Johnny hammers with one hammer

Is there anything nicer after a long, sweaty, tiring day than to take an early shower and be in your jammies by 7:00 pm? I have the answer to that. And it's no. No, there is nothing nicer. Unless, perhaps, donuts were somehow added to the mix.

It's been busy around here. Lots of projects in the works to prepare for foster care.

We had to turn our nursery and playroom into two bedrooms that could fit a variety of ages and either gender. After a week's hard work, it's nearly done. (Quick note: I have no clue why all of the rooms photographed shoe-box sized. They're really plenty roomy, but I apparently suck as a photographer.)

Project 1: Master bedroom




We rearranged our bedroom to make room for a crib. I think it looks pretty great. In fact, it's even easier to move around in than before, when Fritz's armoire was on the wall that the crib's now on.

I sewed the fitted crib sheets myself! It was so ridiculously easy. They cost $1.25 each, compared to the $5 apiece ugly ones I found at Wal-Mart. (I promise they don't really sag in front like that. It was just put on sloppily.)

Project 2: Nursery


The old nursery became... well, the new nursery. We put the new donated crib (which, awesomely, matches our original crib almost identically - just a slightly lighter finish) in, along with a flower table we'd hidden under a cloth for years. I got the Exersaucer on Craigslist for $10!

We're planning on going with a jungle theme in here for the time being. (We're shelving my Doctor Who-themed fantasy until we have more time and money to devote to it.) We'll be near Ikea later in September for our training, and would like to put this leaf canopy over the head of the crib, and this hanging storage system in the corner by the closet to hold diapering things, bibs, socks, etc.

I sewed the green crib sheet, too, as well as a back-up teal one.

Project 3: Playroom/Older child's bedroom


We made up the bed for $10. The two large pillows in the back are slip-covered with remnants from the crib sheets and closed with Velcro hidden under funky buttons. I'm really proud of these, as I was working without a pattern, and they turned out perfect on the first try. Score! The wall over the length of the bed is blank, so we're planning to put some of these up.



Moved the animal net, set up an art supplies caddy, and removed artwork/crafts from the kids (stored in my closet now). I'd like to get a lamp for the desk, maybe this one in green.

I finished the last coat of lacquer on the desk this afternoon and didn't want to wait until Fritz got home from work to move it, so I did it myself. I scooted it through the garage on the drop cloth, bumped it up the step into the house, laid it on its side, and pushed it down the hall. Unfortunately, once I got to the playroom door, I realized it wouldn’t fit through on its side, and the hallway was too narrow to right it again. So I pushed it back to the bend in the hallway, scootched it into the nursery (located in said bend), and stood it back up. Then I proceeded to tip it on one end, and "walk" it one corner at a time into the playroom down the hall. A bit more grunting, and it was in place.



We want to hang this (in red) in the corner, for laundry.

This room could seriously benefit from some paint on the walls, but we're going to hold off until we move, so we can do a fun color with some chalkboard paint accents.

Project 4: Diapers
We're planning to cloth diaper, so I've sewn up some prefolds and cloth wipes. Just need to make a few PUL diaper covers, and we're golden. Here are some of the awesome cloth wipes I was working on today (again, another really crappy picture - the wipes are straight in reality):



Just to keep myself from getting bored (hee!), I've been working on some more bibs to sell:





And one to keep (cross-stitched David Tennant and patchworked the back):



So far, all of the sewing/bedding projects have cost $30. The refinishing cost just $9, because we already had the paint, brushes, and sandpaper. We've spent $40 on clothes (which resulted in a play outfit and a pair of jammies for both boys and girls newborn-5T), and $15 on a few incidentals (creams, washes, etc). $25 at Ikea should finish it up. Not bad for furnishing a house for 3-4 children.