A Blessed Event

A Quick Calendar Fix

When school starts back I want to get ubber organized so I always get a fresh, new calendar. I have professed my love of MomAgenda before and ordered a new one for 2011-2012. There's something about putting new events and old celebrations in a blank calendar.
Anyway, my old portfolio cover for my calendar had seen better days. I thought about fixing her up with mod podge or vinyl, but then she was a little bulky to carry around.
Enter, my kindle and her case. A simple elastic band works to hold it closed, I could get some elastic, sew it together and attach it to the back of the calendar. THEN I remembered that Olivia has those elastic headbands that would be perfect and I wouldn't have to drag the sewing machine out! She helped me pick out one that I could use.

I just used a little E6000 glue on the back of the calendar, attaching the elastic. I let it dry awhile with a can of beans on top to hold it down. (By the way, this glue is fabulous! It even held together a broken pool toy!)

The elastic holds it all together so extra papers don't escape. And it is more compact to fit in my purse or school bag. It is perfect for me!

Porch Makeover

We've lived in our house for almost 7 years, time sure does fly. We love our front porch, but it needed a little updating! Here's some before shots so you can see the shutters, swing, bench, rocking chairs and the front door (with Olivia's 2nd grade awards!)

Now the porch looks fresh and so much better! Jeff replaced the green shutters with raised panel black ones (after finding out we couldn't paint over the green ones). I painted the furniture and the light fixtures with black spray paint. The front door was bleached out and needed new life, with a little Gel Stain and 3 coats later, she looks so much better. Then we found some cute pillows at Home Depot to tie everything together!





It looks wonderful and it felt great to do it all ourselves! Now, if we could just get a little break from the heat to enjoy it more!