Monday, June 17, 2013

Mommy's vs. Mommy's :The Competition Begins

Women, We are fickle creatures huh? 
No wonder why partners are so confused, we confuse ourselves. 
We strive for connection with eachother however given the chance we alienate eachother faster than we can admit. As little girls we bond over playing house and mommy, however as soon as a we become mommies we begin to compete and judge. 
Its starts before you even realize it, i began to see it early in my pregnancy, the silly competition. It's starts small with little comments and comparisons. How long it took to get pregnant, why you decided to birth a child, silly things. We as women want to share and we vocalize it. I can't imagine how many stories of terrible pregnancy and delivery I heard. It's like a martyr fest, how much worse was my pregnancy, how I suffered to bring a person into the world. At some point I just wanted to scream, it's a damn gift! As horrible or brutal as this experience can be, it's an honor. 
I don't mean to belittle anyone's experience, I was blessed. But the reality is that women from all around the world literally give anything to have this gift. And yet we act like it's an imposition and a burden. No its not easy, very few things worth doing ever are. 
Like I said I was blessed, I got pregnant quickly, had an easy pregnancy. Yet I felt the need to explain and apologize constantly. Yes I did everything I could to have a healthy pregnancy and I was ready and focused on creating a person. I'm also good breeding stock so I expected an easy time. I soon discovered that this was not something I could share with other women. Which was something I desperately craved. I had this need to connect with other women who had been through this yet I never felt more disconnected. 
As soon as I would start a conversation about the choices I was making, the judgment started. When I decided to have a natural birth and I said so it made women who had other forms of birth uncomfortable. Each one lashed out in different ways. Some felt the need to defend themselves, some became hostile. It was almost like I was putting down how they had there children. Why?
Is it our culture? Yes. Is it our medical system? Yes. Is it just part of the female society? I think so.
Have you ever watched a group of women, we will herd together and then shun eachother. Why is this okay? Because we are too busy to stop and reflect on ourselves. 
I feel as though motherhood brings this out in us in such a harsh contrast. 
We are completely inundated with what we should do and how we should behave as mothers, or mothers to be. Unfortunately we do it to eachother. 
How much weight to gain when pregnant, what to eat, how to deliver. How fast you lose weight. Do you breastfeed or formula feed. C section, mediction or natural. Do you stay at home or work. Everyone has an opinion and shares it whether or not you want to hear it. No matter what you chose it can feel like there is no right answer.
God forbid you embrace yourself, your body or your needs. Because then your conceded or a know it all. 
Luckily I have had some reflection time as of late and I have begun to have true faith in my instincts. Over the last few years I have put effort toward thickening my skin to outside opinion and have tried to follow my heart. That has been truly tested with motherhood. Each of us know what is right.
Is it the same path? Absolutely not. 
We must as women allow ourselves to fail, to be weak, so that we can lift ourselves and eachother higher.
No matter how we have children, adoption, surrogate, delivery. We are mothers, parents and examples. It doesn't matter if you decide how or when to be a parent, we are people first. This isn't a competition, each child is different which is why each pregnancy or delivery is different. We need to come together like fibers into fabric and hold one another up, make eachother stronger, more powerful.  We have a gift, we create life. That's our greatest joy, we need to share in it and not judge so harshly each other's decisions. Support one another and stop the shaming of eachother. 
I am a tattooed, nursing, stay at home, natural birth advocate who makes her own baby food and raises goats for milk. Is this a life and choices everyone can or would make? No. However I fully support the formula feeding , c section scheduling, full time working mommy. Because she is making the same decision I am. To be a great mom, the best way she knows how. 
Viva LA Mommy

Industrial Boxes turned into Planters

Start with a basic shipping crate
(you can find them outside of  industrial buildings)
 Prep with a great coat of paint

Line with industrial plastic
(dont forget the holes for drainage)
 Mix in great soil
Plants and mulch for water
Trellis made from peach tree clippings and copper scrap wire to lash it together
Tah Dah!!

UpCycled Dresser Drawers to Planters

UpCycled Dresser Drawers

Simple change, New paint and fun knobs.
Durable plastic stapled inside.
Don't forget to add some drainage holes in the bottom!!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Updated Thrift Store Lamp Shade

Thrift store lampshade retake

So once again I forgot to take a before photo but it was just a boring beige shade. 
so before I did anything else I took it outside and spray painted the inside and outside   with a metallic spray. If the inside is doe with a reflective paint the light will be brighter.  I bought some octagonal crystals online to fix a brass lamp that was missing all the crystals. So of coarse I got extra for exactly this purpose. 


 Girl gotta have her sparkles!
I took some leftover black ribbon edging and hot glued it along the inside edge.


a little closer


I took some small silver wire and threaded it through the edging and the crystals. I didn't measure in between or the length of wire because I wanted it to look kinda shabby chic.

Once I had them all along the edge I added some rhinestones along the top edge to finish it off.


Turned it on and if I say so it turned about pretty rad.




Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Christmas Yarn Wreath


Yarn Christmas Wreath

Putting a new spin on an old classic. My mom made yarn wreaths in the seventies and I wanted to make one for myself but the loops and ornaments are a little outdated.. 
I read a great idea on pintrest about using a pool noodle as a frame work for a wreath. this was a great time to try it out. Duct tape works wonders. 
Once i turned it into a circle i started wrapping.  Hours later I took some strings of beads and wrapped them around the yarn with a little help from my glue  gun. 
Some left over Red velvet Fabric turned into a bow finished it up.




Home and Garden Show Ideas


Great ideas from the home and garden show

nautical globes with rope coverings 


Succulents planted on the wall
moss and soil inset w mesh wire to hold it in. 


Fountain styled after a still. cool copper coil transports water

top of a chicken coop planted with flats of wheat grass on the roof



Framed wooden steps filled with sand  and pebbles. 
Would be great outside a pool or jacuzzi to keep dirt out of the water.


Plant markers made from forks.
It would work great if the paper was laminated.


Really cool mosquito curtains put on pipes along the edge of  pergola or awning.
Makes it look like an extra room.



Tree planter filled with decorative grasses to fill in the top.


Upcycled Slide planted with Elysium and petunias with pipes running underneath to get the water from the pond to cycle through and water the plants.


Kids playhouse with planted roof for insulation

Potted vines grown together over trelles'. would be perfect to separate parking from        lounging area  in a small yard.


Making a pond look gooddd

Making a Pond Look Good
Craigslist makes alot of work in  our house. Sometimes you can find amazing deals but then you have to do something with it. When we bought our house I started missing the frogs from our last house. My husband had a brilliant idea and came home with a pond liner for about a third of the price of the depot stores.  Once he dug it in and filled it I started thinkin that it just didn't look finished. He took the pump and put it inside a sprinkler housing and sunk it next to the liner. Bender Board around the outside edge to separate it from the ice plant.




Molly Malone keeping us company on a trip for supplies.
Play sand works great and its super cheap!!!!


After sinking the pump and lines, I put a flagstone on top to create a ledge for a little palm in a pot.

Flagstone is pretty cheap if you find a rock  and stone supplier and you can pick each piece.
We placed the stones around the ring of the pond and stacked small stones around the bending board to make it blend in a little better. 
Play sand to fill in between the stones and edging.


Stacking the stones to make a fountain was harder than you think.
The finished product was definitely worth it. Before we knew it frogs had moved in and now I have a great chorus in the spring.


Upcycled Cork Boards

Upcycled Cork Boards
Simple Jewelry Displays. Wether in your room or...


Or used to make them more sellable.



It's super simple. Fabric wrap the board, tape or staple the fabric to the back. Use small size ribbon pinned to the cork with push pins to create strait horizontal lines. Add pins along the length so the ribbon doesnt droop with the weight. If you want to hang necklaces or bracelets just use push pins with heads to hang off of. 




Bedside stands updated

During a recent family move my sister was getting rid of these drawers that she was using as craft storage. My bedroom is exactly that. A bed-room, my cali king size bed pretty much overwhelms the room but hey that's what its for right? so anywho I have been lookin for some side stands that will hold a little more and will use a little more vertical space. My wonderful dremel and some spray paint made a huge difference in the layers of paint. Some cute drawer pulls from Michael's sale bin and here ya go.

Before


After
My husbands stand, notice simple drawer instructions. Just kidding babe! :)




Monday, April 1, 2013

Upcycled Kitchen Pot rack from an Old Window frame!

Kitchen Pot rack fabulousness!


     So during my kitchen remake (not remodel cause that happens quickly and with money) I ran into the normal issue of no money and need of a potrack to help w/ space and storage issues. After browsing pintrest and getting some ideas I went outside and started digging through the piles of cool stuff I have collected. With an old broken window frame from a shed my husband tore down. It began.

 Clean it and Masking Tape the glass
 prep and paint, I decided to make it bright and contrasting w my steel blue wall
 My space between the sink and the fridge. Told u I needed more space.
 A quick trip to ikea (2 dollar bars) and the hardware store (ten dollars in chain and hooks)


And Voila! Works awesome!