tent dreams

i made these for the boys today. i had a perfect plan to make perfect bags and perfect tags
(like these)

while i still plan to make cute bags, per usual, real life gave me 5 minuets to complete the project. the plan of perfection took a backseat to quick and speedy. when the boys realized what i was making, they were screetching with joy. it was fantastic.

i made 3 of these...2 for my boys, and one for a friend. total cost for each? $7.50 

probably could have made them for free if i could have found our sheets from storage, and the clothespins i have stashed somewhere, but cheap $5 sheets from walmart and christmas tree shop accessories do the trick just fine.

i quickly sewed ribbon loops on each corner and the center of each long side.

 this was a really lazy quick project...thread strings and sloppy stitching were floating everywhere...but little boys don't care, so neither do i :)

oh and our toe walking night braces, day braces, ancle brace combination? yeah, we have moved in another direction. not because we want to, but because it's so rediculous. can you guess how much 3 braces cost??

take. deep. breath.

grand total? $3,200 for 3 braces.
no, i didn't add an extra zero by accident. and our insurance only covers half.
oh, and they would need to be replaced with each shoe size.
(insert laugh here...that's what i did when the doctor's office called and told me the pricing). moments later i found these gems for under $150 for the pair.
it's amazing to me to see this boy embrace something so challenging. he LOVES his braces. he gets excited to put them on at bedtime. he wears them when he pretends to go to bed. when his buddies take naps, he wears them. we've taken these babies on and off 7 times too many today. but each time, i share his excitement, because he loves them and i can hardly believe what a spirit of determination he has. it's beautiful.

back to the tent theme. my makeshift tents will soon give way to this...

my summer weekend project (times 2, of course, with a 3rd in the works for little miss next summer)
i found scrap wood and scrap fabric = free
only item needed = time

or maybe she needs something like this...

(oh the chandelier...swoon with loveliness)

then we can have a sleepover that looks like this:

this is my "at some point in my life i'd like to build" project:

and i will file these under "i really really really want this in my backyard someday"