Young House Love

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Squeezing In Some Craftiness

Since we always share our road trip adventures with the Bowers (like this one, this one, and this one), here’s a long overdue recap of our most recent visit – which included lots of kid fun, a fair amount of antiquing & crafting, and even a little luxurious mom outing for good measure (along with a really cute gift idea). Let’s jump right in, shall we?

Oh but for those looking for pictures of us doing sexy exciting things like cutting wood and using a nail-gun, that’s going on as you read this. The soundtrack of the day is bam-bam-bam! Yes, we’ve begun our big board & batten project and can’t wait to share our progress next week! Our goal is to not only finish it, but to have all of the nail holes filled, prime it, and paint it (along with painting the hallway walls) by next Wednesday. So we’re buzzing around like crazy to make that happen. And we can’t wait to spill all of the details!

BenMoore Board Batten Teaser

As for the Katie-crafting I mentioned, at around 11pm one night she and I were feeling antsy and hyper, so we decided we couldn’t just sit on the sofa. We needed to be crafting. Seriously that happened. So we looked around for some things we could use and Katie quickly came up with two old terracotta pots, some wrapping paper with a faux wood look, some pom pom fringe (which made me jump up and down like a child) and some craft paint.

Crafting1

Our first step was just to paint the entire inside of the pot along with the lip around the top with craft paint. Katie went with red and I went with a soft blue color. Then we used the wrapping paper in that faux wood pattern and cut out a piece of it that could be wrapped around the base of the pot like a little sleeve or slipcover. Once we knew it would fit (you can make a paper template to get the shape right since it’s not a straight strip, it’s more like a curved C-shaped piece of paper since the pot is tapered) we Mod Podged the side of the pot and laid the paper over it to hold it in place…

Crafting2

We also applied Mod Podge to the top of the wrapping paper to seal it and make it nice and durable. Bam: two cute little countertop pots for everything from pencils to keys or loose change. And as for the pom-pom fringe, we had planned to use it around the lip of each one (pink on mine and soft blue on Katie’s) but sadly it looked a little too “Liberace” – so we slowly backed away from the pom-poms. Don’t worry though, it inspired me to buy some from JoAnn when we got back home (it was a remnant so it was super cheap) and I have a little project planned with it. Gotta work the pom-pom fringe in there somewhere!

Crafting3

But our days weren’t all spent snuggling Mod Podge and craft paint. We had lots of awesome family time (Katie and I really bonded over being pregnant together with Clara & Will, so we love doing outings together where our kids can run around and have some fun). Along with going to the playground and soaking up some backyard fun time we also headed over to a children’s museum in Downtown Atlanta called Imagine It. Clara and Will had the best time playing with everything from trains, water, and sand to – of course – a nice big play kitchen. I think Will was frying strawberries and Clara was microwaving cereal here. Yummy.

Childrens Museum

During one amazing naptime that perfectly overlapped (all three kids were sleeping at once) Katie and I even squeezed in a pedicure and a run to Starbucks, which is about a once a year occurrence to ladies like us, so we pretty much felt like queens for that entire afternoon.

Pedicures Starbucks

We also went antiquing, but Katie has all of those pics, so I’ll just share what I brought home: two little wooden doll chairs (too big for the dollhouse but perfect for a few of Clara’s bigger dolls), an old metal moose hook (you know I love a good moose), and a cute little red wagon for Clara’s dollhouse (the wheels even turn, so I knew she’d love pulling it around). Sometimes antique shops (as opposed to thrift shops) seem to have higher prices, but I think the chairs were $4 for both, the moose hook was $3 and the wagon was $3, which wasn’t too bad. When it was all said and done, for ten bucks I got some pretty fun stuff.  Especially when you see where they ended up…

Antiquing With Katie

Here’s the moose hook living it up in the hall bathroom (which is where we bathe Clara, so we’ve been dying for a towel hook for functional reasons). And the fact that El Moose goes so perfectly with Senior Horse (an old metal horse that I got at a secondhand store and repurposed as a towel holder)… well, that made my day.

Moose Hook

As for the doll chairs, I originally thought about spraying them a bright color (you know me…) but once I cleaned them up with some soap and water they looked pretty charming just as they were.

Chairs1

Don’t mind the giant clown pants that the little doll has on. Those are from a stuffed babydoll, but Clara likes to switch everyone’s outfits.

Chairs2

And as for the little red wagon, I think it’s my favorite. Especially because I found it like this the next morning (this is not staged, Clara actually did this).

Dollhouse Wagon1

Seriously, how funny is that? She had dug two pigs out of her little pouch of plastic animals and explained that the big pig was pulling the little pig. And Olivia and Olivia’s dad (who are the kind of pigs who wear clothes) were watching. If that isn’t a good time, I don’t know what is.

  Dollhouse Wagon2

We spent a good amount of time eating (mmm) and just hanging out and talking about blog stuff and life stuff while our kids played in the house and the yard. It was an awesome long weekend with them. And of course we made this video…

… and took some adorable kid pics while we were at it.

Clara And Will1

Clara And Will2

Clara And Will3

Clara And Weston

Clara And Will4

Then on Monday morning we published the morning post and made the long drive home (it’s about 8 hours), approving comments as we went. Oh and Clara blessed us with an awesome nap:

Clara Sleeping

Speaking of blessed, can you believe that Katie and I have been friends for almost four years?! Crazy how time flies. It’s so funny when we think back to how we met before any kiddos (we did everything from vacationing in Nashville to going out for sushi at midnight) and now we collectively have three kids under three. Haha! My how the times have changed. But in the best possible way.

And here’s the thoughtful gift that I found sitting outside of the guest room when we awoke the morning after our very last book signing:

Katie Gift

The hand written note on the top of the box talked about how Katie knew what a big thing the tour was (both exciting-wise and exhausting-wise) and she wanted to congratulate us for completing it and said that she hoped this new after-the-tour season would hold and be filled with many things and be a time that is… (yes she left me hanging so I had to open the box). Inside I found that she had put notes on each item in the box that correlated with what she wrote. So on the little box of chocolates she said “sweet and refreshing” and on the notebook she said “a fresh new start” and on the mug full of herbal tea it said “soothing and calm.” How awesome is that? I loved it. Just what I needed after living out of a suitcase for four months!

So a huge thanks to the Bowers for hosting us and being our buddies. John and Jeremy even went to a movie together while Katie and I hung back with the kids, which made us all nerdy and giddy. We love that our men are such good friends because it bodes well for them always saying “sweet!” when we bat our eyes and start planning another visit. Haha! What road trips have you guys gone on lately? Are you giving (or getting) any presents so charming and clever that they make you want to blog about them? What about crafting and antiquing. I’m sure we’re not the only ones doing that…

Psst- Clara’s just getting funnier and funnier. Hear her take on everything from baby naming to wheeling away from a yogurt raisin here on Young House Love.

Comments

  2. Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says

    Oh man – flip flops…skipping outside without jackets….you can paint me JEALOUS! We are still wearing wool socks, touks, and mittens up north. :-( Love the painted pots…I have a ton of them in our garage and may steal that idea when it gets a tad warmer out.

    P.S. – this is going to be a Pintrest Challenge Weekend….can you tell I’m still stoked! ;-)

    Reply

  4. Sarah says

    Sounds like a great time! Thank God for good friends! And you’ll love that S mug from Anthropologie Katie gave you. I have the same one and its my all time favorite!

    Reply

  5. Wendy @ New Moms Talk says

    The mini furniture looks perfect on the table!

    We’re getting ready to take our delightful girl on an 11-hour drive. She normally does well on road trips, but this will be the first extended one.

    Here’s to hoping it goes well!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Good luck Wendy! We try to bring a few new things (even if they’re just new toy catalogs, Clara loves reading those! Haha!) and lots of snacks. We even burned a CD of her favorite songs for the car!

      xo
      s

  6. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    What a sweet gift from Katie!

    It’s so awesome the friends that you make blogging! These women are so funny, creative, and genuine! Sometimes I get frustrated and think maybe I’ll just close up shop, but I always get to missing my “blog friends” and come right back! So glad you girls have each other!

    Reply

  11. Annelies says

    Sounds like a busy weekend you have coming up ! Can’t wait to see the result !
    Clara and Will are so adorable and Katie was so thoughtful with that gift. Love it !
    How did you and Katie actually become friends? Was it through the blog?
    Have a nice weekend!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, she we were email friends for a while (just met through blogging) and then she invited us to come to Atlanta and crash her house and stay with her. It was so much fun, but also scary (what if we got there and didn’t hit it off?). Thankfully we did and we sat on the floor of her closet until 3am just chatting while the boys watched TV together. It was love at first meeting! Haha!

      xo
      s

  13. Chelsea says

    I LOVE the pots. I had some scraps of faux bois wrapping paper ages ago that I just threw out because I didn’t think I had enough to wrap any presents with and now I’m kicking myself for not hanging on to it so I could do this too.

    Reply

  14. Shanny Jean says

    Re: Pig pulling pig

    My husband was taking our dogs for a walk when he saw the most amazing thing he ever saw. As he and the dogs passed an alley, this is what the saw:

    A beagle was pulling a geriatric chihuahua in a wagon.

    The wagon handle was somehow afixed to the beagle’s collar. Even more strange: there were zero humans overseeing the operation. Even though he texted me the second he got home, he didn’t go back and take a picture. Boo.

    Good work, Clara!

    Reply

  16. Emily says

    Love love love the video! WAy to go being patient mama…it was worth the effort! Can’t wait to show off my pinterest challenge chevron tray next week!

    Reply

  17. Anika says

    It’s so cool to see the behind-the-scenes moments of a true blogging friendship. So glad you guys were able to rest and relax together!

    Reply

  18. Cindi @ Rustique Art says

    i love the video! it was precious…this is why marketing people use kids and pets to pull people in. it works every time :)
    good luck on you B&B project, we did our den, entry and mini sitting area about a year ago and love,love,love it. we still need to get our tiny hallway done, but that might wait till summer as it has six door frames to work around in about 8 feet of space, not much wall space to work with but hubby wants to replace every door frame. he’s my hero!

    Reply

  26. Diane @ Vintage Zest says

    I love the red wagon “staging”! Obviously, she has a natural eye for design, just like her parents! I don’t know what it is about pigs, but I think they’re absolutely adorable. I even thought of getting one as a pet, since I’m so allergic to pet hair, and they’re essentially hairless. I dare you to watch Hamlet the Mini Pig going for his oatmeal on Youtube, and tell me that you don’t want one!

    Reply

  28. Melanie says

    I love C&W together. So stinkin’ cute.

    Has Senior Horse always been a towel holder? For some reason I get the impression he was a heavy duty door knocker or something. Ha! He’s a cool find.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, he’s something like a door knocker or some sort of hook for holding horse tools in a stable or something. I think I’m the first person to put him on hand towel duty. Haha!

      xo
      s

  30. Alex says

    It is so nice to have those weekends! Glad you cats got some quality hang-out time! :)
    Also…did you finally spring for a nail gun?! I feel like you’ve been talking forever about, well, pulling that trigger! Hope you love it — it looks super shiny and, erm, nail-gun-y!

    Reply

  32. Carolyn says

    I have that anthropologie mug (with a C, obviously) and just love it. Perfect shape for warming your hands while you sip your tea. Seriously, it out-ranks all my other mugs. Totally random comment, I know. Hope you guys have a fun – and productive – weekend!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Did you see the one in there with Clara and him on the floor? He also made it into the video we made too. He slept (and ate) a lot more than the big kids, but he worked his way in there whenever he could. Haha!

      xo
      s

  36. Erica says

    Pom-pom fringe makes me giddy as well. I actually used a white strand as garland on my Christmas tree the last two years. Looks like fun whimsical little snowballs!

    Reply

  37. Tara says

    Every single tot I come across has those animal backpacks! Dare I say they are sweeping the nation with this new trend? May I ask what brand they are?

    Reply

  39. Kitty says

    I really like the pots. I think I’d like to do something similar and waterproof it for my crazy plant that is suddenly growing at 10x the rate it has for the past 3 years to be split up into more pots with :)

    The dolls furniture is too cute!

    I’m glad you finished off the tour with a trip to such good friends – the internet is amazing at bringing people together isn’t it? :-) Some of my best friends have come from blogging.

    I hope you will have time to relax and reconnect with day to day stuff now the tour is over and you’re no longer city hopping with a suitcase :) Thank you for the efforts you have gone to in this time to keep the blog content there for those of us who weren’t able to meet you in person. Coming to read your blog is my daily treat.

    Can’t wait to see how the board & batten turns out.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks so much Kitty! We’re so excited to dig back into bigger projects! Just wielding the nail gun has us beyond excited for other projects on our to-do list!
      xo
      s

  41. Bethie says

    That video is hilarious!
    And I met my current bestie online, too. It’s so odd to online date a friend before meeting them, but it is such a great way to sort out the basics before really investing in someone (ie: putting actual clothes on and getting out of the house. Haha!).

    Reply

  42. Johanna says

    Random question… what made you choose Britax instead of Graco, evenflo, safety first, etc? And how do you like it? What model is it, do you know off hand? We are going to be needing a new seat for our daughter here in a few months and have just begun looking, so I’m curious and asking everyone I know… :) thanks guys!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We go on recommends from friends + safety ratings and they all pointed to Britax so we went for it. We love it (and especially love that we knew it would fit in our small car, which we hear they don’t all do, so that’s good to look into as well). The model is called the Roundabout. Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

    • Crystal @ 29 Rue House says

      Sorry to but in and go off topic but I just wanted to add that we have two Britax Boulevards (one is the original and one is the 70) in one car and two Diono RadianRXTs(use to be Sunshine) in our other car. I have to say that I love our Dionos so much more and would love to replace the Boulevards with them someday for a variety of reasons. We started using the Dionos when one kid was about 2.5 and the other about 9 mths.

      Also – have you guys seen this information regarding the reliability of the LATCH system and changes in law on notifying parents that it isn’t guaranteed to work if weight of child + carseat combined is more than 65 pounds.

      http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/perfi/basics/story/2012-06-06/child-safety-seat-latch/55452346/1

    • Jessica says

      We have two First Years True Fit Premiers and LOVE them. The built in clip makes getting a tight install super fast and easy, I love the continuous harness system, adjusting the height without rethreading is nice and all the snaps make taking off the cover pretty simple (didn’t really appreciate that feature til our daughter threw up in the car -ew! – then it was priceless). I didnt realize how user friendly our seats were til we got a cheap Costco seat for my mom’s car. I’ve heard great things about Britax too but our daughter was trending tall and skinny and, at the time I purchased her seats, the True Fit’s top slots were about 1/2″ higher than the comparably priced Britax model.

    • Pamela says

      This thing with LATCH seems too important to ignore. Why aren’t car manufacturers required to make to make the LATCH sufficiently strong for current requirements? Also, I recently discovered that you can’t use the LATCH system in the center of the back seat on many cars (the safest place) because, instead of having a closed system for the center location you have to rely on left and right anchors from the closed systems on the two sides of the back seat. This is not safe. Again, car manufacturers should update.

  44. Laurie says

    Road trips! Our favorite thing…..we just got back from a trip to Palm Springs, just a short 4 hour road trip but I do love them ever so much. We even snuck in a one day trip to Disneyland since it is only a 90 minute drive from P.S. As for crafting, I am eyeing a leather storage bench/ottoman that our cat shredded. It is a nice solid piece so I hate to toss it just because the top looks like a cheese grater now. I am thinking of covering the lid with a cool fabric and using it in our 10 year old’s “tween room”….which is still a work in progress but coming along nicely. I am so excited to see your board and batten project. We did this a few years ago in what is now a guest bedroom and it is one of my favorite projects.

    Reply

  46. lindsay says

    the photos of the kiddos are just adorable – they are too sweet together! & what a thoughtful gift katie put together! you definitely found a great friend in her. I love reading both of your blogs & seeing them come together is so neat.

    Reply

  47. Kiki says

    I love these Bower/Petersik posts! Your families are both so cute and it’s even cuter to see that everyone is friends! Is it weird for me to say that about John and Jeremy? If it is, then Will and Clara are definitely the cutest. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, John and Jeremy are definitely friends. I catch them texting each other all the time. Hah! And John couldn’t wait to text Jer to tell him that he finally got a nail gun. Hilarious!

      xo
      s

  48. Casey says

    I love everything about this! So nice that your last tour stop could be spent relaxing with friends. Really great!

    I have a very close friend from high school who went to college several hours away and now lives out of state. Our college-boyfriends-turned-husbands became great friends over the years (I thought of this specifically because when we visit each other they usually go to a movie together). I think it’s the sweetest thing! Those are the best life-friends to have! Plus it guarantees lots of fun trips. :)

    Reply

  49. Melody Benschoter says

    Genius! We have that same monkey backpack for our daughter and I’ve always wished it were a little more girlie. Why I never thought to stick a bow on it, I don’t know. I’ve stuck bows on everything else- including her!

    Reply

  50. Jane Rhodes says

    Love everything about your blog/life/house/family! But, I’m pulling my hair out trying to go back to something I saw on here and can’t find it anywhere! Spent three days trying to find the directions on how to frame the floating art/pic that says “I Love Everything About You.” I downloaded the freebie print, but can’t find your directions…..Please help me!! Am I hallucinating that it was on here?!!!! Jane Rhodes

    Reply

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