Inspiring

If
 Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Things Kids Say

Conversation I had with my two-year-old while changing her diaper this morning:

Me:  Ewwww, wet yucky diaper!  (Trying to get her intersted in potty training).

Bri: Diaper hurts...Booty hurts!

Me: You're booty hurts?  What happened?

Bri: Tiss it!! (Kiss it!)

Me: Uh, no.

Daffodils and Darlings

Spring is on it's way!  We took advantage of the pretty weather and headed into the country for some family photos.




My little darlings

 


Aunt Jen and Emmie

 

My Anthropologie Pretty

Anthropologie is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!! I recently discovered it and am hooked. I now fully understand why  women work so hard to recreate Anthropologie products.  The items are incredibly unique, fun and quirky, in addition to being  incredibly expensive.  I was browsing the other day dreaming and getting ideas.  I fully expected to walk out empty handed, since my month’s worth of blow money wouldn’t even cover a sale item.  I was determined not to be depressed by this annoying fact and started rummaging through the sale bins just for fun.  As I did, a lovely pile of fabric caught my eye. The pile turn out to be a stack of aprons!!  Aaahhh!! AND, they were on sale! Double aaahhhh!!  I rifled through every single apron in the pile and found my favorite.



Isn’t she pretty?  The yellow trim and button are so cheery.

 So my little apron is pretty, functional and an Anthro original, but those aren’t her best qualities. Want to know the best part about her?? You do? Good!! It was her price tag…originally $28.00, marked down to $7.50!!! I walked out of Anthropolgie having parted with a whopping $8.55. It made my day :)

Fabric Bulletin Board Tutorial

I have wanted a fabric bulletin board for years...literally.  Well, I finally made one and I LOVE the way it turned out!  Not only was it a fun project, but it was a fairly inexpensive way to create a unique piece for my kitchen.

Here are the supplies you will need to create your own fabric bulletin board:

• Frame
• Batting
• Fabric
• Ribbon
• Hot glue gun
• Fabric covered buttons with kit
• Thumb tacks (or carpet tacks)
• Pliers
• Hardware to attach board to frame
• Lots of patience :)

First, I really wanted to frame my board so my mother-in-law graciously provided one.



It was the perfect size but the gold finish didn't fit with the look I was going for. So I spray painted it black and completely fell in love!

I purchased a 24"x36" corkboard from Hobby Lobby (using their 40% off coupon), batting and one yard of fabric.  I placed the corkboard on top of the batting and fabric, then cut both pieces of material approximately two inches larger than the board.

Next, I pulled the fabric taught and stapled it to the board  in the middle of each side. I checked the front of my board to make sure the fabric was in the correct position.  (If not, simply pull the staples out, adjust fabric and restaple).

Then, I stapled the edges of the fabric all the way around the board, pulling the fabric tight each time I stapled.

Once I was done stapling, my board looked like this:

Now, time for the finishing touches!  I arranged my ribbon in a lattice design. (I got carried away and forgot to take pictures while doing the ribbon portion of my board.) I adhered the ribbon to the back of the board with thumb tacks and hot glue.



Once I was satisfied with the ribbon placement, I stuck decorative tacks at each point where the ribbon intersected. (I actually used fabric coverd buttons as my tacks.  Again, I neglected to take pictures, so here is an excellent tutorial on how to make fabric covered buttons.) Once I made my butons, I hot glued carpet tacks to the backs.  The regular thumb tacks were too short and didn't stay stuck in the cork board. I attached the board to my frame and Nick hung it in the kitchen.

Now go make your own fabric bulletin board!

Linking to Sew Chatty :)