Just a quick post with the follow up thank you notes for Leo's 2nd birthday presents. I wanted to do something that he could do the bulk of the imagery. So I got a bunch of Dover train sticker books (actually leftover party favors) and had him stick them and then draw on the cards. He got into making tracks and steam. It was a little hard to get him to make so many but helped to tell him each person he was making it for.
We recently celebrated Leo's 2nd birthday. We shared the day with his buddy Elliott who is one day older. I chose a train theme since Leo is pretty obsessed these days with choo choos. I tried not to make it a character theme as I know those days will come later. It was a fun party and I thought the two boys looked adorable in their conductor hats and bandanas. Take a look.
For the invite, I used an old illustration from a Golden book. I just loved the whimsical illustration.
I made a paper train banner which hung from the ceiling.
Leo had a ton of fun just playing with the train around the perimeter of the table, at his reach.
I loved this homemade wrapping from his friend Elizabeth.
Hosting parties with 2 kids + a bunch more is hectic but so fun. I only wish I had gotten more photos. Happy 2nd birthday Leo!
I'm a little behind with this but I thought I'd post it anyhow. These days I'm doing well to edit some photos and post something at naptime. We have a new addition to our family. Jesse Frederick was born on April 7th and he's the sweetest little guy. We love him so much. This Father's day was extra special because of him. I still have so much artwork from Leo when he was in drawing overdrive that I made a few Father's day crafts to celebrate the day. That phase has past but at least he was prolific while it lasted. So here are a few ideas....
sewn paper garland
paper airplane card and dot wrapping
I ordered a tie from Forage Haberdashery. I love it and the packaging!
Happy Father's Day Ben! Hope you enjoyed your nap and "choreless" Sunday. I'm so grateful to have you as my partner in raising these two boys.
I mentioned in my previous post that Ben used Google SketchUp to layout our kitchen design. It was a valuable tool for us. Here are some screen shots of what it looked like. We made some changes later but it gave us a general idea of layout and what could go where.
At long last our kitchen remodel is finished! We started construction on December 16 and finished somewhere around March 9, that's for what was supposed to be a "very simple" kitchen renovation. No ripping out cabinets or knocking down walls just multiple damaged deliveries and things not fitting like we planned. But now that it's done we are so happy with it and it's just in time because I am due April 1st and could give birth anytime now. We designed it ourselves using Google Sketch Up. It was tedious but allowed us to get a feel for the space and see what could fit. We were dealing with a weirdly shaped room so there were some strange angles involved. Not to mention our 1890 house where no lines are straight or even, we just had the contractors do the best they could. Our contractors Transcend Construction did a great job.
I'll try to give some details in case anyone is dreaming or planning on their own kitchen remodel. The choices can be overwhelming.
The countertops are soapstone, the farmhouse sink from Franke. The shaker cabinets are by Schuler from Lowes. The style is Sugar Creek Maple in Harbor Mist (grey color). The grey has a sight wash to it which is subtle and turned out great. We were a little worried about too much of a distressed look. I bought 3/4" wooden knobs and painted them myself using a matched Benjamin Moore oil paint.
The floor is Marmoleum in spa from Green Depot. The stove and hood are from Bluestar. The light fixtures are from Schoolhouse Electric. The refrigerator is the Active Smart model from Fisher and Paykel.
The Hoosier cabinet we found at an antique mall in Ohio on vacation and had it shipped cross country. It was still so much cheaper than something we could find around here. The zinc work surface pulls out for extra prep space. Inside there is a flour sifter (too bad we don't use that much flour anymore) and spice rack and some other little shelves.
This is the view looking out toward the rest of our main floor. The tin ceiling is original and the previous owner restored and had it painted. This place was originally a butcher shop, thus the high ceilings and open layout.
The bridge faucet is by Hansgrohe, I got a great deal on it through an Amazon store. We had an open shelf put in above the fridge for cookbooks.
I made a little cafe curtain for the window from striped linen. The curtain hardware is from Rejuvenation.
I've probably forgotten all kinds of details but feel free to ask me in the comments. This was our first foray into home renovation and we don't mind sharing our sources.
I'm putting together a Valentine project to do with 3 year olds-2nd graders. I had the idea to make butterflies from coffee filters and clothes pins, which there lots of samples of online. I'm hoping it's a craft that even the little ones can do with some adult help. We'll see how it goes this Sunday. I thought I would share in case anyone is looking for a quick easy idea to do with their kids this year. I also liked these hand dyed Valentines too.
I have been doing lots of art projects with Leo for the last several months. Mostly drawing but also some abstract painting. To make it safe for a 16 month old I use food coloring/water in a little cup with a q tip instead of a brush. It works well and isn't toxic if he decides to put it in his mouth. Here are some circles that will become tags.
I also made a big ornament (or kissing ball) out of the the decorated circles. I had Leo paint or draw on 20 precut paper circles. I got them at Paper Presentation. I've made tons of these balls over the years, including these I made at Martha Stewart Living. The how to is the same whatever size you choose.
This makes a nice gift for a grandmother or special friend. Happy Holidays!
Hi,
So I realize it's been VERY quiet around here. I seriously don't know what happened to the days since the summer when I posted Leo's birthday party. I thought I would pop up though to wish everyone a happy holiday season! This year has been extra hectic since we are renovating our kitchen right now on top of everything. I want to post some pictures of the progress of the kitchen as it's very exciting, as least to us!
Even though half our main floor is under plastic and sawdust we still put up a tree. Leo loves turning on the lights each day. We continued with mostly paper and Polish straw decorations.
And our other news is that we are expecting another boy around April 1! We are looking forward to meeting the little guy. Hope everyone is having some peace and joy this year.
We celebrated Leo's 1st birthday this weekend and it was a great time. We live far from family but amazingly we had lots of family members here to celebrate along with our friends. The theme was stripes and we asked the attendees to dress accordingly. Just about everyone wore some sort of striped combination and it looked very festive!
I ordered striped party supplies from Shop Sweet Lulu, which has very cute stuff. We had various snacks and cupcakes and mini pb and j's. It was fun to mix and match the stripes.
I love all the different stripe patterns going on.
I customized some store bought blowers to go with the theme.
We filled lots of balloons with helium and I made a stitched paper garland.
A custom birthday hat which of course Leo wouldn't wear even for a second.
The birthday boy was in awe of everyone singing to him!
I made a "1" iron-on for his shirt which he wore with seersucker shorts.
Friends and family watching intently as Leo took a long time to open his gifts.
And finally I make a backdrop behind the food table of Leo's monthly photos. I have mentioned these before, the onesies are from Culpeper General. It was hard the last few months to get Leo to sit still for the photos so I'm pretty glad to be done with that project! It looked great and is so nice to have a complete set though.
All in all a nice celebration of the past year with our little guy!
This summer we've enjoyed our backyard so much. Here are some shots from throughout the summer. I've definitely learned some things about planting vegetables for next year. I didn't harvest the broccoli soon enough and it started blooming, and I wasn't supposed to cut the leaves, oops! Apparently if you cut just the head the plant will keep sprouting for a few months. Also our raised bed needs so much water! It is currently pretty dried up but there are still lots of baby cucumbers so hopefully there's still some life left. The herbs and tomatoes have been great. I think they are totally cost effective since you can use a little bit at a time all summer. Anyhow, it's been a learning experience.
