Life Simplified

One Project At a Time

Meagan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:25:50 +0000

I have a project, it is an on-going project called my front room. When we bought this house it was cream and the accent wall sand-textured red, kind of nice in thought but hideous in real life. Then I decided I would do a nice yellow, so I painted it yellow. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good yellow? Well then I painted the room a khaki-brown color, and I hate it. I want to paint it again. I got out my paint stuff, I have a can and a half of paint from my son’s room (that I love) and I was going to do it. Start painting this room again for the 3rd time in the 3 years we’ve lived here, but then logical Meagan looked around and said, “Remember that embroidery project you are doing? Remember that pile of stuff by your nightstand you have yet to organize? Or the laundry basket full of crafts you need to organize? The master bath that you bought paint for but haven’t painted yet?!?” And I begrudgingly abandoned painting that retched front room but I made I promise that I WILL finish those other projects and then force the front room to be a color I like and can smile at. Stupid room.

The front room to start:

The Yellow:

Too Dark Khaki:

These khaki pictures where taken when optimum sunshine was coming in the windows. In the evenings, or cloudy days it is really dark. So I think I want to paint it the same color as my son’s room which is a gray beige than yellow beige and not dark at all. Yay.

King Sized Whatchamacallit

Meagan — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:26:26 +0000

I was only going to eat half of you…

oh well.

Wednesday’s WIP

Meagan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:11:20 +0000

I stumbled upon a new blog I’m enjoying, The Nerdy Sewist, she embroiders, makes blankets, etc. And apparently each Wednesday she does a WIP: Work In Progress. So I thought I would bring you up to speed on my latest WIP. As you know, I decided to work on the cute saying I found at Grandma Jean’s house.

I bought a frame, 16x20in. Fabric, found a color palette I really like, and got my thread, printed out and taped together (I went into Indesign, made a custom document to the size of my frame, found a font I liked, printed it out, and taped the pages together. Then I traced the saying with a fabric pencil and started to embroider.

I finished embroidering today, and now I have to decide how I’m going to embellish.

I think I want to have a herringbone ladder filler stitch to frame the top and bottom, not wavy like this picture from , but straight across the fabric.

Then I think I want to sew a fabric bird out of one of these colors (PLEASE leave your opinion of which fabric in the comments) and put it in the bottom left corner with some fun, rossette stitch swirls.

(Rosette Stitch and Herringbone Ladder Filling Stitch Pictures and instructions come from the links above.)

Things Only Parent’s Think About (Regarding Kid’s Shows)

Meagan — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:18:07 +0000

-Why haven’t Bob the Builder and Wendy gotten married?

-It is REALLY annoying that Lofty is afraid of heights.

-Sometimes the Super Why puzzles are kind of a stretch…

-Why does Boots the Monkey wear boots? That would really inhibit climbing.

-I don’t think dinosaurs were as neon as they are on Dinosaur Train.

-Who the freak writes these songs? I want to strangle them! “I’m the map! I’m the map! I’m the MAP!”

-What the heck kind of animal is Uniqua?

-It kind of grosses me out that all the animals on Busy Town you know… eat animals. The pigs love sausage…. :-/

-Why is Dora’s stomach showing all the time?

-Thomas the Tank Engine NEVER LEARNS! He is always selfish, rarely nice, but always the hero! ARGH!

Print Giveaway!

Meagan — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:35:15 +0000

My beautiful (inside and out) friend Lara is hosting a giveaway on her blog Pocket Full of Prose for this wonderful print. So mosey on over and check it out but hurry because it ends this Friday morning!

My Next Project

Meagan — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:04:48 +0000

I saw this at my husband’s grandma’s house this past summer and I thought it was just wonderful. And obviously something that Grandma Jean lives her life by.

First I will be on the hunt for a frame, then I will decide how to embroider this wonderful saying! It will be a wonderful and welcome addition to any home. I plan on posting a step by step how-to for this project so stay tuned and if you feel so inclined find yourself a frame and we can do this together!

Knotted Hair

Meagan — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:35:25 +0000

So thanks to Pinterest I have been gathering fun hair styles. I found this blog that I love and I used the basics I found, and from there I actually went out on a limb and made up my own hair style! Woohoo! So I pulled my hair half back then gathered hair much like you do a french braid, a little on each side at a time, split it into two and knotted it, then added more hair, knotted it again and so on. Then I pinned the extra hair under.

50 States Throw Quilt Completed!

Meagan — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:34:25 +0000

Wow-ee! What a project this has been but I did finish it, I got it wrapped, mailed and to my brother in law and sister in law BEFORE Christmas! Wahoo! I am super proud of how it turned out and I’ve decided that some day I will make one for our family! And don’t you worry they loved the blanket. I didn’t take any pictures of the back but it is the same print as the boarder. Without further adieu, here is a slideshow of the final product!

Click to view slideshow.

If you are wondering what in the world is on this quilt I will list them out.

Map of the states of the USA, Hudson River, Clam, Appalachian Mountains, Peach Tree, Crocodile, Shrimp, Catfish, St. Louis Arch, The Ozarks, Rocky Mountains, Teton Mountains, Idaho Falls LDS Temple, “Y” Mountain, Great Salt Lake, Apple, Red Wood Trees, Sagebrush, Sequoia Cactus, the Mogollon Rim, Arches National Park, Black Hill with a Tepee on top, Igloo, Shark, Sunflower, French Knots in blue and purple representing Bluebonnets, French knots in pink representing the Prairie Rose, Oil Rig, Semi Truck, Corn Stalk, Lake Okeechobee, and volcano… I think that is it. The buttons represent cities they have lived in, with a running red stitch showing the way they traveled from place to place so Christy can add to the blanket as they move through life. (Did I mention I hand-quilted this baby? There are close-ups in the slideshow. So glad I found this blog that posted about Fan Quilting!)

My first post on this project, and my second post on this project, just in case you missed them.

Story of Christmas Told By Children

Meagan — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:11:32 +0000

Love this video! The story of the birth of Christ told by children.

Making Friends at the McDonald’s Play Land

Meagan — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:28:44 +0000

A quick happy story of the McDonald’s play land…

Usually when we go to McDonald’s, which actually isn’t very often at all, every few months or so, my husband and I talk and watch our boys play while other parents talk to their significant others, all of us keeping to ourselves but tonight that didn’t happen! A girl from my son’s preschool happened to be there and they played, she adores him and that is really cute because she is really tall for their age and he is really really small. They were playing and another girl wanted to play with them but there ended up being a fight between girl and my son, after both moms talked to our children and sorry’s were said my husband and I talked a bit with the unknown mother, then she talked to the father of 3 little girls that were also playing, who we then talked to and then the mother of my son’s friend talked with us. Nothing deep was discussed just talking about our kids and commenting on the play action going on around us. As we left it was really nice to say goodbye to people rather than to the play land. (I’m sure I’m not the only one who has to occasionally tell their children to say goodbye to inanimate objects to make going home easier.) It made me feel happy. Apparently making friends, even if it is short term, isn’t just for kids. {smile}