I stockpile craft supplies! I used to keep them put up, out of their reach. I didn’t want them to waste anything or make a monster of a mess. But, if they are not within their reach, then they are not being used. After a while, it seemed pretty pointless to keep everything up, when it was for them in the first place. So, I brought it all down, where they can easily access it. They are free to do anything they want, so long as it isn’t damaging and they clean up their mess. A lot of it does get wasted..like all this tape. Eventually, it’s just going to make it’s way to the garbage. And you know what? That’s fine with me. It wasn’t doing anything sitting way up on a shelf. They had fun and they weren’t fighting with each other. If an hour of peace costs me a few rolls of tape, I’ll take it!
savannah
Little of This, Little of That…
This weekend we embarked on a new home improvement project. As much as I would love to keep Annie in her crib for another oh…forever…we will soon be transitioning her to a regular bed. This has always been a game changer in this house. She is a good sleeper and I hope it remains that way. I don’t relish the thought of fighting sleep with a third child nor a tiny, fearless thing roaming the grounds in the middle of the night. Anyway, the stripes are going and in it’s place, a wood plank wall. This is the before. Notice, there wasn’t much there to begin with. Third child and all that. The stripes were even a hand me down from Savannah, the prior tenant.
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River Otter Gets an Ascot…
One of my biggest pet peeves is when total strangers try to talk to my kids. I understand they mean well, but we practice “Don’t talk to strangers” in our house. I don’t make any exceptions, not even for the nice elderly lady at the grocery store. Besides, “please” and “thank you”, I don’t want my kids talking to people they don’t know. So when strangers approach my kids and try to make harmless conversation, more often than not, they won’t respond. I usually do the talking and they are quick to chastise me that I shouldn’t talk to strangers. Such was the case today…
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Finding inspiration and a paint splattered appliqué…
I have been in such a funk this week. Completely unmotivated to create anything. I always get like that when I’m feeling overwhelmed. Not overwhelmed in the, “I have too many things to do” sense. More like, my brain never shuts off. If you are cut from the creative cloth, then you know what I’m talking about. The ideas…thoughts…plans…they are always running through my mind. They never stop. Literally, I have at least 20 projects waiting to be blogged about. When will I ever find the time? Never! I get so overwhelmed with all of it, because I want to do it all and that has left me feeling uninspired. Until…
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Changes plus Macgyver…
If you’ve been following me on Facebook…then you might have seen some of the changes I’ve made recently to Jacks & Kate. You might have noticed my new logo…I adore it! This blog is getting an update as well. Stay tuned for that!
You’ve probably been seeing a lot of new items…
Truth is…I needed a change. If I was to continue sewing…I had to do something different. I just couldn’t sit down one more time and make the same thing 20 times over and over. For the first time in a really long time…I’m actually excited about sewing. I hope you’ll continue to hang around and see where this new journey takes Jacks & Kate.
Now…for something completely unrelated… Savannah…aka Macgyver rigged my filing cabinet again this morning. Her retaliation on me…for making her give a toy back to her sister. Hopefully…she skipped the explosives.
Picking your battles…
I’m a super competitive person. I tend to make a competition out of anything. Don’t blame me…it’s the disease. The car line at school…GAME ON…I want to be first…for no other reason than to say…”I’m first”…and then sit there for three hours. I once made up the Big Red gum game….where you chew a piece of Big Red…then push your tongue through like your gonna blow a bubble…but INSTEAD…you leave the gum on your tongue. The person that lasts the longest wins. I always won! However…there is one exception to my competitiveness… …
Fizzy Sidewalk Chalk Paint Kit Tutorial
Chalk paint baking soda tutorial
Ever suffer from birthday party gift burnout? I definitely do! For a while now, I’ve been wanting to make a “kit” for a birthday gift. With summer just around the corner, I knew I wanted to do some sort of outside activity kit. I stumbled onto this blog…which took regular sidewalk chalk paint and made it fizzy. I was sold!! So, I teamed up with Tracey over @ Little Bitty Design Studio to come up with the, “Fizzy Sidewalk Chalk Paint Kit.”…
Intolerance
If there is one toy I cannot stand more than others, it is stuffed animals. I am SO stuffed animal intolerant. I’m sorry if that makes me Gargamel, but I can’t visually digest them. So…whenever one of the kids receives one for a gift, I immediately think…midnight abduction? A swift removal is key…or you risk attachment as seen below. …