25 Things All About Me?!

1. It's almost 2am and I should be either cleaning or sleeping, but here I am holding my sleeping baby and typing.

2.Lots of people say their first impression of me is that I'm stuck up and intimidating. So not cool.

3. I once got a lawn mower "stuck" in reverse and I went round and round under a volleyball net, in front of my (then) boyfriend. I still wince when I think of it.

4. I'm a night owl.

5. My biggest fear in life is something happening to one of my kids.

6. I have a freckle on the very end of my big toe. Check for it if you ever need to I.D. me.

Just trying to help out.

7. My nose randomly surprises me by dripping.
Super fast drippings.

8. I still like playing Lego's.

9. I am a born again Christian and hope that my boys will see the Love Of God through my life every day.

10. I am super embarrassed for ANYONE to see our garage right now.
It looks like someone thought it was a salt shaker. Our backyard is pretty face flaming as well.
 I promise we only have 3 kids! (they each happen to have 17 ride-on toys though)

11. I collected slugs in a large bucket as a young girl. All.The.Time.

12. I could never say no to a dare when I was younger if it involved me making money. (getting slug slime off your tongue is almost impossible BTW)

13. I'm a WWII history lover.

14. I love to write fiction but don't have the time anymore.

15. I love to hunt and fish!

16. Listening to my boys converse is one of my favorite pastimes.

17. I used to wear ugly clothes just to try and annoy my older sisters. It worked some of the time:-)

18. Speaking of clothes... Not much of a fashion queen here. Wish I had a personal shopper because I dislike shopping for clothing.

19. I ate oatmeal raisin cookies for breakfast and lunch today. That's it. My mum would be so proud.

20. I could count on one hand the times I've gotten to sleep through the night in the last five years.

Bless my dear children:-)

21. I collect old milk bottles but have no idea what to do with them.

22. I can hardly type this...I HATE fingernails on a chalkboard. HATE, in a bone chilling, shivery, earache kinda way.

23. My hair has been to my ankles before.

24. I am four years older than my husband. Would marry him again in a heartbeat.

25. I think I talk too much about myself cause I had no problem thinking these up:-) (did I mention that most people think I'm quiet? Before they get to know me)

I'm linking on up here!

Baby Bedding - All Questions Answered!

First of all, thanks to all of you great commenters for the sweet little notes you left for me. I appreciated all the feedback after all my "hard" work:-)

I actually had quite a few questions about how I made the bedding, what I used and all that, so I thought I would answer them all in one big ol' post.

Image from laylagrace.com

WHAT KIND OF MATERIAL DID YOU USE?
As you can see in my (above)inspiration photo, the fabric is linen. Ahhh, love it! Didn't really think it was pratical for a baby, and I didn't have the $$ to spend on it. One friend suggested using the Lenda curtain panels from Ikea. That is a great idea because these curtains really look like linen and they are super cheap. Only problem is that Ikea isn't on my way to or from anything, and I couldn't find any in the light beige on Ebay, so I moved on... I ended up using natural colored muslin from JoAnn Fabrics. It was on sale for $3.50 or so a yard so it worked for me! (by the way, you can find this fabric in the quilt backing section)

HOW MUCH FABRIC DID YOU USE?
Another very good friend reccomend 10 yards and I trusted her. 10 yards was perfect! I also have a bit left over for a few other small things I'm working on.

WHAT PATTERN DID YOU USE?
I cheated and used my old crib set. I recovered my existing bumper (it's one looong piece, no sections) and used the skirt as a guide for my new skirt. I did make the new skirt a little longer though, it has a 14 inch drop instead of 12 inch like the old one.
Make sure you don't forget to sew in ties too!(I used ribbon so I wouldn't have to make all those ties)

HOW DID YOU MAKE THE RUFFLES?
I had never gathered anything on my own with a machine (always did it by hand) so I had to ask my mom about "how to". It is super easy and very time consuming when you gather 30 yards of material like I did for this project. All you do is set your machine to make a long stitch. I set mine as long as it would go. Then you back stitch one end so that you don't end up pulling all your thread out. Once you have stiched the length you want (remember when you gather something it will "shrink" down by half or more) grab the top thread and start pulling and sliding your gathers down.

Also, to give them the tattered look then I figured out how wide I wanted them, made a small cut with my scisors and then ripped the rest of the way. Pull a few more strings off to "fray" it a little more. You also may want to stitch along the frayed part to keep it from fraying any further. I "frayed" both sides of my ruffles.

There you have it. Any other questions? Feel free to leave a comment or email me!

Don't forget that Daylight Savings starts this weekend!!!! I can't keep from smiling just thinking about it. Turn those clocks forward and enjoy your extra hour of light.
Have a great weekend!

You Can Still Vote On Your Favorite Pick Out Of The TOP 5 We Can Do It Cheaper Projects!

FAQ'S

Over the course of this year I've gotten several questions about different things. The time has come to heed them!

So here are the answers I've come up with. If you have any other question that you don't see the answer to here, then please leave a comment letting me know and I'll try to answer it as well!

WHAT COLOR IS THE BOYS BATHROOM?

As you can tell, it was a custom color. I think I had found a paint color I liked at Wal-Mart and had it matched at Home Depot. I love the color! It's a perfect "sea" color since it's blue with just a touch of green and gray. You can read more about the bathroom makeover here and here.

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BOYS BEDROOM?

As you can see it is called "Trout Stream" and I did it in flat. (I normally use Eggshell, but liked it in flat here) I have started using Home Depot's Behr+Primer. Love it!! Read more about the bedroom makeover here.

DID YOU PUT ANYTHING ON THE WALL BEFORE ADDING BOARD AND BATTEN?

No. In both the boys bathroom and bedroom we just did it right over the textured walls. You hardly notice it and being as so many have asked... Well, they hardly notice it either!

HOW HIGH DID YOU DO YOUR BOARD AND BATTEN?
To figure out the height I wanted I just stood there and pointed. Helpful huh? Really it does not matter. I knew that I wanted both rooms to be fairly high, but not so high as to mess up my picture heights. One room is about 56 inches and the other around 53 or so. It's really a personal decision so there is really no "wrong" height!

HOW DID YOU DO YOUR POOL HOUSE FLOOR?

I've gotten more comments on this than anything else. You can read all about it here and here.

HOW DO YOU FIND THE TIME TO DO EVERYTHING?
Hmmm.... I don't. No one can do "everything". I am very lucky to have an attached garage so the boys come out there and play while I work on stuff. During the summer then they live in the pool and I often sit on the side and paint while I watch them. Other than that, I'm really a home body and hate to shop, so I stay home a LOT and can get more stuff done that way. Sadly I let other projects take away from my laundry project and at any given time you can find a pile of laundry waiting to be folded.

WHERE IN VIRGINIA DO YOU LIVE?
I don't. At least not anymore. I was born and raised in Richmond, VA. I lived there till I was nineteen then I struck out on my own (with the help of many friends) and moved in with a cousin in Burleson, TX. I have since then gotten married and had two wonderful little boys and still live in the Fort Worth Texas area.
Virginia will always be very dear to me and all but one of my 5 brothers and sisters as well as my parents and grandparents still live in Richmond and Charlottesville Virginia so we visit often. My parents also passed on the middle name of Virginia to me from my grandmother, so when I was thinking of names for my blog I chose "The Virginia House" in honor of my home state and my name as well as the sense of deep history the name invokes.
I love living in Texas though and don't plan on leaving it! There is something about this place that seeps into your soul and fills it with pride!

That's all I have for now! Thank you for your interest!