Baby Blanket

It's been busy around here. When is it not, right? We were thrilled this past weekend to take a little road trip to meet my new niece. She is a precious little thing. But we couldn't go empty handed could we?

So I whipped up a little flannel blanket.  Nothing new and out of the ordinary I know.  But I did add the fat rick rack and I think it's adorable.  It just adds a fun element to it.

Another little extra:  I used my Silhouette to add the Letter A.  (It stands for her name.)  I love the personalized touch.  With the left over material I made a little lovey. 

 My kids have loved having a small blanket they can carry around easily.  Plus, what is it about tags that kids love?  My little man has practically worn out the tag on his.  Ever since he was tiny he would rub it on his cheek and ear.  Hopefully Baby A will love this just as much.

That's what I worked on this weekend.  How about you?

Finished

I did it! By my goal time even. Yes I am excited, the laundry room is finished.

Here is what I ended up putting on my wall.  I wanted to do some fun stencil.  I just could never decide on what.  So I finally found this image from Silhouette and made it big.  Then cut it out of vinyl.  It works and I am liking it more and more.  It's better than the blank wall!

In the cupboard I put these two cute containers to help organize the room better.  One is for clothes the kids grow out of and need to be donated or boxed.  The other is for the dirty kitchen towels.  I labeled them with the Silhouette too.  I am really liking my machine, can you tell? 

I also put a little image over here peeking out at you.  It's fun. 

It's not as dramatic as I was hoping for but until I find something that absolutely screams at me, this will be great!  In the mean time I am loving having a place to hang my coat!

Season of Love

I just posted about my winter mantle and here it is, time to put up Valentines!  That's what I did today.  I like Valentines but don't love it.  But I still love to decorate up my house for the different holidays.  Big or small.  It's fun to make it different.  This is what I did this year.

First I started with our family picture, moved it from the hall to the mantle.  Because these are the ones I love most.  I picked up the pink plate last week with my mom and SIL at Tia Pan.  I used my Silhouette to cut out the 14.  Fast and easy project right there.

On the other side of the picture I have a red frame I picked up from the DI last year and painted red.  This was before I had my Silhouette and I bought the vinyl to put on there.  I tied a little red ribbon around the frame before gluing it in place to add a little dimension.  The red heart picks are from the dollar store and are in a little vase I got as a gift.

I made the heart garland awhile back for a bridal shower.  I forgot to use it for the shower.  But its fun for Valentines!

It's simple and fun.  At least I had fun!

I'm joining in with the mantle party over at The stories of A to Z

Snow Mantle

When I took down all my Christmas stuff the house felt so plain.  I enjoyed it for a while but then it felt like it needed something.  Just a little something.  So I had to put up a little winter.  Here is what I have on my mantle for another week.  At least til I have the itch to get out the valentine decor.

Laundry Update

I have been cleaning, clearing and trying to organize everything.  It seems like that's what everyone is up to!  It's nice to get rid of so much junk. 

The Laundry room is coming along.  I found a coat hanger at Target that is going to work great. 

I hung a shelf up that has these little baskets.  My hope is to label them.  One for the hubby, he can put his keys, wallet, phone, and anything he wants into it.  One for me.  The other I think will be a good spot for mail or papers that need to be looked at.

I hung the Swiffer, and diaper bag on the wall that's next to the dryer.  hopefully that will help them get put where they belong.   Oh, and the plastic bag holder got hung as well.  No more of it getting pushed all over the floor!
-Ha the diaper bag isn't there.  Hmm, my plan isn't working already.  Have to work on that!

Now I just need to make final decisions on the paint.  I know, I did it a little backwards by hanging things first.  But you see, my first plan was to paint where I hung everything.  So it would have been a big waste of time!  By hanging everything first I have a good view of where I want to accent.

I'm thinking a cluster of stuff right here.  My ideas is to trace some of the shapes off my living room rug and stencil them together. 

But my very favorite part of the day was all the help I got.

I couldn't do as good of a job without the help of my 2 favorite people and the orange tools.

Laundry Room

One of my big goals this month is to get my Laundry room into shape.  Right now it's not funtioning to its full potential. 

You see, someone thought it would be a good idea to NOT put a coat closet in this house.  Some might find that an okay thing, but where oh WHERE do you put all the coats and junk?

  Right now they get left on the banister, door knobs, and yes, on the laundry room floor.

So I have decided it's time to whip it into shape!

Perfect for January right?  Whip it into shape...Get it?  I know bad...

My laundry room is on the main level of the house, it's not very big, and it's close to the main bedrooms.  It's also right off the garage door and kitchen.  So it becomes a main drop off zone.

  If the stuff is lucky enough to even make it in the laundry room or just right in front of it!  Which is usually the case.

My plan?

Paint something fun

Hang 6 coat hangers.  Why 6?  It will fit on the wall.

Put up a small rod for clothes to hang on to dry

Organize the cupboards

Something for the mail to land in

Any suggestions?