She's Crafty

(and thrifty) Nathan and Ryan are still in diapers (although both are just starting to use the potty infrequently) and they are getting big. Nathan weighs as much as Leila & Sarah and is wearing the same size clothes as them too. Some of our cloth diapers are getting too small and some are on their last leg. I hate to buy more diapers when it feels like we are just on the verge of potty training and I'm not having another baby at the moment. What to do? I decided to sew a few quick diapers out of some materials I had in my sewing closet.

And then I decided to use up the fleece scraps to make some crude training pants. They didn't turn out half bad, considering I spent no more than 10 minutes making them.

I made some for the little boys and a pair for my bedwetter (at his request.)

I cut the fleece from some scraps I had purchased for just pennies (literally) so I wasn't too worried about messing them up. I used some ratty, old prefolds to cut out a soaker for the center of the training pants.

Then I stitched the pieces together and that was it! I only used the fleece, prefolds, and thread. No elastic necessary. That is one cheap and easy pair of training pants!

Once my sewing machine is out, I like to tackle a bunch of projects all at once. I finally (2 years later) finished the blankets for Nathan and Ryan that I had started before they were born.

I made reversible blankets with coordinating fabric bought through a co-op a couple of years ago. I'm no quilter so I just trimmed the blankets with the fabric, cutting a simple square with a frog on it for each corner, and stitched it together. They turned out nice and match the frog wall decals that Nathan & Ryan got for Christmas.

Then I took their plain, cream-colored crib skirts and added a border of the frog fabric. As an added bonus, the longer length crib skirts perfectly hide the 3 bins of summer clothes that are stored under the crib! And yes, it might seem crazy to make a crib bedding set for 2-year olds, but these kids will be in cribs until they're fifteen. Those crib tents save my sanity. For real.

I could have done something a lot more interesting, but I made a quick, plain valance for the window. I only had this narrow strip of fabric left, so my options were limited. And then, when Matthew saw me sewing for Nathan & Ryan, I had to bust out the fabric I bought (2 years ago) for Matthew's bed. One "Shampoo" comforter completed and one very happy boy. (Matthew is especially fond of Shamu and has an attachment to the stuffed whale he brought home from Sea World 5 years ago. He always called him "Shampoo." He's wanted this blanket for a long time so it felt good to finally finish it.)

Next on my list: a blanket for Joshua and some more training pants. Because these little boys are going to potty train soon, whether they like it or not. (I hope.)

And my last crafty project was an idea I borrowed from Ann Marie, a fellow Army wife. She had the awesome idea of using old wooden hangers to create a jewelry organizer. I just loved hers and had to make my own!

Fortunately, I had an old wooden hanger that worked just perfectly. I pre-drilled tiny holes in the wood and screwed in tiny silver cup hooks.

Sadly for me, I only needed one hanger. I'm just not a big jewelry girl. This is all I had to hang on it! (And three of those pairs of earrings came from Mary Grace, another mom to two sets of twins.) But still, this sure is a pretty way to keep your jewelry organized!

On my extended to-do list: making more furniture. I'm going to have to wait until we get back from our long trip, but I have plans to build a media unit for our TV and a coat rack for our foyer, among other things. I have scrap wood in the garage that is calling my name.

I'm particularly fond of recycling projects and using things that might otherwise be thrown out. And I love sewing. Do you have any crafty projects to share? (Because I totally need more things to do around here, right?)

Secret Project: Complete

What started as a massive pile of lumber in my garage has been transformed into the coolest project I've ever completed.
It took me a couple of days to cut all of the wood and begin assembly. I spent my birthday drilling and building. I loved every minute of it!
Jason reluctantly helped me cut the huge sheets of MDF since they were pretty heavy. He hates building things, so he was happy to let this be my little project. And I relished the time by myself, sipping coffee and listening to music. I love creating things and this project was perfect for me.

It was very quickly coming together! Boards became walls and railings...
...and walls and railings became an awesome bed!

For just under $300, I built the most amazing loft bed for Leila & Sarah. I'd had my eye on a dollhouse loft bed since the girls were born, but the $2000 price tag was just never going to be something we could afford. When I saw these free plans on Ana White's website, I fell in love.

Building the bed was the easy part. When it came time to start finishing it, I was getting impatient. Filling the pocket hole screw holes and sanding everything took one day. Then I started painting and that took the better part of a week since I couldn't paint with 6 kids under foot. I waited until they were in bed and then did the painting in sections. It took a long time!
The girls were anxious to see the finished bed. I was anxious to hang the cute curtains that I'd made. I carelessly left out a paint brush one night and Ryan painted lavender designs onto the white trim (and himself) so I added a little extra work. I followed the plans exactly and only made one modification-adding window sills.
Once everything was finished, I hung a strand of rope lights inside the playhouse area. I hung the two matching sets of curtains in the windows and tidied up. Then it was time for the big reveal! The girls oohed and ahhed over the bed and couldn't wait to climb up into it together. As a matter of fact, Matthew and Joshua joined them in it last night. I haven't put a second mattress in the bottom area yet because the girls wanted to sleep together up top. The twin mattress feels huge to them after being on crib mattresses for so long.

I also added "carpet" to the stairs. The stairs are actually a storage space, with each step opening to reveal a spot for toys, linens, or clothes. It is such a great idea and was one of the reasons I fell in love with Ana White's plans for this bed. The bed is cute and functional. It was Sarah's idea to add the carpet to the steps and Jason told me about it. I grabbed the bath rug that was in the girls' room already and cut it into 3 pieces. Then I nailed the pieces onto the lids of the steps. It makes climbing up and down the stairs much softer and quieter.

We are all just totally in love with this bed! All 6 kids have ended up getting room makeovers and I'll share the photos soon. This was part of their Christmas gifts this year.
Several years ago I refinished the dressers that I used as a child. The girls have my childhood furniture with new knobs and fresh, lavender paint. (Cost: around $30) I painted the wooden name cutouts a few years ago and added ribbon to hang them. (Cost: around $15)

We have 4 matching lavender bins for storing books and accessories. (Cost: $40)
My mom and grandmother sent money for Christmas and we used some of it to buy wall decals. Because we are renting this house we can't paint the walls. The are a fun and non-permanent way to decorate!

The wall decal is from Etsy. (Cost: $38) The vintage doll cradles once belonged to my mom and aunt and I refinished them with lavender paint. (Cost: $1 for paint on the "oops" shelf at Home Depot) I sewed the little doll blankets when I made the cradles. (Cost: $5 each)

The girls have new sheets and comforters from Target, using gift cards that they received for Christmas. The flowered sheets are a perfect match for the room! (Cost for comforters: $40 each and sheets were $14) I made the curtains myself and that took me almost as long as it took to build the whole bed. I wanted the curtains to look nice on both sides so the reverse is made of the same dollhouse fabric that I used on the ruffles. I used fabric that I already had in my stash.

I had custom decals made from an Etsy seller. The girls love ballet and these were a perfect addition to the new bed. (Cost: $12 each) The rope lighting inside was from our box of Christmas lights and I found some brackets in the garage that I used to attach them. The beanbags are from Target and we bought those when we were living in Georgia with no furniture. (Cost: around $20 each)

The fabulous rug is my favorite part of the room (besides the new bed of course!) I won it at a La Leche League conference during the silent auction. (Cost: around $200) The money went to a great cause so I felt good spending so much on a rug. It had the perfect color combination for the girls. Leila loves purple (like me) and Sarah prefers pink. That's why I painted the inside of the playhouse with pink paint.

In the end, this lumber, hardware, and paint for the bed was just under $300. The only new purchases were the wall decals and bedding. Everything else in the room was either already here or was repurposed from elsewhere in the house.

Sarah insisted on posing in her ballerina outfit (which she never takes off.) I think the girls are pretty pleased. Matthew says I'm the coolest Mommy ever... and he didn't even get a new bed!

A big thank you to Ana White at Knock-off Wood. Her plans are easy to follow and her creativity is amazing! Best of all, everything on her website is FREE! I now have a list of ten other projects that I must complete. Go check it out and tell me what you end up making!