Tactile Matching!

What I thought would be an easy free way to spend 30 minutes turned into hours of fun!

I saw this idea in tutusandturtles.blogspot.com! We filled balloons with a bunch of different items! Each item filled two balloons... I used this cylinder toy to fill up the balloons... I couldn't find a funnel, and necessity is the mother of invention...

We filled the balloons with tiny gravel, grass, mud, cheerios, and quinoa... And added a puff of air into each balloon...

Threw the balloons in the yard, and they went crazy squeezing the balloons! "Dis ones keenwah! I knows it!" ("This one is quinoa, I knows it!")

They had a blast feeling matches, and starting over....When they were done feeling for matches, the balloons turned into impromptu bean bags! Major score! It was like an awesome Payless sale! BOGO!

Canvas Painting!

With the big kids back in school, and the babies in preschool only twice a week, we did a fun project for the newest big kids!

I guess they're not babies any more, but they will always be these cute, chubby babies to me!

So we decided to do a little canvas painting! We bought two canvases from WalMart for $7 total, a bag of brushes for $3, and some paint for $0.95. We made an impromptu smock out of our old duvet cover that I keep in the car to cover the seats with... Just cut it to size and cut arm holes... Perfect!

Ready to work...

Bag O brushes...

They had a great time, picking out which brushes were theirs, and which they would use first!

Then laid out a garbage sack, and secured it down with rocks on the corner...

Poured on some paint and let them at it...

They had a blast! It was fun watching them paint, very carefully, then realize they could do whatever they wanted, and they became totally engrossed in it. Kate's started off as a rainbow... But like we all find ourselves, unable to step away, they rainbow was soon completely covered...

And then we painted the rocks!

Beauty...

click

In love... This has become our motto.... Doesn't get any more simple or beautiful...
Happy Labor Day!

The Week... Brought to you by Instagram

Polly helped to keep the tiles anchored to the floor, and warm up the cold tile with her potbelly...

We installed sconces.... Not the way they were intended to be hung, but they look awesome!

I heard "Yinzee (Lindsay) watch this!" Over...

...and Over....

....And over... Times 900... And I loved it every time!

Drew always call this "Soakin' up some sweet tasty rays!" and I laugh every time!

And I loved on pictures of this chubster, button nose, baby....

Smiling with a blanket/lion I gave him... I might have only held this baby once but I love him to pieces!

I went to Home Depot with Dr. Emmit Brown Drew for what feels like the 9 millionth time, to look at wood working tools.... Cool things coming in the future!

A puddle of Polly...

A ball of Cleo...

As an early birthday gift to myself I subscribed to ANTHOLOGY MAGAZINE!I luff it!

With my little patience... I spray painted a mirror gold... Now to buy goof off for the part that I got on the actual mirror...

Uhhh, Doesn't this Johnny boy just kill you... I know right!

Cleo's new favorite spot... In fact as I type, she is lounging there right now, in this exact position... Silly pooch!

Batman's pet sabertooth

Honda twinners! I don't know why I do this, but whenever I see the same car as mine, I have to park by it.... Weird, this time was extra special! Just like my car part of the Accord decal had fallen off but all that was left of theirs was the cord, and I just have the AC..... Soul mates... (Katie Redd, did you just hear your own voice reading that? Ha!)

Drew and I go... Almost daily to our local Holiday gas station and get refills on our drinks... We have made some great friends... Chris tells us funny stories of his time in couples therapy, Cody calls Drew and me "the soulmates", Marni gets disappointed in me when I forget my refill cup.... And Scott's just working for the weekend! Anyway dot dot dot one awful horrible day they were out of Diet Coke.... I think it's a bad omen!

And I'll tell you what that bad omen was.... Drew dropped his iPhone off the roof and it exploded! Now he's stuck waiting for the upgraded iPhone... Good news is, I don't ever have to be teased about being more responsible with my stuff... Sure I left my iPhone on Drew's truck bumper and we drove away.... Sure we found it in the middle of the road two miles later... Whatevs! I've still got mine!

I saw one of these electro thingies for the first time in real life... Check that off my bucket list...

And we had a 3 year old Do Your Own Hair Day! And they nailed it!

And that was my week dumped on you!

Mirrors and Towels...

Have you ever thought of something you think is pure genius.... Only to find you start seeing it EVERYWHERE?

I had the idea of finding a mirror that hung over half of our marble wainscot... Previously I had only seen vanity mirrors that stopped right above the wainscot.... Next thing I know, the overhanging mirrors are everywhere.... I love them.... Major bummer this week, I have had this mirror I wanted for the bathroom... It was basically my jumping off point for the bathroom.... After we got the vanity installed, I measured and the mirror is too big! Bah!!! Major heartbreak hotel over here!

(above pictures are from thingsthatinspire.net)

havenandhome.blogspot.com

However I did find this picture that I love, with a smaller mirror and a glass shelf underneath the mirror.... Pretty pretty! Now back to the drawing board for mirrors....

(anthropologie)

In good news, I love these towels from Anthropologie.... But they are $38 a piece....

I stumbled upon these look a likes, (much prettier in person) at Cost Plus World Market for $8! SOLD!

(two photos from Cost Plus World Market)

When I found the pictures online for the towels, I stumbled upon these chevron towels! Win! Happy September, Towel Hunting and Mirror Hanging!

Stencil.... Yet Again!

I wanted to finish grouting the tile, and install the faceplates, but Drew has had some crazy busy work week... And the stencil just turned out too awesome to hold out on you!

This first picture shows how subtle the paint looks... The other pictures are taken from angles that emphasize the gloss and matte...

We love it... We just stand in the bathroom and admire it! Patting our own backs, and self high fiving!

Stencil 2

Stencils Continued...

This is where a little bit of magic happened.... Drew took over... I am not one for details and patients when it comes to projects... In fact just tonight I spray painted a round mirror.... I got one strip of tape on it and said forget it.... Why else did they invent goof off?!

I will say that i did paint the walls in the bathroom first, point me! Again, I chose Sherwin Williams, light french grey... We chose a satin, and gloss finish of the same color... We painted on the gloss first, and then when we painted the stencil we did the satin which is a flatter sheen... So Drewpy took the reins... Found the center of the wall, and placed the new stencil paper over it...

The stencil paper is more of a plastic, so it doesn't warp when wet with paint, and clear so you can trace easily...

We used a high density foam roller, we kept an old pillowcase next to the tray. After you get paint on the roller, we rolled it on the pillow case so that the roller had minimal paint on it...

Too much paint on the roller and you would get paint runs, underneath the stencil...

Drew did super light strokes, multiple times... We ended up going back through and painting two coats...

Drew just pushed the stencil in the corner and rolled it... I kept telling him to wait until the end and cut it so it fit in the corner easier, but this seemed to work for him...

This is in the middle of the second coat of stencil...

A sneak peak of the stencil drying....

It is so nice to have a busier pattern, toned way down because the color is the same, but just a hint of gloss....
Final pictures hopefully soon!