this weekend...

-Flew back to Tulsa from St. Louis with Jeremy and baby brother (the airline designated him a "non-ticketed lap child", and he filled that role perfectly; he was a champ on the flight)

-Received beautiful hand-painted piggy banks and rocks from the girls upon our return

-Made a pretty spring wreath

-Helped the girls make their own pretty spring wreaths

-Consumed way too many peanut m&m's

-Visited some miniature horses on a farm

-Made s'mores in the fireplace

-Enjoyed beautiful weather on Friday

-Watched a heavy blanket of snow come down on Saturday

-Watched the first two episodes of "Life" on Discovery

-Took Sunday afternoon naps

-Enjoyed our fair share of donuts

How was your weekend?

Two trips to the park:

First the big sisters':

Then the baby's:

He has discovered his fist and he can almost fit the whole thing into his mouth.

duck tape and jonathan adler

The girls got a package in the mail last week. It was full of supplies for the girls to create several of the projects in our Kid Made Modern book and Green Crafts for Children book.

One of the supplies was duck tape to create the first project on the docket, the colorful satchels found in Kid Made Modern, created with duck tape and priority mail envelopes.

So many colors of duck tape in a tall pretty tower.

My mind began to buzz with other ways to use this tower in our creative endeavors. A quick flip through some of my inspiration files led me to search for Jonathan Adler and all of his beautiful, bright pillows.

So, first we will make the satchel, then perhaps the duck tape wallet. And after all of that practice I will be able to tackle these new ideas.

on thrifting

Where are your favorite places to go thrifting? Lately, I have had some success at our local Salvation Army. I REALLY like to go by myself, which means if I want to go without three extra helpers in tow, I go there about once a month. Every once and a while, I feel brave (and patient) and bring the whole gang with me.

My most recent finds are this vintage camera and this pretty fabric.

So far the fabric has been recycled into some cute beanbags for a little friend of ours and I hope to make some pretty summer dresses for the girls with the rest.

Another local place that we LOVE is Laverty's. We just added some vintage light fixtures in our kitchen that come from there. Another fun find from Laverty's was this poster, the sans serif font and all that white space had us at first glance.

Any plans to go thrifting this weekend? Garage sale season is just around the corner. A good garage sale, a swing through Starbucks and lying on a picnic blanket in the afternoon sun sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday. Any takers?

on sewing

My mom taught me to sew. My very first sewing project was a purse, my second project was a drawstring skirt. My very first sewing machine belonged to my Grandma, though she barely got to use it before she passed away. My parents saved it for me and I brought with me when my husband, Jeremy and I moved into our first apartment. At first, I focused on decorative sewing projects like pillows and curtains, and eventually evolved into making things like burp cloths for baby gifts. Over the last year, though, my machine began to wear out. So in November, we traded in my first machine for a new one, and it has been a dream to sew on. I just wish I had more time to sit down and use it.

Everytime I sit down to sew I can't help but think of my mom, my grandma and my mother-in-law. These women all have a part in what I create while I sit at my machine. I think that is one of the things I have loved about this hobby; I have learned how to sew from these women in my life.

This week I spent a little bit of time at my machine making a few fun projects. One is this new nursing cover. I used this great tutorial I found at Prudent Baby. It was a fun, quick project...I LOVE those kinds of projects.

If you have found any other tutorials online share them in the comments. I am always looking for more opportunities to practice.

go get 'em

Jeremy took the girls to the zoo this week while the little man and I hung out together. He has been spending quite a bit of time mastering his play gym.

I put him down on the floor, before he got started with the gym, he had to practice his jedi levitation skills.

He enjoys his workouts a lot more than I enjoy mine, which, if I am completely honest, I don't really do.

Go get 'em tiger.

DIY-Kid's art portfolio

Here is a fun project to make with your kids. It's great in two ways: 1) they get to enjoy making mini masterpieces with different mediums and 2) you get to document their growth as mini-Picassos. Also, as your children grow and continue to create, you can add to their portfolio and it will grow with them.

The Mediums:

1. pastels 2. acrylic paint 3. archival ink 4. watercolors

The Supplies:

1. background paper: I used black for E's portfolio and white for S's. This paper is also the title page of the portfolio.

2. stickers for the cover, to spell out "art".

3. archival water color paper: we used this for all of the mediums. I also precut the paper and hole punched it so the girls would know how much space they had to work with.

4. transparency paper: to insert between the photo and the artwork.

5. gluestick and holepunch

6. black and white photos of the artists-printed the same size as the artwork

7. albums: I used a modern acrylic album, you could also use chipboard or an album with page protectors

8. and, of course, the masterpieces

The Process:

Remember to take lots of photos of your kids as they make their pictures.

When they are finished with their piece ask them to give it a title. Go with whatever title they choose; it doesn't matter if it makes sense, let 'em own it!

The Assembly:

Step 1: cut your photos and backing paper to same size as the artwork

Step 2: attach title to front page

Step 3: attach photo to back of front page

Step 4: attach artwork to second piece of backing paper

Step 5. insert transparency between photo and artwork

Step 6: Attach next photo to previous artwork backing.

Step 7: repeat steps 3-4

Finished Portfolio!

Sit down and look through it with your little artist.

Thanks for reading, and let me know how this project goes with your kids!

Edited: I added this to the list of other great craft ideas over at

Today's Creative Blog.

five dollars

Found. A five dollar springy scarf, the perfect accessory whether you are 3 or 31.

Found today at walmart.