Nothing like a birthday party to motivate

It has been a busy couple of weeks - hence no new posts.  Sorry about that.  There was a week to prep for an interview (I didn't get the job - boo to them), a week to prep for the beach, a week at the beach, a week to celebrate Sam & William's birthday and that brings us to now.  I made a booboo on William's party invitation and accidentally bought myself an extra week in getting ready for it!  Yay!!  My subconscious must've know I'd need the extra time...

Anyhow - so in honor of Pepito's birthday party this coming weekend - we decided it was high time we made our screen porch look pretty enough to put some people out there.  Our house isn't THAT big and we are going to have A LOT of people/kids running around, so we need all the space we can squeeze out!!

It has been on the to-do list all along to fix up the porch.  We had already painted the furniture blue for our anniversary but the floor was still ugly.  Super ugly.  And we could've painted it, but yuck.  We hate painting.  Plus, it would still be concrete which is a hassle to clean up pollen, dirt, etc, and it would be less than comfy for the very mobile little boy.  So, we decided on indoor/outdoor carpeting.

Brilliant.  It was super easy to put in, even though we cut the template wrong and had to "make it work".  Luckily we had gotten extra carpet so it's all good.  We just used double sided carpet tape and tacked it down.  Easy cheesey.  And it may not last forever, but since it was way under $100, that's absolutely number one a-ok.  We love it.  William loves it.  And I love that now I can open the doors (when it's not murderously hot/humid) and he can wander out and play and I don't have to worry about anything.  Fall is going to be lovely.

Then Sam woke me up this morning all motivated to plant new plants, and I will never argue with him if it's HIS decision to buy pretty green things, so off we went Lowe's bright and early.  We have a wonderful history of killing flowers, so we thought we'd try greenery this time around.  So far, after 5 hours, they're still alive.  I'm taking it as a good sign.  Ha!  We did get one big flower pot thing for the center of the table, but it's an annual - so it's going to die eventually anyway.

So - if you are coming to the birthday party - I hope you go to the screen porch - we worked hard on it!!  Well, not too hard, but you get the point...!!

Adler's Pear My Way

Who doesn't love Jonathan Adler? I mean seriously. He's great. And I will admit that 

I don't know a whole lot about him, I've been busy changing diapers, but somewhere 

this pillow popped up and spoke to me. I love pears. I love pillows. Yum. And the 

best part - I knew I'd eventually be able to figure out a way to have it - even I had 

to make it myself.

So I did. :)

Have I mentioned how much I am in love with appliques? SO IN LOVE!  

I'm having the best time - pepito is slowly losing plain white onesies every day.  

I don't have wonder under so I'm using interfacing, but as long as I throw a couple 

pins in it to get started, it's working pretty well.

I love that the pear isn't solid - the trellis is one of my most favorite fabrics ever - but 
never made it into the living room officially in a big way, so it's nice having just 
a touch of it.  And the best part - it was totally free - made with scraps and remnants I 
had lying around!! Gotta love that! Much better than $98, even if JA's is wool and
perfect... It only took maybe 30-45 minutes start to finish - this is also making it on the 

Chrismtas Gift List of possibilities!! Oh the combinations!!!

The only problem is that I don't have any of the cream fabric left over to make a pair, 

I really wanted a lemon pillow for the other chair, so I guess it will have to eventually 

move to the sofa. No big deal - but I'm pretty sure that means I am one pillow short.  

Have to think that one over. In the mean time - I'm tickled pink with how easy and 

happy this one pear makes me!

I Heart Monograms

I mean, seriously, who doesn't love a pretty monogram?!  I would put initials on every single thing I own if I could afford it/my hubs would allow me too.  They're pretty and classic and just plain fun.  Makes me smile every time.

Enter stage right: our comfy large pillow in the living room.

On a whim (I was bored and had no sewing project for the day) I made a cover for a 16x24 pillow form I had hanging around out of our drapery fabric.  I thought it'd be nice to have the fabric pulled over to the sofa and it is a seriously comfy pillow - can't go wrong - right?!  Well, I knew it would need something to help jazz it up a bit, but in an effort to not make ANOTHER trip to the fabric store, I just left the trim off and decided we'd make do until hubsters would give me permission to buy some trim and then I'd remake it.  Easy cheesey.  No big deal.

see the pillow in question on the right? - yeah - it's naked

And the pillow did NEED something.  It was cute - but was definitely not statement making - and definitely felt a little naked.  Now, I don't know if I saw this somewhere on Etsy, a random blog, or maybe I made it up - but I came up with the idea to make a pillow "sleeve".  I figured it would break up the large floral and maybe that would be all it needed.

now it's dressed up and all pretty

But yesterday, I discovered that doing appliques really wasn't that difficult even though I don't have an embroidery machine and then the monogram was born.  I actually made the pillow sleeve twice, because the first time, like a dummy, I traced the letter with a red pen and you could see faint pinkness hanging out in the stitches. Not cool.  So instead of going to bed like a smart stay at home mommy, I wired myself up and made another one.  Much better.  I traced with yellow this time around.. ;)

And the best part - the first one was done when the hubs got home from work - and he QUOTE "that looks great - did YOU do that?"  SCORE!!!  He loved it and it looked good enough that he was IMPRESSED that I did it!! yay!!!  Gotta love that man!!  I don't think he is even aware of what he did for my self-esteem.

This might make it onto the Christmas Gift List Possibilities for everyone I know...so - if you are expecting a gift from me this year - let me know if this is the one you want - or feel free to ignore this post all together and be surprised in six months! ha!

But We Left the Ironing Board Out!

The title is seriously something that came out of my sweet hub's mouth as a reason why friends couldn't come over for drinks after dinner out when we first met.  It has stuck with us for a year and half - which is wild - it feels like we've all been best friends forever...huh...anyhow.

Our ironing board was disgusting.  Years of burnt starch, fused interfacing, and probably a spilled diet coke or two.  But somehow, I could never stomach paying $15 for a new shiny cover... Funny how I pick and choose what's worth the money.  Though, it WAS probably worth it...

But to Sam's surprise and hopefully delight, I whipped this brand new one up for him the other evening.  Afterall, he irons everyday, so he's the one who has to look at the grossness and pray that it doesn't end up all other his Brooks Brothers shirt.

And, wow, was it easy.  I ironed the old cover, laid it on top of the new fabric, cut around about an extra 1/2", folded over and pressed a casing, sewed the casing shut except for a couple inches, and then threaded elastic cord into the casing, tied it in a knot, and put it on the board.  Should've done this years ago!!!!

For the Mommas

I'm sure all you moms out there have already thought of this - but I'm gonna put it out there anyway.  We are going through baby food like m&m's.  Well, maybe not quite that bad, but seriously - it's out of control.  And I feel so wasteful throwing away the containers, plastic and glass alike.  So I've been saving the ones that aren't stained orange from sweet potatoes waiting for my lightbulb moment.

At some point last week, I was searching for snaps or buttons or both in the blue container I'd just been dumping them in.  Which used to be a functional way to keep them all in the same place, until that container also began to hold elastic, grommets, safety pins, and all other random things that happened to be lying around when I cleaned up from sewing.

Now - I've got dozens of the glass baby food jars, but recently the plastic two pack Gerber foods were on sale, so I had accumulated dozens of those too and thought it would be easier to only have to unpop the top then to screw off a lid - plus, they stack a lot easier.

So - I found some scrapbook paper, cut tiny rectangles out, wrote with a sharpie on the top - and now I have individual storage bins for all my random sewing notions.  Ridiculously easy and makes my life so much easier to boot.  Just one of the many uses for these things - wonder what I'll need the six on the window sill for...hmmm...

For the Mommas

Can you ever have too many bibs?  Well, maybe only when it's laundry day but otherwise, I know I like have drawers full of them (spreads out the laundry days...)  Reading around blog world - I ended up on Homemade by Jill - and if you haven't checked her out - go do it and come back...please.  :)  As fate would have it - the top tutorial (thankyou alphabetical order) was her bib tutorial.  Easy cheesey.

My sewing table happens to line up directly with my bin of "cute" (read - not in daily use) dishtowels.  And in that stack was KMart's Martha Stewart fruit set that I coveted for months until I finally gave in and paid way too much for them.  They're towels.  And they get dirty.  But I love them.  Which is also why they are in a bin and not under my sink....moving on.  In the name of things I have actually getting used - I thought they would make ADORABLE bibs.  Kids eat fruit - makes sense.

So I printed out the template, cut the towel while it was doubled over, sewed it inside out, flipped right side out, topstitched, added a snap (because I don't have white velcro handy and I'm trying to keep myself out of fabric stores this month), and voila.  I'm in love.  I can't wait to cut into the rest of the set.

This would be adorable with any cutesy set of dishtowels - and I may not be allowing myself in the fabric store but I'm pretty sure the dollar store is not necessarily off limits...just saying.  Or Target's dollar section might also get a visit shortly.  Plus, with all the scraps of fabric I have - maybe I should just pick up a bundle of washclothes and go to town.  The possibilites are endless!!  And these would make such a cute gift paired with a burp cloth!!   And be sure to check out the rest of that blog too - it's AWESOME!!

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!! :)

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!!

Etch a Sketch

Wow - how I loved my etch a sketch. Never got really proficient at it - but I'm looking forward to buying one for pepito...

Anyhow.

It has been on my to-do project list to do sketches of our old houses, 18th Ave & Forest, to replace the baby pictures (that were never meant for the living room anyway). Over the weekend I found some vellum paper in a stash and also a picture of 18th Ave. I decided that first nap was as good a time as any to start.

Originally

We fell in love with 18th Ave at first look....of the outside. The diamond windows were gorgeous, the front porch was perfect, and the yard was level and full of grass. It was days before we were able to see the inside because the floors were in the process of being redone but in our minds it was ours. And silly first time homebuyers, with no realtor buying a FSBO, offered full price because we were terrified of losing it. We learned our lesson, never again.

The first weekend after moving in - I wasted no time in getting up the holiday wreaths!

We moved in 5 days before Christmas I think and it was wonderful. Sam & my Dad even moved our Christmas tree! So many great memories from that house. Sam BUILT our porch swing and it was THE most comfortable swing I've ever sat in! Playing in the yard with the pups, working on projects in the massive building in the backyard, and just having fun being newlyweds.

Love the Fire Engine Red Front door! It was no small feat to paint it though - it was solid wood and weighed agizillion pounds.

Back to the task at hand. The sketch only took about 20 minutes! I still kinda wish I would've been able to find my marker paper, but it was a whole lot easier to copy the house with the vellum... And I'm still trying to decide whether to go over the whole thing in pen. I'm kinda scared to because what if I don't like it and then I have to start all over? But, I guess it would only take me twenty minutes to redo if I had to....

The large print in the center is not one of our houses, unfortunately. My brother got married on Jekyll and Sam & I took the historic home tour while we were there for the weekend. It was our just our favorite house out of all the ones we saw and we used to try and pick up prints from everywhere we went off. Now - we get magnets - much more cost effective...

So - pen or no pen? Any thoughts?

Sew Happy

I know, I know....I'm ridiculous. Since I finished my dress and need to go to the store to get supplies to begin to finish J's nursery items - I was left without a sewing project yesterday. Not cool. So I decided to create one. My spring wardrobe is seriously lacking because of my new mommy size, granted I still have to go attic shopping and see what I have up there to fit the bill, but using all my remnants (this top cost me under $3!!) to make a new top seemed like much more fun.

I had a yard of linen and a half yard of minty green small diamond print laying around that I thought MIGHT be enough to turn my dress into a top. And - luckily - I was right! I had JUST enough linen to make it work. Though, wouldn't you know, as soon as I had all the pieces cut realized that the linen would be SUPER see through. Again, luckily, I had some white thin polyester (maybe?) fabric remnant that I could use to line it.

Totally not in to the extra work the lining would create but it's better than giving everyone a show or having a tank top show through messing up the cute lines of the shirt. It was a bit more work and was definitely more difficult to work with but it makes all the difference. No peep show!!

I chose to eliminate the zipper, because I didn't have one on hand, and I was pretty sure that I could fit it over my head without one, and I also nixed the tie because I wanted to do ruffle collar and arm holes and didn't want there to be too much print. Somehow with the lining, the measurements got a little smaller, so there was no need to cinch in to make it fit. Sweet.

I finished up the ruffles this morning, I had run out of the off white thread, but decided that no one would be the wise if I used white bobbin thread. Plus, I REALLY wanted to wear the top to breakfast with the in-laws. My MIL always looks uber chic, seriously ALWAYS; all of my friends want to be her when we grow up. And I always feel like a puffalump in my yoga pants & tshirt next to her, so I really wanted to put some effort into myself this morning. And, honestly, I should do this more often. I felt so pretty and put together with cute outfit, makeup and my hair done. I even put on earrings and a wood bracelet. (wood bracelet specifically chosen so pepito could chew on it if he got bored with all of his toys. He's usually VERY interested in my jewelry...)

Anyhow. Here's the final top - and my sweet hubs forgot to mention that my strap is showing, but, for some reason, I'm unable to retouch it out... Guess I'm really just THAT pale! ha!

I have been seriously amazed at how easy it is to make clothes, baby and adult sized. I don't mean to go on and on about it on the blog, but I'm so excited to have "conquered" this and am hoping that some of y'all realize it's not such a daunting task. Try it!! Just pin the pieces and sew in a straight line!! Easy cheesey!

Now go enjoy the beautiful weather!!! Perfect for sleeveless cute tops!!

PS - Just linked up to Finesse Your Nest Shop your House Link Party - be sure to check out all the fun new projects everyone is doing! This project may not be exactly home related like all the others - but I did definitely shop my house (fabric bins) to make it - so I think it counts...sort of... My first Link Party!!! Yay!!

Fringetastic

On a whim, and because I desperately needed to do something that was for ME since I've been so busy sewing/reupholstering for everyone else, I decided to get the sewing machine BACK out of the closet and make a pillow for our bedroom. (poor sewing machine only saw the closet for about 16 hours, so don't feel too bad for it)

I waffled a bit on whether I wanted to reuse the 20" fills that I had to rip the seams of pillows I had custom made before the dawn of my machine or to use the 16x24" fills I got last weekend at IKEA that were "supposed" to be for our armchairs in the living room.

At some point I decided I wanted to reuse the fringe trim on the original pillows. I think seeing how it was sewn in originally made the whole process a little less scary to try. And then I guess I thought I didn't have enough of the cream fabric I wanted to use to make the 20x20" - I actually thought wrong - but decided to make the 16x24 and the measurement on the trim would work perfectly.

the original pillow made for our guest bedroom at the dream house

Or so I thought - I think I didn't stretch it enough as I went, and truthfully, some of the fringe fell off when it's stitching came a bit undone - but I ended up having to borrow fringe from the other pillow and now I'm to making just one pillow. That's fine. I wanted to be done by the time my parents dropped pepito off anyhow. Easy cheesey.

And now for my first pseudo how to. I think I took enough pictures - well I forgot the ones of just the fabric pieces.. oh well - those would be boring pictures anyhow.

For a 16x24 pillows I cut one piece at 16x24 and one at 16x 28. (the finished pillows hold their shape and fluff better if the cover is just a touch smaller) I want about a 3" overlap in the back. Then I cut the 28" piece in half. Fold over 1/2" and straight stitch on both 16x14" pieces. You could do a double fold hem - but I'm lazy and this particular fabric wasn't laying flat after pressing.

Then - pin the trim on the right side of the fabric with the fringe towards the middle. Sew all the around about 1/4" in - or where the stitching on the trim is. You don't want any of the loop stitch parts showing - so keep it close. I used an upholstery needle - it seems to handle the thicker things better.

Next up - pin one of your shorter 16x14 pieces, right side down, and sew its three sides. Repeat with other short piece. Cut the corners diagonally but don't hit the trim - it may not matter - but I imagined a huge fringe flying disaster. My corners turned out just fine just trimming the fabric a bit.

Turn inside out, stuff in the fill, fluff and you're done. I forgot to iron the seams, and it may have been relatively difficult with the trim sewn in, but it doesn't seem to matter with the finished product.

please ignore the lack of shams - Target has been out -

they must be psychic for more people than just us.

I was formerly terrified of sewing trim. Avoided like the plague, even though several pillows I've made would be more adorable with some kind of fun edge. Turns out it is super easy and I had absolutely no reason to be scared of it. So jump in and have fun - worst case scenario - you have to rip the seams and start over. And seriously, I don't think I've sewn anything to date that I haven't had to rip atleast a little bit. It's not so bad...

OK - Moral of the story - I am tickled pink with how the pillow turned out and proud of myself for conquering something that "scared" me.

Tweet Tweet

I haven't joined Twitter. I still don't understand what it is... is that sad?

No - I found some brass birds at Salvation Army. I don't know why I don't stop in there more often - it's really close to my house - well, closer than Goodwill anyhow. Anyhow.

$1.50 for the set. Very sturdy. Probably could've left them brass - I again forgot a before picture... But they didn't begin nearly as cute as this one so I'm saying it's ok...

So - I lightly painted on a couple coats of gloss white spray paint that I had - and love. But then instant gratification got the better of me - and I touched them (moved them off the floor so the dogs didn't trample them) and in doing so - messed up the finish.

with one very light coat of paint

I spent the better part of the day soaking them in paint thinner and sandpapering off the paint. Luckily, I was able to get most of the bad paint off. Then I started from the beginning again and vowed not to touch them until I got back from class.

soaking in mineral spirits - this took hours

And, just so you know, there's a very good reason they say don't spray paint in an unventilated area. I was high as a kite when I walked into class this evening. I doubt that it helped me on the quiz, but I sure was happy to take it!

tweet tweet - their eyes look kinda mean don't they -

huh - didn't notice that before - oh well!

Turns out, after all that, I missed a couple spots but seriously, those will just have to be that way until it warms up and I can paint outside. Good enough for now and I still absolutely love them. Terrified of putting still barely tacky birds on our inherited console - I put them on a tray. I'll rework the whole thing tomorrow I am sure but after all my efforts I wanted to blog now!

She's Crafty

I'd like to think so - but I'm pretty sure the jury is still out on my crafty prowess...

I did, however, manage to complete my crafty corner redo in two days. Painted dresser and craft organizer board. HUMONGOUS difference!! Big plus for me since it's pretty much the first (and only) thing you see from the kitchen.

The dresser was a big red mess and now, after sanding and three coats of antique white semi gloss paint it is delightful. The finish probably leaves something to be desired - but it's good enough for me. Three coats is my limit. I hate painting.

I still want to paint little sayings that relate to the drawer contents on the front - but maybe chalkboard paint would be better - then I could always EASILY change the description. Good idea Meghan! Well, thank you self. haha

OOH - or if I could get mini chalkboards on sale - paint the frames green - ooh yes. Much better. Remind me to find those one day.

The craft board isn't quite done - but only because I can't figure out what else I need it for. I hung the baskets, picked up at IKEA for $1.99!, threw in all my glues, tapes, wire and scissors, and now I have no idea what I want it to hold. The dresser holds everything else so neatly that I am at a loss. Suggestions? Ideas?

(Aside - I'm also thinking about painting a giant R in the middle...because who doesn't love a pretty monogram?!)

It's too short to hold wrapping paper - that is in a bin in the corner. First drawer holds craft paints and excess materials. Ribbon is in baskets in the second drawer.Third drawer is pretty paper and stickers. Fourth drawer is cards, tissue paper, bags, etc. So - with all that - what should go on the board?

And finally - our "extra" dining chair - recovered with happy roosters. I probably meant to put the roosters facing out - but didn't notice until every single staple had been stapled and I screwed the seat back on. Yeah - need to pay a little more attention next time. Though, I'm not sure it REALLY matters. Love this fabric - makes me smile every time!

Now if we could just replace the nasty old carpet IMMEDIATELY...when will money grow on trees?