Forever and a Day

Hi everyone!
Gosh it's been ages...ridiculous really. I wish I had some harrowing tale to share about why I've been absent from here, but honestly, it's just been the usual. Busy work, busy home life. :) I find that it's easier to snap a picture and post them on Instagram than do much else. But I don't want to abandon my blog either.

So what has been going on since January?

Ont hw work front, it's just been full of projects. I am still working at the museum and love it, though there are plenty of days I come home mentally drained. We are kicking off our big holiday event this weekend, so there has been lots of prep for that. Anyone who thinks working at a museum must be dull...well, I can say that is nowhere near the case in our museum, which is a good thing.

On the home front, the kids are a few months into their new school year. I'm sure just about every parent says this as their children reach markers, but seriously, I can't believe I have a third and fifth grader! Insane! Davin just went to 5th Grade Camp for four days and he had a blast! It was his first time away from home for something like this and he is brimming with stories about his adventures. He is still catching up on sleep but he wouldn't have traded it for the world.

He joined a local swim team this fall and had a great time. It was a learning curve for him and really pushed him. He only really learned to swim this summer so he is still figuring out how his body works for the various strokes, but each class he came out grinning so I call that a win. He was swimming 3-4 days a week and for a kid who is as flat footed as he is, it's great to find a sport that is easy on his feet but still builds strength and endurance. Their fall season is done now, but we are hoping to have him back at it when they resume in January. Soon after, he will also be back into baseball.

Abby is crazy busy with dance. This year she made a pretty big leap in competition, and qualified for 5 comp dances! I am particularly proud of her for making the Lyrical Line team. She is the youngest dancer in the group and while she may not be the most flexible of the kids, I think her spirit and hard work last year has really shown to her teachers. I hope she keeps up the good work. I'm keeping a close eye on her schedule as well...this year, she had to take more technique classes as part of comp so overall she is in 11 classes. She dances 4 days a week (only one 45 minute class on Wednesday though). So far she is handling the extra load well and school isn't suffering. It's definitely a max for us though, and I will have to consider whether we scale it back a little next year.

Speaking of dance, this is also the first time she will have two-piece costumes. I've known the day would be coming, but for me it feels like a small rite of passage. I think it's because I just have seen instances at competition where some very tiny dancers were in very skimpy costumes that just didn't seem necessary. It's definitely the minority though. I trust the teachers at our studio completely, and I know their selection is tasteful and age appropriate. It's a fine line, and perhaps I am overthinking it...I don't want Abby to feel ashamed of her body, but at the same time, she should be allowed to be a little girl. I just don't want her to grow feeling that she has to show lots of skin in order to be considered "beautiful". Ugh...these are the things they never prepare you for when you decide to have kids. Dance parents - do you have these same concerns/issues?

As for me on the personal front, I had to have surgery last month to remove a mass on my ribcage. It was benign, but was fairly large (about the size of a grapefruit). Being a side sleeper, it had just become too uncomfortable so it was time to remove it. It was an outpatient surgery and went well. Recovery was pretty easy, though I was sore for a bit. I'm sporting a pretty fancy scar now, but thankfully bikinis were never my thing, so I'm not worried about it. Honestly though, I don't know that I would really care about that showing. My stretch marks from pregnancy though...I have no desire to show those off. Funny how the mind differentiates between those things.

Andy has been busy as well. He was recently names the school district's Math department head for the secondary ed. He is really enjoying the challenge, and it will mean that at the end of this semester he is stepping down from his position teaching math at night school. I don't mind having him home those two nights, especially with the kids activities. It's always easier when there are two of us doing the running rather than one. :)

As for crafting, I have tried to do a bit of crafting each day. I'm mostly successful, even if it's just a couple of rows on one of the socks I'm working on or a bit of coloring in my planner. There are some days though, that I am so tired the last thing I want to do is work on anything. I always have something in my bag though, so I get some done while I am at the pool or dance studio. I don't mind being "that mom". lol

Anyway, I hope that all is well with you. I hope your 2015 has been a lovely one so far and that you are heading into the holiday season filled with peace and joy. I'll post a photo update soon, showing some of our adventures through pictures. Today I just wanted to get a few words down and say that I haven't completely disappeared. I am always on Instagram, and have even attempted a couple Periscope broadcasts.

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For the Dogs

Today I wanted to share a quick project I finished a few days ago. A while ago I was perusing good ol' Pinterest, and came across a pin that suggested putting a dog bowl in a planter to dress it up a bit. What a great idea! We don't have a dog, but wouldn't it be fun for neighbors who walk their dogs by our house?

I stopped at my local Home Depot to check out their planters. To be honest, I had a little bit of a hard time picking a planter. I was originally planning to get a plastic urn style planter, but I couldn't find what I had in my mind. After walking up and down the aisle a few times deciding between a few other options, I finally landed on a terracotta planter that seemed short enough for most dogs to get their noses into easily and wide enough to hold a bowl.

I then went to the local Petco with my planter in hand to find a bowl to fit. Plus it was a nice excuse to peek at the adoptable animals in the store. My kids were thrilled to see a quartet of kittens in a little tent, sleeping and playing. I nearly needed to buy leashes for the kids to haul them out of the store! :)

Once I decided to use a terracotta planter, I knew it needed to be painted! I used paints I had on hand, because goodness knows I have plenty of craft paint!

I painted the inside of the planter a lighter sky blue about halfway down the inside of the planter. With the bowl inside, there really isn't a need to paint the entire interior, but you certainly could. I then painted the outside of the planter in a dark blue. Once that was dry I added paw prints in white paint around the planter, just to make it clear to the humans what the intended purpose of the bowl is. :)

When everything was dry again, I used a craft varnish on both the outside and inside of the planter. Since I was using craft acrylic paints and it would be outside, I wanted a little extra protection for it.

One more time to dry, then I popped in the bowl, filled it with water and put it in the front yard along the sidewalk. I put it next to our huge tree and while it isn't the prettiest spot, I put it there because I didn't want walkers or bikers to miss it and accidentally knock it over. My husband and I have plans to redo the area around the tree anyway so it will look nicer once that is done.

We've already had some neighborhood pups stop during their walks and get a little refreshment, which just tickles me! Hopefully they continue to enjoy it! :)

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Around the Nest This Week

This week has been crazy!! Like most of the country, this has been all about Back to School! Normally this post will be on Sundays, but I was gone from 8am till 10pm yesterday, so I had no chance of sitting down to finish this post last night.

Memorial Day is generally never a day off for me...working at a museum, holidays are usually pretty busy for us. So after a busy day I came home and we had a nice family barbeque with my mother-in-law, brother-in-law and niece. She tried to teach Davin and Abby how to play Double Dutch jump rope, the kids played ont he swingset, watched Super Buddies and even got some puppy kisses from the two dogs next door. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend the last day of summer vacation.

Tuesday morning we jumped right in with both feet. The kids were excited to put on their first day of school outfits, load up their new backpacks and head to school. This week we were split between two schools. My son still attended the school they have been in since Kindergarten, but my daughter was accepted into the new Talented and Gifted program and began attending one of the other elementary schools. Davin started and ended 30 minutes before Abby did, so getting them to their schools worked out alright. I drove them both to school on the first day but since then Abby took the bus in the morning. The TAG students qualify for bussing, and her bus picked her up at Davin's school so it works out. I was a little nervous about sending her on the bus, but she pleaded with me so hard that I told her we would give it a try. The first morning, she found another girl she knows from last year and when the bus pulled up they held hands, climbed aboard together and sat down together, giggling the whole time. I knew she was going to be fine. She didn't take the bus home...even though she could, the bus didn't get back to Davin's school until at least an hour after his classes let out so it didn't make sense to wait that long. By the time my husband Andy picked Davin up, picked Abby up and headed home, he beat the bus anyway.

On Friday we got the news that Davin has now landed a spot in the TAG program as well! He was the next on the waiting list and one of the third graders just opted out, so this morning we made our first official trip to the new school so he could meet his teacher and join his new class. He was a bit nervous, but I knew he would be fine...it is only a week into school and he makes friends very easily. His teacher seems very nice and I left with a happy heart and a handful of papers that I need to get caught up on. :)

Our after school schedule has quickly filled up as well. Davin has been playing baseball and will continue with games on Tuesday and Thursdays through the end of the month. He absolutely loves it and it's been so fun to watch him improve since he first started playing in the late spring. Andy keeps holding out hope that we'll have a left-handed pitcher in the Majors. :) He wants to keep Davin going over the winter, working with a team that works indoors to develop his skills. He is close to making the leap to kid-pitch ball rather than coach-pitch and some more work on how to play the game will be a help for him. Plus it will be good to see him stay more active during the cold months. I'd love to get a swim class in there too, but I also don't want to completely overload the kids.

 

Abby started back to dance last week. She has been moved up to the next class level which has also opened up more class options for her. We were surprised to get a letter asking if we would consider having her try for a new Competition Jazz team. I talked to some of the other parents that were also asked, as well as the teacher and we have decided to let Abby try. She is really excited by it and some of her other dance friends are also in the class. The teacher plans to keep it an introduction to Competition, which is good...I didn't want to end up on a version of "Dance Moms"! She is hoping to use the class to work on technique, and work up to a competition. There are three competition dates that she is considering, none of which are before March. If the girls aren't ready for the first one she won't put them in, but is really hoping for the other two. So we'll see. :)

The Jazz class is part of a Combo series she does on Thursdays, along with ballet and tap classes. She did the same trio last year and it works great since they were back to back. On Tuesday we signed her up for an Acrobatics class to help with her flexibility...unfortunately she seems to have inherited my tight muscles and is definitely less flexible than most of the other girls. This will help and we'll do some work at home too...it couldn't hurt me to work on some stretches! And finally on Wednesday she has Hip Hop. I wish Acro and Hip Hop were on the same day, but sadly, not this year. Ah well. Thankfully they are short classes so it doesn't overload her...it's like a 45 minute play session. :)

In other news, my Mother-in-Law has been living with us since July. It's been fine, she is a very sweet woman. I think she is ready to be in her own space again though and I know she was happy that the closing date for her new house finally happened on Thursday. I think there may be continued adventures on that front though...this house was actually her third choice, but she has just found out that her first choice is back on the market. So...she may put the house immediately back on the market and attempt to get the first choice.

Andy is back to school as well. He is settling in with his students and has been excited this year because he has a full day of Algebra 2. He has been making some adjustlements to his class too. Normally, teachers discuss a topic and kids take notes and sample problems in class, and then work on problems at home for homework credit. But let's be honest...many students don't take good notes or ask questions in class. THeyn they get home and don't understand the homework problems so they don't do them. Then they might copy the problems from a classmate the next day before class. Sure, they might get the homework credit, but when the test comes they haven't actually learned the material and then do poorly on the test. This year he is trying to reverse that. He has a series of videos on each of the sections from the book. For homework, the students watch the videos and take notes for homework credit. Then in class, Andy will use the class time to work on the book problems, so if they have questions they can ask a teacher or a classmate. Hopefully this will help solidify how to do the problems so that when the test comes they have a better understanding of the questions. He's excited and the parents he talked to seem excited by this idea too, so I hope that it works out. It makes sense to me...I wasn't the strongest math student so having someone to ask and brainstorm with would have made it easier for me.

Some thoughts on the week:

• I need to get myself back on a more reasonable sleep schedule. Going to bed at midnight is not doing me any favors.
• I am addicted to Instagram! You can find me here.
• I am this close to trying out Zumba. One of the moms at dance has been doing it for a year and she has lost 40 pounds! That's amazing, and 40 pounds would be great for me to lose. After my back injury, I really got away from exercising...although I am still down 10 pounds from my time with Weight Watchers, I realize I need to get moving. I am way tooo sedentary and it's one of the reasons I feel so tired and achy. I need to look at my schedule & the class schedule and pick a couple of days a week that I can go.
• Abby is becoming very helpful around the house. She likes to help with dishes and help with her lunch for school. I've been looking at some chore charts for the kids and plan to implement them this coming week for both kids. They can help and it will be good for them to have regular tasks.
• I need to learn more about gardening. My MIL has been a huge help getting the yard cleared of the overgrowth, but it's leaving us with a bit of an empty shell. I would love to have a cottage style garden...pretty but low maintenance. And a butterfly garden, for sure.
• Speaking of butterflies, check this IMAX film out if you can. The cinematography is beautiful, it's very kid friendly too and you learn a lot about the Monarch butterfly migration. Turns out that Michigan is part of the migration route, so hopefully we will see a few of them as they head south. And if you have a train lover in the house, this IMAX film is a must too!
• My internal Harry Potter nerd wants this Marauder's Map scarf by Nerd Alert Creations! I'm loving the Portal Symbols, Periodic Tables and Where the Wild Things Are scarves too. :)
• I made this Peach Custard Pie from You Are my Fave's blog and got lots of compliments!

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Craigslist find!

Ah, Craigslist. There are few things I check for periodically: an armoire for our bedroom (we don't have a closet in that room), a cupboard for our bathroom, and seating for our front porch. Among other things of course...Craigslist is wonderful for window shopping!
I was excited to find this cupboard when I started my search:

After a number of emails back and forth with the seller during the day I decided to drive out after work to pick it up before someone else snatched it up. As he told me, the first one to pick it up gets it. Well by golly, that person was going to be me! :) So I called my dear husband and asked if he would accompany me on a little road trip (about 40 minutes drive from home...hmmm). After all, I couldn't very well go to some strangers house I have been in contact with over email by myself, right?

Turned out the owner is in the process of moving to Canada and has connections to the Detroit Tigers, so I think my husband was hoping we could stay and talk baseball!

Once we got it home I went back to the bathroom and I'm pretty sure the room had shrunk! The piece will fit, but will completely cover the wall to the toilet. The room is so small that I think it will look too crowded. So, I changed my plan, which was accompanied by rolled eyes and sighs by my husband. But he just doesn't have the vision! At that point he gave up trying to understand me and went back to watch the game, telling me to call him if I needed help moving it somewhere. After nearly 10 years of marriage, I think he realizes that there are some things about me he will never understand. Some girls love shoes, and I love vintage furniture! lol Maybe one day I will find the perfect vintage couch to replace the ugly black leather couch from my husbands bachelor days, but even I have to admit it is practical with two kids...much easier to wipe off leather than fabric and I don't care if the kids are crawling all over it. One day though...

So once he left me to my own devises, I grabbed the can of stripper that I used this summer to refinish our front door and went to work. Yes, I am impatient, but I really couldn't wait to see what was under the green paint! It's actually a pretty color green, but isn't the color I wanted for this piece. And the owner said that the unpainted drawer was original to the piece, so I hoped the rest of the piece would be as pretty. I got the paint off the top, wiped it down with mineral spirits and found this:

Gorgeous!!! I was literally doing a happy dance in the middle of the room.

So now I have a plan: I'm going to finish stripping the top and the lip of the piece, then I will add some soft wax to the top to protect and seal the wood (I ordered Fibbes & Sons soft wax from Etsy). The rest of the piece I will paint white and I think some glass knobs would really look better than the white porcelain knobs that are currently on it.

Love the beaded details!!!

Next I need to look at the back of the piece. The panels that are missing seem to simply be a veneer, and I don't think they affect the actual structure of the cabinet. But I need to inspect it more closely to be sure. There are also two small pieces that have come off the bottom right of the cabinet that need to be attached. They aren't broken, just detached, which is good. I think some wood glue will take care of that without a problem. You can see the open spot in the top photo, just look at the bottom edge, just past the cabinet door.

Once it's all done, I think I will use it as a tv cabinet for the front room. We bought a very boring tv stand from the thrift store a year ago for our old tv that has since broken and been replaced by a smaller one. This will raise the height of the tv a bit and there is still plenty of room on top for the small cable box and the Wii console. The cupboard can hold games and dvd's, and the side cubbies can hold coloring books, etc. I wouldn't mind it for some craft supply storage, but at this point it would serve more of an aesthetic purpose, rather than a practical storage purpose...I have too much stuff! lol

So what do you think of my Craigslist find? Would you have jumped on it, or is it too "old-timey" for your taste?

Closing out 2012 and looking ahead to 2013

A belated Merry Christmas to all of you!

Christmas was the normal busy time of year it always is, full of work and family. I think I need to start planning December in July, because it always feels like I just squeak by each year. :) On Christmas Eve, I had forgotten to make cookies for Santa! Yikes! My daughter rushed into the kitchen with this revelation, just as I had gotten home from work and was beginning to make a quick dinner before we were due to go to my parents house for their annual small get together. Being the resourseful Mom that I am, I thought we could get by with popping a few Otis Spunkmeyer cookies dough balls into the oven and call it a day, but the look of dismay that Abby gave me at the suggestion stopped me halfway to the freezer. If you have ever seen the last Shrek film, when Puss is asking Donkey to lick him because he is too fat to reach you will have a sense of how big and sad my daughters eyes were at the thought that Santa wasn't going to get cookies with sprinkles on them. :) So out came my trusty Better Homes & Garden cookbook and the ingredients for Sugar Cutout cookies.

While all this was going on, my son started feeling ill with a headache and stomachache. In the end, it was 8:30 and we still hadn't made it to my parents. We finally just called it a night and decided to skip the party, try to get the kids to bed at a decent hour and meet up with my family at dinner the next day. The kids got their new Christmas Eve pjs on, checked Santas progress on NORAD, put the decorated cookies out for Santa, tossed some reindeer food on the ground for Rudolf and friends, and after a quick read of "The Polar Express" they were both tucked snug in their beds, with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads. Hubby and I finished our wrapping, and the house was in bed and settled by 12:30am...much better than 2:30am like last year! :)

Christmas was filled with laughter, ripped paper and squeals of delight. I am terrible at remembering to take pictures on Christmas morning, how about you? I am just too tired and then caught up in helping the kids with their gifts, and the camera just ends up sitting on the table. Ah well. :) We headed to my parents in the afternoon and enjoyed a delicious dinner of roast goose (our traditional feast - my fav!), ham (added since I married and added new family to the dinner table since a goose doesn't feed more than 4 or 5 easily), kale (grunkohl in German), knudel (potato dumplings), corn, cheesy potatoes, and bread rolls. We were all stuffed! :) Later came dessert: apple pie, a turtle ice cream cake (dad had a craving for ice cream cake this year!), fresh strawberries with whipped cream, and stollen. I again was kicking myself, because I didn't get any pictures of the spread, but trust me, it was delicious! :)

We had a real snow fall last night - it;s beautiful! I chuckle because the first real snow fall of the year always puts people in a tizzy...which is funny, because it's Michigan, and of course it's going to snow! :) But everyone forgets how to drive in it, and the news is full of anticipation of the snow and then analyzing every detail of where it's snowing, how much it;s snowing, etc. Last night they were thrilled that the snow came with a WInter Storm Advisory sothere was much fuss over driving conditions and predicted snow emergencies in various towns, etc...all the more effective if told via a live feed by some poor weatherperson standing outside while the 20 mile per hour gusts toss their hair and swirls snow all around them. This morning, they were thrilled that they could report it was the biggest snow storm we've seen in the area in 22 months! (Nevermind the fact that only 10 of those months are really capable of producing snow). With all the hoopla you would think we had a blizzard of 20+"....but no, we had 3"-4". In January, this wouldn't even be news...but I guess it's been a little dull of the weather front lately. Now, I'm not saying that the roads weren't bad last night...they weren't great. My 15 minute drive home took 30, but that was because I decided I had no where I needed to go fast, so I just slowed down and drove carefully. This morning the roads were fine and it was a beautiful drive.

Now as we close out 2012, I'm looking ahead to 2013. Besides wanting/needing to work off some of the holiday weight (clothes have gotten a bit tight lately - yikes!) I really want to work on some of the house projects that have been waiting and are now to the point that they have to be done. One of the big projects is work on the front of my house. Here is a photo I took when we were looking at the house before we bought it, and it gives an idea of what I want to fix:

My goal is to remove the black metal railings and replace them with wooden posts and railings...something like this:

(via myhomeideas.com)

I also want to work on the scraggly plantings in the front and put in something a little nicer along the fenceline. Any suggestions? I'd like to work on a larger garden space in the side yard so we can grow more veggies and maybe add a few fruit bushes...currants, blackberries, blueberries maybe?

Did  you notice the brown building on the side of the house in the first photo? That's actually an addition to the house. I have no idea why they thought it should be sided in wood when the rest of the house has vinyl siding, but that's another project to tackle eventually. Maybe its the weather, or the fact that there are just a few days left in the year, but I am so ready to start some new projects around the house and do a little sprucing up! :)

On a side note, I have been working on some more knitting. I've been working through some of the yarn that my grandmother gave me a few months ago and the latest project is a baby sweater. I've never made a real piece of knit clothing before, and so far it actually looks like the early stages of a sweater. :)

Its knit from the top down so you are seeing the neckline, sleeves (which look like cap sleeves at the moment, but will be longer later), and the open front of the sweater. Jewel was very helpful last night, as she kept my legs warm while I was working. :) I love Ravelry - they have some great free patterns (this is called Helena)! Hopefully it will finish nicely and will become a warm gift for a friend who is having a baby soon. I actually have two friends who are having babies, so I hope to make a second sweater after this one...keeping those knitting needles busy! lol

I hope that all of you have had a wonderful holiday season thus far, that you were able to spend time with loved ones, and are looking forward to the start of the new year. Here's wishing you a joyous New Year and all the best blessings that you could possibly have!

I saw it on Pinterest & I tried it!

The other day I was spending some quality time on Pinterest (yes, totally justifying the time sucking wormhole that is Pinterest - and I love it!) when I stumbled across this cleaning tip. It caught my eye immediately because I have been living with a disgusting mess on my stove for years. Yes, years. When we bought our house in 2006, I was excited to host our first Thanksgiving dinner for our family. In the process of cooking dinner, the milk I was heating boiled over. Since I was in the middle of cooking dinner I couldn't very well turn everything off, wait for the grill to cool down and then scrub everything down. What I didn't realize is that burned milk is a pain in the rear to get off!

Can we all give a collective "EWWWWW...!"

Over the years I have tried any number of cleaning products "guaranteed" to cut through even the toughtest grease and stains. All to no avail. So when I saw this, I thought I might as well give it a try. I didn't have anything else to lose at this point, right?

I happened to have some Ammonia in the house (leftover from the previous owner, who passed away in her 90's, bless her heart) so I pulled it out at following the instructions, stuck the blackened mess of a grill in a Ziploc bag, added 3 tablespoons of ammonia and sealed it up. After only 10 minutes I was already seeing some change in the color or the ammonia (see how it's slightly discolored in the top left corner of the bag?):

The blog post suggested leaving the bag for 12 hours, but I wasn't able to do that, since dinner had to be made. But I did give it 9 hours. Then I took it out and scrubbed it with some regular dish soap and water.

Here is the final result:

Literally "squeaky clean"! 

I couldn't believe it! It actually worked! I still have a small spot that needs to be cleaned, but considering what I started with, I was more than pleased. What was great was other than dealing with the ammonia smell when the bag was opened (they aren't kidding that it smells like cat urine - phew!), it was very hands off. Perfect for me since I work full time and don't have the time to scrub for hours at a time (which I have done before trying to get all this junk off!).

By the way, the bag at the top of this picture shows what the ammonia looked like in the end. Wow...gross!

I know that I have been missing in action for quite a while and I am very sorry for that. I've been around, just so incredibly busy this fall. I hope that things have settled a bit now so I can start blogging again. I have been missing it...I must have sat down a dozen time to start a post and something or another always interrupted me. Story of my life lately - my poor craft table has sat untouched for weeks now. I have been doing some knitting and crocheting though and will have to put together a "catch-up post" so you can see some of the things I have been making.

One of the things I have been excited about is I finally broke down and got a smartphone. So I am now also regularly on Twitter (@livelymind) and Instagram (@littlecreativenest) which I am having way too much fun with, so feel free to catch up with me there as well. :)

Has your fall been super busy as well? Does it feel overwhelming? How are you dealing with it?

Beware the Ides of March...

...so the saying goes.

Earlier this evening, southeast Michigan was hit by a pretty big storm, which produced some tornadoes. Tornadoes aren't uncommon here in Michigan, we all grow up having tornado drills in school, knowing which parts of our homes are safest, etc. But I think this storm caught attention because it's still a bit early in the year for tornadoes. Tornado season doesn't officially start until April. But today, we were reminded that Mother Nature follows her own schedule, her own rules. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, with such a mild winter, spring was bound to come early.

This little clip shows the damage that one neighborhood had in Dexter earlier this evening, which is a little more than 30 miles west of my town. I've heard that it was hit by an EF2 tornado, which typically had winds of 111-135 mph.

Right now, it sounds like there were no serious injuries or deaths due to the tornadoes, thank goodness! The worst part of the storm ended up heading south of my town, which was lucky for us, but there was some damage to other areas when the storm passed through. At least 6 other confirmed funnel clouds, some with touchdowns, as the storm headed through Monroe county to the southeast of us. We've ended up with a pretty long thunderstorm - in fact it's still thundering and lightning after 4 hours. But it could definitely have been worse.

My thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by the storm. I hope the damage is repaired as soon as possible. Be safe.

Vintage Finds

I wanted to share a few recent thrift store finds!

Two pair of vintage salt & pepper shakers...I love the little Michigan set! The little smiling toadstool set are also really cute, and my daughter loves them, but I thought they might be a fun set to sell...Etsy maybe?

They had a sale running that day...50% off dishes and glassware. I found this teapot and 2 cups - so cute! I can't find much on the manufacturer "Capistrand Japan", but will keep looking.

Then I found this set. Isn't it cute too?? The price tag was 12 for $5.99, so I got all of this for $3.00. The downside is that there were only 11 pieces. I don't know what the other piece was, or whether they just miscounted the set. This set is by Seltmann, a German company. The stamp on the bottom says "Seltmann Weiden K. Bavaria W. Germany". I've been trying to track down the pattern and haven't had any luck yet. There are dozens of patterns from this company at Replacements.com, but for some reason I just can't find this pattern. Frustrating! :)

I also found this sweet little glass dish. My hubby laughed when I showed him, and told me that it would always have to have "old people candy" in it. Right now it has plain M&M's, but I'm waiting for him to come home with something like bulk store hard candy or buttermints as a joke. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but there is an eagle and a star alternating on the sides which I really liked.

I also found a milkglass mug, but I didn't post a photo because I couldn't get a good photo of the three figures on the front. It's tall and narrow and will make a great vase.

I'm currently on the hunt for some kind of cabinet or shelves for the ugly bathroom. This weekend hubby had to make a repair to the toilet. In the process we decided to throw out the metal shelving thing that was around the toilet. We bought it soon after we bought the house. It was metal and glass, which worked because it mimicked the metal stripping on the walls, but over time the legs have become very rusty. It was impossible to clean, and looked terrible. So we tossed it. But now we need something to store brushes, lotions, etc. So maybe I'll get lucky and find something fun at a thrift store or on Craigslist...fingers crossed!

My home improvement dream of 2012...

Who has the ugliest bathroom on the planet? This girl.
Don't believe me? Take a look...

Yep...this is my bathroom (hangs head in shame...). Actually I took this picture before we actually bought the house, and that was at the end of 2004. It's still like this, minus the bathmat, which the sellers kindly took with them. My niece, who was about 3 at the time was sooo excited when she saw the toilet for the first time...after all, who knew that there were PINK toilets? Every little girls dream, right? lol

If I could have one major project to do this year, it would be to completely redo this bathroom. I'd tear out the mint-choclate-chip-icecream-green formica walls with aluminum stripping, the speckled linoleum floor, yank out the postage stamp sized shower stall (which is painted pink inside too, by the way) and yes, toss the pink toilet. Maybe with a catapult, though I wouldn't mind a sledgehammer...

I'd have a lovely light and airy room, with the right hand wall bumped out a couple feet (there is a counter and shelving in the family room on the other side I'd be happy to sacrifice). I'd perhaps move the shower to the window wall, maybe have hex tile on the floor, maybe some wainscoting on the lower half of the room. A white toilet. Some shelves or a vintage cupboard to hold towels (which have to be kept upstairs right now) and paper rolls (which are in the pantry now). I'd have the light switches inside the room...right now they are outside the room on the right side of the picture.

You know, just a few minor improvements.

A girl can dream, right?

Vintage finds

I am becoming a thrift store junky. It starts innocently enough...I thought that some little glass sundae cups would be a perfect way to add a little pizzaz to some simple sundaes for the kids this weekend. So on the way to the grocery store I made a quick stop at the local St. Vincent de Paul and headed straight to the glasswear shelves. Searching through, I find these little juice glasses:

Aren't they cute? Into the basket they went. But no luck on sundae cups. So I head down aisle full of household goods, just in case. Plus, I might find some vintage Pyrex or milk glass, right? Nope, but my daughter did find this:

A little girl with a kitten? Of course she loved it. :)

Then I found this:

Swoon!

A few weeks ago I saw a gorgeous tufted chair, but the burnt orange color just didn't work. This one however, will work great in my living room! I should have stopped there...really I should have. But then I found this:

Now let me explain about the living room. It is a collection of random furniture from all over. We have black leather couches from my husbands bachelor days, a small dining room table from my single days, a piano, rug, and lamp from hubbys parents, and a set of stacking tables that used to belong to hubby's grandpa. Throw in a couple of mismatched bookshelves and it's a room that has no cohesion and generally drives me crazy. But it's also the kids playroom, so I try to let it go. The rug can get animal crackers accidently ground into it, the couches wipe down easily and can handle their fort building, tv watching, and anything else they can throw at them.

But I hope that slowly we can start to transform this room into something bright, cheerful and still comfortable. This little table will replace one of the stacking tables. I'm thinking of painting it, but not anytime soon. There are other projects to work on (like the marble topped table that I haven't had time to tackle yet).

So I went to the store to pick up the chair, because I didn't have our bigger car to take it this weekend. I just should wait outside! lol

Because I found these:

They didn't have a price so I asked the sales clerk. She looked at them and said, "How about $5 for all of them?" Sold! I love them, even if its a completely mismatched number. 5 cups, 7 saucers and 6 bread & butter plates. But the pattern is great and I loved the shape of the cups. I'm really picky about teacup shapes, it's just a thing. :)

I've done a little research on the pattern. It's by the Homer Laughlin Company and the code on the bottom indicates it was made in 1955. It doesn't have a cool pattern name, but I eventually found the pattern number after more digging than I expected. I checked everywhere I could but no one online seems to have replacement pieces in stock. I'll have to keep looking, because I would love to even out the set.

Finally I found two wire chairs...nothing fancy but I think I'll spraypaint them in a bright color and use them in the yard.

So, needless to say I had a LOT of fun at the thrift store. :) It's becoming dangerous territory for me! lol What are some of your favorite thrift store finds?

Have a great day!

Embroidered Pillow

I meant to post this a while ago, but things just got away from me...big surprise. :) I did share this over at my YouTube channel, so feel free to check it out there also! Check out what I made!

I made this pillow as a little Mothers Day gift for myself - isn't it cute? If I would have had more time I would have made them for the kids grandmothers also, but as it is I only had time to make one. I love it!

I found the idea via Rubyellen over at Cakies - one of my favorite crafty blogs! I love her use of vintage materials and how she repurposes things for her home. I have found lots of great ideas there, which is good because my little house is sorely in need of revamping on a shoestring budget.

Anyway, I couldn't find the actual post when I saw the picture so I kept the overall idea in mind and went to the local St. Vincent de Paul on my home from work one day. It's a small shop but I find some really great things there. I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing the wicker chairs I saw there a few years ago...sigh. Anyway...I knew I wanted to make my pillow out of linen, so I dug through ladies jackets and came up with a solid lined and a patterned linen. Score! I think they cost me around $7 for both. I got home, measured a pillow form my mom had given me that had been sitting in the basement waiting for a purpose and went to work. I cut the pieces from the back of the jackets and sewed them together, leaving an opening at the bottom. The opening was actually too small and I really had to work to get the pillow in later (rookie mistake!).

I inked up the kids handprints onto copy paper and cut them out. I pinned them to the pillow (something that was actually more hassle than it needed to be) and used black embroidery floss to outline the prints. This went very fast actually...I only used a simple running stitch and didn't get too worked up if the stitches weren't perfectly spaced (though I was careful...I admit I couldn't abandon my perfectionist tendencies completely). I then added the heart in red, and the year at the bottom, stuffed the pillow case and sewed up the bottom. And done!

The pillow pops up in various rooms courtesy of my children, who love to move pillows all over the house depending on where the latest fort or cuddle party is. :)

I wish I had done this years ago, when they were smaller...even at 4 and 6 yrs old their hands were big enough to fill the square. I wonder if I could find various handprints of theirs from over the years and create a collage of these on linen in simple black frames...like a growth chart of handprints. Hmmm...

Weekend Project!

Happy Monday everyone!
Things were pretty busy at home this weekend. We have finally had a break in the weather which means we aren't walking out into a sauna every day. Sleeping has been great - with temps in the 50's overnight we can keep the windows open and still be able to snuggle under the covers. My favorite kind of weather!
On Saturday I started a project thats been on the wishlist since we moved into the house. Our house was built in the 20's and there are many things I love about it. There are also many things I hate about the house, one of which being that we have never had a "small project". It always leads into a much bigger project than we have the time (or funds) for. And now I am to the point that there are "this homeowner" projects and "next homeowner" projects. Why should I take away all the fun of home ownership from subsequent owners? That would hardly be fair to them! lol
So the main house was built in the 20's but we have an addition that was added probably in the 60's. It's a nice large room, where we spend most of our time, especially for entertaining. It's also paneled. Ugh. I hate paneling! I planned to paint it early on, but that was hindered by the fact that the roof leaked, causing damage to a corner of the ceiling, which is also paneled. So if we were to fix it, it would mean taking out all of the ceiling tiles (we would never find replacements) and trim and replacing it. At that point we would also need to take out the ceiling lighting and replace that, and who knows what shape that would be in. So it sat.
Then, a couple years ago, my hubby had a poker game. He has them periodically, just a few of his friends over to hang out and play a friendly game of cards. Well, someone apparently got a bit upset over a hand and then punched one of the sliding doors for the large closet in the hall. And put a hole in it. Don't get me started...
Hubby tried to fix it by flipping the doors so we wouldn't be looking at a hole in the door (smart, since his usually easy-going wife was seeing red everytime she walked past it. Well, the track was damaged in the process and the doors don't slide on the track very well now. So now I just see red when I can't get the door open. We were going to replace the doors, but knowing that I wanted them to be white we waited again. He didn't see an issue with white doors in a brown room, but thankfully he generally defers to me for color/decorating (smart man again). But we can't put it off any more. The doors are nearly impossible to move and realizing that we can't drywall the room we are just going to paint the walls and deal with the ceiling at a later time. It really can't look worse than it does and I'm so tired of having such a dark room.
Here is what we started with:
I cleaned and primed the walls with a Latex primer (I found out after that it's recommended to use Oil-based primer for paneling, oops). Once it dried I checked for "bleed-through", which is common for paneling, and the reason to use Oil-based primer. Thankfully, there was no sign of it. I then pulled out some leftover paint I used recently to paint the 2nd floor hall. It was a Behr paint called Swiss Coffee, and is just barely off white. There was just enough for one coat, so I tried to be as even as I could. I think it will need a 2nd coat eventually, but I'm going to wait until we make the final plunge and paint the main room.
Here is the final result:

All in all I like the outcome, though it takes a little getting used to. But it already feels a little brighter. Now we can move on to replacing the sliding doors on the left wall. I want to replace the tiny light fixture also...perhaps with a vintage schoolhouse light. I'd love one like this eventually. :) I did spend a little time at my craft table Sunday morning, but didn't have time to complete anything. Most of yesterday was spent cleaning the house and then had a wonderful visit from a friend who lives in Chicago. I have a few projects to complete for back-to-school so I need to get cracking. I am part of the PTo at my son's school (as if I weren't busy enough! lol) and we have a few things planned to welcome back the teachers. Being the resident crafty lady I have some gift cards to make as well as some other little goodies. Watch for them soon! :)

Have a great day!

Mornings, a little whining and Robins...

I have a love/hate relationship with mornings. Generally I like them, when I have had enough sleep; something I don't feel like I have had lately. Hubby went to Pittsburgh this past weekend with some of the guys to watch the Tigers play the Pirates and I took the opportunity of that, nice weather, and the motivation of his parents coming into town later this week to do some work. I desperately needed to cut the grass and wanted to do a little painting in the upstairs hall.
That hall has been a nightmare since we moved in 5 years ago. It was covered with 6 layers of very old brittle wallpaper and we found ourselves discouraged even more after discovering that half the hallway has not only wallpaper, but the wall itself is made from some type of pressed cardboard. Ugh. Naturally this is also the wall that goes up the stairs. So I concentrated on finishing the scraping on the other walls. They are finally done and this weekend I put on a couple layers of white paint. Hurray! Today after work I hope to put up a coat of a light of white color and call it done for the time being until we figure out how to finish the rest of the cardboard wall. I really need a few days off. :)

Big D has Field Day at school today. I think I will try to take half a day to help at the school. It's tough; there just never feels like I have enough time to get everything done.

Lil A joined the karate class that Big goes to yesterday. Of course I missed it because I was at work, but Hubby sent me a couple pictures. A tiny little girl in pink right in the middle of a group of little white belts. She was very excited to tell me all about it.

As for crafting, it has been on hold a bit lately. We have had so many home projects and things to do at work that I just haven't had time to do much. Which brings me back to mornings...so tired! If I just have a chance to clean off my craft table this week I will call that an accomplishment! I do have one card to share. I submitted this to Paper Crafts but it wasn't accepted. In looking at it, the sentiment is a bit crooked...but there could be a million other reasons why it wasn't accepted. No worries, I still liked having a sketch to work from and overall I was happy with the way it turned out. Now I have a chance to share it. I used Lawn Fawn stamps, and you know how I love my Lawn Fawn stamps!




I haven't kept up on the Robin family outside our kitchen window, so I wanted to share a few pics from the last few weeks:

Only 3 of the 4 eggs hatched. This was the last picture I could get over the nest. The parents are constantly keeping watch if they aren't on the nest and have no problem swooping down to peck at any intruders (as I found out! lol)

Three mouths were plenty to keep Mama busy! I could still get some pretty good side view photos from the kitchen window and eventually Mama learned that I wasn't going to hurt the nest.

These are the three healthy baby robins today...too big for their nest and working on their wing strength. They are soooo cute! I think they will be gone within a few days, and wish them well!

Hope you have a lovely day!