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I’m calling it…

Posted by Kristin Rauch in family | home | luke | Thrifted | vintage - (3 Comments)

The living room is done… for now. ;) It is finally to a point where I am 99% happy with it and can sit back and enjoy it instead of constantly seeing little and big things that I want to change.

As you can see I went with the stripe Olin Rug from Crate and Barrel. I loved several of the rugs from this post that I asked you all what you would do, but after my hubby nixed a couple and I factored in cost I went with this striped one to hold me over until I find something that is absolutely perfect. I do like it a lot and it may stick around. It’s currently sitting on top of the old rug for padding since it’s just a flat weave. I do have my heart set on finding a thicker plusher rug someday. But I also realize we may have a bigger living room if/when we move someday so we would need something bigger. Oh the rug drama continues… :) seriously though why are rugs sooo hard for me to find.. at least within my budget constraints. ;)

I still have to fill that last frame above the seatee. Baby Norah is soon to be born, 3 weeks and counting, so I will put her picture in there. One of my ongoing projects is slowly collecting vintage letters to hang above those three frames. I also am still absolutely loving my new chair! I can’t believe I waited so long to get it covered.  The fabric is by premier prints and I got it last fall from Fabric.com.

Luke’s little table area. I have another matching chair in the basement for Norah. But I also have been crushing on these chairs from The Land of Nod. So you never now what could happen If I spot a couple at our local outlet. (yes we are that lucky to have a crate and barrel and land of nod outlet nearby)

Luke’s radio flyer bike I thrifted so long ago fits perfectly under the table…. which is good since he has way to many ride on toys that don’t have a good place to be stored. :)

My globe collection… I still want to find a black globe. I think they are called galaxy globes. The land of Nod bins are still wonderful and holding up great.

The finished sofa! Yay! It’s a little slouchy, which I can tweak with making some of the seams smaller. no biggie, just a time issue. It is so much better looking than the beige ill fitting slipcover it had before. I do dream of a white sofa someday though. So maybe when our kids are bigger and we wouldn’t have to wash it every week….

So that’s that! I am happy it’s at a great point before Norah gets here as I hate having the itch to do things and no time or energy to do them. Which I know I won’t have much of either for awhile. :)

So now onto getting that back yard finished…..

Oh and I may have my new sewing space storage wall to share next week. It’s awesome! I just need to take pictures.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 

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InstaFriday

Posted by Kristin Rauch in family | home | luke - (1 Comments)

It’s Friday! Are you excited? I am! Being the weekend means I have completed my 3 hour Glucose test (awful), that we have made it a work week through potty training (going okay), and that we are a work week through our Month of No Sugar (I am craving Chocolate a lot today).

Linking up with Jeanette today over at Life Rearranged.

Luke’s Easter Basket + Car / Easter Best – H&M pants, shirt, vest, Bowtie by me, Childrens place shoes /We started potty training – the first two days where awful. But once we figure out a timer for every 15-20 minutes it started to click. He can now go a bit longer 20-30 minutes depending on his liquid consumption. I’m hoping he will start telling us he has to go soon

He asked me out of the blue to see himself on the phone camera eating a banana, how could I not oblige / My Husband and I are 5 days into the no sugar and aside from a syrupy sweet glucose test drink this morning we are both cheat free. :) I am getting my sweet fix from lots of fruit and smoothies, I still am really craving chocolate though / This year Luke is bigger and apparently he learned how to climb ladder like things super well

He loves to mow and if I could trust him with a real mower it would be on ;) /He also likes to dig and is better at scooping dirt from one pile to another than he is at scooping food into his mouth ;) / New fabrics I received today from Pink Castle Fabrics sale – LOVE -

 

A fun and light of pictures week – potty training and no sugar will apparently do that.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

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Easter Fun

Posted by Kristin Rauch in blog | Craftiness | family | home | luke - (2 Comments)

Easter was fun this year. Luke has no expectations about anything yet but can still join in the fun. My Parents came into town for a couple days to give me a little free time and enjoy Luke before Easter so that was really nice too. My Dad is a pastor so they didn’t stay through Easter but anytime with them is always a blessing.

We went to a local Church Easter Egg Hunt since our Church took the year off from hosting one.

Luke met the Easter Bunny! No fear in him. He just leaned in for a rather loooong hug. :)

It was a really funny to watch him “find” the eggs. He filled his basket half full twice and proceeded to dump them out twice while running and jumping around. It didn’t phase him at all and there where so many eggs that he still managed to fill it up a third time before we left. I think the turning point came when one broke open accidentally and he realized there was candy in it. We don’t allow sweets or treats very much at all and I suppose he thought he would get to eat it all. One piece made it in the mouth and the rest was confiscated. :)

The Easter Bunny was attacked mid hunt when Luke abandoned his basket and ran towards the bunny saying he wanted to hug him. He was rewarded for his persistence.  And as we were walking towards the car, after the hunt to find a park, he told me he just wanted to hug the bunny one more time. He cracks me up!

I whipped this little bunny up the night before Easter using this Pinterest Pin the Original source ( that I can tell) is completely in Japanese? It was super simple and fast, and was passed over pretty quickly for the bulldozer and car. But I wouldn’t change making it for my little man.

He thought it was pretty cool to come downstairs to his basket and car. I am thankful for his innocence and naivety, I hope I can help him keep that, or just be super grateful for what he does get in future years.  I found the cool car at a local resale I do about a month ago and have keep it hidden till now. Since his birthday and Christmas are kind of far away we decided to give him the car for Easter.

And here is my little man in his Easter Outfit. Complete with a mommy made bowtie and a fresh haircut. Man I love that kid.

 

How was your Easter? I Hope it was a wonderful day filled with Family and remembering the amazing sacrifice Jesus made for us.

 

This week we are potty training! Also David and I are embarking on a sweet / sugar based food free month.  I am totally inspired by what Jami from thenatos has been doing since the beginning of Lent and decided that I needed to do this and try and make better choices for my health.

Wish my good luck as cutting sugar and potty training together while 6+ months pregnant might just be the end of me. ;)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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Instagram love

Posted by Kristin Rauch in blog | family | home | luke | Quilting - (3 Comments)

I guess I blog through instagram lately! :)

New Toms for Luke and I (Luke’s first pair) / Finally got Liberty Love (it’s Amazing – go buy it) / Luke offering me his after nap snack

the yummiest sandwich pitas – Brownberry I think – / Luke fell in the mud, all I could do was laugh since we were at the park with no diaper bag ( he got striped down before getting in the car) / relaxing

My single girl quilt is quilted / having an impromptu birthday party / a motor train with friends

Luke posing with his Lego excavtor / My single girl quilt finally finished ( I will blog about it soon along with how much I love my Janome) / Luke and I (mainly I) made our first apple pie

Luke and Daddy at the Circus to watch his Uncles’ perform /  I started Norah’s quilt inspired by this lovely Dear Lizzy arrow paper

Stop by Life Rearranged and check out all the lovely Instagramers. I’m linking up are you?

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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around here lately…

Posted by Kristin Rauch in baby | blog | family | home | luke | Toddler Time - (2 Comments)

Lately we’ve been hanging out at home a lot more. I’m tired a lot! :) But growing a human will do that to you.  Lucky Charms have been a staple in our diet lately. I crave cereal, and only eat it when I’m pregnant, this time around it’s Lucky charms. Hmm…now I want some lucky charms. ;)

Luke got his first taste not to long ago and has started requesting them for breakfast. :) I indulge him occasionally. He’s getting really good at drinking the milk at the end.

 

But even though we are taking it slower lately I do have some things to share later this week. A tutorial, a single girl quilt, and hopefully I can get a post up about my project life this week or next, a project that I am seriously loving. See you later this week!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Roadway Quilt

Posted by Kristin Rauch in Craftiness | family | home | luke | Quilting | Thrifted | vintage - (2 Comments)

Most of the quilts I make end up being gifts. But I have made several that hang around our house. A couple in the living room, one of the foot of our bed for our feet, and one for Luke’s crib. Which I realize after typing that is only 4 actual quilts in our house that I have made. I have gifted over twice as many as I have kept. Hmm.. I guess that’s good. ;)

But anyway…. when we are in the living room cuddling, or “pretend” napping Luke gives us each our own quilt. Since there are three of us it doesn’t always work out. ;) So I made Luke a patchwork quilt for the living room.

 

I used mainly Lotta Jansdotter’s Bella Line. Not all the prints, but most. I added in a couple Kona solids.  Don’t hold me too these colors, but I think they are Kona, Buttercup, Carribean, and Coal, and bound in Ash. I can’t remember specifically if these are the colors, but I think so. ;)

I cut 6.5″ squares and used 1/4″ seams as usual for a final measurement of 4′ x 5′.

 

For the back I used a polka dot sheet I used and added some roads onto the back for Luke to play on. Isn’t that such a great idea? Lindsey from That’s what Lindsey said did this on the back of one of her quilts for her son and should it to me via Instagram. So awesome! :)

I quilted it with zig zags using the points of the squares as my guide. Super fast and simple especially on a smaller quilt.

He like’s it! :)

 

This is the first quilt I have made that is purely squares in a random layout. It was super fast and I finished this in two short night sessions and one naptime. I need to make more simple quilts. :)

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Instagram Weekly

Posted by Kristin Rauch in blog | Craftiness | Gifts | home | luke | vintage - (2 Comments)

… or not so weekly.

But this week I am on the ball and linking up with Jeanett from Life Rearranged. Go check out all the lovely instagramers that link up!

 

 

perched in his “spot”  / sharing my #honestcraftroom – the “clean” half / sitting still for once

okay okay #honestcraftroom – the messy side / laying at the beach / working a ton of getting caught up with Project Life after I got my kit

a sneak peek at the baby quilt /somebody got a haircut and apparently aged several years too / playing outside in the heatwave 50 degrees

This finished baby quilt / “I’m going to leave my pants down for a few minutes” / testing some quilting out – I think it’s a keeper

received my amazing package from my swap partner Kelley from Casa Crafty – so generous / Blowing kisses to daddy / luke circa 10.5 months old – where did the time go?

So that was a busy week! :) I hope your week was lovely as well.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

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A place for Books

Posted by Kristin Rauch in blog | family | home | luke - (2 Comments)

This little dude likes to read a lot.

He is gaining quite a collection of books since his birthday and Christmas are both in the same month. I will often buy him a book when we visit a thrift store too. We have drawers full and a pile in the living room, and then a large bucket full that used to sit on his ottoman next to his chair.  The bucket full was beginning to be a problem, He would only pick the two books on top and ignore the books he had to dig for. So I had to come up with a solution. I saw someone on my IG feed use cool metal wire like plant holders in her daughters room, and of course the IKEA spice racks (out of stock at my local IKEA till mid February), and a couple neat homemade racks too. I would more than likely have used the IKEA spice racks had they been in stock, so glad they weren’t. :)

My final solution, the same galvanized planters from west elm that I used here in my wrap station. I can’t find them on there site, but I just bought these last week at my local West Elm and they had plenty. They work great, so far. :) They don’t have any sharp edges, they fit pretty perfectly in that space, and they hold a lot.

As soon as I hung them, with Luke’s ever hovering help, he went right over and started reading books he hasn’t touched since before Christmas. Win Win.

His favorite Books right now: anything Richard Scarry – Busytown and anything Curious George are his top picks, but he also likes anything construction related, and a flag golden book – he now knows he is an American and can point out American flags, cracks me up.  :)

This little reading nook will be staying once baby #2  moves in. We use it multiple times a day and there’s not much else you can put in front of a window. We will definitely be changing a bunch of other stuff up and moving things around since they will be sharing. I also plan on using the same color scheme of navy, gray, white, with hints of teals and yellow. If we have a girl I will just add some coral or pink to her area by the crib. I am kind of excited to transform this room a little but it will wait for a while since we will be keeping Luke in his crib as long as possible.

How do you store your kids books? I would love to see your solutions! I have to find a better one for downstairs now. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

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Lock it & Latch it

Posted by Kristin Rauch in blog | Craftiness | family | home | luke | Toddler Time - (2 Comments)

Luke loves to figure things out, he is constantly asking what’s that noise, what does that do, how does that work, and don’t get me started on things he can open, latch, tinker with. I am not sure if this is a normal toddler thing or boy thing as he’s my first but it makes for some fun and dangerous times. :)

So….I made him a latch board. I have wanted to make one for the past year for him but after seeing Young House Love’s they made their daughter this year I put it on the top of the New Year’s list.  Young House Love’s DIY is super comprehensive so if you are looking for detailed pictures of the actual process check out there post.

I simply grabbed some of the cabinet grade finished plywood I had left over from Luke’s train table and cut it down to 23″wide x 30″ tall. I then sanded the heck out of it reducing my sandpaper grit a couple times to make sure it was super smooth with no splinter possibilities since I am not planning on sealing it.  Once it was smooth and ready to go I marked out the strips and used Frog Tape (seriously amazing) and taped off the stripes. I rubbed all the edges of the tape nice and good so there was no bleeding.

Once the stripes where dry (two coats Martha Stewart craft paint in satin Meadowlark) I laid out all my latches and handles and screwed them all down.  I used  a couple Utility Handles, Key Locking Hasp, Barrel Bolt, Gate Hook and Eye, Adjustable Staple Hinge Hasp, Sash Lock, Door Chain, Several Carabiners, and Screw Eyes. I found some in my miscellaneous junk and bought the rest at Home Depot. There is probably a ton of other stuff you can use.

I had it sitting out for him when he came downstairs one morning and he played with it for a good 30 minutes straight. Several days later he is still loving it. It will be mounted to a wall in his play area in the basement and the top stripe is empty because I am going to add numbers across the top.

 

Have you made a latch or gadget board for your munchkin? Leave me a link so I can check it out.

I have several boards pinned on my Luke Danger Board on Pinterest if you would like to check out some others for inspiration.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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Seek

Posted by Kristin Rauch in blog | family | Goals | home | luke | New Year - (1 Comments)

I started this year with one little word as my guide: Seek     I have seen scrapbookers use this method to motivate their year and have always loved the idea but never done it. This year I thought I would try it out.  So I thought and thought and finally settled on Seek.

Psalm 9:10
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord , have never forsaken those who seek you.

This year I want to seek God more and improve me personal relationship with him because the last couple years I have been way to lax and excused my laziness with being a new mother. But there are no excuses in my book for not working on my relationship with God.  So I strive to seek God and His plans for my life as best I can.

 

This year I want to seek myself. In that I want to find my niche, be confidant in myself, body image, personality, beliefs, everything, and that will take some seeking to get there because I always had issues with confidence and knowing exactly who I am. I don’t know if I will get to the point of being perfectly myself as we are always changing and nobodies perfect. I would like to start down that path of loving myself and being happy with what I am and where I am currently instead of always dreaming of what could be.

This year I want to seek how to make these last months as a family of three memorable and also seek out how to be a great mother as we transition into being a family of four. My husband and I fully believe our children are the Lords and He has intrusted them to us to care for, love, and raise them in a Christ like manner. I haven’t been doing the best job on being a fun and Christ like mom lately with feeling so awful with this pregnancy but I am hoping to seek out how to find that balance for the rest of my pregnancy, and continue it throughout the year.

This year I want to seek out simplicity. I have to much stuff. :) To put it simply! ha. I would like to declutter, detach myself from stuff, and get rid of things. This also stretches to organizing and being on top of things like meal planning, activities and such. I am relatively organized but I like pretty things and my crafting, thrifting, vintage loving self has issues with leaving things behind. ;) So seeking simplicity is a must this year as our family expands.

Seek.

Do you have a word this year? I would love to hear about it or just your goals.

The photos in this post have nothing to do with my word of the year. I did the 10 on 10 and haven’t got to post them yet. But as you can see it was a lazy day at home. ;) One of the best ways to spend your day.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

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