Painted chairs for the dollhouse

May 17, 2012

Dollhouse Chairs, Repainted

We’re restoring a family heirloom, the dollhouse made for my husband’s grandmother when she was a little girl. Click here to see all the posts about our Dollhouse Redux Project.

Our daughter has a list of projects to do for the dollhouse. (We are SO related.) Evidently we have rugs to make, curtains to sew, tables to paint, wallpaper to hang… the list goes on and on! In our house, redecorating the dollhouse is just as fun, if not more so, than playing with the dollhouse.

One project we recently completed was the redux of several sets of chairs, including those white wicker chairs (on the bottom right), handmade by David’s grandmother, and the red, green, and yellow metal chairs (in the center):

Dollhouse chairs before paint

To no one’s surprise our daughter decided those chairs just had to be pink. Evidently the plain white and striped colors had to go.

We transformed those chairs using spray paint:

Painting dollhouse furniture
Painting dollhouse furniture

In keeping with the chair painting theme, our daughter decided we also had to redux our living room seating (thank you to Christina and Matthieu for the set!):

Dollhouse living room furniture before our redux

She painted the upholstered sofa, chairs, and ottoman using Jacquard fabric paint:

Painting dollhouse furniture

We decided to paint the upholstery with just one coat so the stripes continued to show through (certainly more fancy than having a plain magenta couch).

Here’s a sneak peak of all of the chairs after:

Dollhouse chairs after being painted

(We incorporated some of the hand-sewn cushions I made as stocking stuffers. The cushion on the right features Daisy Cottage fabric by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet.)

Our daughter AND the dollhouse family LOVES their “new” chairs. Phew. One more thing checked off the to-do list!

New striped bag

May 14, 2012

Suddenly Stylish, Sort-of

There are three style trends this season that I can wholeheartedly embrace:

Messy bun aka how I wear my hair everyday

1. Messy Buns

Striped bag from Land's End, my Mother's Day present

2. Stripes

Loving neon colors

3. Neons (turquoise! hot pink!)

Finally things I love (and wear practically everyday) are in style!

Messy buns, stripes, and neons may not still be stylish next year, but I have a feeling I will continue to wear them for years to come. I’m savoring this stylish moment.

Mother Day's kisses (posing with baby doll)

And every day with this adorable peanut. We had a perfect Mama’s Day.

We hope you had a nice weekend too!

Playing in the mud

May 13, 2012

Weekend Snapshot

Playing in the mud
What could be more fun than playing in the mud while wearing a pink poofy dress?! It’s our daughter’s idea of a perfect weekend moment.

Four year old reading Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story

May 11, 2012

Introducing the Concept of Evolution to Kids

We first introduced our daughter to the concept of evolution when she was two years old with this fantastic book, Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story.

Loving the book, "Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story"
Loving the book, "Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story"

While our toddler liked the pictures, the only part she really grasped on to was that we share a common ancestry with monkeys. For months after reading this book she’d ask us questions like, “Mom, when were we monkeys?” One day she exclaimed, “When I climb trees then I’ll have a tail again! No, no, no, we’ll never have tails again!”

She recently started asking more questions about evolution, so we felt it was high time to check Our Family Tree out of the library again!

Loving the book, "Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story"

I particularly love this book because it explains how we evolved over time with concise descriptions, poignant examples, poetic verse, and beautiful illustrations.

Loving the book, "Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story"

With each example of an evolutionary change, the author relates that shift to us today.

Loving the book, "Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story"
Loving the book, "Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story"

Our now four year old daughter soaked up the storytelling, the pictures, and the thought-provoking story.

Loving the book, "Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story"

I do believe we need to buy our own copy.

House finch birds eggs in a nest

May 10, 2012

Baby Bird Sighting

The wait is over! The house finch birds eggs (situated in the repurposed sugar bowl of our wind chimes) have hatched.

White Speckled Eggs in Nest

They babies are (sorta) fluffy, (kinda) cute, and (definitely!) hungry.

May I present the baby birds living on our front porch:

Sorry, Mama Bird, for scaring you off when I came out the front door. (Evidently I am not to be trusted.) Thank you for letting me have a moment with your babies. We’re excited to watch them grow up.

Flowers starting to bloom in California

May 9, 2012

My (Lack of a) Summer Garden Plan

Our spring perennials are beginning to burst into bloom:

Spring flowers in a California garden

While we’re certainly enjoying the flowers in our front yard, I’ve made a radical decision regarding our vegetable garden this summer: we’re not going to plant one. I feel as though I only have so much time right now and I’d rather use that to dehydrate and can crops from friends’ trees and the farmer’s market than grow a meager supply of vegetables in our tiny front garden.

(I found making this decision–even typing it here!–to be so liberating, such a weight off my shoulders. Clearly this is what I need to do this year.)

Spring flowers in a California garden

I imagine that this is a temporary move and that we’ll plant a vegetable garden again next year, but this year we have other stuff going on. I can only do so much right now. My plate is full.

Spring flowers in a California garden

Not that I’m complaining! On the contrary, life is good!

Happy homeschooling family

May 8, 2012

Q & A: The Choice to Become a Stay-at-Home Mom

I’m thinking about doing a new series of posts featuring ‘Questions & Answers’ since I receive so many emails from friends and readers asking me about my experience as a homeschooling mom that I’d love to share with you. Your questions don’t have to be exclusively about mothering or homeschooling. I’d be glad to answer anything (within reason!) that interests you about my life. Submit your questions (anonymously) here at formspring and I’ll pick out several to answer here on the blog. Thanks!

Happy homeschooling family

One question I’m frequently asked is how I reconcile being a highly educated woman that now works full-time as a stay-at-home mom.

I should preface my response by explaining that I personally believe that raising our children is the most important job in our society. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom so that I could be the one who brought up my children. (I even discussed this with David on one of our early dates to make sure that he was on board before I got serious with him!)

That being said, I didn’t neglect my education, nor make the decision to quit the work force and stay at home full time lightly.

I grew up in a house that valued education and life-long learning, and had well-educated female mentors throughout my life. I understood that college was mandatory, with graduate school being optional, but highly encouraged. I attended college at a small liberal arts school in the Midwest and then went to an Ivy League university for graduate school. After that I worked for a water resource engineering firm, supporting our family while my husband attended graduate school.

Now here I am, raising our daughter, staying at home with her. Do I no longer use what I learned in school? Do I feel as though my education is wasted? No, on the contrary, I believe that I use my education on a daily basis through critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and perpetual skepticism. Now that I am a mother, and a homeschooling one at that, I constantly rely on my education in explaining everything (EVERYTHING!) to our daughter.

Do you know how hard it is to concisely explain concepts like photosynthesis, death, electricity, and evolution to an inquiring four-year old? I don’t dumb down any of my answers for her and always make a point of using the correct language in explaining said concepts (thereby increasing both her understanding and her vocabulary). She often asks me questions to which I don’t have an answer and we scour the internet (or library!) together to gain a better understanding.

I find that I value and appreciate my education on a daily basis. I believe sharing my knowledge with my daughter, being there for her as she grows up, and introducing the world to her is the most important task of my life. I personally feel challenged and fulfilled, which is why I anticipate that we will be able to homeschool our daughter for the long haul. I can’t imagine doing anything else. (Now we’ll see how long she’s game for it!)

Have a question for me? Please ask away.

Art postcard collages for kids

May 7, 2012

Making Art Collage Postcards with Kids

Here’s an art appreciation activity that introduces children to famous paintings; sparks conversations about composition, colors, and art imagery; and allows children to create art masterpieces of their own in the form of collage postcards.

Making art collage postcards

I printed out pictures of some of my favorite paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Paul Cezanne for us to cut out and incorporate into our own postcard collages:

Making art collage postcards
Making art collage postcards
Making art collage postcards

Our four year old daughter’s collage featured her own table adorned with flowers and fruit. (The woman in the collage is helping herself to a snack.)

Making art collage postcards

I even made a collage of an outdoor scene:

Making art collage postcards

I find it interested that we started with the same set of paintings and created two radically different collages. I love that there are infinite ways to do any activity. Imagination and creativity are such powerful tools.

How to cook dried beans quickly with an electric pressure cooker

May 4, 2012

How to Quickly Cook Dried Beans in an Electric Pressure Cooker

Remember that Christmas present that I was less than thrilled about? Well, I’ve been using it nearly every day. That electric pressure cooker was just the present I didn’t know I needed. (Thanks again, David!)

Making beans in an electric pressure cooker

Here’s how I make a pot of beans. The prep takes five minutes tops, the pressure cooker does all the work (with the push of a button), and the meal costs pennies.

Making beans in an electric pressure cooker

To two cups of dried beans (e.g. chickpea, pinto or black), add two tablespoons of olive oil, two garlic cloves (either whole to remove later or crushed for a more fully infused garlic flavor), two bay leaves, and a whole lot of freshly ground black pepper.

Making beans in an electric pressure cooker

Add water, plug in the electric pressure cooker, press the “beans” function, and about an hour later the beans are done ready for burritos, chili, nachos or salad. (Don’t forget to season the beans generously with salt!)

Making beans in an electric pressure cooker
Electric pressure cooker

I love a tasty, quick, and cheap meal, especially one our daughter enjoys helping with:

Making beans in an electric pressure cooker

What quick meals have you been enjoying lately?

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