to do list

So many ideas, so little time and energy. John just got home at 5am this morning from vacation. He went on a hunting trip with his Dad. I survived 4 days alone with the girls. Ellie's teething and Mary has an ear infection. Needless to say, I didn't get much crafting done. I made a hat for myself. Oh, and a Christmas wreath. And started on a felted mistletoe.

Now what? Now, I want to put the Christmas stuff out! I am so ready. I still have some (regular) decorating stuff I want to do, but I take down most of the regular junk, er, stuff and put out the Christmas stuff. So, I'll be working on that and saving that until after the New Year.

1. Finish painting white frames I started weeks ago.
2. Finish up green room closet.
3. Paint butterflies for Mary's room.
4. Paint two small frames from thrift store and figure out what to put in them.
5. Make new curtains for Mary's room.

I know there's more. But this will give me a starting place. I'd love to have all this stuff done by January 1st. Then we're going to do some more home improvement stuff (like finish the dang basement).

Baby blanket

For months now, I've been knitting this baby blanket. I'd work on it a while, then get bored and do something else. I finally got it done Wednesday night. It's blocking now, but the sun came in the window and I was able to get a good picture of the pattern. It measures 31 by 32 inches, and contains 42,480 stitches. (Can that be right? the end borders are 180 sts for 10 rows times both ends--3600 sts. The main part is 27 squares, 8 rows each, 180 sts per row--38,880.) It took forever, but it's so pretty. Worth every minute and every stitch. We're just waiting for some friends to have their baby in the next couple weeks, and I'll be shipping it out.

I cannot wait to work on some projects that only take a couple days. And I doubt I'll be doing another large project any time soon.

For Mom

I hope she likes them! They are her Christmas gift. I am giving them to her tomorrow so she can use them this year.

Custom fuse panel cover up

Woot! I knew there was a way to cover the fuse panel/box/thingy. John made a frame that was deep enough then cut down an old cork board and attached it to the front. I added the fabric (an old curtain panel that I was saving), the ribbons, and the push pins. This project was made completely of things we already had around the house. Good thing we save everything:).

I've been up since 5:45 am. Hopefully I'll have more to post about if I ever get to sleep in again.

A bird, thrifty finds, and basement progress!

John almost finished the structure of the shelves today! Woot! No pic though. Sorry. A week ago when he started he asked me "how long until I forget that light is there and break it?" Answer: today. It was just a bare bulb, no big deal, but when I went to go take pictures it was too dark down there. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some if the sun comes out.

(Part of) this week's crafting:


I saw the pattern for this while reading One Pretty Thing last week. The actual pattern can be found at Attic24. I really want to make a couple more.

Today's thrift store finds:


Can you tell what's getting spray painted ASAP??

I've always been a Goodwill girl. I donate there and I shop there. Well, last week I finally stopped in at Salvation Army. Holy cheap stuff!! Plus, stuff is all marked down?? Things are either "new" or on sale. Some stuff is 75 percent off. Strange but I'm not complaining.

Butterflies: To be painted. Pink? White? They are going in Mary's room, which currently has blue walls but really needs to be painted (pink? probably). Don't tell John I want to paint it though, okay? He painted the room blue for me before we moved in. Anyway, butterflies $1.50 for all three of them.

Ceramic leaf thing; LOVE IT!!! I think it's handmade? There's a name and a year carved into the bottom. "Clements '68" I have no idea what I am going to do with it yet. It was $1.99 marked down to $1.

Wreath: It's barely in the picture in the bottom right. It's just a styrofoam wreath with fake moss attached to it. I'm hoping to turn it into a fall wreath for next year. Possibly using this tutorial? Anyway it's new in the package, but had a Goodwill tag on it for $2.99. I paid 29 cents for it at Salvation Army.

I also went to a little independent thrift store. I'd never been there but will go back. Cool stuff and great deals.

Green votive candle holder (with candle!): 25 cents. It's going up on the black bookshelf.

Little wire basket: 50 cents. I love little baskets like this yet never actually find them.

Matching gold frames: 50 cents for the pair. To be painted!!! Black? White? not sure yet. I think I'll do some embroidery work and stick it in there.

I've got to get some knitting done. Christmas is coming. I have Mom's stuff knitted, but it needs felted. I'm trying to get 2 more things knitted so I can felt them all at once. Hopefully I'll work on that tonight. Or that basket I'm painting. Or both:)

before, during, after

Busy, busy, busy.

Closet before (couldn't even shut it as there was so much crap inside):

We'll call this during (still need to make a shelf and hide the fuse box):

I used to really like purple. Still do, but when the spray paint calls.....

I painted it black, distressed it a bit, then finished with a couple coats of wipe on poly (my new best friend). I did the other frame with wipe on poly too, so the finishes would match. I still need something for the table.

This clock, already at the spray paint factory:)

After!!!

Top of the hutch before:

After: (all of this was FREE!!--had the spray paint from an old project, had the 3 white things in storage for the last 2.5 years, had the cloth balls in the craft closet)

Remember the little tin holder thingy?

First I spray painted it an olive green, but it needed more work. I worked on it with some craft paint, then put some clear craft varnish over that so it was glossy.

It's holding my apron.....my apron that was lost in the move. I found it last week while going through boxes of stuff looking for something to spray paint.

Tonight I started painting another basket. It's going to take a few coats as I am using regular old wall paint on it and want to get into every crack inside and out. Then I have 4 frames I want to paint. Then....maybe I'll catch up on sleep.

Inspired.....or crazy?

My newest obsession is decorating blogs. It started when I went to One Pretty Thing one day and there was this dresser makeover. Well, I clicked on that blog, then another, then another. I landed on a blog called Nesting Place. Suddenly, I had ideas! One of her suggestions is to "shop the house" to makeover and decorate when you can't afford new stuff. Huh. Well, between that and another new obsession with spray paint, I was ready to go. I made a list of things to paint. Then last night I went to town. I have some random things to paint, but mainly I wanted to make over the top of the bookshelf in the living room.



Before: some mismatched pictures I just threw up there when we moved in almost 2.5 years ago. The vase looking thing, hmm, I'm not sure I ever really liked it. And the basket was a gift that I want to keep, but I just can't find a place to make it fit in.


Stuff to paint:

1. Vintage cats. From Mom. They've been packed since the move.


2. Vase thing I wasn't thrilled with, but like the shape of it.



3. Picture frame. It was on my dresser. Not my style anymore.




Then while I was at it, I grabbed:
1. Another frame which was stuffed in a drawer




2. A little basket--guess I didn't get a pic.
3. The little metal heart shaped hanger pictured above. It was in the box with the cats. I swear I've never seen the thing before, but clearly we had it before we moved.

I'll be using those three things later when I find a use for them.




Here's the top of the bookshelf after. I grabbed some other things and put them up there. The painting above was done by John's Grandma and was hanging on a different wall where I wasn't thrilled with it. Cost of this makeover: $3 for two half cans of spray paint. I'm pretty proud of it.

Of course now I have three more areas of the living room that need help. 1. Top of the way too big for this house TV cabinet. 2. Wall where I stole the painting that I placed above the bookshelf. 3. little table behind the oversized chair. But, I'm out of ideas. For now. I assume there will be more shopping the house and spray paint involved! Before this week, I was frustrated with the living room because the furniture is too big for the room, I want to repaint the walls, we need new windows, I want a smaller/shorter TV cabinet and a flat screen TV mounted to the wall (hey!!! I can dream, right???) and I'd love to have less toy clutter. But I realized something reading the Nesting Place blog. I need to do the best I can with what I have (aka, a $10 budget) and enjoy our home even if it isn't perfect. I'm going to keep thinking on the three areas that still need help. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon. Stay tuned!