The Princess Diaries: May 2012

Have I ever told you that I love Pinterest? I know I have said before that it's the best thing to ever happen to my kitchen. I was getting so tired of cooking the same (but good) dinners over and over. Now, I'm trying new things almost every night. But enough about that. Today, I'm writing about some of the awesome things I have created for our home. There are several, so I will probably write a few separate entries to cover them all. Now, some of these are directly related to my girls, but others aren't. However, they are still pretty girly, so I'm gonna tell you about them anyway!!!!

The very first thing I made from Pinterest was an organizer for the many hair bows that were floating around my house. Actually, this one of the very first things I ever pinned on Pinterest. First, let me give credit where credit is due. The instructions came from http://mymagicmom.com/hair-bow-holder-instructions/. I will include some instructions here, but the idea for the project itself was not my own. However, I did add a couple of things to improve it for my uses. More on that later.

This is the finished product. I didn't really think about blogging about this until it was complete, so I don't have pictures to go with step-by-step instructions. I guess it works out since I didn't really want to plagiarize My Magic Mom's work. So, visit her site for detailed instructions.

This was so easy and took me less than two hours to complete. First, I took a 16x20 canvas and painted it pink...two coats. Then I laid out my ribbon to figure out my spacing. Next, I used my trusty glue gun to attach the ribbon to the back of the canvas.

This is where I came up with a couple of my own ideas:

First, I used ribbon that was sentimental in some way. The wide butterfly ribbon and the green ribbon with pink polka dots were purchased specifically for this project. The mauve ribbon on the far left was wrapped around a baby shower gift for Kathleen. The pale green ribbon just to the right of the purple ribbon was wrapped around a wedding gift Geoff and I received before our marriage. The narrow white ribbon to the left of the orange ribbon was purchased to make bows and to hold crosses for the girls' baptism. The orange ribbon, the narrow yellow ribbon and Carolina blue ribbon were actually ribbons I used to wear in my hair as a girl. The blue and yellow were for cheerleading (my high school colors) and the orange one was purchased when I thought I was going to college at the University of Tennessee (I ended up at Georgia...that was a close one). The narrow grey ribbon is from a spool I used to make Kathleen's birth announcements. Finally the brown ribbon with the polka dots on the far right was wrapped around a gift from my dad and stepmom to Leighton for her first birthday. The other yellow ribbon and the purple ribbons were from spools I bought to make hair bows to match Joshua's baseball uniform. Now, isn't that special?

The second thing I did differently was this: four of the ribbons are attached to the back by velcro on top. I glued velcro to the back of the canvas where the ribbon would have attached and also to the end of the ribbons. That way, I can disattach the ribbon at the top to hang elastic headbands and ponytail holders from them. Genius, huh?

Lastly, to hang the canvas, I used a piece of tulle that had been used as a ribbon on one of Kathleen's baby shower gifts. I stapled that sucker to the back about ten times and reinforced with lots of hot glue. This baby gets pretty heavy once you put all the bows on it. Here it is with bows attached:

I'm gonna be bragging about this one for years.

This is the first week of summer and for some reason, it just hasn’t been a great week for me. I have little motivation to do much of anything. The kids are driving me crazy, I don’t feel like exercising despite the fact that our beach vacation is just 5 weeks away, trying to work has been unproductive, Facebook is slow, and Pinterest only reminds me of all the things I could or should be doing besides looking at the internet. Honestly, I would love to pull the covers over my head and sleep for the rest of the afternoon. So, I decided I needed to update this here blog. It doesn’t take an enormous amount of effort and I will be getting something done, right?

Earlier this spring, we bought the kids a playset for the backyard. Back in the fall, we requested that our family members contribute towards the set for the girls’ birthday and Christmas presents rather than buying toys. I really did not need more stuff to pick up off the floor, and this is a toy they will use for years and remember forever. Plus, at their age, they did not notice fewer gifts under the tree. Mom and Jack, Dana and Jacob, Pam and Kevin, and Charlie all sent a check instead of a package (how’s that for saving on postage?) Their contributions paid for about half of the total cost. Yay!!! And thank you, everyone!!!! We waited until the weather got warm to buy, and decided to purchase a set built by local Mennonites. They delivered and assembled it. I wish now that I had taken some pictures of it being put together. We are so pleased with it. It has an 8-foot slide, monkey bars, a sandbox and room for up to three swings or a trapeze bar/rings. It is solidly constructed and looks good in the yard. Oh, and the kids LOVE it. Before it was even finished, there were two neighbor kids hanging out waiting for its completion. Looks like the party is at our house this summer! Within a week, both Leighton and Brandeis had figured out how to climb the ladder without assistance.

That Leighton is going to be trouble. She had only started walking two weeks before. Now, she’s climbing 6-foot ladders by herself! I was outside with the girls one afternoon, doing some yard work while they played. I went inside our storage shed to retrieve my trowel and when I came out, I discovered Leighton up in the fort. Just a few seconds before, she had been playing quietly in the sandbox.