it’s been.

it’s been one of those weeks.

one of those weeks where you head into it knowing it’s going to be crazy. and you’re right—but not for the reasons you’re expecting.

your to-do list is a joke: more things piled in each day than can possibly be done. but you have high hopes. #unrealistic
there’s a big weekend coming—dresses to sew and please PLEASE finally finish the boy’s suit. maybe? there’s etsy shop orders to do and finish and ship for patiently waiting customers.

and then…

then your dad goes to the hospital sunday night. and there’s talk of emergency surgery and things are up in the air.

and then things start settling down. probably he’ll be okay. probably rest and medicine will make it better for now, and the surgery can happen later on a non-emergent basis.

and so you breath a sigh of relief. and head down to the cafeteria for a snack because you’re one of those people who secretly actually kind of love hospital food.

and then…

then a 14 year old, who’s story you’ve been following for a while now, succumbs to the cancer that’s been plaguing her for five years. 
and you don’t know her personally…but does that matter?

when you’re sitting in the hospital room with your dad and your phone dings a new message and you see what it is—a notification from a caring bridge site--and you instantly dread opening it because you know—you JUST KNOW—what it is…yeah, it’s been one of those weeks.

because even if you didn’t actually know her, she’s a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL for cryin’ out loud and she should be playing with her sister and talking about boys and laughing and having sleepovers and not DYING FROM CANCER.

and then…

and then it hits closer. because someone you DO know personally—a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a good woman who has been battling her own battle for over a year now also succumbs.

and that’s what this is really about. 

…

today it’s been one of those days. this week has been one of those weeks.

my silly to-do list made me chuckle when i saw it on the fridge this evening. because it was done for by tuesday, when my brain packed it’s bags and took a brief hiatus. it hit the high road and all i could do was untangle yarn.

literally.

three hours spent sitting at my dining room table, untangling yarn, with only my thoughts as company.

by wednesday i was spent. it’s been one of those weeks that by hump day i didn’t even have words left—me, who has too many words all of the time. and i had to ask my husband to pray the words i couldn’t come up with anymore.

today it was over.

tonight in line at walmart i turned to jeremy and said i feel the need of a good cry.

i need a cleansing cry.

it’s been one of those weeks, you know.

…

my daddy will be okay. he will most likely be released tomorrow. we brought him balloons and watched his tiny tv with him yesterday.

but i’m thinking now of a family without a wife and mother tonight. a woman who is me in ten short years. her children a little older, her marriage a little longer. she was kind and funny and although we weren’t best friends she was a friend, and her passing has put an ache in the middle of my chest that literally physically hurts. the last time i spoke with her she was weak. and tired. and sad. and she told me to enjoy every minute with my babies. and she told me that she would give anything to be where i was—young, happy, with health and life ahead of me. but then she told me how thankful she was though that she’s older now, and that her children aren’t babies anymore. because at least she got to raise them this far and how much more difficult would this be if her children were still babies?

how do you answer that?

it’s been one of those weeks. my prayers have turned to thankfulness for my father, and comfort for grieving families.

if you’ll excuse me, i need some chocolate now.

what comes before the overalls.

i was 20 years old when guinevere was born. i had been around babies my whole life—including a little brother born when i was 16. i think was fairly experienced as far as new moms go. but clothes…ugh. we didn’t know what gender was coming, so i stocked up on “neutrals”. i was convinced she was a boy though, and so four days after she was born i hit the mall because all my “neutral” clothes had a decidedly boyish look and my post-partum self rejected them outright.

i squished her tiny baby body into the most adult-looking things—button down shirts and jeans for crying out loud and even spent $20 on the tiniest pair of shoes that fit her 2 week old feet. because a 2 week old baby, in june, definitely needs shoes. 

poor harrison was in a tiny tie at two weeks, and ava—oh ava. casted on her right leg from thigh to toes, i still put a SHOE on her left foot a couple of times. until i got sick of people stopping me in the store to tell me i’d lost the other shoe.

i thought it was SO CUTE.

4 kids and 12 years later i’d like to think that my sensibilities have become more…err..sensible. i roll my eyes so hard at the 20 year old me, and i’ve finally realized that babies and toddlers just want to be comfortable and GASP! look just as adorable in loose cotton onesies and bare piggy toes. gigi and elliot were the beneficiaries of their older siblings’ sufferings. (sorry guys. it’s the truth.) it’s comfy one pieces and jeggings around here now—no jeans that dig into their fat roly-poly baby bellys. bare feet until they need shoes, and a blessing on whomever invented the tights with printed-on shoes for little girls.

in this vein i’ve discovered a new love—the overall. it started with the whale print jumper i did for elliot, and then i saw a pair of ridiculously cute overalls worn by little miss nella of enjoying the small things and i COULDN’T GET THEM OUT OF MY HEAD.



so i finally—stubbornly—worked out my own pattern for a similar pair. it took three muslins and numerous fittings sponsored by fruit snacks and cheese sticks to get the major bugs worked out but in the end i have an overall pattern i stinkin’ love. (and if you follow me on instagram you got a play by play)


i did the final product in a soft camel colored corduroy, lined with this adorable “little apples” moda print and topped with two wooden buttons.





these also got a big pocket on the front for holding her treasures and red contrast stitching.



i love that the ruffle on the shoulders makes them girly without being too chi-chi…if that even makes sense. which i’m not sure it does but read the sentence out loud and maybe you’ll understand what i’m trying to say.
 

this is called “haha i’m running away, and trying to close the door on you.”

they’re so comfy on her that it took three tries and close to an hour to get a handful of usable photos. she’s wiggling and climbing and moving non-stop, which may be because she’s 18 months old (whaaaa. when did that happen?) but i’d like to think it’s because finally, FINALLY i’ve learned how to dress my baby.

and this one is called “why yes, i do think my life depends on my not making eye contact with you. thankyouverymuch.”

moss covered letter {tutorial}

this is super complicated stuff. so complicated that i’m sure this particular blog post will be recieving hits for years to come.

i mean, cover a cardboard letter? in MOSS? from the DOLLAR STORE????

googiemomma: blazing new trails in the world of cheap crafting. get on board or get left behind.

all kidding aside--this trash came out super cute, and has held up surprisingly well considering this door gets opened and slammed approximately 1.5 billion times per day by little hands not renowned for their delicacy.

at one point in this home decorating adventure i had collected a bunch of k’s, painted them gold and hung them on the living room wall. that phase passed, but i was left with many golden k’s scattered through the house.

sounds like a cereal, doesn’t it? enjoy new GOLDEN K’s! nutritious and delicious!

anyway, you can get the cardboard letters in all different shapes, sizes and fonts at any craft store, and with the ubiquitous 40% coupon they’re not too pricey.

mine was already painted gold, as explained, which isn’t totally necessary but definitely doesn’t hurt. you are going to see some of the letter if you look closely, so a quick slap of paint isn’t a bad idea. green or brown or gold or maybe black.

the moss is from the $1 store. i bought two bags—one goes surprisingly far. that junk practically explodes when you open the bag, like some sort of dried fungus bomb.

what’s missing from this photo is the elmer’s glue. i initially thought the glue gun was the way to go. turns out the base coats with elmer’s glue was better.

also missing is the disposable foam paintbrush for spreading the glue.

oh, and the clear spray i sealed it with at the end.

okay, so my supplies photo is virtually worthless. just admire how visually pleasing the arrangement of items is, and how dramatic the shadows are and then move on.

a quick word: this isn’t hard, but it is time consuming because i let each layer of moss dry for 12+ hours before doing the next one. you’re pretty committed. and the moss gets everywhere. so pick a spot to do this where you can just let it be for a couple of days. you know—like the middle of your kitchen counter, which is where i did it. :/

o1 drizzle the glue.
o2 spread the glue.
o3 smush on the moss.
o4 allow to dry completely.
o5 take it outside and shake and brush it off. you’re going to lose a LOT of your moss. better now then when it’s hanging on your front door, right?
o6 glue again, in all the spots that are bald/sparse.
o7 smush more moss.
o8 allow to dry again.
o9 take outside and brush it off again. pay attention to making sure the crevices are free of moss. you want to keep it looking like a letter, right?

at this point you may be fairly well covered. i did the whole process with elmer’s glue in the bald spots a third time before moving on.

the last few bare spots i hit with the glue gun and stuck some moss on. after three rounds there were just a couple places that needed a bit more, and i was ready to not have a fine layer of moss on my kitchen counter.

i hot glued some black grosgrain ribbon to the back and hung it on the front door.

i have one of these cheap wreath hangers:

it could be spray painted, but turns out it’s exactly 1” wide, the same width at the ribbon i used on my letter. since the glue gun was already hot…

 

 

 

 

 

 

that right there could be the crafter’s motto:

“since the glue gun was already hot…”

and there you have it.

 

after it hung for a day i decided to spray it with some clear sealer i had. it didn’t change the look much at all except to make it a little shiny (it was a gloss, which is why i hesitated using it at first) and i kind of like that. it sealed it up nicely and pretty much none of the moss has fallen off in the couple of weeks it’s been hanging!

$2 for the moss, probably about $4 for the letter, the rest of it i had. compared to these, at $79 a pop…whelp, looks like i saved myself a cool $73.
i call that #winning