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Hey, there…I’ve been sewing to stay sane lately and I’ve got a little shop over at Etsy.com with a few cute stroller blankets. I’ll be adding to it just as fast as I can so head on over and check it out!

It’s that time again! Time to think about holiday photo cards, if you do that sort of thing, and those calendars for the grandparents (and The Mommy and The Daddy!). Oh! And the photo gifts that show off your little one in all their cuteness. The Daddy kidnapped our photo calendar to put in his classroom. I miss it! I love seeing Tater Tot’s cute little self every day when I’m looking to see what’s going on for the day. But I get to see her cute little self all day every day and The Daddy only gets her for an hour or two so I use my organizer to schedule our stuff instead. Not as cute but…

I’ve got a bunch of deals that are running right now from the leading photo hosting sites and you can pick which ones work for you for your holiday card/gift needs! I’ve used several of these sites to create photo books and calendars based on who’s having the best deals. Although it can be some work to upload all the photos that you need to multiple sites, it can be worth it in savings. Keep in mind, too, that most photo sites give free prints for new members, so if all you need is some prints to go in your holiday cards, signing up for a photo site or two can get you prints for just shipping, which can be cheaper than your local drugstore. Keep in mind, too, that most of these offers cannot be combined.

KODAK GALLERY

Register at Kodak and get 20 Free Prints

Get 20% OFF photo products at Kodak Gallery.
This includes photobooks and cards along with other photo gifts. Coupon Code: ANYONE. Expires 11/16/07.

20% OFF Martha Stewart Cards at the Gallery!
Coupon Code: HOLIDAYS07. Expires 12/31/07.

SNAPFISH
Upload your digital photos and get 20 FREE prints with your first order! Sign-up today!

Site-Wide FREE SHIPPING on any order $15+ at Snapfish (coupon code: SHIPALL)
Expires 11/30/07.

25% OFF on duplicate gift orders at Snapfish
Does not include prints, photo notebooks, notepads or cards but DOES include photo books. This is great if you’re planning on doing photo books for two sets of grandparents! Expires 12/31/07.

Great Deals Under $15 At Snapfish by HP

Save 20% on all photo cards at Snapfish. (coupon code: GOCARDCRAZY)
Expires 11/30/07.

30% OFF orders $30+ at Snapfish (coupon code: AFFORDER30)
Expires 12/1/07.

Here are some weekly specials they are running through November:

Buy 2 sets of photo cards, Get 1 set FREE at Snapfish! Valid Nov. 9 - 15 (coupon code: BECARDCRAZY)

Free Shipping on photo cards at Snapfish. Valid Nov. 16-22 (coupon code: GETCARDCRAZY)

4 FREE premium folded photo cards at Snapfish! Valid Nov. 23 - 30 (new customers only, no coupon necessary).

CLARK COLOR LABS
Digital Photo Prints for as low as 9¢: Register for free with Clark Color, get 20 free 4×6 prints with your first order.

Visit Clark Color
to get $8 off 60 photo slimline greeting cards (code: 8OFFCARDS through 11/19/07) and $2 off their best sellers (code: 2OFFBEST through 11/19/07). To give you an idea about price, 60 4×8 cards are $20.47 and 60 5×7 cards are $27.97.

SHUTTERFLY
Shutterfly – New member’s special offer: 12 Free 4×8 photo cards.(Expires 11-13-07)

Shutterfly – 20% off orders $40.  Use coupon code: 32AF-11DR (Expires 12-04-07)

I have to say, from experience, both the Shutterfly and Kodak photo books are amazing! They are very well-made and a great way to commemorate events or time periods in your child’s life. You can choose from a variety of styles and backgrounds, covers, fonts, and font colors. If you like the idea of scrapbooking but think you lack the creativity/time/whatever, try this! It will quench your thirst for creativity without the need for all those little decorative punches, stencils, glue, etc.!

I have also made Shutterfly and Kodak calendars and, not only are they fun to make, but they come out so well! Even The Daddy was impressed with the photo books and calendars, and he’s not easily impressed!

Check back here as I will be updating some of the offers through November!

My closet remodel is “done”. It’s done but it doesn’t feel “finished” if you know what I mean. There is a place for everything. It is neat and organized. But it doesn’t look “pretty”. Like “Mission Organization” pretty. And I wonder if I’m expecting too much. Especially since I tried to use containers I already had to save money. And I think I still have too much stuff. But it’s definitely better than it was before. What you won’t see in the pictures below is that the mess of toys that is now in the closet was spread all over the room and in a little cubby hole in my desk. So just that change makes a huge difference in the rest of the room. Anywhoo…on to the pics.

This is the Big Ugly File Cabinet that was on the sewing/scrapbooking side of the closet before I remodeled. I forgot to take “before” pics of that side so use your imaginations!

This is the new, ultra-organized sewing and scrapbooking part of the closet! In case you have clicked on the pic to enlarge it, the photo that is partially obscured on the left side is of The Daddy’s water polo picture from high school. I don’t really know why it was hanging there, I just know that I was too lazy to take it down when I put the shelves up. Now that’s lazy.

Here’s the “before” from the other side of the closet:

“During”:

And “after”:

Here’s the project breakdown:
1) It’s good to sketch out what you’ve got in your Mommy Brain about how you want the work/storage space to look. Think about the things you want to store, how much you need/want to store, and the weight that the shelving will need to bear. What you want it to look like. Take notes on your ideas.

2) Measure, measure, measure. The width of your closets. The height of the area that needs shelf tracking. The depth of your closet. The circumference of your head so you can track it’s growth as your brain swells with all of the measuring. Naw, really, this was the easy part. But remember to write it down in case your memory is as bad as mine is. There’s no use going to the hardware store if you can’t remember the size of the closet you are outfitting…

3) Check out the different materials and prices at your favorite Do-It-Yourself or hardware store. I just happen to live quite close to a Home Depot so that’s where I went. Ask questions about the different materials and how appropriate they are for your particular project. I told them exactly what I wanted to do and they helped me figure out what to get. They can even cut the shelving for you! This is a bonus if you are sans power tools like I am.

4) Buy your materials. I went with California Closets adjustable shelving tracks with 12 inch brackets for the shelves. I went with adjustable shelving because I wanted to be able to move things around and adjust the shelving up or down to accomodate over/under-sized things. And I went with California Closets because they are double-tracked, look more sturdy and are designed for standard closet sizes. For the shelving I went with natural, unfinished wood. I didn’t sand, stain, or polyurethane it because I like the light wood and I’m lazy. Mostly because I’m lazy. If I had done any of that, the project still wouldn’t be finished. Home Depot sells varying lengths and widths of natural, unfinished wood shelving as well as laminate, MDF, and other particle-board-type shelving. Make sure that you know where the studs are in your closet and, if they are not where you will be attaching the shelving tracks, buy drywall anchors. The studs in my closet were not where I was attaching the shelving tracks so I used drywall anchors. The ones that held the most weight that I could find.

5) Now the fun part! One side of the closet was going to be a desk so I positioned the 2 drawer file cabinet that I already had so that the outside edge was at the halfway point of the closet. I measured from that outside edge to the end of the closet as well as how far out I wanted the desk to extend. Luckily, I found a pretty standard-sized piece of wood that would fit. I just had to have it trimmed two inches on one end. One end rests on the file cabinet and the other end is stabilized by 1 x 4’s that I screwed into the wall on the other side and along the back of the closet at the specified height. I put the anchors into the wall, attached the shelving tracks above the “desk”, stuck the brackets in, and threw the shelving on top. There’s a little hole to screw the board into place on the bracket and I did that so that the board won’t slide. Super-easy!

The right side that is all shelves was even easier. California Closets sells a bracket that goes along the top on which the shelving track hangs and it helps absorb some of the weight of the stuff on your shelves. I marked the circles in the bracket where the screws would go, put the anchors in the wall and attached the bracket. I hung the shelving track off of the bracket, positioned it, and tacked it in place by screwing it to the wall in the pre-determined holes. Stuck the brackets on and threw up the shelving, screwed the boards in place and, viola! Shelves!

Honestly, if I can do this, you can do this. It was very easy. I just needed The Daddy to watch Tater Tot so I could work on it. Once I got a (relatively) uninterrupted block of time, it went really, really fast. The only tools I used were a manual screwdriver and a drill (I pre-drilled the holes in the 1×4’s that stabilize the desk before I screwed them into the wall).

So there you have it! My re-”done” closet! I am very pleased with it but I’m continuing to try and figure out what it needs to feel “finished”…

I have a new sewing/scrapbooking/work/whatever area in my closet and I did it myself! It’s not quite finished yet because I wasn’t able to get everything that I needed in our two trips to Home Depot yesterday (a subject for another post altogether….they were “interesting” to say the least!) but the main “construction” is done. I just need to decide whether I want the pre-sized laminate shelving they sell or to have lumber cut to size for shelving. Later, when I have more money, I’m doing floor-to-ceiling shelves on the other side of the closet so I’d like to have everything match.

I decided a couple of weeks ago to reorganize my office and I’ve been “decluttering” ever since. I’m pretty much down to what needs to stay, although I’m probably hanging onto at least a few things that could go. Sometimes I have a hard time letting go of stuff. But I think I’ve done pretty darn well so far. Maybe I’ll be more inclined to get rid of stuff if it doesn’t fit in my new closet storage dealie. We’ll see.

Let me tell you, if I can do this project, you can too. Suffice it to say, I am not the most handy person in the universe. But I was able to do this by asking a lot of questions at Home Depot and using tools that we have laying around (literally…we never use them!) in the garage.

So, what did I do? I bought a piece of lumber and had them cut it to my specifications, screwed 2×3 studs into the wall on the left side and back of the closet, and rested the right side on a 2-drawer filing cabinet. Installed ClosetMaid shelving tracks above the desk and put the little arm-thingies that the shelves will rest on in their little tracks. All done and just waiting for the shelves. I probably should sand the “desktop” down but I’m just not quite in the mood yet. It’s not very rough so it will work as-is if I end up not ever wanting to sand it. That’s the more likely scenario. Unless I get a splinter, I probably won’t be real motivated to sand it. Just keepin’ it real. I’ll post pictures and give a detailed description of the project after I’ve got the shelving in.

The bonus part of this all is that I’m paying for it with money that I’ve earned doing online surveys or gift cards that I’ve won or that have been given to me. That way we can continue to buy groceries and/or not go into further debt just because I want my office organized!

Thirty hours post-oral-surgery and The Mommy is just about good as new! No pain and only a teeny bit lethargic from the pain meds I took yesterday. I still have to eat soft foods and start the 48-hours-after post-op instructions tomorrow but I’m feeling 100% better today! I am so relieved. Especially about the lack of pain. I only had to take the prescription pain meds twice yesterday and a little bit of ibuprofen this morning. The Daddy got to surf this morning while Tater Tot and I spent some time together but I was pretty wiped out by the time he got home. Drifted in and out of sleep for a while and relaxed on the couch while they played outside. It was nice. I expect I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.

Speaking of back to normal, I almost feel back to normal in all the other ways that I was falling apart, too. The foot’s better. The hamstring doesn’t tweak when I do normal things (haven’t tried running on it yet…trying to give it time to heal). The hip hasn’t hurt the past two days. Imagine that. Of course I haven’t exercised in a week and a half. Oh, except that one day Tater Tot and I went on a morning stroll. Not really exercise. More just getting out of the house. I’m crossing my fingers that, starting Monday or Tuesday, I’ll be able to resume running. I’d better be able to because, sitting here on the couch, I’m eating everything in the house and turning into a Tub-O-Goo! But it does feel good to rest. I needed a rest. I’m grateful for the rest because I know that many of you Mommies out there never get one. I do not take it for granted.

The office project is on hold until tomorrow or Monday because I’ve been resting but I have so many ideas! It involves installation of adjustable shelving in the closet and desk for my sewing machine and scrapbooking hidden in the closet. And, hopefully, a better play set up for The Tot. I’m continuing to purge all the clutter I’ve got. Sometimes I feel like just tossing everything and starting over. Maybe I should! How freeing would that feel?! I just know, though, that I’ll throw a particular thing out and then, a month later, be looking for that very thing. Even though I hadn’t needed it for the previous 3 years, a month after I throw it out, I will need it. Unlikely, but that’s the scenario that plays out in my head while making decisions about what to keep. I think I just need to go into it with the mentality “Since I haven’t needed this in so long, if I end up needing another one, I’ll buy one.” For some reason that’s hard for me to do. But I need to. And I’m going to. Just watch me. But not tonight. Tonight I am going to go downstairs where the air conditioning is on and fall asleep on the couch. G’nite all…

Yeah, I’ve jumped from one project to another again. Remember the balcony I was fixing up? I’m kind of stalled on that one. It’s cute and a good place to hang out but definitely not finished yet. Imagine me moving on from a project before it’s finished. Typical for me. I’ve wanted to get things under control in my office for a while now but the inspiration just hasn’t struck me. And between the have-to’s and the other want-to’s in my life, I just haven’t gotten around to it. But, for some who-knows-what reason, I have gotten a burst of motivation for this project. Maybe because I’m tired of walking in and feeling overwhelmed by it. Maybe it’s because Tater Tot’s toys are multiplying while she sleeps and I’d like a better play space for her. Maybe it’s because The Daddy and I have had more trouble finding keys, wallets and other essentials over the past three weeks than the whole rest of our marriage. It’s never so bad that I can’t shove everything in a closet in a pinch if someone’s coming over but it’s just a niggling in the back of my mind that I would feel so much more like creating in here if things were in order. If I knew exactly what I had and where it was. If I got rid of all the stuff that I’ve been hanging onto “just in case”.

So I am utilizing Flylady’s mantra “you can do anything for 15 minutes” and slowly but surely getting rid of the stuff. Stuff we’ve had so long I don’t even see it anymore. Stuff that is shoved in drawers that are not opened on a regular basis. Stuff that I don’t even remember what it goes to. You know those wierd-shaped plastic pieces that you think might be a clip for a cell phone you no longer have but you just can’t be sure? Those keys that probably belong to an apartment you rented 10 years ago but who knows? The stuff that I can give away, I do. Freecycle can be good, although I encourage you to screen who you give things to. More people flake on me than don’t, unfortunately. Mommy Tip: If you can find a charity that picks the stuff up from you, it’s really a bonus! It’s a total time and energy-saver! And you don’t have to worry about a freecycler flaking on you. Generally, if I can give it to a charity that will pick up, I do. If it’s something they won’t take, I Freecycle it because I just can’t get with throwing stuff away that can be recycled or used by someone else. It’s just not right!

After I’m done “de-cluttering”, I’ll take stock of what items I have left and the space that I have to house them. Move some furniture. Maybe buy or create some new storage items and, voila! Office organization! Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Not so much. Is there an Office Organization Fairy I can call on here? If only…

Today at the beach Tater Tot pointed to our big, red Radio Flyer All-Terrain Cargo Wagon and said, clear as day, “wagon”. Well, yes, that is our wagon. First new spontaneous word of the day. Then she is running on the beach and, since The Daddy had been doing some marine biology education last weekend, she points to the kelp that had washed up on the shore and says “kelpo”. Well, yes, that is kelp, Honey! What a smart girl! Second new spontaneous word of the day. While bathing with The Mommy after getting all sandy and gross, she points to The Mommy’s blue exfoliating glove thingy and says “blue”. Well, yes, you are knocking The Mommy’s socks off today by recognizing that the glove thingy is blue! Third new spontaneous word of the day. The dots are connecting and it’s so fun to see.

I also just have to say that, even with the occasional tantrum (okay, sometimes more than occasional), she is at such a fun age and I am so grateful to be able to stay at home with her. Not that it’s all fun and, as I mentioned yesterday, it makes a HUGE difference that she is taking 1 1/2 to 2 hour naps once a day. But most of the time we’re just havin’ a great time! She does this thing that makes me laugh and melts my heart every time. She presses her forehead and nose against my forehead and nose so our eyes are really, really close together and we’re basically cross-eyed looking at each other. It is so unbelievably cute that I can’t stand it!

On a totally unrelated note: Just Call Me “Sucker”! I was running with Taylor around our neighborhood this morning and I saw this wicker chair out with the trash a ways down our street. I might have passed this by but, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m fixing up the balcony outside Tater Tot’s room and trying to do it for free or low cost. Also, I’m just the BIGGEST SUCKER IN THE UNIVERSE for a renovation/rehab project. I like to take things that are old but still usable and rehab them. It’s actually more than a like. It’s kind of an obsession. So I checked it out and it looked pretty good. A little unraveling of the wicker around the bottom of the legs but otherwise not bad. Nothing a hot glue gun couldn’t remedy. Now for the real test: is it sturdy enough to hold the weight of my Mommy Butt? It was! There was minimal breakage to the wicker overall. So, after our run, I loaded The Tot in the truck and off we went to retrieve my treasure! Just now I checked to see how it would clean up/sand off and it looks like it’s do-able. The top layer of grime sands off pretty easily so I think I’m going to sand it down, stain it a honey color, and buy a cushion to match the chaise lounge cushion I bought. I love it when things come together!

Update: The Tot has added “turtle”, “roggie” (froggie), and “comb” to her spontaneous new words for the day! There were a couple more but I didn’t write them down. Everyone around here knows that if I don’t write it down it doesn’t happen.

The past two days have been really, really nice. Yesterday I got to go get my hair done and I did not once think about, worry about, or otherwise occupy my mind with how or what Tater Tot was doing. I knew that she would be having fun with The Daddy and that I could relax and enjoy myself. Today The Daddy watched her while I worked on fixing up the deck outside of her room. I went and picked up a market umbrella that someone was giving away on Freecycle, scrubbed the deck down, and moved some plants up there. I’m far from done but it was nice to make some progress. I’ve got one of the lattice screens sanded and painted and the other one isn’t in as bad shape as the first so I’ll get that one done soon. I’ve got the chaise lounge up there and I’m going to get a cushion for it in a print that matches the color of the umbrella I got today and incorporates the other paint colors that I’ve used.

I hate to say it but it was just nice to do what I wanted to do for once without having to keep track of anyone but myself.

It is finished! I finished the Hideous Chair Project yesterday afternoon while Tater Tot slept and it is so cute! It’s pink and purple and soft and fuzzy. Well, let me quit describing it and get on with the before and after pics!

Click to make me bigger!

Before: really “interesting” gold and beige velvet upholstery! But it’s low and looks like it has potential for a really cute reading chair for Tater’s room. And it’s only $5! Can’t beat that…

Click to make me bigger!
After: Cute, pink/purple, soft, fuzzy Big Girl Chair that Tater Tot loves! She really likes how soft it is and that it’s a little lower to the ground than the adult-sized recliner we had in there before.

Let me tell you a little bit about what this project entailed in case you think you want to tackle something like this for your child’s room. It wasn’t that hard, really.

Materials List:

* 5 yards of $1 a yard fabric to make a “pattern” for the slip cover (this is optional but a good idea if you don’t know what you’re doing like I didn’t!)

* 5 yards of whatever fabric you’d like to use to make the slip cover. I used what JOANN’S calls “cuddle” fleece which is a fuzzier, stretchier fleece than what you normally think of when you think of fleece. I bought it on sale for $2 a yard! I bought 4 yards and then remembered that I needed 5 after I was already home. Typical for me. It turns out that I had bought the exact same material in pink on sale last Fall so that’s where the two-toned idea came from. I would recommend a thick fabric with some stretch, depending on the lines of your chair. This chair needed a little stretch to get the slip cover over it.

* Thread to match the fabric for the slip cover.

* Hideous Garage Sale/Thrift Store/Free chair

I think that’s it. Oh! A sewing machine, of course. Nothing fancy. I just have a basic model.

I started by tracing the shapes of the existing upholstery. It had seams where the panels were sewn together so it was easy to just follow how the original upholstery was put together. I added an inch seam allowance to the pattern before I cut it out just to be safe.

Then I pinned the pattern to the slip cover material and cut it out. Easy.

Actually getting the slip cover to be fitted was a teeny tricky but the best way I found was to turn the pattern pieces wrong side up and place them on the chair and pin them together. If you’ve ever watched “Trading Spaces” you’ll know what I’m talking about. I went slowly and only pinned a couple of pieces together at a time. Which ones you start with will really depend on the lines of your chair.

I sewed a few pieces together, rechecked the fit with the above wrong-side-up method and then went on to the next pieces until the basic slip cover was done. I chose to slip cover only the chair part and to recover the cushions because it was just easier.

The idea of the ruffle at the bottom occurred to me because I didn’t think I could pull off a pleated hem and I thought that I was a good enough seamstress to make it look good to just continue the slip cover to the ground. The ruffle really makes it easy to hide any lack of skill in the sewing area, I’ve found!

How to do the ruffle: Measure around the bottom of the chair and then double the number. Measure from the bottom of the chair to the ground and add two inches (one inch on top and one on bottom for seam allowance). Cut a piece of material as long as the doubled number and as wide as the other measurement. Baste 1/2 inch from the edge down one side of the piece. If you’re new to basting, set your sewing machine to the longest stitch possible and sew away! Pull one of the threads at the end to create the ruffle to the desired “ruffled-ness” and pin to the bottom of the slip cover, right sides together. Sew.

For the seat cushion, I made the pattern like I did the other pieces of the slip cover by tracing the shape and adding an inch seam allowance. Cut two of these, one for the top and one for the bottom. Depending on the shape of your cushion, you may have to do something different than I did for the middle of the cushion. I ended up cutting several pieces based on the shape of the cushion, doing the wrong-side-up pinning method to get the fit right and then sewing it to the top. To sew the middle to the bottom, I machine sewed it as far as I could while still being able to fit the cushion in. After inserting the cushion, I hand-sewed the rest. It doesn’t have to be neat because it’s on the bottom and nobody will see it!

For the back cushion, I pinned the material tight around it (with the right side of the material touching the cushion) and cut the material around the pins one inch out for seam allowance. Create a small ruffle like you did the large ruffle. Unpin the pieces of material for the cushion and pin the ruffle on the inside. Machine stitch as far as you can and still be able to fit the cushion inside. Hand stitch the rest.

And that’s it! It sounds like a lot but, if you do it in bits and pieces like I did, it’s actually fun and you kind of lose track of how much it really is!

Now it’s time to rest for a couple of days before I start the next project!

I am almost finished! It has only been two weeks and I am almost finished with the Hideous Garage Sale Chair Project. This is a miracle. Ask The Daddy. This is the type of project that could very easily have languished in our garage for months. But my Mommy Butt has been busy, busy, busy while Tater Tot has been napping and after she goes to bed at night. And it’s turning out much better than I envisioned. I had a loose idea of what I wanted to do, how I wanted to do it, and what type of fabric I wanted to use but I let it come about organically instead of holding on too tightly to my vision and I’m so stoked about how it’s coming out!

I knew that I wanted to do a slipcover but, not ever having done one before, I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. I fully expected to have setbacks, get frustrated and, quite possibly abandon the project before its’ completion. But, so far so good and I’m almost done. I even have some good ideas about how to get around the tricky parts and I should be done by tomorrow or Monday. Imagine that! I’ll post some before and after shots when I finish as well as how I did it. I’ve got some basic sewing skills but nothing fancy so chances are you could swing something like this, too.

Well, I’ve got to go put some deodorant on because The Daddy and I are going on a date to the baseball game. Yes, it is sad that deodorant is the extent of my gussying up for a date these days. Huh. Maybe I’ll take my hair out of a ponytail, too. See ya’!