Yummy.

Here's to hoping for a good gardening season. So far, we have had lots of luck with our lettuce, both loose leaf and romaine. We're eating a lot of salad. We're giving the neighbors lettuce so that they can eat lots of salad, too.

We have broccoli, cauliflower and two types of tomatoes in the ground right now. Well, intentionally anyway. We have a few surprises- a potato plant and several cantaloupes. We had cilantro growing like crazy by our driveway. Peppers, cucumbers and more are sprouting in the windowsill.

I hope everything works out. My mouth is already watering in anticipation.

Happy Birthday to my Bean!

Rory turned three last Tuesday. Three. How did that happen? I made her a birthday skirt from fabric that I super-duper heart. I love the pattern. It's a Market Skirt. Gathered pockets! The Bean is convinced that the pocket exists for holding candy. (I learned a new way to easily gather on the sewing machine from this tutorial and I can't believe I hadn't figured it out before. So. Much. Faster.)

Three-year-olds move very fast and hardly ever pose for more than a nanosecond, but I managed to get a few shots of Rory actually wearing the skirt.

(If anyone has a brilliant idea on how to tame that lone curl on the top of Rory's head, I'd love to hear it. She didn't just sleep on it funny, The Curl is always there. Always. It's rather persistent.)

Triple Threat

More personalized tote bags for some lucky nephews. Their aunt requested them and asked if it were possible to find dirt bike fabric, as one of the boys is very into them right now. After striking out there, I suggested adding a painted dirt bike to the bag instead. I know, I know...one day I'll get tired of whipping out the freezer paper, but it's just so easy. I can't help myself. I think I like the added element, especially with a simplistic stencil. Thinking I might be doing more of this in the future...

Jack's Room- The Nickel Tour

We ripped up carpet, painted walls, put up chair rail, installed new laminate flooring and completely transformed what had unintentionally become a junk room into a room that Andrew and I agree is probably now the coolest room in the house. We're starting to get the hang of what we're doing.


I've been waiting to post about Jack's room until I finish everything that goes into it, but several projects are sort of...well, still unfinished. The Bookshelf of Many Paint Colors and the Undecided Curtains will have to be stand alone posts for another time.

First, meet the sock monkey bedding. I'm not really one for baby room themes, but I did fall in love with this fabric. Like, a lot of love. I matched it with red/white stripes and chocolate brown corduroy. I used the same pattern to make a friend some sweet little bird bedding and adored the pleated bedskirt.

We were fortunate enough to inherit some cool furniture that we repainted with "Atomic Red." My father-in-law built the nightstand at one time and the dresser belonged to Andrew's grandmother. I used some vintage paper that Jen sent me a while back as shelf liner- nursery rhyme print. It makes me happy every time I open a drawer.

One IKEA trip and $12 later, we had some spiffy red and white shelves up, too. I'm collecting "Jack" things to fill them with . It's sort of an alternative to his name spelled out on the wall, I guess. Also, it totally amuses me. So far, we have a Jack Sprat root beer label, a jack-in-the-box (Two, actually. One regular and one sock monkey!), a Cracker Jack box, a "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Jack" bumper sticker from the '90s, a set of playing jacks, an old wooden puzzle piece of Jack and Jill, and a Jack of Hearts playing card. I still have several things to add and I'm sure I'll come across more that I haven't thought of yet.


The playing card was a fun (cheap! cheap!) project. I wanted to find one that was bigger than a traditional playing card but wasn't having much luck. I also didn't want to pay a lot for a full deck when I really just wanted one card. I bought a wood plaque thingy for 97 cents at Walmart. I scanned the card in and altered the colors to match the room then Mod Podged (that is a verb, right?) it to the wood and finished with several coats of acrylic sealant. I really like the end result- it surpassed my expectations.

This frame is on Jack's wall as well, although I can't take credit for it. The amazing Wayne Geyer worked his magic for a shower invitation that deserved to be displayed...and bragged about by this very happy recipient. Awesometown.