Girly Airplane and Space Room

Pinterest rarely fails me but when we were looking to decorate Madeleine's room, I was struggling. She's into airplanes, robots, and dolls but loves everything to be pretty. "Pretty" in Madeleine's terms so far means floral, purple, or a dress, but I haven't figured out the rest of her definition. For example, Pottery Barn stuff is not pretty to her but skulls are? 

Anyway I was really stumped on how to decorate her room, but in the end, I kept coming back to airplanes. Matt already made her rocket models for her room, and Matt and I both enjoy airplanes. It's not something we would get sick of. But I googled, pinterested, etc. and could not find an airplane room that was girly. 

Here's what in the end we came up with.

Her room from the hall. The coolest thing is probably the pictures. I always ask for Matt's input on stuff and he didn't want to put up fighter planes. So we ended up printing black and white photos of what we consider important events. There are three people, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and Chuck Yeager with their planes. The Wright brother's plane, international space station, and the Hindenburg are a few of the other ones. Madeleine loves them and is always hitting them and taking them down. 

(I'm a bit obsessed with this picture of Amelia Earhart)

To the right of the bench you have this. Her closet doors were glass so we had them removed, for those who are curious this is what the inside looks like.

We all share the dresser and we mainly just use the closet for her larger toys. Most of her toys are on the bookshelf next to the closet

Notice most of her pictures are black and white because I'm too cheap for colored printing. :)

Her bed was she was most excited about. I found some fun fabric at Joann's and threw the pillowcases together. Madeleine picked out the trims herself. The green polka-dot fabric has little yellow roses in the center. When she walked in and saw the room that's the first thing she gravitated towards.

I still havent' completely finished her quilt. It's 90% done though and she's been sleeping with it for the last year. It will get done some day!

Close up of quilt.

The last wall I forgot to take a photo of. It has her little red kitchen.

It's been just over two weeks and she loves it. 

Art for our room

Matt and I needed some art over our bed and as much as I'd like to buy art from an artist, we simply cannot afford it right now.

So I looked at some of the art I have been pining over for sometime to see if I could figure out away to create something similar myself.

There is this art shop on facebook and etsy called Leroy's Place. It's one of my favorites. She buys old thrift store paintings and adds a bit to them.

Here

and here for this one

Matt and I both thought they look fun and quirky, and thankfully not to hard to take some inspiration from. So first we got our ugly painting from Goodwill. It was so funny watching people come up to my cart and look to see what great find I had. Several ladies even shot me strange looks when they saw it, but that's alright. I marched my $3.50 painting right up to the register with a grin.

This is what the painting looked like but this is after I spray painting the frame black.

The first thing Matt and I had to choose was what we wanting to put on.

Then he drew them out and I painted them. Two hours later we had our painting done. I think it cost us $7.50 total. 

When we finished

 And here's it hung!

I like the grown up look of the landscape with the fun of the childish things mixed in with it. Totorros are little calm creatures in my mind too so they seemed to be the perfect little guys to go into our picture. 

With that our home is done. We spent the 4th going through all the closets and bathroom. My next goal is trying to get us up early. Today didn't go as well as I hoped. While I did get both Matt and I up, he's currently at the lab. In his sleepy state, he stormed out of the house this morning to sleep at the Chemistry building. When I called him, he was a little annoyed that he was too awake to sleep. I'm hoping this isn't how every morning starts, but hey at least I got a blog post out of it. :)

Facebook

I'm definitely one of those people that like facebook better than real interactions sometimes. I feel like this is not a popular opinion, but over the last year or two I've decided that I really am okay with it. While I get daily conversations with other in person friends, I have no guilt for hanging out at home and only talking to people through facebook.

Other than keeping in touch with real friends through my news feeds, here are some other ways I use facebook.

I use it to plan events.

Neighborhood playgroup? Meet up at the farmer's market? All happens through facebook.

I use it to get parenting advice.

I love this one. When I was a new mom, I joined many parenting groups that focused on different parenting styles. As I ran into problems, I could ask or just browse through the archives. My questions are usually answered within a few minutes. Now that Madeleine is a toddler I have one group that I mainly use that actually has a few of the leading experts in the group. It's nice getting answers from them.

I use it to learn hobbies

There are so many things I have learned thanks to facebook and youtube. Crocheting, doll making, sewing, cooking, just to name a few. When I start a new hobby, the first thing I do is look for a facebook group.

I use it for home education.

I wanted to teach Madeleine the colors a few months back. After asking a few questions in a group, I had a full month unit given to me of what books to check out, what questions to ask her, and different activities we could do. On a smaller day to day bases, I have literally hundreds of ideas at my finger tips and unlike pinterest, if I have a question, I can ask the person directly who I'm copying the activity from. My favorites are actually the waldorf groups right now since I like how they set routines and teach chores and cooking to toddlers (and many other things that are all fantastic).

I use it for finances.

There are several groups that I'm part of that help with money. There are some that effect us financially but are not directly related like minimalism groups and the Non-consumer advocate.  But then there are some that are very money oriented like my budgeting group and investing group. I don't participate much in these, but I learn a lot from just reading other people's posts.

I use it to decorate my house.

When we moved into our new apartment, I filmed my living room and asked for feed backs in one of my groups. I got it within minutes. Free interior design advice in minutes. Pretty sweet.

I use it for social issues.

I love all the discussions about social issues. I like that I can pick when I feel like discussing it on friends' pages or reading a certain article. I also like that I can then discuss this with my friends when I see them again. Matt and I have many discussions about race, poverty, class-issues, politicians etc. that began with something I saw on facebook.

I use it for news.

Believe it or not, at this point I usually have a friend close to where most major stories happen. I usually find out major stories before they are published. I feel like the news articles that my friends share are more well-rounded than what's on CNN.

I use it for religious discussions.

There is always religious discussions going on with friends. Again, I like the fact that I can choose to skip them when I don't feel like hearing about it and "eavesdrop" on conversations when I do. I like it because I feel like it is more civil, and when it gets hostile, I can skip it. 

I use it to achieve goals.

I have several groups ranging in size that help me achieve goals. We report what our goal is and where we are at, and people cheer or give encouragement. I like being passive on most of these, but one of my favorites is a small group of 20 women. We share what our plans for the day are and check in at the end of the night. I'm one of the youngest in the group, and I have received some great tips from these women.

I use it for shopping.

Most people I think are aware of the facebook yard sale for their areas, but there are so many other things you can buy off facebook. Like vintage dolls? There is a group for that. Homeschool materials? Dozens of groups for that. Anthropologie or Boden clothing? Places for that too. 

There are other things I use facebook for with my in person friends such as remembering birthdays and stuff but I feel those are more typical uses of facebook. 

You might be thinking that I could do all of this with people in real life, and it's true. But I like that I don't know these people usually. I like that I can ask and if they judge me, it won't effect my real life. I like that it won't ruin friendships or place labels on me that I don't necessarily identify with. I also like the people I meet and chat with. I like that I can bounce ideas off of them without telling people I know. I like that I see over and over people are in general good.

Anyway, what do you facebook for? Do you like or hate it?

Welcome to Lakeside

As we were moving out of Butler, I sat down and read over a few blog post from when we moved there. Despite the fact that I felt relieved the first time I moved into it, I forgot how hard actually moving in was. In this blog post I said, "I always feel like when I move that I'm some type of cowgirl that has to break in and tame my house.Each room has its own challenges and getting the place to feel like home is even more frustrating. And they each seem to fight me too!"

That made me laugh. That's exactly how I feel like moving into this house was too. But this one came together a bit easier, despite our rocky beginning. I kept telling Matt,"Don't panic! Pinterest can fix everything!"

And it can! So far I have the living room/kitchen done and the bedrooms are pretty close. I'm still working on a few things though before I put some pictures up of the other rooms though.

So tada!

 1st half of room

Dinning room table! (We have a dinning room table again!)

 1940's Life and fashion magazine from the flee market.

Lights I made!!! I'm so overly proud of myself for this one. I couldn't find a light kit that would work so I made my own. Matt was a bit freaked about the whole thing, but it was so worth it in the end.

(Tutorial here: http://www.vintagerevivals.com/2014/01/rock-what-ya-got-copper-skeleton-shade-light-fixture.html)

 Word art Madeleine and I did last night. I don't suggest black paint with a toddler. :)

And the other half of the room

Weird kitchen

Spice rack that Matt put up even though he didn't want to 

Art by bathroom in the hall.

So that's it so far.

We like it. It likes us. I think we're doing pretty good.

"Are you going to sell these on Etsy?"

I often get asked for a business card or if I'm selling when Madeleine is out and about in one of her dresses.

I always thank the person and tell them no, but for the few that push why not, here's why.

Let's look at an example.

Madeleine's little Star Wars dress

1 yard of material cost me $10 at Joann's

Button $0.50

Thread $2 for a spool

We are up to $12.50

It took me 45 minutes to make the pattern.

Then 10 minutes to cut it out.

And about an hour to sew it all together.

20 minutes to drive to the post office.

At $10 an hour that about $25 worth of labor.

The dress would currently be priced at $37.50.

You might be thinking "Eh, that's a little high, but I would still totally pay that much for a cool dress."

If I did this as a job (and I know since I technically have my own business), taxes would take close to 25%  (self employed people have to pay double social security and medicaid) of that. And etsy takes an additional 3.5%

That puts it at $48.18 and with shipping this dress would be around $50.

Most people don't want to pay $50 for a dress, even if it's a really cool Star Wars dress.

At $10 an hour, I'm getting paid around the same amount for a lot of unskilled labor. I want to remind people that sewing is a skill. It takes lots of practice and it's hard work. At $10 an hour, I could barely support my family on my own income, if I had enough sales to work full time. I should honestly be closer to $12-$15 based on my skill level. A master seamstress should be much higher than that.

The thing is many people don't see it that way. They see it as me ripping them off. Walmart and Old Navy sell dresses for less than $10 a dress. They think my prices should be closer to those stores. The truth is that those clothes are not made by people making a living wage. They are also people that are trying to live in America on American prices. They need $120 a month to live in a 3rd world country and they are not even being paid that.

I cannot live off of $120 a month. I cannot and will not try to compete with those wages. The things I make are not in the same class. They are unique, fair trade, and produced in a 1st word country. They are not mass produced, with unsafe, unpaid labor in a 3rd world country. To ask me to work at 3rd world country prices isn't worth my time. 

At the moment, I rather make milkshakes or work at Anthropologie.

The truth is homemade is no longer the "cheaper" option if you are not doing the work yourself.

Having a friend do it for you for a discounted rate is something you should be very grateful for and hopefully you realize just how much money they are saving you. It's the ultimate employee discount. The main reason it is cheaper is that you are getting free labor instead of very cheap labor plus a bit of a mark up. Free labor isn't free to the person that it doing this for you. Economic teach us that no matter what time is a limiting factor. That friend is giving the limited hours of their life to help you with a project for free or pretty close to it. Be grateful for it.

For more reading of other crafters on this subject, you can read here from a knitter (I actually really love this one)  and here about a doll maker.

Anyway, that's why in general I don't sell to people that I don't feel like crafting for. If you're my friend, you might one day find a message from me asking if I can send you something.  And if you don't receive that message, I would be more than happy to make something for you, just make sure you are willing to pay me a fair price.

**By the way, I fully aware that I could streamline the process of creating a dress. I just also realize that I would have other cost that I didn't factor in (like marketing, driving to the post office, buying another sewing machine etc.). The price would probably only go down a bit.**

DIY Accent Wall

So this is before...

and this is after.

And here another angle.

What do you think?

Like it? Don't like it?

When I first put it up, I actually really hated it. The room felt so busy and cluttered, but the wall definitely what you look at first when you walk in the room.

Then I cleaned the room up and started really liking it. And now after a few days, this is what I figured out. I can't stand accent wall with a messy room. It looks 100x messier if there is almost anything on the floor. Madeleine was playing with her doll house and legos this morning and it felt a bit too cramped. Luckily the living room only takes about 5 minutes to clean (we shaved off about 5 minutes) thanks to our new shoe organizer!!!  

I don't think I've been this in love with an organizer before. Madeleine can reach the bottom 2 rows, so that's where her toys go, and then the rest is all of our shoes.  It's so easy just to shove toys into a hanging pocket then putting them away in Madeleine's room.

It cost $11 on amazon. :) And the wall was not my DIY. It's actually done with paint sharpie and you can find a great tutorial on how to do it here at Vintage Rival. I'm in love with her blog. The sharpie "wall paper" goes great with our sharpie Calvin and Hobbs posters. By the way, I just want to point out that Matt has come a long way with trusting me on projects. If I pitched this idea of drawing on the walls 6 months ago, he would have said no. This time he let me. Yay for trust. :)

So do you like it? Is it too busy? Would you ever draw on your walls? And any other sharpie DIY...it seems like we are big on them.

Calvin and Hobbes

I don't know if you all remember our living room from way back when.

But there was a big blank wall across from the photo wall.

Completely blank.

I kept bouncing ideas off Matt about what to do about it.

He hated all of them.

Like I thought a huge mirror would be cool and it would bring light in.

But he shot down calling that it would fall and kill our Tiny.

Then one Sunday, he said, lets paint something on a canvas.

Sweet!

Something abstracts since we both can't draw.

Then we were talking about colors...

and again we couldn't decide.

Matt and I then started to discuss things that we actually like.

Movies, quotes, music, books, comics.

A comic?

Black and white goes with everything,

and both of our childhoods were shaped by our love of Calvin and Hobbes.

So we got started.

We found canvases on sale,

and I eye balled which canvas I thought was closest to scale.

(I was pretty dead on too!)

Then armed with a few sharpies,

we got to work.

Here is a picture of our living room now.

(I changed up the shape of the photo wall too. I like so much better now.)

So right across from the photo wall is our comic strip.

And last and not least, here is a close up of our cold baby.

Madeleine's Toddler Room

When we moved here, Madeleine just learned to crawl.

(Like the day before we moved in.)

She wasn't super mobile, and her room was more for us than for her.

Now that she is so mobile and has her mouth on everything,

we figured it was time to make her room designed for her.

So this is our Montessori inspired room for Madeleine.

Click here for the before (aka baby room).

Here is what it looks like from the hall.

The Montessori method is a form of childhood education.

It's very focused on letting the child have freedom.

So instead of having just a crib as her space,

the whole room becomes her crib.

Hence the baby gate at her door.

She has a table and chairs to eat and play at.

And her bed is on the ground so that she can get off it herself and play.

I love it.

She's been playing in there alone for 20 minute at time,

and when she feels like checking in with us, 

she just crawls up to the gate and lets us know.

All of her toys are on these two shelves so that she can see them

I put the hamper in front of her trash can so she can't pull everything out.

For some reason she ignores the hamper....for now at least.

Her dresser is baby proof. 

And she has her little rocking chair with blankets on it.

When she gets tired, she has been pulling off the top on and cuddles with it

until we stick her in her bed.

The major concern we had was if she was actually going to sleep in her bed.

Yes!

She did.

And even though she still wakes up 3+ times a night,

she only got out of her bed once.

We still have a few small things that I'd like to add,

but I love her room.

We've been hanging out in it all the time,

and Matt likes the option of sleeping next to her again.

By the way the whole thing only cost us 50 ish dollars.
The table and chairs were from IKEA for $20
and the little shelves (they are only a foot high) were $13 each at Walmart.

(PS. I have a giveway for one of those little bunny things if you want to enter.)

2 sewing projects

Madeleine's birthday dress shopping has made me want to sew.

I love sewing...but I actually don't like making clothes that much.

Usually, I'd rather spend money than make a dress or shirt etc.

So the fact that I got this irritated over shopping really says something about the baby clothes market.

Anyway, I channeled those feelings and I bought a ton of things at Joann's

and came home to sew.

So here is the dress...

And this is the cape.

I really love it.

Aaww. So cute. I still have fabric left, so there will be more!

Stuff for Baby's room

Yesterday, Baby and I went to the Logan Art Festival. There were so many things we wanted to buy, but we left empty handed. But then, today we went back but this time with my mom and Matt.

We ended up getting some of the things that we had wanted before.

Back at in Provo when we went to the Bijou Market, I bought Madeleine this little truck from the Wooden Giraffe. She loves it. She pushes it and then army crawls after it. She also sticks her finger through the hole and chews on it. I think it's pretty cool too...so we got another today.



It has little blocks in the back. Madeleine was so excited and it kept her entertained while Matt and I bargained for some art work from her room.

We ended up getting this piece and one other from this artist. I LOVE it.

It's going to go along perfectly with this dresser we got back in May for her. :) I love this piece too. Check out those handles. (Click for a bigger picture)

I'm thrilled to set up her room and get out my summer bedding for our bed.

Lastly, Madeleine had a picnic when we got home.

I thought this was too cute not to add. :)

Living in a farm town

We are living in a farm town. 

It's really weird and when it is windy it does smell like cows.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are "town days" when we get to drive 10 miles to Logan.  

(Our town days are so much fun. I'll have to do a blog post about those soon.)

When I go running, I run 4 houses down and back. Running there and back is over 1.25 miles.

My goal is to be able to do that without stopping. So far I can go run to the edge of the neighbors house before I need a break.

(That's some of the neighbor's land.)

On not town days, we stay around the house.

We have plenty to do.

We've been reading tons of books, playing with duplos (so Offspring can play Godzilla), cooking., etc.

Matt has been working on bookshelves.

He built them with his uncle for me! Aren't they great?

We're hoping to paint them tomorrow.

Our very favorite thing has been the piano.

Matt and I both play and we are loving having one in this home.

Our tiny has been loving it too. She dives for the keys whenever we have her on our laps.

The coolest thing about this piano is that it is a player piano that Matt's dad restored.

He has collected over a hundred rolls of music, and I really enjoying them.

It is like have personal concerts by famous pianist in the 20's.

My favorite rolls are the "Rhapsody in Blue" played by George Gershwin!!!

(I love that piece. My mom used to play piano after we went to bed and sometimes she would play it.

Oh and after playing clarinet for a number of years, the run at the beginning always makes my heart happy.)

We also like dancing to some of the old music like "Sweetheart of Sigma Chi".

A lot of the rolls tell you what dance you are supposed to do to the song.

All I can say is...that's a lot of fun.

The view is beautiful too.

Matt and I were watching the sunset the other night.

He helped me get the camera settings just right so I could capture how beautiful the sunset was.

After like 20 tries, we got this photo. 

(That's from the balcony!)

And I took this one today.

I'm not sure if I could live here forever, but we are loving our time here.

We get to spend so much time together, and it's very different from our life in Provo.

(We are still strangely busy though)

I'm so glad that we have this small adventure that allows us time to spend time do things we love and visiting a lot of Matt's extended family.

It's been a nice break before our big move to Princeton.