A Choo Choooo Birthday Party

Elijah's 2nd birthday was a smashing success! Ever since Elijah went on the Durbin Rocket steam locomotive in WV this summer, he, like all other little boys, has developed a keen interest in trains. So when I found the invitation and DIY printables here and cute conductor overalls, we were off and running (my excuse for not sewing and crafting myself is the fact I'm about 14 months pregnant...ugh). We made pulled pork mini sandwiches with cucumber slaw, mac&cheese and baked beans as well as Korean beef, kimchi, shrimp skewers and mandu. The Korean food was practically inhaled by all ages, so from this point forward we will not split the bill between American and Korean food - it's one or the other! My friend Meghan of CosmoCookie provided me with the amazing vanilla and chocolate (with cinnamon!) cake recipes which were both frosted with buttercream. The gift bags consisted of wooden train whistles, red bandanas and stickers.

Thank you for all who helped celebrate!

Yarn Wreath

Check out this cute idea for a wreath posted here on Apartment Therapy. I don't have time to craft myself, but that won't stop me from making suggestions for other people!

Inspiration for a "big boy" room

The transformation from guest to "big boy" room is underway! I finished painting the walls with Serena and Lily's "Oatmeal" paint and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I decided on a red/gray/blue color palate for the bedding and went with Serena and Lily's red star sheet set, slate/bay blue cabin quilt and white bed skirt. The cute woodlands lamp was on clearance at Serena and Lily (thanks for that, Grandma!). The sweet robot alphabet print is available on Etsy. I'm looking around for a bookshelf and love the idea of the star and fabric storage bin combination (also from S&L). Something like the Boja pendant light from Ikea would be a big improvement over the current flush mount. Stay tuned...

Pickled Ramps

Our first CSA delivery arrived this week, including several vegetables we'd never encountered (sorrel, black radishes and sunchokes). Ramps are wild leeks that have to be foraged, and our farm has them growing on their land. We grilled some of the ramps this week, and pickled the rest. Here is a very easy refrigerator pickling recipe for ramps.

A Brightly Colored Desk

I bought a beige steel and formica-topped desk off of Craigslist. I like to think it came from the University of Minnesota because I found interoffice mail envelopes wedged behind the drawers. The project started in February in our one-car garage, which means the one car that used to park there was stuck navigating snowdrifts for several weeks. I sanded the desk with an electric sander rented from our local hardware store. Then I read the directions on the spray paint cans I'd bought and realized the paint couldn't be used in temps below 45 degrees.

I managed to heat the garage with a space heater sufficiently to get the primer on. But the rest of the paint wasn't finished until the end of March. Oops.

I used this DELICIOUS spray paint called Montana Gold. I want to paint everything with this stuff. It is so gorgeous and comes in over 200 colors.

I found this lovable '60s era radio (it works!) at a place called Salvage One in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, a multi-floor warehouse filled with mid-century delights. I'm looking for a dark wood lamp to round it all out. And a shelving system will go above the desk to organize my fabric, craft boxes and files.

Minnesota Onesies

Some Minnesota sweetness for cousins' babies in Wisconsin and Colorado.

Fabric Storage Bins

Now that my closets are in order, I can focus on "decorating" them. I've come across several tutorials on sewing fabric storage bins, including the few pictured below, with more styles and tutorials listed on this blog.

JCaroline Creative

Pink Penguin's fabric bin tutorial

I am deciding between some combination of Amy Butler's LOVE fabric and the numerous options from Echino. Any votes?

Amy Butler, LOVE

Echino "perch" in grape

A Closet Makeover

A laundry room should be a happy place, especially when you do roughly 17 loads a week! I reached a point a couple weeks ago where I couldn't take the mess any more and outfitted two closets with Elfa shelving (thanks, Norway). The professional installation was pricey, so I did it myself.

LAUNDRY CLOSET

There was one narrow shelf that just wasn't cutting it.

Laundry Closet (before - gasp!)

I removed the shelf and patched the walls.

I painted the walls.

Installed shelving! Ahhh...bring on the dirties.

STORAGE/PANTRY CLOSET

I tried to make due with a free-standing shelving unit, which clearly wasn't working. I was using the bar here for drying laundry which was a drag.

Pantry Closet (before - double gasp!)

I removed two old shelves (and bent my girlie hammer in the process), patched, painted and installed shelves and drawers! I look forward to opening the doors now.

Tie One On!

An apron, that is.

Several of my nieces are into American Girl dolls so I made them each an apron with a matching one for their doll. Inspired by Kit's apron, I used this vintage apron pattern and dug into my stash of fabric (the orange dots and pink lace are Amy Bulter, the pears are from Superbuzzy.com). Thanks to Mumsy who sent me oodles of bias tape and trimmings!

My oldest niece got an apron from this pattern.

Elijah's Doljabi

Elijah's traditional Korean first birthday celebration (doljabi, or dol for short) was a smashing success. One of the highlights was a game where the birthday boy chooses an object to predict his future. The typical objects are yarn (long life), rice (abundance), money (wealth) and books/pencil (scholar). We added a ball (athlete), microphone (musician) and rocket (astronaut). After much deliberation, he chose the rocket! I made his doljabi board, raffle tickets, and ballot jar labels.

I picked up these cardboard letters from the Paper Source and painted them for the cake table. I will eventually get around to putting them on a wall or shelf in his room!

The food was ridiculously good...as usual.