Let's Play!

One thing Iowa has that Texas does not: BASEMENTS.  A basement is a beautiful thing, y'all!  When we walked into our basement, we were amazed.  So much space we've never had before!  What would we do with it?  Almost immediately, we decided:  Playroom.  It was pretty cool to be able to design this space from scratch and go all out kid-tastic.  The space will grow with her, and we will eventually add a table & chairs and other things I'm sure.  For now, though, this is an great place for Ava to run wild and play to her heart's content.  There is nothing in here that can hurt her, so we never have to say "no" or pull her away, which makes life a lot easier and playtime more fun.  So...wanna come play?!

Playroom Before:

Playroom After:

The playroom is tucked back in this great little alcove of the basement, and it opens up into a wider space for her to run around.  One of Ava's favorite parts of the playroom are these amazing play tunnels from IKEA.  She crawls through there at least 10 times a day, and it is so cute!  Blazer loves them too, and he will often chase her in and out of the tunnels.  Best $40 we've spent in a long time! 

Since it is a basement and there are no windows in this area, it was quite dark.  The brown color on the walls added to the dark feeling.  We were going for an outdoor feeling that was light & bright, so we chose a perky blue from Behr called "pale sky".  I am in love with this color and how it instantly brightened up the room.

The rug is from Overstock.com, and I love that it brings in so many colors and has a fun, whimsical pattern.  I didn't want to make this a super girly playroom, but I had to have some pink!  The rug is synthetic and doesn't shed, which was a must.  It's comfy and soft, so we all enjoy lying on it.

While decorating this room, I probably had the most fun painting the wall mural.  I have always wanted to paint on a wall, but how often do you get to do that?!  Brent gave me complete freedom, and I ran with it!  I drew the tree in pencil first, looking at some murals online for inspiration, and then I painted it with plain old acrylic paints.  I am crazy about how it turned out and how much personality it adds to the space.

Still obsessed with owls!

We wanted a shelving unit that could organize books and toys.  We settled on this tried-and-true Expedit shelf from IKEA.  The books on the top shelf are for when she gets a little older.  The plastic baskets in the middle are ready to hold toys.  The bottom shelf holds her most-loved toys so she can easily access them on her own.  We secured the shelf to the wall with heavy-duty brackets, so it's completely safe.

The play tent is a crowd favorite.  Ava loves to crawl in there, and so does Blazer.  This thing was $20 at IKEA!  I've seen tents at other places upwards of $200, so this was an easy choice.  Love the pop of color and fun it adds!

Finally, I painted the ombre letters over the shelf.  I got the wooden letters half off at Hobby Lobby and painted them in about 30 minutes.  This was a cheap and easy project, and I love the effect!  

In this corner, we have a comfy reading chair and ottoman (also from IKEA).  I'll probably get a floor lamp at some point.  The bookshelf is something I've wanted for a long time.  I love how it displays the books cover out and how Ava can access the books all by herself.  I bought it on Amazon from a school library supply company.  

The art is actually gift wrap!  I bought single sheets of whimsical gift wrap from Paper Source for $2.50 a sheet!  I put them in cheap plastic poster frames.  My favorite is the donuts :-)

If you need us... we'll be in the playroom!!!

Norwood Family Advent

I have been wanting to make an Advent calendar for YEARS, but it's just not as fun when you don't have a child!  Now that I have a child, I can't wait!  There are so many different Advent calendars out there, it was hard to choose.  As a kid, I had calendars where you opened up little paper windows every day and there was something inside.  It was so fun!  However, instead of treat calendars, I've been loving all of the family activity Advent calendars I've seen all over Pinterest.  I was most inspired by my friend Mindy's calendar last year that she did with her kiddos.  This year I shamelessly copied it!   I even stole the title!  Thank you, Mindy!!  Side note:  I know that Ava is still a tiny baby and that she will not understand this in the least.  However, I think it's never too early to start a tradition, and it will be fun for Brent & I to do a small Christmas activity with her each day, even if she doesn't even know what Christmas is!

My calendar consists of 24 small paper bag envelopes with cards I bought at Hobby Lobby.

Then, I designed some number stickers to go on each bag.  I used standard shipping labels.  You can access the PDF here if you want to print your own!  Merry early Christmas!

I cut the stickers to fit my envelopes and stuck 'em on!

Then, I found some great printable Advent Scripture cards from the Happy Home Fairy blog. You can download and print the PDF from her blog here.  I cut them out and taped them on the back of each envelope using double stick tape.

I printed out our daily activities, cut them out, and taped them on the cards that came with the envelopes.

Finally, I put a hole punch in each envelope and attached the envelopes with sparkly ribbon to a little tree I got at Crate & Barrel years ago.  Each day, we'll read a verse and do the activity on the card!

Here are our planned Advent activities, in order by day in case you want to steal them like I did!  I tried my best to make the activities super simple and 10-month-old friendly.  I'm sure we'll add, delete, and revise as she gets older!  What are your advent ideas?

1. Attend Quad Cities Festival of Trees.  
2. Make hot cocoa cloud dough.
3. Wear Christmas PJs.
4. Make Christmas tree cookies.
5. Make and play with peppermint play dough. 
6. Dance to Christmas music.
7. Walk the mall & window shop.
8. Visit the nursing home in the neighborhood.
9. Check out Christmas books at the library.
10. Play with a felt Christmas tree.
11. Make spice crackers.
12. Make candy cane cookies.
13. Make hand print ornaments.
14. Drive around & look at Christmas lights.
15. Read Christmas books by the Christmas tree.
16. Make treats for the Sacred City Church staff.
17. Finger paint Christmas cards.
18. Make treats for our nanny & housekeeper.
19. Make & deliver treats for our neighbors.
20. Watch a Christmas movie.
21. Go to the Family Museum.
22. Make & deliver treats to our grocery store workers.
23. Travel to Texas!!

DIY Sensory Play

Now that Ava is 7 months old, our days are filled with TOYS!  Ava loves playing with toys (or really anything she can get her hands on), so I'm always trying to think of new things she can play with.  When your attention span is approximately thirty seconds, you go through a lot of toys in a day, let me tell ya.  We have our fair share of blinking, singing, dinging, moving, light-up toys, but I discovered that Ava likes plain old regular stuff as much as (if not more than) the expensive stuff.  We all know kids usually love the box something came in more that the toy itself!  In the last few weeks, I searched Pinterest and found some ideas for DIY toys and sensory activities for a 6-7 month old.  Here's what I came up with!  I love watching her chubby little hands pick things up.  Be still my heart!

Kitchen Fun

When my mom was in town, we tried giving Ava some kitchen utensils to play with.  It was a total hit!  Now I keep a pot full of "Ava's Utensils" for her to play with.  I pull it out at least once a day, and she can be happy for up to 20 minutes banging the measuring spoons, waving the Tupperware around, and chewing on the wooden spoon.  The measuring spoons are her all-time favorite toy.  She LOVES shaking them and chewing on each one.  Cost = Free (old stuff I already had)

Noisemakers

Like any baby, Ava likes things that make a lot of noise.  I bought a pack of 3 Ziploc small round containers with screw-on lids.  I filled each with jingle bells, wooden balls, and orzo pasta to provide different sounds.  Then I hot-glued the containers shut so there will be no spillage.  She loves to shake these containers and roll them back and forth.  I usually give her all three so that when one inevitably rolls away, she can play with the other two and mama doesn't have to play fetch.  Sometimes she gets really into it and shakes them really hard.  It's super cute!  Cost = About $3 for the containers and $4 for the fillers

Ribbon Sensory Bin

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to try it.  I know that at her age, it's important to have many different sensory experiences and the opportunity to explore things using hands, mouth, and eyes.  I went into my craft and gift wrapping bins and got out all my ribbon.  I tried to use a variety of ribbon in different colors, textures, and lengths.  I put it all in a plastic container, and Ava went to town!  Right now she loves to dump it out, pick up each piece, and put it in her mouth or wave it around.  Later I will try to teach her how to put the ribbon back in the box :-)  Cost = Free (Tupperware and ribbon scraps I already had)

Discovery Bottles

I also saw this idea on Pinterest.  I used mini Dasani water bottles since I didn't think she'd be able to lift the big ones!  I drank the water and then I took the labels off the bottles.  The Dasani bottles are cool because the bottles themselves have all kinds of textures on the outside that Ava loves to feel.  I filled each bottle up with tap water and then with other fun stuff I found on clearance at Michael's.  I filled one bottle with colorful plastic animals, one with fake gems, one with sequins and glitter (my personal favorite!), and one with pom poms and googly eyes (this one creeps Brent out!)  Finally, I hot-glued the tops to the bottles since watery glitter spilled all over our rugs would be no bueno.  Of all the DIY toys, Ava likes this on the least at the moment.  She still likes it, but just not as much as the others.  I think she's still a bit too young to handle the heavy-ish bottles and see what's inside.  Cost = about $10 for the bottles and everything inside. 

What DIY toys and sensory play ideas do you have?

Nursery Art Projects

I had four art projects I wanted to complete for Ava's nursery.  They have all been fun ways to be creative and keep myself busy and distracted in the evenings.  It's been quite frustrating to work with my numb and painful carpal tunnel hands, but I was able to do the projects a little at a time, and I'm so glad they are done!  I absolutely love how they all turned out, and it was fun to add personal, one-of-a-kind touches to the nursery.  For project 1, I made some felt flowers for a lamp which I showed you here.

Project 2:  Animal Canvases

Next, I painted some canvases for above the changing table.  Ever since I painted these canvases for Maggie and Campbell last year, I knew I wanted to make some for my own child.  I am SO happy with how they turned out!  I decided to paint an owl since she has a few owls throughout the nursery and a dog since Blazer is going to be her best friend (fingers crossed) and she's going to grow up to be a dog lover, obviously.

Here they are hanging over the changing table!

Project 3:  Hospital Door Wreath

For my next project, I was coveting several ribbon wreaths I saw online like this one.  However, priced at $40 to $60, I knew I could make one myself for way less.  I purchased about 10 spools of fun ribbon 75% off at Michael's.  The only other materials I needed were a styrofoam wreath form, pinking shears, a wooden plaque, and paint.  With the pinking shears, I cut equal lengths of ribbon from all of the spools.  Then, I randomly tied them on the wreath making sure they were right next to each other.  There wasn't really a pattern.  When all the ribbon was tied on, I trimmed up the ends and arranged them how I wanted.  About half of the ribbon was wired and half was not, which I think gave it a good look.  Finally, I painted the wooden plaque with her name and attached it with ribbon and pins.  I intend to hang this on our hospital room door after she is born.  Then, it can hang on the door to her room and be used for parties, etc. for years to come.  I love it!!  You could do this for any occasion with any color scheme.  It took me forever with my freaking carpal tunnel, but for those of you with hands that actually function, it should be a cinch.

Project 4:  Framed Painted Verse

Lastly, I found this adorable wooden frame at Michael's for only $7.  I knew I had to have it.  It was unfinished, so I spray painted it a glossy white.  Then I bought a thin canvas and painted the gray stripes and pink cross.  Finally, I bought sparkly white stickers (from the scrapbook section) to spell out the verse.  Put the frame & canvas together, and you've got cute wall art!  This is hanging in one corner of the room, and I just love how it turned out.

...Full nursery tour coming soon!  We're at week 39 as of today and totally ready for Ava to get here!!

Felt Flower Tutorial

If you've been on Pinterest for any length of time, you have no doubt pinned at least one felt flower tutorial to your "DIY" board.  Am I right?  Last weekend, I decided to ACTUALLY make something from my Pinterest DIY board (I know... impressive).  I have been wanting to spice up a lamp for the nursery, so it was the perfect time to try my hand at felt flowers.  All of the tutorials I found instructed me to use a hot glue gun to put the flowers together.  FAIL.  I don't know if my felt sucks or my glue gun sucks or both, but the hot glue method did NOT work for me.  I burned my fingers and the flowers still wouldn't stay together.  I scrapped the glue method all together and went old school with a needle and thread.  Don't worry:  I am NOT a seamstress.  I'm still using the mini sewing kit my mom gave me when I graduated from high school.  If you can thread a needle and make a lopsided stitch or two, you can do this.  Promise.

You'll need:

Felt (I used cheap craft felt from Michael's)

Scissors

Needle & Thread

Felt Bloom Tutorial

Cut out a bunch of flower-ish shapes from your felt.  I say flower-ish because mine were lopsided and uneven and you know what.... they turned out perfectly!  They just have to sort of, kind of resemble flowers.  I am lazy, so I folded my felt and cut three at a time.  Pile 'em up.  You'll need about 6 flat flowers to make one bloom.  You might also want to cut a few small circles from the scraps.  More about how to use those later.

Take a flower.  Fold it in half once.  Then fold it in half again.  Hold it at the bottom like so.

Place your folded flower on a flat flower.  Put it in one corner, knowing you're going to put four folded flowers on the flat flower.  Hold the folded flower with one hand and stitch it to the flat flower with two or three stitches at the tip near the center.  Your stitches don't have to be pretty or straight.  Believe me, mine weren't.  Repeat with 3 more folded flowers, sewing them on to the flat flower. Then, stitch all four folded pieces together with one stitch connecting each folded flower to the next in a little circle (a total of 4 stitches).  Believe me, this is not difficult.

Now you need to fill in the middle.  You can either use circles folded in half twice or smaller flowers folded in half twice.  Repeat the folding and stitching procedures, stitching the smaller flowers in the center.  Ta da!!

Now, take a break and cuddle with your curious puppy.

{Whatcha makin' mama?  Something for Blazer, perhaps?}

Felt Rosette Tutorial

First, you're going to need to cut some strips of felt.  Mine were about 2 inches wide.  Use whatever color your heart desires.  I used a taupe that kind of looked like burlap when finished, which I enjoyed.

Fold your long strip in half, hot-dog style.  You're going to stitch down the open (non-folded) side.  Start at the top and just stitch on down to the bottom.  Your stitches need not be even, straight, or lovely looking AT ALL.  They need only be there.  As you stitch, pull the thread taut each time.  This will begin to slowly gather the felt so that it puckers and begins to spiral.  It's magical!  When you get to the bottom of your strip, pull the thread tight one last time, tie off your stitches, and cut the thread.

As you see above, the felt will have already formed itself into a lovely spiral shape.  Now you just need 3-4 stitches to hold it in that shape.  You made a rosette!  Lovely!

Next, get something good on the DVR.  Repeat all these steps.  And repeat again.  

Congratulations!  Now you have a whole mess of THESE beauties!

Now's the really fun part.  Get out your glue gun and go to town!  What needs a rosette in your house?  A lamp?  A pillow?  A picture frame?  A headband?  All of the above?  Go for it.  I used mine on a lamp for Baby N's room.

Before:

After:

It's The Journey...

I've been meaning to post about a little craft I did for our 7th wedding anniversary back on June 25th.  I had a budget of approximately $15 for an anniversary gift, and I knew just the thing.  (My husband is the type of person for whom saving money is a really good gift!)  If you've been on Pinterest for more than five minutes, you've undoubtedly seen many iterations of this particular DIY craft.  They all have to do with using maps creatively to showcase places you've been or places that are important to you in a piece of art.  Since we've been, um, MOBILE for the last 7 years, I thought this would be the perfect gift to display in our home now and in the future.  

I bought a $10 frame at Target, a $6 US atlas (yep, they still make them - I was surprised too), and a piece of white poster board.  Next, I cut a heart template out of the poster board and used it to trace hearts around the 6 most important cities to us:  College Station , Houston, Dallas, Durham, New York, and Davenport.  Then, I cut out two more blank white hearts to symbolize the future places God will send us.  I'll  replace those with maps when I actually know where we're going :-)  I glued down all the hearts with double stick tape and used a Sharpie to write one of my favorite sayings - actually a motto of YES Prep - "The journey, not the arrival, is what matters most."  Lovely and appropriate sentiment, don't you think?  I can't wait to find the perfect place to hang it in our home when we get back to Durham.

I'd highly recommend this project since it cost about $15 and only took 45 minutes to put together from start to finish.  You can create it however you want, and it makes a great personalized piece of art!

Valentine's Crafting Spree

1 mega-pack of Valentine scrapbook paper

+ Styrofoam wreaths & balls

+ 100 felt squares

+ 2 packages yarn

+ ribbon

+ doilies

+ 3 episodes of Biggest Loser

+ 2 episodes of The Bachelor

+ scissors, tape, glue, & pins

-----------------------------------------------

Happy Katie!

Valentine's Day has always been a favorite holiday in our family since my mama's birthday is February 14th!  Growing up, Valentine's Day was a big deal, and I think that's why I like it so much now.

Last week, I went on an all-out Valentine's crafting spree.  Pinterest was inspiring me left and right with Valentine's crafts, and I couldn't choose, so I made them all.  Brent was out of town three nights this week on interviews.  Armed with a glue gun, a glass of wine, and a full DVR, I got to crafting.

Candle Holders:  mason jars, doilies, felt, & yarn

{inspiration here}

Wreath: styrofoam ring, felt, pins, & ribbon

{inspiration & tutorial here}

Felt Flowers:  styrofoam balls, felt, & pins

{i loved the wreath so much, i created these flower balls using the same technique}

Valentine Frame:  old frame with glass taken out, scrapbook paper, & adhesive glitter letters

{inspiration here}

Heart Banner:  scrapbook paper, glue, & ribbon

{inspiration here}

Lovebird Art:  cheap frame, scrapbook paper, & glue

{inspiration here}

Argyle Hearts Wreath:  styrofoam wreath, yarn, pins, & felt

{inspiration here}

Heart Tree: white vase, branches, & heart ornaments (from Michaels)

{i saw these ornaments and got the idea of a rustic Valentines tree centerpiece}

Just in case you need more inspiration to decorate for Valentines Day, here's a conversation that happened at our house last night:

B:  Oh, by the way... I made reservations at ____ (fave restaurant) for Valentine's Day!

K:  What?  Seriously?!  Like you already called and made a reservation?

B:  Yep.

K:  That was so incredibly sweet of you. Thank you!  Wow.  You are like the best husband ever.

B:  I know.

K:  Did the Valentine's decorations make you think of it?

B:  Yeah, I guess they kinda did.  I was like, "Oh, I guess she wants to celebrate Valentine's this year!"

:-)  Love him.

Happy early birthday, Mom!  I think of you when I look at all my new Valentine's decor!