new skirts!

new skirts for the art shows! size 6 months through girl's 10!

happy new year!

what a fabulous christmas. we had the best time opening presents and celebrating jesus' birthday on december 25th. watching the kid's faces was the highlight--by far. although, i received quite a few treasures as well (thanks, mom!).

we've been sticking close to home for the holiday vacation, but yesterday made it out to feed the seagulls some old tortillas. ezra and ellie just loved it, and the birds were pretty happy too. i love that we can jump in the car and be at the beach in minutes. in january. in the middle of our worst cold front yet. i just love living in florida.

since our art show season is starting up next month, i've been busy! at the moment my dining room table is filled with chevron skirts, elephant key chains, and handmade price tags. i've got cut wood on its way for painting, and a BIG project that i can't wait to begin.

happy new year, and i hope to see you at the shows! we'll be at artigras, juno art fest by the sea, and the delray affair. we're not doing sunfest this year, so if you usually find us there, you won't this year! come to another show instead. or head to harvey's on first in delray beach. we're always open there.

-katie

christmas?

gee whiz... i can't believe christmas is practically here. i feel excited and almost ready, but i also feel shocked at the suddenness of it all. i guess that is from working, being a mom to two young ones, trying to keep the house semi-clean, AND then getting ready for the holiday. i'm not complaining, but i'd sure appreciate a few more hours in the day!

recently our whole family did a photo shoot on the beach with a very talented and sweet local photographer, georgia handy. it was so nice to have a complete family photo. now that my brother is married we feel like all of the pieces are in place, and it's so nice to have a physical picture in our hands. we had a great, if not brisk (55 degree) shoot. we highly recommend georgia--she's wonderful.

now, a few more presents to wrap, midterm exams to give, and welcome, christmas.

thanksgiving banner

i don't have too many thanksgiving decorations, so i made two this weekend--two cute banners.
i started by cutting out letters from felt and triangles from burlap. i wanted to do two banners--on that says give thanks and one that says we love fall. so i just made some templates and hand cut everything. i'm sure it would have been faster with a sizzix or like product, but i don't have one.
then i pinned all of the letters on my triangles.
sewed those letters on.
made a few flower embellishments for the we love fall banner (i had the yoyos made from another project. these were extras.)
then i lined everything up,and ironed the bias tape.

and done!
it's a simple 2-3 hour project.
and these look so cute! much better than those ceramic turkeys that wind up in the clearance section. make a banner! you probably have enough stuff around the house!

halloween

so halloween has come and gone. it was fun. ezra had bouquets of lollipops. ellie had a "really, really full" bucket of candy, and i got some great pictures, so we were all happy!
ellie loved showing off her costume, and even knocked on a few doors.
ez was super into it, knocking on doors, picking out handfuls of candy, and chomping down as much of it as he could.
so fun. what a nice night!

super family!

i'm done with our costumes! above is ezra's star man costume.
ellie's super kitty costume.
my spot girl costume (i couldn't really think of a good shape for myself. circles are cool, right?)
and michael's lightning man costume.

overall they are pretty cool. i can't wait to take pictures of all of us in them. i am worried because ezra only wants to wear the sparkly ones, but i think i'll be able to take advantage of the available candy and bribe him to stay in his orange cape. these were fun to make, but a lot of little pieces. i HAD to make them, though!

chevron rug

so with 2 toddlers and 2 big dogs, our rugs get stained quickly. i usually buy inexpensive sisal rugs from homegoods or on clearance from the company store or pier 1. i've been getting bored with the look, though, so when this rug was done, i decided to paint it. i've seen a lot of them on pintrest, and they looked easy enough, so i gave it a try. i started with a white base coat (primer and paint in one) and taped it off. i didn't want a perfect chevron... well, i wouldn't have minded a perfect chevron, but i wasn't really into the measurements, time, etc. plus, my rug had a pretty chunky weave, so i knew that any taping i did, no matter how perfect, would leak a lot of tape. so i went with a fairly even chevron tape job.
then i kept painting. and painting. and painting.
i took the tape off...
painted the edge. and then. was done. finally.
it looks cute. i had it inside, but because it was so bold decided it was too distracting.
so now it is outside, and it fits in perfectly with our black and white striped cushions! i keep eyeing that OTHER sisal rug out there. maybe one day i'll paint that one, too. not yet, though. it was a lot of work.