We’re Two Weeks Old

The chicks are two weeks old today!!  I can’ believe it.  Well Raven (the black) will be two weeks on Tuesday, she was hatched a few days later.

Here are some pics of our growing babies.  Most of the fuzz on their wings is gone now, replaced by beautiful soft feathers.  I’ve also been researching plans for a chicken coop which they will need to be in by July 1st. 

You can see Chirpie and Lillys wings really well now.  Chirpie has the speckled wings and Lillys are white.  However Lilly is supposed to turn a beautiful silver/grey at some point, not sure when.  They are really starting to develop little personalities.  Chirpie is stand offish and the largest girl in the bunch.  Lilly is super sweet and passive.  And raven is definitely the baby of the bunch.  Loves to be coddled and is a jabber jaw.  Here are some shots of them on their backs.  They go into a sort of short lived trance when you lay them on their back and stroke their bellies lol.  It’s really quite cute!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

~Sommer

Baby Chicks

Well I’ve gone and done it again.  My impulsive behavior along with insatiable love for baby animals (well all animals really) has won again!  I posted on FB recently that while shopping a local feed store for a large syringe for mixing my paints I came across a slew of baby chicks.  Well this suburban girl has never seen baby chicks in real life.  Okay to be honest when my daughters kindergarten class got to hold baby chicks last year I was crazed with jealousy! LOL

When Mr. garden and I found out about getting my in laws house on 3/4 acres we knew straight away that we wanted to raise chickens.  I just didn’t intend on starting this journey until the back yard had been landscaped and that wouldn’t be for a year at least. 

Well, I’m sure our chickens wont care what the back yard looks like.  Let me introduce our new baby chicks!

Lilly

Blue Andalusion

Raven

Black Sex Link

Chirpie

Delaware

 

We started with three this year so we would have a good handle on learning the ropes of raising chickens.  Each child picked one.  We got all hens so we will have real farm fresh eggs, not just cute signs stating so!  Next spring we will be a bit more choosy on the other three birds we invest in.  We plan to get two Silkies and one Silver laced Polish chicken.  Here is what they look like full grown.  These are more ornamental birds, they still lay but not as often as our current babies will.  Heck if you think about it.  Our babies will lay most every single day.  That means three birds times seven days a week.  We will already be getting 21 eggs a week!!

Silver Laced Polish

White Silkie

Black Silkies

 

I have already taken about 50 photos of our little chicks in just the 4 days we’ve had them so plan to see lots of post of darling little fluff balls for a little while =)

 

~Sommer

Creative Space

I bought this pretty little desk over a year ago for my sewing machine/craft space.  But it didn’t offer enough space so I passed it on to the girls.  I also found this poor old chair abandoned on the curb a year ago.  I tore it apart and it sat in the basement waiting for the right inspiration.

Well the time finally came when I moved the white desk into little bears room in an effort to clean up the loft to show the rental property so we can hopefully get new tenants in here before we move.

I got some beautiful fabric from a friend of a friend and I knew it was perfect for this chair!  Well the excitement got the best of me and I mis-cut the fabric!  I wanted to do a bubble skirt but ended up having to piece together two sections for a regular ruffled skirt with a hem.  No biggie just an oversight on my part.

I’m still debating on painting the desk Antoinette/old white.  Since the rest of the room has been painted in Antoinette and Coco I don’t want everything matchy matchy.  I thought maybe a 1/1 of Antoinette and Old white would be a nice soft color pallet for the desk.  What do you think?

Here is how I finished the chair.  This was the first time I ever made my own piping and it was soooo easy!  I just took the chair seat and traced it onto some 2in foam and cut it out.

Next I covered the seat with my fabric and stapled in place.  Then I made the piping and skirt.  To make the piping I just got 2 yards of cotton cording.  I cut a 2in strip of my coordinating fabric and folded it over the cording and pinned in place.  Then I ran a tight straight stitch from one end to the other and cut off the excess cording.

Then I doubled the length of fabric I needed to go around the front and sides of the chair and ruffled it by hand down to the exact length I needed.  I then attached the cording with pins and ran another straight stitch to hold them together.

Next I flipped my seat over and laid the skirt wrong side up and began to staple it around the edges.  Making sure the piping was sitting right along the edge of the foam seat cushion.  I just flipped my skirt up every few staples to make sure it was in place.

I know some of you upholstery experts are probably turning green at my methods here but I simply couldn’t think of a better way and this was easy and functional.  In the end I think it turned out perfectly.  It looks professional.

Oh and since I had this vase I wasn’t ready to pack away that I never bought flowers for I just couldn’t resist getting some pretty pink wild flowers from Hobby Lobby to top of the entire look.  Aren’t they pretty and springy?!

 

~Sommer

Tea Time

I got these little chairs at a garage sale two summers ago.  I loved them and they were perfect for my daughters already white bedroom.  Then I found the table last year and it made a perfect addition to the set.  I was always pleased with it and had no intention of changing it.  Until recently.  It wasn’t even my idea. 

I was painting little miss K’s vanity and she wanted to help me so I let her.  Well it was a slippery slope as then little bear decided she wanted to help me paint something.  So we agreed to paint the table and chair set.  Let me just tell you there is a huge difference in the quality of work between a 6yr old and an 8yr old LOL. 

As we painted I kept thinking “Well, I will have to go back over that spot, and that one, and that one…”  LOL.  But we had fun together and she felt very accomplished having had a hand in painting her little table and chairs.

 

This is what they looked like before.  Cute but simple.

I didn’t like them just Coco and Antoinette so I picked up the damask stencil and added the “Chaise” wording to the backs of the chairs.  I totally love this set now.  It has new life and will be enjoyed for a few more years to come.  I’m not sure actually how much longer she will even fit in these little chairs.

 

 

~Sommer

Antoinette and Coco Sitting In A Tree

These are a match made in heaven!  I have been horribly sick for the past week and haven’t done much of anything other than lay in bed but I did make time to refinish my dresser for my youngest daughters room.  This was not at all the direction I thought I was going with this room but when I went to pick up my Antoinette I bought some Coco for another project and then the light bulb went on.  I’m so pleased with this how this turned out that I have also done her little table and chairs which I will post later and I plan to do her desk to match as well. 

I used my new silver gilding wax for the details and painted the handles Coco and gilded those as well.  I absolutely LOVE the gilding wax!  I’m not keeping these black knobs, they were on the dresser when it was in my room but I haven’t replaced them yet.  I think I’m going to get some smaller clear crystal ones.

I used a 3/1 ratio of the Antoinette on the drawers and then full strength in the centers. 

Here is a before and after of the dresser…

 

~Sommer