Just because you can - Doesn't mean you should.

Learned a lesson the hard way over the weekend. The kids and I headed North to my parents. Because we were staying though Monday, my husband opted to enjoy some 'quiet time' at home.

Like many parts of the country, the Midwest has been hit with a bit of snow. The kids were looking forward to packing up their snow gear, sleds and snowboards. We spent the better part of a day stomping through snow and breaking rather large icicles off the house.

The we got out the sleds and snowboards.

I learned that just because I am now under the weight limit for my son's snowboard does not mean I should try and ride it.

There is a salad plate sized bruise on my right hip.

Pictures coming of everything but the bruise.

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My husband is gone tonight. That means only one thing.

Before and After pictures.

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In other news. I reached another weight milestone. I'm down thirty pounds.

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Very nearly done

I am woman, hear me roar.

After re-orienting the table and hutch, I am much more pleased with the layout.

I still need to sew and hang the curtains, and hang one more framed thing, but that really shouldn't take too long.



And I decided that I dislike the color of the light fixture.


So I'm going to paint it black. I started, and really like it. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it is nearly the same color as the wall - no 'pop' at all.

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Now, all I have to do is figure out where I'm going to put all the crap I pulled out of there.

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I struggle with 'warm and homey' verus 'messy and disorganized.' Our house should look like someone lives here, but I need some sense of order. Some. Not much. My latest and greatest plan? Take one measly hour a day and tackle one room. Work for one hour - clean out the laundry room, hit a couple cabinets in the kitchen, sort out the family room toys. Not big, massive projects - but just enough to keep chaos from tightening her grip. Set the timer and go.

One hour shouldn't interfere too much with my sewing/volunteering schedule.

Too much.

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Happy Hump Day!

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How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

The dreaded dining room. I've written about this before.


I am tired of the first thing people see when they walk in our house is one (or more) of my crafting messes.


Though I have to wonder... Have I bitten off more than I can chew?




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Today is Veteran's Day.

This morning when I couldn't sleep, I googled and found Quilts of Valor. They are quilts donated to injured servicemembers and veterans of the war on terror.

I can't help but think I need to do one. Or more.


Al Lind, WWII veteran, German POW for 2 years and maker of 110 quilts of valor.

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I'm Baaaaaaack!

Like it or not...

It's been a busy couple weeks.

T-ball is nearly done - It's been fun to see the kids progress.

Yep, that's me as coach while my husband's away.
And here's a little before and after...

I got tired of the poor dying purple bushes.

Tired enough to cut them out after a 12 mile run.

It's fun to sit out, watching the world go by.

Kind of like an old-fashioned front porch.

Have a great weekend!

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Sunday with a Before and After

Pretty productive weekend. Mananged to finish a couple projects that I've been meaning to for months...

Mitzi, they're finally in the mail. Along with Here Fishy.

And...

The "Before" picture of the basement.

It's not much, but I wanted to cut down on the bowling alley aspect of the room.

Chose not to go with the Greg Brady route with beads, instead just some simple fabric panels hung from the ceiling.

Also, I took down the green sheets I had hanging in the window and made curtains out of the same material. Not sure if I'm done yet, but for right now, I'm pleased with the result.

After:

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the fabric nearly matches the walls.

My huband drove to see his beloved team play this weekend. That leaves the basement tv sad and lonely for company. Rather than putting the high-def to work for guys in tight pants, it's been put to service watching "Meet the Robinsons." If you haven't seen it already, do. It's one of the better kid movies out there.

Now, if I could only make some slipcovers for the couches...

Master Bathroom - Before and After

Before, looking in the door. My main dislike is the color, which I picked out last year.
Looking out (I was standing in the bath tub.) You can't really see that the previous owner put a mirror above the toilet. Every time I got out of the show I got to look directly in the mirror. Nice.

Getting started...

Needed a little more storage - a simple 'build' that fit the job.

Sorry for the crappy photography - couldn't get the light to cooperate.

Better lighting. Moved the three window towel rack from above the tub to by the sink.
My 'build.' After getting out of the shower, I like looking at it much better than the mirror.

Better picture of the entrance. New picture from IKEA.

My goal was to create a 'calmer' place. The blue made me twitchy. In all, I am extremely pleased with the result.

If you give a pig a pancake...

It all started innocently enough. A few weeks ago, I made curtains for my daughter's room. The Boy then wondered when I'd make curtains for his. The other day, I found myself at the fabric store with The Boy and Toddler Girl.

Yes, I just 'found' myself there - I was really there to return some things we didn't need for his birthday party a month ago.

On a whim, we scoured the remnant racks. It's really hard finding 'boy' fabric. I finally found this, and managed to convince him he didn't need the black skulls with flame stuff:

I had enough I could make both a window dressing and a decorative pillow. The rod was $10 and the fabric was $9 (3 yards at $3 a yard).

While we were there, Toddler Girl started wondering about her curtains. Oy. We scoured a bit more, and found something that would work as well.

Here is the before:

Yes, it's a sheet. I know. But what you can't see is underneath the sheet (that somewhat matches the walls) there is another navy blue sheet folded in half and held in place with three nails just above the trim.

The after:
We already had the curtain rod, so just $12 in fabric (4 yards at $3 a yard).

Now, that brings me to the 'problem.' I now have a sheet, full size, that is sun bleached. What to do... I know! I went in my fancy pants craft room and dug through my scrap fabric. Found enough to make this:
I cut the fabric in strips, using the baseball theme whole. I cut the blue, green and red plaid in various sizes and put it together a strip at a time. Meaning, I didn't lay the whole thing out then start sewing, I started with a whole baseball strip and created one strip at a time, 'eyeballing' it as I went. I decided to use edging to make it a bit bigger. I'm guessing it's 6 ft by 4 ft or so.

Since only one section of the sheet is bleached out, I have plenty to back the quilt with. That's my next project. So that puts the cost for this project at a big, fat zero. I already have the batting, but am struggling with what color to put it together with - either cream or blue. Can't decide.

Now, what to do with the purple sheet...

Patio - Before and After

When looking to buy, one of the things we really liked about this house was the patio:

This spring, we decided to be grownups and finally get some patio furniture:
A few pots by the firepit: coleus, gerbera daisy, petunias...

By the sliding door: three different varities of coleus and some filler (I can't remember the name of the broad, glossy leafed plant)...

This is only the beginning...

I have discovered that there are two places I shouldn't go the day before payday: plant nursery and Ikea. Last night, the kids and I went to Ikea. They had a great time playing at Small-land and I left a trail of drool through the store. Ended up finding a couple tealight lanterns for the patio table and something to organize my 'crap' drawer in the kitchen:

As for today? I'll be cleaning, laundrying, grocery shopping... and making Sangria. Thing is, I'm not a big fan of wine or rum. But mix them together with some fruit and sugar? Mmmm.

Perhaps later a fire in the fire pit, some tapas, more Sangria... Who's ready for Happy Hour?

My Inner Grandma

Awhile back I wrote about working on my dining room and starting baby quilts. Here's the finished quilt:

I love the frogs with red lipstick and striped umbrellas. I finished the edges with a narrow red border to set it off. The fabric on both the front and back are lightweight fleece. I did put low loft batting between to layers to give it a little heft.
Note to self: stop letting kids play with the camera. Images are all fuzzy.



Here's another:


Though not my best work, I love the colors. The back is purple fleece, and again has a layer of low loft batting. Not enough to make it heavy, just give it a little substance.





Next is simply a tease:

A table runner I made for the dining room. Trust me, the colors look better in person.

I'm still waiting on the geneology info so I can complete the chart for the dining room.

Now, off to the gym.

Four miles waiting for me.

Thanks Kate, for prompting this post.

More projects and a not quite after

The Dining Room is coming along nicely. Very nicely, but I'm not ready to take pictures just yet.

There's one project left that I need to finish.

Six years ago, my parents got me a Martha Stewart Geneology Fan Chart and Frame. It's been sitting in the box, with me longingly looking at it about twice a year. While I was cleaning out the craft room, I made a list of all my 'started' projects. I put the fan chart at the top of the list.

Part of me is afraid to start it. It is so pretty, all blank and clean. I don't want to make a mistake. Also, I wanted to find the 'perfect' pen and have the 'perfect' place to put it. I want it to be better than good.

I took the first step by penciling in the 'test' copy.

I took the second step by finding the 'perfect' pen

The final copy hasn't been started. I'm waiting for a little more information from my husband's family. Then I'll be able to finally put this project to rest

Until then, I'm putting together baby quilts. Itty bitty ones - around 36" x 36". The preemies in the NICU are each given a quilt when they check in, and are able to take it home when they check out. This is only possible through donations of quilts by 'little old ladies.' I thought I'd make two for the two my sister's babies will take home

This is the one I put together this morning:

Before.

I found the bundles in the clearance bin at WalMart. They were around $1 each. The bin is my stash of fabric for a rainy day.

Not sure if I have enough... Heh.

Alas, here is the almost finished product:

It ended up smaller than I thought, so I'm going to add some blue sashing around the outside. The backing will be blue, with possibly red piping around the outside to pick up the little bit of red in the fabric. Not sure yet...

Fine Dining

Do you ever have one of those nights, you're just about asleep and an idea hits? Then you're up pondering the possibility for several more hours?

Here's the thing. I watch way, way, way too much 'design' tv. Too much. Too many before and afters. And I get just a little envious. Envious that they have a professional designer, organizer, and a Hottie mcHot to do all their 'wood working.'

I've decided to go, one room at a time, and change the things I don't like. Rather than spend a lot on even more stuff, I'm going to use what I already have. Move things around a bit. Repurpose. My goal is to do each room for under $100.

The first room I'm conquering, is the room we probably use the least, but it's the first thing people see when they walk in the house. The dining room. It's become a bit of a dumping ground:

Looking in from the front door.

Looking in from the kitchen.

I've come to the point that I don't really 'see' the room anymore. I already have a couple thoughts for this room. Will be posting 'after' pictures soon.

More Craft Room After Pictures.

I discovered a couple things in cleaning out my craft room.

I like yarn.

Lots and lots of yarn.

I like fabric too.

Lots and lots of fabric and notions.

I like the feel of textiles. I like turning them into something. I promised myself I wouldn't buy any more until I finished a couple of my outstanding projects. Until I went to the fabric store to buy embroidery floss to finish one of the baby blankets. Until I saw these fabrics on sale for $1 a yard instead of $6.99.

Not sure what I'll do with either one. I didn't think they really matched anything in the house, until I got them home. The reds and greens aren't exactly what's in the family room, but might make a nice quilt.

This morning, I finally finished one of the baby blankets for my sister: