Problem Meet Solution

Ok - so I'm going to have to admit that the hubs and I are terrible at doing dishes.  I think it might be both of ours most unfavorite chore.  And on top of that - we are constantly asking each other if the dishwasher is clean or dirty.  Because without fail, one of us will grab a baby spoon or something out of the clean dishwasher without unloading it and then the "clean" light will go off.  Then - neither one of us will unload it because we think it's dirty...cycle...  It's kinda ridiculous.  But anyway.

I had this thought that maybe if I made a sign that clearly said Clean/Dirty then we would know and maybe the dishes would get unloaded/loaded appropriately.  The hubster is going to think this is juvenile and SILLY but if it works - I'm going to feel brilliant.

I already had everything I needed, so it took maybe 2 minutes to do this.  Cardboard, pretty papers, stickers, velcro, glue stick.  Easy cheesey..

update:  my hubby came home for lunch and LIKES the sign!!!  SUCCESS!!!!

I may never take this off

Random fact - Hancock Fabrics had an Earth Day sale.  I had no idea until I rolled up early Thursday morning but it was a nice surprise.  I was there to pick up ONLY pink seersucker to make a dress for my stepmom's principal? vice-principal? someone important at her school...but then I got sucked in to the prices.  Surprise surprise.

I had this pattern sitting at the house begging for me to make it and I finally decided to go for it Thursday afternoon - rushing to get it done so I would have something to wear to class that evening.  (like my closet is empty - silly girl)

I chose a grey tiny pinstripe cotton (my newfound favorite color for some reason) and navy for the contrast hem and cuff (another surprise I know).  I thought the combo would be effortlessly casual but still "nice" enough to feel pretty.  And, I was right.  I don't want to take this dress off.  I wore it to class last night and all day today when I had running around to do.  And I felt great.

The pattern itself is remarkably easy to understand.  Usually I don't understand the directions exactly, and maybe I still don't and end up making them up myself, but I had NO problems sewing this at all.  The best part - only side seams on the bodice, you don't have to deal with turning under the armholes, which is always a pain for me.  So that was awesome!

I added top stitching at the neck to help the facing stay put and also at the cuff just because I wanted to.  OH!!  Did I mention that it has POCKETS!!  And they were easy to sew in?!!!!  LOVE!!!

Feel free to ignore all the wrinkles - I forgot to take a picture when it was all fresh and clean - I've been wearing it ALL day...  I had made a tie to go around the waist to cinch in a bit more, it's a little loose on top and through the waist, but I hand tacked it quickly last night and it came undone.  I'm not sure if I actually need it though - I liked that I don't look as wide with it but I do feel a bit like a little girl with it on.  Hmm...I'll decide later.

So - there you have - a cutesy dress that's super easy to wear for less than $10.  Now go sew something fun!! :)

How We Met Our House

What a fun party!!  I definitely want to play!!

 (and please excuse the mess of the blog - I JUST decided to redo it)

It's no secret that we have moved every year we have been married (this coming Memorial Day Weekend marks our fourth anniversary) - so we've lived in A LOT of houses, though we've only bought 3.  I guess we get itchy, who knows.  This year will be different though - no moving for us.  This will be the house that I finally have draperies made and the kitchen will be just right.

In 2008 we had bought the Dream House.  Loved it.  It was the perfect humongous, pain to clean, beautiful house - where we were supposed to live forever and raise children in.  Only problem - we ended up deciding to have children earlier than "our plan" and then on top of that I got laid off.  So - bye bye Dream House.

We had looked at renting, but with two large dogs, a cat, and  a baby on the way, the options were slim.  Either the rent was cheap but the neighborhood was scary, they didn't allow dogs over 30 lbs (ours are 50 & 75), or the rent was too expensive.  Plus, after owning two homes, we didn't know how we would feel about renting again.  Not having something be OURS would be quite the change.

 

So we got our realtor to find us some houses to see in the piddliest of price ranges I never thought we would have to look at.  And turns out - they weren't bad houses - just, well, different.  (and disappointing...)  I thought we would never find a house and we were definitely running out of time - closing, baby, etc.

One Sunday, Sam & I just started driving around and came up on the corner of 17th & 35th and I thought I spied a sign up in the ivy.  (why they thought THAT was a good idea...?!)  Anyhow - we hurried home, looked it up, and called Renee.  It was $20,000 more than we wanted to spend but the mortgage would still be totally manageable.  (we had purposely set a VERY low limit)

When we walked in - it was perfect.  Mostly.  I hated the steep driveway, the trim & roof color, the crazy big texture on the walls, the parquet floor in the dining room, the nasty 50's kitchen, the bathroom made me sick, and the carpet in the office - yuck.  And the yards were untended, messy, and full of weeds.

But in spite of all that - it was perfect.

The front door opened into a large (much larger than it looks from the outside) living room that is perfectly situated to not have to deal with any awkward door openings and then there are french doors to the dining room.  Swing door to the kitchen - which has plenty of storage & cabinets and the cutest vintagey stove/oven that still works perfectly!  There's a small hallway that has both bedrooms & bathroom off of it and it's perfect.  I love that we are only 15 feet from pepito and sharing one bathroom is no big deal to us at all.

The office is kinda weird - we did have to move a door opening to the laundry area and we removed a very strange and un-airconditioned half bath because it just didn't make sense - but it definitely works now that we've rearranged it a dozen times.

We are the happiest we've ever been in this house, even though it's the smallest house we've ever owned - a mere 1500 sq ft, but it's perfect for us.  The layout and flow of the house is perfection - which is what is truly most important to us.  I know that here we can resist the itch to move for SEVERAL years.

I die.

My bestest Hadley has a photography studio - you know that.  I posted about the window treatments already.  But the poor mama's (and their entourage) had nowhere to sit.  Now granted - I don't think I've ever needed to sit in a chair at her studio, usually I'm too busy desperately trying to get pepito to pretend to be happy during picture taking - but I've never had anyone come with me either.  Anyhow.  Hadley needed chairs.  Cute chairs.  Cheap chairs.  (please ignore the quality of the iPhone pictures - I really need a point & shoot I can carry around...)

More than a month ago, when both our babes were elsewhere (how did that happen?!) we scoured the thrift stores and found some perfectly sized comfy chairs at Salvation Army for $25 each.  Not an awesome price like I've seen all of you find - but pretty dern good for Columbus and hefty chairs.  At this point I was convinced that, even though it looked more complicated than anything I had attempted before, I could strip them down and recover them for her.

Oh, woe is me.  Way above my skill level.  Well - maybe not - but I didn't have the right tools to even get them ripped down properly and I certainly don't have an air gun stapler thing.  Shoot.  So, with much shame, I called Hadley and call the my workroom, who quoted us a price.  And while reasonable - I felt terrible.  But we didn't have much of a choice if we wanted them recovered.  Shoot.

Upholstery magician Ray had them ripped down in a matter of hours and then they sat in my house while we tried to get our schedules to align so we could paint them.  We FINALLY found the time to paint them RED this weekend.  So, first thing Monday morning, I loaded them back up in the  car and took them to Ray to finish.  I'm sure he thought that I had fallen off the face of the earth - but atleast they understand that I have a baby and the time that it takes to get out of the house/do anything at all is ridiculous.  I digress.

I got the call last night that they were ready! Yay!  First thing today I headed out to get them.  Lucky for me, I only live 2 minutes from the workroom.  And I die.  I knew they would look awesome - I squealed when I saw the fabric at Hancock's - but this - is just awesome.  Really happy we didn't go with a solid texture - these have such a great punch!!

I had to drop them at Hadley's house instead of the studio, crazy baby schedules, and I can't wait to see them with the curtains.  It is going to be so fun with all the colors and patterns.  Hadley squealed and, honestly, I'm a little afraid she's not going to take them to studio she loves them so much.  They might find a home in her home... ha!  So Love!!!

Poppies Make Me Happy

Knocking projects off the never-ending project list does too - so happy Two for One to me! ha!

In honor of my new sewing station - I decided it was about time I finally got these window treatments marked off the list.  After looking at the ribbon, even though it was yellow polka dots, I decided that a self tie was what would be best.  Easy cheesey.  I cut four, sewed four, and tied them on this morning.

And I will say - I'm not sure why exactly I put this off for so long - but the finished product is worth it.  I am in love.  These are the easiest, prettiest window treatments ever.  Sew a rectangle (with or without lining), sew the ties, make cute little bows and you're good to go.  I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm repeating the style above my sewing table (as soon as I pick up more lining). 

They make me happy.  (the weird light does not - another day...)

My very own spot

I love my hubs.  Seriously - he's the best out there.  And here's why.  We were cleaning up our wreck of a house this weekend and he tells me to sit down.  This never means anything good (well, actually it does but in a round about way).  I automatically know that this means he wants to rearrange furniture (AGAIN!) and I just don't know that I'm up for all that.  Turns out - he's REALLY tired of all my sewing stuff being in the dining room and would like to bring in our very old desk from the shed, move some shelving, and put me in the 'office' permanently.  He didn't have to get to the end of his proposition before I was saying yes.

I know he probably doesn't believe me but I didn't like having all my mess out in the middle of the house anymore than he did.  And on the plus side, this meant we were going to have to deal with the disaster situation of all the shelving in the back.

Not a whole lot to say about this process, except that there were several trash bags involved and a run to the attic.

One of many disaster before looks....embarassing

My sewing spot!!

It's definitely not wonderful yet. As you can see I'm still in the middle of painting the ugly trim white, the "desk" needs a new paint job, window treatments need to be hung (and made..I do have one done...), and then fun things on the wall.  But I am so excited to have MY VERY OWN SPOT I couldn't wait to show!!

Need a Button?

Warning:  Not exactly, or at all, related to home interior design.  

Completely relevant for mommies though.

I can't remember when - but apparently at breakfast one Saturday pepito was playing with jacket buttons I guess.  Because it's been in my head that I need to make him a button "blanket" to play with.  I found myself with no immediate sewing project today and having taken my exam last night, I could ignore anatomy for the day as well.  So - early this morning I raided my itty bitty pieces of fabric bin - and of course picked the green geometric print and the roosters.  Can't help myself.  Plus, they were two of the few pieces that were actually large enough.

Now - seriously - this is the easiest project ever!!  You know all those buttons that come as "extra" when you buy new clothes?  Well - I throw them in the bottom of my jewelry box and never think about them again - until last night.  Brilliant.  I have atleast 30 buttons I have absolutely no need for - sweet!!

While pepito was "watching" Curious George and Dinosaur train, I sewed the buttons onto the green print.  Easy cheesey.  No real pattern obviously but I did try to space out by size & color so atleast all the huge black buttons weren't hanging out together.


(and I'm really trying hard not to rip out the one blue gingham ribbon that got jacked up...)

Finished up the buttons this afternoon after a wild morning of errands and appointments, pinned on the pieces of looped ribbon to the green, pinned the roosters on top (right sides facing) and straight stitched all the way around, leaving room to turn inside out.  Top stitched all the way around, closing the opening, tacked on some red poms poms on the corners and done!  Easy stinking cheesey!!

Now - I just hope that it entertains pepito more than saran wrap - but I'm pretty sure that's impossible.

Have fun Mommies!!!

I Heart Spray Paint

I know - I haven't posted anything on THIS blog in awhile - more than a week.  Bad blogger.  Life has me busy.  Baby, sewing, baby, school, baby...it's a vicious cycle.  But - I found some time this morning, avoiding studying for my lab exam tonight, to do a tiny project that I've been meaning to do for forever.  It didn't hurt that, while looking for sandpaper, I found brown gloss spray paint.

Enter stage right - Grandaddy's red bench.

still forgot to take a true before pic...

It has found a final resting place in our bedroom.  Unfortunately, the red doesn't work.  We've had plans to paint it blue, at Forest, white, on the porch, etc etc.  Now - the plan - brown in the bedroom at 17th.

Pepito is taking a marathon nap, as is his 'usual' morning routine, and since I can't find the sandpaper to do start some chairs for a friend, I figured I'd take 10 minutes and knock something off our list.  Easy cheesey.

I only did one coat, because I only have one can of paint, and there are probably some spots that need another hit, but...oh well.  No one sees it but us and I'm pretty sure I can just avoid looking at those spots.  I was actually surprised I was able to get the whole thing covered with only one can - guess this Monday is going to be a good day afterall!!

Loving the after - the bench feels like it belongs instead of just plopped in our our room because we didn't have anywhere else to put it.   Now to see if I can keep from piling clothes and towel on it...ha!

And on a different kind of good note - I'm hoping the spray paint fumes help me take the test - it did the last time anyhow!  I was in a "happy" kind of mood!!

Pink All Over

We went out of town this weekend to see my parents and when we got back - we were greeted with a yard full of pink.  The azaleas have bloomed!!!  All of them!!!  Nothing makes me happier! Well, maybe if my daffodils had bloomed I would be happier....oh well.

From the front door

We still have to get more mulch to fill in the rest of the bed...

So pretty to see when we park

By our steps - this was the first one to bloom

AND - my stepmom sent me home with LOTS of flowers to plant!!  Now - she warned me that they will probably be in shock this year and not bloom - but NEXT year - watch out!!  I vow to keep them alive - easier said then done.  I usually kill everything...but maybe this year will be different!!

My new plants waiting for me to find a minute to put them in the ground

Our yard is starting to make me happy...now if we just had grass instead of weeds!

It's Gone!!

My wonderful husband had some comp days stored up from all of his travels this year and decided to turn Easter in to a four day weekend.  He made it very clear that Friday it was like he wasn't here - he wouldn't be helping me with the baby - he would be outside.  Fine with me hon.  (as long as you return the favor on Monday when I have a quiz..!)

before we even moved in - how 'lovely' is that though!

He decided that it was finally time that the weed flower bed by the driveway to leave our house forever.  And not a moment too soon!  It was awful trying to negotiate getting in and out of the car when six inches from the door is an eight+ inch high flower bed that holds nothing but "wild flowers" - ha!  Nevermind trying to get the baby and the thirty ton carseat in and out.  So I was happy to oblige and even made it out there a couple times to supervise help.

down to the dirt!

It didn't take too long for him to shovel out the dirt and I actually did help with this part - which made it go surprisingly quickly.  The dirt was soft and easy to dig thank goodness!!!  We had all of that cleared out by lunchtime.

Then, came the gravel.  Randomly, there was a TON of gravel in our backyard.  I guess someone used to park back there...  I was hoping to dig that out and use it on the side - but Sam decided it wasn't worth the humongous effort it was going to take to get it out of the yard and that was assuming there was even enough, which I'm pretty sure there wasn't.  So - he borrowed his dad's truck and went to Durty Works.

this may not look like a huge deal - but believe me - it is!!

THREE THOUSAND POUNDS of gravel later, and I helped shovel this briefly while pepito took a short nap, and we can now get out of the cars without spraining ankles!!!  It's amazing!!!

Now, eventually we will have the entire driveway repaved so it's one continues stretch of concrete, instead of car tire strip things and we will concrete that spot by the side of the house as well.  But for now, this is perfectly fine interim solution.

And it was a beautiful weekend for lots of yardwork.  We also weeded the front yard and "planted" grass in the back, now that there was all kinds of transplanted dirt back there! (which will definitely have to be weeded in the near future...oh well)

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!