When someone else's {Trash} is your {Treasure}

So, my dad has always been a bit of a pack-rat... and that makes me both LOVE finding things that others consider garbage, and also makes me a little worried about how much I love it. 😂

Anyway, M & one of his brothers picked up a bed that his brother and his wife had found on Craigslist, and while they were there, the lady offered them this old rough stool. M called me and asked and I figured I could use it either in our living room as a piano bench, in our bedroom at the end of our bed, or in the dining room at our table. 

 Flash forward a few months (when I finally remembered to bring it inside, and gave it some time to dry out) and I started work! First things first, a GOOD deep sanding. I used a 60 grit paper first to scrape off the moss (I'm not kidding), and then used my 150 grit paper for a more fine sanding.

 Then, as usual, I stressed a little about what exactly I wanted to do from here! I got some help from my friends on instagram (you know who you are!) and decided to stain the legs a dark brown and add an upholstered top with the leaf table cloth I had gotten on clearance for $5.

 So off to Joanns we went for 2" thick upholstery foam (I think it ended up costing around $15). They will cut it down length wise, but not width wise, so I did that with my own scissors once we got home.

 Next, I added in end pieces with some scrap 1x4" boards to make the whole top section uniform in shape (for covering).

 Then I stained the legs. Oh gosh. I LOOOVE the color they turned out! Then I really struggled with whether or not I should still cover the top, or if I should just stain it beautiful brown and be done.... But it really wasn't comfortable to sit on as it, so I figured I should continue with my original plan!

 (But let's just soak in this beautiful color for just a few moments, first.)

 Ok, on to the upholstery! I laid the foam down directly on the wood, and then layered a few pieces of quilt batting that I had in my piles on top to add a bit more cush, and also to add some softness along the "face" edges of the bench. I flopped the biggest piece over the top as the last step, and then folded the sides up into 1/3rds to add more cushion along the side.

 Then I pulled it snug and stapled it down to the bottom edge of the bench.

 All the way around... 100000 staples later. :) I kept making sure that I was pulling it snug across the top of the bench to make sure there were no wrinkles that we'd have to see later.

 The ends were a little complicated, but I just tried to keep it as tight as possible and cut away some of the bulk of the corners.

 Here's a better visual of the sandwiched foam between the batting and the bench top.

 All done! :)

 Those legggggss! :D *dreamy eyes*

 Then I got to work the next day on attaching the actual fabric itself. I used a similar process, but I pulled the fabric over and around the edge to staple it to the backside of the "face" plates.
(And shame on me, I didn't sand the bottom of the bench itself. It seemed like too much work for little reward- but now I'm annoyed that it's on my blog post. Hahaha)

 Again, the ends were a little weird, but I simply cut down as much bulk as possible and pulled it back tight before stapling. I added a little hot-glue to the edges after stapling to help hold the furthest pieces down past where they were being secured by the staples.

 And then it was done! Super happy with how it turned out! :)
The last thing I'll need to do is to add two quick support beams between the legs and the foot plate to add some stability. :)

Let me know if you have any questions! 

Our New {to us} BOB Dualie

I was pretty excited last month when I had a BOB Dualie Stroller practically dropped into my lap for $150! They're typically in the $400-600 range, and that's a conservative estimate. The girls and I drove up to SeaTac to pick it up, and once I got it home I was able to give it a true look-over and see what I was working with. The seller was up front about it being in decent, but not pretty shape - and she was right. 😉

Most all the canvas pieces were intact, (there was some rubbing/wearing on the hood on one side) but all of the off-white/white portions were stained.

First order of business was seeing how clean I could get it with some soap & good old fashioned elbow grease. 

Taking the cover off the BOB wasn't super fun, but it really wasn't as bad as it could have been. Lots of screws to keep track of, so I took a lot of pictures & kept everything I took off in a baggy. (In hind-sight, I should have partially screwed them back in where they came from - if applicable). 

I used oxi-clean and HOT water, then hung dry, then the following day I used dish soap and lemon juice and left it out in the sun to dry (on a rare sunny February PNW) day. :) It came quite a bit cleaner than it had been before, but the backside of the canvas material (the out sides) still looked dingy. So I decided to go with plan B - covering the gross old off-white with a pretty material. 

The girls and I went to Joanns (of course) and found this pretty paisley/floral that had both blue and purple (the BOB colors). I used some of my giant roll of kraft paper to make a "pattern", and added a little bit of wiggle room (to turn the edges for a finished look) before cutting out the material itself. Then I pinned it onto the cover. Maneuvering it through my machine was also not super fun, because the backs of the seats both have a stiff cardboard/plastic material that is pretty unforgiving and always seemed to be in the way - but again, it wasn't as bad as it could have been! Most of the pieces went on really nicely. 

Then came re-assembling the whole stroller! Phew. If I did it again, I'd take even better pictures, or video first, and also re-screw the screws in where I got them from. There were a few that were a tiny bit longer than others because they had more items thread through them, and I wasn't paying attention well enough when re-installing and used one of them where it didn't belong, leaving me a too-short screw where I needed one of the long ones! *sigh 

LUCKILY, M had some screws in his van that he gave me that worked just fine! Phew. 

Then I figured I might as well add some to the hood - both so it would cover the unsightly off-white, and also so it would match and add a bit more contrast to the solid colors. The hood was at least easier to maneuver through the sewing machine because the metal stays came out easily and while it was bulky, it was flexible! 

And TADA. Finished! (Except in this picture I still hadn't reattached the lower "basket"/pocket.) 

The girls and I just went out today for our inaugural walk around the neighborhood, and it walks like a dream! I'm really excited to try it out for it's intended purpose (Jogging) sometime soon! 

{Cloth Diapering - The First Year }

Cloth Diapering – The First Year

This picture just popped up today on my Facebook newsfeed in my “this day in history” application. One year ago today we started cloth diapering, and I figured today would be a great day to give a little re-cap of our year and what we have learned about cloth in that time!

First of all, I'm sure there are parents out there who can cloth diaper for all the right reasons and maintain a clear head about the whole process...But I don't claim to be one of those people! I have been absolutely sucked in! My caption of this, my first cloth diaper photo was:

 "Trying this puppy on for size! smile emoticon Not sure if I'm more excited or nervous about the official start of our cloth diaper journey! smile emoticon ‪#‎clothdiaper‬‪#‎bumgenuis‬ #4.0snaps"

Now, a year later - I've got nothing but excitement about pretty much all things cloth diapering! 

Matching G's diaper to her outfit - Check √

Taking "Stash Shots" (extra points if they are organized in true Roy G. Biv fashion!) - Check √

Trying to draft all my friends with new babies  - Check √

Finding & Making cloth diaper Memes - Check √

Now, on to some of the specifics about what I've learned! 

They - the experts - say that you should order different styles before committing to a single one -- that didn't ring true for us! We got an entire stash of Bum Genuis 4.0 Pocket diapers to start off with, and they've been working for us this entire time! We have tried one other style that we received from a friend- Bum Genius Flips, and while I did like them, the pocket style has been my favorite! Hopefully they take us all the way through potty-training! 

One thing that has changed, though - is how we store the diapers! At the beginning, I spent time after washing/drying to pre-stuff all my pockets and displayed them out on top of the dresser.

Then I realized that for us, it just seems to save time to sort them inserts in one drawer with the covers in another, and I just stuff them when I'm ready for one! 

Next, Your drying rack will be your best friend. Seriously! Cloth diapers love sun, and look so much nicer and more fresh when you can dry them outside and soak up some of the suns natural bleaching properties! Out in direct sun is best...But when that's not possible, window sunning and dash-board sunning work in a pinch! 

Your wash routine doesn't need to be nearly as complicated as they -those darn "experts"- make it out to be! I wouldn't say we've perfected ours yet,  ( because...TMI- Grace's diet isn't completely set yet, so therefore her waste changes pretty crazily from one day to another -- see the next bullet point) but we've learned a TON from the valuable resources we've found. My favorite being, "Fluff Love & Cloth Diaper Science", or "Fluff Love University" -- Check our their many detailed files HERE. 

Poop is gross - There. I've said it. Not like everyone wasn't already thinking it anyway! ;) 

BUT, and it's a big Butt (and not just because of the extra fluff stuffed in the diaper--see what I did there?), poop in cloth really isn't more nasty than poop in a disposable diaper! The few times that we've had G in disposable diapers, and they've been pooped in, have actually been worse than the 100000 times she's pooped in cloth diapers this past year. The reason -- cloth diapers have gussets around the legs and at the back that help keep everything where it belongs! Disposable diapers have like a built in poo slide that sends it right up the back. YUCK. 

That all being said, newborn poo (for breastfed infants) is kind of a far off dream now that we've been on solids for the past few months! I always want to tell people, that if you're ever going to cloth diaper, start early and get those first few months! No rinsing! No dunking! No swishing! 

I can also see why some people may quit using cloth after hitting solids - it takes a bit of extra effort to prep poo diapers before washing them at this stage, but when I consider all the things I'm not worrying about (driving to the store and the money spent on diapers, diapers wasting away for years in landfills, etc...), it makes it even more worth it. 

Lastly - there is a serious community among Cloth Diapering Moms! Part awesome, part crazy. :p 

It's funny to be a part of a huge cloth diaper group on facebook, and to see a random comment posted from Tacoma, WA! And to want to strike up conversations with strangers when you notice their child's extremely fluffy bottom. 

Anyway, that's the summary of a year in cloth! 

Until Next Time! 

{Thoughts on Life: Is Being Stubborn Always a Bad Thing}

Websters defines stubborn as:

1a: unreasonably or perversely unyielding; justifiably unyielding

1b: suggestive or typical of strong stubborn nature

2 : performed or carried on in an unyielding, obstinate or persistent manner

3: difficult to handle, manage or treat

4: lasting

The synonyms listed include: adamant, adamantine,(?) bullheaded, dogged, hard, hardened, hardheaded, hard-nosed, headstrong, immovable, implacable, inconvincible, inflexible, intransigent, (?) mulish, obdurate,(?) opinionated, ossified, (?) pat, pertinacious, (?) perverse, pigheaded, self-opinionated, self-willed, stiff-necked, obstinate, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, willful.

Of the words I do recoginze from that list, none sound very positive. Coming from someone who's been called stubborn her whole life, I'd like to try and find the silver lining. :) I feel like there's another word out there that describes me, but I can't quite put my finger on it...

Now I KNOW for a fact that I can be stubborn...in all the ways listed above. I actually feel it taking over me when it happens. You know how there is a term "green with envy"? Well whichever color stubborn is, at certain times I can feel myself turning that color slowly in situations where I feel like I have to stand my ground or give in. It's hard to explain, but I know when it's happening, and now that I'm an adult, and making a conscious effort toward molding my character after that of Christ, I'm much better at fighting that feeling when it's not justified (which it rarely was/is...).

But I've also been called "stubborn" in a few other, more positive situations, such as when I lost my weight (35lbs), and going through natural labor & delivery. It's these situations that make me think there must be a more positive way to define stubbornness, unless it's just another word entirely that I should use instead. Any ideas?

I ask all this because I was reading a devotion from "Jesus Calling" (written by Sarah Young) that said,

"When you walk through a day in trusting dependence on Me, My aching heart is soothed. Gently bring your attention back to Me whenever it wanders away. I look for persistence -- rather than perfection -- in your walk with me." 

 It's the word persistence that really made me wonder. Webster defines it as:

"the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people"

I feel like when I look back through my Christian walk, there is an obvious lack of persistence. Instead there are periods where I found myself being very wishy-washy and apathetic. Which makes me wonder, what is keeping me from using my "stubbornness" as a way to fight off the apathy?

Continuing on my word study, I realized that one of the synonyms of Persistence is Endurance, which Webster defines as: (last word definition for this post, I promise!)

"the ability to withstand hardship or adversity; especially: the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity"

Taking my word search from the dictionary to the Bible, I found some neat passages that reference endurance, and the importance of having it as a Christian:

Luke 21:10-19

"Then he said to them, 'Nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and priosns, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand on how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not even a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives."

Romans 5:1-5

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into his grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Colossians 1: 9-14

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worth of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." 

2 Timothy 2:1-13

"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure with him, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful--for he cannot deny himself."

What I am starting to understand from these scriptures is that determination and endurance are right response to the sacrifice that Christ paid for us. Where in contrast, stubbornness is a defiant attitude in response to someone's words/actions... That being said, I think my goal, and my main focus should be to cling to an idea of determination and endurance in living a righteous life. When it comes to Jesus and his will for my life, stubbornness is never going to be an asset. Although, if and when I get to a place where I am more aware of the enemy's attacks, I can use my stubbornness to fight off a wrong response, but that only works well when I am covering myself in the truth, and fighting to stay observant about when I am tempted to think/act/speak in a way that is opposite the Lord's will. 

{Recipe :: Sparkling Vanilla Lemonade}

So I love lemons. Lemonade, lemon drops, lemon bars, lemon cake...if it's lemony, I'm pretty sure I'll love it.

(Except for Lemony Snicket. I've never read the serious, much to my sister in law's chagrin.)

So a month or so ago I had a hankering for some lemonade, and decided to head to Pinterest -- of course-- for some make at home versions! I came across THIS blog, which apparently borrowed a recipe for Sparking Italian Lemonade from Giada De Luarentiis, the original of which can be found HERE.

I made it for a family dinner we had, and was pleasantly surprised at subtle basil flavoring. I think I might have been the only one in the house that liked it, (not lemon lovers...hard to believe!) but I finished it off by drinking glass after glass in the following days. YUM.

Fast-forward through about a month of lemonade-hankering... I'm not a super big fan of some of the pre-mixed versions, but wanted to try something other than the basil, and had a brilliant idea to add vanilla! Off to Pinterest I went, sure that my search would turn up blank, since I had just discovered the best new thing...only to be both sadly disappointed (no patent for me!) and super excited that there were LOTS of recipes out there already with vanilla added in.

I decided to loosely follow THIS recipe that I had found, but thought that adding in the "Sparking" aspect of the first version would equal a winning combination...

It turned out DELICIOUS. Since I'm still the only lemonade loving person in this house, I should have enough to quench my thirst & desire for a sweet/tangy/bubbly drink for about the next week or so. :)

Notes: In both recipes, I didn't have actual lemons on hand (sad, I know) so I used bottled lemon juice. And for the second recipe, I didn't have actual vanilla beans, so I used vanilla extract. I hope to make a more authentic version with fresh ingredients next time, and will hopefully update this post with pictures! ;)

Here's my variation of the two recipes. (Another note: this is easily enough for 2 big pitchers, so if you'd just like to try it out, I would suggest you halve everything listed below.)

::Sparkling Vanilla Lemonade::

Ingredients:
Simple Syrup

• 3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 Tblspns Vanilla Extract (or fresh vanilla bean)
• Dash of Salt 
• Lemon Peel (optional)

2 cups lemon juice (From approximately 8-10 fresh lemons)
2 cups cold water
Carbonated Water

Process:

First, make your simple syrup by combining the sugar, 2 cups water, dash of salt, vanilla, and optional lemon peel in a saucepan. Bring to a boil while stirring to ensure that all the sugar is dissolved, & simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Once it's finished simmering (should be well combined, and have a more "syrupy" texture), remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Once cooled, add in your lemon juice and remaining 2 cups of cold water, stir until well combined.

At this point, you've got your "concentrate". When ready to serve, I typically add ice and then a ratio of approximately 1:1 of the vanilla/lemony syrup and the carbonated water. If you typically like your drink more/less sweet/lemony, you can adjust this ratio to your hearts content!

As I mentioned in the "note" above, this recipe is enough for two big pitchers. Because when I'm making it, I make it for my own consumption over the course of a few days, I just leave the concentrate in the pitcher, and keep the carbonated water in it's bottle closed tightly to retain the bubbles. If you're serving at a party/event, I would go ahead and mix in about (8) cups of the carbonated water (if I did my math correctly) for a ready to serve beverage.

If serving for a party, or you just want your own drink to look fancy, I'd add a slice of lemon to the edge of each cup.

Hope you enjoy! I'll be back to update this post with pictures the next time I make more. :)

{ DIY Pallet Bookshelf }

I'd been wanting to make a pallet bookshelf for our bedroom for a long time!

I finally got some old pallets for free from work a few months ago, and Mikhal was able to disassemble them for me using this trick  I read about on Pinterest!  :) 

The neatly stacked pile of wood has been sitting in our driveway waiting for me for a while now, and we finally had the time to get started last weekend! 

First things first, a plan--of course! 

Then lots of selecting & measuring...

Then lots of cutting... 

Then, in order to make it a little less rustic, ;) I chose to do at least a general sand on all the pieces.

Proof that I did it myself. :) 

(Don't mind the Donald Trump hair!) 

Well  I did MOST of it myself. :) 

On of the shelves, finished! :) 

And all three! :) I love that there's a slight zebra texture on some of the boards. 

Like this one. :) 

Oh, did I mention that I got a new 50mm lens since my last blog post? :) I'm LOVING it! 

The bottom with the back pieces attached...

With both the bottom & top attached.. :) 

Then I didn't do a very good job documenting the next few steps; although I did try! I took some pictures, but didn't realize until too late that I didn't have a memory card loaded.  *sigh 

What was missed: 

-Adding the shelves

-More sanding (with a more fine grit sandpaper)
-Adding the aesthetic pieces on the fronts & sides
-Staining

FINISHED! 

I'm SO SO SO SO happy with how it turned out! 

And here's how it looks in our room..

The before: 

And the after: 

Now it's just a matter of getting everything loaded into it in an artistic manner. :) I'm going to keep my eye out for some cute baskets to help store some miscellaneous items in. Can't wait to post one more follow up once I've got everything situated! :)