Scariest Troll Dolls EVER

Maybe I have scarier ones? My husband can be the judge of that statement. I almost didn't buy them because I thought they were scary. Then I came to my senses and realized I would be crazy to pass up the chance to add these guys to my collection!

The photo doesn't really do them justice. It looks like they were a kit of some sort as the fabric is printed but the sewing is someone's homemade project. I am wondering how they made all three of them?? I would have gotten about half way through the first one, realized they were not turning out the way the pattern showed and it would still be up in my closet. I could have a forgotten one up there for all I know!

Meet Lucca and Clifford

This is Lucca and Clifford.

 

Lucca was received as a bribe at the 18 month doctor visit and ever since has been the figure of choice for, well, Lucca. Lucca does everything big Lucca wishes she could do - attend school, fly a plane, drive a car, hang with the My Little Pony crew and Clifford is usually by her side. Lucca is about 2" tall and flat. If Lucca is not immediately seen in the morning I have to listen to "Lucca!? Where are you Lucca!?" over and over until Lucca is found. Usually she is napping in a castle tower but some mornings it is a bit more of a challenge. One morning, after a good 20 minute search, Lucca was discovered only because I caught the glimpse of a tiny red hand sticking out from under the school house. She has also been known to hide under a bus or be stuck in the trap door slide of the Sesame Street Clubhouse.

It usually isn't as vital if Clifford isn't around in the morning but Lucca has to know where Lucca is before her day can begin. We probably have 75 super cute Little People figures ranging from Disney Princess' to a construction crew but Lucca always has designated this little guy as Lucca. Yep, I could probably get rid of all of those Little People and she wouldn't even notice!

Sandbox Time

I don't remember the last project my husband did, perhaps it was paint 3/4 of the house 5 years ago? Or maybe it was breaking the sink while trying to unclog it last weekend? Anyways, he is the first to admit he is not handy - which is fine with me because he lets me do whatever I want around here. When he said last weekend he was going to build a sandbox I was a little leery and figured I would have to figure out how to fix and finish it but it actually went rather smoothly.

We picked out some cedar wood. We actually found fence pickets which were the exact length we wanted (minus the 1/2" of picket at the top) and they were $4.97 a board.

I cut the top picket shape off  - neither I nor my husband trusted him to cut it straight.

The boards were sanded and then screwed together.

 We have a pretty square!

Come on dad! It needs more sand!

 

 While looking at other sandbox tutorials, I noticed most people put a board on the bottom. My dad just stuck this black garden cover stuff under my sandbox as a child and it held up a good 10+ years so I just went with that in our sandbox. Plus it is cheaper and way easier than measuring/attaching a bottom.

We'll be adding some corner benches for support but it's being used as-is for the moment.

 One thing I would recommend is leveling around the edges prior to filling with sand. Two of the corners were a little lower than the rest of the box so sand was threatening to escape. I did cram dirt under and level it that way but it would have been easier to do before! I also am not really crazy about the sand. Menard's, Wal Mart and Home Depot all had the same looking sand labeled "play sand" but it is really red and really pebbly. Menard's also had super fine sand for twice the price but I don't think that is really good to crawl around in either. The small child obviously doesn't care as it works just fine for sand castles!

 

New Curtains!

Now that it is summer I feel like I have about 50 things going on instead of the usual 25! I did finally order living room curtains so this box should motivate me to keep plugging along.

 

The days (probably months) are numbered for my floral curtains!