Twin Daughters from Different Mothers

This week is Homecoming Week at our local High School, and with Homecoming comes dress up days. Today is Twin Day. Here we have Holly and Hailey, twins of the heart, if not of the exact height and hair color. By happy coincidence, even their lunch bags match.

Same Thing, Only Different

I just love Cafe Rio. I love the food, love the atmosphere, but also, (and this may sound silly) I love the decor. It's fun and bright, and I'm especially drawn to the fact that their tables and chairs have been painted with bright, happy colors. Every time I'm in there, I admire their tables and chairs, while eating the yummy food.

I have a kitchen table. I love the table. It came with chairs, but they broke. (the store guy said they were a bad batch. whatever, he didn't try to replace them) We tossed the chairs years ago, and have been using folding chairs for the last 7-8 years. Very ugly.

I have a dining room with cute valances. They are very brightly colored with large daisies printed on them. The fabric is called "Crazy Daisy". I have coordinated my entire kitchen with this line of fabric. I love the colors.

I have a patio, and sometimes I like to do projects out there, like potting plants, painting crafty genius things, etc, and I've wanted and needed a table for outside.

I have a brother-in-law. Doug buys the contents from storage units when the renters/owners have defaulted on storage unit rent. One day I happened to ask Doug to call me if he came across any dining chairs, since I'm wholeheartedly tired of ugly, folding chairs in my dining room, especially with my pretty table. Doug's response was that he actually did have a table and chair set, and if we wanted it, he'd make us a good deal. A really good deal, as it turned out. We drove down one Sunday afternoon to take a look at this table and chair set. Doug had warned me that the previous owner had tried to paint things black, the original color was a dark, hunter green, and it wasn't pretty, but with a little work, it might be just what I wanted. He was right--it was UGLY. Ugly but still very serviceable. And it was a good deal. A great deal! Then I had a brainwave.

I put the table out on the patio, and covered it with clear plastic, to make it outdoor proof.  It is now my outside project table.

Then I bought 4 cans of spray paint to match the colors in the valances--Krylon's Global blue, Pumpkin Orange and Watermelon Pink, to be exact. I also used a green from Rustoleum, which is actually only a color number. Then I waited for a day in Idaho in which the wind doesn't blow. This is actually harder than it sounds, because the wind ALWAYS blows in Idaho. This week, though, is an absolutely magic week. The temps are in the 80's all week, and there's been NO wind. So I've been painting chairs. It's going to take more time, and more cans of spray paint, but I am really happy with the way the chairs are turning out. My kitchen and dining room are going to be very cute and coordinated, just like the tables and chairs at Cafe Rio.

For the wee babes

It's been my tradition, for my entire adult life, to make crib sheets for anyone in my circle of influence who has a new baby. I used to make them for my own babes, and the babes of my siblings, and friends in my various wards. Now I'm getting birth announcements from friends of my daughter, nieces and soon, my own daughter. We found out yesterday that our niece, Robin, gave birth to her baby girl. Congratulations to Robin! This, then, is today's Crafty Genius--Crib sheets. The pink one is for Robin's baby, and the yellow is for Jessie's baby, when the time comes.

Almost There

We're coming onto the end of September, there's a feeling of Autumn in the air, the sky has that blue color particular to this time of year, and the kids have been in school for several weeks now. September has been a good month, I've accomplished quite a bit, and feel good about where I am right now. That means only one thing--it's nearly time to break out the October/Hallowe'en decor. This is coming onto my favorite time of year, with all the wonderful opportunities to decorate.

I've been trying to cut back on the amount of "STUFF" I have, since I don't have room for, or need it all. Sometimes, though, I find a project which calls to me, and that happened this month.

There is a cute little shop that just opened up in town. It's called "Cut it Out" and they sell letters cut from wood. The first time I went in, I was with my sisters on one of our ritual birthday lunch days, and I was excited about all the possibilities. Later, after I'd thought about what I could do with that shop, I went back and purchased the letters to spell out B-O-O. Paper is "Boo to You" by My Mind's Eye.

I finished these this afternoon. Crafty Genius strikes again, and I'll be ready for next week.

LUST

I'm going to be a grandmama. In about 6 months. My oldest daughter, Jessica, called us recently to share the good news, and we are getting very excited to become grands. It's caused a real shift in my thinking and perspective. I used to be completely consumed with the idea of motherhood. We had even considered, occasionally, the idea of adopting another child. With Jessie's call, however, that idea and desire went completely away, and now I find myself thinking of things I can to do prepare for being a grand, things I can do as a grand, and even the idea of multiple grands. (Take your time, Scott and Hailey--there's no rush!)

I had heard of one woman creating a "Grandma's Hope Chest" and ever since, I've been completely taken with the idea of doing it myself. I've started collecting things like Onesies, cloth diapers, a few board books and even a stuffed teddy bear. I've planned to resurrect my 3 year old quilt project and make a quilt for Jessica and one for my hope chest. All these ideas are fun, and I've not been feeling any pressure to hurry out to buy anything...until now.

My husband, Tad, and I went to Walmart the other evening, and were walking by the toy department on our way to buy potting soil in the garden center, when "WHAM"! It hit me, square in the face, a display of Fisher Price Barn Toy sets. (Not literally, I'm fine.) There was a stack of these brightly colored boxes containing barns, silos and a handful of animals and little people. I was immediately transported back to my childhood. I remembered playing with the barn toy at other people's houses (mom and dad didn't get ours until I was rather too old to enjoy it) and how much fun it was to corral the animals, open and close the barn doors hearing the "Moo" sound, and drive the farmer on the tractor. I know I enjoyed this toy as a child, and suddenly, seeing the new toy sets in the store, I realized something.

I've gotta get me one. Maybe I'll even let the grands use it, but I want one. NOW.

Unleashed

After starting this blog last night, I woke several times in the night, the voices in my head making note of different blog subjects about which I could write. I take this as a good sign, that maybe this blog will actually succeed, and that I'll be able to think of enough topics to entertain. If I keep it up, maybe the voices in my head will be silenced, or at least muffled to a dull roar.

The Crafty Genius has continued work today on the Sisters' Retreat 2009 Scrapbooks. They are complete, except for the title labels on the fronts. I can see in my mind what I want to use to finish them, but will have to scour the craft stores looking for the appropriately shaped punch. I'll know it when I see it. In the interim, here are the finished scrapbooks.

These were really fun to make. The supplies are "BoBunny Bare Naked Binders" and "Dreamy 2" paper by My Mind's Eye. I also used a flower punch and snowflake punch by McGill and a photo corner punch by EK Success for the embellishments.

It feels so great to have these finished--they've been on my "Things to Do" list for nearly a year. That's one more thing crossed off.

And DONE!

New Kid on the Block

My sister, Jennifer, suggested I create this blog and give it this title. I'm craftier more on some days than others. This is the current Crafty Genius--working on my scrapbooks from Sisters' Retreat 2009.

This is an experiment to see if I will write on this blog, write interesting things, and keep it current. It will also be an experiment to find out if anyone will actually read this. Stay tuned for more!