Purple Rain

With years of painting under my belt, I have made my share of mistakes. Some of them were funny (like the mural full of horses that really looked like a herd of donkeys), some of them were worth crying over ( the freshly painted curtain pole that I forced into my car, promptly breaking my windshield).
But, today, someone else made a mistake. My big sis.
I am a cheapskate, no doubt, it is a family tradition. My sister has me beat by a mile.
In her ever money saving way, she purchased "mis-tinted" paint to freshen up her basement stairs. The dot on top was a lovely grayish brown. She put her husband to work painting, and left for carpool. When she returned, her stairs were PURPLE. Not a little purple, but so purple Prince would be proud. She laughed, took photos, and chalked it up to a basecoat. But she returned today and bought ANOTHER can of mis-tinted paint.

Some people never learn :)



My project for tonight is to make a few baby gifts, and get started on making a bow tie for my 5 year old. he has been begging for weeks. I will try to post pictures in the morning.

Speaking of my 5 year old and mornings, he made me breakfast in bed.
My menu was as follows:

PB & J sandwich
a clementine
milk topped with marshmallows

Sweet little guy...




www.littlebitsdesigns.com

Merry Christmas is Over!!!!!!

Is anyone else as glad as I am that Christmas is over??

Don't get me wrong, I love the holidays, but by Jan. 1, I've had enough of all the holly-jolly. I'm ready to clean up, organize all the new stuff, and get my behind back on the treadmill. The kids will be begging to go to the pool before I know it.

Our annual trip north was no disappointment. Within the first 24 hours of arriving we had already had a snowstorm (OK, to this southern girl, it looked like a snowstorm), and a trip to the emergency room. My 5 year old's chin met the dining room table, resulting in 6 stitches and a really gross bite to the tongue. As a mom, I have to brag on him, he didn't even cry while the doctor stitched him up. He was white knuckled, and scared to death, but didn't utter a peep. What a little man.

I arrived at the emergency room in pajama pants, with a wet ponytail under a hat. Lookin' real good. As I wiped bloody spit off my shoulder, the pretty receptionist poked her head out and said, "What's your husband's name?" I told her, and she said, "Oh, I went to school with him, he was friend's with my brother." That's great. Next time she gets together with her high school friend she can tell them how their classmate married a scary looking hillbilly, and that they had clumsy children.

I survived the car trip. If you know me, you know how much I HATE long car trips.(let's face it, with 3 kids, 20 minutes can seem long - 10 hours is an eternity)

I get very car sick, very often.

I am the girl you see on the side of the road losing her lunch. I have turned it into an art form. I can only eat certain foods on road trips, mostly very bland. The very mention of certain random foods can send me straight to the nearest public restroom. (gummy bears, Corn Nuts, and cool ranch Doritos to be exact - it's a long story)

I busied myself watching all the people go by. I was especially entertained by the woman driving down the highway with an enormous bird sitting on her arm. How badly would you miss your bird if you left it at home??

I got to spend some quality time with my blackberry, and I can now kick your butt in Ka-Glom. I played it so much in the car, my husband asked me to stop ignoring him. I told him it prevented car sickness.

I really enjoyed all of my in-laws. They are so much fun. I wish they were closer. I know how lucky I am.

I have LOTS of projects planned for this year, and I hope to document a lot of them. I'm even thinking of doing some how-to's on painting. I f anyone out there wants to learn something specific - let me know. I don't want to give away too many secrets though -- I gotta keep my job :)

Pink Elephant- Before and After

This is one of those projects that must leave my neighbors scratching their heads. And, possibly whispering about me.

When my mom and I set up our workroom, we decided to have a lot of fun with it. It's full of polka dots, patterns, and bright colors. Lots of pink. A lot like my work. And, the exact opposite of our neutral homes. We designated one area of the space for the ever present children. The television perched on a cabinet we always felt was a bit too wobbly. So, when I saw this piece of furniture at a local thrift store for $45, I knew we had to have it.

I said, "Let's paint it pink." Mom agreed.

We put it in the driveway, and began to paint. It was pretty darn pink. It looked like that one house in a rundown part of town that someone decided to paint pink. It was ghetto pink. My husband nearly died when he pulled up after work. I had to leave it out to dry, giving anyone who passed by a good laugh I'm sure.

After a coat of glaze, and some thoughtful distressing, I loved it! I was so excited to see it in our workroom, I was not even bothered by the grumbles from my husband and brother-in-law as they heaved it up the steep, narrow stairs.

I rarely paint anything this bright, but our "pink elephant" is now our favorite piece in our Littlebits workroom.

curtains + mink = Davey Crockett

I got more pajamas in today!! I was scared I wouldn't get any more before Christmas. I need to sew patches on them , but after last night, I think I'm gonna turn in early.

I had to stay until 1:30 to finish an order. I didn't get to start painting until around 11:00 because I was having to make a last minute Davy Crockett costume.

Jackson neede to go to school dressed as a famous Tennesseean today. Up until about 4:00 yesterday, he was going to be Sequoyah. For some reason he got the itch to be Davy Crockett, and wouldn't let up. So, I make a trip to the thrift store just before closing, and leave with nothing but a $2.50 old brown curtain. I felt sure I had a pattern at home that I could use. When I look for a pattern after dinner, I only have a pants pattern for a size 5. He wears a 12. Every store that I could possibly buy a pattern from was closed, so I totally winged it, hoping it would fit.

But I still needed a hat.

I dug around and ended up with my late aunts mink pillbox hat , (yes, mink), and pinned to the back, the fuzzy tail off of one of those little rodent toys tied to a ball from Cracker Barrell. I hung the entire outfit in his room for him to see when he woke up.

About 6:30am, he comes strolling in my room grinning from ear to ear. It was worth it. I still don't think Project Runway will be calling me anytime soon...

Baker was insanely jealous of the hat, and spent the afternoon playing in the backyard in a lovely, vintage 1960's pillbox hat. I think my aunt just rolled over......