DIY Life: Motherhood

I'm melting. Like a sugary spun puff of cotton candy left in the sun. My brain is goo. And not the delicious kind of goo that drips from a truffle..the kind of goo that mashes out of a fly after being swatted. I'm a full time stay at home mother. My kids are healthy and 70% well behaved in public. My problem lies within myself.  I feel guilty about "me" time.

My kids are 3 and 5. Both of these ages are very demanding and incredibly emotional. I'm pretty sure I could fetch peanut butter sandwiches all day long without much complaint. But screaming fits of slobber and nonsensical gibberish over who gets to pray first at dinner can drive a mother to never make dinner again.

I dont allow myself regularly scheduled time away from my kids. I daydream of myself reading a book and sipping coffee in a little hipster cafe, wearing lipstick and a shirt that has buttons. My husband is always encouraging me to go somewhere, but I can't seem to relinquish my regimented schedule of dinner, pajamas, teeth brushing, and bed.  My irrational fear of the hubby's schedule of popsicles for dinner, MMA fighting shows, and a midnight bedtime turning my kids into prison material keeps me from perusing Target alone at 9pm.

Lately I've been reading mom blogs (blogs written by mothers who are experiencing some of the same things I am.) I found out that feeling overwhelmed, depressed, tired and angry is pretty common among mothers of young kids! Who knew?(I did.) After reading so many great posts about the struggles of everyday life with young kids, it got me thinking about how to handle this stage of my life.

Laughter.

You have to sit back and laugh about your new bra with each cup being worn as a helmet by your kids in the checkout lane. Or when your 5 year old breaks the loudest wind at a fine dining establishment. To further my comical relief therapy, I decided to download some fun mom books on my e-reader. I chose 2 books by mom bloggers. The first one is called "Ketchup is a Vegetable" by Robin O'Bryant (www.robinschicks.com) and "I Just Want to Pee Alone" essays on motherhood by 37 mom bloggers!

 Hoping I can carve out some time to start reading these and feeling a little better about myself as a momma and a person with interests, abilities, and a life!






Happy parenting "me" time,
Grace

DIY Art: Kitchen Letters

I love creating art for our new home. Since our newly remodeled kitchen is almost entirely white, I needed a fun punch of color to break up the seriousness of it.
Supplies:
Foam or small brush
acrylic paint
3 dimensional letters (wood or cardboard)
plastic or newspaper to lay letters on for painting

Here are some more letter/word inspirations:

www.blog.hgtv.com

www.whitsamusebouche.com

www.designmom.com

www.reckless-glamour.com

Happy creating,
Grace

DIY Remodel: Choosing a dining table

Our dining room is almost finished!! So now I'm trying to find a dining table. The room has a vintage romantic feel. Dark blue (nocturnal sea by Behr) walls meet cream board and batten halfway. A vintage crystal chandelier hangs in the center. I'm planning on using some old Audubon prints for feature wall.

 Some rooms that inspire me!

I'm really liking this pine table. It's a little bit rustic and little formal. What do you think?

Happy DIY'ing,
Grace

DIY Inside: Trying out Wall Color

When we moved into our house 5 years ago, my interior style was based on neutral walls and pops of color through artwork and details. I painted an accent wall in our kitchen a cocoa color. The brown wall color has never really satisfied me and doesn't create an accent like it was intended to! So here's an easy way to try out wall colors without the commitment.

Tools:
Camera
Photoshop or a computer photo editing program
Computer

Step 1: Take a picture of your existing room or wall that you will be painting.

Step 2: Upload photo to a photo editing program like Photoshop.

Step 3: Select only the wall(s) in the photo and "color" them in using a color that you love. Do this again (as many times as you like) with different colors. You will then have several "samples" to compare. This will help you narrow down the right color that will give your room the wow factor you've been craving.

Here are some colors I've been considering:

Happy painting,
 Grace

Greeting Cards from Grandma

My 92 year old grandmother is the ultimate DIY'er. She is incredibly genius at repurposing, and coming up with creative ideas for her household. Today, I am creating one of her 4x6 greeting cards. Grandma makes her own cards out of paper and scrap fabric. They are personable and fun, and I always enjoy receiving one in my mailbox from her!

Tools:
construction paper or cardstock
white typing paper
glue
paintbrush
ruler
pencil
scissors
fabric scraps

Step 1: Using a 9x12" piece of construction paper or cardstock, fold in half. This will make a 6x9" rectangle.

Step 2: Fold 6x9" paper in half creating a 4.5x6" card. Measure 4" across and trim excess. Now you have a 4x6" folded card.

Step 3: Cut a 2x8" strip of fabric. Since card is 6" wide, this will give you 1" of fabric to wrap around on each side of the front cover. Wrapping the fabric will give you clean edges on the front of your card.

 Step 4: Apply glue to fabric, be careful not to use too much glue. Small dots of glue work best. Use paintbrush to spread glue evenly on to fabric. Attach fabric to front of card and wrap 1" excess fabric onto each side of the back of the front cover.

Step 5: Now we need to finish the card's inside and hide rough fabric edges. Using typing paper, measure a little bit smaller than 4x6"( I cut my typing paper  3.75x5.75"), so that the construction paper/cardstock creates a pretty border around the white typing paper. Apply glue sparingly to 4 corners of typing paper. Adhere paper to inside of card. Let dry 10 min.

Step 6: Let's hide the raw edge of the fabric on our card's front.  Cut two 6" pieces of fabric and fringe them. Glue fringed pieces to raw edges of fabric.

                                    

Now you have a beautiful and creative way to say hello!

Happy hello's,

Grace

DIY Style: Beach Hair

The soft wavy hair trend this summer requires little work. So put your flat iron away and rock some beach hair! Here's how I did it.

Tools:
mousse
spray gel

Step 1: Start with unwashed hair for best results.

Step 2: You will need mousse and spray gel. Place a golf ball size of foam mousse in your hand. (Golf ball size for shoulder-length, tennis ball size for long hair.) Any brand of mousse and spray gel will work.

Step 3: Pump 2 sprays of spray gel into golf ball sized mousse in your hand. Mix mousse and gel by rubbing both hands together. Starting from bottom of hair, use both hands and "scrunch" product on ends of your hair, moving upward. Try to leave roots untouched...putting too much product at roots will give you a glam 80's hairband look, and that's not beachy ;)

Step 4: Let hair air dry and don't brush it!!! Add a colorful hair scarf and now you have beautiful beach hair! Here is my before and after.

Before/After/+Scarf

Happy Styling,
Grace

DIY Outside: Drying and Using Herbs

Every year I plant herbs in pots on my patio to use primarily for cooking. I use a lot of cilantro and rosemary. While I only use cilantro in its fresh form, I like drying rosemary to use throughout the year. Rosemary retains its aromatic oil and flavor even after it is dried. Today I am drying rosemary to be used in next week's DIY. Here is how I did it.

Tools:

scissors

fresh herbs

yarn or twine

Step 1: Using sharp scissors, cut 3-6 long even branches of rosemary.

Step 2: Using about 10-12" of yarn or twine, tie stems together at one end. Make a loop within your tied yarn. The loop will allow you to hang the rosemary to dry.

Step 3: Hang rosemary in a cool, dry place. Because I live in the southern United States, our weather is too humid to allow the rosemary to dry outside. I hung my rosemary bundle in our laundry room. A small 3-6 stem bundle will usually dry within a week, but drying time may vary depending on humidity.

Storing dried herbs: Small glass jars with tight fitting lids work best. Stored dried herbs are typically good for up to 1 year.

Substitution: Substitute one teaspoon of dried for every tablespoon of fresh the recipe calls for.

Uses for dried rosemary:
-put a few sprigs in your bath or a foot soak
-wrap in cheesecloth and steep in hot water for tea
-infuse olive oil
-compliments potato, chicken and lamb dishes
-add it to fragrance sachets for car or closet

I hope this easy diy inspires you to grow and dry your own herbs and use them in creative and delicious ways!

Happy drying,
Grace