Pre-Schooler IN THE HOUSE!!!!

Pre-school is in full swing around here and we (aka Emersyn) could NOT be more excited about life.  She also could NOT be any cuter!!!!  I mean really???? It is just not fair to the other kids--haha!!!  Anyway.... I had a crazy idea that I wanted to get Emersyn a cute LITTLE backpack.  You know like the perfect size for a little tiny person???

Then I got the crazy idea to make her one.  STUPID MISTAKE.  I ended up spending a lot more than I should have and wasted a LOT of time.  BUT I guess it was a good life lesson.  I learned to READ the pattern before buying fabric (the first bunch I bought was not the right type).  I learned to check around first before buying online (I got screwed when the owner of the etsy shop I bought from WENT ON VACATION and forgot to send me my fabric).  I learned that JOANN never lets me down (I found about 15 cute types of canvas right in the store after searching online for weeks and only finding 2 or 3 that I liked).  I learned that once you tell your kid you are making them a backpack you better MAKE them a backpack.  I also learned to NEVER GO TO A FABRIC STORE ON A HOLIDAY (1 hour in the cutting line, 20 minutes in the check out line, another 20 minutes in line at another store to get the 99cent item you forgot at the first store GRRRR!!!).  I also learned that kids are never COMPLETELY potty trained and that you can make a backpack in about 3 hours (the night before the first day of school) if you have no choice.  Wanna See It????

I used THIS pattern from Made By Rae.  It was pretty easy and well explained.  I will probably never use piping...EVER!! But it was a good learning experience.  The rest of the bag was a cinch, but the piping pretty much kicked my butt. 
A few things I would do differently....I would use 2 different fabrics.  I would maybe add a side pocket.  I would MAYBE make a larger size.  This is perfect for her, but it does not hold a folder.  Her cute little papers come home folded in half.  BUTTTT it is the same size as the other backpacks I see roll up at the pre-school, so for now it is perfect. 

Speaking of ROLLING UP TO PRE-SCHOOL....it is like ANOTHER world over there.  I am BARELY into my 30's and I feel like the frumpy old lady mom.  The other mommas roll up in their pimped out Escalades and park next to my mom van.  Hmmm??? Am I a loser???  The first thing I thought on day one was....."Oh shoot, all of my wife beaters and shorty shorts were in the wash this morning...I had to drop my kid off in my capris and sensible shoes.  DARN IT!!!"  What the crap....who are these moms?????  They have fake tans, fake nails, and fake....well a lot of fake things.  Anyway...I guess I will not be showing up in my sweats and a hat as I fully expected to do after week one....BUMMER for getting showered and dressed twice a week:)

  Anyway...moving on.  Em's 2nd day of school dress was a re-purpose.  I started with a polo dress hand-me-down that had a bit of staining on the front.  I cut it off and added this cute birdie fabric.  The bottom fabric is my new favorite knit fabric.  It is from Joanns and I have bought it twice and will probably be back for more.  I made the ruffle on the bottom out of a two inch strip.  Instead of sewing down the middle of the ruffle I sewed two lines of stitching about 1/4 inch off the middle.  That made it look a bit like pleats instead of ruffles, I kinda love it.  I am not sure why it looks like I sewed the ruffle on crooked in the picture, but I am pretty sure it is straight....or at least straighter than that:) 

I can just imagine what the Barbie moms would think if they found out my kid was wearing a handmade backpack and  a re-purposed dress--haha!!!  I love it.  Em LOVES it too.  She cannot wait to get out the door in the morning!!!  I guess the kids must be nicer than the moms :)

Success!!

I just have to start off by saying.....I DISTRESSED SOMETHING!!!  I have been wanting to mess up some good stuff for A LONG TIME.  But it really isn't the style of my house.  I decided WHAT THE HECK....and did it anyway.  AND (drumroll) I LOVE how it looks in my house.  Even a modern clean look works with my NEW VINTAGE TRAY. 

I found this KITTY tray at Value Village.  AND as much as I DOOOO love kitties....I did not love the whole kitty cat, country blue, hearted up vibe.  Cool if that is your thing I guess...

I painted and distressed and fell in love.  Like when I first saw it I almost asked it to marry me...BUT then I decided Todd would not wanna be a Sister Tray....or whatever that would make him, so I decided to just hug it and give it a little space.  FOR NOW:)

And for now it is sitting on my happy  (and cleaned off for once) counter with my happy pink flowers, RIGHT above my happy little organized JUNK DRAWERS.  AND that makes me

VERY HAPPY!!!

Makeover Monday-- 1 down, 51 to go

I have about A MILLION half done projects going on in my house right now.  SERIOUSLY.  I am that person who is UN-linear.  Most people would attack their house one room or project at a time.  NOT ME!!!  I jumped in and attacked EVERTHING in my house.  Now I have a FEW organized areas amongst A LOT of chaos.  My completions so far are pretty boring and have not made ANY impact on the overall look of my house, but they have made me FEEL better, so that is what counts I guess. 

To start off, I have been reading multiple books on cleaning and organization strategies...

 and then I found a 21 days to getting organized challenge....

and sooooo a lot of what I did this weekend was CLEANING and ORGANIZING.  Not fun for me...not really too fun for you either.  BUT here it is. 

PER the 21 day challenge I started with JUNK DRAWER.  Only problem....I have about 5 junk drawers in my house.  I tackled 3.
PER Unstuff Your Life, EVERTHING NEEDS A HOME AND LIKE THINGS SHOULD BE WITH LIKE THINGS.  I have always believed this, but needed it to hit me over the head.  SOOO I am also trying to find PERMANENT places for all of my STUFF.
PER...something else I read somewhere....take before and after pictures so that you can look at them and be embarressed and NEVER wanna go back to that ugliness.  I am going one step further and showing YOU ALL the ugliness so that I will be even more MORTIFIED and never let my drawers get so *&%! out of control. 
HERE GOES....

Junk Drawer #1 BEFORE

After: I stole some trays from my bathroom drawers (which are coming up soon on the list) and divided up the nonsense. 

BEFORE:

After:  Mostly I had to put the 1 thousand things that didn't belong in there in THEIR homes and then the drawer was a snap to clean up.  I am still thinking about dividers, but good for now.

Before:

After: 90% of the crap went in the trash. Now I have phone numbers and addresses.  I should really get more friends so I have enough numbers to fill the drawer back up:)

I also tackled THIS ugly mail holder and got it all cleaned out and pretty again, but have not figured out my NEW HOME for the mail yet....working on that one still:)

Pretty boring.  I hear ya. I WOULD totally recommend these 2 books if you are looking to de-clutter.  They are not start to finish reads, but skim and skip through books.  I LOVE people giving me ideas for keeping the crap chaos under control.  ANYWAY....

 I hope to have some of the fun stuff finished up SOON.  On the half done list....3 spray painting projects, 1 Ana White wood project, and creating a new office area in my bedroom.  BUT until I get off my bum and off PINTEREST.....

Fun Quote Friday!!!

I recently joined PINTEREST and I CANNOT stop pinning!!  I am findind SOOO many good ideas for my HOME MAKEOVER.  I cannot wait to get cracking.  Pinning is one thing, but CRAFTING that is the fun part. 

I am also finding some fun quotes that MAKE ME SMILE!!!  I thought I would share the love because who doesn't need a FREE smile on FRIDAY???

ENJOY!!



The 365 Day dress

Guess who starts Pre-School next week????

 Emersyn keeps asking IS TODAY PRE-SCHOOL DAY????  IS TODAY PRE-SCHOOL DAY????  She is SOOOO ready to go!!!  I on the other hand CANNOT believe that she is so grown up (SIGH). 

On ANOTHER note...I am slowly working through my WIP basket.  This little dress has been in there for A WHILE.  Just to give you a hint...the shirt for this dress is size 24 months and the cute little girl wearing it is THREE!!!  YEP...been working on that one for a while.  SADLY....the only thing I had left to do was to sew on the ribbon.  EMBARRASSING!!!  The tutorial I used was from FROM AN IGLOO and is CORRECTLY named the Twirly T-shirt dress.  THAT is exactly what it is:)  Although it would have been a little longer A YEAR AGO when I made it, it works great and she LOVES the twirl.  I will for sure have to use this tutorial again and make something a little more IN OUR SIZE!!

Is it pre-school day yet?????