Summer is in full swing at the Hess House and although we have not made it to the pool yet, everyone is still enjoying the warm weather. The front door is enjoying it's new decor. I found a sign on pintrest that was in this mason jar style, and I thought, "I could pull that off!" We had some left over wood from Oliver's Little Blue Truck Party, so Jay cut me out a mason jar shape and I used paints I already had on hand. One completely free front door summer decor!
I couldn't just give the front door a new summer do and leave the inside of the house out, so over the past month I have been working on this bicycle piece. I found the free pattern and step by step directions on this site. It was super easy, fun and I got to use some of my fabric scraps from past projects. Charlotte's favorite part was the green pea's that I used to dec-o-ate the frame.
Of course our church door/chalkboard in the upstairs hall had to be updated so we as a family created a bucket list for these summer months. It was fun hearing what the kids wanted to do this summer. Really, honestly, just what Charlotte wanted to do while Oliver patted his chest and said "Ollie come too" over and over.
The kids and dogs have also been loving the warmer weather. As always, we have been rocking the sprinkler and our new addition, the outside kitchen. The swingset that we got last year from Craigslist had a bench and table area that the kids never used. Jay pulled the wood off the swingset carefully and repurposed it into a kitchen design. It was not his first kitchen remodel, so it was easy for him! The kitchen now has two shelves for storage and a rubber made bowl that sets down in a cut out area that is now the kitchen sink. It has been stained to match the rest of the swingset and the kids couldn't be happier.
The gardens that we created last year are up and running and doing nicely. We tried a whole new method of planting this year. We are trying a simplified garden this year and giving everyone room to spread out and flourish. The "children's garden" is just dedicated to strawberries and although we have had tons of strawberries, not one has made it into the house. The kids eat them daily and Ollie even eats the whole berry...stem and all!
Last, but not least I am enjoying my new found freedom of the summer to get some sewing done. Jay has recently cleaned out his closet and downsized on his dress shirt collection. As always, I sift through his throw away and donate piles and always collect all the things that I think would make good future projects. I set aside a good collection of blue shirts (that is really all he used to wear) and paired them with other dress shirts I had previously snatched. I have decided to make a nice summer red, white and blue star designed dress shirt quilt. I think it will be perfect for the summer months because of the light weight dress shirt fabric. So far I have completed some major cutting and have a good pile of squares on the dining room table, but with all quilts I need to cut about 200 more squares before I can get sewing!
We have some big plans for this summer, starting with getting to the pool sometime this week!
