Our Family Unit
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  • September23rd

    When we found out #2 was on the way, Kyle and I had the logistics talk.  We ended up deciding that whether the new baby was a boy or a girl, the kids would share a room.  Both of us had shared rooms at one time or another growing up and lived to tell about it, and to be honest, we didn’t want to give up our guest room / office.  After we found out Fritz was going to be a girl, I started brainstorming decorating ideas.

    Kade’s first nursery had a farm theme, which we loved since Kyle and I both grew up on farms and it was very “boyish”.  I don’t have a lot of great pictures of the nursery after we moved to NorCal, but here are a few from when it was set up in our LA condo.

    This time, since it was going to be for a boy and a girl, I thought a nursery rhyme theme would be cute, sort of a “Jack & Jill Nursery”.  Plus I already had a few family pieces that I wanted to incorporated.  My grandmother had made a baby quilt for me and it was nursery rhyme themed.

    And Kyle’s grandmother had given us a couple of wall cut-outs from the 1950′s that used to hang in her children’s room.

    Here is the result.  The nursery rhyme illustrations are from my parent’s antique shop and I painted 3 frames that I picked up at the flea market.  The bunting is made from the scraps my mom sent out.  I had made basket liners and a lamp shade for Kade’s farm nursery, but I modified them to both to fit into this new theme.  And the nursery rhyme nesting blocks I picked up on Etsy.

    I was glad that the grandparent picture frames still worked in my color scheme, and the farm overalls were a great compliment to the vintage pink dress I’d picked up at the flea market.

    My parents gave Fritz her very first doll and below her are the fitted sheets that I made, along with a few pics of the new white eyelet crib bedding.

  • December9th

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    A few weeks back, I found an old sled when some girlfriends and I were at the flea market.  It was damaged and, well…old, so I got it for only $10, but I knew I could give it a make-over and turn it into something fabulous for my “winter” porch.  I think it turned out cute so I wanted to give you a quick How-To of the revamp process, in case you too wanted to add some holiday cheer to your entryway.  The steps are a bit complicated, but I’m sure with a bit of determination and can-do spirit you’ll be able to complete your own Holiday Sled.

    Step 1: Acquire a vintage sled

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    Step 2: Tie on a red bow

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    Congratulations!  You have now completed the re-do!

    I also stitched up a couple new pillows cases for the bench.  I’m not exactly sure why, but I liked the idea of something dimensional so after a few sketches, settled on these.  I had tried attaching the felt “snow” with Wonder Under but it didn’t seem very secure.  I ended up tacking it in place with a few hand stitches because I couldn’t get my machine to sew over the Wonder Under.  Does anyone know why that wouldn’t work?  I’m not experienced enough to know if it’s my machine, or me, or the Wonder Under.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.

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  • October29th

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    A friend recently told me about the Alameda Flea Market and her amazing finds, so a few of us decided to load into the Jeep (the vehicle with the most cargo room) and make the trek.  I was in the process of a bedroom redo and was keeping my fingers crossed that I would find some great accessories.  It turned out even better – I found a chair!  Now granted, it was dirty and a little very scuffed up and smelled a bit, but I thought it had good bones.  I’m afraid when I unloaded it though, Kyle was not quite able to visualize the potential of this little treasure.

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    A habit I am trying to break, is getting so excited about starting the project that I forget to take BEFORE photos.  As I’m sure you can imagine, the canvas strips were woven together to form the back and seat and the sun fading is what caused the zebra striping around the wood.

    My family owns an antique shop and my dad has refinished furniture since he was about 15, so I immediately called him up for some tips.  He was excited that I was excited and gave me some techniques for stripping and sanding.  The sign below has been hanging in his workshop for years.

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    Luckily there wasn’t much to repair, and once I got the stain color I was looking for (a nice dark ebony), things moved along quickly.  Next I needed some fabric for the seat.  Originally, I thought a cow hide would be heavenly, but after I realized that would cost about 4-6x the chair itself, I opted for this textured creamy weave for a mere $20.

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    Even Kyle was pleased (and surprised) at the result.

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    Here it is in our bedroom.  Because I hate being cold and love all throws, I draped a chocolate afghan over the edge and added a pop of bright orange to tie in with our duvet.

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  • October25th

    Pumpkin Eater

    Pumpkin Eater

    Om nom nom…  My darling boy on our newly decorated fall porch.  What can I say, he loves the mini-pumpkins.  After giving my flea market find a new finish, I decided to use it as a pumpkin stand and save the plants for spring.