars we are and go on later to choreograph an interpretive dance at 1:00 in the morning adding in a few yoga poses to coffee house music...

someone who you literally pee your pants with over something only the two of you would think was funny... someone who is basically your sister (obviously from a different mister :) )

... someone whose toenails you paint (barf... but these are the sacrifices I'm willing to make :) )  ... someone who also lives by the motto that nobody puts baby in a corner... someone who has a love affair with diet coke on the same level that you do...

 someone you call when you are basically feeling like a frumpy mom and randomly someone hits on you (who cares that he was old enough to be my dad) and you just have to share all the greatness that is you... someone who shares your maturity level of basically a 16 year old...

someone you can basically share your most embarrassing thoughts to and she just gets you... someone that you can admit all of your epic parenting fails to and know she will never judge you...

Someone who will go to her Mcdonalds while you go to your's on the other side of the country just so you can have a morning meeting via phone just about 5 days a week...  someone you vacation with because she is literally your family...  someone whose husband knows along with your own how important it is for you to see each other...

So thankful for the last 9 days I got to spend with my high school best friend and her two kids... we are already planning are epic 20 year anniversary trip which isn't for another 4 years... but we both believe in going big or going home :)

These adorable pictures are our girls together in Tulle Flower girl dresses made by me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Epic Mom Moments...

I might as well admit to you up front... in a recent speech Boo had to do for school, she had to describe her parents and she described me as Amy Duncan from Good Luck Charlie.  I'm not gonna lie... I can admit even I see some definite similarities.  From the moment Boo was conceived I promise you... we have been incapable of doing normal.... and once you are traveling the road to crazy ... you might as well keep it up with all future children as well.  Parenting is full of unexpected challenges... I find laughing my way through the chaos keeps me sane...  So here are a few of my epic parenting moments from this week...

1.  On the way into 5th grade graduation push poor Boo's head into the bushes while she throws up all of her nervous anxiety about graduating.

2.  At graduation... open my lawn chair that the school requested we bring for the ceremony... only to realize that my chair is the smallest beach chair in America, resting about a solid inch off the ground.  This beach chair is a great chair.... at the beach... it is not a great chair when everyone around you clearly got the memo to bring a normal size lawn chair and your head is at the level of everyone else's lap. 

3.  Being an eternal optimist... assume I can make it all the way across town with my crazy kids in tow... without filling up for gas... because really what could go wrong???... I will just head to the gas station right after... only to arrive at said gas station to realize I left my wallet at the previous place we were at... luckily optimism worked in my favor and I rolled into the station with 4 miles due until empty.

4.  Go to Dew's 3rd grade musical only to realize that there was obviously a note that went home explaining kids need to wear a black shirt... where that note went... nobody knows... hence why Dew wore a white shirt.  

5.  While putting the girls to bed... my foot rolled over something squishy and some what wet... (keep in mind the room was dark at this point and I couldn't see ... I was relying on touch and unfortunately smell alone)... so I reach down to pick it up... thinking it's a piece of food and automatically go to take a sniff... Wait for it....  Are you kidding me I am holding a literal poop pellet under my nose with my bare hands....  and all I can keep saying is ... "I am holding a literal turd in my bare hands... again I am holding a literal turd in my bare hands."  My question is where did the poop pellet come from??? Of course everyone says it wasn't them... Clearly a ghost came in and left a turd as a gift for me.

Can't wait to see what next week has in store! ;)

                                                                     

DIY Pottery Barn Trunk Inspiration

I was recently flipping through the Pottery Barn Catalog and came across the Rebecca Trunk.... HELLO!  LOVE IT!!!  Only teensy tinesy problem... it's $600.00... awesome I'll take 2!  Just kidding I want things for about $5.00 and I really don't think they are going to give me a $595.00 discount just because I'm fabulous ;)... But wait for it... I do have my own trunk sitting in my bedroom that could stand to be refinished anyways ... and since I seem to be turning everything in my life slowly to aqua... evidenced by my DIY Barn Doors, DIY Coffee Table and Painted Glass Jars ... my trunk (which I keep trying to call my chest but I feel like that sounds awkward :) ) can go ahead and join the ranks.  

So this is what my trunk looked like originally... cute but normal.  It's about to get a party like it's 1999 makeover... Get ready for this party to get started... Bring on the power tools.  An electric sander was definitely called for on this project.  I sanded that puppy down until she was good and naked... and believe you me that took some work.  The sanding took about two afternoons... but the absolute greatest news is that the rest of the project was done in literally about 1 hour.

So here she is ... don't stare... your making her uncomfortable... it's not every day she's naked in my driveway.... with all her bolts and love handles on display for the world to see...  Anyways on to the paint experimentation... I never have more than a rough idea of a ... (wait for it ... it's a FOUR letter word to me if you know what I mean...)... plan... if you will ... and I really don't do plans... I like the surprise effect when I'm finished with my projects... I surprise myself because even I don't know how they will turn out. :)

So back to the basic ... EEK!... plan... I knew I wanted to use some type of primer as my base coat.  So I grabbed my trusty aqua paint and mixed a little into my Bare Wood Primer and then decided I needed to actually do a paint wash to try and achieve the effect of the PB trunk.

So here I am adding water ... again no plan... just whenever I felt the mood struck me to turn off the faucet ... I turned it off.  

 Then using a rag I rubbed my diluted paint concoction onto my trunk following the grain of the wood.
Make sure you have a separate wet rag and jar of water if you're like me and like to live on the wild side painting on the driveway with no tarp underneath.  OOPSIES... don't tell the hubs but there were a few stray blobs that forgot to stay on my rag and instead made a home on the driveway.  Luckily I got them up and the hubs can live in ignorant bliss. :)

I love the way it turned out!  Definitely way more blue then then my Pottery Barn inspiration... But it gives me the same sparkly LOVE IT feelings the original did in the catalog.  The poor hubs though before he even saw the trunk asked... "Is it turquoise?"... what's he trying to say? I paint everything aqua?  I just had an epiphany ... next project I'm going to surprise him and hand paint his car turquoise and plaster the inside with turquoise post it notes that remind him of all the reasons he's lucky to have me and all of my aqua glory! ;) 

Thanks for stopping by ... I'd love to hear from you ... questions, comments or any random topics of conversation are welcome. :) 

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Double Apron Twirl Skirt Tutorial

Back to digging through the hoarders pile of fabric... I really should take a picture of that pile to give a true glimpse of the epic-ness of that beast... alas... I'm afraid someone really will nominate me for the hoarders show... so I will probably keep that little jewel to myself :)  So anyways... get excited for super easy Double Apron Twirl Skirt.  I'm not going to say this is a skinny second project like my One Hour Maxi Dress... but this is definitely an afternoon (aka couple hours) project and definitely doable for beginners :) Yeah!

What you need :
Depending on size of your skirt about 1.5 yards of fabric total
4 different scrap fabrics of your choice
1 in. elastic
thread

To begin your skirt you need to measure from your peanuts waist to the desired length you want the skirt to be and add 2 inches for hem and seam allowance... this will be your length... then measure her waist and add 5 (for extra fabric so it gathers nicely) ... this will be the width of your fabric.    Take this measurements and cut two identical pieces of fabric.  This will be the base of your skirt... You should now have two rectangles like I have below...  Place these two pieces with right sides facing and stitch down the length of both sides.  This fabric tends to fray a lot... so I like to also run a basic zig zag stitch next to my straight stitch on both sides.  Finally along the top edge run a gathering stitch and then set aside.

Next grab your fabric for the second layer of the skirt... You will use the same measurements for the first layer ... minus 2 inches from the length... cut out into two identical rectangles and lay with right sides facing each other... again run a straight stitch down the length of each side and follow with a zig zag stitch on the outside.  Again run a gathering stitch along the top edge and set aside.

 Now we are ready to cut out our aprons... keep in mind my skirt is a size 8 so you may need to tweak your apron a little if you have a much smaller size than that.  My bottom apron I made 10 inches across and 2 inches shorter than the length of the second layer of the skirt.  You only need to cut one rectangle for this apron.

The top apron I subtracted 2 inches from the width and 1 inch from the length of the first apron.... anyone else's brain hurt???  Holy cow... I just realized how many math problems were necessary to bring about this glorious creation :)  Take both apron pieces and get out your handy iron... iron about 1/4 inch on three sides... (don't worry about the top, it will be tucked into the waist band) then press in again 1/4 inch to conceal all raw sides and to keep from fraying.  Sew a straight stitch on three sides of both apron pieces and set aside.

Finally the waist band... and ... wait for it... the last math problem ;)... (insert fist bump)! Rewind to your previous measurement of your peanuts waist... subtract 5... this will be your width ( again if your doing a much smaller size I would subtract 3 instead) and your length will be three inches ... Cut two identical pieces with these measurements.

Take both waistband pieces, right sides facing and run a straight stitch down the both sides. Once that's done... iron in 1/4 inch on top and bottom... just like below.

Now fold band completely in half and press with the iron again...

This can get a tiny bit frustrating trying to maneuver all pieces inside the waist band ... but I have complete confidence you can do it! :)  Grab your first two layers of skirt and pull the loose threads at the top to gather the fabric... keep gathering until both layers are the same width as the waistband.  Now pin all layers together inside the waist band.  Run a straight stitch along the bottom edge of the the waistband making sure you are lined up with the edge of the waistband on the inside as well (we want to make sure all fabrics are secured inside the waistband. ) *MAKE SURE TO LEAVE A SMALL GAP IN THE WAISTBAND TO PUT THE ELASTIC THROUGH!*

I left a gap near the side seam but you can do it where ever you want.  Grab your elastic and measure you babies waist minus 3 inches.  This is the length of your elastic.  Push a safety pin through the end of your elastic and fish it through your waistband... once you have both elastic ends out sew them together... then push inside waistband and sew up your gap and .... You are done!!! Yeah!  I told you it wasn't a skinny second but maybe a medium second project. :)

Just a little side note... we get a ton of snails at my house which lead to hours of fascination for my peanuts... in fact we had to go into mourning when I accidentally stepped on one of the poor things... but anyways this skirt is equally cute for dress up or play... Lou did lots of snail watching and inspecting in this skirt... :) 

Feel free to leave me comments or questions ... I'd love to hear from you :)

Colorful Coffee Bonanza Corner

You know those days... where your just trying to survive until bedtime...  Don't get me wrong ... being a mom was and still is number 1 on my list for what to do with the rest of my life from a very early age... but no one told me that everyday my kids would try to take me to the edge of no return... that they would draw a clear line in the sand that says them against me... that they would try to torture me until I've clearly gone to the dark side and my crazies come out...then strategize to bring me down and by down ...i mean down... you know like ... have me tied up... upside down with an apple in my mouth like a pig on a spit...you know what days I'm talking about ... days where you need a diet coke at 8 am ... maybe you can relate if I say coffee... diet coke is my coffee!   

Well today was that day my friends... 9 am Mcdonald's run to get a diet coke (in a foam cup... because of course it would be sinful to get it in plastic... try it... I promise... you will never go back!) Even though of course I was supposed to be at gymnastics at 9 am... so that puts us in at 9:10 to which my honey dew as usual... refuses to bring anything to do while he sits there ... even though I tell him every week ... listen you are going to be bored ... you are going to try and drive me crazy and most likely will ... please for my sake and yours ... bring something to do.  

Nah... that would be to easy ... why would he bring something to do when he can ask me 10,000 questions instead ... and by questions I mean the kind that require major brain power... such as... "when I'm 13, will I be able to watch every pg-13 movie and if not, which ones will I be able to watch?"  ... "why do you need a wiener to make a baby"... "do you know that your pinky finger in china really means the middle finger?" need I remind you this was at 9:10 am ... my brain is not functioning yet ... I need to be at least half way through my diet coke before I can to some small degree act like a normal person.  So I gave them quarters to entertain themselves with the gumball machine...when in doubt give them gum... I promise you it works every time.

After gymnastics, I just wanted to run into target for three things... three things... thats all ... that's all I wanted in this world... those three things... that's not asking for much... when you have an 11 year old, 9 year old and 7 year old ... I promise you it is asking for a lot.  Oh to go back to the days when they were babies and I had a 4 year old in the back of the cart, a 2 year old in the baby seat and and a baby in a snuggie.... if they get fussy stick a boob in one and shovel snacks into the others.

Instead today, I had honey dew asking about every other item we passed whether I would buy that for him and why not... my 7 year old, lou... who is definitely not small for her age and could in no way be mistaken for a baby... buckled herself into the baby seat of the cart... on top of that my 11 year old, boo, who you would think would be the most reliable out of this group of crazies... insisted on touching what seemed like every item in the store ... 

so as I'm just trying to get my three measly items and three crazy kids to the checkout... ones acting like a baby ... and I mean a real baby in the baby seat... another one is repeating over and over with a few variations in the question... mom I really want that shirt... can I get it... how about football cards...you know how much I love them... fine ... a candy bar? ... and child number 3 is about two miles behind us fondling all of the glassware in the kitchen and dining aisles.... doing a great impersonation of Gollum from Lord of the Rings ... MY PRECIOUS!

So I went to my happy place... I pushed my cart... smiled and nodded at people staring at us and I thought of my diet coke waiting for me in the car... then I thought of my next sewing project that's been floating around in my head...and then I just started chanting to myself (In my head of course!) like Dory in Nemo... you know where she repeats... "Just keep swimming... Just keep swimming"... except I was saying ..."Just keep pushing... Just keep pushing" ... thankfully we finally made it to the checkout ... I got my three items and my three kids safely back to the car...

and 4 hours later I realized my husband had been dying for ice cream and I forgot it ...normally I would just forget it... but poor hubs has had a rough week... so that's right... wait for it... I loaded the kids up ... went to the nearest grocery and as soon as we stepped one skinny toe in that store... I informed them we were there for one thing and one thing only... do not ask me to buy you anything ... you will not be getting anything... the less you talk the sooner we can leave... see how we all win if we are just quiet?  Luckily they had buy 4 ice creams get them for $2.75 ... so each of the kids felt like a rock star when they get to pick their own tub... it's the small things that keep them excited...

So the moral of the story is that everyone's sleeping like little angel's in their beds now ... and all I want to do is kiss their little faces off... I'm obviously having a hard time remembering why I was so annoyed with them today... they are such sweetie pies when they are sleeping... (could be due to the fact that they aren't speaking) :) I'm so thankful for the opportunity to love these kids...my life would be incredibly boring without them ...

but I sure could use a mom-cation right about now! :)  So while a vacation definitely doesn't look like it's in my near future... I definitely go to a happy place ... (and that's a form of vacation... right? ... just say yes and make me feel better)... when I'm creating and designing... Even though I don't drink coffee... the hubs does ... and every man needs a colorful coffee bonanza corner ;)

I would love to hear from you!  DIY comments... sewing comments... cray-cray parenting comments ... I'm open for any and all topics :)