Trying to Get Stuff Done

Divine DeVine!

2011-02-06T07:47:00.001-05:00

It's divine.. truly it is! What am I talking about? Well I recently made a quick trip to my happy place with a friend and our boys. I'm speaking of Walt Disney World, of course! This is the first time I did not visit all the parks as we only had 3 full days to work with. So we chose to play only in the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom.

The treat I wanted to share was seeing an attraction that's not always there when you go. In fact, I haven't seen this in my last several visits and I was so happy to have seen this again that I wanted to share it.

Do you see it? Can you see what's in the vines?? Look carefully....

How about now...

Okay, surely now...

Her name is DeVine!

Bamboo or Hardwood?

2011-01-11T13:47:00.000-05:00

As with everything, we have contradicting information. The flooring people said that there would be the risk of diminished resale value, specifically we would reduce the number of people who'd want to buy our house, if we went with bamboo. However, a quick Google of the topic tells me that bamboo is the hottest thing and actually adds resale value.

Now, we have no intention of selling any time soon, but it's always good to keep these things in mind when making choices.

The other quandary is whether the bamboo is too contemporary looking. If we went with the light color, I have no doubt it's very contemporary looking. We are interested in the caramelized color. It's where they heat up the bamboo and the sugars in the wood caramelize. How cool is that? Almost poetic for a kitchen, don't you think?

That said, there is a perfectly wonderful honey colored traditional oak that we are considering as well. It has a wonderful warm tone and will go well with our existing oak flooring.

Which do you like and why?

Bamboo

Honey Oak

A New Year = A New Kitchen!

2011-01-08T07:16:00.000-05:00

We've lived in this house 5 1/2 years and it's astounding to me just how much stuff we accumulate. I always say that if you want to get rid of stuff, pretend like you're going to move. And getting ready for a renovation is just like moving -- EVERYTHING has to be packed up! As we put the kitchen back together, I intend to simplify -- one of my New Years resolutions -- yet I can't throw much out yet until I know how I will work in my new kitchen. Sound like procrastination? Shhh... don't tell me.

The new kitchen. Oh what a lovely sound those three words make in my heart! I can't wait. I'm scared. I'm excited. I'm overwhelmed. I'm hoping I've made good design decisions.

In the coming days, I'm going to post some pictures of the before and after layouts and some beginning pictures of the demolition. I would love any thoughts you have. Sound fun? I hope so!

A New Year

2011-01-02T07:33:00.001-05:00

Last year, my resolutions included posting more on my blog. Drat. Missed that.

This year, I'm going to try again. And this should immediately prove to be a challenge as we are getting ready for a major remodel -- oh yes, I'm getting a new kitchen! And then, just before that all begins, my son and I are abandoning my hubby for a trip to see the Mouse. SUN!

So far, everyone has liked my post about the table re-do I did. I'm going to attempt to do more projects like that. But I think I will also have to include the kitchen renovation experience. Everyone likes tales of a new kitchen, right?

So Happy New Year everyone. I hope to be a more interesting read for you in 2011!

Ghost in a Jar

2010-10-31T16:27:00.000-04:00

I caught a little halloween spirit... in a jar!

A shout out to Mad Vintage Life for the awesome idea!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Chalk it up!

2010-08-23T07:40:00.000-04:00

It had to happen sooner or later... chalk paper or chalk paint.

I resisted.

I gave in.

And I have to say.. it was fun. :-)

I especially love the chalk paints! Must play more with those!! Chalk it up to fate. Pun intended!

So this is a grateful shout out to Thrifty Decor Chick for this most excellent idea.

I love the containers in my kitchen. And I love that I am not stuck with the label -- I can make it whatever I put in to it. Sweet.

Oh... Notice my whole wheat flour is about to expire? Got any great ideas how I could use it up rapidly??

Participating in...

Thrifting

2010-08-01T10:28:00.003-04:00

On average, I think I have a 10% success rate -- one in every 10 trips results in success when I go thrifting. Is that because I don't look the the right places or I just don't have a practiced eye?

$2

A nice, medium-sized covered dish that washed up nicely.

A practical, medium-ish-sized bowl for ... whatever.

4 plates for $12

Couldn't resist despite the price. :-)

What do you think? Like my finds??

Easy Artwork

2010-07-12T09:39:00.008-04:00

Dollar Store frames, Martha Stewart punched stickers, & a complimentary 12x12 scrap booking page cut for the background:

Nice & Easy! :-)

Participating in:
&

"Quick" Ribbon Pillow FINALLY Done!

2010-07-05T10:15:00.000-04:00

This Ribbon Pillow was started at least 5 years ago. I can't remember. BUT... I finally, FINALLY finished it. I love getting project done! Doesn't it look nice? It's ribbons weaved and ironed on to fusible webbing. This is a nice project if you're ever looking for something fun to do with ribbons.

Do you like it?

Participating in Metamorphosis Monday and DIY Project Parad.

No Sew Bunting Fun

2010-06-02T09:58:00.009-04:00

SUCCESS! Well, mostly. I won't point out the flaws. Who is it that says it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful?

So here's a shout out to Maggy at Redtedart for this great No Sew Bunting project. I got it done within a few hours on a weekend. I used more stitch witchery than she called for -- I put it inside the bias tape and in the fold of the bias tape against the triangles. Otherwise, I pretty much followed her directions.

From Jo-Ann Fabrics, I used:
- 1 fabric bundle ($10 before a 40% off coupon)
- 3 packages of blue bias tape
- 2 packages of stitch witchery

Didn't that come out really nice? Next time I might try sewing one, but this was a sweet success.

Participating in: Met Monday & DIY Showoff

Oh where can those doors be?

2010-05-18T08:50:00.002-04:00

Failure. Ugh!!

What? What is it I'm talking about? Let me tell you!

I fell in love. With a headboard. And I thought it should be so easy to find those 4 raised-panel kitchen cupboard doors. Have you seen the project from Remodelaholic? It's fantastic!

Finding those doors has proven to be insidiously difficult.

I used Craigslist, Facebook, and the local Free Cycle. No luck.

I visited, not one, not two, but THREE different "house parts" kinds of places more than once.

No luck!

It should be so much easier, don't you think?? How do I get this project done?

I need your advice!

My first furniture before & after

2010-04-12T08:13:00.001-04:00

This is my first furniture before & after. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

But first, what did I learn?

1. Black paint is awesome.

2. Benjamin Moore paint is not carried at Lowes or Home Depot.

3. Rust-Oleum paint isn't half bad as alternative.

4. Those little foam roller brushes rock - no brush bubbles or bristle strokes!

And now....

Here's what the table looked like before:

And after...

And here's me doing my happy dance (you'll just have to imagine it because you don't REALLY want to see it)!

Easy Wall Art from a Disney Souvenir

2010-04-04T21:37:00.000-04:00

Who doesn't love an easy wall art project?

Frame a favorite pin from Disney World!

Magic.

Fabric Basket

2010-03-28T20:04:00.001-04:00

A shout out to The Sometimes Crafter for the nice, easy to follow (especially given my novice status as a sewer) tutorial for a Fabric Basket.

If I was able to sew with any consistency, it would have looked better, but I'm pleased nonetheless. So check it out and give a try! This is a nice project to use up scraps and fat quarters.

Review? I will be making more of these. They'll be nice to store some of my craft materials. I may even try making some to use for my son's toys. I especially like how quickly I was able to get one done.

Things I learned: 1) You really *do* need a good cutting surface. 2) Don't give up -- finish it, you still may love it.

Kitchen Conundrum

2010-03-18T13:47:00.001-04:00

Our kitchen is stuck in the year 1968 or somewhere very near there. Actually, that's not quite true. A number of months ago, my dear husband started to pull down wall paper and now a third our kitchen is in that "undone" state. The stuck part has dark brown cabinets, a brown push-button electric stove, and centennial wallpaper.

Anyhow I hate my kitchen and I should have held out for a better one when we were house hunting. I was tricked by the amount of space, but in truth only half the kitchen is actually workspace. The rest is eating space. I didn't recognize that. And the amount of workspace is laughable. How on earth did the family before us live and raise children with this kitchen?

Here are the major problems, aside from outdated appliances and decor:

No pantry!!
Terrible lighting
Poor storage
Horrible work flow/design
Traffic pattern bisects the kitchen

We will finally be talking to someone about redoing our kitchen. We chose them because on their website they say they will work with DYI people. They have a culinary center and a can take care of design as well as the whole renovation and contractor process. I asked around and they've got a solid reputation, so I'm nervously optimistic that our kitchen conundrum will begin to be solved with these people.

Candle Shade Knock-off

2010-02-22T06:34:00.003-05:00

While I still may buy these candle shades from Chiasso since they are so pretty, I nevertheless decided to give it a go and make some for myself. They turned out pretty well and I think I may spend more time with better paper next time.

Anyhow, my proof-of-concept worked pretty well though you can see I did not take enough time to make sure I was cutting straight. :-/ Also, if I were making these for a dinner party or something in particular, I would have taken my time and chosen different paper.

I was thinking that those edge punches would make for a pretty border on the top and bottom of these shades..

First, I started with the biggest bowl I could find to make a nice circle. That bowl turned out to be a pasta serving bowl in case you'd like to use yours. Then I used some fancy folding (er, I just folded it in half to find the middle) and then found another circle shaped object, a cup, to trace in the center. Once I was done tracing, I cut out my pattern. Then I trimmed it down until I found a shape that would work for my wide wine glasses and fit 12x12 scrapbook paper.

With my pattern, I cut out two shades at once. This paper is not my first choice for decorating, but it was sufficient for my test.

Finally, I rolled it into a shade-shape and glued it. Voila! It was and easy project.

For safety sake, I would warn anyone trying this to use LED tea lights and not real ones. I tried to do a nice picture with real tea lights (I do not have the battery-operated ones on hand) and I think I'd be worried about the paper catching fire.

Let me know what you think and certainly post pictures if you try this project.

Happy Met Monday!

Play Mailbox

2010-02-15T09:00:00.003-05:00

For months I've been asking (ahem... yes, that would be nagging) my sweet husband to build our son a mailbox. Our son outgrew his awesome Little Tikes Garden with the little mailbox that he loved so much and I knew he'd love a bigger one.

Well this one is probably more than I meant, but it was easy and inexpensive to do. It's just a regular, plastic mailbox on a post with a base nailed on and then painted white.

Our son LOVES it. He's already stuffed his favorite bear and cars in it and, of course, played mailman.

Now I intend to make him a mail carrier bag and maybe a mailbox (drop box) and he can really get in to his pretending. Sometimes it's a lot of fun being a parent!

Please drop me a quick comment and let me know what you think!

Cabin Fever

2010-02-07T10:03:00.003-05:00

Like so many others, it's this time of year that gets me restless. I start looking for travel deals, especially ones to Walt Disney World. While we could do it very cheaply by staying off-site or at a value resort, I end up always want to stay at my favorite moderate resort, Port Orleans Riverside. I love the feel of the place and that we can take a boat ride to Downtown Disney. I don't want to wait until this fall to take a trip. I want to take one in May.

But then the cost prevents me from making any plans ... and then I'm back to my winter blues. Oh, but I can look at pictures from our last trip and smile. How can you not when my boy is so darned cute? We had such a nice time, but it's never long enough. I could happily spend two weeks or more there. I envy those who do!

Well, I guess I can't complain too much given that I live in the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes region. Typically our winters are full of snow and we have a contest with neighboring cities (Buffalo & Syracuse). However, we don't have as much as those of you south of us. I'd go play out in the snow with my son, but the temp is only 17 degrees. Brrrr! Not much fun for snow frolicking. Guess I'll go shopping instead.
:-)

Curtains!

2010-01-25T06:50:00.001-05:00

Okay... Okay.. I know it's a mundane thing to post for Metamorphosis Monday, but I just have to!

You see, it has only taken me nearly 5 years to accomplish the oh so small feat of selecting curtains. And what a difference it makes to the room -- it transforms the feeling of it entirely and makes it much more cozy. I wish I could have found curtains I didn't hate years ago. Or I wish I could bravely mistreat my windows like the Nester.

And I got to tell you something. I hate ironing. The room has 4 windows and that meant 8 panels to iron. Bleah.

So what do you think? Any ideas for an affordable area rug for me that will allow me to play with whatever color I want in the room (hint: see that photo on the wall)? And what the heck were the house designers thinking in 1968? Who puts a heating vent under a window where it could potentially be behind curtains?!

Happy Monday Everyone!

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

2010-01-07T08:23:00.005-05:00

I must have been hiding under a rock or something, because I just finally stumbled on to this awesome Muppets version of Bohemian Rhapsody. I grew up watching the Muppet Show and love seeing them when we visit Disney World. I'm so glad Disney is doing more with them like with their "Give a Day. Get a Day." promotion. And this video rocks!

Yummy & Easy Pumpkin Muffins

2010-01-02T17:45:00.003-05:00

How much easier can a two ingredient recipe be?!

My 3-year-old son absolutely LOVES these and asks for seconds. Even my husband asks me to make them. And -- get this -- this is a Weight Watchers friendly recipe. Can you believe that one muffin is 3 points?

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together:

spice cake mix
15 oz. can of pumpkin puree

I find that the results are nicer if you sift the cake mix, otherwise you probably will want to spend a little time mixing out the small lumps of cake mix.

OR, use your mixer to work out the lumps. I tried this new beater blade attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer and it's pretty cool (thank you Santa). It did a great job getting rid of the cake batter lumps and the muffin comes out really smooth.

Anyhow, the resulting mix will be thick, but that's okay!

Spoon equal amounts into cupcake pan (use cupcake liners for best results). Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cooled. Makes 12 cupcakes.

If you try this recipe, I'd love to hear about it!

I'm participating in DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land -- so fun!

My curtain challenge.

2010-01-01T09:13:00.000-05:00

Curtains for my living room (or is it a family room?) have been a huge challenge for me. I don't really have a specific color scheme nailed down which is certainly part of the problem. I've also been searching for an area rug that I like, but haven't found one. Yes, I know I'm probably doing everything in the wrong order, but that's just how I seem to do things sometimes.

So my family room is huge -- it runs the whole side of my house and has 4 very tall windows. Therefore buying curtains you don't like (or do like!) is not cheap. Sadly I don't have the Nester's knack for tasteful mistreatment of windows, but I greatly admire it. And honestly, I would still have the similar challenge of finding that much fabric to even attempt her lessons on mistreatment.

To date, I have tried 3 different curtains. First, a very vivid red duck cloth type from JC Penny. I chose it because my husband really wants to have color in the room. We differ on what that might mean, but we both agreed that the red was too much for the room. Next we tried a neutral/beige, stripped curtain, again from JC Penny. I made the mistake of not noticing the width was larger so the curtain looked ridiculous as there was too much fabric -- though the color wasn't bad. Then I admit I gave up and decided to put up some very cheap curtains from Target for my third try. Who knew that the rod pockets wouldn't be large enough?! Groan.

The holidays then arrived and I abandoned all efforts to put up curtains. Bleah.

After Christmas, JC Penny had another sale to lure me back in again. My husband and I liked the style of the first curtains we tried, but not the color so I went back and stared at the color selection for a while. I finally settled on a toffee color and nervously awaited for them to be ordered in.

Results? I am pleasantly pleased with them!

And now I am off to find an area rug that will work in the room. It has to allow for red, green, and toffee. It should also allow light yellow and blue to be in the room. What do you think? I'm nuts, right? Hah!! But what's life without a little challenge?

Seriously, if you have any tips or suggestions, I'll take them. I will also amend this post with a few pictures of the room when I get them taken.

Candy Cane Reindeer

2009-12-23T09:27:00.003-05:00

I cannot take credit for coming up with this craft on my own. There was one of these little guys in my mailbox at work and I thought it would be fun to make these for my son's daycare friends. Originally I thought he would be able to do them with me, but then I realized after I had made the first one that the dexterity required is more than his little three-year-old hands can handle. No matter -- here's the results of my efforts. Too cute!!

Incidentally, I love Photoshop Elements. My flash had over-exposed the candy canes, so I used the little selection tool (and a whole lot of clicks!) and adjusted the lighting on the red & white parts. And then finally I rotated it just a little bit. The result is a much nicer picture!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

My Garland Wreath

2009-12-16T20:09:00.003-05:00

A shout out now to both Chaos Among Us and to her inspiration, We Are That Family, for this garland wreath idea. I followed Jen's (Chaos Among Us) directions, but found that I needed to use two 20 yard strands of garland. Maybe it (and I) are wound more tightly! :-) Not a bad end result nonetheless! Thanks to both for the fun and easy project.

And in case you were wondering.... the stripes belong to wrapping paper I put on the back of a door that leads out to a enclosed room that is really only useful when I weather is nice. The rest of the year it sometimes acts as a storage room or a "hide the presents" room.

A Pretty Christmas Bow

2009-12-10T10:15:00.003-05:00

Some might wonder at my enthusiasm for my last post about how to tie a bow. Perhaps everyone else is good at it, but I only knew how to tie the most simplest of bows - the old fashioned 'tie your shoe" kind of bow. So here are the results of this lesson:

My Christmas Sled

I'm so happy!

How To Video for Bows

2009-12-03T14:32:00.000-05:00

Love the Container Store! Found a great video for making your own bows (there are several variations in this video). I can't just read and follow a set of directions -- I need to see how it's done. So easy! I particularly love the poinsettia bow. Happy Wrapping!!

Christmas Cards in a Frame

2009-12-01T19:34:00.003-05:00

Here's a way to add some holiday decorations to your home for not a lot of money. Take some favorite cards and put them in to a frame. I'm sure it's been done before and this is nothing new, but maybe it'll re-spark the memory and you'll want to do it.

Ta da! Posted for DIY day at A Soft Place to Land.

Meet Sophia

2009-11-22T06:54:00.005-05:00

Meet Sophia.

This is the cover I made for Sophia.

My directions came from the Australian Craftblog. These were extremely easy directions to follow and a very nice tutorial. I think I did a pretty good job except my seams don't match up, but you can't tell from a distance. Not bad given this is the first time I've sewed in YEARS.

I'm satisfied.

So many project ideas; so little time!

2009-11-17T14:06:00.000-05:00

Here are two projects, by way of Be Different Act Normal, that I wish I had time to tackle:

A cookie cutter wreath:

And a fabric rag wreath:

I think I have wreaths on the brain.

Between Naps on the Porch: Welcome to the 44th Metamorphosis Monday and the Perfect Gift, Give-a-Way!

2009-11-16T09:26:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Between Naps on the Porch, is hosting a giveaway for Metamorphosis Monday -- check out the beautiful handcrafted jewelry from Lisa Leonard Designs.

Giving Thanks to Homebody

2009-11-16T06:43:00.000-05:00

A shout out to Homebody who gave me this idea for Scrabble Tiles. This is one of those projects that I actually completed! Yes, I know it's an easy little project (which is why I loved it), but sometimes even the easiest projects can end up being annoyingly difficulty

Take this one for example -- I didn't think I had a Scrabble set so I of course searched Ebay and was surprised to find the prices so high. A lot of crafters like to use those little tile pieces for their projects. So then I thought I could find them at Goodwill (and similar places), which I eventually did. However, I failed to open the box to check over the contents. Big mistake and lesson learned. The tiles were all mildewed and yucky and no amount of cleaning got rid of the smell. To bring an end to this story, I found a set of scrabble pieces in my basement.

On a separate note.... don't you just love my 1960's/1970's flocked wall paper? Bleah! Another project yet to be done.

Baby Me - More Fun with Photos

2009-11-15T07:45:00.005-05:00

My scanner is an Epson Perfection v500 with ICE technology. Whatever that ICE technology is, it makes scanning slides very cool because it automatically removes dirt and other picture "noise" so that your end result is nice to work with. That said, a lot of my slides are dark or over exposed, so they are a challenge. I have very few pictures from my childhood, so I focused first on one of those. How'd I do?

Before:

After

Participating in Metamorphosis Monday!

Chair Makeover Inspiration

2009-11-13T14:28:00.002-05:00

Here are the chairs I now have:

And here is my transformation inspiration:

Now let see what really happens....

How to avoid blisters!

2009-11-12T11:45:00.000-05:00

Well now, this is something I will just have to try the next time I stupidly do something and burn myself. Jealousy Design put out a post on how to avoid blisters after a burn by using egg whites. I have never heard of this one, have you?

Photo Fixing Fun

2009-11-07T06:37:00.006-05:00

Here is my semi-successful before and after photos. It's the photos themselves! I just loved this picture of my grandma and her friends in the roaring 20's. And the sweetheart picture of my grandparents is just precious to me.

I used Photoshop Elements to sharpen and fix the pictures after I scanned them. Any creative ideas what I can do with them now besides frame them?

Before:

After:

And another one.....

Before: After:

Centsational Girl Giveaway

2009-11-06T12:51:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite bloggers and DIY miracle worker, Centsational Girl, has a great giveaway for some beautiful jewelry by Lisa Leonard Designs. Check 'em out when you get a moment.

Curtains!

2009-11-03T15:03:00.000-05:00

In our living room, we have 4 windows and we have gotten by with the neutral, white, roller shades left by the prior owners these last 4 years. Each winter I swear I will buy curtains and reduce our heating costs -- it's a big room. Did I mention our windows are original to our 1968 home? Yup. And they show it. Especially in the winter with drafts. Anyhow, we are on our second set of curtains and will be returning these too. I don't know why the right ones are so difficult to find! I'm very frustrated and could use advice.

Play Kitchens

2009-10-31T16:50:00.001-04:00

There are two examples of awesome DIY play kitchens that I have found. One I stumbled upon just recently at MommyWords that I think is just gorgeous and then the other one I found a while ago by someone who very cleverly transformed their old entertainment center. Of course, you can always Google "DIY play kitchen" and find many versions including some very nice and affordable Ikea hacks. Even though my son already has a kitchen he likes to play in, I would love to make the first one.

LLBean

2009-10-31T07:54:00.005-04:00

Hooray!

LLBean is finally coming to Rochester! We heard rumors months upon months ago, but then nothing. And then one day my darling husband stumbled upon this exciting little sign in the Eastview Mall. He thoughtfully texted this picture to me and it just made my day!

Too bad it's not opening before this Christmas, but it will be in time for my birthday. Hint... Hint...

How are these stores in other areas? Are they as good or better? Are there good deals to be found that you wouldn't find online? I hope so!

Now I wish Ikea would come here....

An excellent use for old Scrabble pieces

2009-10-28T16:17:00.004-04:00

Found this excellent use for old Scrabble tiles while poking at the links on Metamorphosis Monday at betweennapsontheporch. I just love this simple use of old scrabble pieces. So I set out to find me a set, however I quickly discovered that I'm in comptetition with crafters for those little scrabble tiles and they're a little over priced on eBay. I posted to Facebook, but none of my friends coughed up a set for me. I'll just have to keep looking.

It's been one of those days.

2009-10-28T15:50:00.000-04:00

I have spilled coffee on myself twice and didn't manage to dodge numerous puddles walking through the rain to work. It's been one of those days.