G & O's room-Stripes!

I painted the youngest boys' room while they were gone for a week visiting their cousins in Idaho. 

They came home to this. It was easier this way. No little boys in the way and no opinions on how to paint it until too late. :)

I don't have any cute bedding to go with the decor. These are just ones we already have. I'd love to have some matching quilts or something. 

 Moving around the room...

 The far wall above Garrett's bed...

Originally I was going to paint the top and bottom both blue, but when I finished the top, the grey (almost a half gallon I had left after painting another room) just seemed like it would look good. So I painted a bit blue and a bit grey, asked Ian and Emily their opinion. It was a unanimous vote for Grey. It does look better I think. 

And a little bit closer... 

I'd love to get a Captain America sign. Mostly because his colors would go really well in the room. It  would be fun to have a lot more superhero signs for this wall. 

And on around to the closet... I left this wall the natural tan color the walls were originally. (That goes for the light stripes, too, as well as the upper part of the wall where the ceiling angles up.) I didn't photograph the ceiling because I'm not finished painting it white yet. Now, will it ever get done is the question.

A little bit closer.... This "TOYS" sign just looked cute here even though this isn't really where the toys go. They're tucked away under the bed and in the closet.

 I used the same red as the stripe to paint their little nightstand I got at the DI (thrift store).

And this is looking out of the room. Ignore the messy bookcase in the hall. 

 

 Now I just need to find some cute bedding. Or make some? But that would involve money so...these will probably have to do.

The paint was super cheap. I just used Walmart brand for the blue. I already had the red (a $3 clearance color at Lowes) and the grey I already had from painting another room. (It's also from Walmart.)

Stay tuned for Justin's Striped Walls. (Maybe I'd better cool it on the stripes, eh?)

The Difference Between Florida and Utah (weather)

You can see it in Justin's hair...

Florida...

 And then there's Utah...

And Florida again....

What a cutie. In any state.

Sports T-Shirt Quilt

My children do NOT play sports. 

I don't really know why. They never really ask to play sports, show interest in sports...or anything really.

I'm sure my not being very sporty and Daniel's not being very sporty might have something to do with that. 

And I feel guilt. I wish they played sports, partly because I don't and I wish I did. I feel like a bad mother for not giving them sporting opportunities. 

But I swear I would try harder if one time they would say, "Mom, can I play a sport?"

Okay...now I am just remembering that Garrett has recently shown an interest in playing soccer. After the soccer season had already started of course. I need to do some research on what's coming up next! 

Anyway, needless to say THIS sports t-shirt quilt is NOT one of my sons' or my daughter's. 

This was for my nephew and I just helped my sister-in-law put it together. 

My nephews play sports. 

They play enough sports for 10 of these quilts! 

They think our family is weird.

We probably are. 

Anyway...

 We laid the shirts our in a semi-random, what-looked-good-to-us order. If you look closely, you can see that we made 3 vertical rows and then sewed those rows together. (OH! And I just realized this layout is NOT the one we ended up with! I remember we had too many tiny ones in one corner.) We were careful not to match up too many of the corners on the rows so that the rows didn't look like rows. (How many times can I use the word "rows" in one sentence?)

I've seen other t-shirt quilts that are made just cutting out the same size square for each shirt and laying them out in a perfect grid. While also cute, I really like how we laid these out to look random. I love the sideways ones, all the different sizes and all the great colors. This way, we could fit a lot more shirts and logos onto one quilt. Plus it looks cool. :)

It was not what I call easy. In fact, I think maybe that "Runner" t-shirt was added after the three rows were sewn together and one row was shorter than the other two. I don't remember, but I know we had some fixing to do...

 It's a pretty neat quilt. I think there are probably some pretty great memories with these shirts.

And a lot of money! Those sports shirts are NOT CHEAP. Years of sport fees, uniform fees, equipment fees. I wonder how much this quilt really cost. haha (Maybe that's part reason we aren't huge into sports. I'm stingy.)

Here's my nephew with his quilt.  He's a missionary now in Uruguay. Such a good guy!
Way to go, Micheal!

We made another for his brother that is really cool too. I'll try to get some pictures of it. You'd think the second quilt would have been a lot easier...
It wasn't...
But it was still sort of fun to figure out.

TIPS:
1. You need to iron some sort of backing to the t-shirts before cutting and sewing. They are so stretchy you'd never get a straight quilt, seam or cut without the backing. The fabric store can help you figure out what to use. Make sure they know you will be sewing and quilting this, so you need to use something that won't gum up your needle. (I really should know what to tell you to use, but I didn't do that part. My sister-in-law did...)

2. Come up with a width for each row. Add 1/4 inch to each side for the seam allowance. So if you are doing a 13 inch row, the big shirts cut 13 1/2 inches wide. If you are putting two small shirts together to make that 13 1/2 inches, cut them 7 1/2 and 6 1/2 and sew those two together with a quarter inch seam allowance, you'll have 13 1/2. (or 8 1/2 and 4 1/2...and so on). Does that make sense?

3. Then sew the three rows together and hope they are sort of the same length! Leave some room at top and bottom of each row for trimming. (Or you might have to add a whole other shirt while wonder what the heck went wrong!)

4. Add a border. Pay someone to quilt it. (Or bravely do it yourself..)

5. Bind it.

Math Clock

I made this clock for my sons' Math teacher a couple years ago for Teacher Appreciation. 

I did NOT come up with the idea. It was something I found on the internet.

But it was super easy to make. In fact I made another for my husbands office at work. He's an Engineer. 

I found a clock for a dollar at the thrift shop. Then I just spray painted it black. I painted the hands white. And then I used a white oil pastel to write the numbers.

Yes, you could use chalkboard paint, but that's expensive. And chalk wipes off. This is more permanent. The oil pastel ended up working best because is has the LOOK of chalk, but doesn't wipe off. So this cost me a dollar as I already had all the paint and the oil pastel.

And yes...the problems all work out. At least that's what my husband says. I wouldn't really know. :)

Oh, and the math teacher liked it a lot. I'm sure if he were an organized person who cared even a little bit about decorating his classroom, it would be hanging up on his wall. As it is...I think I saw it laying on top of his filing cabinet last year among some piles of papers and books...

On the other hand, it's been a hit at my husband's office. He's had a few other engineers working out the problems to see if they are correct.

Etch-a-scetch

Ian's a master at the etch-a-sketch! He can whip out pictures on it. 

This one...

Well, it's a giraffe with a VERY long tongue.

Which they DO have. Maybe not THIS long, but I remember the Wild Animal Park Ranger saying they were up to 2 feet long. (You can google it. I didn't, so my memory could be wrong.)

The giraffe's long tongue is reaching down to eat a roasted chicken.

Across the table is another chair, behind which is standing the Chef.

Notice the lovely chandelier.
(Sorry, it's difficult to get a good picture of etch-a-sketch drawings.)

And this is the Leaning Tower of Pisa.