caitlin, August 20th, 2010
 The obliging lilac Dressers are always hard for me to decorate. Mine needed a little statement piece so I decided a jewelry display would be nice.
Urban Outfitters had what I was looking for for $32. But of course, you know better than to think I would pay good money for a branch. (I thought this one was even cooler, so I think I’ll keep my eyes peeled for an old wood box.)
I started making my jewelry tree from a twiggy branch off a half-dead, obliging lilac bush in the vacant lot behind my house. Then Zac ran it over. With his bike. In the dark. Granted, I had left it in the driveway while the white spray paint dried. . . so it was kind of my fault. I started over. And while I was starting over I decided to go with a different color. I used my favorite shade of turquoise, but I still think white would look cool.
 Truth be told, the base on this (a milk-glass votive with styrofoam and little rocks) isn't heavy enough. This may be a "light-weight earring only tree".  I filled a white dish with my perfumes and a couple pretty things to serve as a nice tray.  Love this color with gold and silver.
We are trying to get all our summer extracurricular activities done before time runs out and we have to get back to doing math and grammar. This week Matthias was at piping and drumming school in Coeur D’Alene, so Taite and I did some watercoloring. We found an artist who does sort of primitive, quaint watercolors for her blog instead of photos and Taite copied one of her pieces.
  
I once spent the day with a scrimshaw artist in Massachusetts who taught me how to work on ivory. The first step is to accomplishing detailed work on ivory is to work with pen and ink. One day this summer that is what Matthias tried his hand at. I bought some ivory piano keys that are waiting for a ship to sail on them.
  
 
I read somewhere once that pink was the color for dressing baby boys in during the 1700′s since it is a muted form of red, which to this day, is thought of as a masculine color. Well, somewhere along the line that whole idea went totally out the window and most men today recoil at the very idea of pink entering into their field of vision at any point during the day. I, however, love love love pink (I almost bought a pale pink wedding gown, but my dear daddy wouldn’t have it) and have found a successful way to incorporate it into the home I share with two males. (Granted, one of them is unable to voice his opinions on any aesthetic choices yet, but maybe he’ll come around by the time he can talk, and I’ll have saved his wife a whole lot of trouble.)
- Introduce the idea casually. Use words like “fuschia” or “sorbet colors”, don’t say the actual word “pink”.
- Bring in items slowly so that the process happens gradually without causing any shock. I started with the wallpaper, but initially convinced him it was more red than anything. Next I bought the pillow and brought in peonies from the yard. That set the tone for the kitchen curtains and tablecloth. Next I put Queen Zozo up all over the kitchen.
- Ask him “What do you think of this new arrangement in the living room?’ Oh, you like it? You know, it’s pink. It’s hot pink.. . . . like hot Barbie pink. . .. and you are ok with that?” You are? Oh good.. . . So. . . what do you think about painting the bathroom a light creamy sort of berry color?. . .
This white lamp on the table is the one from the second hand store , I painted the pair of them white and decided to split them up for now. I hope to find two matching shades later and put them in the dining room flanking my watercolor painting of a giant PINK flower.
I might go for a more artsy print from Amy Butler or Anna Maria Horner with the curtains but in the mean time this pink stuff is fun for the kitchen windows.
My sister-in-law and I found this print in the airport in Denver of all places (during one of the looooong layovers that make you peruse every store 6 times slowwwwwwly just so you don’t have to go sit in a chair for another hour of mindnumbing boredom). I decided this odd little girl had to come home with me and live in my kitchen. She kind of reminds me of Freggie.
 I never really liked the wood color or the handles. Originally I was collecting all different kinds of knobs from Anthropologie and was going to use them. But in the end I decided to spray paint original drawer pulls. I finally got it done. It’s only been on my to do list for about two years. I finally gave my bedroom dresser a coat of paint and I love it. I don’t know why it took so long because it was really a quick job, the actual painting that is. The dry time is something else.
I have the bad habit of bringing into the house furniture that is only mostly dry and then the things I set on the dressers somewhat adhere to them, ruining the lovely glossy finish. So I made myself promise that I would leave it to dry at least two days.
 This is the finished product in Martha Stewart's Toasted Marshmallow.  One of the simple pleasures I enjoy in life is looking in my sock drawer and having it beautifully papered. Silly I know but I like it.
 I have been teaching school in this chair for at least a decade. I found it at a second hand store and loved the industrial look and feel. I think it must weigh about one hundred pounds!
Recently I thought about gettting a new office chair but when I tried out new chairs they didn’t seem all that much more comfortable than the one I had gotten used to. I had seen my very chair in perfect condition for sale in U.K. for £375, but mine was an eyesore. Really! Who would have such a thing in their house!? So I refurbished it and it makes me smile when I see it now.
I am a huge fan of gorilla glue and it did its gorilla job of gluing fabric to metal.
 mine needed work!  Perfect one for sale in UK  I went with a little color for now...    
I think my next little project will be an industrial style table, another terrific find at this UK shop.
I have a solid wood door that I would like to use for the surface and then these chunky legs will make the perfect table. Matthias already distressed the edge of the door when he took a saw to it years ago so it will come with distressed memories.
We blew out the eggs, colored them and then put a string through the holes. We then attached buttons to both ends of the egg to hide the holes and keep the string attached.
Not too big into blowing out eggs? You can get a nifty little device that will keep your lips from the egg. It’s called a Blas-Fix.
The eggs store wonderfully in an egg carton until next year.
 The kids' wheat grass pots. I finally did it! I got the wheat grass planted just in time to hopefully be ready for our Easter table. I thought I should post about it sooner rather than later so that should you want some for your festivities, there may yet be enough time.
I was told the ideal time to plant is about fourteen days before it’s needed. Now I have never really grown grass, but assuming it works this is all I did: soil enough to fill desired planters and some wheatberries. I bought mine in the bulk section at our grocery store but I think craft stores sell them too. They need and like a lot of sun. Then just spritz everyday with a spray bottle to keep moist.
Obviously a simple project that my kids have been waiting to do ever since I put it on the calendar. They enjoyed it and it took all of about ten minutes.
 I think we'll set some colored eggs in the grass.
I have had a stash of early 1900′s postcards that I found in an abandoned house in Kansas that for thirty years wanted a clever way to display. At long last I have it.
These are the post cards of Elmer Rose, a young boy who was much loved by his relatives. Elmer and his two sisters lived with their parents out on a wheat farm in Raymond, Kansas. Elmer was his uncle’s favorite nephew and though they weren’t able to see a lot of each other, his Uncle Karl frequently bought clever cards for Elmer all simply addressed: Mr. Elmer Rose, Raymond, Kansas: “Dear Elmer!- Are you getting ready for harvest what are you going to do, what is your papa doing Yours with Love and kisses, Karl”
Or, “Hello Elmer How are you, I am well Love from Uncle Karl”
Sometimes Uncle Karl had nothing to say and would send a post card which very simply said, “Uncle Karl”
Elmer’s grandmother, having gotten too old for farming and the winters in Kansas being very harsh, made a move in to town. She loved to have little Elmer visit, “Dear Elmer Hope you are well and hardy and have a good time with your two sisters. Hope Hilda is well by this time and that you can soon come in again. We miss you so if you can’t come hope this will find you all well. Your loving, Grandma”
And then one fine April day in 1911, Elmer’s mother had another baby: “Hello Elmer How are you getting along? When are you coming in? We are well here. Have 37 little chickens now. Hoping that yours will be in soon. Grosmama & Emma How is baby!”
Taite went with me to the fabric store and steered me toward this background fabric, reminding me to consider my kitchen style and decor. So in the end, I came home with this rich velvety brocade. Meghan spotted the frame in a frame store and snagged that for me.
So now Elmer will be remembered every holiday.
 This design idea came about as a result of The Blizzard of 2010. I was trapped at home for several days– nothing was open and there was no way to get anywhere even if the stores were up and running. I had been needing a baby gift for Justus and hadn’t found anything I really liked, so with nothing but time on my hands, I decided to makehim something. I don’t keep much sewing/crafting stuff around, but I do have one small bag of odds and ends to draw from. I also knew Tim had been wanting to get rid of some sweaters, so I had him go through his shelf and pull down what he didn’t need anymore– and Voila! the Baby Owl Sweater was born.
I used a blue crew-neck sweater with a small knit that was too large for Tim and started cutting down the middle of the front.
Then I cut the rest of the sweater down to size.
I wanted the inside seams to be finished looking so I first sewed the edges of the sweater with wrong sides together, flipped that inside out, and sewed with right sides together, creating a finished seam and making sure to leave space at the top as armholes.
Next I needed some finished looking “arms” so I cannibalized one of the original arms of the sweater, cutting off a length that looked about right for a baby’s arm….
….and then cutting that down the center, right in half, to form two “baby arms” out of one “adult arm.”
To get the arms ready to be sewn onto the body of the sweater, I cut their tops off in a half-moon shape so that they would hang from the body at an angle.
Using the same “finished edge” technique as I used to sew the body of the sweater together, I sewed the arm up the middle to create a tube.
I attached the arm tube to the sweater this way.
And here’s a closer look at how to do that.
Then the same thing on the other side.
To finish off the seams running up the center of the sweater, I sewed a piece of ribbon to the edge and turned it under (in other words, the ribbon is now on the inside of the sweater and doesn’t show on the outside.)
To finish the bottom edge, I first machine stitched a hem and then hand-sewed the base for looks.
The rest was the fun part– all the decorative work– making button holes and sewing on leather buttons, machine-stitching around an owl and branch for a whimsical touch, and hand-sewing the owls eyes.
Finished! This sweater was my first attempt and I kept it for Peabody. I made another one out of a yellow sweater of Tim’s (the more professional version) once I’d worked out the kinks in my original design, and that one went to Peabody’s cousin Justus.
terri, February 19th, 2010
Taite turned 13! A teenager! Who’da thought she’d grow up this fast!!? So what do you get a thirteen year old for her birthday?
 
Taite wanted to design her own sweatshirt for her birthday present, so working with the owner of the copyrighted flag and dancer and many emails later, a sweatshirt was born. It is now available in the designer’s shop at cafepress.com. We have ordered a number of items from cafepress and have designed some of our own.
I also discovered a sometimes commenter on our blog had a shop at cafepress too. I saw this clever design, “Don’t get mad, get imprecatory,” and thought it was very clever.
If you go to cafepress, it is a lot of fun to create your own design.
meghan, February 2nd, 2010
 Here are our Valentine's decorations. Valentine’s Day is a simply delightful holiday for a month when one is wanting some cheering up, chocolates, and a dinner out. So here is a project you can do to brighten your very February windows.
All you need is an iron, wax paper, and some crayons. Take two sheets of wax paper and sandwich crayon shavings between them, whatever colors you would like, and iron it. To protect my iron I put paper over and under the wax paper. Now you have a lovely, large piece of “stained glass” from which to cut your hearts. String them together with a needle and thread and hang them in your windows. Happy Valentine’s Day.
 Some of the hearts we hang singly.
meghan, January 19th, 2010
 Anwyn at work. The kids love doing projects and sometimes it sounds like too much mess to bother with but once in a while I let them do something besides coloring in a coloring book. So the other day I let them cut up magazines and glue the pieces on paper. For Anwyn, I made a house that she had to decorate. She cut out lights and beds to put in the rooms and wallpapered the the upstairs in pink. It was just the kind of house Anwyn would love to live in complete with a glittery chandelier in the foyer. The boys had ponds they had to fill with fish but did not stick with the project quite as long as Anwyn.
 Here is the front door and some lovely landscaping.  Here is the house but as you can see not all the rooms are filled. It is a work in progress.  This is the upstairs bedroom wallpapered in pink.
caitlin, January 14th, 2010
 Maybe some day I'll turn my whole fridge into a list like this cute chalkboard one. . . I hate cleaning out my fridge so much that I do it every week.
No, this isn’t some form of self-inflicted sanctifying punishment. It’s just that I’ve learned this makes it easier in the long run. Face your fears often and you become fearless. Actually, it more had to do with the fact that I got tired of finding half used heads of lettuce, now turned brown, or yogurt that was growing things.
So I made a rule for myself:
Clean out the fridge BEFORE you go grocery shopping. Every time.
Ok, maybe I do it every other time, just to be honest, but it’s amazing how pleasant it is to come home with bags of fresh groceries when you know you have a clean fridge to put them in. And once you are in the swing of it, it will take you 15 minute. max.
So here’s what I like to do.
1)Get a pen and piece of paper for writing your shopping list.
2) Open the fridge and start on the top shelf and work your way down. Take note of what you are out of and put it on your list, open up tupperware to see if leftovers are still good, check expiration dates. Toss whatever is bad and add it to your list if you need more. Put thing that you know you won’t use this week into the freezer. Empty each shelf, one by one , wipe it clean, and put the food back in an organized system.
3) Designate a place for each food type. Drinks, Dairy, Produce, Condiments, etc– just do it in a way that makes sense to you and fits in your fridge.
One other unexpected boon is that this helped me save money by planning my menu around things that should be used up. “Hmmmm, I’ve got some mushrooms and sour cream that need to be eaten- I’ll get some meat and egg noodles to make Beef Stroganoff.”
Another couple of nerdy things that I love:
1) A freezer list.
Who wants to get frostbite digging around, wondering if you have any frozen green peas left? Keep a list of everything that’s in there so there’s no guessing. Tape it to the front of your freezer in an inconspicuous place and cross things off as you use them up. Use a pretty piece of stationary and a cute magnet if aesthetics are a must in your kitchen.
2) A pantry list.
This was only necessary once I started shopping at Costco and had to convert a storage closet into a place to keep the army-tank-sized jugs of olive oil and other such things. It was much nicer to glance at a list on my cork-board than to go through the whole closet before a trip to Costco. “Nope, still haven’t run out of the 60 pounds of baking powder…”
Over the years I’ve received a lot of beautiful mail. I have a folder in my file cabinet devoted to correspondence and it’s bursting with my favorite ones. There are letters from when Tim and I were writing the distance away from across the United States and then from there to Europe. I have the first letter I ever received from him– made from an old record album cover– and all the ones after that. My sisters are all very creative, so I have cards made from vogue magazine clippings, type-writer typed with little messages “Erin, to my cool sister: if you were any cooler….” flip to the inside “you would be me”, hand-made envelopes, birthday wishes, thank you notes…. They are beautiful and so much more lovely to me than a card picked up from Cranes.
The War on Spending is still in full battle array at our house, so I don’t even tempt myself when I get Anthropologie or any other nifty-looking catalog. I immediately stow them in my desk drawer where I keep cardstock, gluesticks and other supplies so I can later on pull them out and use clippings from their beautiful pages.
One particularly useful idea I got from Meghan was using these clippings for presenting vintage jewelry or other little trinkets in gifts. Antique pieces can make great presents but often the method of displaying them is a little disappointing since they don’t come with pretty backings or boxes. Poked through a hand-made card and wrapped nicely though, a pair of rhinestone earrings doesn’t scream “look at the used item I got you!”. When I have time I prefer to piece together the message on the card using individual letters clipped from varying types in magazines rather than writing it.
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