Monogrammed canvases, etc.

I'm scrambling around here like a crazy person, so this will be short and sweet.

Here are 2 monogram canvases I finished last night.



The larger one is for a super sweet little girl named Anniston. If you read Beth's blog, you've seen her.

The other is for my neighbor Melia's baby, due in a few short weeks. Melia is the neighbor that makes ADORABLE kids clothes. She brought me a bag full today, and if I wasn't so beat, I would post pictures of them tonight. Check her stuff out here.
Her little boy is one of Lilly's favorite friends. She almost always includes Hudson in her prayers. She sometimes includes every other 3/4 year old in our zip code, but Hudson is a constant.




Here's an antique panel for over another baby's crib.




And here's a memo board in an antiqued, vintage frame. It's covered in burlap.
You really can't go wrong with natural burlap.

Here's Lilly and Hudson in full on cowboy mode. I got a few other really cute shots of them, but you could see waaaay too much of my crap stuff I'm working on.

Lilly asks me almost every day , "Is Hudson's baby out yet?"

Thankfully, not yet, I've got to paint the mural....

Littlebits Designs

Sweet little budget nursery

How would you feel if I showed you this lamp and said, "I found a great floorlamp for your nursery!"
Luckily, my friend Heather trusted me to turn it, and a car load of other stuff, into a sweet nursery for her new baby girl.




Heather is very frugal, a trait I seem to gravitate to, so we sort of challenged ourselves to do this on a dime.





I insisted on a very neutral pallette. I think that if you keep everything clean and simple, all the fun little details are highlighted.
We painted the crib and changing table a linen color, and she chose a chair in a similar color.
All the curtains and bedding are done in whites and creams. We chose fabrics that were wide off the bolt, giving us more fabric to work with. I think the cost of the fabric for the 2 window panels, dust skirt, bumper, and trims totaled around $75.



The light fixture we worked out in a trade. My neighbor had this fixture, and it was black. Heather had the fixture seen here, before it was a carrot. (If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, go to the link, I promise you'll understand).
I had them agree to trade, since each other's fixtures were more suited for the other's project.

I made some metal flowers and leaves, and covered some shades in fabrics amd ruffles left from the curtains.



A flea market frame, re-worked a bit, now serves as a memo board or bow hanger.

For now, since the baby is only 1 day old, and has no hair, we hung the pacifier clips her mom has collected.

The curtains were hung on simple white rods with white rings.

Rarely do I buy something and do nothing to it, but these I left completely untouched.

Well, except for the little clips that were attatched to the rings.

I hate those things.

It's like hanging curtains with clothespins.

If you can drive a car, tie your shoes, or use the microwave, then you can thread a needle and sew on a curtain ring.





And, because I try to have a Bible verse in every room I do...

The one and only print in this room is this toile. The trim is actually vintage, recycled from an antique bedspread I used to cover a stool in my bedroom.

Here's the lamp from the beginning of my post.

I got to use my hacksaw on this project. One of the neighborhood kids was over as I sawed the useless arms off the lamp.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

My response - "What, you've never seen your mom using a hacksaw?"

End of discussion.

A made a little nest for the bird to sit in.

And, I love, love, love this shade.

I think it's my favorite thing in the room. I'm excited to make more.

I painted a taupe tree and leaves behind the crib, and a sash with the baby's name.

I covered a light with pillow scraps. This will provide just enough light for middle of the night changes and feedings.

The bumper is scallopped along the top, with a tight flat pleat ruffle.

The skirt will adjust as the crib height is changed.

Satin bows tie on the bumper, and trim out the skirt.

There's no doubt who this bed belongs to.

Blue birds add a touch of color.

Flowers made from - you guessed it - fabric scraps, dress up the branches.

I wanted to post a picture of the baby with the nursery pictures, but she was a 9 1/2 pounder, and her mom is recovering from a c-section. I won't bug her for a photo.

Flea Market 101

I always shop at the flea market. I had never sold anything at the flea market.
A crowded workroom and garage encouraged me to give it a try. (Well, that and getting a lump sum tuition statement for my boys' schoolyear that made me want to drink bleach).

Here's a little taste of what I took - and, happily, didn't bring home.

Table and 2 chairs with pink birdies.


Random signs.



Memo board.



Stepstool.



Pink distressed frame with 3 openings.

This frame is much bigger than it looks in the picture. I actually did bring this one back home.

8 x 10 frame sitting on a side table I forgot to photograph.

A box and a bowl.

More signs. These suckers sold out quick. Who knew? I'll be making more.

Suggestions for witty phrases are always welcome...

Big memo board.

A teacher bought this for her classroom.

Vintage baby bed. I made some pink toile baby bedding to go with it.

Love my boys...

Robin's egg blue frame with teeny tiny opening.

Random stuff. This humpty dumpty lamp I love. It's from the 60's, and I love it's new color scheme.

One morning, after making the mistake of leaving humpty exposed on my desk, I awoke to find him with only one arm. I interrogated my kids as to where his arm went.

Lilly looked the most guilty.

I asked her very nicely where she put "the arm"?

She said "the big trashcan".

That's not really what I wanted to hear. Knowing the trash had been taken out, Todd and I spent a very romantic 20 minutes going through the garbage.

95 degree heat = super duper stinky garbage.

We didn't find it.

Pressed tin framed mirror, a pink wicker rocker (with pillows to match the cradle).

After sitting outside on the hottest weekend of the year( really), I came away with an education in the different species of flea market shoppers.

Some, like myself, just want some cool, old stuff.

Some want serious antiques.

Some want tube socks and out of date Avon.

Some just want to walk their dogs and shop simultaneously.

Some want to show off their tatoos, and tell you all about them.

And, some just seem like they might want some crack, a strong antibiotic, or maybe a defense attorney.

In the end, I sold pretty much everything. I think I might go back.

I found Humpty's arm. It was no where near the trashcan.

LittlebitsDesigns.com

Flea Market Friday

Flea market fridays are one of my favorite things.


This time, my friend Amy joined us to shop. Amy has some serious patience. Lilly screamed "I want to go home" throughout our trip, and Amy still agreed to join us for lunch after shopping.


We found several things we couldn't live with out...





I got some panels that I love to paint names/phrases on.


Like this one in you know who's room...



(Yes, that's a flying pig . )


or this one.



My mom got some beautiful plants, and this really cool, old barn for her garden. It was once a mailbox , so the door opens up.




We had to distract Lilly's attention from the barn so my mom could load it into the car. She had stuffed all sorts of stuff inside of it.

Speaking of mailboxes...




Don't you just love this!! It was such a good deal I couldn't resist. I can't wait to put it out front!


Just kidding. I just wanted to frighten my neighbors.

This was one of the many, many interesting items we ran across. I took a picture of Amy with an album titled "The Stanky Brown Band", but accidentally deleted it from my phone.

While Lilly was miserable, Baker had a good time. Of course, he wanted to visit the military surplus tent. All that "guy" stuff just drew him in.




Grenades. Just what I want my 6 year old shopping for.

If you read the post here, about the box of disturbing stuff from my husband's childhood, you may agree he gets it honest.
I bet he was their only shopper sporting silly bands, eating fruit, and sipping a capri-sun (but then again, it is the flea market).




He settled on this metal box...but he couldn't take it home empty.




He found a butterfly.

A BIG butterfly.

He put it in the box...along with the caterpillar he found that rode around on the hood of the stroller for about 2 hours.

Life with Baker is never dull.



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