Porch - Our Family Unit

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May2nd

Purple Flowers for the Backyard

Posted in: Slice of Life

I’ve decided that Spring is here, whether or not it’s actually true. I have a bit of cabin fever and am really looking forward to many, many days in the backyard this summer. Kyle and I went to OSH a few days back and decided to get some fresh plants for the backyard pots (we do this every year…not because I only buy annuals, but because I have a bad habit of neglecting my yard in the winter and killing everything off). This year I wanted to go with purple and white and love the burst of color back there now. We also started some vegetable seedlings inside that I’ll need to transplant soon, and I will try to remember to grab a few more pics of the flowers when I do. It’s great to go out and water each day, and I love having a helper. Kade waters the rose bushes and trees along the fence and I water the pots up by the house in an attempt to minimize overspray onto the patio furniture. I realized the other day, he’s been infatuated with that water hose for quite some time…
April18th

Red, White & Blue

Posted in: Slice of Life

The other day I asked Kade to go pick out some clothes for himself and get dressed, and this is what he picked! What a stylish 2 year old, right? I think if we had stayed in LA we could have gotten an agent for him and he’d be modeling for Ralph Lauren right now. Lucky for me, he has no brand loyalty, so I can still shop at thrift stores, clothing swaps and use my “Kohl’s cash”.

I just thought he was looking so dapper, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a few photos. So I dressed Berlin to match and we had a shoot on the front porch. I love how worried she looks in the one above, and then how she’s totally loving it in the one below.

And this tender one with him holding her hand and her just laying back on him, chillin’… PRECIOUS! Their relationship will be just like this every day, right??
December9th

My Christmas Holiday Stoop

Posted in: HouseWifery, My Home

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

Step 2: Tie on a red bow

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.
November4th

Pillow Talk

Posted in: Handcrafted, Sewing

One of my favorite embellishments is buttons, especially vintage ones. Let’s just say it pays to have parents in the business because my mom sent out this tin chock full of gorgeous buttons. After making the cushion covers for my freebie porch bench, I thought it would be fun to stitch up a couple pillows for fall. My goal is to have a few different pillow cases & accessories for each season to keep it looking fresh.

The fall fabric I got on clearance at Jo-Ann’s and the pillow forms I just had accumulated along the way. In fact, the round one is actually a rectangle pillow shape that I rolled up. Reduce – Reuse – Recycle. Ha! More like, I’m just too cheap to buy pillow forms.

The floral pillow is actually my favorite, but my little bench was overwhelmed with all three. So this one got its own special place of honor on the back patio.