Construction in Libby's Room

Now that Noah and I have Hannah's room completed (just in time for her to move away to college), We have moved on to Libby's room. We have done a little work in her room along the way, but now it will be our main focus. Although, I'll probably become distracted along the way by other project that need done around here. Oh well, I guess it just my red headed ADHD coming out after all. I once was told I should understand my students with ADHD after all I was a red head. When I asked what the person meant, I was told "ALL" red heads have ADHD. To think I'd made it to my mid-twenties at the time thinking I was just fine.

Since we have converted our dining room into a bedroom Libby needed a closet system. Noah and I built this one for her. I eventually want to add a cork board wall on the side for her to pin her drawings and doors on the front, but that will have to wait till she is less upset that I painted it Tinker Bell green. Even though she picked the paint out for her coat (bag) tree. She wants it repainted and rarely does a week go by when she doesn't remind me at least a few times.

The latest thing Noah and I have been working on is a bench for her dresser which will eventually have a doll house on top for her American Girl Doll. This has been quite a job building the bench part. Since it is eight feet long it was interesting putting it together.

The last few days we have been working on making drawers. So far we have three made. I could have gotten one more made with the wood I have but I was hot and tired. The drawers still need their facings put on and knobs but that will come in time. I went ahead and painted the bench so she could start using the parts that were sort of finished. She was so proud and spent the evening putting a few of her stuffed animals on the bench. I'm glad she is happy with it so far. She has lots of plans for the dollhouse part. I'm just hope I can meet some of her expectations. Here is what we've done so far.

Here are some pictures of a couple of other things Noah and I have built for her room. Her magical unicorn stable.

And her rolling cart, where she stores all her important papers stuff.

Oh yeah, if you didn't notice the curtains are green. We picked these out together, but she has complained about them for nonstop. Even her counselor knows that she does not like them. We'll just have to wait and see how she likes her room as we go along. It should be an interesting journey if nothing else.

Tote bags

I love it when people give me fabric, many times I have no idea what I will use it for but I know that eventually I'll come up with an idea. Tonight I'm going to share some of the totes Hannah and I have created together. Many of these are made from some of the fabric given to me or extra fabric that was left over from another project. I love using fabric from my stash.

This tote is actually made mostly from fabric that was given to me. I just loved the red and white daisy print on the navy background.  This bag was fun to make. I also made matching wallet, pocket Kleenex holder, and make up case. What's great is there is still some material left.

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This tote was made out of fabric I bought for Libby. I thought she would enjoy a basket made out of the Paris fabric, but she was not at all happy about the idea. So away to the shelf of fabric waiting to be used it went until Hannah and I started looking for a new idea for a tote. We decided to use this with the black and pink (with small white flowers). I just love the gathered pink band between the white Paris fabric and the black.

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This tote was actually similar to a tote I made myself a few years back. The stripe fabric was for a project I never got around to and the pink was left over from I can't remember. This is a fun summer bag to carry. I got many complements on mine so one day I decided to make another one.       

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Each of these totes are very roomy and have an inside zipper pocket and then two small pockets

inside also. For more information on these totes and other go to Hannah's Etsy shop Shaffett Emporium at https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShaffettEmporium/items.

Chicken Fun

Last week was a very busy week for us at Shaffett Emporium. John, Hannah and Libby were out of town at the beginning of the week.  Libby went to have a vacation from her brothers at Grammy's house while Hannah and John went to New Student Orientation at Springhill College. That left the boys and me holding down the fort.

While John was gone I decided to deep clean our bedroom and paint the walls. The boys and I proceeded to scrub down everything in the room including the walls. Once that was done I painted the room a light brown. I had to laugh because my brother called at one point and got to talk to Nathan. All he wanted to know was when I thought John and the girls would arrive. Nathan informed him I was painting because I wanted to see if his dad would notice. Since we have a rather large room this took me two days to paint and then on the third day we moved everything back in place. (John came home on Tuesday night and I finally pointed out that I'd painted the room Saturday, for those who are wondering.)

Since we spent most of the time working I felt bad for the boys. On Tuesday, Noah asked if we could bring the dogs in and let the chickens out back. I thought about it and decided it might be fun. So against Nathan's better judgement we put the dogs in the house and then carried the chickens to the backyard.

We noticed that the chickens stayed together in the yard, so we tried separating them. It didn't matter how far we moved them apart they came back together. The real fun came when it was time to get them all back in their coop. Here are some pictures of the boys trying to "herd" chickens.

We laughed and laughed. It was surprisingly great fun. It's amazing how fast those birds can move. Luckily for us Noah only have four chickens, otherwise we may have been out there all night. We have since let them out one more time. Once again we had a time catching them to take them back to their coop. One was even smart enough to hide under a big bush that Noah and John could not reach into to get it out. It was a lot fun and also great exercise.

Trying New Things

Hannah has made some lovely items with her clay. I was amazed at how quickly she picked up making things with the clay.  Working with such small detail seems like it would be extremely hard. As of today she has placed three of the items on her etsy shop Shaffett Emporium. Here is the first one for all you donut lovers out there it's, a pair of chocolate donut earrings.




The second item is a pair of strawberry ice cream cones. Boy do they make me want to go fix me and ice cream cone. Oh yeah, we finished off the ice cream last night.

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The third item is for all the bird lovers out there, it is a pair of lovebird earrings.

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Hannah told me she had some more items to put on the shop. Since she is working at a camp where Wi-Fi connection is rare, it may be a week or two before we get to see them. We are hoping she will come home on her weekend break soon, but being young she is enjoying hanging out with the other counselors on her off time. Even though we miss not having her here with us I am glad she is enjoying this experience. I told her we'd love to see her each weekend this summer, but if she wanted to do something with the others instead of coming home to just go and have a good time. Last weekend she went with the others on a canoe trip. This was a brand new experience for her. She had a great time. She will all too soon have a job, a home and a family where she will not be free to just go off with friends, try new things or travel when she feels like it.

When I taught middle school, I always told my students to go out and enjoy the world, try new things because once you started a family it would not be as easy to just up and go places. I know my mom gave me a set of nice luggage when I graduated and told me she hoped I would travel and see places. Needless to say I have worn that luggage out. I went on many trips and saw new places. At the time I received the luggage I was disappointed because I wanted a car, but looking back now it was one of the best gifts I've gotten in my life.

There are still many place I want to go, but traveling is not easy with two children who suffer from mental illness. Maybe in the future they will become more stable and I will be able to go those places, but if not I'll always treasure the places I've gotten to go. Even though traveling is not so easy I have had the opportunity to try new things and have learned new skill which I'm passing on to the kids. Because of Noah's natural incline to working with his hands, I took up woodworking so he would learn a skill for the future. I've tried new sewing techniques because the girls wanted something made that I'd never done before. I've also learned about super heroes. Nathan has spent many hours instructing me in the lives of the Marvel superheroes.

                              

LIBBY'S NEW SHIRT

June 08, 2017

Today one of the projects I worked on was a new shirt for Libby. She has her own ideas about how things should go, so making something for her that she actually likes can be very hard. With her communication skill not being the best sometimes I think I've understand what she is saying or I think she understands what I'm trying to explain to her. Since this shirt was one that I was just making up as I went along I was not sure whether she'd like it or not.

At least she had a great time modeling the shirt. This is just a few of the shots she had me take of her in her new shirt. I'm just thankful that the shirt fit, since I just took one of her t-shirts and used it as a guide to draw out the pieces on the fabric.

I believe it was a hit, at least for tonight. We'll have to wait and see if she actually wears it or not.

I am thankful that it actually fit, since I just took one of her old t-shirts and used it as a guide to draw  out the pieces on the fabric. A few years back I would have never tried something like this. If I didn't have very detailed instructions, I would not attempt to sew anything. Now I just remember my Grandmother Jackie who always told me, "Amy, you can do this." She had such faith in me and I did things I never thought I could because of her encouragement. Not everything turns out perfect that I attempedt, but at least I've tried something new.

Last summer I went with Nathan and Hannah to a pottery to make something out of clay. I made a very interesting rectangle dish and small vase. Needless to say they are not great but I enjoyed making them and spending time with the kids laughing over the mistakes we were making. On glazing day I was sort of embarrassed about my work, but I went ahead and glazed my stuff anyway. The objects are on my desk proudly displayed with pens and pencils in them. Even though they're not perfect they are a reminder that I need to keep trying to improve myself and more important a reminder of a great time with Nathan and Hannah. I hope to one day travel back to Montreat and visit the pottery again to make more memories.

NOAH'S WORK

June 07, 2017

Today I thought I'd share some of the things Noah has made for Hannah's Etsy shop, ShaffettEmprorium. The first item I want to share is a Tic-Tac-Toe game. This game is a box where all the pieces can be neatly stored away.  He made one for his brother, Nathan a few years ago for Christmas. They have had many exciting games over the years. I like this game board because now I don't find pieces of paper all over the house with the tic-tac-toe board drawn on them. This item can be found at:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/450196556/tic-tac-toe-game?ref=shop_home_active_37

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The next item I'd like to share is an 18" doll living room set. This was a double team effort. Noah made the furniture and then turned it over to me to make the cushions for the chair and sofa.  He has another one in white built and just waiting for me to make the cushions for that one. I will share that set later in the future when I finish my part of the project. This item can be found at:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/528280587/18-doll-living-room-set?ref=shop_home_active_10

The third item he has put on etsy was and 18" doll picnic table.  Libby was so kind to let us borrow her doll for the pictures. This item sold but I'm hoping he'll build another one to sale. (If someone is interested in purchasing one I know he'd be more than glad to make another.)

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     I am so proud of Noah for using his skills to develop a hobby that he enjoys. He has a true enjoyment for this type of work and hopes to one day volunteer with Habitat for Humanities in helping others. Even through all his struggles in life (instead of feeling sorry for himself0 he has a heart for helping others, what a true blessing to have.

HANNAH'S ROOM

June 05, 2017

Here at Shaffett Emporium we are always got some interesting projects going. Whether they are for our etsy shop (shaffettemporium) or just projects for ourselves we stay very busy.

This is Noah in the workshop outback. He has always enjoyed working with his hands. Since he has some learning disabilities we have begun to work on areas he is strong in.  It always amazes me how he can see things in his mind and create them. Wood working is something we add to his education. He enjoys building things and has helped over the past few years to build furniture for our home. Hannah's furniture in her room was built by Noah, Hannah and myself. Many of the pieces were inspired by Anna Whites website (annawhite.com). We took the plans and alter as needed to fit our needs.

This first picture shows her vanity which was our first experience with electricity. to a miscommunication with my husband I wound up with double the wood I wanted one year for Christmas and so we come up with this project for the extra wood.  The H above the vanity is for her nail polish. The boys made it for Hannah's birthday one year.

The jewelry box, the picture board, and the nightstand Hannah made. The bed was a family effort since it was such a large project. The shelf next to the window was another present the boys made for Hannah's Christmas a year ago.

The secretarial, the bench and the dresser was made by Noah and me. The bench cushions and the quilt on the bed was also a project Hannah and I worked on. It took us a couple of years to finish the whole room but it is finally done. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, when we removed the carpet from her room we found wood floor. They were in very bad shape but Noah and I worked hard at sanding them down and refinishing them.

PLAY TIME

June 10, 2017

This year for Hannah's birthday she requested some polymer clay and tools. I jokingly told her I'd be sure and get her some play dough.

So we got her some clay and

some tools.

And off to work she went. One of her first projects she worked on she wanted some rick rack. "What do you need rick rack for when your working with clay?" I thought. Oh well, I told her where to find the rick rack and went on my way. She began to work and this is what I saw.

O.K. Hannah has totally lost her mind but whatever.  Here she's giving me an Oh brother look, when I question her about this. Just wait and see she said. So of I go to do something else. Pretty soon she wants to know if it's OK to put the rick rack in the oven. How should I know? I may do some strange things in life but cooking rick rack has never been one of them.

I learned two things that day. First rick rack does not catch on fire in the oven and exactly what Hannah was up to that day. Here is the finished product. It turned out really cute.

Here is the finished product. It turned out really cute.

A BOOK WORM!!!