born imaginative.

Screens and pillows

Every spring we take the walls and windows out of our house and put the floor to ceiling screens in on our 3 season porch. Then we pretty much move out there, spending almost all of our 'indoor' time on the porch.

(For comparison, here is what it looks like with the walls and windows.)

We have our big farmhouse table out there.

As well as this daybed. We can (and do!) all pile on this daybed. The white pillows behind the kids in this pic were looking really dingy. They are from the couch Justin and I bought in 2007. The couch is long gone, but the size and fluffiness of these pillows has worked perfect on our daybed. Only the number of stains really bothered me. Beyond bleaching it out, I decided to make new ones.

But then I had a little flashback to my high school days and rit dye. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try to dye them.

An overnight soak and they look brand new! (I also dyed the curtains in the girls' room that were a bit sun bleached).

Now I want to make some quilted pillows to add in, which I will probably get to in the next decade.

Anyway, the new color makes me happy. Now you can see where we eat, where we play and where we read books when we are inside all summer long.

Definitely our favorite place to be all summer long.

Mama Made: Shorts

When your nearly 10 year old boy declares the very best shorts for comfortable summer living are mama mades and he wishes he had one for everyday of the week, you get sewing. Not the best picture above because he couldn't wait to wear them. They are less 'loud' because I picked out the fabric this time around.

I kept snapping pictures, as he was being so kind to his sisters!

This pic makes me so happy. My sister in law made Anna-Kate's dress. I made Audra's dress. Adrian made his shirt and I made his shorts. Lots of handmades. It's like wearing a hug from your mama all day long.