to-do list

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There were so many things I had on my to-do list when I was pregnant.

And then all this and this and this and this happened.

Kinda put my to-do list on hold (I don’t really like others to do the things on my to-do list…the hubs and/or my mom would have been more than happy to attempt to complete the list, but much like the journey being more important than the destination, doing the thing, whatever it is, is just as important to me as having the finished product).

So…I’m back and ready to tackle a new and revised to-do list.

Don’t worry, I’m keeping my expectations low at first. I know I have two little tinies and it will take longer than it used to to get a task done. But I’m ready for the challenge.

So…here goes:

1 – Finish the boys’ room. Of course the boys sleep and play (if you can call it that, they mostly just lay around and kick their legs, which is SUPER CUTE) in their room now, but I want to finish all the things I had planned for the room. So…this number gets a few bullets underneath.

1a – Cover the lamp shade with fabric I already have – all the materials are present, just need to do the work.

1b – Make name signs for the boys’ beds (we know which beds they sleep in, but once we start getting sitters, it’s going to be helpful to have everything labeled.

1c – finish knitting the quilt I started for one of them and start and finish the other one. This one’s going to take a while, but dag-nabbit…I’m going to finish.

1d – Sell the cloth diapers that we had intended to use but are now not (if anyone’s interested in a pretty good collection of used cloth diapers, I’m your girl!)

1e – Hang the crib mobiles.

2 – I would like to rearrange some of the art in our house. I get bored rather quickly and we don’t have the time and/or money and/or energy to paint our house, so I’d just like to redo some things.

3 – Wipe down the baseboards. I try to do this every spring…I’m a little late. It’s so easy just to take one room an evening and just do it.

4 – Get rid of clutter (unfortunately, this is one of my MAJOR downfalls in life…I’m a collector of junk stuff and have a hard time putting things away. The hubs is VERY patient with me). Mostly I just need to find a place for a bunch of stuff and if I can’t…GET RID OF IT. That’s much easier said than done. I think I will have to tackle one room at a time again…we’ll see how that goes.

5 – I would like to do something like this to all the plain white onesies I bought with every intention of making funny/spectacular.

I LEARVE PB & J. And it’s perfect for my two boys. Wonder what other combinations I could come up with that aren’t like “I was planned…I was a surprise”. I don’t like that one.

6 – Ebay or craigslist maternity clothes and baby clothes that the boys have already grown out of (sniff sniff!), as well as a bunch of bottles and other things that we don’t use anymore. Use that money to do something fun…or buy more diapers!

That’s enough for now, right? The to-do list gets so long and I get overwhelmed. Here’s hoping I get at least a few things checked!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend.

crafting space

What I wouldn’t give for a crafting space that I could close up, without cleaning up, and open back up to work on. The furry critters in our house make it impossible to leave crafting projects out. I have a hard time starting a project, knowing I won’t be able to finish it in one sitting. Then, I end up never starting it!

I would love one of these:

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Or goodness, what about this space?

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Unfortunately, all of these things take organization. I am so lacking in that department.

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I’ve heard that having multiples makes one super efficient and organized. I’ll take anything right now. Just yesterday, on our way to dinner after a dr. appt, the hubs and I were talking about how I lose stuff all the time. Just then, the lab called and said I had left the ultrasound DVD at their counter. Oh timing!

the nursery

Well internet…now that we know we’re having twins…and boys…it’s time to get started figuring out what is going to happen in the room in which they sleep.

I’ve had thoughts all along of what I want it to be like…

Clean
Simple
Clutter-free (at least before they’re born…there’s going to be plenty of clutter later)
Comfortable
A place to be free
A place for them to eventually play and entertain themselves

It’s going to be THEIR room for a long while. In fact, they might be sharing a room til they leave for college :).

So…what am I thinking. While painting can be reasonably cheap $$$-wise, it really is a pain and one of my least favorite things to do. I love the end result, but I hate prepping and moving furniture and all that other stuff. For a long time I always wanted to paint the rooms in my house fun colors…red, orange, navy, green. But now, I would rather paint the walls a neutral color (this goes for large, expensive pieces of furniture, too) and leave the color to the things that I can change on a more regular basis. It is so much easier to make fun pillows or paint a cool lamp than it is to paint a room or buy a new couch.

I digress, because this post was not supposed to be about painting and my own personal color theory (sidebar: I used to be the Arts & Crafts Coordinator at a spend-the-night camp at the beach. Kids used to ask me all the time what my favorite color was. My answer was always, and will always be, “I respect all colors equally.” I could go on).

This post is really about what happened to the guest bedroom (soon to be baby room) closet. It should be more of a question: What in the &*(^*% happened to that closet?

This is a bit embarrassing (sorry husband), but doesn’t every newly married couple, who doesn’t have kids, have one of these. It’s where you put all the stuff that you want to keep, but you’re not sure where to put. In this case, some stuff of mine from architecture school, the hub’s suits that won’t fit in his closet, some Christmas decorations, extra linens, extra paper…the list could go on. But the important thing is, this closet did not have an organizer. We now have closet organizers in 3 of our 4 closets and let me tell you what a lifesaving purchase these have been. While we have pretty big closets (all of them are small walk-ins except for 1), they only had a rod and shelf on two sides. This is utterly inefficient. It’s amazing how much storage space one can get out of a closet vertically.

Depending on your closet, this could cost between $50-$150. I ordered my most recent organizers (Rubbermaid, white, with the continuous metal bar, not the interrupted kind (in my opinion, this is key)) from AMAZON and they got here in two days for FREE because I have Amazon Prime. I save all the pieces I can’t use at the moment because I might need to reorganize at a later date.

I was able to unload the mess, install the new closet system, and load and organize everything back in the closet all within a few hours AND PREGNANT! (Don’t worry, I didn’t have to do any heavy lifting and the hubs was there when I needed him…I am the fix-it lady in our house. He kept me fed and happy.) I used my trusty cordless drill and a level.

TIP: If you are planning to install a closet system, do not, I repeat DO NOT, try to use the drywall anchors that come with the system. They are CRAP. That is the only negative I know about these systems. Go to your local hardware store and get some screw in drywall anchors that hold 100 lbs and use them. You’ll be fine.

Ok. So now for the finished result.

I mean, seriously, is that not amazing?

I will go upstairs just to look at it sometimes, I think it’s so pretty.

Plenty of room for mom and dad’s stuff, while still plenty of room for babies’ stuff. AND…if I need more space, I can put a column of shelves on the back wall (diapers, anyone?).

And, no, Rubbermaid did not give me any money for writing about their product (I’d take some if they’d give it to me…I’ve got two babies to feed).

magazine mirror

I will be making this for the babes’ room. I’m excited!

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doile lights

These are so similar to these.

I love the vintagey look of them.

Make sure to check them out at MoreDesignPlease. My goodness, they’re just beautiful.

what happened with this?

So…my sister-in-law is pregnant…WITH TWINS!

The whole family is super excited. All the sis’s-in-law are planning a shower sometime in August. We’re all getting pretty jacked up.

So…to curb my enthusiasm, I decided to learn how to crochet and, in that process, make the cutest little owl toboggan hats.

Here it is…

Photo Credit.

Isn’t it so cute? Unfortunately, this is not my version.

I swear I followed the directions (except for maybe the size yarn)….it DID NOT come out correctly.

Here…it doesn’t look so bad. I mean, it could be somewhere around the right size…right? As long as you don’t look at the armrest of our futon.

And here. It, again, looks like it might be somewhere near the right size for a new born twin baby. I mean, they’re usually smaller than singletons, right?

Unfortunately, even thought I made the 0-6 months and NOT the new born size…it was WAY FREAKING TOO SMALL.

It won’t even fit on my cat’s head. He was much more interested in my lens cap than he was in my newly made baby/small hampster hat.

I’m not sure what I did wrong. I have a feeling it was the yarn size. I must have used a medium weight, instead of a bulky weight. I know I used the right size crochet needle…I think.

I kinda want to finish this one. I mean…they are so cute. Then I’ll have to try again and make one that it says is supposed to fit a 7 year old, but will only barely fit a new born twin.

Onwards and upwards! Off to look for bulky weight yarn!

dare to…decorate

Well…this post was supposed to go up yesterday, but the hubs and I participated in Christmas celebration Part une of trois. We saw his family this past weekend, will see part of my family this coming weekend, and the rest of my family on Christmas. I know I know. But, you see, last year, we tried to make everyone happy and see EVERYONE during the roughly 24 hours of Christmas celebration. THAT. DID. NOT. WORK. So we’re doing it differently this year. And next year, we’ll switch off and it will be fantastic.

But, on to the craft of the week.

The challenge for this week’s Dare to DIY was to craft a new Christmas decoration. Luckily for me, I was reading the most recent Martha Stewart Living, and she gave me a fabulous idea.

And voila! It’s a Christmas Card wreath thingy!

This thing is super easy. Acquire a embroidery hoop. This one is a 16″, I think. I got it at Michaels for a few bucks.

Glue (with wood glue) clothes pins on the hoop facing alternating directions.

In my case, I wrapped some ribbon I had on hand around the entire thing after I attached the clothes pins. I didn’t use glue at all for the ribbon. Just wrapped it around and tied it at the top.

Used some pretty sparkly ribbon to tie the bow at the top and there you go.

Then, I just had to wait for Christmas cards!

dare to…give homemade gifts

Well friends….this post is a little risky. You see, I’m about to post a handmade gift…that I’m going to be giving to someone. Good news is, I’m positive the person doesn’t read my blog. So I’m safe.

Another post for the Dare to DIY blog party the Newly Woodwards are hosting. This week (or the past few months) I made a scarf.

The pattern is a free…that’s right FREE… pattern I found on ravelry.com that you can find here. If you’re a knitter and are looking for a community of knitters, Ravelry is the place to be. It’s a super cool databasing site that can help you organize your own work, as well as meet other people who love textile and yarn crafts.

This is a simple Lace scarf and it knitted super quickly. I’m a big fan of the super quick projects. I still have a yoga mat bag that is no where near the finish line. It’s taking FOREVER.

These pictures were taken before blocking, but as you can see, it has a nice structure to it. No real curling on the edges unless you pick it up.

By the way….I’m not sure if anyone else watches Gene Simmon’s Family Jewels on A&E, but if you do, the new season is starting TONIGHT at 9pm. I have to say that I freaking love this show. The hubs and I always catch the marathons on the weekends and could watch them for hours. It is SO funny. We have just become official watchers and put it on our DVR. I have to say I’m a bit excited.

dare to…eat cookies

Now…these may not be the most beautiful cookies you’ve ever seen. But I promise you, they will be the favorite at any cookie swap. I got and modified this recipe from Paula Dean. And if you know anything about Paula, you know that she loves sweet stuff, butter, and putting as many rich ingredients together as possible.

So here we go.

I call these the hamburger cookies. You’ll see why in a minute.

You start off with peanut butter chocolate cookies you can get from the grocery store (any brand will do) and refrigerated sugar cookie dough (and yes, I know that I should probably be making these from scratch, but I have a REALLY good reason not to).

You take the refrigerated cookie dough and cut it into SUPER thin slices. I try to stay around 1/4″ (this is why it’s so much easier to have the pre-made dough, than making it from scratch). Super cold (almost frozen) dough and a sharp knife work best for this process. I could have gotten one large cookie dough roll, but with two smaller ones I can work with one while the other one is in the freezer. Makes them much easier to work with.

This time I lined my sheet pans with parchment paper instead of wax paper (worked MUCH better) and laid down one layer of the sugar cookie dough.

I quarter the peanut butter cookies and lay one on top of each layer.

Then I top all of those with another layer of the sugar cookie dough (this is when they look like hamburgers to me.

This is the time that you squish both layers of cookie dough around the peanut butter cookie to seal the peanut butter and chocolate inside so it doesn’t ooze out while baking (this is key. why would you want to lose any of that yummy goodness inside?).

Now that that’s done, you just put it in a 350 degree oven for 16-20 minutes. And Voila!

I didn’t pretty these up any because my family cookie swap is not for a couple of weeks. So these puppies are headed to the freezer to keep. I put them in freezer bags and lay them flat..works like a charm.

Thanks Paula Dean! And enjoy these cookies. Don’t forget to check out Dare to DIY. It’s been a ton of fun so far!

dare to…entertain

It’s that time again. Time to party with the Newly Woodwards.

This time the party is all about entertaining. And when I think of entertaining, I mostly think of eating. Cause I like to eat…especially if it’s hors d’ouvers. I love snacking on stuff.

And so conveniently, the hubs and I had some guests come to EAT and watch a movie. The movie…Invictus. The food…scrumptious.

It all started with the chex mix. I know it’s a little early, but we were having people over and I LOVE CHEX MIX. So I made some. Ok Ok, I made a lot. And put some of it in the white serving dishes and that was the beginning of this tablescape (I sound like Sandra Lee don’t I? I will later when I talk about cocktails).

mmm chex mix

Then came the cups (so that you could dig the cup in the bowl, without having to dig your dirty fingers, that have just come from your mouth, in the bowl. I know I know, but why spread germs if you can avoid it?). I love our fiestaware. So colorful. You know I love color.

grapes and cheese...yes please!

Let’s not forget about the wine. The oh-so-important wine.

And some lovely chocolates for dessert.

All in all, the table was full and then, later, so were our bellies.

Happy Monday!