Knock-off Pottery Barn Buffalo Plaid Ornaments

I posted a picture on Instagram and had a couple inquiries about the ornaments I made.  I was pretty proud of myself for actually completing a project.  I've always been a plaid freak.  I liked plaid before it was cool and will continue to like it after it's not cool, so when I saw these ornaments, I fell in love.  Ornament love.  They looked easy enough to make so I decided to give it a try.  I'm always willing to anything to save a little $$$

This is a picture I took at the store so I would remember how they put theirs together.

Aren't they pretty?

I bought my supplies at JoAnn Fabrics.  The fabric was 40% off and I used my app so I got another 20% off my full purchase.  All the supplies for 30 ornaments was about $40.  Much cheaper than the $6 (small) or $8 (large) each that they were charging.  2 yards of fabric makes 30 ornaments with the size foam balls I was using.

For each ornament, you cut two squares and some strips of fabric.  I'm not a details person, so I just made educated guesses on both.  The hardest part was gluing square pieces of fabric on a round object.  After gluing a square of fabric on opposite sides of the ball, you trim the fabric down and then glue the strip of fabric to cover all the loose ends, at the same time gluing a piece of string hanger.  Put in a Christmas movie if you're making a bunch, because it takes a little bit of time.  I made 30 of them in about five hours.  

Here is the final product.  Not quite as nice as the PB ones, but good enough for me.  I'm not a perfectionist.

 I love the touch of plaid added to our tree.

Perfect backdrop for reading a Hardy Boys book.

Oh, and I went into our local Pottery Barn yesterday and they were sold out of these.  They are also sold out online.  I guess they were pretty popular this year.

Durango Pics

As we approach yet another holiday season, I'm still posting our summer vacation pictures.  This is the new me, about six months behind.  BUT it is giving me hope, that among this craziness of Thanksgiving prep, thinking about Christmas gifts, getting the things done that need to be done ahead of time, trips to the post office, and all of that other stuff, there was a time when life was not quite so hectic.  And it was called summer.  Summer has its own kind of crazy because of all the coming and going and travel and packing up the cooler and sunscreen.  Making sure everyone is having a good time is a lot of hard work for us mom (and dads!).  But it's a different kind of non-intellectual work that is nice break from the school days.

Anyway, scrolling through these pictures is like looking at a different time, and a reminder that in just six short months, the days of summer will be upon us again.  We went to Durango and it was lovely.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  We did some mountainy things, but mostly just relaxed and took in the beauty that God made.  And rested.  And drove.  We did lots of driving.

Durango, you were good to us and we hope to see you again soon!

Why I Cried at Goodwill

I wrote this almost a year ago and didn't know if I would ever post it.  It seems appropriate because today is the 3rd anniversary of the day we found out, at nearly 16 weeks, that our baby's heart wasn't beating.  Life has gone on, in a good way.  But still, sometimes (mostly unexpectedly), sadness returns in the little things, and makes you cry with a kind stranger at Goodwill.

It was a good high chair.  It had this handy tray that popped off that was so easy to clean.  It was an unobtrusive high chair.  It didn't have lots of crevices for food to get stuck in.  It fit both babies and toddlers.  We got it when Asher was a baby.  It's served us well.

It was a good swing too.  It rocked all of my babies.  Graham liked it, but he was such a good baby, he liked anything you put him in.  Asher couldn't have survived without it.  He cried if you DIDN'T put him in the swing.  Samuel didn't care for it much... he just liked being held.  Joseph loved it and took many naps swinging back and forth.  Nathan, well, he was Cry Cry.  So he cried in it.  

There wasn't anything magical about either of them, except that my kids spent hundreds of hours in them, the high chair especially.  They ate their first birthday cake in it.  All boys were so happy in their high chair.  I would put them in it while they watched a Thomas show with a snack.  I would put them in it with some crayons to color with or a special toy when they were melting down.  Sometimes babies and toddlers need boundaries and the chair was a good boundary.  It was a part of their growing up. 

Baby Graham

Asher's first birthday

Samuel's 2nd birthday.

He didn't want to touch the frosting ;)

Nathan

Baby Nathan

Joseph

This was on Asher's 5th birthday, about a month before I had Nathan.

Nathan's first birthday

Just a typical dinner hour.

Christmas morning, not so long ago.

Watching his brothers play in the snow.

 But then one day we found ourselves not using the high chair anymore.  When we moved into the new house, it sat in the garage for a long time and we pulled it out when friends with babies came over.  We thought we would eventually have another baby.  But then instead, we had miscarriage after miscarriage.  There wasn't a reason to keep it anymore. 

We were cleaning out the garage on a Saturday and we put them in the back of the van to take to Goodwill.  I'm thankful that Graham and Asher were with me, because I might have totally lost it otherwise.  The man on the right told me he had a three-week old baby girl and might keep it himself.  That made me feel a little better.  I tried to hold back my tears.  I told him it was a really good chair.  He might have thought I was slightly crazy, especially when I asked to take a picture of it.

Then I drove away.  Asher and Graham were sad too.  We talked about how sweet all those years were.  The day went on.  We went back to cleaning out the garage, and the general chaos of the day.  

It was a good swing.  And it was a good chair.