Jace’s Nursery… A Sneak Peek

I’m not quite ready to stand back and let you see the whole room together… we still have a few things to do to it. But I thought a little sneak preview couldn’t hurt. I am way too excited to wait any longer to show you what we have been working on for our little guy!

We chose a dark turquoise for the walls. I wanted something bold and fun, but relaxing at the same time. I think we definitely accomplished that. I am in love with the color! Because of the lighting it’s hard to get a picture that shows what the color looks like in person, but I think the picture above is pretty close.

We decided white would be a good contrast to the darker walls, and orange adds a fun accent. I got these letters at Hobby Lobby, spray painted them a glossy white, and hot glued the ribbon to the back.

I didn’t want to spend a fortune on wall décor, so I picked up a bunch of scrapbook paper in colors and patterns that look nice with the walls, and I also found this white scrapbook-sized frame. I used chipboard letters to trace and cut out the alphabet, and then glued them to a piece of white paper.

My mom, aunt, and I are working on making the crib mobile. I’ll unveil it once it’s done, but until then, here’s a little pillow I made using some felt scraps and our “test owl”.

It’s not a nursery without a closet full of little bitty clothes! I’ve been so lucky to get hand-me-downs and gifts from some great friends… Joe and I have only bought about an eighth of his wardrobe!

This owl sleep sack and hat were sent to me by a company called Corner Stork Baby Gifts. You all know I don’t do many reviews, but I could not pass this up… they have so many cute things and this was just the most adorable sleep sack I’ve ever seen, especially considering Jace’s room décor. It’s really well-made, and Corner Stork’s customer service is amazing. I’ll do a full review after Jace is here to actually use it, but I wanted to go ahead and share it with you because I love it!

And finally.. the crib.

Want to do something Green, Frugal, and Efficient?

I have been making changes left and right to the way my family eats and lives. With the information being provided about the effects of chemicals and additives in our food, and the horrible state of the economy, we really don’t have a choice.

Something I decided to try recently was to make my own laundry detergent. With a family of four, one member who works hard and gets his clothes filthy every day and another who changes her outfit multiple times daily, I do a lot of laundry. Decent detergent costs around $8 and $12 where I shop, and to me, spending that much every other week when I could make my own for a few bucks that would last for months is ridiculous.

I decided to use the Duggar family recipe for laundry detergent. I had read good reviews from those who had tried it, not to mention the Duggars always look pretty clean, right?

So here is what you need:

5 gallon bucket

1 gallon container made to hold liquids (if you don’t want to buy one, a milk or juice jug or an empty detergent container will work)

Borax (1/2 cup)

Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (1 cup)

Bar of Soap (they recommend Fels-Naptha, I had never seen or heard of that and couldn’t find it so I used Jergens. As long as it is plain, unscented regular soap, it should be fine)

1. Grate the bar of soap. Use a cheese grater, or if you lost yours during your move a year ago and still haven’t bought a replacement, use a handheld carrot and potato peeler.2. Pour your grated soap into a saucepan with 4 cups of tap water. Turn on medium-low heat.3. Heat the soap in the water until the soap has dissolved. Stir occasionally.4. Fill 5 gallon bucket half-way full with hot tap water.5. Pour in your cup of washing soda.6. Pour in your 1/2 cup of Borax.7. Pour in the melted soap/water mixture. Stir well until the powders are dissolved.8. After it is mixed well, fill the bucket the rest of the way up with hot water. Cover and let sit overnight to thicken. I used a pizza pan to cover it. Yes my pizza pan is covered in rust on the bottom. Just keeping it real.9. The next day, your detergent will be ready to use. You’re going for an albino vomit kind of look.10. Fill your gallon container half with water, and half with the soap. You can also add about 5-10 drops of essential oil for fragrance at this time. Shake well before each use, because it will gel more and settle.

For my top-loading machine, I use a little under a cup per regular load. For front loaders they recommend using 1/4 cup per load.

This recipe makes 10 gallons of detergent, since you only use half a gallon of it per gallon of the mixture. I store it in 10 different gallon containers ready to be used. Luckily I have a basement with a laundry room and space for storage. I know a lot of people don’t so you may want to halve this recipe.

From my experience, it gets clothes really clean! Let me know if you try it, or if you have any other homemade tips.

House Remodel: Day 102

I have been waiting for this day to come for what feels like forever. I now have a place to keep all of our food that I do not want Summer and Camryn to pour, dump, scatter, or hide all over the house! Readers, meet my pantry:


We are also doing a lot of little things around the house. I planted some flowers around the mailbox, and bordered it with the stone that we're going to use for the landscaping.


We got a hanging basket and some flowers on Sunday. It is amazing what that will do for a house!


I also got these cute flowers. I forget what the are called but I think I want a bunch more!


I can't end this without sharing a cute kitten moment!

Why, hello there!

I didn't realize how long it has been since I've blogged until I looked at the date of my last post last night. Things have been absolutely crazy around here, with moving and still remodeling, family functions, warm weather to enjoy, and the success of Dirt and Lace Shirts which has taken me by surprise and kept me pretty busy. But I am here now, determined to not let another 6 days go by before I post again!

Saturday, we worked outside almost all day. The exterior of this house, from the siding covered in green whatever the heck it is, to the gravel and underground roots where the landscaping will go, to the weed covered yard, the horrendous shed in the backyard, and porch with remnants of porch carpet and glue..... it's going to be a long process to get everything the way we want it. I mowed the grass and Joe weed-eated. We sprayed Weed-Be-Gone on the front yard. We used our power nozzle on the hose to spray the siding and get it as clean as it can be. We shoveled up rock and dug up roots. It's looking better already. Hopefully very soon we can get some things planted and fix up the porch.

We found a lovely surprise on the side of the house.

Yes, that is a huge Black Widow. It was dead already, but one black widow means more black widows. I think we may have to spray around the house. Ugh.

Yesterday was a really great day. We went to church to see my cousin Richard get confirmed. It was a great service. He did a great job! Summer and Camryn stayed in the nursery for the first time. They didn't mind at all when we left and seemed to have a great time! I hope that is a sign that preschool with be successful. After that we all went to my aunt Susan and uncle Paul's house for a party to celebrate the confirmation and also Rich's 8th grade graduation. We spent most of the day there, eating and having a great time outside. Susan had asked that all of the guests bring a quote, poem, song lyric, written advice, etc. that they wanted to share with Richard. She is going to put them all into a scrapbook for him. I put together a page of quotes for him, I'll share it here, because everyone can use some inspiration every once in awhile:

Richard,

HeRe aRe some quotes that Inspire me. Maybe they will mean something to you as well.

“Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” - William James

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” - Scott Adams

“God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.” - J.G. Holland

“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for.” - Oscar Wilde

“Everyone ought to worship God according to his own inclinations, and not to be constrained by force.” - Flavius Josephus

“Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values.” - Ayn Rand

“It's very dangerous to wave to someone you don't know because, what if they don't have a hand? They'll think you're cocky.” - Mitch Hedberg

Love, Steph

Today I plan on sorting through some boxes and cleaning the house a bit. I might paint some of the trim around the back door because it looks horrible. The girls are being very quiet, so I'd better go check on them. Have a great Monday!

Activity Overload

What a week!

I'll start with Thursday. As soon as Joe got off work, he and his dad loaded up their trucks and they and Joe's friend Kenny moved most of our stuff to the house. We stayed up till 5am, putting things away and getting everything organized.

living room/dining room

Summer and Camryn were really excited to sleep in their new room for the first time, although we hadn't put the bedroom doors back up after painting yet so I had a little trouble keeping them in their room.


Camryn finally passed out in the hallway.


Friday was mostly spent putting more things away and moving more stuff over here. We worked till 6, and then went to Joe's sister Jessica's HS graduation. It was a really nice ceremony, and we got to see Joe's sister Nicole and Xavier, who we hadn't seen for awhile. He has gotten so big!!

(You will notice in all the pictures from here on, Camryn has a cut on her nose. This is from Summer hitting her in the face with the bottom of an aerosol can. )

Nicole and Camryn

Joe's dad and Jessica

All three grandkids!

On Saturday, we got more stuff moved, and the girls played outside with the hose. It wasn't a planned activity, so I ended up stripping them down so they didn't have a 10 lb diaper/pull-up on. They loved it!

Today, we traveled a couple hours away to my Nanaw and Papaw's (dad's parents) house at the lake for a Memorial Day family get-together. It was nice to get away and relax after all the running around and moving we have been doing. Seeing family + good food = good day.

My cousin Olivia and Camryn.

If you can't find my kids, check the snack table.

After a long day, Camryn fell asleep as soon as she layed down tonight.

When I went in to take that picture, Summer asked me to take one of her. Looks like she already had a case of bed hair!


A little while ago, Joe and Kenny finally brought our sectional over here. I just went in and looked at it in the living room. It takes up the entire room, so it looks like we'll be getting a new couch for sure.

***Just a reminder... if you want a chance to win a free Dirt and Lace t-shirt for your kid, or yourself, or to give as a gift, go to this post and leave a comment. The giveaway will last till tomorrow around noon, so you have till then to comment. Don't forget, mentioning the giveaway and linking to the shirt blog will get you an extra entry, and placing an order will get you two!***