Well, time to dust off the blog, and get it caught up to speed.
I had a feeling January would be very busy, and guess what… it was! It even spilled into February. This is going to be a very brief overview of some of the wonderful things that were accomplished during this time, and let me tell you it was a LOT.
The first major project that was completed was my plywood project. I have this very awkward wall over my stairs to the walkout basement, that also looks over the dining area since the house is open. it is a spacious wall that requires a big piece to fill it up. Since it is over the stairs, any kind of grouping or collection is out the window. It would be impossible to hang up a grouping that high. So I printed off these “tiles” of letters off a free flickr site, and modge podged them onto some painted plywood. They were printed on white cardstock, and then mounted on slightly larger white cardstock with modge podge and a small roller to give the tiles a canvas effect. I painted a 4 ft x 8 ft piece of nice plywood the same color as my kitchen/dining and then modge podged the tiles onto it. This was definitely done with a ruler! My husband and I hung up the plywood piece using 3 ladders. An extension ladder, a Little Giant, and a traditional ladder. Since the stairs are open I had to hold the plywood against the wall 2 stories in the air! Aye Caramba! Did I mention I’m scared of heights? We added some hinges for decoration, and it was complete.
While we were hanging the plywood piece I was already working on my next idea- bleaching some ugly curtains. Well I loved the design, just the color was ugly dark brown. We bought them while we briefly lived in Indiana and needed to put something, anything over our windows. We found these at Lowe’s on deep clearance and they got the job done. I considered giving them to Goodwill until I had the idea to bleach them out. I had no idea how light they would go, if they would be spotty, or fall apart…but I figured it was worth a shot to try. I soaked them in gobs of bleach…
And they turned out like this:
I was thrilled. I hung them in the small windows in the dining. I also bought some copper pipe and clips, and hung them along the wall behind our bed in the master. It makes a pretty neat wall treatment. And my husband loves that it’s not wallpaper!
At the same time, I’ve been getting re-acquainted with my sewing machine. I made a corresponding runner to match the chairs I recovered last fall. I also managed to sew an apron for my daughter.
And just in case you’re wondering, this is the rest of my kitchen. This was around Valentine’s Day as you can see by the vintage decoration on the laundry room door.
At this point I was feeling pretty good about my dining/kitchen and felt it was starting to come together pretty nicely.
I stumbled upon a website where one can print off a map of any state, and so I did. I love maps, and I love being in Missouri, so I figured I could do something with it. It laid on the island for a few weeks, until I was getting the kids’ Valentine’s ready for their party. I swiped one of their heart stickers for their Valentines and put it where Ozark is on the map. Voila! Adorable. I went through my bin of frames (sad but true) and plucked one out that has never been used. I hung it on the wall and it is now one of my favorite things in the house. And free!!!!!
Don’t you love all the kid art on the side of the fridge? My next project will probably be how to contain it…
Speaking of kids and Valentines, I was asked to help with the preschool Valentine party. Like I would say no! So I printed up these cute little Bingo cards, embellished them with ribbon and various pinking shears, and picked up some conversation hearts at Walgreens. I also printed up a little draw-your-own-lovebug for the younger set, but can’t find a picture of it. Boo. They looked really cute when the kids were done with them!
We finally got a phone call that my husbands tree was ready! It was supposed to be ready around October, but since the winter has been so mild, it took longer for the trees to go dormant. All I remember about it at this point is that its named Red Autumn something rather Maple. It will be beautiful in the fall. When we tagged it this fall the tree had gorgeous red leaves covering its branches. It’s branches look a little naked now. At any rate, I feel like this is the proper time to mention once again how much I LOVE my rototiller! Thanks mom!
My friend Shana was planning a March 1st wedding and it was time to celebrate her bachelorette. We decided to have a day drinking party, and I made T-Shirts using a print-your-own transfer. I also made some pretty awesome cookies! I typed up some mad libs, and other goober games, and we had an awesome time.
I started to look around my house and it was feeling kind of dark to me. So what did I do to lighten it up? Grab some white glossy spray paint, of course. Not on the walls! On my picture frames…
At the same time I was given some clear shells from my mom. They will be used for the kids Mermaid/Pirate theme bathroom I’m going to start on this summer. So I painted them as well.
On this same day, I was feeling extra ambitions and painted the interior door to the garage with some paint I picked up on clearance at Lowe’s for $2. I’m guessing someone had it mixed up and left it there? Anyway, I really liked the pale grey/almost white color and decided to tackle the old chest in the kitchen that really needed some updating. I painted the front of the chest drawers/accents with the same color that you see on the kitchen/dining walls. I love that color! It’s called Eiffel Tower and it’s everywhere in the kitchen/dining. (Including on the aforementioned plywood piece)
I also spray painted this little bird house and had painted the tray and plate previously this fall.
I must have been on a creative streak because in the wee hours of the morning I designed and printed our 5th wedding anniversary party invites! We are having a casual barbeque in April, so I wanted to print up something low-key for it.
Things are starting to look good around here! Well, in certain rooms. I saw some plants on major sale at Lowe’s, and picked them up. My husband picked out the cane and I picked out the palm. All I saw were $30 and higher pots at Lowe’s. That wasn’t going to work! So my mom came to the rescue once again. She gave me two giant 22″ pots for my plants! All I needed was some spray paint. (again) I tried to put them in my house as they were, but the yellow was just not the right shade.
I am going to use the hammered spray paint that is on the planter downstairs to freshen up our patio set tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. Because this blog is now officially CAUGHT UP! Whew.
I have lots of big plans for little homemade decorations for the Anniversary party, and actually have a couple of things made that I haven’t taken pictures of yet. But that is for another day! This girl is ready for bed.
