2013 Projects

This post is really just for me. I wanted to list all of the projects I have completed since moving in mid-May. It will help me remember what I did. It also makes me feel a little bit less of a slacker if I put it all down in print.


Crocheted slippers for my friend Reyna. I got the pattern off of Ravelry.

Our back yard, had built in benches, but they were pretty rough so I built the green seat covers to keep splinters at bay.

Used Valspar Exterior Satin Emerald Isle 6004-6B from Lowe's.

The big project of the year was Logan's swing set. We got it off of craigslist for $100. I sanded, painted and figured out how to put it together. It was like a gigantic puzzle.

Used flat Valspar Exterior Cowboy Hat 3010-8 from Lowe's. Nex time perhaps eggshell.

Installing sod with Kyle. We are renting, but it made a huge difference in the back yard and was well worth it.

We got Reveille sod from Just Sprinklers. Love this sod.

Apparently I didn't take a "Finished" photo so this photo from mid-February will have to do.

Sandbox addition to Logan's swing set. Used "Natural Sand" from Home Depot.

 Bookshelves for Logan's room. I got the design from Pinterest.

I redid our guest room to make it more of a craft room and open it up by getting rid of the queen bed. I built the wood shelf behind the pillows along the back wall. This was my inspiration for the bed layout.

This desk project isn't complete. I want to paint the filing cabinets and put either paper or fabric on the drawer faces, switch out the handles and remove the label area. I did the wood top of the desk out of oak plywood. I also want to make curtains for the room to match my pillows.

Here is our "Baby Gate" although it is really used to keep Frik and Frak downstairs at night. I designed it based on a simple barn door idea. Simple copper piping and a core door on wheels.

A girl also needs to have an organized tool section in her garage so I put up some shelves and the peg board, which I obviously painted green. 

My fall project was a felt pumpkin for Logan. I took a small apparel pin design I saw on Pinterest and increased the size until it was large enough. That gave me the rough outline. It is also a bag to hold the felt pieces too.

 Lots of felt face pieces to make various jack-o-lanterns.

Since I love Halloween I enjoy adding to my plethora of decorations. I saw this yarn web on Pinterest and decided it needed to be a glow in the dark web for the front porch. Turned out great.Was a little hard to move outside, but well worth it.

Kyle's Halloween costume: The man in the yellow hat from Curious George.

My friend Reyna's baby shower "Guess the Sex" game. I designed the cards, tie and bow clips and board.

I built a bookshelf for our reading room. In the first photo I am showing how I used oak plywood and added the veneer to the edges.

I got my inspiration from here.

Here are the quiet book pages I made as part of a quiet book exchange. Only had to make 16 of each page.

Move the bee through each numbered flower to the bee hive. Pattern here.

I Spy bags. Inspiration here.

The card has pictures on both sides showing what you can find in the bag

A Facebook post led to this shirt for one of my nephews. Who knew painting on a t-shirt could be so easy using freezer paper and your printer.

I was long overdue for a batch of lip balm. I am proud of the label I made for Firefly fans out there. For non-fans it says "Serenity Now", Serenity being the name of the ship. That can also be Seinfeld reference.

Then I made lip balm holders. I discovered a way to print onto fabric. The print will even stay on after washing the fabric. I designed each layout below. The only photo I am missing is of the one that had photos of Logan on it.

Before washing

After Washing, only the red ran a little.

Here are the finished holders and some phone purses I made out of my step-dad's ties. 

Shows how each one has a back photo too.

I'm super proud of this pot holder. It is my own design. Definitely could use some improvements, but I still love it.

Family flannel pants. Here is the basic sewing process I used.

 Felt Tree and Ornaments for our Advent calendar.

Birthday watches for my mom. I made a lot of bands to go through the watch faces. One picture I am missing here is of one made out of beads. I'll capture that for next year.

That's it. Those were my projects from mid-May to mid-January. Of course, it took me 2 months to unpack so I would say these projects really cover mid-July to mid-January. Oops, I guess you can count my cakes as projects too...

Tetras

Crossword

Star Wars

Construction Zone

Wizard of Oz - Emerald City

2013 Christmas Books

As I mentioned earlier, we read a holiday book every day till Christmas. To help me remember through the years, I'm posting the books we read for 2013. I hope this list might also help other mothers out there. We got about half of these books at the library. I recommend getting books early. I started checking them out the week before Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, the Christmas shelves were pretty empty.

1. The Snowman at Christmas book was adorable, but above Logan's level. Definitely one to save for future years. It is about what a little boy envisions snowmen do at night to celebrate Christmas.

2. Logan absolutely loved Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. Bonus is that you can use the internet to read the book to you as well as play the associated songs. I have been trying to get more Pete the Cat books for Logan, but every single one has a wait list at the library.

3. That's not my reindeer is cute with lots of touch sensory aspects, but Logan seemed to like it better when he was 1.

4. Bear Stays Up for Christmas is totally adorable. Logan liked it, but perhaps not as much as mom and dad did. We liked it so much that we bought a bunch more of the Bear series.

5. Clifford's Christmas was cute enough. Logan likes his Clifford flap book, but I think he wasn't very excited about this book.

6. Logan likes Dora flap books, and this one was no exception. We read Dora's Christmas Adventure many times.

7. Curious George is a favorite in our house, and his Christmas Countdown was read over and over again. Thanks to Aunt Jenny who gave that to Logan last year. The book mirrors George's Christmas TV special too.

8. Christmas Safari was by far Logan's favorite book. We sang it over and over again. That was definitely the trend this year. His favorite books are ones based on songs. Below are the lyrics for those who are interested.  It is set to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas."

9. Pooh's - The Sweetest Christmas was cute, but a little long for Logan. I'm sure he will like it more next year.

10. The Polar Express was definitely too long. It just couldn't even remotely hold his attention.

11. Merry Christmas Davy was a great book. Logan really liked it, and it had a great theme about sharing what we have with those in need.

12. How Santa Got His Job is adorable. A little on the long side for age 2, but I'm sure Logan will love it even more next year.

13. Logan liked Santa Duck, but mom and dad were not all that into it. The art is cute, but the story is so so. However, it does show how Santa enlists others to help him gather wish lists.

14. Merry Christmas Ollie!  was ok. I can see this being great for 1-2 year olds. You could use it to help teach patience for Christmas. However, I think the story was too simple for Logan.

15. A Merry Mouse Christmas ABC is a cute book that I grew up with. Logan wasn't too impressed with it. I thought he would like it more since he is into ABCs right now, but he didn't. Perhaps next year.

16. Logan wasn't interested in When Cows Come Home for Christmas. I didn't think that much of it either. It is kind of cute, but nothing really special.

17. One of my favorite childhood books was The Sweet Smell of Christmas, a scratch and sniff book. I was soooo happy to find one at Goodwill that was in perfect condition. Logan liked the book, but didn't really understand the scratch and sniff aspect. I suspect we will love it more next year.

18.  Elmo's Christmas Hugs is a cute book, and we did like it. We just didn't read it as much as we read the safari book.

19. Frosty the Snowman is a special book that has Grandpa Jay's voice reading the book to Logan. He did enjoy it, but I think the tv show may have diminished the book a little. Next year I will start with the book before Logan gets to see the show.

20. Mouse's First Christmas is cute too, but not awesome. I do like the artwork, but I feel that the Mouse books are a little on the slow side for Logan now.

 21. My first Christmas board book was a hit last year, but he wasn't too interested this year. There were a few pages that he liked specifically, so we focused on those. It has images of things you might see around at Christmas time. It might be better for those who are not talking yet. 

22. Christmas in Many Lands is a neat pop-up book that I grew up with. Logan liked the pop-up aspect, but for now it had too much text for each page.

23. Logan liked Here Comes Santa, but it really wasn't a favorite.

24. My copy of Twas the Night before Christmas is a a treasure. Last year Grandpa Keith read it to Logan, but Logan wanted me read it to him this year. I am sure it will continue to be a special book in the future.

Bonus Books: We had these out all month.  They are favorites.

1. Logan absolutely loved the Pooh's Christmas Songs. Each page has a different song.  You press the button to play the music so you can sing each song.

2. Logan is a HUGE fan of flap books, and we have 3 Little People flap books. Christmas is Here was stale for mom and dad by the end of the first week, but Logan couldn't get enough of it.