The Holidays are Here

Something new I'm trying—and loving.



I'm doing some other paper cuttings, but as they are going to be presents, you'll just have to wait! I'm sure I'll have more done soon that I'll be free to show.

Happy Holidays! (Don't eat TOO much tomorrow.)

xoxo—Lori

Dressers: Finished!

So, I realized that amidst the craziness of loosing the knobs and the upheaval that is my life, I forgot to share the finished photos of the dressers with you! (I know, you're not surprised in the least.)



This one has taken over the role of changing table which enables us to get rid of one piece of furniture which helps with the overwhelming amount of clutter the girls have managed to collect in their short life times AND allows us to pass it on to a little someone who will be needing it more than us come early March!! (Yeah for babies!!!!)

(oh, and please ignore that window. . .Eek! It still needs some help. Speaking of which. . .any ideas on how to cover up an ugly air conditioner unit that is an absolute necessity in the summer? I would love to hide it somehow, but have not yet come up with a plan to do so while keeping it functionable. ???????)





I am loving the way these turned out!! And to think they were on the brink of heading to the junk heap.



It's especially great because these aren't just some random dressers I found. They were my husband and his brother's as they were growing up. And I'm guessing based on the style, that they had another life even before that. I'm going to have to get that story. . .. But I love pieces with history—but even more I love breathing new life into pieces with history!! Now every piece of old furniture I look at I want to recover, repaint or redo in some way!! My poor husband!!! I'm not sure he completely knew what he was getting into when he married me! Oh well, he has his quirks as well. . ..

xoxo—Lori

VW Bus

I've been busy sewing, but not for myself.

At work we've undertaken the task of redoing a VW Bus with the intent of driving it to CES, an annual trade show in Las Vegas. As the resident seamstress in the marketing department, I was recruited to reupholster all then interior. I'm having fun as it's a little bit of a stretch for me—I've never done this level of recoving, but it's turning out nicely. Whew! Don't know what we would have done if it wasn't!!

Check out the the CES Bound website to see how we're doing, watch some funny vidoes concerning the project and at some point catch a glimpse of my handiwork!! Oh, and I'll probably never write about work again. . . but this is a bit of an exception. . . :)

xoxo—Lori

My New Toy!!!

Finally got my new sewing machine! I'm so excited. . .and little bit in love. . .. It's a Janome DC2010.



Now off to go sew something!!!

xoxo—Lori

An Awesome Book

I was just given An Awesome Book. You can tell it is awesome just from it's title. (It's actually called An Awesome Book.)


A co-worker of mine handed it to me for my kids when I walked into work this morning. As he was telling me about it, he had this expectant look on his face and I was actually kind of worried that it was a joke and something was going to jump out at me! But as soon as I had a minute to give it a read I understood his look. This book is incredible & I can't wait to go home and read it to my girls! It's full of wonderfully imaginative illustrations and a poem about dreaming big—like dreaming about “rocket-powered unicorns” instead of owning matching silverware.” The author originally wrote the book for his own five-year-old son and decided to have it printed up.

You can read the entire book online—and you should, right now!!! But don't forget to purchase a copy for yourself, your kids and maybe a few more for gifts as this would make a great gift for all sorts of people: little kids, graduates, newlyweds, your parents. . .you get the idea. :)

But another reason to buy the book is that for every book purchased, the author will give one away!! Sounds like a pretty good way to spread high and lofty dreams!

So what are your big dreams that seem like they might be too big to come true?
"Then once you've got that in mind please dream a million more. . ."
Maybe if we all start dreaming big, and encouraging each others' dreams, we just might start turning some dreams into reality.

xoxo—Lori

I made a bed.

Growing up, I had a beautiful bed. My Dad made it for me when I was two. It had drawers underneath and everything.

When I got married, I graduated to a larger bed which unfortunately was housed only on a mattress frame. Not the bed of my dreams, that's for sure!! Recently, we decided to ditch the mattress frame and just put the box frame and mattress directly on the floor. Good move for the tiny room as the lower bed helps open up the tight space. But then we just had our mattress on the floor.

When we move, someday—hopefully within the next 3 years. . .), we are planning on getting a king size bed since we can't get one now—Our room is just too small!! So whatever solution I came up with for this bed needed to be reasonably priced. I kicked around a few ideas and finally
decided to head to my local lumber yard (Home Depot :) ), grab 4 2x12s and build a box.

However, I am fully convinced that I can do nothing the easy way.

I love the feel of old wood. You know what I'm talking about? That old bench at the park made from a tree trunk that is worn absolutely smooth with the grain raised into the most interesting patterns? Well, I wanted that.

I again headed to Home Depot and picked up a wire sanding attachment for our drill and set to work sanding out the soft portion of the wood, leaving the harder grain raised up.



Many hours, 3 steel wool pads and 2 blisters later I had brand new boards that felt like they had some history to them!! After not finding what I had envisioned in my head on the stain aisle, I opted to just go dark. I am second guessing that decision, but also realizing that's it really not that big of a deal and am trying to let it go!! All in all, I think it's a pretty nice solution for very cheap!




Unfortunately, I'm not sure how well the pictures show the deep grain, but it feels wonderful!! Next, I plan to add a headboard. Exciting plans (for me anyway!!) for that as well!

xoxo—Lori

MISSING

A little over a week ago I redid the second dresser for the sisters which included these very cool knobs!! Aren't they pretty!



One Problem:

WE CAN'T FIND THEM ANYWHERE!!!!!!!

I remember spraying them with poly and Little Sister helping me put them in a bag, but after that?
NOTHING!

We have searched EVERYWHERE in our house. Well, obviously not everywhere or we would have found them by now. We can't imagine that they are not in the house, but after days of searching, our confidence is waning.

The only thing we can imagine is that somehow one of the girls got ahold of the bag and. . .threw them away????

Needless to say, I'm a little sick to my stomach over the whole thing. It's not like I can just patch the holes and put new knobs on. The only consolation is that for some reason I did put one knob on a drawer. I wonder how much it would cost to have someone replicate them for me. . .????

Anyone have any ideas where else to look?

xoxo—Lori

*********************************************************************************

Update @ 8:15

WE FOUND THEM!!!!!!!

They somehow made it into the trunk of my car. . .very similar to bongo drums, Shelly.