a dressed-up dresser

a couple months back i found this tutorial on how to stencil and paint this amazing pattern onto a dresser (the tutorial includes the printable pattern and very thorough instuctions). it had all these woodland creatures and flowers all over it and i thought how lovely this would be in clémence's room. she could use the storage space and i would love a dresser that could also be used for a changing table since the cheap one we have from ikea isn't cute at all! not to mention in my quest for a more colorful playroom, this would be the perfect opportunity to add something bright. i will say that i did not know what i would be getting myself into as this took me a lot longer to complete than i had anticipated, but i am oh so glad i did it! i found a cheap dresser on craigslist and thus began the transformation.

before:

after!!

should you feel up to the task here is the link to making your own!

bye-bye!

about a week ago we were spending the evening with jeremiah's parents and all of a sudden clémence just started waving bye. i know she is around the age when they start to do things like this, but what's crazy is that we really haven't practiced it at all with her...maybe a few times here and there but nothing recently. the natural learning capabilities of a child never cease to amaze me. here is the video we took that night.

local wanderings

while i was out thrifting for sweaters to make those stockings i came across a beautiful set of vintage classic books! The illustrations on the cover alone are just incredible not to mention the ones throughout each book. i am so excited for clémence to have these.

cableknit stockings from thrift store sweaters

so a little while back my friend, hannah, and i were discussing how much we love knit stockings (we had both recently received the latest holiday anthro catalog and had seen a few cute ones in there. the catch is that they were $58 and neither of us can knit to make our own. so i thought, why not just use sweaters that are already knit and sew them into a stocking! its super cheap, super easy, and pretty quick to accomplish.

all you need are a few cableknit sweaters you like,

a stocking pattern (which i just drew freehand but i am sure you can print them from online) note:when printing or drawing the pattern i suggest using a thicker cardstock type paper. trust me it'll make it easier for you when you go to sew the stocking since the fabric on some of these sweaters can be pretty stretchy and loose,

scissors, 

a sewing machine, 

and embroidery floss (or any fabric you would want to use to make the loop to hang them with)

first, turn your sweater inside-out
and pin your pattern upside-down
lining the top of your stocking with the
bottom of the sweater (this will be the
opening where you (or santa) will stuff
all sorts of fun prizes in)

next, cut around the pattern leaving a little extra room.
then proceed to sew around the pattern. after it is
sewn, snip off any extra fabric, then turn the stocking
right-side out. sew a loop in the corner for hanging
and your done!

each stocking only took me about 10 or 15 minutes and when your finished you could also add embroidered names or buttons or whatever! i just love the idea of having a more homemade christmas (especially when it is our daughter's first one)

window treatment

so i am in the middle of like 20 different projects right now. there is so much i want to do it's almost frustrating. but a good, motivating frustration. one of the things on my list is to sort of makeover clem's playroom. it originally only had red, white, and grey as the theme colors, but i really wanted to add more to brighten it up in there and make it more playful. so i started with the curtains. 

these white ikea ones below are what we had:

and here are the ones i made for her*:

it's starting to feel better in there already...but there is definitely more to come!

*check out my earlier DIY blog here on how to whip up some curtains of your own

weekend getaway

a few weekends ago, we took a small trip to flagstaff to stay at a cabin with some of our friends. the cooler weather was a relief and the holiday was very much needed. the weekend pretty much consisted of hanging out and playing with each other's kids, making meals for each other, drinking wine by the fire, and great conversation. here are a some pics of that trip:

this is the cabin. pretty fancy if you ask me considering there were 3 couples and we each had our own floor.

playing with her best friend isla

the boys with their girls

first time on a swing with daddy

sweetest lil face

our favorite pic of the weekend!

at the pumpkin patch

 gettin down on some horseshoes

 moms with the babes

 clem and emery

 the crew

 and lastly, sleepin on the ride home

pumpkin bisque

another yummy soup to warm up those bones!








ingredients:
3 cans organic pumpkin
2 T. olive oil
1 lg. onion, diced
1 lg. carrot, diced
1 T. fresh ginger peeled and minced
1-2 t. fresh rosemary leaves, chopped (or more to taste)
2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. light vegetable stock mixed with 2 c. water
2 t. sugar
3/4 c. heavy cream
¼-½ c. chopped fresh chives
Sprinkle of nutmeg (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste


Heat the olive oil in heavy pot. When the oil is warmed, add onions, carrot, a dash of salt, and ginger. Sauté until the onions are translucent, and the carrots begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the pumpkin, rosemary and salt, then stir to combine and continue to sauté the vegetable mixture for about 5 minutes. Add the stock/water and bring the soup to a low boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove soup from heat and stir in the sugar.

When the soup has cooled a bit, place in blender bowl and begin processing. You will probably need to do this in a few batches. While blending, slowly add the cream a little at a time.

When the soup is whipped and creamy, return it to the pot and stir in the chives, reserving a little for
garnish. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve warm

a (slightly) repurposed gift

it was my closest girl friend's birthday recently and for the past few months she has been constantly mentioning how much she wanted to get an old rotary phone for her girls to play with as a toy. so for one of her presents, i decided to set out and find one. fortunately for me, 7th ave is full of antique shops and not far away at all. so i did a little shopping and found this phone below:

 after doing a little cleaning and disinfecting, i googled how to remove the plastic finger-wheel so i could get rid of the random phone number and replace it with this super fun pinwheel fabric i had in my stash.

next, i thought to tie in the pinwheel on the finger-wheel, i would cover the cord in the fabric as well (there were a few slightly exposed wires and i didnt want the girls playing with those either). so i just sewed a 'tube,' turned it right-side out and fed the cord through it. to attach it to the phone, i used some tacky glue on both ends of the fabric.

and here's the finished product! (now i just need to make one for clémence)

get your wiggles out

after her bath and right before bed we have a 'get your wiggles out' time. it's one last moment of play which involves a few tickles, lots of rollovers, and tons of kisses. we turn off the lights and turn on this ladybug we have that projects stars onto the ceiling. clémence LOVES it (and of course so do we).

Happy Nine Months Lovely!

this past month you have taught yourself to stand, eat with your fingers, and say ma ma...among soooo many other things. we love you more each day and are grateful for every waking (and sleeping) moment we get with you.

playing in the Under 3's room at the Children's Museum of Phoenix

unfortunate mishap

just want to say sorry for the lack of posts this past month...our computer caught a cold and is actually still in the process of being fixed. i have really missed blogging and have a lot stored up so hold tight.