Sea + Prairie

gathering: in winter

We're going on day four of a rare winter ice storm here in Texas.  

And with colds setting in for two of the boys and feeling a bit of cabin fever myself, I took the opportunity to get out a bit.  

Out into the world.

The natural world...the real world.

I know by now that even if it is raining, or cloudy, or hot as

h-e-double-hockysticks,

or in this case freezing, it does my soul good to get out.

I always feel more centered, more focused, more patient having spent a bit of time outside.

Even when it is 17 degrees outside.

The ever curious, Mabel came along.

Maybe she was as excited as I was to see what we could find right in and around our own yard.

The gathering included

Red nandina

cedar that smelled heavenly

mistletoe in bloom

holly with red berries

As I walked, my mind began to wander...as it does.  

In poetry, winter is often linked to death.  But to me, the starkness of the gray-white background makes everything come alive.  

Winter is not at all about death.  Its about rest, and clarity.

Not only do I see the bare shapes of the trees, the vibrant reds of the cardinal, but I see what's important in my life laid out before me like a grocery list.

Gathering greenery to deck the halls.

Gathering ideas and thoughts and perspective along the way.

 

boys room: vintage americana + lego + star wars

Have you ever watched HGTV's Secrets of a Stylist with Emily Henderson?  I've loved Emily ever since she walked onto the set of Design Star.  Her process is to interview the homeowners and find each of their styles then layer one on top of another to eventually reflect both points of view.

So, our latest room re-do all started with Zane's dresser.

Zane is getting older...9 now.  And his small upright 5 drawer dresser was just about to fall apart.  Actually the bottom drawer had been glued together 5 times and was just about beyond repair.

So one day last week I loaded the three boys up in the car for a field trip to my favorite thrift store in Norfolk.  We walked up and down each aisle multiple times and he would take time to carefully opening each drawer and get down on all fours to look at the feet.

After looking at all of the 20 or so dressers we found this beauty.  A mid-century piece with clean lines and little cut outs for your hands to open the drawers.  Zane says these drawers are "stealthy" because there are no knobs.  And I love that it was only $40.  Score!

This dresser is quite a bit longer than the upright version he had previously so had some rearranging to do.  But the new dresser will will provide a young boy with treasures plenty of room to display them.  

And you all know what happens when you move one piece of furniture in a room...right?

Yep, we ended up moving the entire room around.  Which is always fun in my book!

When we are in Texas, my mother always asks the boys to pick one item from her antique shop to take home.  Last time we were visiting, Zane picked the American flag that now hangs above his bed.  And he loves, loves, loves bald eagles.  

I could see a theme was developing.  Enter layer one...vintage americana.

We moved one of the vintage metal school chairs from the kitchen into the room.  And some thrifted bed spreads with ships and eagles on them became new curtains for the closet...instead of those dreadful bi-fold doors.

On the same trip we found the dresser, this little eagle holding an olive branch and three arrows caught our eye.  Considering our theme and the $4 price tag, we decided we couldn't resist.

And now for the second layer...legos.

Last year, S made Zane a lego table out of a shipping pallet with some legs attached underneath.  Its super stable and has worked great for him.  Now we've added an old printer's try above the table to hold all of his "guys".  The little spaces are the perfect size for lego minifigs.   I first saw this idea on Ohdeedoh a few months back and filed it away for future use.  Love it when something is pulled from the old noggin' archives like that.

The model of the star wars solar system (did you think that was OUR solar system?) was moved from over the bed to the other side of the room - above the lego table.  And that big planet is not Earth, its Christophsis.  If you have a 9 year old boy, ask him about it.

The last layer we added was the Star Wars element.  Scattered about the room are his action figures.  And he has a few Star Wars posters that he's tacked above the bed next to the flag.

The embroidered pillow was one I did for him years ago off of one of his first drawings.

And there you have it - our version of vintage americana + lego + star wars using Emily's Secrets From a Stylist.

What do you think?  What would your kiddo's style be?

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 And with any home decorating project, its always a work in progress.

Still yet to do...

-find a new shade for the lamp on the dresser.  as much as I love the original wooden shade, you can see the lamp parts below it which means the current shade is a bit too small.

-the wall next to the bed is still a mishmash of his star wars posters and artwork.  i think he could use an inspiration line or at least a bulletin board to make it all look a bit more organized.

-and finally, i need to work on a storage system for underneath the lego table.  i don't think there is a perfect lego storage system out there, but that doesn't keep me from trying.

A House Full of Boys Needs Flowers

I'm surrounded, I tell you.  By boys.

I have three of my own.  And then my husband makes four.

Add the cat (who is a boy) and the two guinea pigs (which are both boys), Scout and I are the only estrogen in the house.

There was a time that I thought this meant I was relegated to a world of camouflage and car prints.  Maybe a dinosaur or two thrown in.

I'm not much of a girly, girl anyway, but I do like lace, and pretty dishes...and flowers.

I am coming to understand though that as a mother of boys, I am almost *more* obligated to bring a little femininity into our home.

It is my responsibility to teach them what the fairer (and smarter) of our species responds to.

It is my job to show these boys that there is a softer side to life.  

We have new napkin rings on the table, with real cloth napkins.  (That go in your lap.) Sometimes we even eat on real china plates.  We are learning to open doors for ladies, even if we don't know them. 

I want them to know the language of flowers.  How to write a love note, even if it is to a teacher.  How to be polite and not put your elbows on the table.  I think they need to know that it matters if you notice the little things, like if your girl gets her hair cut.  Or if she had a new dress on.

These things are important.

But most importantly...all girls like flowers.  Period.  

Their mama is no exception.

 

These are my most favorite Spring grocery store flowers at the moment:

• Alstromaria:  These pretty little lilies don't have much to offer in the way of smell, but they come in a variety of colors from yellow, to red, to pink.  And are very long lasting. They can last for up to two weeks without cutting if the water is kept clean.
• Ranunculas:  Love, love the delicate pretty flowers and the curly stems are whimsical.  This very old flower just screams Spring!
• Stock:  Pretty pastel colors and the smell is intoxicating.  I put them right by the bed or in the entry way where I can enjoy them the most.
• Hyacinths:  Also love the smell.  And hyacinths just scream Spring!
• Daisies:  So summery and long lasting.  These are might be my favorite flowers of all time.  You just have to smile looking at daisies.
• Daffodils:  Yes, daffodils.  I have seen them pop up at several of our local supermarkets and they are always less than $2 a bunch.  A bargain.  And this way I can leave some in the garden to enjoy outside.

I think the boys must be catching on.  We were in the grocery store a few days ago and my youngest picked up the biggest bunch of orange roses and asked if we could get them for his teacher.  "Ms. T's favorite color is orange!"  How can a mama say no to a boy who is so observant of the likes and pleasures of the woman who has his heart at the moment?

If you are a mother to all boys, do you feel the same?  Like you are responsible for teaching your little lads to be chivalrous and keen on the female species?  

And what are your favorite Spring flowers to have in your house?

 

Estate Sale Finds and Random Thoughts

Hello friends.

Hope your weekend was a good one!  

It was warm here.  

Saturday morning we visited an estate sale.  There was lots to see, and much I wanted to purchase.  But I only came away with a few treasures.

I've been thinking a lot about need vs. want.  I seem to go through cycles of this.  My tastes change, so I get a few new things here and there to fresh things up a bit.  But then realize I need to purge some of the things I no longer enjoy or need.

I tell myself that because I shop mostly at yard sales or thrift stores (and sometimes Target), and never pay retail that it is ok.  But then still feel like at times we have too much clutter.  

Too much stuff is still too much stuff no matter how much you paid for it.

So, there has been some collecting.  But behind the scenes there has been lots of slow and steady cleaning out of closets.  Much going through and donating.

And our dirt finally arrived.  

Who gets excited about topsoil and manure?  Apparently we do!

Which meant all of Saturday afternoon was spent shoveling and wheel-barrowing loads of dirt from the driveway to the backyard.  The boys were troopers and loved every minute of it.

What was amazing to me was how we ended up with 5 other neighborhood boys helping shovel as well.  Thinking they were taking pity on my since S is away, I kept telling them they didn't have to help.  "No, we want to help" was their reply.  I only had 4 shovels and there was a line to take a 15 minute turn shoveling.

For a while now, I've had this thought that boys need an outlet and opportunities like this.  "Manly" kinds of jobs to make them feel strong, an outlet for testing out their muscles. I don't mean to say that shoveling manure is a "manly" job and women shouldn't be bothered with it.  Heck, I was out there too.   But boys need to feel like they are growing into men.  And my three sure were feeling like they were contributing to our family by using their growing muscles.  And that is the important thing to them.

I'm sure there is a book somewhere that supports this, some psychological study.  But as a mother of 3 boys I am really coming to realize this in a meaningful way.

In other news...

- We've been watching this owl cam, and this local eagle cam.  (More great bird links on TMG.)

- And the boys are now completely addicted to nutella sandwiches and would eat them every single meal if I let them.

- We saw Gnomeo and Juliette, would totally recommend it!  Loved it!

- Signed up for this little workshop.

- Have you seen the rugs Holly is making?  Amazing...all from this original tutorial.  Can't believe it has been more than 4 years since I posted t.  Makes me a bit nostalgic.  Maybe I'll use up some of the sheets I've been collecting.

Happy Monday friends!

Yarn Wreaths - Christmas Front Door Makeover

This year while bringing down the Christmas boxes from the attic and digging in, it was clear that we needed some updating.

Our boxes are filled with decorations that we have had since we got married. 

OK, in reality some of them I have had since college.

Last year they seemed ok.

But this year for some reason, I just couldn't put some of them up.

They just aren't "us" anymore.  The front door wreaths were such.

I had seen several yarn wreaths around the blogosphere...namely Jade's little colorful numbers and Blair's.  And I love Sarah's color combination.  

So the boys and I made some new wreaths for the front door.  I'm glad they were game to help because the circle looks pretty small until you start wrapping, and wrapping and wrapping.

It took us two nights off and on, but we got them done.  And we're pretty happy. It was our little bird lover's idea to add a little chickadee.  I think it totally makes the wreath.

 

Since our doors are green, we needed a light color to stand out against the darker background.  And I'm still in love with that plaid flannel from the new pillows.  We used some of the scraps to cut out leaves.  Add a stick from the yard and a little bird...and you've got an entirely new look for the front doors.

The previous versions were originally purchased by my mother-in-law at a craft fair several years ago.  They had little fisherman and ducks on them, but in an attempt to make them more "us" I removed them.

I'm liking the new version much better.

Now on to the fireplace mantle.

Hello October, Hello Projects!

We're on our 4th (or is it 5th?) day of rain here.  But it looks like the clouds should be parting tonight or tomorrow.

The rain has been a great excuse to hang inside and do a few projects.  I've been sewing in 5-10 minute increments on the quilt.  And we've been cooking up a storm.

We've also been completely enamored with the spider webs around our house.  No garden orb weavers this Fall, but another kind of orb weaver.  A spotted orb weaver maybe.

These spiders begin their webs after the sun goes down and then are gone before the sun comes up.  But with the cloudy days we've been having, we've been able to see them well into the morning.

Yesterday Wyatt and I made a spider web tablecloth for the kitchen.  You know how we love natural colored painter's drop cloths.  Right?  I always have a few on hand as they are so, well...handy.

Sharpie markers are also handy to have on hand.

Wyatt even added a few little spiders just for fun.

I used to be a bit creaped out by spiders and spider webs.  But the more I research and watch, I am amazed.

My parents have an antique bowl painted with spider webs.  I used to think it was a bit weird.  Who would want to paint webs on good china?  But I think I'm beginning to understand.

Our tablecloth is not close to good china, but I understand how someone could be inspired by these most delicate of nature's creations.

 

Vintage Inspired Playroom/ Family Office

I am so excited to finally be able to show you our new space.  Just a few short weeks ago this was my sewing room.  Remember when I shared that I was redecorating this room room and painting the yellow walls.  Yes, well shortly after I posted that little bit of news, right smack dab in the middle of the crazy phase of redecorating, it was clear that it should go upstairs and the playroom needed to come back down. That everything had to come to a complete halt.

And there it sat for most of the summer.

Until a few weeks ago when S left again on a trip...which is always my cue for "let's move things around!"

This room sits on the front of the house, just to the left of our front entry and gets the most wonderful morning light.

On the wall that used to hold my sewing machine table is now a great chalkboard wall!  (There is also magnetic paint under the chalkboard paint...more on this later.)  You know how much I love chalkboard paint.  You don't see the dark wall initially from the front door, so it is fun to see people walk in and then turn around to discover it.

I have had these MS flashcards for a year or more and I love the images.  So I hung a clothesline of jute twine with the first few letters that Wyatt is studying in kindergarten.  We will switch them out as he moved through the alphabet.

I have had the lamp for years - since I moved into my first little house after college.  And the chair used to be in the sewing room.  It just never made it up the stairs.  It is a most excellent reading chair and I love having a comfy place to sit while I oversee homework.  I see a little knitting basket next to this chair during the winter.

The round table and little wooden school chairs are gifts from our Oma (my mother).  They were in the upstairs playroom already so we just brought them downstairs and gave them a good cleaning.

 

The previous home owners installed floor to ceiling shelving on the back wall.  The shelving is just what we needed for our vintage kids' book collection, games and art supplies.  HEAVEN!  And sprinkled here and there are some of my favorite vintage toys and thrifted items.

Initially, I was going to move the dining room rug into this room.  But the boys have been having so much fun playing on the bare floors.  Zane told me the other day, the floors were the best part because his cars rolled so much better without a rug.  You got it buddy!  No rug.  We'll see if they still like playing this much on the floor in the winter.

I think this might be my most favorite part of the entire room...the family office concept. I knew I wanted a long desk from one wall to the other.  With our file cabinet(that curiously lived in the craft room before) and a metal shelf borrowed from a closet as supports for two large MDF pieces I had cut, it makes three work stations.  Perfect for the older two to have their own homework areas and a space for me to pay bills and organize school papers.

(The silver chair did not end up staying silver and the little wood chair eventually got a paint job.  See below.)

Just above the desk is a line of cork.  You can buy thin rolls of cork at craft stores.  It took three rolls to do the entire length of the wall and will be a great place to tack party invitations, school notes, artwork, pictures...anything!

A few years ago, S pieced together two computers from spare parts and hand-me-downs so that the boys would have a place to do their "research" - which apparently must include touching the screen.  Do you see how dirty it is?!?!

One of the bad things about this room is that there is no central light fixture in the ceiling, so I used three $9 desk lamps from Target on the desk for task lighting.  But I think on my next trip to IKEA I might pick up a few wall mounted sconces.

Above the cork strip is another shelf to hold an old set of thrifted encyclopedias - great for cutting and gluing projects.

Tin cans hold pencils, scissors, paperclips, thumbtacks, glue, etc. - any supplies they might need for homework.  Mason jars full of summer beach treasures from Maine serve as book ends.

I knew I wanted three matching chairs for the desk areas and the very day I began looking on craigslist, the boys found these three little chairs on the curb across the street.  Seriously.  It pays to have neighbors with good taste in junk.  I loved the shape of them, but she had obviously left them outside because the finish was coming off and they were pretty weathered.  But with a little sanding and a few coats of paint, they are perfect for this room...and free!

A few things I still have yet to do:

• Decide if I want curtains or not
• Recover the chair seats with fabric
• Move a stool from the upstairs bathroom down so that the littlest member of the family can reach the upper bookshelves
• Paint the file cabinet white
• Find flat screen monitors on craigslist or freecycle (those old one's sure take up a lot of space, don't they?)

I am so happy with how this room turned out.  Actually I am kicking myself that I didn't do this three years ago when we moved back from Chicago.  The boys have been playing in it ever since we started the project...which is always the case when you move things around.  Isn't it?

On Tuesday, the boys came right in from the school bus into this room, sat themselves down at the desk and started in on their homework.  We'll see how long that lasts. *wink*

Happy weekend everyone!

 

Playroom/Craft Room Swip-Swap

This used to be our playroom.  We called it the explore room.  It had a reading nook, bins for toys and an art cabinet.  The toys were upstairs and out of the way.  It could get messy and it didn't bother me.  We added two rebuilt desktop computers for the boys to play their jump start games and do their all important lego research.  It worked perfectly for us.

For a while.

But sometime around the end of the school year last year, it became clear that our use of the room was changing.  That our needs had shifted and a change was in order.

(Hmmm...maybe it was the boys search for star wars lego videos on Youtube that took them to a...ahem...less than desireable video that did it.)

One of the things I love most about out house is how versatile it is.  Bedrooms can become playrooms.  Guest rooms can become sewing rooms.

So one of the many summer projects while S has been away has been to swap my downstairs craft room with the upstairs playroom.

Part of me could not believe I was bringing the playroom back downstairs after I had just trained the boys to keep the toys upstairs.

But things are different now.

They only play with a few things...legos, action figures, animals, art supplies, puzzles and games for the most part.

Gone are the baskets of toys along the wall.  No more dress up corner (which makes me a bit sad).  They spend more time in their rooms when they need a quiet minute or two to play with a few select toys they keep there.

And homework is becoming a much bigger deal...do you know how big a 2 inch Social Studies binders is???

All of this to say...change was necessary.

In true Eren fashion, I began doing research.

I looked through books, magazines.  I put together a pin board at pinterest.

And have been eating away at the HUGE task of moving all of that fabric up, all of the legos and books down.

But it is almost finally finished!  I have to spray paint a few chairs today and fin three baskets for a shelf.

Can't wait to show you the full reveal tomorrow!

Friday Vintage Fabric Finds

This summer I had grand plans (as always) of making it to yard sales ever Saturday morning even if it meant bribing the boys with doughnuts along the way.

But like grand plans sometimes...that hasn't quite happened.

However, the few pieces I have found I am really thrilled with.

There is something to be said for the less is more concept - having a few pieces that you absolutely love as opposed to too many that you sort of like.

 
The fabric at the top of the post is my favorite.  It is a 3 yard piece of vintage printed linen.  I love the colors.  And the print reminds me of people raising their hands above their head in celebration...either that or it looks like a bunch of neckties.  Either way, I love this print.  There isn't enough of it to make two full curtains, but maybe pieced with another fabric it might work.

Next, the red fabric is a great oriental print I found at an estate sale.  These were shoved down in the bottom of a box that had been in the shed for Lord knows how many years. They were pretty stinky.  But after a good soak in my bathroom tub in woolite, they are much happier.

I have a use for two of the panels and a friend of mine wants to make some floor pillows for her playroom with one of the other panels.  That leaves three large panels left.  I would be happy to sell the last three if anyone likes them and is interested.

(Sorry people, Melissa snagged them.)

 

And lastly, I found this great wool plaid at my favorite thrift store a few weeks ago.  It has been hanging out on the back of one of our living room chairs.  I have been staring at the combination of prints in the curtains, the pillow and the plaid fabric.  Something about it really works for me.  I think the wool will make a great blanket for cozying up this winter.

We are doing a bit more thrifting this weekend...for school clothes.  And everyone needs a new pair of shoes too. 

Hope you have a great weekend!

A Day To Myself

Yesterday was a good day.

A very good day.

A day that brought an unexpected period of time all by myself.

I keep a mental list of all of the things I want to do if I the stars align perfectly and I get a few hours to myself.  Things like...start seeds for the Fall garden, sew new throw pillow for the living room, straighten the pictures in the guest room.  You know...those important little things that just never get done because you are too busy being busy.

Last Saturday morning, S announced that he and the boys were going to Busch Gardens for the day and I was not coming with them.  He knows what a homebody I am and how I really don't like places with too many people, food that costs way too much especially on a 109 degree day.

Bless him!

So how did I spend my day?

- breakfast, zucchini bread with chocolate chips, while I contemplated peeling the rest of the peaches and catching up on a little blog reading.

-I got a few jars of peach butter jarred up and added to the pantry, here is the recipe I used.  Easy is an understatement people!

- I watched the tomatoes ripen in the window, did a little more reading, and apparently spent way too much time looking at vintage inspired boys rooms

- because, then I got a wild hair to repaint the boys' bedrooms

both of them

- I am loving the results.  It isn't a huge color change, but there's nothing like clean, freshly spackled  and painted walls.  I'll show you the full update when I finish getting the new shelves up and Im excited about a little swimming inspired art piece Im working on for above Ian's bed.

What would you do if you had a day to yourself?

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Oh, and I have a new post over at Simple Organic on the health benefits of getting outside with your kiddos if you want to check it out.  There's lots of good stuff over at Simple Living Media.