Anything Pretty

Burp Cloth Tutorial (Field-Tested)

2012-01-30T05:33:00.000-06:00

When I found out I was pregnant, one of the first things I did was start buying fabric for burp clothes. Easy and cute and I finally had an excuse to buy some kids fabric besides giving it away to other people. There are precisely 23894 tutorials on the blogosphere for how to make them and I did the whole sewing fabric on a diaper method (don’t worry, I go into greater detail in the actual tutorial).

They did look prettier before they were washed a million times.

I made over 20 like this and thought I was golden. Because we were not going to have an urper anyway so they would just sit pretty in their box.

And then Carter made his arrival. And he had reflux.

Which meant that burp clothes became a constant fashion accessory. And that you did not get nice clothes on for work until you were literally walking out the door in case he erupted.

You should be thanking me for not sharing a picture of him actually spitting up. Because we have them.

Anyway with all the urping going on, the diaper burp clothes I made were showing their weaknesses. Namely that they are too wide for shoulders and were constantly falling off. Leaving your shoulder in a vulnerable position. Not to mention your back.

My friend Lauren made us some thinner ones which worked so much better (and matched his nursery too- bonus!).

So taking her thin design and adding some flannel for some extra “stickiness” I have now perfected the burp cloth. At least think so. Now if I just find the time make some more of them…

Ready for the How-To?

Materials:

Printed Cotton Fabric (approximately 9x18- a fat quarter works well)

Flannel Fabric (double the size of the printed fabric)

Scissors or Rotary Cutter

Sewing Machine

Iron

How To:

1. Cut your fabric larger than the size you are thinking of making your burp cloth and pre-wash it to get the shrinking thing out of the way.

2. Cut your now shrunk printed fabric in a 9 in x 18 in rectangle. This size can be varied, I cut the three burp clothes I made at slightly different widths depending on how much fabric I had. This is not an exact science.

3. Cut two flannel squares the exact same size you cut the printed fabric.

4. Line up your three squares right on top of each other with right sides together. (In the picture the three pieces are fanned out slightly so that you can see the order…when you sew make sure they are right on top of each other).

5. Sew around the 4 edges, and stop before you reach where you started, leaving a three inch opening to flip it out. I used a quarter inch seam.

6. Cut your corners of the sewn fabrics. Be careful not to cut the seam. Press open the seams.

7. Stick your hand in the opening and pull it right side out. The second piece of flannel stays in the middle for extra urping absorbency. Make sure to spend some time poking out the corners.

8. Press well so it lays flat. Make sure to press the flaps where the opening is in so that it matches the rest of the seams.

9. Edge stitch around the all 4 edges to finish it off and to complete the area with the opening.

10. And you are done! Super fast and easy.

One side is cute, the other side is sticky and the extra piece of flannel will help absorb the urping. Not to mention it is skinny enough not to be sliding off your shoulder.

Tie it up with a bow and it also makes the perfect shower gift.

Happy Urping!

Paneling?

2012-01-16T12:03:00.001-06:00

Wood paneling and and electric fireplace.

In our basement.

Think we have lost our mind? Because those three thing conjure up images a really bad, old, dark, cave like space. The type we would be ripping out and renovating.

When we checked out at the home improvement store I was really hoping the cashier was not judging us for what we had in our cart….because I know I would have been.

But I love how it turned out…

The basement was feeling a little cold with all the tile and well, because it is a basement and it is cold. And the wood really brings a warmth to the space. The heat radiating from the fireplace does not hurt either. Oh and did I mention it was cheap? The wood cost us less than $125.

So how did we do it?

Well we started with a dry walled space that was designed to hide two oddly placed poles. The entire reason for the fireplace in the first place.

It was built to the dimensions of the fireplace we had already ordered but we just needed something to surround it. Tile? Expensive, time consuming (with all the corners) and the fireplace structure was not completely square to cover the poles which would be made obvious if we spaced square tiles on top of it. Hardwood flooring? Viable option but the exotic stuff we really liked was still a little pricy and all the edges would have to be mitered. So we headed to the lumber section when we stumbled on this.

Cedar paneling.

Really.

Using liquid nails, a saw, a nail gun and a level it became this rather quickly. Holes were filled with stainable wood filler and sanded.

We tried a lot of different stains on samples and settled on English Walnut by Minwax. We then learned that stainable wood filler needed to be completely sanded off otherwise you could see every spot. We cursed and re-sanded. A lot. At least with the cedar it smelled nice. This is what you get when you normally paint instead of stain and don’t know what you are doing.

A coat of stain and two coats of satin poly later, we were ready to install the fireplace.

It slid right in.

We are happy with the choice to go with an electric fireplace. Gas would have been better and with more options, but would have been more expensive. Especially considering needing to hire someone to run a gas line and vent it properly. Ouch. Not to mention I am not sure we would have been able to face it with wood considering fire implications.

We watched a video of the electric model we chose on YouTube before we ordered it and were happy on how authentic it looked. (Yes people really make YouTube videos of fireplaces. Oddly helpful.) I have to admit I was nervous before we fired it up that it would look cheesy, but we are completely satisfied with it.

The next question we will probably get is why it is facing the stairs. Here is what you see as you walk down them and enter the basement…

We went back and forth on this as well. We chose the side we did because if it was a solid wall it would have looked funny. If I had enough space to put a console table there with a large picture, it would have been different, but there was not enough room to do that. So my choices were solid wall of something (tile, wood) or fireplace.

The opposite side is next to the poker table (aka Christmas wrapping central).

So people’s backs would be facing it and it would be less of a focal point. We thought about putting another fireplace on the back side (so it would look “double sided”) but that would have increased the cost by having to buy two fireplaces and the wall would have to be thicker and take up more floor space. Not a good option.

Now that it is in and we are starting to get furniture down there, I am confident we made the correct decision.

Floorboards need to be cut and painted and some furniture is being delivered in the next couple of weeks which is exciting to see more pieces come together.

Which is good because all the great toys Carter received for Christmas need a place to live besides the family room.

Quick Change Trousers

2012-01-08T22:53:00.001-06:00

If you have ever shopped for baby clothes, you know that girls win it hands down in the cute category. You have tutus and dresses and tights and lace and…then I have to remove myself to the boys section before he ends up in a skirt. But whipping up a couple of pairs of Anna Maria Horner’s Quick Change Trousers from her Handmade Beginnings book helped.

Because every boy needs dinosaur pants.

These were my first pair and I just used some cheap fabric from Joann’s in case I messed them up. Well other than the scrap on the butt. If you have an eagle eye you can see that Carter’s butt matches his quilt. I so meant to do that.

They are also reversible so if he is having a more stripe kind of day, no problem.

They are also helpful for discovering your feet.

And set off a plain white onesie quite nicely. Because let’s me honest, if you are wearing dinosaur pants you need something pretty neutral on the top half.

Carter loved his pants so much I made some more. Every baby also needs Christmas pants.

Well I actually made three. Not that Carter needed three pairs to properly celebrate the holiday, but his two baby pals needed some as well.

Carter decided the sock monkeys set off his Christmas drool bib and candy cane socks nicely for lounging around the house on Christmas Eve. His dad thinks I am channeling MC Hammer, but nothing says “festive” like monkeys in santa hats.

And they are super comfortable for bib eating…

As well as ~~present opening~~ wrapping paper eating.

And I have already bought some fabric to make some more…this time I am thinking bears with a shot cotton lining. Only this time I will make the legs a little shorter and the waist a little bigger. Yep Carter hopes those proportions reverse themselves as he gets bigger. But for right now we are all loving on the pudge. In animal pants especially.

T-minus 4 days

2011-12-21T12:54:00.000-06:00

Ummm…so where did December go? Is Christmas really just a couple of days away(gulp)?

True to form I am way too busy with way too many sewing projects to give and the next couple of nights will involve long hours in the craft room. But I wanted to pop in to say hi and with a quick tip on holiday wrapping.

There are so many creative ideas on pinterest and on blogs for creative holiday wrapping. Amazing stuff. Two Christmases ago each package at our house was carefully decorated with jingle bells, punch outs of holiday scrapbook paper etc. If you have that kind of time skip this post and start hitting up pinterest.

Last year I was in my first trimester and sick sick sick and we went the gift bags and tissue route. At least I think that is what Derek pulled together.

This year with a 5 month old time is still very precious but I wanted our packages to look special. My quick and easy solution? Use satin non-wired ribbon and nice gift tags.

This ribbon is not in the Christmas section of craft stores but in the normal ribbon section. Which stinks when Christmas ribbon is 40% off but is nice that you could stock up year round (and when you have a coupon).

Rocket science? No. But for the same amount of time and little more money I think it makes a big difference. And if you are traveling, the bows won’t get smashed in transit.

For the gift tags, I bought a bucket of them at Target for a couple of bucks.

If you had an extra couple of minutes you also could print some off. I love these from Brooklyn Limestone and used them on kids packages. So far they are a big hit.

Now back to sewing…

Now If It Would Just Paint Itself

2011-11-17T13:49:00.000-06:00

Last time we left the basement renovation, we had taken down the walls and found some unfortunate poles. Well we have had some busy weekends since then.

First up the electrical. Which involved the fun of putting more holes in the wall. And ceiling. And framing out the firepace to camouflage those weirdly placed poles.

And making a wall for the workout closet since we got rid of it’s own room.

Then the drywallers spent a week with us working their magic. We have learned that drywall is an artform that we have not mastered and hiring someone to handle it all was money well spent. Very well spent.

And then the two pallets of tile had to be carried downstairs. Did I mention it was heavy? At least that is what was reported to me.

And after a weekend of fun with all that tile we are now looking like this…

Love.this.tile.

It is a little hard to tell from the photos but it is a charcoal quarzite. We did figure out a reason why it was on closeout. Those tiles were all different thicknesses. Even in the same tile one side was thicker than the other. Which posed some challenges for installing it. Or so I am told. I just provided the beer.

In a perfect world we would have painted first so splattering all over the cement floor would not have been a big deal. But we were lucky enough to have family come into town to help Derek with this undertaking. We took them when they could come in figuring that dealing with some drop clothes was better than having a cement floor and tile in the garage indefinitely.

Anyone feel like painting this weekend? I am a pro at bringing down beer.

Habitat Challenge

2011-11-15T13:17:00.002-06:00

Last Thursday was the Habitat Challenge Reveal Night at Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild. Yeah!

The challenge? We each received 8 fat eighths of Habitat fabric by Jay McCarroll (of Project Runway fame). We could use any solid fabric or other Habitat print in addition to our challenge packet. Here is what I came up with-

I was planning on originally using the solid gray as my major background color. But I happened to set the challenge fabric next to a blue shot cotton that I had planned on using for the lining on a pair of pants for Carter. I loved it so much that the blue replaced the gray. And Carter still has no pants.

I then quilted it with random vertical and horizontal lines to mimic the lines of the inserted fabric.

And the back is another Habitat print.

As a beginner with the whole quilt thing, I love it when people share their process. So here is how I got to my finished product.

I started with this….just strips inserted at right angles.

Yawn.

I knew I wanted to cut it up and re-orient sections but I worried about making it look awful. I needed to do a test run before I started hacking into the fabric. So instead of using modern technology, I went the old fashioned way of scissors and tape.

I printed out the picture of the quilt and started hacking away.

I took a picture each time I made a cut so I would remember the steps in case I liked it.

My picture was not square to begin with so I was not worried about things matching up perfectly. I just wanted to make sure it would not be ugly.

I was satisfied that it was more interesting than what I was starting with, so I started the same process with my quilt, but this time with a rotary cutter and a sewing machine. It did not turn out like my original picture because more math was involved to make sure things would line up correctly, but it gave me a general idea. And I was happy with the random finished product.

There were so many awesome quilts at the reveal…it made for a super fun night. Check out our Flickr photostream to see all the talent.

And for those you wondering if I have given up my procrastinator ways of quilting, the answer is a resounding no. I was binding this baby until an hour before I left for the meeting. After not getting much sleep the night before.

But it is complete and I think it is going to return to it’s roots of the craft room. Carter has been playing on the pink Project Plume challenge quilt while I am sewing and he has requested something a little more masculine.

Much better.

Now he just needs his mommy to get on those pants.

Framed

2011-11-07T08:06:00.000-06:00

You would think that the room that you spend a third of your life in would be the first to be beautiful. But not our master bedroom. It has been ignored for other projects for too long. And now it since the other rooms are getting closer towards being “finished” it has our undivided attention.

To share with a basement reno and a baby. Oh and two dogs.

Sure we painted, and made the bed and added some other furniture but it never got past that halfway mark. Because no one ever sees it except the two of us and a lot of the time it holds unglamorous things like laundry baskets of clean clothes we I am too lazy to put away.

Or recently bottles, burp clothes, and pack and plays. Nothing says glamour like cloth diapers for cleaning up baby urps.

Part of the issue is it is a huge room so it is taking a lot to make it look complete. But I am on a new kick and have lots of ideas up my sleeve to make it elegant, relaxing, and personal. And add some color.

First up was adding some picture frames or something above the nightstands for some height. Because the lamps look puny. See…(yes this picture is from over a year and a half ago but sadly looked pretty much the same until this weekend.)

And now…

Not a huge difference, but we are taking baby steps here. Any guesses what we framed? Give you a hint…it was cheap and simple and has personal meaning without being photos.

A closer look…

In keeping with the theme of remembering our trips (like with our Italy gallery wall and maps), I went with our passport stamps.

It was super simple-just scan them in and blow them up. I then opened them up in a simple photo editing program and messed with the tint and saturation in a non systematic way until they looked the way I envisioned. Then a quick print and trim before sticking them in a frame. All of my stamps on my side of the bed and all of Derek’s on his.

We had some repeats of course since we do travel with each other a lot, but even those looked different because of the varied backgrounds they were stamped on.

So now as I get ready to turn off the light, I can remember our fond times in ~~Italy~~ Frankfurt, Germany.

Long story.

But it still makes me smile.

DIYer is to Paint Deck as Quilter is to-

2011-10-31T07:42:00.000-05:00

My beloved paint deck has a new best friend.

But this one stays in my sewing room. And it unfolds to reveal all of this color goodness.

So now when I am working on a quilt (or pillow, or pants for the little man) and I want a coordinating solid, I can just whip out my handy card and find the perfect match.

Before I had to hope my computer screen was an accurate depiction of color. I will let you guess how that turned out.

Or I had to be limited to the colors that my local stores carried. And when I needed more and they were out and I had no idea what color I had bought I was up a creek. But no more with this baby!

I have done two solids quilts in the past- an easy color box baby quilt and a zigzag quilt that was my (late) entry in the Robert Kaufman No Prints Allowed Challenge through the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild. Just looking at the Flickr group for that challenge makes me not miss prints for awhile.

With my handy card I decided that I needed to make a quilt for the end of our bed. In solids please.

Because the master bedroom has gotten the short end of the decorating stick and I am starting to enjoy actually keeping the quilts I make. And I like to forget all the other sewing projects currently in progress to start a new one. Much more fun.

Just looking at the fabric makes me happy.

Now all I need is some long nap vibes…

Why This is Not A Cooking Blog

2011-10-26T07:44:00.000-05:00

If it is still a blog at all with my pitiful lack of posting.

I hate when bloggers go into a long drawn out explanation about why they have not blogged so here is my short and sweet version.

A baby. 13 weeks of maternity leave over.

I have tons of stuff to blog about which is the first step…now just finding time to write coherently about it.

Or at least semi-coherently since some babble could be excused due to sleep deprivation.

Anyway, I was excited for this recipe for a couple of reasons. 1) I love pumpkin dips 2) It was super quick and easy 3) It meant we were actually going to a social function that required us to bring something (remember the whole three month old thing).

The name if the recipe is Pumpkin Fluff and I found it on Allrecipes.com. I am not going to post the entire recipe, but here is the short and sweet version.

Pumpkin Fluff

1. Get the ingredients- Cool Whip, canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, instant vanilla pudding, and graham crackers.

2. Realize you are an idiot for not reading the sizes of said ingredients on the original recipe. Meaning you have too little cool whip and pudding. Which you figured out after you took the picture thinking “oh I am so going to blog about this”. Way to be with it.

3. Decide to cut the recipe in half.

4. Realize you have left over cool whip in the fridge.

5. Put somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 of the amount of ingredients the recipe calls for in the mixing bowl.

6. Mix.

7. Serve.

8. When you serve it make sure you put a little sign by it indicating what it is or make a big announcement. Or your friends will assume you are a weirdo serving hummus with graham crackers and no one will touch it. Until you tell them and then everyone will love it.

Just don’t mention that you messed up the ingredients. And then don’t blog about it so they don’t figure it out.

Oooops.

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

2011-09-22T16:02:00.001-05:00

The basement renovation has officially commenced with the ceremonial first swing of the sledge hammer.

And that sledge hammer made the well thought out plans change. Of course.

The original basement plan? New paint, new flooring, new furniture. Easy peasy.

After living with cement floors and thinking about it for months? No more work out room and opening up the walls completely. Or should I say…

Why? First of all we could not call that room a bedroom as the window was not large enough. And putting in a larger window was going to require digging out all around the foundation and cutting through cement. Which equals dollar signs. New plan.

The basement needs to serve many functions for us- man space, workout space, play space, tv space, and guest space. This would be a lot easier with the walls gone and the workout space not hogging an entire closed off room. Not to mention that it would be nice to actually be able to see the play space while you are working out to make sure no trouble is happening. Although it is sort of attractive to have that excuse about why my work outs were not happening.

This plan had much discussion before the sledge hammer flew.

What if we made that room the play space? Where will the elliptical go? What about a combo workout/play space? How long are we staying this house as the most cost effective option is new paint and cheap carpet?

In the end we decided the walls were coming down.

So the old furniture got loaded up for it’s new home at my brother’s first place.

And down came the drywall.

And then the plan changed again….because there were not one load bearing pole as we expected, but two. And of course they were awkwardly right next to each other. Like three feet in between them.

Awesome.

We discussed sliding them towards the staircase, but after figuring out what making a footing for them entailed, that idea was discarded.

New idea…fireplace in between them. We loved the look of gas, but that would require hiring someone to run a gas line and to vent it which equaled dollar signs again. So we decided to go with electric as it was much more DIY and wallet friendly. And after spending a lot of time visiting fireplace stores and researching online and watching YouTube videos (yes people really do post videos of different types of fireplace models which turned out to be strangely helpful) we ordered this baby.

Then we just had to figure out where everything was going around it. The challenges? A lot of functions in a relatively small space. Wanting to hide the workout equipment, but have it easily accessible so it might get used more often. And those ^&%$ low soffits that elliptical machines, murphy beds and any activity involving your hand over your head like workout videos can not be under.

Just a little bitter of how they got in the way of every good idea I had.

They and those ^&$# poles.

But I think we have it figured out. I was going to post it, but no one would care to look as the diagram besides me and frankly it will probably change again.

One thing I am excited about …how we are going to hide the workout equipment-

Source: thestir.cafemom.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Or…

Source: google.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Or..

Source: studioten25.wordpress.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Thank you Pinterest.

So after the boys spent a long weekend swinging a sledge hammer and filling a dumpster..

And the girls spent the weekend loving on this guy (give you one guess who dressed him)…

The basement is now demoed. And all ready for this weekend fun with electrical. Whoo Hoo!

Coming Up Next…

2011-08-30T13:22:00.001-05:00

I think we may be a little insane…

Derek thinks it is insane that he is now responsible for hauling 2 pallets of tile into the basement. Box by box by box. Or just not use his side of the garage for a couple of months. His choice I guess.

Yep we are starting another project. The basement. And from the beginning of this project, I am announcing that it is going to be the longest DIY project in the history of our house. Because we now have a baby which infringes on marathon weekends of work. And because we don’t need the space, so it will be quite easy to close it up and not work on it for awhile. And we are starting it before we had originally planned meaning that the cash for the entire reno plus the furniture plus the electronics is not all there yet. So expect a renovated space with old ugly furniture for awhile. Unless we win the lottery.

So why the basement? Well for two reasons…a sump pump and a baby. If you remember we had a bit of a flood back in March.

The good news? The insurance company is helping contribute to the renovation of what was ugly carpet. Back in March I was bummed that we lost the laminate we installed in the workout room as well as the timing of the whole thing. Renovating a basement while you are 7 months pregnant and trying to juggle working full time and baby showers was not going to happen. But actually the timing was a blessing in disguise as it gave us a couple of months to think about what we really wanted. And to decide that laminate in a basement was a bad choice because a little bit of water makes for an entire new floor.

The baby’s role? One he has a whole lot of stuff that has already invaded all parts of the house. Which we are currently trying to corral in baskets, but we know as he gets bigger the size and amount of toys is going to follow suite. And the family room is not big on space for things like train tables. And since Carter needs to eat about every three hours and he is lazy/slow nurser and I am currently on maternity leave, we are watching a whole lot more HGTV than usual. The DVR is my new best friend.

Lots of HGTV makes me want to start new projects.

I have always loved Candice Olson’s designs. Especially because she is not afraid to make beautiful basements. I even blogged about it back in the early days.

So when I was watching an episode of Candice tells all, I was excited that she used a flooring choice that I had not thought of. Vinyl plank flooring. Waterproof and it looks like wood. And if it was good enough to use in her designs, it was good enough for ours obviously. Bonus? It was cheap. And easy to install.

I tried my best to find a picture of this particular makeover or even a screen shot from a video. However the episode “family room fundamentals” is not to be found online. Sigh. Trust me, it looked great, just like all her other makeovers.

Anyway…

So why then do we have tile sitting in our garage? I am getting to it.

Carter got to have his inaugural trips to Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators. He was super excited.

We picked up tons of samples of vinyl plank flooring to take home and consider. But since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to stop at our favorite local tile warehouse just to see what they had on closeout. And surprisingly they had one of our former favorites, a gray quartzite, there at a much reduced price. So then we had to consider this and make a decision quickly because we were dealing with a close-out and we needed a lot of it-

Vinyl plank

Pros- Slightly cheaper, easier to install, easier to store until ready to install, could bring more color warmth to the room, and warmer on the toes

Cons- The product is waterproof, but if we had a flood like we did in March, we would most likely have to air it out and reglue the whole floor. Would it be lost, no, but it would be a lot of work. Also it is vinyl so no matter how good it looked, it was not real wood and that would be apparent. Dog nails could also possibly gouge it.

Tile

Pros- Only true waterproof option, loved that it was a natural stone not an imitation of something, and pretty much indestructible

Cons-More difficult to install and could get a little cold underfoot in the winter

The winner? (I know I already gave it away….pretend to be surprised)

The water thing was the most important, especially to Derek. I think the idea of moving a basement full of furniture and regluing an entire floor was not appealing to him for some reason. And the fact that we loved this tile months ago, but until it was reduced to approximately the price of the vinyl, it was not an option. Because when we need 1000 square feet of something price is very important. But on the flip side Derek scored us a even better deal because we were buying two pallets of it.

So there you have it…the first basement decision done. Hopefully you don’t think we are crazy for going the tile over vinyl plank route. Unless of course you want to give two pallets of gray quartzite a good home.

Zig Zags

2011-08-17T22:16:00.001-05:00

Another quilt is actually going to stay at our house. Bringing the grand total to two. Both of which are residing in Carter’s nursery. I wonder who is the current favorite at our house…

I could pretend that this quilt was finished in the month since he joined us. But that would be a lie as it has been sitting in the nursery and I just had not had time to snap pictures or blog about it. Carter is a great baby who is sleeping wonderfully and is not fussy, but honestly “showering” and “take a nap” have been added to the daily to-do list so I feel just a little bit productive. Quilting (and blogging obviously) have been neglected.

This quilt was my version of the Robert Kaufman No prints Allowed Challenge at the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild. We were given a charm pack of solids in a specific colorway and challenged to make a quilt using every single color in the charm pack as well as any other solids we chose. I chose the bright colorway as I already had a place in the nursery in mind for the quilt. And as I had already made a quilt using this charm pack and wanted to switch up the design to something more complicated.

There were so many creative ideas that people came up with…well in March when the challenge was due. And I had the quilt top completed then and shared it with everyone. I swear as there is even photographic evidence that will not be posted here. I thought I looked cute and obviously pregnant when I got dressed that night…but really I just looked like I had been enjoying too many quarter pounders.

Back to the quilt-I decided to do opposing zigzags with my charm pack with a white background. I strategically put the blue/green and orange zigzags on one side, so folded on the chair in the nursery they would appear to match the color scheme.

For the quilting, I did zigzags that mimicked the colored sections and moved further and further apart as they moved away from the center of the quilt.

My lines aren’t perfectly straight and I got really sick of repositioning my walking foot each time I had to change my angle, but I am happy with how it came out.

The back is simple and cuddly orange flannel.

I love how it looks on the rocker and it already has gotten a lot of use at night when I am feeding the baby boy and freezing.

Of course my favorite pictures of the quilt are these-

Anything is more fun with a baby on it…well at least I think so.

He’s Here!

2011-07-26T10:43:00.001-05:00

Carter Anthony

7/16/11

7lb. 2 oz.

We are all doing great and are loving every minute with him. OK maybe loving the middle of the night moments a little less, but still loving every minute.

He was born two days before our scheduled induction which was a surprise because I was convinced that was how it was going to have to happen since I was making no progress. Maybe it was the full moon or maybe was him wanting him to be ornery with a labor that started at 10pm and ended at noon making for a very long night without much sleep.

Since I was convinced that he was not going to come for another couple of days, I did not get all the blog posts written that I had planned. And shockingly my productivity has taken a nosedive when there is a baby to love on as well as feed and change. So I will get back to posting as soon as I can.

I am happy to report that Carter is a fan of his nursery. Especially the elephant curtains. I did not think of the whole “only seeing high contrast colors” thing when they are newborns when I selected the fabric, but I am pleasantly surprised how much he likes staring at them. Really they are mesmerizing.

Hope you like the pics! There are only 1000 more where that came from.

Nursery Source List

2011-07-12T07:07:00.000-05:00

As promised here is the source list for all the nursery items that got too long for the last post. Frankly this post got a little long too, but I wanted to list everything as my pet peeve is wanting to know where that one little item came from and not being able to figure it out.

As you can see most of items were DIY or came from a non-baby store. Let me know if I missed anything!

Wall Color: Tame Teal by Sherwin Williams

Ceiling Color: Posy by Sherwin Williams

Trim Color: Ace Cabinet and Trim Paint in High Hiding White

Ceiling Fan: Lowe’s

Dog paintings: Homegoods

Lamp: Wal-Mart and DIYed with orange spray paint

Lampshade: Target

Blue Frame: Target

Blue Tray: Target

Hourglass: Homegoods

White plate: Homegoods

Baby booties/hats- gifts

Dresser- hand-me-down. DIYed with glaze detailed here.

Glider/Recliner: Best Chair recliner special ordered at local furniture store

Pillow on chair: DIY Fabric-Geo Grand by Daisy Janie

Ottoman: DIY using Amy Butler’s Gum drop pillow pattern (larger size). Fabric- IKEA

Faux Sheepskin rug- Home Decorator’s Collection

Wall Bookshelves: DIY (how-to blogged here)

Quilt on Chair: Sewn by me (to be blogged about soon, just could not wait to post whole nursery)

Drapes: DIY- Fabric-Premier Prints Ele Village in Brown/White

Stump Table: DIY (how-to blogged here)

Books: Gifts

Agate Coaster: Z Gallerie

Flowers: our garden

Crib: Target- Dwell Studio (no longer available on their website)

Pinwheel Mobile: DIY (how-to blogged here)

Abacus: DIY (how –to blogged here)

Stuffed Moose: IKEA

Pillow in Crib: DIY with leftover fabric

Quilt: DIY- Coming Soon pattern (blogged here)

Crib Sheet: DIY-Fabric- Central Park by Kate Spain (blogged here)

Crib Skirt: DIY- Fabric- Metro Living by Robert Kaufman (blogged here)

Orange Tub-Target or Wal-Mart (can’t remember)

Toys and Blankets in Tub-gifts

Dog Butt Hooks: IKEA

Sign above Door: Homegoods

Backpack: Gift

Convertible Changing Table: DIY from Ana White’s plan (blogged here)

Changing Pad Cover: gift

Polka-Dot Fabric Box: DIY (blogged here)

Blue Crates: Target, but they are the Closetmaid boxes you can find anywhere

Baskets: Homegoods

Basket Liners: DIY-Fabric- Metro Living by Robert Kaufman (blogged here)

Mirror: Homegoods with a DIY navy blue spray paint job

LOVE print: Made by Girl

1: Watercolors found on Etsy from HamjArt

2: Mirror from IKEA (stained with MinWax Jacobean)

3: Enlarged personal pictures from San Diego Zoo

4: DIY initial- basically took a canvas and a wood letter, painted them and superglued. Super easy.

5: Soon to be authentic hand/footprints mounted on a painted canvas

6: Soon to be hospital bracelets-currently the fortunes that Derek had in his cookies the day we heard the baby’s heartbeat for the first time (both said “girl”)

Frames: Various craft stores (Hobby Lobby, JoAnn’s, Michael’s) and from my existing stash

All pillow covers sewn by me and removable for easy washing. Fabrics:

1:Herringbone from Modern Meadow line by Joel Dewberry

2: Color Beat by Jennifer Sampou

3: IKEA (on clearance at $2 a yard) over 3 inch high density foam from JoAnn’s

4: Bubble Burst by Anna Maria Horner

5: Drawing Room Volumes by Anna Maria Horner

6: Woodgrain from Aviary 2 line by Joel Dewberry

Dog Bank: Target

Baseball glove: ?-this was a dad purchase

Books: gifts

Elephant: San Diego zoo

Cross: Vatican

Giraffe: gift

Train: Homegoods

7 weight: Homegoods

Giraffe: gift

Frame: gift

Blankets: gifts

Silver scooter: Z Gallerie

Books: gifts

Toy: gift

Monkey: gift

Closet Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Inventive Orange

Light Fixture: IKEA-rigged to make shorter to fit the space

Whew…who knew that much stuff would be for such a little baby?

Let me know if I missed something!

Nursery Reveal

2011-07-10T22:55:00.001-05:00

We made it! The nursery is officially complete even before he has decided to make his arrival. It has taken a lot longer to put together than I envisioned back in January when we started this project, but considering the construction, all the DIY, our insanely busy spring and that I am the ultimate procrastinator, it is really not that surprising.

But before you scroll down to see what we put together, let’s walk down memory lane with the befores to see what we we were working with.

What the space looked like when we moved in-

And then what it really looked like for 2 and half years…..affectionately referred to the junk room. Don’t know where to store something? Throw it in there. Need to paint some cabinets? Scoot some crap around and have at it.

And now here it is waiting patiently (unlike Derek and I) for it’s new occupant-

Back in the beginning when we were planning the space, my first idea was an orange and aqua color scheme but no real theme. I figured once we knew if we were having a boy or a girl we could add blues or pinks to make it a more gender specific space. Of course, I figured a lot of DIY and sewing was also going to be in the cards.

One of the biggest projects in the room (and our first) was the window seat.

Because of the window configuration, limited furniture was going fit on that wall anyway and I thought that an architectural feature that was also functional from a storage and seating standpoint would make the room.

After the construction and painting was going, we started to pick up random items we found that we thought we be good fits in the space. Hmmmmm…somehow we had a lot of animal things so that is the loose theme we decided to run with. However, I am a big believer in adding things that you love and not just because of a theme.

Items with personal significance were also something I wanted to incorporate in the space. We have not shared baby boy’s name with anyone (but my mother-in-law has a pool going if anyone is interested). However, the first initial is common knowledge. So of course I had to incorporate that. On the gallery wall are also photos we took at the San Diego zoo during our last vacation (technically baby’s first). After he is born, the clip art hand and footprints will we replaced with his (and yes I realize my stand-in has a disproportionate hand to the size of the foot…I was just using those to make sure I liked the idea).

But personal items don’t end with the gallery wall as I wanted things that meant something to us, but not scream “look at my name" all over the place (although I know some curious family members that were voting for that tactic).

For example, I needed some bookends and I love that this has his birth month stamped on it.

Or that all of those blankets were handmade for him by generous friends and family. And that the silver scooter reminds us of Italy.

And that cross from the Vatican in Rome was the very first thing we ever bought for, at the time, our future baby.

I won’t bore everyone with the personal significance of everything in the space, but overall I tried to have at least one item with meaning on every shelf. However, don’t get me wrong, some things are in the room because they are fun and I like how they look. Like this…

I guess you could also say that DIY was a major theme in the space. The only pieces of furniture that were store bought were the crib and the chair. We either made or “revised” everything else. I have already talked about most of those projects as we embarked on them but in case you missed them check out the abacus, dresser, changing table, bookshelves, stump table, pinwheel mobile, quilt and bedding.

The space also had to be functional besides nice to look at. We have never done this whole baby thing before, but from what I have heard, they can be messy. So every single cloth surface (minus the chair that is stain protected) can be thrown in the washing machine. Every pillow and cushion cover is removable and the although it took forever to find curtain fabric that I loved and could be thrown in the wash, I was ultimately successful.

The curtains are also not just for looks. I made four panels that stretch all the way across for light control.

I am still planning on adding black out lining to the back of them for even more light control, but I decided not to sew them together as I read varying reports about the washability of black out lining. So it is getting hemmed separately and then just clipped behind the panels.

The cushions also remove from the window seat easily to access all the storage underneath. In addition, the neighbor kids have shown me that they make great hiding places. Maybe we need to drill some more air holes.

Also every item that is hanging on the wall in baby’s reach is securely fastened to studs with screws.

And the ultimate storage area also went through a little makeover.

Lots of clothes and other baby paraphernalia waiting for him, but we still have tons of room that I know we will fill in the future.

And finally just some more pictures of details of the space that I love…

So what do you think? You can see from some of the pictures that a furry friend already likes to spend time in the space. Although this is normal position…

…trying to will the stuffed animals that make noise when you squeeze them from the crib into his mouth.

Want to know where I got something? Here is the source list for everything in the space. Just got a little too long for a single post.

Missed the other nursery posts and want to see the DIY how-to? Catch up with the window seat construction, abacus, dresser, changing table, bookshelves, stump table, pinwheel mobile, quilt and bedding.

A Little Housekeeping

2011-07-06T12:00:00.001-05:00

Being a week away from my due date and on summer vacation, the whole nesting thing has begun I am afraid.

It may have started two weeks ago when I decided at 10 pm that all the cabinet doors in the kitchen were dirty and they needed to be scrubbed. At the time Derek gave me a knowing smile and stayed out of my way other than an occasional “Be careful” and I retorted with “You can think what you want, but I am NOT nesting…they are just dirty”

Since then I have decided that waiting to have a baby is somewhat similar to trying to sell your house. Sure there are tons of differences like the whole pain thing and relatives calling frequently “just to say hi” in case we had forgotten to inform them that we had the baby. But on the house front, it is quite similar. You want everything to be immaculate and you notice little paint chips and minor imperfections everywhere. And since you don’t know when exactly the baby is going to come or when you might have a showing, it has be to nice at all times. Which means things like vacuuming everyday. And spending two days cleaning and organizing your craft room because it was such a disaster.

Really it was and I have no pictures to prove it as none exist of the embarrassment.

The blog has not been immune to the nesting. I was ready for a little blog makeover and had gotten feedback from numerous people that the type on the old template was difficult to read. Something that I had no idea how to fix. Lindsey from Sweet Simplicity Designs came to my rescue with this fab new look. What do you think?

Also, I did a little updating on my own. The Before/After posts had not been updated in a couple of years and the pictures and how-to was significantly lacking. Not to mention that most of the rooms had been updated since the original posting. I had meaning to do this for a long time but just somehow never got around to it. So now when you click on a picture of a room from the sidebar or from the Before/After page, you will be brought to a newly updated post on most of the rooms. The office is the exception as it is currently going through a mini-makeover as we speak and I am hoping to update the post after the drapes are sewn. I have had the fabric since September, but maybe this whole nesting/boredom will kick it into gear. Let’s hope.

Also the How-to’s have been updated. The About Me page will also hopefully have a new addition sooner rather than later. Hear that baby….sooner.

Wanna know one thing that has been largely immune from the nesting bug? The garden. Still very limited weeding and fertilizing. Maybe it is because bending over is rather problematic at this point and being outside in the heat makes my ankles look even more like tree stumps. But it is still thriving in spite of me. Especially the weeds.

We will see how the veggies turn out this year with the more laid back approach.

What do you think of the new look?

A Quilt First

2011-07-05T12:02:00.001-05:00

This is the first quilt that I have ever made that is not going to be given as a gift. That is actually going to stay at my house. Can you guess where?

Actually it is quite a miracle I was able to finish it without a deadline such as a shower etc. But the whole “finishing the nursery before he makes his appearance” deadline helped me complete it. Not that the nursery is totally done or anything. Almost.

I used the Coming soon… pattern from Camille Roskelley that I picked up when I took her class back in September. It came together fast and I love how it turned out.

I did a very simple back with a soft brown flannel. There is just something about flannel on the back on baby quilts.

I did a simple wave on the quilting which made it all crinkly and cuddly. I incorporated some of the sheet fabric in the piece in the back as well as the binding to tie the bedding set together.

I love how it looks on his crib and makes me all the more ready for his arrival. Just have to complete the nursery first.

(Disclaimer: I know the quilt, stuffed animal and pillow should not be in the crib when he is in there….but for right now it makes me smile and I like how it looks. Once he is actually sleeping in the crib (which will hopefully be quickly since he is going to be such an awesome sleeper…wink wink), the crib will be safely empty.)

Want more details on his other bedding? Click here. Or the DIY abacus? Click here.

Stumped

2011-06-28T10:04:00.001-05:00

Do you ever come up with an idea that you think is awesome but everyone you tell about it thinks it sounds stupid?

Yeah this was this project. Luckily my husband loves me enough to spend a lot of time on a project which he was convinced was going to flop. Who needs diamonds when you have DIY?

Back to the beginning…..

I wanted a side table next to the rocker in the nursery to be able to set things like drinks, burp cloths, cell phone etc. Problem was we did not have a lot of space.

I looked high and low for a small side table that would fit and not looked too cramped. And not be breakable.

This search took awhile and I almost did a ceramic garden stool because of the correct size and shape, but it was pretty light and would be easily knocked over and shattered. It was during this search that I came up with the idea of a stump table.

Not that it was an original idea….West Elm sells one for $200 and Mrs. Brooklyn Limestone made one herself. So why did every time I mention it to someone did I get this reaction…”A Stump? Really?”

Even from my husband. But being the good sport he is, he proceeded with the project as long as he “had veto power in the end”

Yeah!

So first task….finding a stump. Hmmmmm. Derek called lumber yards and tree removal places but was not very successful. (Again, he must love me since I know he got a lot of incredulous “you wanna buy a stump???!” when he made these phone calls. Hasn’t anyone seen the West Elm catalog recently?) So far no stump. Maybe it was not meant to be.

Then on the Friday before Easter, a tornado hit very close to my parent’s house in St. Louis. Miraculously no one was hurt. But by close I mean the damage started 6 houses from the entrance to my parent’s subdivision. Scary stuff. Their house had zero damage, but they kept telling me that I just needed to come visit because there were tons of stumps everywhere around them.

I laughed it off because I knew that they thought the stump table was dumb and was I really going to take advantage of a natural disaster to get my table?

But then we came into town a week or two later (unrelated to the stump I swear)….and they were right… there were stumps sitting by the road everywhere, just waiting for the city to pick them up and dispose of them.

I was still a little iffy on the tornado stump. But from my parent’s perspective it was going to be gotten rid of anyway and a stump from there would have meaning unlike a random piece of wood from a lumber yard. Like being thankful…and making sure you head to the basement when the tornado sirens go off.

So while I was napping, Derek did a little stump recognizance to find the perfect specimen and the stump was buckled in the backseat on the way home. Would have been weird to explain that one if we had gotten pulled over.

The stump in all it’s glory.

Now what we he did to it to make it table-like:

1. Using a crowbar and hammer remove all the bark. According to Derek, this step was pretty easy.

2. If your stump is uneven or too tall, even it out the best you can with taking off slices with a chain saw.

3. The longest part…..sand. And then sand some more. And when you think you are done sanding do it again.

For this project, we became the proud owners of a belt sander. Which I was told made the sanding go so much faster than an orbital sander. He started with a lower grit sand paper and moved up to a finer grit to make it smooth. He sanded it while the wood was still considered “green” as it had only been cut down at this point for a couple of weeks.

4. Add wheels for easier movement (stumps are heavy) to help level it even more. He used washers to help achieve this.

5. Since our wood was still green, we let it then sit in the space for a couple of months to dry out with plastic underneath in case it dropped sap. As it dried it starting to develop cracks and the grain became more apparent….yeah!

6. You could leave it the natural stump color, but I knew I wanted it darker to match the other wood in the space. But I was not sure how long had to wait for it to dry before it would accept stain. We were at 2 months. Google did not give me a definite answer, so I decided to test some colors and see how it took it on the bottom.

It sucked it right up, so I decided to go ahead with the stain. Worse case scenario, it looks awful and Derek can just sand it again. I kid.

Derek gave it one final sand with a very fine sandpaper and I stained it with MinWax Jacobean.

And this is what we came up with-

I love that it is not perfect and adds a rustic element. And it is the perfect size and height for the chair.

I am going to add polyurethane to protect it in the next couple of months, but for now I think it still needs to breathe and dry before I seal it. Since I am a wood expert and all. In the meantime we will protect the finish something on top like a piece of glass.

And I am happy to report that “veto power” was not needed. Which is good since he would have wasted all of that sanding for nothing. And we got a new belt sander out of the deal.

DIY Changing Table

2011-06-22T15:58:00.001-05:00

A while ago…actually a really long time ago…I asked everyone’s opinion about this little corner of the nursery and if we should refinish the dresser and use it as a changing table or make one ourselves.

I got some really great suggestions and in the end we decided to go the changing table route because I was worried the dresser was too long.

I did not want to spend a lot of money on another piece of furniture so Ana White once again came to our rescue with free and easy plans that included the capability of taking off the top when the baby got older and using it as shelves. Score. So Derek whipped it up in the basement. One positive about a flooded basement with no carpet….a lot more space to DIY. Who knew?

Then I made him carry it upstairs to make sure I liked the proportions before we I spent the time finishing it.

Luckily I did. Whew.

So he carried it back downstairs. Originally I was going to finish it with both brown and white to match the dressers and crib that look like this.

But there was no good place to start and stop the white/brown combo without it looking funny so I just went with plain ole white in Ace Cabinet and Trim Paint.

I have to say that painting was the most difficult part of the project. Trying to get under those shelves when you have a big pregnant belly was a little challenging. I am sure I looked ridiculous but luckily no pictures of this feat exist. That I know of.

Anyway I used one coat of primer, two coats of paint and three coats of polycrylic since I am sure this thing is going to take a beating. Coming up with this:

But of course the changing table itself was not going to be the only DIY project.

It took me forever to find baskets that I a) liked b)were the correct color and c) fit. Many baskets were tried and returned. Finally I found the bottom brown baskets at Homegoods. Small problem was that they had lids and ugly liners. But after the lids were cut off and I used this tutorial from Make It and Love It to make some new liners, we were good to go.

Of course I could not follow the entire tutorial. I made the liner a little smaller and did not do the ties because I wanted a cleaner look. So they are a little snug, but I love how they look (and the fact I got to skip the tie step).

The other DIY project was this cute little fabric box to hold diapering essentials.

I used this tutorial from The Sometimes Crafter. (See a theme of being completely unoriginal and using everyone else’s ideas…it is either being really smart…or really lazy).

This one was my first attempt because I was not sure how the sizing would work in the space in the changing table. It was super easy and luckily for me it fit.

I am thinking about making some more with a different type of interfacing (I used heavyweight fusible on this one) to make it thicker as they will also look cute and be functional on the bookshelves.

So here is the changing table as it stands today. I am thinking about making some tweaks stylistically in terms of the pad cover and maybe three navy middle baskets instead of the light blue….and maybe a different fabric for the box.

But for now it is ready and functional. And cheap. And all washable. From what I hear that is important.

2 Steps Forward….and 1 Back

2011-06-17T09:29:00.001-05:00

I had this blog post all planned out in my head yesterday (first mistake)….it was we got a new fridge and I love it and the white monstrosity is gone and here is also how we finished updating our cabinets with glass. Yeah!

Not so much.

But at least it is going to start the way I planned. Here is the white box that is was our fridge.

Not terrible and actually a pleasant surprise when we closed on our house as we thought the previous owners were taking it and we assumed we were buying a new one right away. But we are slowly changing the appliances to stainless in the order of function. As I mentioned before the dishwasher…well sucked so it was the top of the list. The water and ice in this fridge has never worked so it was next…even though the stove won in the ugliness contest with the bisque color. Unfortunately totally functional.

Shopping for fridges made me realize that we have a really short space to work with that severely limited our choices especially in the ones with the features I wanted. But we found one and I love it.

Unfortunately, to get the height we needed, it is about 3 inches narrower than our old fridge. Which did not sound like a big deal in the store. But compared to the old fridge that slid next to all the cabinets with less than a 1/4 inch to spare, we have some gaps.

Not a big deal from across the room, but up close you can see the sides of the cabinets. That are still honey oak.

Way to be really thorough in my cabinet painting.

I told myself that we left it way on purpose so if I ever wanted to remember the pink countertops and honey oak goodness, all I had to do is pull out the fridge.

Oh and there is a little wallpaper left too….

So even though I had the official “I am not painting in anything else else in the kitchen ever again” celebration, I am sadly breaking up the paintbrush today. But this can be a lesson if you are painting cabinets….don’t be lazy like me by not pulling out the fridge….or just never buy a thinner one.

Houston We Have Bedding

2011-06-16T13:49:00.001-05:00

The nursery is still a work in progress, but now at least he will have a cute and comfy place to sleep if he decides to appear early. His quilt? Not ready to be in this post. And the quilt is more for me to look at anyway since he won’t be sleeping with it for awhile. At least that is what I tell myself.

This whole being off for the summer thing is doing wonders for my sewing productivity. Now I just need to start fitting in showers before the afternoon.

Anyway…

One of the most difficult things about the bedding was picking out the fabrics. They had to be certain colors…and kidish…but not over the top kidish…and possibly go with our loose “animals” theme. I had lists and lists of options and struggled with making a decision as there were so many cute things out there. I finally gave myself a deadline and started ordering things. And then it sat until I got around to actually sewing it. I know you are surprised.

First up….the crib skirt. The fabric I used was Metro Living by Robert Kaufman.

Not exactly rocket science but I needed to cover the ugly gap between the mattress and the drawers. The metal brackets were visible holding up the mattress and the drawers of the crib do not have tops on them so you can see all the stuff in them. I also wanted to make it adjustable so that when we lower the mattress as he gets bigger, I can make the crib skirt shorter.

First, I prewashed the fabric and measured my opening. I added a couple of of extra inches to the tops and sides and then cut out a rectangle of fabric. I seamed the sides and added ribbon ties.

Then I tied the ribbon to the springy part of the crib (that’s the technical term) adjusting for height.

After a couple of reties to even everything out and get it to hang straight, I had this.

So as the mattress gets lower and the skirt needs to get shorter, I can just retie further up. Super simple but I love how it turned out.

Now onto the crib sheet.

For some reason this project was intimidating to me so I have been putting it off for awhile. I found tons of tutorials online with slight variations. Which one to choose? How do I know there and my mattress dimensions were similar?

I think my major anxiety came from the fabric. It is Central Park by Kate Spain and when I ordered it months ago, that print in that color was starting to become difficult to find in the yardage I needed. So I knew that after I procrastinated that it was going to be really hard to find if I had to replace it when I royally messed it up. Hello new fabric choice or spending way to much money for it on ebay. So it continued to sit.

I finally decided to on this tutorial from luvinthemommyhood. From what I read reading comments on other tutorials, elastic all the way around the sheet was more secure than just the corners. Since it was quilting cotton, my fabric was a little narrower than I would have hoped but I decided to take a leap of faith. I am not going to do a whole step by step because I followed her tutorial pretty closely. With the exception of measuring four times before I cut anything. And marking and pinning all the cuts and trying on the mattress to make sure it fit before I cut and sewed. So it took 6 times as long but oh well. I was not going to screw up this fabric.

The only difficult part was inserting the stupid elastic. Luckily for me, my bobbin ran out of thread in the middle of sewing the elastic pocket. I cursed at the time but thought I would try to string it through halfway and see how it worked since I had to stop sewing until it was reloaded anyway.

I could have been executing her whole “attach a pin and let it slide through” method totally incorrectly but it did not work for me. At all.

So I got out this doohickey (another technical sewing term) that I had bought for some other project that has never seen completion. It came in handy for this one, so ultimately a good purchase.

I had the pull the elastic through in phases because the wire was not long enough, but worked so much easier for me.

After the elastic was in and sewn, I had the nerve wracking experience of slipping it on the mattress. And really really hoping it fit.

It did! Happy day! And it turned out to be a easy project….time to make some more.

In case you were wondering what the underside looks like….

And the corners….

It is actually starting to come together. Just a couple of sewing and DIY projects left!

Baby Bookshelves

2011-06-13T13:26:00.001-05:00

The nursery is entering the home stretch…which is good because the baby is due in about 4 weeks. But could come at any time…but probably won’t…but could. Which is really messing with my whole “I want to plan and write things on a calendar” personality.

Anyway there is a whole lot of DIYing to go in the space (while the sewing machine is whirring in the background.)

I knew I wanted lots of books in the nursery because you know the whole reading to your child is a good thing. Not to mention they could be used as a decor item as evidenced in this inspiration picture. But of course cognitive and language development trumps decor….unless you can have both of course.

Elizabeth Sullivan

I love that entire nursery but those floor to ceiling shelves made me swoon.

Unfortunately, I knew we were not going to have the space to replicate that, but loved the forward facing idea. And those skinny shelves would be super easy to DIY.

Rumor has it that IKEA has similar shelves that would not require you to make them yourselves. I would not know as I have ~~lamented~~ mentioned before, the nearest one is 8 hours away…and not worth driving for some shelves.

Here is what we came up with-

My participation in the project? Showing Derek the picture, telling him where I wanted them and placing books. I even let go of control enough to let him try to my favorite self-leveling paint on his own (after a quick tutorial of course). Here is what he did:

1. Cut a 1x2, 1x3 and piece of quarter round each to 36”.

2. Put it together. The vertical 1x2 in attached to the horizontal 1x3. The vertical 1x2 is nailed or screwed into the ¾” side of the 1x3. This should leave ¾” of vertical 1x2 exposed above the 1x3. The
exposed ¾” of the 1x2 will be used to screw the bookshelf to the wall. The quarter round is attached to the top edge of the 1x3 to create an edge for the books to lean against. Use finishing nails.

3. To attach to the wall screw through the exposed ¾” of the 1x2 into studs in the wall. By making the shelf 36” long you should have at least 2 studs to screw into.

4. Prime and paint.

Super easy ( I am told) and super cheap. And I love the fact that we screwed the wood directly into the studs so that junior will be OK if he decides to use them as rock climbing wall at a later time. Plus the fact that we can rotate books and hopefully since you can see all the covers, even more reading will happen. At least that is what I am hoping…

Lessons from the Garden

2011-06-06T22:12:00.001-05:00

So I have been a bad blogger….again. I am not going to bore everyone with details but May was probably the most stressful month for us in a long time. Some of the stress was positive like seeing friends and family many times as a result of great baby showers. And some of it not so positive. But it all worked out in the end and we are ready for June and bringing the blog back to life as I have so many things to share. Note to baby: you better stay put the next five weeks because I have a lot to catch up on. Got it? Good.

The blog was not the only thing that was neglected….my garden was looking very…..well overgrown and unkempt. And not planted.

I am normally the person that people are looking at funny because I am trying to buy plants before the last frost date. And I am feeding and weeding and planting and giving all the plants tender loving care on a nightly basis.

This year I did not even step outside to look at the plants that were coming back until the end of May. Major garden guilt. Another thing I was sucking at this spring to add to the list.

When I finally got the nerve to wade through the weeds to see what I was working with however I was pleasantly surprised. Here is my advanced visual representation of the state of the garden. Green =weeds. Very high and thick weeds.

We had strawberries…without me doing anything.

And roses with no pruning or feeding…

And the beginnings of grapes and raspberries…

A good lesson about things surviving in spite of you and a lack of control is sometimes a good thing.

Another lesson in giving up control was that Derek planted the vegetable garden this year…while I was not home. Gardening is not his thing at all and we agreed to scale it back this year with the upcoming arrival of the baby. And I knew I needed his help lifting and tilling. But he surprised me with this….

For a before picture, please refer to above.

Did he pick all the plants I would of? No. Or put them in the location determined by seasonally rotating varieties? No. But it was weeded and composted and planted. And done. And I learned another lesson about giving up control and things turning out OK.

On a semi-related note of not doing things when I planned, I wanted to update you on my painted outdoor pots. When I first posted the tutorial last year, someone wondered how they would last.

I had planned on moving them into the garage for the winter. Really. But then the whole morning sickness thing happened and they sat outside all winter and I did nothing (see the theme of the post?) to prep them.

I think they held up incredibly well (the specks on the bottom are dirt).

However in the interest of full disclosure we did have one crack/chip that I noticed.

So if you are thinking or painting pots but are hesitant on their wear….don’t worry about it and you can even do nothing like me!

Has your garden taught any needed lessons this year?

Glazing-Not Just for Cabinets

2011-05-01T22:37:00.001-05:00

I love how some brown glaze can redo honey oak. Like in the guest bath.

But why should cabinets get all the love? What about other types of wood or furniture? Like dressers?

Well I was going to find out. These dressers were hand me downs from my family and they were solid wood and not oak. Which were two huge bonuses in my book. But considered that the cousin whose nursery they were in is now in college, the color needed some updating. Not to mention that the bow and flower decals did not fit in our boy decor.

(For the full glazing how-to, please go to this post)

Of course we started with the worst part of the glazing process…the sanding. Luckily for me in my delicate state, Derek took over this arduous task. Two hours later it was sanded and Derek was very dusty (and will think again before volunteering for the next sanding project).

Then the glazing started. We wanted the dresser to match the crib as much as possible, so we started with Behr’s Spiceberry mixed with the glaze like I described in original full how-to post.

After it the first coat was dry, it looked too red and too light in relation to the crib. Hmmmmm….

So to darken it up, I mixed a second glaze with Sherwin William’s Black Bean and put this on as the second coat.

Much better. And I loved that the two different color glazes gave the finish even more depth. My color misjudgment turned out to be an awesome find.

I added 5 coats of water based polycrylic to get this finish.

Perfect. You can still see the grain and the finish is really close to matching the crib as planned (don’t worry that is not the mirror’s permanent home…..the floor is not exactly a child proof spot)

The drawers were painted with my favorite paint….Ace cabinet and trim in high hiding white. And then polyed for durability.

So happy how it turned out…..

The lamp is not permanent….just a stand-in stolen from the guest room to figure out spacing until I find the perfect one. Homegoods has been letting me down lately.

Anyway ignore the accessories and just enjoy the dresser….

What should I glaze next?

Pinwheel Mobile

2011-04-24T23:45:00.001-05:00

I know…another baby project. Yawn. But while there are other projects going on that I just need to sit down and blog about, the cuteness factor of these is winning out currently. And who does not love a mobile? I know I do.

Just like the “what to hang above the crib” conundrum, the mobile originally stumped me a well. I wanted something cute (obviously.) And cheap. And something that was as interesting to look at from the baby’s perspective as it would be from standing outside the crib. And while our general nursery theme is going to be “animals”, I not really stuck on that (hence the abacus). I knew if we were having a girl a bird mobile would be in order, but for a boy I was worried it would be too feminine. Oh and I wanted it to move a lot.

So I did an inspiration search on Etsy. And if you do not want to DIY there are so many amazing mobiles there.

But after drooling over all the possibilities, I came up with pinwheels. They fit all my criteria minus the animal thing and I was OK with that as I do not want the space to become too themey.

I could have made simple pinwheels and called it a day, but no, I had to do a google search and find more interesting and more time consuming ones. That’s the way I like to make projects take 5 times as long as normal people.

Anyway, I found this great pinwheel pattern from Heather Bailey. And I basically followed the first steps.

Her tutorial calls for double sided cardstock. I ended up with some solid cardstock and some scrapbook paper that I glue sticked together to make it double sided. I found this to work great.

Then the time consuming part. Copying the pattern piece onto the paper and cutting it out. Each pinwheel takes two of these. Since I made 11 of them, I repeated this step 22 times.

Very long and boring….but an easy project to do while vegging out in front of the TV.

I am not much of a paper crafter, so I had to buy a mini paper punch to make the holes. It was another purchase, but it made the whole process so much easier.

After you meticulously cut them out, slide them together and put a little glue around the center so they do not slide apart.

For each of my pinwheels, one piece was solid and the other was pattern.

Then, like she instructs, you attach an eyelet through the center hole. She says to put a second eyelet in to bring all the pieces together in the center to form your pinwheel, but I found this too difficult. I could not maneuver the eyelet setter thing (I told you I was not a papercrafter) inside the pinwheel and bang the top with a hammer without totally crunching my paper or having some of the spindles fall off the eyelet. Grrrrr. So I bought some mini brads from the scrapbooking aisle and those worked like a charm.

Now that the pinwheels were all constructed, we just needed to figure out a way to hang them in a mobile like fashion. My first thought was constructing something out of wire.

So Derek spent an evening trying to manipulate wire in such a fashion to make it look smooth and professional while being able to allow 11 pinwheels to spin gracefully. This part of the project led to Derek’s frustration…..and three crumbled up masses of wire. I thought about photographing that for the blog, but decided that it would not would have been appreciated.

Onto Plan B….the old standby of dowel rods.

We decided to use one longer dowel rod as the base and then make two X’s with smaller dowel rods to hang beneath. The X’s were secured with fishing line and wood glue and then spray painted. Holes were drilled at the end of all the dowel rods in order to be able to string fishing line through to hold pinwheels.

And then the fun task of hanging the pinwheels with fishing line began. This was a two person job….one person to hold the contraption and the other to string the pinwheels. Or to play with the pinwheels and watch them spin while the other did all the work. Not that that was me though. I was focused the whole time.

Anyway, we used a bead strung through the eyelet hole to secure the pinwheels and allowed them to move freely in the breeze. We constructed each dowel rod X separately with its pinwheels at varying heights and then put it all together to get this:

And the view from the crib looks like this:

They spin so easily…I almost made a video of them spinning. But then decided that it may be the most boring video ever. So I didn’t. You’re welcome.

Hopefully he likes watching it as much as I did while we were putting it together. Or hopefully half as much when he is not busy sleeping through the night:).

I think this is my Best Idea Ever

2011-04-11T06:01:00.000-05:00

At least that is what I told Derek as I was flipping through a CB2 catalog.

The oversized abacus. The perfect addition to what to put above the crib which had been stressing me out for awhile as I was very uninspired in this area for some reason. Of course we were not going to spend $150 for the CB2 version when of course we could make our own. I mean how easy….see any resemblance to another DIY project?

It was meant to be, we already basically had made one in the laundry room without the beads and some hinges.

Ready for the how-to?

1. Find 100 beads for you abacus. I ordered mine from this website, Woodworks Ltd. They had tons of options and the beads came super fast. I ordered 1-1/2" Round Beads, 1/2" hole. Of course you could do a different number other than 100 if you did not want to be mathematically correct.

2. Prime ‘em. We used spray primer and it was quick and easy. After one side dries, flip them and prime the other.

3. Paint them. I used cheap acrylic paint because….well I was being cheap and did not want to buy 10 cans of spray paint. I may have regretted that decision as I was hand-painting the second coat on every.single.bead. And then flipping them over. When the baby gets older I am going to make sure he knows that his mom loves him so much that those suckers are handpainted.

4. Gloss them. The acrylic paint was in flat finish so we added a glossy spray coat.

5. Make the frame . We made ours thicker than the CB2 version so that it could be screwed into the wall. That way if Junior decides he is more athletically rather than mathematically inclined, he will not be able to pull it down on himself.

Materials: 4 – 8’ 1x2; 1 – 10’ 1x3; 10 dowel rods, your choice as to size; 1 1/4” nails; 1 1/4” screws if you want to be able to take it apart.

a. For this size, cut 2 22” 1x2 pieces.

b. Clamp the 1x2 pieces together.

c. Drill holes through the middle of both 1x2 pieces every 2 inches so the holes match up exactly.

d. Nail the 1x2’s with holes as verticals with 2 33” long 1x2 boards to make the inner frame.

e. Add a second “outer frame” of 1x2 around the outside of the inner frame. This allows the dowel rods to fit snugly in their holes and does not require gluing of the dowels. It is important that you do not nail both ends of the outer frame on at this time. If you nail both sides you will not have a way to get the dowels into the frame. The long sides of the outer frame are 34 1/2” and the vertical sides of the outer frame are 22”.

f. Use the 1x3 to make a backing that will be used to screw to the wall. You will have a slight overhang on the inside of the abacus to screw through. Nail this to the back of the outer frame 1x2. Long 1x3’s measure 34 1/2” and the short sides are 18 1/2”.

6. Finish the frame. I was originally thinking of staining it, but in the end we went white. So we used spray primer and paint.

7. Install the beads. Since we were thinking ahead and left the left side off, we just slid those babies on making sure not to miscount. Because that would have been embarrassing.

8. Attach the final side piece. We decided to use screws so that it can be removed if I want to change the color of the beads for some odd reason. Or if Junior decides to use a dowel rod as a pull up bar and it snaps. Screws will make it easier to slide out and replace. We filled the screw hole with one of those white caps.

9. Hang it. Like I mentioned before, we screwed it in directly to the studs and then filled the screw holes with the white caps.

10. Enjoy your functional art. And the thought that somehow it will make the baby a mathematical genius in their sleep.

Best part? It was less than half the price of the CB2 version and it was customized to our colors, size, and more sturdy for screwing in the wall. And if a nursery is not in your DIY plans, you could stain all the beads or paint them all one color to match a more adult room.

It is exciting to actually have something hanging on the wall…now I just need to get going on the mobile and those drapes.

Procrastination

2011-04-04T05:16:00.000-05:00

Some things never change….another baby quilt with not the best pics because I finished it minutes before a friend’s baby shower.

As in pacing in front of dryer worried that we were going to be late after setting a new personal best time for hand sewing the binding.

I have not learned and maybe never will. But on the bright side I now have baby accessories to drape the quilt on. Maybe that will help the incredibly quickly taken pictures.

I used the New Wave quilt pattern that I found on Oh Fransson. Since they are not finding out the gender, I picked the yellow, orange and green color palette. Did I mention that I love how it came out?

And the back….which only looks transparent because of the whole standing in front of a window thing.

This is the first time I attempted free motion quilting on my new machine and I am happy with how it came out even without my standby free motion partner of red wine.

To make the patterned fabric stand out even more, I just did random loops in the white border areas.

I also loved how it made the pattern come through to the back.

Hopefully the new baby will love it and maybe next time I will learn my lesson.

I wouldn’t hold my breathe though.

Some Sun

2011-03-27T22:40:00.001-05:00

We snuck off during spring break to California for some sun and family time. Derek had a bad bout of H1N1 before we were supposed to leave that threatened our departure, but luckily he got well enough in time and I was able to leave the Lysol at home. And the snow that fell the day we left. Did I mention we were happy to leave?

Ahhhh San Diego…

We were only there a short time but had lots of fun at the zoo. And I set out on the mission of trying to snap some shots we could use in the nursery. Now I just really need to sit down and figure out Photoshop.

And we ate lots of great food. Derek’s aunt and uncle drove down to take us to a restaurant on Coronado island with great city and bay views.

Although I have to admit not being able to drink sucks a lot more when you are on vacation. See a cool bar that normally you would’ve liked to try? Or when the flight attendant gives you free drinks to make up kicking you out of your prime seat. Or…..never mind. Just trust me.

In spite of my pregnancy induced sober status, we still have a great time. We then took the train to L.A. to see Derek’s mom, stepdad and brother.

best.decision.ever.

The train was so much easier than renting a car and sitting in traffic. And for the first half of the trip we were literally right on the water. The only negative was free wine, See above why that was considered a negative.

While we were in LA we of course had to make an IKEA trip. I was hoping to find the perfect curtain fabric for the nursery. While I did not see exactly what I wanted, we of course did not leave empty handed.

Cushion and pillow fabric-

A light fixture that is hopefully somehow going to fit in the closest once we figure out how to assemble it-

And miscellaneous toys and dog butt hooks-

Luckily we did pack an extra duffel bag for all the IKEA goodies.

We also were lucky enough to have a baby shower while we were there and see Derek’s extended family. Sadly, my camera sat in bag throughout the evening. I did manage to snap this one though-

My brother-in-law cooking bacon on the patio that morning because my mother-in-law did not want the smell in house for the shower.

Classic.

Note to self to not to leave the camera away next time.

Decisions

2011-03-14T22:29:00.001-05:00

Honey oak has officially been eradicated from another room. The future nursery is oak free which feels nice. Now it only lives in some random closets that I have been too lazy to paint and the window in our second story entry that I cannot reach. But I am just going to pretend that it is gone.

Before:

And current state:

The construction is pretty much done and now we are getting closer to the fun part….decorating!

Some furniture has made its way in. I am in love with our glider and all it’s orangeness. Our color scheme is going to be aqua and orange. Silly me assumed that orange baby stuff would not be difficult to find. I was wrong, But nothing a little special ordering at a local furniture store could not fix.

And we set-up the crib in the midst of the construction. As parenting newbies we did not realize that it was too large to fit through a doorway once it was assembled. So we had to cover it with a dropcloth and paint around it. Live and learn.

The closet got a little orange treatment as well.

Is is bright? Yes….but I promise not as neon as the picture makes it appear. My new shopping weakness is also on display. Who can resist buying cute baby things?

Now to the things I am stuck on and need some opinions. The light fixture.

Because the sexy light bulb hanging from the wire is not permanent. Very child friendly.

Option 1: a cute orange drum shade

Pros: it is cute and orange and modern and not that expensive

Option 2: a ceiling fan

Pros: It is practical for a warm room and babies seemed to be mesmerized by them (or so I have heard)

So what do you think? Practicality or orangeness?? I am torn.

While you are mulling that one over, I have another one for you.

The original plan was to refinish both of these dressers and use the long low one for a changing table. Hence the changing table pad. (ignore the baby unfriendly tool paraphernalia)

But after we got all the furniture in there and determined that this was the only configuration that would work, I got worried that the long dresser was…well too long. And that the corner had too much “dresser” going on.

Not a lot of room in between the dresser and the glider for baby essentials such as a diaper pail, hamper, and ottoman. I was also thinking a side table was necessary to set things while I am feeding baby. Could get a little crowded.

Another option?

A changing table that can be converted to bookshelves when baby is older a la ana-white.com

It is shorter than the dresser allowing more space for other stuff and it breaks up the whole 2 dresser corner thing.

So what’s your vote….dresser or changing table? And fan or drum shade?

And then we can move onto more fun things….fabric!

Life Lately

2011-03-06T23:11:00.001-06:00

Warning: This may contain the ugliest pictures I have ever posted. Don’t look for prettiness here today.

So where have I been? I am feeling human again and therefore have no excuse for being such a blog slacker. Well let’s just say mother nature and the anything pretty house have not been friends lately.

It all started with us making progress on the nursery and I was having all kinds of fun painting built ins and trim. I was so excited to share the progress. But then I pulled the tape and the fresh ceiling paint and primer came off in chunks. We had bare drywall.

How could that be? I love my primer and paint and this has never happened before. Wait a second….does the drywall feel wet? No it just must feel cold.

Let’s look in the attic and move some insulation.

Yep definitely wet.

And is and more wetness paired with black stuff which appears to be mold or some other sort of nastiness.

Well let’s get a roofer here and clean it up and repaint the stupid ceiling after it dries out.

So we dried and scraped and repainted. And had tons of fun fixing it.

And then Derek walked into the basement last week and splashed when he stepped on the carpet.

Hmmm everywhere you step, there is water splashing up.

Not good.

Our sump pump decided that it had had enough and stopped working. Funny how a back up pump is not something you ever think about until you have a couple inches of dirty rainwater in your basement.

So all the carpet had to be ripped out. And all the laminate. And all the ugly peel and stick tile in the bathroom. And giant fans and dehudifiers joined the party..

And since water seeped into the drywall as well….

….baseboards came off and holes were drilled to air it all out.

Great fun.

So that is my posting has been a little off.

Looking on the bright side, it could have been a whole lot worse. It could have been sewage. It could have ruined furniture or electronics or everything in the storage area which was luckily off the ground. We could have not gone into the basement for days and had many times more water and damage to drywall. We had insurance with sump pump coverage. The carpet was old and I did not shed a tear when they hauled that out. The laminate that we spent a weekend putting down was another story….but this is the bright side.

So the good news is that the basement has been moved up on the remodel list. We had talked about it before but decided the money we needed to invest to make it the way we wanted it was not there right now for a space we rarely used. And now the insurance company gets to help with part of that.

The bad news? A huge remodel was not on the ole timeline right now. And while the insurance is much appreciated for the floors and walls, the furniture, decor and big screen to make it an entertainment area will still be on us.

So if you were worried that the nursery was going to be the only project going on, you can rest easy thanks to mother nature. Now I just need to figure how the heck to make the basement be a “man’ space while the same time housing all the future toys. And cheap too. Should be interesting….

How Hard Can it Be?

2011-01-31T06:10:00.000-06:00

Thanks for all the well wishes from our little announcement! We have started on the nursery, but a final after is a ways away. We we have plenty of time and a whole lots of projects.

Honestly I had been thinking about the nursery since before we were even thinking about kids. Because it is such a fun room and you can get away with cute things that would look silly anywhere else.

In browsing all sorts of inspiration pictures, I knew I wanted some sort or built-in or architectural feature to add to our boxy room with two plain windows.

Since I knew the window wall was wasted space in terms of furniture placement, I came up with a “brilliant” idea of a built-in window seat.

Easy peasy right?

Well first the ceiling had to be scraped of the popcorn…and the stains. Which, in my delicate state, I got to sleep through while Derek did the dirty work.

I did help him tarp everything though.

If you have never scraped popcorn, it is a very messy and gross job. But it is also pretty easy. Just dowse the ceiling with water from a garden sprayer, wait a couple minutes and scrape.

And it all falls down on you.

Or Derek in this case.

After we cleaned up that mess, it was time to make more messes with moving vents, light switches, and light fixtures to accommodate the new window seat. Didn’t really envision that mess in the whole “hey let’s add a window seat” idea.

Luckily Derek’s step dad was along for this project and we could not have done it without him. Drywalling is an art form we have not mastered and he took care of skim coating the ceiling, running new electrical, and patching all the wholes. Not to mention the whole window seat thing. He was invaluable.

After the drywall was done, it was time for primer and paint. I planned a gender neutral aqua and orange color scheme, but I am sad to admit that I did not follow my own rule of painting a test spot on the wall and deciding on a color before buying two gallons of it.

Nope, I had figured I had picked enough paint out at this point that I could skip that step. So I bought two gallons of my teal and let Derek handle the painting while I took another nap.

But after cutting in all the corners, he was very smart to wake me up because he knew it was not what I wanted. A very pretty sage, but not a teal. So we had to go buy two new gallons of paint. I am never breaking my own rule again. It is an expensive rule to break. Here is the new teal on top of the wrong sage.

After the painting issue, the window seat was finally ready to go in.

I wish we had a detailed window seat how to. But it was so custom to our space and went through many redesigns during the install that it is not the case. But I have lots of step by step pictures.

First the bookshelves went in…..

And then the facing pieces and the bottom (while it was blizzarding outside)…..

And then the lids and the crown molding.

The lids flip up for toy storage….

And there is a curtain rod built in behind the crown molding. I plan on hanging full length drapes so the sides of the book shelves are hidden and I can try to hide that they are different sizes.

And I can pull them all the way across to block all light. And when the baby gets older, the cushions can come off the tops and it can be used for a stage.

Now we are in the unglamorous section of the project of filling holes and painting. Everything will be white including those windows.

Ugh window painting…..

I think it is time for another nap.

Up Next

2011-01-27T21:26:00.001-06:00

There is one room in our house that has not gotten much love on the blog. We affectionately referred to it as the junk room. Here is what we started with when we moved in:

And in all the junk room glory:

furniture that needs to be refinished? check

random light fixtures? check

painting supplies? check

bags of clothes that need to go to goodwill? check

honey oak? of course

popcorn ceilings? duh

So we thought it needed a to be cleaned out….not to mention a facelift. The junk room has served it’s purpose of holding stuff and a cabinet painting location but it is time to move on.

Because we happy to finally share that we are expecting Baby #1 in July!

Many of you probably guessed by my long unexplained absence, and honestly the first trimester kicked my butt. I have never been so sick and tired for so long. I titled this holiday season the “Christmas of Lowered Expectations.” Christmas card? Nope. Cookies? Nope. Decorating the house? I watched Derek do a great job while I sat on the couch. And it all turned out OK even though it was hard to give up control and let things go. And while I am still not 100%, at least I am functioning again.

Anyway….plans for the nursery. We have already started construction and I can’t wait to share pics on Monday. Think orange and aqua and window seats. And no more popcorn ceiling. And of course no more junk.

Quilt Guild Changed My Life

2011-01-23T23:32:00.001-06:00

Well the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild did at least. My friend, and fellow officer, Lauren,coined this phrase and I am stealing it. Or borrowing it I should say.

Let me back up a minute….

A little over a year ago, I was complete quilting newbie. I loved reading modern quilting blogs and thinking of all the cute baby quilts I could make for my friends. I had taught myself to sew and had made a total of two small quilts. Which I was very proud of but I knew I still had no idea what I was doing. And I had actually given those quilts to people so hopefully they did not know what good quilts were supposed to look like. So I continued to stalk blogs and admire all the pretty pictures. And dream of what I could make someday…..

Then one day one of my favorite blogs (Jacquie) posted that they were having the very first modern quilt guild meeting that next week in Kansas City and invited every one in the area interested to the meeting.

I admit, I almost did not email her. Have I mentioned that I had made a total of two quilts? And I had no idea what I was doing? And I would know absolutely no one there except through some lite blog stalking?

But I did email her (proclaiming my newbieness of course) and stepped out from behind the computer and I went…..which was exactly one year ago.

And it was awesome. That day I met 34 awesome women and was so inspired. And I was not even the only newbie there. And some of them had even read this little blog. A.ma.zing..

Over the past year the small first meeting grew into 96 members and the amazingness has not stopped. They welcomed newbie me onto the officer’s panel as the secretary and the fun has not let up. With these girls even writing by-laws had it’s perks.

I have learned so much. More than a book, blog, or class could ever teach because at each monthly meeting there is so much knowledge sitting in that room being shared with each other. (In case you were wondering I just learn things, I don’t think I have shared anything valuable yet). And the inspiration…..I leave every meeting ready to run upstairs and start sewing. Without the guild I know my quilting would have hit a stand still by now. But instead it is still going strong. Just ask the four unfinished ones sitting in the craft room currently. Or my new fabric buying addiction.

And finally the people. This is the best part. Because they are real and not just behind the computer. We are a community. I have made great friends that share similar interests and are tons of fun, all because of the guild. And my new sewing machine is all a result of the guild. Let’s not forget that.

My fellow officers have worked so hard to make this year and this guild a great big success and I can’t thank them enough for letting me be part of it. And forgiving my newbie blank looks. Check out what Jacquie, Shea, Jaime, and Lauren had to say about the guild…..and to look at all their beautiful quilts.

So Happy One Year Anniversary to the Kansas City Modern Quilting Guild….I hope you liked your love letter from me. I am so excited to see what the next year has in store. and I am so happy that I will be a part of it!

In the Book

2011-01-20T21:47:00.001-06:00

Next up on the Christmas gift list involved a project with zero sewing. Which was good in the while running out of time scheme of things.

I may have mentioned that we went to Italy this summer. And that we took tons of pictures. But at the sake of not covering every wall with vacation photos, I needed to find another way to easily display them without becoming overwhelming. Enter Derek’s gift….the photo book.

Just like Mrs. Limestone, I used blurb.com for the book and I love how it all came out. All professional looking (well in my humble opinion at least).

Blurb has lots of options for how you want to put together the book and I decided to download their program because it gave me the most control. I went with the upgraded paper which has a slight sheen to it….especially when you are trying to photograph it. So in person the colors are so vivid. Promise.

Originally I thought about narrating the pictures and adding words all over the place. But then I nixed the idea and let the pictures speak for themselves. I could fit a whole lot more pictures that way. And it took a whole lot less time thinking of witty things to say about each picture. Sorry honey.

I tried to vary my layouts (which was super easy to do with the program).

Derek loved it and now all of Italy memories are easily accessible on the side table in the living room.

So all I need to enjoy it is a glass of red wine. But remember it was a gift for Derek of course….

Disclaimer: Blurb has no idea who I am (other than my order number) and had nothing to do with my post. I just wanted to share how much I loved their product with all of you. I think more photo books are in my future.

In the Bag

2011-01-17T16:05:00.001-06:00

Told you I would be back… First up in my “catching up from being gone way too long” posts is one of my handmade Christmas gifts. Awhile ago, I mentioned that Amy Butler’s Cosmo Bag was on my wish list.

So three days before Christmas this girl who has never sewn a bag before and had two Christmas quilts to finish decided to whip one up for her brother’s girlfriend. And of course had to take it back to grab a picture of it after it was already given because it was too dark to snap a decent photo when it was finally finished. Because that’s how I always roll.

I love how it turned out. And all the pockets on the sides and in the lining are so fun. I knew she loved orange, so the printed fabrics I used were Sugar Pop by Liz Scott and the solid was a shot cotton.

The project is labeled “easy” in Amy’s book and it was not technically difficult if you have had some sewing experience. But I would not label it a beginner project as I felt a little over my head at times (just like wise Sharon had commented when I mentioned sewing it). And as for someone that does not have advanced sewing skills and has never made a bag before, it was very time consuming. Let’s just say those Christmas quilts did not get done before Christmas.

The most time consuming part was cutting all the pieces. This is what I cut just in fabric. The majority of those also had to have interfacing attached to them, so I had to double cut everything you see and fuse it together. Definitely took longer than the actual sewing.

But I loved how it turned out and the time was worth it. Especially now that I have made one and understand how it goes together, I think I will be able to cut a lot of time off the second time around. And this time maybe even make one for myself!

Still Here

2011-01-06T19:59:00.001-06:00

Yep I am still around even though the total lack of posting (not to mention commenting) would indicate otherwise. December turned into a crazy month and posting was always something that I was going to do tomorrow. Suddenly a month passed with the whirlwind of the holidays and travel.

Oooops.

So thank you for all the comments and emails and I should be back to my regular posting schedule next week. I have lots of handmade gifts that I can now share and the power tools are coming out this weekend. Not to mention plans for a couple other spaces coming up. I am excited at least.

Thank you for continuing to stick around in my absence….promise I will make it up to you with new stuff. I had a month to think about it you know.

Eureka!

2010-12-01T21:22:00.001-06:00

One of the most common emails I get is asking where we found the tile for our kitchen backsplash. And I always had to answer that it was at a local tile close out store and I had no idea where anyone else could find it.

Until now….

We just happened to be at the same tile store last weekend (because you know that is what we like to do with our free time) and I was lusting over all the gorgeous and cheap glass tile. And trying to justify buying some for the basement even though we have no idea what we are planning or how much we need. Reason won out and we left empty handed, but I did spy our kitchen tile that I have not seen in two years.

So if you are in the Kansas city area you can head to the Tile and Stone Warehouse and score it for 6.99 a square foot. (if it is still there…..things move quickly there.)

But the good news is for everyone else it is also online.

Of course it is a lot more expensive, but I finally found a source.

Yeah! So please tell me we are not the only ones that like to browse tile stores for inspiration and fun? Anyone?

C-O-O-K-I-E-S

2010-11-28T22:28:00.001-06:00

I love sugar cookies. And I love making sugar cookies. And I love giving sugar cookies.

And I think people like them too because I am always being asked for the recipe. So last year my sugar cookie recipe was part of the cookie week at Kim’s. (click here for the recipe).

This year I was going to make something different than sugar cookies. I scoured magazines looking for that perfect recipe. But either because of my nut allergy eliminating tons of them or my affinity for the dough, I was led right back to the old standby.

This time with a twist. That actually makes them quicker and easier. And while not better than the original…different and amazing in their own way.

Peppermint Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
chocolate chips
candy canes

Directions

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, vanilla and sour cream until well blended. Stir in the sifted ingredients. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters or random round object (I used a glass). Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler (or a makeshift one using a Pyrex bowl and a saucepan…hey it worked).
Put candy canes in plastic bag and crunch them. Multiple techniques for this include the rubber mallet, stomping on them etc.
Dip cooled cookies into the melted chocolate halfway and then set on wax or parchment paper.
Before the chocolate hardens, sprinkle the peppermint chunks on top.

Yummy! Make sure you head over to Kim’s to sample all the yumminess over there!

Baby Windowpanes

2010-11-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

The reason that I started to learn to quilt was because all my friends started to have babies and I wanted to make cute things for them. This makes baby quilt #6 (with a couple more in progress of course since I can never finish something 100% without starting something new).

And I still love making them…..

This took just a charm pack of fun fabric and a solid color for the background. It pieced together very quickly and I love the windowpane look.

And the back in a cream soft flannel with a pinwheel….

I think I am in love with that curvy stitch on my sewing machine…..

I also made a light weight blanket with a fun boy animal print.

This was super easy. I just got a yard of fabric I loved and sliced it, turned different sections around, and inserted white.

More snuggly flannel on the back. This was the first time I attempted a machine sewn binding. I have to say it was so much faster than a traditional hand sewn binding (like on the quilt) and I was so happy how the front looks. But it was a little wonkier on the back than I would have liked. Oh well I guess that just means more practice. Hopefully Baby K won’t mind.

We had a great time at the shower and Sarah, the mom-to-be, looked so cute. Sarah is actually the friend that convinced to start a blog and that people would actually read it (besides her and my mom).

So now you know where to direct your hate mail/fan mail to.

Hope Baby K loves his new quilt!

It is Beginning to Look A Lot Like…..

2010-11-21T22:19:00.001-06:00

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. Luckily/unluckily I am just starting to feel better while Derek is now best buds with the Nyquil. I am on his favorite person list right now obviously….

The whole sick thing caused some blog silence last week since going to bed at 7 was not good for my productivity and I even missed the first week of Kim’s Dare to DIY party. Sad.

But no worries, I am back (for the most part…excuse my box of Kleenex).

Last year, I decorated our dining room table for Christmas a week early and while I loved it, I swore to myself that this year I would not forget about Thanksgiving and set the table with gourds and the and other fall-y things.

That is until it occurred to me that we were hosting Christmas and not Thanksgiving, so why waste good ideas on a tablescape that no one would use? Right?

So I present you with an early Christmas table for the second year in a row…..

Red does happen to be my favorite color. Good thing it corresponds with Christmas.

I really wanted a beautiful red tablecloth to cover the entire table. But a round tablecloth in a size to cover a 75 inch round table is impossible to find in stores. Trust me on that. I did find some huge ones online that I may order for future occasions, but that would not have fit the blog party timeline.

Table runners also are too short for the massive table so I had to improvise. I bought an oblong tablecloth and kept it folded so it just looked like an extra wide but long enough table runner.

Of course I will have to re-buy the red roses closer to Christmas. But I will take any excuse to buy myself roses.

And in honor of my new light fixture, i wanted to bring some bling to the table. I found these mini mirrors at Michael’s for 1.99 for 25. They made the perfect mirror confetti.

And of course blingy napkin rings….

Head over to the Newly Woodwards and see what everyone else put together!

Swapping

2010-11-11T22:09:00.001-06:00

Last week at the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild we had a holiday swap.

And it was super fun as this is the first swap I have participated. Because of the unfortunate potholder incident.

The “rules” were that we could make anything for any holiday and we were going to do it in November because most guild members are going to be super busy in December with all sorts of handmade gifts.

I should be one of them. And I should have also been super busy in September and October as well with this task. But the procrastinator in me is going strong and I have not started one Christmas gift yet. So much for getting any sleep the week before Christmas again.

Oh well.

Anyway for the swap I used some left over Figgy Pudding jelly roll to make a fun Christmas accent pillow.

It came together super quick (even for me) and I just used four blocks of disappearing nine patch. It is a fun and easy pattern that a simple google search will lead you to many tutorials for. And this time I was not even ripping seams 5 minutes before I had to leave for the meeting. Stupid potholders.

But the most fun part of the swap by far….

My new Liberty of London scarf! Somehow even being the last to choose in my group, I scored the swap item that the president, Jacquie, made. It is gorgeous and so soft.

And backed with a great autumny orange shot cotton. Of course I wore it to work the very next day and got tons of compliments.

As if the scarf was not enough, I also received two fat quarters of Kate Spain’s 12 Days of Christmas. Which is perfect as I had just ordered fabric from that line for my very own Christmas quilt that I am going to get to as soon as all the drapes and Christmas gifts are complete.

Christmas is still months away….right?

Dare to DIY

2010-11-08T07:08:00.000-06:00

Remember my blog friend turned real friend Kim who I was super happy did not turn out to be a creepy old man(although she is holding a mustache in this pic…..hmmmmm)?

Well she is having a 2nd annual Dare to Do it Yourself Blog Party.

This party was so much fun last year and I met so many great bloggers and got so much holiday inspiration.

Including Kim, since a link on another blog brought me to her party and the beginning of a great friendship. She told me she expected flowers for our one year bloggy friendship anniversary. Since we are DIYers maybe a set of paintbrushes would be more appropriate?

Of course I am super excited to participate this year. Here is the line-up:

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 15

Dare to… be thankful!

Take some time making your own DIY Thanksgiving project. It could be a fun Thanksgiving advent calendar, a banner or something completely unique. Post about what you made, how you made it and photos in its new home.
(Last year's)

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 22
Dare to… entertain!

Show us your table! If you are not hosting Thanksgiving, take this opportunity to make your table look great. Bring out your dishes and napkins and set your table. I promise you that it will make you smile every time you walk by. Get creative and use new things. Or go true DIY and make something totally new.
(Last year's)

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 29

Dare to… eat cookies!

As we begin to attend holiday parties, share your favorite cookie recipe for all to enjoy. It’s like a digital cookie swap. Share the recipe and a review of the cookie. If you can, add a picture. And don't worry about the extra calories. At Christmas, cookies are calorie-free.
(Last year's)

Party Date: Monday, Dec. 6
Dare to… give homemade gifts!

Nothing is more special than a gift made by you. Try out something new to give this year - ideas include bath and body items, kitchen gifts, hand-sewn clothing or home decor.
(Last year's)

Party Date: Monday, Dec. 13
Dare to… deck the halls!

Make something new to deck your halls. Did you find something in a catalog that you wish you had? Wreaths, stockings, pillows or advent calendars? Make it! Inspire us all to do the same.
(Last year's)

Party Date: Monday, Dec. 20
Dare to… have traditions!

Everyone has traditions for the Holidays. Tell us all about your favorites or start a new tradition to share.
(Last year's)

Super fun right? Head over the NewlyWoodwards to join us in a great time!

Flower Power

2010-11-05T06:11:00.000-05:00

In honor of our first frost, I did some last minute flower cutting from the garden before they get zapped. Which is very sad.

But to help me not come to grips with the fact that winter is coming very quickly, I spread some vases of prettiness around the house to help me pretend it is still summer. Or at least early fall. Happy thoughts.

This is not usually something I would blog about, because really flowers in a vase is not riveting.

Being the non-flower designer I am, I usually cut some flowers and stick them in vase and call it good. But since all my plants even the non-flowering ones are on borrowed time right now, I added them to the mix.

And I could not believe what a variety of leaves did for my scrawny flowers. Hence why it gets a blog post.

They actually looked like I put some thought into it….

So now I can think summery thoughts while I at the computer…

Or washing dishes…..

How are you hanging onto summer? Or are you telling winter to bring it on?

Self-Control

2010-11-03T22:43:00.001-05:00

I will not start a new project before finishing my 5 half-finished ones……

But there is no such thing as having too many projects right?

I will not start a guest room remodel right before the holidays….and guests….

I will not start a guest room remodel right before the holidays….and guests…

Well I guess paint samples don’t count as starting right?

And if there is a great table on super clearance it only makes sense to pick it up…..right?

I will not start a new project before finishing my 5 half-finished ones……

Italy Memories….On a Wall

2010-11-01T22:54:00.001-05:00

I may have mentioned that we went to Italy this summer.

And I may have taken have tons of pictures.

I may have been really tempted to frame all 1457 of them and hang them around the house.

But I knew that would have been just a little overkill.

However there was this big blank wall right behind the chairs in the living room that had “Italy” written all over it.

(Just picture it….it was a blank wall of nothing)

And I just may have had that wall in mind when we planned the Italy trip.

Anyway this what we whipped up….

Because I wanted a way to remember our trip everyday. Without having everyone that walks into the house thinking that our travel photo album barfed all over the place.

My goal was to make look like we collected a wide array of pictures over a long period of time and make it say “Italy” without using all photos. I think we achieved it and I am so happy how it turned out.

It all started with this art that we bought for the old house because Derek really liked it.

And it hung over the buffet in the dining room for years until we moved. But at the new house there was not great place for it, so it sat in the closet for the past couple of years. Sad.

Since it happened to be a painting of St. Peter’s Basilica, it worked out perfectly for our Italy wall. And it wasn’t a photo. Good planning 5 years ago.

Also when we at ZGallerie we stumbled on a Rome sign that was also a perfect addition. I told Derek I could make it myself, but I got outvoted. Now we had Rome represented.

After we had our two pieces, we bough some random frames and with the use of our area rug and a measuring tape laid out the the display.

By random, I mean absolutely no plan. We picked a variety of sizes and finishes. And different mats. No plan here. Collected over time was the desired look.

Next, we hung them all on the wall according to our plan on the floor. And our new best friends smiled at us from their frames for a month (or two) while I picked out the rest of the pictures to complement the art.

Finally finished….

On the bottom portion we have some photos of course.

In addition to the normal photos, I also modified a photo of the Cinque Terre to make it resemble a painting.

I used a filter in Photoshop to in order to achieve this effect. And if I can do it in Photoshop, anyone can do it because I still have zero skill with that program. Also if you don’t have Photoshop, there are tons of photo editing program online that can achieve similar effects.

Another “different than photo thing” I did was with some left over Euros that the bank would not take back when we arrived home.

So of course I had to make something with them.

My first thought was do a rubbing over them with a pencil or charcoal. And be all all old fashioned and stuff. Bad idea.

So I reverted back to the computer and threw them on the scanner. I then did multiple random effects in Photoshop and Picnik until I liked how they looked. Don’t ask me which ones because I have no idea.

Then there is the top section….

The top right is actually a retro travel poster from the Boston Public Library’s Flickr Photostream.

High Heeled Foot in the Door mentioned it awhile ago and I had the link safely tucked away until I needed it. There are so many fun posters there for all sorts of destinations. I had trouble picking just one poster and can see this becoming a go-to spot for future trips. Definitely worth checking out.

And last but not least….our Italian phrase.

Il bel far niente.

Or the art of doing nothing.

Something we are both terrible at. And I would like to pretend that having it written in Italian on the wall will make us stop and smell the roses sometime.

I spent a lot of time with my Italian travel dictionary to try to find the perfect phrase and this seemed like the best fit.

Although there were a lot of great runners up in the “amore” section that I was tempted to put up there and just tell people it meant something nice and romantic.

Non ho mallattie has a nice ring to it don’t you think? (I have no diseases)…..

Or how about “Sono ricco e single” (I am rich and single)….

No?

Oh well…I guess I will have to get busy with the art of doing nothing.

And remembering our amazing vacation daily of course…..

Drapery Cutting-The Quick and Easy Way

2010-10-27T22:07:00.001-05:00

I had a really good weekend. My former college roommate, Katie, flew in for a visit and we had a great time. We shopped. We enjoyed tapas, sangria, red wine and stayed up past our bedtime. We got pedicures and cooked together. And of course talked and talked. Which made me really wish we were not hundreds of miles and a plane ride away from each other.

And took absolutely no pictures. Even after I made a point to say “We need need to take tons of pictures this weekend because we got 0 last time”

Just picture us having an amazing time.

We also had numerous “wow we are getting old” moments. Maybe it is because 30 is in the not too distant future. Or maybe it is because we have both recently have moved from the city to the ‘burbs. Or maybe it is the glaring differences in how we used to hang out and how we spend our time together now.

But the point of this post is not to bore everyone with reminiscing. I really do have a point.

As part of being “old” we spent some time making drapery panels for Katie’s new house. We spent a half of day picking out the fabric and got five new lined panels banged out in just a couple of hours.

Which led Derek to ask why it has taken me months to finish our panels in the kitchen.

Anyway……

She picked out three great fabrics for each panel…..a deep gray, and orange stripe and an orange and gray pattern. Of course again no pictures, but I made her swear to email me some as soon as they are hung in her house.

Katie is a beginning sewer and has just completed a couple of pillows. So when I showed her my trick for incredibly fast fabric cutting she was amazed it went so fast.

And so was Derek….because again those dang kitchen panels.

This tip is not going to be anything new to experienced sewers out there, but i wanted to share it with everyone that is just starting to make an easy drapery panel on their own. Because I wish I knew this with my first panels.

Quick and Easy way to Measure and Cut Drapery Panels

1. Find a square flooring surface in you house. This could be a tile or wood floor. Or even a carpet beginning/ending point in a wide doorway. Or even a wall if you don’t have anything else.

2. Figure out how long you want you drapery panels to be and measure it out from your beginning edge. Mark that spot with a piece of tape. Scoot a little bit down and repeat to make sure you tape line is even.

3. Stretch out the fabric from your tape line to your original square line on the floor. If you are on wood or tile, line up the fabric with a line in the floor to make sure you are straight.

4. Cut right along the edge that you know is square.

5. Repeat with the other panels.

And you should have them cut in just a couple of minutes and ready to sew. Quick right?

Just ask Derek about the kitchen.

Ode to Overstock

2010-10-24T22:37:00.001-05:00

The UPS/FedEx/mail men were among my favorite people this week. They just kept bringing boxes of goodies. Not all the boxes are ready to be revealed, but a couple are unpacked and up and running.

When we last left the dining room ceiling saga, I was stumped with what to do. And out of my list of options, most of you picked Derek’s option of adding the white edging so that the colors looked more similar.

Derek would like to thank everyone for voting for him. He reads the blog, but usually does not mention much about it except “do you want me to take pictures of this while I am doing it?” But on the day on the dining room post I got a call at work making sure that I was not missing the comments that people were agreeing with him.

So I did it.

And it took awhile.

And again it looked great during the day, but at night it looked even worse. The white of the crown molding and the white of the ceiling looked like completely different colors even though they were the exact.same.paint.

Very very frustrating.

So at this point, I knew I had to do something about the light fixture since the yellow globes were the main problem.

I bought some other non-yellow globe options and honestly some of them were OK. But to replace all the globes was going to cost over $70 and for that amount of money I decided I would rather move that light fixture to another location and get a new one for the dining room.

(I apologize for the lack of pictures of the globes….Derek had the new light fixture installed while I was out with friends and did not realize I had not done it yet. I couldn’t be upset with him because he was installing a light fixture while I was getting a pedicure, Guess he made up for the whole everyone liking his idea thing.)

Anyway enter overstock and this beauty.

Love the bling.

And while the space is not a total after yet, the ceiling and light is finally finished.

Even at night…..

My other overstock love landed right outside the dining room in the entryway.

We have had this rug from our prior house in the entryway since we moved in. It was not bought for the space and no longer fits the style of our house. Even Derek agreed we needed something new.

I wanted to keep this size rug however for a couple of reasons. The floors are orange of course and are really beat up in the entryway. Also when the dogs are running down the stairs at full speed and hit a bare hard wood floor they go flying and further damage the floor. Hence the need for a big rug.

We tried the IKEA rug in the space and it was too busy and did not flow from the style of the dining room.

Again Overstock to the rescue with this baby….

Love it. I think the colors and style are perfect.

Now off to open up the other boxes.

And never paint another dining room ceiling again.

Pumpkin Yumminess

2010-10-18T08:09:00.000-05:00

Fall decorating has been a major fail at our house this season. Other than the wreath I busted out of the basement to stick on the front door, fall has stayed in the box.

Is is not that I don’t love fall or am not inspired this year. Because I do and I am.

I think it has more to do with working on other projects ( like the should be done in a single night and yet never ending dining room ceiling project) and the flu getting the best of me.

But my fall decorating difficulties have not banished pumpkin from the kitchen (before I got sick of course….no germ infested baked goods here).

First up was a pumpkin gingerbread quick bread.

It was super easy and oh so good. And double bonus….it froze incredibly well. So a couple of weeks later we were able to enjoy it all over again.

Here is the recipe (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
In a large mixing, combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice cinnamon, and clove.
In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans.
Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour.

And the pumpkin did not stop there.

I also whipped up a pumpkin cream cheese dip.

Again more yumminess. And by whipped up I threw it together in 7 minutes as I was running out the door to an work thing I had to bring something to. And I forgot about it until that evening.

But I don’t think it was obvious I threw it together. And it was the perfect fall appetizer.

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon frozen orange juice concentrate

Directions

In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and orange juice until smooth and well blended. Chill until serving.

Again from allrecipes.com.

Any other great pumpkin recipes out there? Something has to feel like fall around here.

Potholder Demons

2010-10-12T08:08:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time there was a demon that lived in my old sewing machine.

And because of this demon, I was not able to make decent potholders no matter how much seam ripping was involved. And let’s just say the seam ripper has never got quite the workout that the potholders provided.

Which was really embarrassing…because come on they are potholders. Just like a tiny quilt block. So should not be hard or complicated. But it was and my potholders sat in the growing unfinished project pile, a victim of the sewing machine demon. For months….

Until now….

Inspired by the new sewing machine, I was convinced that it had to be demons of the old one that were causing my failure. Because it certainly could not have been my sewing skills.

Well it was a little of both. The sewing machine helped immensely and at the Creative Connection, Kim and I took a class from Camille. She gave me some pointers about what I was stupidly doing wrong.

Which I am not going to mention here because, well, they really were stupid mistakes. Just trust me about that. And learn from me…if something is repeatedly not working correctly, ask someone for help before ditching it in the unfinished projects stack. Because after Minnesota, I came home with these….

So now that the potholder demon is gone, I can move on to other projects. Like sewing large numbers of really boring drapes. Or start the Christmas presents I swore last year while I was binding a quilt at 2am on December 24rd that I would begin in July.

Or I could always start on something more fun. Like this……

I know what I am thinking…..

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Preserved Peppers

2010-10-06T22:08:00.001-05:00

I have mentioned that no matter how many tacos we make, we cannot possibly use all the Anaheim and Jalapeño peppers that our two plants were producing.

I used this picture to illustrate my point…

And put all those peppers in the fridge to wait until the next batch was ready and figure out how to preserve all of them.

Well….

I think we won’t be planting these types of peppers next year. Because we will have enough in the freezer to kick out the ice cream and popsicles.

This was just the second batch…

Since I don’t have a pressure cooker to can them….freezing was my main option.

I used a couple of approaches.

First the easy way….wash them , dry them and stick in a marked plastic bag before throwing it in the freezer.

Rocket science.

But I have to admit this was my favorite way.

The most time intensive method included de-seeding and slicing them up before putting them into the cuisinart. Then chop them into itty bitty bits.

And spread into an ice cube tray.

After a day in the freezer these cute pepper cubes popped right out.

In my mind, I will use my pepper cubes more frequently in recipes and stir fry's because all the work is already done. At least that is what I was trying to convince myself of after chopping and deseeding for an hour.

And if I am being totally honest the bag of whole peppers going into the freezer got more friends in there as the chopping time marched on.

But the important thing is, they are all safely tucked in the freezer for our enjoyment…for a long time.

Actually the most important thing is that you wear gloves while you are chopping jalapeños. I did. And even then some of the hotness snuck in and the skin next to my fingernails was burning for a week. Which was really difficult when I wanted to wear contacts.

A random tip? Know how you are supposed to drink milk when your mouth is on fire? Well my fingers were burning so bad that a stuck them in a bowl of milk. And it worked. Not long term, but it provided relief for an hour or so before I dinked them again.

So be careful with the gloves. Because that is a little weird to do when you are at work.

Not that I know.

It all Started With Poker Night and a Little Wine

2010-10-04T22:23:00.001-05:00

And ended up with another in progress project.

Let me back up. You see the dining room ceiling has been bugging me for awhile.

We started with this and I am sure that you can understand why it was the one of the first things to be painted.

I am not sure why I filled in the paint colors exactly how the previous owners did on the decorative aspect of the ceiling. Obviously they were not expert interior designers. At least not in this decade. Early 90’s maybe.

But that is what I did, using one shade deeper on the color strip on the ceiling.

After living with it for awhile, I did not like how the crown molding was not prominent and there was too much white up there. However, there were other projects to do and Mr. “We need to finish everything we are doing before we start something new” did not think it was a priority to change.

That is where poker night came in.

I has spent the entire day sewing drapery panels for the kitchen. And they were not finished so I was feeling like starting something new and Derek was gone for a couple of hours. See where this is going?

So with my trusty side kick of red wine, I emptied the dining room, taped the molding, halfway tarped the carpet (it already has major battle scars so I am impressed I tarped at all), and broke out the wall color to apply to the ceiling.

I told myself it would only take an hour and I am happy to report that I was correct. I would just move all the furniture back in and he would not even notice.

Except I don’t know if I like it. Ehhhh…

During the day it is OK….

But at night the darker ceiling looks really blue and the lighter color looks more gray/green. And does not look like it matches at all.

You can tell he is really loving that I am iffy on my new project. Especially since all the dining room furniture is blocking the stairs and front door currently. So much for being stealthy.

And I could leave it because it is OK. But it was just OK the last time and it has brought us me back to repainting. I see myself trying to eat my turkey at Thanksgiving but not enjoying myself because I can’t get over that the ceiling colors don’t match.

So my other options-

a) change the globes on the light fixture because I think it is their yellowness that is causing the issue.

b) change the color of the inset….like a metallic pearl or silver

c) Derek’s idea, paint the vertical part of the inset white so that the two colors are not next to each other and therefore do not look so different at night

d) ????

I am open for other ideas because I am officially stumped.

And annoyed because I while I was painting I was already writing this post in my head. Except it had a better ending. Like- I love it! It did not cost a cent! Derek was so surprised that I totally completed a project in a couple of hours. Go forth and paint your ceilings because it is so much fun!

Oh well.

Pinch Me

2010-09-30T22:08:00.001-05:00

Because look what was featured on Apartment Therapy’s Re-Nest on Thursday.

Yep our outdoor rolling cart that Derek whipped up.

The how-to is here in case you missed it. I am super excited and thanks to Allison for featuring us!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2010-09-28T23:10:00.001-05:00

I get bored easily.

Especially when I am not busy painting a new project.

It gives me too much time to look around and want to switch something up.

Even in a perfectly good room that we remodeled less than two years ago.

I don’t think this trait is on my husband’s top ten list of things he loves about me.

It may have to do with spending money.

Or cutting into football watching time.

So when I started thinking about the rooms I wanted to make changes in, it happened to be the first three rooms that we completed when we moved it. And as I disclaimer I still love them, but they all needed a little freshening up. And to of course on a budget (see above). The three rooms are the dining room, family room and office. And while the office and dining room are still works in progress, the family room’s minor changes are complete. And they are just enough to keep me happy with the space.

And I am happy to report that no football watching time was infringed on for any part of it.

The Family Room

Issue #1- Too Much Brown

Since we bought the bookshelves, I have been trying to convince Derek to let me paint the back. Or apply pretty fabric or decorative paper to give them some pattern and pizzazz. Just something to break up the boring brown.

But that idea got vetoed. Maybe because he knows my propensity to want to change things and anything permanent would not bode well for the solid wood bookcases. I could day that we could just add built-ins when I get tired of them but I don’t think that would help my case.

So for two years I let it go and tried to enjoy the brown.

Then one day it hit me…..what about spray paint? It is cheap and easily re-doable and who needs to touch the bookscases? Why had I not thought of this brilliant idea sooner?

So I spray painted the lamps a blue gray and got new drum shades. Then the brown tray got a coat of silver. And I thought I would love it and it would solve of my brown problems.

But a couple of weeks later I am still not sure. Maybe the blue is too shiny? Maybe it is too much contrast with the brown bookshelves? Maybe the lamps are too skinny? Maybe I should just go with gray instead of blue-gray? Maybe I am just feeling fall-ish now and this is just reading a little too springy? Maybe I way overthinking this and just need to be happy that is not brown and get over not painting the interior of the bookshelves?

Anyways….

Issue #2 It Just Doesn’t Feel Done

There is another change in the family room that I am 100% in love with….the rug.

I was a little iffy on adding an area rug over carpet. But the space was not really unified and I wanted some more modernish touches in the room to make it flow more with the adjoining kitchen. So I got out one of our 5x8 area rugs that we were not using and see what I thought of the idea.

It was love at first site….except the rug was way too small.

So that led us on a rug search. It had to be big. And cheap. And modernish. And good colors. And not solid brown (see above). And not matchy with the walls. But not too orange either. And not too busy. Basically perfect.

We went everywhere in the city that carried rugs and came back with nothing. It may have had something to do with how picky I was being.

Overstock had some great and cheap ones, but the colors and sizes were not matching up. I then stumbled on Rugsdirect.com and found a couple that met all of my criteria. And free shipping and returns.

It was a very exciting day.

We ended up with this one.

And I am amazed about how something so simple can complete the space.

Some friends commented that it was brilliant that the circles of the rug complemented the circular coffee table so well.

Ummmm….yeah.

I was totally thinking that when I picked it out.

Issue# 3 Throw Pillows

You also may notice we now actually have some throw pillows on the couch and chair. There are still some more half finished in the sewing room, but we at least have some color on the sofa.

But I have a confession to make.

I asked you opinion on throw pillows a long time ago.

About whether I should use the home dec fabric I already had or go with more modern cotton prints.

And the majority of you said to stick with what I had.

Well I didn’t.

Sorry….but I did listen on your advice on the kitchen curtain color, so you can’t stay mad.

Right?

So what do you think? Hopefully I am not the only one that gets the itch to change things up. But I think I am satisfied with the space and will be able to enjoy my time hanging out in there and not thinking about what I want to change.

For now at least.

What I Brought Back From My First Time

2010-09-23T22:06:00.001-05:00

I know most people do not detail their IKEA purchases. Because they go all the time and it could get really boring really fast.

But ~~unluckily~~ luckily for you, I am not one of those people.

Being that it was my first IKEA trip, and I am still 8 hours away from one, I just have to share.

The fabric was the first thing that went into the bag soon to be cart.

I had heard about the great fabrics at IKEA from my modern quilting guild friends and was really excited to see what they had.

And I even I had purpose in mind….those shrunken office drapes. I wanted something more modern and washable and cheap because I needed a lot. And before IKEA I was coming up with nothing. A whole lot of nothing that was not over $20 a yard.

Of course as soon as I got the bolt home I had to hang it to make sure I loved it as much as I thought I would. Not sure what I would have done with it if I hated it, but it turned out OK because I think they will look perfect. When I finally get around to sewing them of course.

The next purchase I really had no plan for. I knew I wanted rugs for the entryway, kitchen and possibly office. And that black and white would look good in all those places. So I bought it thinking that we could make it work.

So it was unrolled and tried in the entryway…

Ehhh not my favorite there.

Office? Nope does not fit under furniture without covering up vents.

Kitchen?

(Imagine flowing white panels on all the windows)

(At least we have the rods up)

Even without the curtains I think we have a winner. Which is good because I was out of options besides Craigslist.

My final purchases were a pretty (and cheap) silver bowl that I am thinking about using in the dining room.

And the classic white pots which I am thinking will house herbs in the kitchen in the winter. And an aloe plant which came highly recommended by Kim. It had a couple battle scars from the car ride.

I could have bought a lot more….especially in the fabric if I had unlimited time to browse. But I think for my first time I got a nice collection of things that ended up working out great. And crazily enough not one of those items required any assembly.

Now if I can just become a curtain making machine……

The Creative Connection

2010-09-19T23:43:00.001-05:00

Take two people who have never met in real life and put them in a car together for 10 hours and then make them share a hotel room and three days together. How do you think that will turn out?

Well some of my co-workers were worried but fortunately for me…..fabulous.

Kim at NewlyWoodwards emailed me last spring after she had won tickets to the Creative Connection in Minneapolis and wondered if I wanted join in the fun. Sure, we had not met in real life but had emailed and commented frequently on each other’s blogs and thought we would get along great. Right? So after phone conversations to make sure each other were not 50 –year-old men we signed up for classes.

We took fun classes like quilting with Camille Roskelley….

And felting with Betz White……

And met of tons of fun creative people…..

Did I mention that the Pioneer Woman was there?

Everyone was a little excited. And in our excitement, Kim and I were one of the first in line for the luncheon (insert joke here). So we got really great seats to hear her speak.

In our beeline to the front, we somehow found ourselves at the famous person table. So while the Pioneer Woman was speaking, this was our view.

Don’t worry we ~~tried to~~ played it cool.

And then Ree and I enjoyed wine together. Note to self: slip off the nametag next time.

All the meals at the event were so well decorated and creative. Amy Butler and Mary Jane Butters spoke at dinner and I would share those pics but the lighting was really tough and they are blurry. AKA I have a lot to learn about photography.

At dinner this giant burlap bag of amazing goodies was at our chairs. Paint, fabric, glue, modpodge, jewelry etc. provided Kim and I an hour of ohhing and ahhing at the hotel.

But our fun did not end at the event itself. We also enjoyed a little shopping of course.

Kim scored some great finds for her new old house at an salvage/antique shop.

And then we went to a place that I had been dreaming about since I knew I was going to be in Minneapolis. A place that most of you will not understand my excitement about because you do not live 8 hours away from one with their very limited online shopping.

IKEA.

We met up with some other fun bloggers (Cindy, Allison, Suzanne and Allison) and had a great time together on my maiden IKEA trip. I think my text messages to my husband were anxiety provoking to him in terms of the bank account that night.

“this just might be the promised land”

“i am thinking about a road trip to denver/austin/chicago/minneapolis with a large car could be fun”

“now we are off to the mall of america”

I will save my purchases for another post, but let’s just say Kim’s car looked like this on our way back to Des Moines.

I am happy to report that Kim and I were still chatting away when we pulled up at my car 5 hours later. We had an amazing time together and I can’t wait to meet up again.

Maybe denver/austin/chicago/minneapolis ?

On the Road

2010-09-16T10:42:00.000-05:00

My new sewing machine is getting ready to go on a long road trip. And I am packing more for a couple of days away then I did for two weeks in Italy. But oh well….that is what road trips are for right?

Can’t wait to share all the fun and photos……and I bet it will involve some people that a lot of you guys will recognize. Any guesses?

With a Cherry on Top

2010-09-14T22:29:00.001-05:00

I thought this would remain my favorite canning book of the season. I mean it has tons and tons of great recipes like the delicious salsa. What could top that?

Well I also found this book at the library.

And while it does not nearly the amount of recipes the the Ball book, it has such a unique and delicious twist on canning recipes that it is still in the running for my favorite.

Like this….

That picture made me drool and who doesn’t like wine?

So after investing in a cherry pitter and some really cheap wine we know have five pints of this goodness

And it was heavenly with cream. So heavenly it was gone before a picture was snapped. Not to mention the way the kitchen smelled while it was simmering.

I was not a lazy canner this time and actually went through the whole process so that these lovelies can sit in the pantry for a long time. And when we have last minute guests, we can just break open a jar and add some cool whip and voila….an easy elegant delicious dessert. Or we could just keep it all to ourselves.

But if cherries are not up your alley this book has tons of other unique recipes I can’t wait to try.

Yummy……

Roma

2010-09-10T11:39:00.000-05:00

I have gotten a little side-tracked with the final recap of our Italy trip. We went to Florence and then the Cinque Terre….and then got sidetracked with other things. But I forgot Rome. The third and final stop of our trip.

We arrived by train from the Cinque Terre and took a taxi to our apartment in the Trastevere neighborhood. Which was a less touristy portion of Rome.

Our apartment was the smaller green door right at street level-

And then this street was our home base-

We had amazing pizza that night and then woke up the next morning to walk to the Coliseum and the Roman Forum.

It was amazing to think about the history and just how old it was. And made me want to see the Gladiator again. And again it was sweltering but by this point we were used to it. Well as used to it as you can be.

The Pantheon was also awe inspiring. And it was a free which was bonus.

In case you were wondering what the “crowds of summer” look like in Italy….this was the scene at the Trevi fountain. Needless to say we did not throw a coin. I wonder how many pickpockets were in that crowd….

Just walking around the city was gorgeous.

But the most amazing part of Rome had to be the Vatican.

Finding the entrance to the Vatican museum turned out to be slightly difficult…good thing I had my navigator with me. We should have just looked for the ginormous line of people waiting in the sweltering heat. The extra Euros we spent on a entrance time were priceless. In case you are questioning the pants choice when it was 110 outside….St. Peter’s has a strict dress code…..no knees and no shoulders.

The Vatican museum and the Sistine chapel were amazing….but we followed the rules unlike some people in there and did not snap any photos.

And the size of St. Peter’s Basilica alone was jaw-dropping.

We climbed the dome and got a chance to see the tiny mosaic pieces that made up the artwork up close.

We also attended mass there since it was a once in a lifetime experience. Unfortunately some people that were in attendance were not very respectful and the constant taking of photos and video while walking up and down the aisle was incredibly distracting. I am not a person that likes confrontation, but if we spoke the same language I probably would have said something.

Buy anyway the extra Euros for the dome climb was also worth it.

The climb to the very top was long, tiring, hot, smelly and not for the claustrophobic….but oh so worth it for the views and the breeze.

The final day we had in Rome we had plans to hit two more museums before packing up and heading home. But when I woke up not feeling well, we decided not to push it and that after two weeks we were museumed out anyway. So we spent the day in our little neighborhood and had a great time. Then after eating more amazing pizza we went to bed before our incredibly long travel day back to the states.

And as always if these pictures were not enough stop over here because of course I have tons more!

Round Two

2010-09-08T07:07:00.000-05:00

Our garden needed a little pick up. The tomatoes were pretty much done and looking sick at that. And weeds were starting to creep in. But I finally did break down and added chicken wire on one bed to keep the bunnies from eating everything.

And now that fall is approaching, cool season crops can be reintroduced. I had really good intentions of a) having a second crop to go in the garden this year and not just call it quits after the heat of summer passed b)start the second crop from seed.

Well I was successful on one and a half counts.

I started seed for lettuce and snap peas in pots on the deck. And they looked great for a while. But then the wind knocked down the pot with lettuce. And the bunnies got the peas.

So we bought the second round at the store.

And now lettuce, onions are starting again.

The bed looks so much cleaner and the peppers are still thriving on the end.

Yeah about the peppers…..Mexican night every night this week.

Dishwasher Naïveté

2010-09-07T08:03:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful long holiday weekend. We finally had some cooler weather and it was so nice to be able to be outside. And of course worked on home projects. Most of which are not ready to unveiled yet…except for one.

Since moving in, this appliance has been a major source of frustration.

Not only was it ugly with it’s cream bisque color, it did a terrible job of getting dishes cleaned. No matter what detergent we used (believe me we tried them all) and using the heavy wash all the time, things still came out dirty.

Since we remodeled the kitchen, the appliances have been on the to-do list and we had the last straw with it this weekend. So we decided to upgrade.

We thought we would install it ourselves…..and by ourselves I mean Derek would install it and I would watch. And in case you were wondering we went with a Kitchenaid.

Naively we thought that it would be no big deal. Just slide the old one out, rehook up the new one and slide it back in. Cake.

It did not exactly work out that way.

First issue, one of the bolts on the little feet was stripped and would not move. After trying multiple solutions, googling extensively and calling people more knowledgeable than us….we were brought to this.

Nothing like taking a sawzall to a brand new appliance that just cost over $1000. That was not anxiety provoking.

After we he solved the foot problem. We encountered more problems. Most of them centered around the new dishwasher being slightly bigger than the old one and the way the wood floor was installed underneath. Enter a chisel and prybar. Neither of those tools were on the install directions either.

Sorry I don’t have pictures of those…by that point we were past the “this is fun and let’s document for the blog” mentality. It was more the “this is the stupidest idea ever and our new dishwasher is not going to fit and hopefully they won’t notice we had to use a sawzall when we have to return it mentality”

We did learn that the hardwoods in the kitchen were not original to the house. There is ugly baby blue linoleum under there. So even though I am not fan of the honey oak color of the wood, I now have a new found appreciation for them.

We finally got it done a little after midnight. But it we did not turn it on. Because if it happened to spew water everywhere I think Derek may have taken the sawzall to the front if it.

The good news was when we woke up with clearer heads and turned it on it worked beautifully. Whew. And I happen to like how it looks too.

It blends in so much better with the cabinets and really completes the kitchen. Just don’t look at the cream fridge or stove.

So we ended the holiday weekend with doing lots of dishes and marveling how clean they are coming out no matter how dirty they are going in. And it is super quiet too. And the pain of the install makes me appreciate it even more. Well me at least, I am not sure if Derek is that stage yet. It might some more clean dishes to accomplish that.

Crickets

2010-08-26T23:12:00.001-05:00

I have been a little absent on this blog lately. And I am really behind on emails….and commenting. Sigh.

But this would be one of the reasons why.

A new (to me) Bernina. Isn’t she pretty?

Not planned, but when you hang out with people who sew and are in the know these things happen.

You see when my friend and fellow KCMQG officer Jaime mentioned that they had gotten some pre-owned mechanical Berninas in that were in great shape, I got really excited. Granted you probably think I am crazy for wanting to give up a 25 year Kenmore that my mother bought for the purpose of hemming uniforms and dance costumes and caused much cursing in the craft room. But I admit it that I wanted it. However, we had just gotten back from Italy and I decided that it did not fall into the “need” category. I just would not think about it.

But then a week later my friend Lauren emailed me. She had taken the plunge. She could not stop raving about what an amazing machine it was. And Lauren is a persuasive and hilarious girl (not to mention an talented fabric designer) so I knew that I had to go see it at least. You know just to look at it.

And I will admit it was amazing. And I have a birthday coming up. So Jaime helped my buckle it in the back seat and it came home with me.

So I have been playing with it (and not blogging) ever since.

Of course, to go with our new machines we made a trek out to a great fabric store in Lawrence. Fabric stores make me happy. Especially when you have a good machine sew with.

The one downside to this whole thing? I can no longer blame my sewing inadequacies on a crappy machine. Which I did frequently and now the truth will be out. I guess I will just have to get better. And hope that my friends can help me in that department as well…..

A Lot of Bits of Randomness

2010-08-19T22:54:00.001-05:00

Projects are back in full swing at our house and I can’t wait to share what we have been up to. That explains my lack of posting this week (and the fact that being back at work is kicking my butt in the time arena). So while we finish up stuff here, I have some random thoughts. Which I am going to attempt to string together in some coherent form. Here goes:

1. We learned a valuable lesson last week. Curtains really shrink when you wash them. Even if they are labeled as machine-washable.

Case in point- Our office curtains were slightly dirty due to two years of this.

I am pretty embarrassed it took us two years to actually wash them and not just lint roll them. Since they pooled on the ground previously, I assumed some shrinking would not be a big deal.

But now our curtains are waiting for a flood.

Hmmmmmm….

Well since the office is in the midst of a mini-makeover I guess we can add curtains to the list. Of course we could just lower the rods but I wish they were higher anyway and I am currently not digging the more traditional pattern. There was a rumor going around the house that I may have shrank them on purpose…..but that is untrue. It just was a unfortunate accident.

So now I am on the hunt for a more modern fabric in the same color family. So far nothing has popped out at me. I was so inspired by some Michael Kors greek key sheets I spied at Homegoods but they were tan and not black and I cannot find them in black anywhere. But other than that small color problem they were perfect. Any great ideas?

Speaking of curtains…..

#2 I listened to the majority and ordered white fabric for the drapes in the kitchen.

Ignore the fact it has taken my 10 months to get to it. (and the fact it is still on the bolt). But it is getting prewashed because I am planning on liking these drapes for awhile. I went with a linen blend because I liked the texture (and it was on sale…which is a bonus when you need 27 yards of something).

Speaking of never ending projects….

#3 We finally have glass shelves in our open cabinets….2 years later.

Now we just need to work on the glass in the doors. I would say stay-tuned but it may be awhile. I am enjoying getting the dishes off the counter and empty cabinet space. And how it looks much more finished. In case you were wondering I have absolutely no excuse to why it took this long to get them.

Speaking of……well…the kitchen??

#4 I picked a few tomatoes last night

Pizza sauce here we come! The two tomato plant are not doing well themselves because of some infestation I can’t figure out (and refuse to spray for) but luckily that does not seem to be affecting the actual tomatoes.

Told you I would find a away to tie it all together.

Zesty Salsa

2010-08-12T23:07:00.001-05:00

One of my garden resolutions this year was to have a better preservation plan so when we have piles of perishable produce (say that 5 times fast) that it would not go to waste.

So when the tomato plant started producing, I was ready with some salsa making activities. Kim at Newly Woodwards almost convinced to start with pizza sauce with pictures of her canning yumminess, but since I also had tons of peppers, we decided salsa was the best bet.

I went to the library and checked out some great canning books. I find my salsa recipe in this one.

Actually it had tons a great recipes (salsa and otherwise) and I picked out Zesty Salsa to start with. No particular reason besides it sounded good and honestly it was the one that utilized the most of the types of pepper we had in the garden.

Here what went into it-

10 cups chopped cored peeled tomatoes

5 cups chopped seeded bell peppers

5 cups chopped onions

2 1/2 cups chopped seeded chili peppers (we used jalapeno)

1 1/4 cups cidar vinegar

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Everything came from our garden except garlic, cidar vinegar, and cilantro that met an early end this year.

For the first round of salsa, the tomatoes were just beginning to ripen so I made a half batch which yielded 5 pint jars.

Well this picture shows 4 and a half but that was just because it was so good that we had to sample some. Trust me there were five.

And being lazy I decided not to can them and just stick them in the freezer. I had bought freezer safe glass jars and I figured that we could eat it by the time 6 months had passed.

Well it was amazing, because three days later only two jars remained in the freezer. But before you think we are total salsa pigs, let me tell you that I did give a jar to our neighbors.

Luckily we had a lot more tomatoes (and a random cantaloupe but ignore that part)….

And plenty more peppers so we made a second full batch this time. And since Derek was helping the jalapeno has a bit more kick.

So we now have 9 pint jars in the freezer and giant tupperware of yumminess in the fridge. Hopefully that will last much longer this time, because the next round of tomatoes is destined for pizza sauce. But just writing this post has me crazing some more and heading to the fridge so that might still be up in the air……

Going Back In

2010-08-11T22:47:00.001-05:00

Last weekend I realized just how long it has been since we have done an “inside” project. We had been so busy with outside stuff and Europe prep that the inside has been ignored as of late.

And since I always get some project inspiration with a little wine, some good music and Derek not home to talk me into being more practical and having a plan (hence how the kitchen reno started), the office is now getting a mini-makeover. Nothing drastic but just a couple of little things that have been bugging me about the space lately. I am still in the going to Homegoods, returning to Homegoods and buying more at Homegoods stage but I wanted to share a sneak peek at one of the projects that is actually done in the space.

We try to make the decor in our home as personal as possible without going overboard with pictures of the two of us cheesing it up for the camera. Coming back from Italy, I have been resisting the urge to plaster photos of the trip all over the place, while still putting memorable items on display. Not so easy.

I saw an idea of displaying travel maps over from Alissa over at 33 Shades of Green awhile ago and loved how it was personal but pretty at the same time. So I made sure to save all the maps we used during the trip.

After I had dumped everything off the bookshelves in the office on that Saturday night, I decided to add some frames to the top. So I messed around with frames I had in various colors and sizes until I found an arrangement I liked.

They were on the smaller side, but I sort of liked just including special sections of the map instead of the entire thing. Also I wanted to change it up in terms of colors on the maps and how they were positioned with mats in the frame.

So I pulled out the maps we used for sightseeing and went to work measuring and cutting with this in mind.

Since I wanted the maps to “mean something” I got the location of our apartment and some major sights included the sections of Rome and Florence I cut out. To change it up a little bit, I used a more zoomed out map for Siena…..to commemorate our memorable bus ride of course. The maps are creased and written on (and probably quite sweaty) but that makes me like them even more.

And now every time I look in the corner now I can remember Italy and where exactly we stayed. And the bus ride. And of course the running joke of why I never carried the maps or navigated the entire trip. Let’s just say my sense of direction was left back in the States. If I was in charge of this task we would have ended up back in Germany.

Memories:).

August=February?

2010-08-10T07:15:00.000-05:00

It is that time of season where summer is starting to lose it’s charm in our neck of the woods. It is hot. And sticky. And dry. And no amount of watering keeps the plants from wilting and or the grass from turning brown.

So I set my alarm early this weekend to get out in the garden before it was sweltering and the I admit I was a little grumbly about it. Because I was sick of watering and weeding and feeding and fighting pests on the tomatoes and black spot on the roses. So the entire time I was staking up the raspberries (which are being ravaged by some unknown disease or insect that no amount of googling has led me to a conclusion) I was composing an open letter to August because my feelings for it were much like February. I had all the details in my head.

But then I saw this.

And after I wiped the condensation off my lens from the humidity I got to enjoy these.

And suddenly my grumpy letter to August disappeared because how could February compete with fresh raspberries?

And peppers….

And tomatoes…

And if Iwas still not convinced just remember the having to dig out the door…..

Yep August has nothing on February. Bring on the heat!

Finally

2010-08-01T23:35:00.001-05:00

I have been promising this for awhile, but the outdoor space it finally ready. But next time I want to finally get an outdoor space together, I need to actually make progress before August when it is too hot to be outside even at night….. and when all the flowers and herbs are looking a little wilty….well because they are hot too.

Anyway it would not be an After without an Before. So he is the unofficial before (stolen from the raised beds how-to). Basically when we moved in we plopped a table in the middle of the deck with cheap plastic chairs and hung lights very very straight on the pergola. Oh and Derek installed outdoors speakers as soon as the wire was discovered. Priorities.

Here we are now:

I swear I did not have Winter pose…that is where she was laying when I walked out with the camera.

The other side-

My reading corner-

The umbrella gets moved frequently to shade the plant and the sectional. I can’t decide if I like it better with or without….hmmmm.

The long view. Yes I am aware that it leans. I swear this is the only angle you can tell. A couple of people have given us ideas about how to fix it but frankly none of them sound that fun and we have not cared enough to pursue it yet. 10 points if you can spy the shell pink mini blinds in the ugly master bath in this picture.

On a daily basis I use our rolling cart for gardening stuff, but it multi tasks for entertaining or BBQing-

Some herbs and the grape trellis. Hopefully the grapes will be higher than the first level and able to be seen next year.

And at night (without a tripod obviously). I like how the sectional area is less lit but still bright enough.

And to prove they were not nearly so cooperative the entire time….

In case you are wondering, here is where I got stuff (on a budget of course):

Tile-Top table and umbrella- Lowe’s or Home Depot years ago on clearance

Sectional: Wal-Mart (blogged here)

Rocking Chair- Jo-ann’s (blogged here)

Outdoor Rug: Home Fabrics and Rugs (blogged here)

Garden Stool: Homegoods (here)

Blue side table- hand me down transformed with the power of spray paint

Outdoor Pilliows-made by me

Rolling Cart- made my Derek (tutorial here)

Painted Pots -another DIY project (tutorial here). The non-painted pots are from Homegoods.

And the final DIY project- the canvas panels on the pergola (here)

So what do you think? Now I am starting to get the itch for fall and cooler weather so we can start spending time out there again.

Cinque Terre

2010-07-30T10:55:00.001-05:00

Now the part of the trip that everyone has been waiting for….the Cinque Terre.

I was gorgeous and relaxing and the perfect way to split up sight seeing in Florence and Rome. You are feeling stressed and hot on the train wondering how much longer you are going to be in tunnels and then suddenly you come out and all there is blue water and sunshine. Sigh.

Anyway if you are not familiar with the Cinque Terre, it five small towns on the coast of Italy that are connected by hiking trails and the train. We stayed in Vernazza and it was perfect.

The Cinque Terre does not have many hotels because the towns are so tiny, and most people rent private rooms. We rented from Maria Capellini and her husband Giaccomo. Our room was in the yellow building right on the square. They were the sweetest couple and made us feel so at home the two nights we were there.

We arrived on a Sunday (when I snapped most of these pics) and so it looks a lot more crowded than it was on Monday.

We arrived in the afternoon and of course it was hot, so we grabbed our suits, ate lunch on the harbor, drank some Italian beer and went to the beach. Heavenly.

That night we probably had our best meal of our entire vacation. The seafood was amazing as well as the views of the Mediterranean. Of course this was the dinner that I decided “let’s not be a tourist and bring the giant camera bag with us to dinner…just slip the little one into your pocket” So this is the only picture of the meal we have….Derek’s first course. Amazing (and under 10 euro). My seafood spaghetti and sea bass encrusted in sea salt was the best fish I have ever had. And the Cinque Terre wine was delicious as well.

Vernazza at night-

The next day was the hike. We decided to take the first train out to start by 7:30 and try to beat the heat. Also the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza was supposed to be the most physically strenuous so we wanted to start with that.

Monterosso is the morning was deserted but gorgeous.

Then we started the hike. Let’s just say the first leg was a little more physically demanding than we expected. It was very steep and the whole “let’s try to beat the heat” thing…well that did not really work out. I am not a sweater and my shirt was soaked within in the first half hour. I consider us to be in reasonably good shape (I run three days a week) and honestly this first trail kicked our butts.

At this point the blog actually came up.

J: You know Emily from Imperfect?

D; One of your blog friends?

J:Yes (gasping for breath)…she did this hike at the end of her second trimester. It was not 105, but she still did it successfully. So if we can’t do it we are total wimps.

So everyone needs to tell Emily what a rock star she is.

Anyway we ended up completing the hike and it was so worth it for the views and after the first leg it was much easier. The last leg was so flat that it was paved. But in some ways I liked the first leg the best as Derek and I were the only ones there and was very peaceful. But enough talking…here are the pictures-

Monterosso after we started hiking into the hills-

Our first glimpse of Vernazza-

Coming into Vernazza-

After going through Vernazza, we came to Corniglia-

The views were amazing

And the water was so blue

The town of Manarola-

Finally to the paved part. No pics of me will make the blog because at this point I looked just a tad sweaty. A lot of women were wearing just their bras to hike in. Not swimsuit tops or sports bras…just regular bras. Not sure if that is a European thing, or I am so hot that I don’t care and I will never see these people again thing.

Anyway we stopped in the final town Riomaggiore for a late lunch and more Italian beer. Then we hopped the train back to Vernazza and went back to the beach for our last afternoon in the Cinque Terre before heading for Rome in the morning. I took at lot more pics and if you would like to see more go here. Hope you enjoyed seeing the Cinque Terre as much as we enjoyed relaxing there!

Pretty in Pink- Chive Flower Vinegar

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In the spring we, had a slight problem with overgrown chives.

The rest of the garden had just been planted and they were spilling everywhere. The purple flowers were pretty and I thought about bringing some inside as cut flowers….but the distinct onion scent wasn’t what I was going for. So what to do with all of them because they obviously needed to be harvested and there was no way we were going to way that many baked potatoes?? Hmmmmm…

After some googling I learned that you can make Chive Flower Vinegar. Different sites had slightly different procedures so I sort of mixed it all together and came up with this,

First, I harvested all the pretty flowers. That basket was totally full.

Then I washed them thoroughly and put them through the salad spinner to get all the excess water off.

Next, I put them in some glass containers with lids and then added boiling white vinegar over them.

They sat in a sunny window for a week. It was the perfect kitchen table centerpiece.

Then I strained out the flowers that were looking a little less purple.

And was left with pretty pink vinegar with an onion scent.

I bottled it in pretty jars and put it in the dark kitchen cabinet for another week

So what does it taste like? On a mixed green salad there is a slight hint of onion. I think next time I will leave more of the stems on and possibly refresh the flowers with new ones to increase the flavor. But i love the color and it could make a great gift or look fun on a table next to a salad when you are entertaining. And best of all it is quick, easy, and uses parts of plants that were going to be composted.