diy ripped jeans

So, my birthday was a few weeks ago.  I don't get to go shopping very often, even though I LOVE clothes and fashion.  The two times I DO get to shop are after my birthday and after Christmas.  But money doesn't go very far these days and, after spending all of my birthday money, there were still more things I wanted/needed.  I would have liked to get some new jeans, for example.  

I dug through my clothes and decided to give these old F21 jeans a makeover.  It's pretty subtle, but I think it's just what the doctor ordered.  I used a pair of fabric scissors, a safety pin (or you could use a needle), and some tweezers for the holes.  And I used a cheese grater, sandpaper, and foot scrubber to try and distress the thighs (the foot scrubber worked best but if you don't have that, the other two will do).

I chose these jeans because they were cheap and I don't wear them very often (I have a different pair of dark skinnies that I wear most of the time) so I knew it wouldn't matter if the whole project went wrong and I had to throw them away.

                                      BEFORE:                                                   AFTER:

I MAY do a little more distressing later today to give it more of a drastic change but for now, I like them.  If you do some of your own, send a picture (I'm talking to you Tare.  You're the only one who reads this blog).           ; )

{Here's a good tutorial for getting that ripped jeans look}

and the music is one of me and my husband's favorite bands, The xx!

Monthly baby photos

Before Scarlett was born, I knew I would want to take a monthly picture of her to document her growth. There are so many cute ideas out there! It was easy to find so many adorable ideas since Nicole at Chic & Cheap Nursery compiled a list of her favorites, as well as some great ideas at Babble.

The felt letters really intrigued me because it seemed really easy, which is very important for me, and not many items would be needed. The only drawback was that I would need to sew. Yes, I know that is the easiest sewing project ever and I would have been able to do it, but I just didn't want to. Instead I just stopped after making and cutting out one layer of the felt letters. They are not professionally cut since I don't have a die cutter or a cricket or any letters to trace. I just had to free hand it and you can see in the imperfections, but I kind of like it like that. Now if only I could take the pictures during the day instead of at night...

Living life

The other day I was feeling bad about getting so behind on blogging. I felt overwhelmed at all the things that I needed to post and mad at myself for letting so much time pass without posting. Then I read my talented friend Janine's blog post about the "things that matter most". It came at the perfect time for me. I realized that I didn't need to feel bad for falling behind on my posts because what is most important to me is that I spend time with my children. Not just time, but what I call "real" time. Time without a cell phone, ipad, or computer screen in sight. Quality time taking in those sweet smiles and silly faces, really listening to the smart and hilarious things that come out of my almost 3 year old's mouth, and hanging on to every coo and chubby cheeked smile from my 2 month old. In other words "living life" as Janine so perfectly puts it. With the tragic events in Colorado this past weekend, I only feel more strongly about this subject of making sure we are spending quality time with our loved ones. While I love blogging and keeping a record of my life, I don't feel so bad that I can only blog in the evening resulting in me posting 5 posts all at once. I'm not saying you shouldn't blog daily, because if you are able to do that I think that makes the record much more complete. I'm simply trying to say that I am learning to balance my life and this is what it means for me.

Read her whole post here because its just something that we can never be reminded of too much.

This is just one of those beautiful everyday moments, and I just don't want to miss these kinds of things.

MADE: baby blanket

I decided to make a baby blanket for the sweet girl I visit teach.  She had her baby girl on Monday.  I started the blanket that day and finished this morning, four days later.  

 I absolutely LOVE how it turned out.  It's so so pretty.  I'm having a hard time giving it up.  Kind of want to make another one.  

I took a picture of it on the daybed to give you an idea of how beautifully it drapes.  I can just see a tiny baby girl wrapped up in it, in her mother's arms.  

The yarn I chose is Bernat Baby Coordinates but I feel so bad, I don't even know what the colors were called.  The main color is white, with a shiny strand of the same color mixed in.  And the pink yarn also has that shiny strand mixed in, but it's not solid pink.  It's a mixture of pink, yellow, and white.  I thought about making the whole blanket in the white yarn, but I'm so happy I did the border in pink.  I think it's so beautiful.

 This pattern was a bit more advanced.  It's definitely a time commitment.  I wish I would have logged my hours.  I will, if I make another.  But I worked on it a lot in those four days.  I'd take the kids out to play and just sit and crochet while I talked to friends.  I'm sure the hours are 'up there'.

The pattern I used is Caron's Mayflower Baby Blanket.  

One of these days I'll get to making some things to sell.  Why is it so hard to find the time?

Sweet nursery

I have all things baby in the brain, so today I just wanted to share this sweet and oh so beautiful nursery with you done by Cate. I went to Dental Hygiene school with Cate's twin sister Candi who is the kindest person I've ever met, and though I've never met Cate in person I'm guessing she is just as sweet.  Actually I know she is because when I had my first baby while in DH school, Candi gave me a sweet baby bracelet made by her sister Cate! It was such a kind thing to do for someone you've never met. I wonder if she even remembers that?
Anyway, I love the meadow theme, the color on the walls, the hand painted mural, and the purpose behind each piece. This sweet room has got me inspired to get busy on creating a pretty little space for my girls.
Beautifully done Cate! Go here to see the whole room!

She

Please excuse my absence on this blog. I had my 2nd baby and have just been loving
this time to get to know this new little girl and figure out how this whole family of four thing works.
Here is my sweet little Scarlett

While I was in Dental Hygiene school, my husband gave me a book. This book was titled "She" and it saved me. That sounds dramatic, but during that time of becoming a new mom and being in a rigorous school program I definitely had some ups and downs.

This book reminded me that I was special and it gave me strength 

to try harder, 

to be better, 

to keep going.

It reminded me that someone loved me.

It reminded me that I love being a woman.

It reminded me that I love being me!

I had forgotten about the book, but recently came across it again.

It was so refreshing to read, and the colors just seemed to brighten my day.

It would definitely make a great gift for a friend, but make sure you get one for yourself too!
Find it here!

The winner of the Lower Lights Volume 2 Album is:

Congrats Mindy! I know you will LOVE it!!!

Email us your mailing address and I will send it out asap!

*In order to choose a winner I combined the comments on both blogs and assigned a number to each comment in order of the time the comment was posted. Then the random number generator was used to choose the winner :) Thank you for entering!!!