Ballet is my peaceful time.  I could sit in a corner of the studio and watch my girls for hours.  I like when they catch themselves in the mirror.  Lainey is old enough that she plays it off cool–pretends not to notice that her reflection is moving so beautifully and dancerly when really I see her shy grin, tongue tucked in the corner of her cheek, and that girly satisfaction in her eyes.  Nella, not so much.  Girlfriend has no problem running straight to the mirror, stretching and twirling and touching palms to mirrored palms.  She takes her reflection in slowly–testing movements, watching her double simultaneously copy her dance.  And she smiles.  Because Sister knows she’s got something.   

She looks so small in that big room.

I look forward to this day every week. 

Cue transition to craft.

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Our woodland critter ornament idea actually arose from a craft we did earlier this weekend. There are oodles of terrarium ideas online. I wanted a winter centerpiece for our kitchen table and knew Lainey would enjoy putting it together without much help. You could probably find a lot of these items outside if you don’t live in a tropical area. 

Basically we sprinkled a layer of silver rocks on the bottom of our glass bowl vase and covered it with a mixture of white craft sand and silver/white glitter. We positioned moss scraps where we wanted them, pressed some branches and tree pieces into the sand, dropped some pine cones into our mini landscape and finished by placing our little deer.

We sprayed our pinecones with a little artificial snow first and Lainey accidentally had the nozzle pointed the wrong way.

And there you be, as my grandma would say: a winter terrarium.

Have some more glitter.  Enjoy.

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Our new jewelry sponsor, Leviticus Jewelry, offers a unique style and some beautiful designs that range from vintage to edgy. Talented mama Tara is the owner and designer behind Leviticus Jewelry.  Her signature line is full of dramatic elements composed of mixed metals and stones among other mediums.  Her site features page after page of stunning pieces that turn heads, tell stories and set them apart from other jewelry.  And they’re affordable–a huge holiday 30% sale currently being offered.  I am in love with the vintage sundial, the brass feather, the vintage globe and the key holes.  Oh, and those hand carved wooden swan earrings…be still my heart.

Check out Leviticus Jewelry for gifts this year and support another talented mama’s work.

And have a lovely evening.

In typing that title up there, I have to tell you I accidentally typed D.U.I. first.  I’m not sure why I get D.I.Y. and D.U.I. mixed up, but if it’s of any explanation, the idea of how to fix up my girls’ little chairs came to me while driving.  I was craft-intoxicated which, if you’ve experienced it, is a bit like being drunk.

I shall begin by saying that yesterday’s festivities made my mama heart swell.  While Nella was very interested in hanging out in the driveway, eating stale cheese balls, pulling her amphibious feet off and keeping at least a 30-ft. distance from any and all scary masks…

For anyone not wearing a werewolf, Scream or Jason mask, she will kindly smile, wave and yell “Hi!”

…Lainey was thrilled to be a grown-up, trick-or-treating kid–the kind that runs ahead of her mother and doesn’t need a hand to hold anymore.  She had friends to walk with.

A few shots from our holiday:

Nella getting ready to boo our neighbors earlier this week

Trunk-or-Treat last weekend

Nella and Baby Angelina

Nella’s Wombmate Boyfriends, Cash & Rocco

Why yes, that’s an easy button on the very pregnant tummy of my friend, Suzanne

And earlier this week, the party was happening at Fred’s–a night where three more dance moves were added to my repertoire of Things I Learned at Fred’s (a fast-growing volume):

And now it is November. Temperatures have dropped and moods have shifted into homey/crafting/cozy modes.

I’ve been wanting to spruce up my girls’ table and chairs area–a place we use frequently for homework, eating, crafting, baking, etc. I wanted it both more functional and more visually appealing.

I painted our table an off white color (Valspar, satin spray paint) and then transformed my girls’ beat up chairs, using Mod Podge to piece together fabric scraps.

Materials Needed (besides 2 small chairs):

Instructions:

1. Clean chairs. Begin by painting Mod Podge onto a small area of chair, adding cut fabric squares or rectangles (I mixed it up, didn’t follow any measuring rules and cut and placed fabric as I worked.  I like the look of mixing horizontal and vertical lines and patterns as well.), and layering more Mod Podge on top.

2. Continue to layer fabric pieces and Mod Podge, overlapping fabric when necessary, to cover entire surface area of chairs. The Mod Podge will help smooth out fabric around edges.  Make sure no chair shows through, cutting smaller fabric scraps to cover areas when needed. When chairs are completely covered, coat well in Mod Podge.

3.  Let chair dry.  Add another good coat of Mod Podge and let dry again.

4.  Add two coats of polyurethane to seal chair (drying between each layer).  This will help it endure kids and allow it to be wiped clean.

(funky boy print fabric would be great for these chairs too)

 
We also moved our magnet frame (magnetic frame board we made last year, described in this post) above our new table area and added craft utencil cups so things are more accessible for Lainey (but still out of reach for Nella):

We attached our pretty trim onto our cans and then hot glued two strong magnets on the back of each so that they can be removed as needed from the board.

Final Product:

It needs a little rug–and okay, knotty wood floors would look nice under it too.  But for now, I completely love it.

*****

Welcome back to sponsor, One Delightful Button, maker of adorable accessories that grab the eye and beg for a “Where did you get those?”  Creator Katie uses everything from fabric-covered buttons to Scrabble tiles to make earrings, cuff links, bookmarks, hair ties–in other words, perfect stocking stuffers or gifts for friends, teachers, mamas, etc. 

I love my new fall mustard flower earrings and our personalized book marks.

Katie is offering 10% off everything in her shop using code “kelle”

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Hoping November brings smiles for you all.