February 2010

Quintin Cooke Graphic Design

10:50 PM

A good friend of ours Quintin Cooke recently returned to Utah after graduating from the Art Institute of Seattle. His wife Jodie, their two daughters Addie & Emmie and he joined us for dinner tonight. We had BBQ steak and hot dogs (for the kiddos), we played games and the kids ran all over the house just as kids should.

Quintin is quite talented when it comes to all things design and is talking about opening up a cupcake shop here in Utah. His inspiration is Trophy cupcakes in Seattle, a shop that his family and him frequented often while a student there. His other inspirations are idsgn.org and design sponge (really, who doesn't love design sponge?)

He has helped to brand and create logos for a number of business's in Seattle and even created a logo for my husband's production company (above photo). Check out his portfolio here and prepare to be impressed. ;)

Welcome back to Utah Quintin, Jodie & girls!!!!

Punxsutawney Phil was right

10:32 PM

I can't take it anymore...where are you sunshine!!!! I just looked at the weather for tomorrow. Overcast and rainy, the high for tomorrow is 45 degrees and the low is 32 degrees. :( I think I may just cry in my pillow tonight about this.

Why world why?!?!?!?

p.s. the cute cards above are from a silly "Monster Doodler" named Vozamer. My son would love all of his doodles here.

2's company, 3's a crowd...

3:52 PM

So you know what they say about 3 kids? Well, it's the gosh darned truth! As I blog surf/stalk or whatever you want to call it, I see these cute moms posting all their many wonderful internet finds and projects...the thing is they usually have one, maybe two kids. My projects are usually done at around 11:00pm after everyone is in bed and the house is somewhat picked up.

I look fondly back on the days when I was a stylish mom of one. Just Max and I, my blond curly haired little boy in his stylish outfits that I took so much care to put on him. The picture above is one of those days, Max is around 18 months here.

Now I joke my kids look like orphans half the time. My philosophy with clothes is, if it fits and it is clean they are wearing it. I rarely find time to do Mimi's hair cute and if I do it is useless because she destroys it rough housing with Max before we even get in the car.

So I figure I am in survival. Yep, if I can make it out of this stage alive and kicking I will be extremely grateful!

Oh, and I have very helpful hands with Henry. Max and Mimi adore him and will happily entertain him most of the time while I try and get stuff done. One of many blessing. And yes, I want more kids....I am officially crazy!

curb appeal

eclectic

7:03 AM

I grew up in a home where we never had matching furniture, most pieces had a story behind them and my mother's most treasured possessions were/are yard sale buys or things she dug out of the dumpster when we lived in Paris. My mom is probably one of the least ostentatious or "snobby" people I know. (below is a picture of one of my parent's windows outside their home. New, made to look old)

Going to a big box store and purchasing perfectly matched sets is the opposite of what my mom finds lovely or beautiful when it comes to decorating a home. :) The older, the more obscure, the better. She has impeccable taste and I always try to mimic it although I am not as brave when it comes to putting many different styles together and I do have a few matching sets in my home.

I love the picture above of Rozlynn (my little sis) and her husband Thad on their wedding day standing in front of my parent's home in Cache Valley. It is just so typical of my parents, a beautiful European styled home with an old beat up $3500 truck (which she and my dad adore by the way) parked out front!

Here is where Max and Madeline play during the Summer, on the cottage porch. Nothing is new, everything Mimi is playing with was either purchased from the D.I., a yard sale or an antique store. Mom, thank you for opening my eyes to the beauty of eclectic decorating and the obscure.

baby

highchair before & after

10:29 AM

I got this highchair when Max was born 6 years ago. I love it because it is sturdy, simple and doesn't have the cheesiness that many high chairs do with the ruffles and animal print. But it is definitely dated, so I thought why not reupholster it (in a sense)?

I had this fabric handy, I wasn't going to use it for any other projects and it's pretty subdued, just black and white. I cut 2 rectangles, one small one for the seat and one large one for the back. Nothing exact, just enough to wrap around underneath the bottom and back.

I then cut small slits in the fabric so that it would wrap around where the bolts were. When I brought it around the bottom I got a large needle and some quilting thread. I gathered the corners together and sewed them so they were tight and secure. I didn't care that it doesn't look too pretty underneath.

I then bought a yard of clear vinyl overlay for about $2. I did the same thing I did with the fabric but instead of securing it with thread I used a staple gun.

Here is the finished product. It looks great in our dining room and blends in instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. I had to turn the fabric on the back of the chair to make it fit, but I figure I won't notice that, especially when it is covered with spaghetti. :)

wow, going broke is beginning to pay off!

10:37 PM

Remember that little documentary my husband made in place of a Graduate Thesis? Well, it's back in the spotlight. It is a humble work, the film only cost about $10,000 but we funded it ourselves (I have no idea how). He went to school full time and recieved a $900 stipend each month and I worked for about $12 an hour full time while we juggled our new baby Max who was a surprise (yes, I cried when I found out). I thought it couldn't have been worse timing.

It set us back more than a few years financially and when it was all said and done, honestly...I was a little bitter. Two years of busting our butts and going broke only to have people pat you on the back and say, "good job".

BUT! :) Since the film has been made it has shown in 3 film festivals in Salt Lake City, New Orleans and Brazil. This month Steve was featured in the Desseret News Entertainment Section. Go here to read the article. His Film will once again be shown, this time at "Utah's African History: Storytelling Through Art and Craft," a month-long event held at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center.

So my bitterness to this film is diminishing rapidly, I can now appreciate the hard work and years of struggle. Congratulations Honey! You will never ever let us down as long as you follow your dreams!

If you would like a copy of this film you can go here to get one!

cupcakes

Sweet Cake Bake Shop

8:01 PM

For Valentine's Day Steve, Max and Madeline surprised me in bed with these 6 cupcakes made here at a local bakery, Sweet Cake Bake Shop. This bakery is about 4 blocks away from our house. So we moved from amazing chocolate to amazing cupcakes.

This box contains 2 red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, 2 vanilla cupcakes with butter cream frosting and last but certainly not least, 2 dark chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting.

We started eating from left to right throughout the weekend. The first were the red velvet, I thought they were amazing and was sad I ate them first. Then I had a bite of the vanilla and thought they were actually better than the red velvet. On Sunday Steve whispered to me while the kids were around to go and eat the chocolate cupcake and to do it fast before he got to it, apparently he had just eaten the first chocolate and was fighting temptation.

I ate it and I had a Ratatouille moment, you know in the movie where he puts the cheese and bread together and eats it and all of a sudden fireworks go off in the sky? Well, this was my moment. I have never in my whole life eaten a cupcake like this. The frosting is fudge, I swear it is, there is no way it is just chocolate frosting. The chocolate cake is heavy and rich but incredibly moist. Wow.

Thank you universe for inventing chocolate and fudge and cupcakes. Thank you Sweet Cake for putting them all together in one delicious edible creation.

Rozlynn's Homemade Goodness

9:54 PM

My sister Rozlynn who now lives in Alabama (boo-hoo) is one FABULOUS cook and much to my delight has started her very own cooking blog! It is called Rozlynn's Homemade Goodness. Above is just one of her many delectable delights and a Nelson family favorite, Bradford Sugar Cookies. Seriously, the best sugar cookie recipe ever!

antique dresser

11:31 AM

Here is my latest purchase at the Antique Store in Logan. We desperately needed a dresser and I have been searching for something like this for months. I don't know how I will refinish it yet, for now it just sits in our bedroom. The best part, it was only $45!

already, a glitch in Spring daydreaming...

6:35 PM

We had the plumber come out today to clean our pipes because they have been backing up on us.......only to find that our pipes have big deep roots growing in them!!!

Yep that is thousands of dollars worth of new pipes....pretty #$%! sweet. So five foot privacy fence that was going to close in our entire yard this Summer, peach trees, window boxes and patio; I guess we'll see you in 2011. :(

curb appeal

daydreaming of Spring projects...

11:20 AM

I am getting very excited for Spring and daydreaming about the things I am going to do with our yard and outside of our house. One of the things I would love to do (budget pending) is add these black flower boxes under our windows. These are vinyl (if you know me you know my feelings on vinyl in any form). If I could find them in wood painted black that would be ideal.

Our house is a deep red brick with white shutters and white vinyl siting :( on the addition (you can kinda see it behind the trees) the previous homeowners did about 5 years ago. I am going to get black shutters for all of the windows and a black front door and these black window boxes I think would look really sharp and compliment the white and red.

D.I.Y.

Valentine's Cards

10:39 AM

I just returned from Max's V-day class party. It was so much fun, great job party organizer, MaryElla! The kids were saying it was the best party they had ever been too. ;) For Valentine's I found these awesome free printable v-day cards for boys from Simply Handmade. I just loved them so we printed them out, added a red heart lollipop et voila! You can get the template here for these valentine's, they also have darling ones for girls.

sarcasm

thank you Modern Family

9:50 PM

Thank you ABC prime time sitcom show Modern Family for making me laugh, cry and sometimes both at once. Honestly, this show is pure genius.

The episode that made me realize how much I love it is when the mom (above) gets mad at her family because, when she brings her unmarried, sexy, successful friend by to show her what she is missing out on by not having a family, there is complete chaos in the home. Well, this dear mom is embarrassed out of her mind, yells at her family and then leaves only to find herself in a McDonald's eating some sort of value meal... You'd think, oh she'll go buy herself something pretty, or she'll go to a little cafe, nope she goes to McDonald's. Pathetically enough, I totally relate.

I'm glad my kids aren't picture perfect

7:50 PM

Here are the V-day shirts I made. I love these pictures, they are far from perfect but can't you just see their personalities?

I couldn't get Madeline to give me an un-goofy smile (this was her sweet smile face). Max kept matching my enthusiasm as I made a fool of myself dancing around to get Henry's attention (which I never really got, as you can see)...

I love how Max is looking at Mimi here, sweet. I love how Henry is completely oblivious to anything going on and totally enamored by the heart pillow...basically......

Where is Steve when you need a good moon???

chairs

my chairs are done!

12:41 PM

Here are my chairs!!! Thank you mom! I just love them, they are so sturdy and this morning the kids had jellied doughnuts and chocolate milk on this table and guess what? It wiped clean, no hassle at all...I want to plant a big wet kiss on whoever invented shellac.

It's coming together, slow and steady. (ignore the mess in the corner) :)

sarcasm

3 minute escape from reality

8:30 PM

This evening as I was driving home from Costco in my messy mini-van (do I really own a mini-van...sad) with my 3 kids in tow I was following some kind of large SUV. I was in a daze and thought...what if my mini-van grew wings and I was able to pull my steering wheel back and it would take me up over this SUV, up in the air and I could keep going over the mountains and the ocean and fly some place beautiful and old with loads of history and timeless beauty. Like the picture above.

Then a whine from Madeline brought me crashing into reality. Nope, I am still chubby in a dirty t-shirt and sweats, in a messy mini-van on 1-15 in Utah.

Not that I am complaining, I love where we live, I love my kids, I even love my van, just sometimes it's nice to escape even if it is for 3 minutes or so. (p.s. I wouldn't mind living some place like this too...just thought I would put that out there to the universe.)

D.I.Y.

Valentine Garland

10:17 PM

I made the kids V-day shirts out of some fun fabric I found and used the left-overs to make this Valentine garland that currently hangs in my sun room.

I like it, don't quite love it...I wanted to add some more stuff like those fabric yoyo's, my mom bought me a little gadget to make them that works brilliantly or you can go here to make them by hand.

Anyhow, fabric hearts and pieces of tied fabric will have to do for now. I think it still looks darling.

I just cut out about 10 pairs of fabric hearts in varying sizes with pinking shears, and sewed the pairs together. I then cut about 48 long thin pieces of coordinating fabric with the same scissors (pinking) and just tied them on randomly in between the hearts and connected the whole thing with a very light soft white yarn.

I really need to learn to take pictures while I am in the process of making things. :)

before/after

restoring an old table...

1:53 PM

So I did not take a before picture of this table. But trust me when I say it was ugly. My mom bought it for me from a local antique store for Christmas to put in our sun room, which we want to make into a breakfast nook. This table had about 3 layers of pealing white paint on it.

So I put a lot of time, sweat and pure muscle (ha!, like I have any) and sanded off most of the paint (there was some on the legs that would not come off). I then gave the top a wood stain finish of English Maple and painted the bottom.

I then added two coats of Shellac to the wood and a layer of Lacquer to the legs (so i can clean it easily with little kids). Henry enjoys it so far. :)

I have some chairs I refinished as well to go with it, they are darling, old and very sturdy, oh and mint green! They are also from my mom (she has the best Antique store near her). If you are ever in Logan you need to go to this store, it would be well worth your while.

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