A word or two on the wall

I've been waiting to make a book page wreath for quite some time. One night I just got too it — two hours of television later, I was finished and quite happy with the results now hanging above the mantle. I won't go into details — Google "book page wreath" and you'll find many tutorials and many examples. I skimmed through several tutorials and then just winged it. This size (roughly 26 by 20 inches) took two books; both were vintage and rescued from the trash. I wouldn't do this to a new book! The pages are tri-folded and hot glued to a cardboard backing. The cardboard works here but I want to experiment with other materials (plywood? canvas? ideas?). 

I would have shown you the whole mantle but it is such a dumping ground for mail, lego projects, toy pieces found under the sofa waiting to be put in their proper homes. Do you have a picture-perfect mantle? Or take a quick swipe before company arrives like me?

MADE BY YOU MONDAY

MONDAY FUNDAY

THE SHABBY NEST

Random Thoughts No. 24

Oh, hi there. Still here. Well, not here on the blog but here in general. No one does a good job of explaining how adding a child, and then another to your life really can make it busier. Consider laundry — just going from a couple to a family of four doubles the amount of laundry (or more depending on how much spit up and potty accidents a child has). Each kid has their own schedule of school and events, plus the never-ending cycle of laundry and errands, plus mom or dad or both have jobs, and hey maybe mom or dad or both want to have a little bit of life beyond the kids. Life gets busy.

That's a long way of saying this blog here is not at the top of my to-do list. But I'll still check in from time to time with pictures of the boys or crafts. Now that school is out, I'll have a little more time to squeeze in some writing. Today you get some random thoughts ...

How cool is that AWESOME image there?! My mom had a small embossing label maker — it was so so fun to play with. Would love to find it. Mom and I don't throw things away so one of us has it somewhere. While I look, you can go to this site and generate your own images just like the real thing.

This nearby "yard show" is on my to-do-eventually lists! Unfortunately, it's been on my to-do-eventually list since we got to Birmingham and that's 10 years ago. One of these days ...

Like chocolate? Like pie? I made Jessie's Hot Fudge Pie and it was fight-over-the-crumbs good! No really, go make this pie then come back and thank me.

Okay, that's all I got for you.

No more diapers for this ducky (or rabbit)

Of course Baby Bunny learned to use 

the potty too!

Boy, potty training took FOREVAH with Joseph. I thought it would be easier with Joseph since he had big brother to mimic. I was wrong. When Joseph showed the right amount of interest, we got out the little potty. It was a novelty for a few days, then he just stopped. Not interested and very, very resistant. I was asking the pediatrician when should we start to worry that something else medically was going on and the magic number was Age 4. So about two months before his fourth birthday, Joseph got with it and stopped screaming every time I merely suggested he might need a potty break. We're still having more accidents that I would care for (especially at his age) but he has passed the "long car trip" test and the "shopping in a store" test. He might even this summer pass the "get of the water and not pee in the pool" test. We all joke the baby pool is warmer for a reason. (No, no it's just very shallow and therefore less water to warm up in the sun. At least, that's what I tell myself!)