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.

Happy Busy

For anyone who knows my dad, this picture is really quite funny.  I was testing the lighting before we took some family photos a couple of weeks ago.  The paper was a sitting on top of one of my piles of things to frame.  We had a good laugh.

Anyway, it's true.  A beautiful thing is never perfect.  Danielle Burkleo has some lovely and FREE printables on her blog.  This is one of them.  You should check them out.

That little printable somewhat describes my life right now.  We are all busy, but I think this season of life can sometimes be a bit maddening.  I wouldn't trade it, but many of the things I want to do, I don't (not in a Romans 7 kind of way) but more in a "I can't get anything done besides what HAS to be done."  You know the feeling.  I have a list.  It's massive.  But what seems to get done doesn't involve a list.  It looks more like feeding lots of people three meals a day, making sure their nails are clipped, making sure those same people are educated so they can go and make something of themselves one day, taking those same people to all of their activities, occasionally getting a conversation in with a girlfriend or two, attending a Bible study, and most importantly… making marriage a priority in the midst of it all.  All the other stuff is on the back burner.

But, as my dad always says, a beautiful thing is never perfect!  Ha!

Happy Monday :)

Lately...

This one has been rocking his Explode the Code, eyes crossed and all.

It being a new semester and all, I had to pull out some new pencils to celebrate.  Something has to feel new and exciting.

These kids love each other enough to eat bean soup together.  

Excuse the mop bucket in the background :)

Superman lives on.

Sleeping under the tree is even fun in the middle of January.

I'm not sure why my kids love Aunt Judy so much.

I put my running shoes on a couple Saturdays ago thinking for sure it would make me go… but it didn't.  The day got away from me.  Ugh.  I need to start exercising again, but haven't. 

I did some school restructuring with some homemade chex mix and diet coke and Ellie Holcomb pandora.

This one read his first book all by himself.

This one had bed hair of the century.

I had hot tea by the fire with my plaid pants on.  It's all a great combination.

Nathan's favorite baby, Miss Hannah Jane, has been carried around the house… sometimes with a spatula.

What do you think of this mirror above our mantle?  Do you like it or is it too wow?

I had a date with these two.

He's been sleeping on the couch a lot and it's so so cute.

These boys loved spending time outside with good friends.

He had to endure my favorite furniture store.  But these army guys really really helped.

This is how I woke up one morning.  I think the massage chair has put him in some kind of relaxation trance.

Cutest thing ever//a little boy who brings his mommy flowers.

Samuel added this to my grocery list.  

Wrestling in the kitchen.

My friend Jen came over all the way from the jungles of Uganda.

This is what the playroom looks like after a home school day.  Creativity=Mess.

We had some visitors last weekend.

Oh the fun these three had.

Making happy messes outside.  And this is before we started in with the glitter.

A few Valentines things are making an appearance.

And we're doing school and waving pots on the counter in a suit that is now three sizes too small.  

Living the dream… it's what we've been doing lately :)

Because You Always Remember Your First Date

Remember this post from a couple of weeks ago.  Well, Sallie and Judy had a really great idea.  In honor of them wanting to dress and act like grown men, they decided to get all dressed up and eat at a fancy restaurant.  Graham and Samuel were so excited.  Who wouldn't be?

We took some cute pics on the porch swing ;)

They were given strict instructions from their father about how to act on a date.  They were super excited to do things like open the car door.  Graham even had a credit card tucked in his wallet to pay for dinner.  They were a little thrown off by the booth, because they were told to make sure that you pull out the chair for your date.  So many obstacles to being mannerly.

This was Samuel telling Judy how many people had complimented them.  Everyone from the waiter to the valet to random people eating at the restaurant.

They came home brimming with stories and smiles of their first time out on the town in their new suits. 

Thanks, Sallie and Judy, for loving our kids!

Family Vacation {The Minnesota Part, Final Edition}

This whole post proves that grandparents are more fun than parents.  All year long my mom buys random things at CVS and Walgreens for my kids to enjoy when they come.  Ask her and she'll tell you about her love for those two stores.  She for sure takes advantage of whatever rebate/coupon/points systems they have.  Her shelves are full of random Walgreens and CVS finds.  Case in point... water balloons.  She has hundreds of them.  And she also has the patience to sit out on the driveway for over an hour and fill them.  I do not have the patience, just for the record.  And also, for the record, water balloon fights never end well in our family.  It's all fun and games until it's not all fun and games.  If only boys weren't super competitive and didn't think they were competing in the water balloon olympics or something.

My mom joined in at her own risk.

Notice here that Nathan is not enjoying the fun and games. 

And he really didn't like it when I wanted to take a picture of him not enjoying it.  I think these tears were shed because his balloons all broke on the ground and not on the person he threw them at.... DRAMA!

Then Grandpa came home and made everything better.

You have to love this kind of homecoming.

This was a different day.  With the cousins.

Team One

Team two

And here's where I had to put my camera down to be the mom because more drama was happening.  But the pictures look fun, don't they?