The train of thought has been derailed

I start water so I can throw in a load of laundry.

In the laundry cupboard I notice the magnetic pencil holder bought from IKEA a couple years ago that I never hung up.

I go upstairs to put it on the fridge.

I grab the pens/pencils in the current holder on the pantry door to transfer them and realize half don't work and half don't belong there.

Decide to weed out and keep only the great ones.  Never mind the breakfast still all over the kitchen table.  This is urgent.

Wonder why there is not one sharpened pencil in the whole mess.

Go upstairs to the pencil sharpener and begin sharpening.  It's not working.

Is something jammed in there?  There are screws on the motor housing; should I take it apart and check?

Decide not to.

While sitting there at my craft desk I figure I might as well work on a quick valentine.

Wait, what's that noise?

The washer is running - with water and soap - but no clothes.  I never threw the load in.

Toss the kids' hamper contents down the stairs toward the laundry room.

On the way past the living room I see my scriptures sitting on the table. 

See, we have a storage ottoman that everyone keeps their scriptures in, and after morning study at 7, the family members put theirs away. 

Except for me; I leave mine out till I do my personal reading.  You know, to remind me.  Sometimes they stay out most of the day.  Most of the time I get it done by lunch, though.

So I tell myself I will get the laundry going and then read.  I promise I will.  Unless I decide to unload the dishwasher.

It's like a twisted version of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", only for distracted homemakers.

So how do I change this?  Those of you who do your primary "work" at home, do you face a similar dilemma?

Use what you have decorating

I asked Strider last night if we had any scrap wood. You know, like he has some kind of workshop or something. Yeah right hee hee. Well he did find a couple pieces for me.

One was a type of fence post 4x4 thing, used as a stain sample at the architect's (hubby was a drafter before teaching). I was intrigued and knew I could do something valentine-y with it.

I gathered supplies like a random wooden heart from the craft drawer and ribbon scraps. I wanted to use some lettering, so I checked the chipboard I had. Most of my letters we black and white so I decided on red for my base color.

I found some really OLD acrylic paint from my tole painting days and covered it with two coats of red. Sanded the edges.

Since one of my puffy hearts says "be mine" I went with "true love" on this one. I covered the heart with pink scrapbook paper and sanded the edges down flush with the shape.

Then I grabbed some ribbon to decide how to embellish it. I first tied a bow but the ribbon was too stiff and it looked bulky. Ended up using a glue dot to secure a small band of this great "love-cherish-adore" ribbon from a CK kit.  Then I tied another ribbon piece and a fiber with some texture onto the black ribbon.

I printed a photo of me and Strider from our anniversary (13 years,baby!) in black and white. Literally just printed on cardstock and threw it in a frame.

Cute, eh? And $0 spent.


If you had a Cricut or Silhouette you could do endless things with any scrap material for nearly any holiday. This was grand fun. Think outside the box and see what you can create!

Hanging Hearts

I am definitely in my happy place.

A month till Valentines - time to decorate!

I loved the hang your heart garland on Little Birdie Secrets and decided to copy her. Well, except for the fact that she had a real pattern and real sewing skills. But pretty much copy.

I decided on a shabbier look by using various scrap fabrics instead of being all matchy-matchy and I totally love it!  I found all the pinks and browns I could.  Some are felt and some are cotton.  All have ribbon for hanging and are stuffed with batting and no two are alike.

My only real issue was hand-finishing that little part of the seam that

you leave open to turn right side out and stuff it.  How in the world

do you make that part look good?

After I strung them on a ribbon we used a thumb tack to attach

it to the top of the shelf on each side.  It worked perfectly.

I think I forgot to mention my intent to bore you with too many pics.  I couldn't help myself.

And here is the loveliness at night.

Go Jazz!!

Game time

Who says you need an air hockey table?

Crafting again

Oh boy. I have been itching to get this project done for a week and finally got around to it last night. Took 5 mintues, what was my problem?

Anyhow.

I saw this post about framing a star on Creations by Kara.  I love stars and have several on display. 

I have two of these green ones, so I took one and spray painted it cream.

And I had more of the scrapbook paper I used to dress up these candles:

I thought it would be an easy project and I was right.  I love the look of it, and it's never an idea I would have come up with on my own.  I'm crafty, but no so much creative.

What do you think?

Randomness

1. I forgot to show you our new family member. Nibbles is Potter's first pet. So far so good. Easy to care for, likes being handled, no escapes yet.

2. Guess who can climb up on the couch alone?

3. The girls got a couple nice dresses for Christmas. Here is Rosebud in one of hers.

4. And one of Princess' has a matching doll dress which she loves.

5. Clearance Christmas ribbon, need I say more?

6. And lastly, just because the holidays are over it doesn't mean winter is gone, right? So I hung some snowflake ornaments the length of our vaulted ceiling (lousy pic) and made a winter scene in the huge apothecary jar my b-i-l got me for Christmas. Clearance tree ($1.19) and berries ($.39) and coarse salt. Perfect for my January table.

speaking in church. must begin writing!!

So cultured

Yesterday we were browsing through Home Goods for the first time. I was walking through an intoxicating haze of decor yumminess when Princess brought me out of my trance.

She found the teapots.

Mom!! "Look at all the oatmeal makers!"


We definitely enjoy our "quick oats".

Six Simple Words

Sometimes my friend K posts a snippet of her day using six words. I love the idea and hope she doesn't mind me copying it.

SO for today,


holidays complete - familiar life again remembered

Feminizing the living room

So I like football; shoot me.

And I like dark colors, and stripes, and plaid. I'm pretty much a guy.

Just kidding. I do really gravitate toward all things masculine, though.

I have been loving our couch from two years ago so much.

Before:

It has the coolest shaped back ever, and I love the colors. I was starting to tire of the plaid, though. Just a smidge. So I decided to go out and surprise Strider with a new sofa!! Kidding again.

My parents' gift to us this Christmas was a myriad of gift cards to some of our favorite places, one of which was Ross. Love Ross.

I decided the whole living room needed a feminine makeover so I forced my sisters to follow me around Ross deciding on some lovely pillows to tame the "man look" and soften things.

After:

I love the result.

I also repurposed some decor items.  I covered some decorative balls in twine and dried beans to make a centerpiece.  I also added ribbon to my candles to dress them up.  I stuck greenery on a stick and made a cute topiary.  Really happy with my shelf.

Cost:  $34 for pillows which technically my mom bought.  Sa-weet!

Linked to:  Before and After party at Thrifty Decor Chick

Hello routines

It's so quiet.

All the boys are gone. Which means their fighting is gone. Which means their making up and playing Star Wars again is gone.

And Daddy is back at work.

And the Wii is off.

And much of the house is clean.

And the screen door won't slam till 4pm.

And this little girl who loves her brothers very much is lonely.