Archway Curtains

We have an archway with no door between our master bedroom and our master bathroom. This works find for us, but -just in case, for some reason, if we want to close it off- we wanted to hang some curtains of some sort. But, we also didn't want to diminish the archiness. So, I hopped online and found this:

http://decor.basicq.com/cgi-bin/dcart/4-022-1.html

It is a clear, flexible curtain rod and comes with the hardware for mounting. All we had to do was saw it to the appropriate size, and mount! It was fantastic!

Next, we needed some curtains and some pull backs. The tie backs we bought at Lowes (we actually got 3 and are using one for a towel rod in the laundry room), and we also found this curtain there. We just bought one panel, then I cut it down the center and seamed it up, to make two panels! I am loving the finished product!

Hair Things

This is what my kids "hair things" drawer has looked like for...way too long.

Thanks to Pinterest, I got the idea I needed for a solution. I started with buying a cheap ($6) soft wood frame from Hobby Lobby. Took several of the ribbons that I either don't care about or are too short to really be tied around my kids heads, and stapled them to the from (using my upholstery staple gun).

That gave me something to do with all those clips:

Then I screwed these hooks into the bottom of the frame (this I did by hand, since the wood was pretty soft)

 And that gave me something to do with the headbands. VOILA!

Potted Plants

Found these cute little mini rose bushes at Walmart on "Day After Valentine's Day Clearance." Apparently, mini rose bushes are a Valentine's Day plant??? Anyway, I only paid $1.25 each. Sweet! And I love them! They make me so happy every time I see them!

Their thorns are not much to speak of. In fact, my 6 month old was grabbing branches of this plant and was unharmed.

One important thing to note about rose bushes, is that their dead leaves can b

reed/spread plant disease, so don't let the dead leaves and branches stay on the ground, get rid of them!

One fun thing about rose bushes, is that it is GOOD for them when you cut the bloomed flowers off. Doing so actually encourages the plant to produce more flowers. So enjoy those roses! Treat yourself to a vase full of them!

I also found some clearance plants at a hardware store. This one is an orchid. I think they are so pretty, but I knew nothing about care for an orchid. I have been doing some googling, though, and have learned that these plants are EXTREMELY prone to root rot. So much so, in fact, that you can't even plant them in dirt. You need to buy a special orchid mix to plant them in (either moss or a mixture of bark and other things). Also, you should not water orchids too often, nor allow the water to get trapped in the crevices of the leaves.

Orchids do require feeding, so you will have to also purchase an orchid fertilizer and will need to apply it regularly...about once a month?

Although the orchids don't like to be too wet, they also don't like to be in too much light. The sunlight they get should be indirect light, filtered through sheer curtains, if possible.

Lastly, for these fickle plants, you will need to re-pot these plants into slightly larger pots every year or two. Interesting little things!

I'm not totally sure what kind of plant this is, but it reminded me of California and I liked it...So I bought it! I guess I'll figure it out as I go.

Update: It's a Bromeliad! Learn more in my Bromeliad post!

Finally, we found this Yucca Plant at Ikea. These are pretty cool little indoor trees. They require next to no care. They should not be in much light, and they only need to be watered every few weeks, "when the dirt becomes dry." Nice!

Potty Training, Round 2

My second daughter recently made it clear that she was ready to potty train. She had started to fight me when I tried to put diapers on her, and, one day, she even removed her diaper, and replaced it with underwear, without my knowledge. We were out and about that day when she suddenly started walking funny and crying "I peed!" I couldn't figure out why she was so upset about peeing, until I realized that she had no diaper on!

Let me tell you, if you have not yet toilet trained your child: there is no rush! Life is so much easier and simpler when you do NOT have a toilet trained child on your hands! Potty training is not so much about training a toddler to recognize the feeling of needing to go to the potty and then doing it, as it is training YOURSELF to constantly be asking your child if they need to go potty, forcing them to use the potty, and ensuring that no matter what is going on or where you go, you are not too far from a potty.

Obviously, I didn't enjoy my first round of potty training and had vowed not to train my second until she was 3 years old. But, when they are this insistent, what can you do? So, here we go!

With MJ, my first, we put her in underwear and kept her in it all day, each day (except for when sleeping). She basically held it for hours (as long as she could), and then started having accidents about every 15 minutes for the rest of the day. Lovely. She was frustrated, we were frustrated.

This time around, I stripped Lala down to do naked potty training (as I had heard that worked well). She did NOT like that idea, and insisted on getting dressed. "Eh, ok," I said. So, she was fully dressed (with underwear). Day 1, she made it in the potty twice, and then had an accident. After having an accident, she went in her room and put a diaper on herself. "Eh, ok," I said again! Yep, I am turning into a real softy in my old age! She remained in her diaper the rest of the day. For the next week, I put her in underwear every morning and at about lunch time switched her back into a diaper for the rest of the day. It has been working great! She didn't get frustrated, we didn't get frustrated! Now, she is in underwear all day every day (except when sleeping) and only has accidents a couple times a week. We have the confidence to be able to take her out places and she does great!

My conclusion: take it easy and slow. Don't frustrate everyone in the house over potty training.

Jungle Room

Next comes the nursery!

There was a big Halloween Party at the hubs' work, a few months ago, that involved some jungle decor. Afterwards, a lot of the stuff was "up for grabs" and he asked me if I wanted some of it. For free? Yes, we can definitely have a jungle room SOMEWHERE in the house, if it means I can decorate for free or close to it!

The hubs made this sun for the party. He cut out cardboard and covered it with yellow fabric. Love it! (And, of course, I mounted it with Command Strips!)

We got about 5 of these inflatable animals from the party.We also got these tiki torches from the party!I crocheted twine to make some holders for them. (Twine is NOT the easiest thing to crochet, it turns out, but I like the way it looks for the jungle theme).

Then hung them on these command hooks by the crocheted holders.

Love it!

I had some leftover sheer, green, tool of sorts. So I tied the pieces together and wrapped it with twine to make "vines" to hang over the crib.

Polka Dot Room

We are in a new house, so let the projects begin! So much to decorate, so little budget. :)

I started with the girls room...

Add a trip to the dollar store, where I found a few of these organizers...
These sweet polka dot wall decals...

And this plastic vase...(which I then filled with all our bouncy balls for the polka dot look).

Then I added some round, furry friends...

And a couple more polka dot organizers from Walmart.Next, for the windows. My kids have a tendency to destroy window coverings (blinds, curtains, you name it). So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to cover their windows with something that they could not destroy, nor could they use to destroy the walls. This is what I came up with:

I found these polka dot fleece throws at Walmart for $3, nice! Got 2 of them, and sewed some Velcro across the top (the soft side, so that when I want to wash these "curtains" they won't stick to everything in the wash).

Then, I got some Command Strips (we are using A LOT of these in our new house. Love 'em!) and used them to mount the other side of the Velcro across the top of the windows.

And voila! Non-destroyable curtains!

Now if the kids hang on them or whatever, they will simply come down, and I can then velcro them back up. No damage, no problem!

We did go through a couple of failed attempts at these curtains, and during that phase when I wasn't sure it was going to work, I went and got some Con Tact Paper and "frosted" their windows with it, too. (My mom used to always have Contact Paper on hand. She used it to laminate things. She laminated EVERYTHING! Not a bad idea when you've got 7 kids!)

Frosting the windows with contact paper worked pretty well, but I DO recommend that you use two people for this project. The extra set of hands helps make sure it gets smoothed out just right with no bubbles.

Tangled Party

I can't take credit for this one, but it was too cute not to post about. My sister in law threw a Tangled Birthday Party for her daughter.

Awesome banners all over...
Snacks included Flinn's boat (orange slices in blue jello), Sun Cookies, and Rapunzel's Tower made out of donuts...(and, of course, some Hazel Nut Soup!)
Activities included frosting/decorating these awesome sun cookies...

Making some little Pascal Party blower-things...
And a rousing game of "Pin the Frying Pan on Flinn Ryder" (With a large Wanted Poster of Flynn).

And, of course, what is a child's party with out some musical chairs?

It was a great party!