First Day.

I can hardly believe it, summer's over. Easton + Abigail were so happy to be heading back to school. They both love to learn and were ready to sport the new clothes and shoes that have been sitting in their closets for the past few weeks.

The only tears shed were by Audrey as we were driving away from the school. She kept asking between sobs, "My Abby, where's my Abby?". I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to be a long day.

Happy First Day of School!

Summers End.

This is the last week of summer at the cozy brick house.

We'll be busy playing, planning + absorbing every last drop of summertime sunshine.

Regular craft-happy-family lovin' posting resumes next week.

Hooray!

Fresh Nest.

The very kind Deb from the amazingly informative design blog Fresh Nest, has dubbed the cozy brick house "One Fresh Nest". What does that mean? Read the interview here. Oh, and thanks again, Deb. I'm still blushing.

Book Bag.

After I made Abby's book bag, the boys requested something a bit more masculine. What could be more masculine than a moustache? Quite mysterious too, eh? Needless to say, they love it. And I love how easy it was to make. I just designed a simple moustache template out of cardstock, traced it onto the canvas tote, then pained it with black acrylic paint. Easy, peasy.

Lessons Learned.

The family took a little getaway into the mountains for a wedding.

I learned a few things while we were away.

+++

Some babies love long car rides. And some babies don't.

In a tourist town, asking $35.00 for four kids meals is completely acceptable.

Red Velvet cake with raspberry filling is divine.

When you have five children, people look at you like you're crazy.

Siblings argue. Sometimes even in their sleep.

Four year olds get car sick very quickly.

A hotel room is so much better than a travel trailer.

Whoever said "laughter is the best medicine" was totally right.

+++

The Color Infusion Project No.1

The cozy brick house needed more color, so I decided to give myself a little project. It's called

The Color Infusion Project.

The idea is to focus on spaces that lack life and personality and infuse them with happy splashes of color. The first space I wanted to tackle was the pretty built-in hutch in the dining room. This hutch is one of my favorite features of our home and was being terribly neglected by the lack of color. My collection of white cake plates, urns, and platters were blending in instead of popping. The solution? 'Fresh Basin' blue paint. All it took was half of the sample size cans offered up at Lowes. The total project set me back $2 and some change.

I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

Color Infusion Project No. 1: Success.

Up next? Upholstery.

Drive.