Reading Nook

  I decided to turn fairly wasted space under the stairs into a reading nook for the boys. Both G and L love to read, and I also figured it would be a nice 'quiet time' space for G to rest when he didn't want to nap, rather than inadvertently waking his brother. ;-)

The before space. 

  I saw this DIY pillow sleeping bag on Pinterest and altered the idea a bit to make the cushion. I bought a twin flat sheet and cheap pillows, folded the sheet in half (sides together) and sewed straight lines through it to act as "pillow cases" for each segment. The case opening is one one end, rather than nicely hidden in the center as the original tuturial. Now, if the cushion was going to function more as a mobile sleeping bag, then I would follow her tutorial closely, but mine will always be up against that wall, so I really didnt care if the opening was more 'finished.' Either way though, sooooo easy! Seriously took maybe 30 minutes to pull the whole nook together. G and L added some stuffed friends and filled a long basket tucked under the first stair with books of their choosing and voila, the reading nook was complete.

I also added some of those soft floor mats underneath for extra cushioning.

The boys were quite surprised and very happy with their new space. I'm thinking about also adding a little curtain in the future to give it more of a "fort" kid feel. :)

 I dont know why the pics are coming out wonky? Like they look smooshed? Ah well!

Lunch Sacks!

 Made the boys some new lunch sacks for school! I had been considering different patterns, and even drafting my own pattern altogether, but this one pretty much had everything I was looking for. I wanted something that the boys could each carry easily, that was insulated, that could actually hold containers flat (most have depths so narrow) and that the boys could open but not necessarily easily ;).

I used cotton for the interior and exterior (the solid is medium weight canvas) and an Insul-Bright layer to keep contents hot/cold. I even got a chance to use a few specialty stitches from my machine to add a little personalization.

So far the bags have held up great! And they are super cute, IMO. I think when I get around to it, Ill make a few in adult size as well.

You can link to the lunch sack pattern through here.  :)