The door

So I know that remodeling photos are best viewed in a 'before and after' sequence, but there is also something to be said about a good suspense novel...(plus, I'm to impatient not to share this weird story about a door) The setting: Laundry room. We planned on adding a pocket door between the laundry and kitchen, but one with a window so that great west sun can still come through the house. You can get one from Home Depot for around $190.oo...OR

you can see one (out of the corner of your eye) at the dumpster on your way home!!!!! Are you kidding me?! And LOVE the color! My sweet mother in law was cramped in the back seat with this huge piece that barely fit in the jeep. She puts up with a lot! :)

So contractor Dad and assistant Steve install the door kit. But nothing is ever as easy as taking it out of the box and ..."voila" for us. Boards had to be trimmed, headers added, etc...plus, I decided the door needed to be widened.

(fit check)

Not to mention that the reason the door was at the dumpster: it had been kicked in and both sides were split at the back. No problem ...right dad?! "Nope!" So he routed out the split wood, added 3" boards to each end, we filled it and Steve has been sanding it!!! Yeah! Now I have to pick a color for the door...fast! It's almost ready to hang! Can't wait!

paper & chip board letters

"Give me an "M"...give me an "A"...
This is a little project I'm working on for the Studio. It's true that the messier the area is, the harder you're working right? (right?) I've had this wonderful Amy Butler scrapbook paper for a while and when I have something like this that I realllly love, it takes me forever to get comfortable with the idea of actually cutting it up and using it. You have to become detached...you have to! So out came the scissors, craft glue, exacto knife, ribbon and Fabri-tac (I hope you know about this glue...it's the most wonderful adhesive for people who don't like to wait around for things to dry...like glue) The chip board letters, ribbon, paper and Fabri-tac: Hobby Lobby! When completed, it will say "Hand Made" (well, it will 'read' Hand Made...I'm not that good :)

Again with the poofs!

Yep, those who experienced our wedding will recognize these tissue paper poofs that we made. Of course I still have them! And for good reason too...a friend needed help making some more for a party this weekend and I said..."You mean pink poofs like these?...that I happen to already have...?" Reason # 16 why not to get rid of things you love (even if they do get squished and take a few hours to 're-fluff'...worth it!) I can't get enough of these adorable decorations (note the one hanging in our bedroom) and they are sooooooooo easy to make...or you can buy the kit from Martha Stewart. They look like frothy bliss don't ya think?

Dirty orange colors

I've tackled the (will-be-soon) pantry wallpaper these past few days and I am trying to stick with it despite the fight it's giving me! (there is a great football reference somewhere here) Me and wallpaper...geeesh! Since I gave up on the laundry room paper, moving onto the next one seemed logical. Now my work clothes smell like the vinegar solution I'm using (although, I doubt the effect it's having as a "solution" here!)

Here's the close up of our fabulous 60's papered hall closet...who does that in a closet anyway? answer: the same people who papered and panelled the garage! Honestly, I don't mind the pattern, just thought it would be too busy in the pantry...and it seems a little dingy for a place that food is kept. Agree? Soon it will be a crisp color with white shelving! Hmmm, aqua, granny smith apple, chartruese...?

Also dingy: the large chandelier from the dining room (a room that we use as our studio) that 'genius Steve' moved into it's new appropriate home over our dining table. (Not ready for that photo yet, but hold your breath 'cause that room is getting close to having walls!!!! Yeah walls!!!) Even though the low light fixture is gone, we still duck around that room. Old habbits die hard.

Date night

"Scrabble" isn't my strongest game, so I don't know why we thought "Bananagrams" would be any better, but we've been meaning to try it. Steve finished with his tiles (winning the round) waaaaay before I even got a word together! I've got some work to do people!

It took about 4 games before I had a decent enough set to be proud of (meaning: my other sets were incomplete mostly due to misspelled words or blatant made-up words...you never know...it could be a word in the dictionary! uh..but it wasn't. ) Beck, you would be too good at this game. Get it!

Thankfully I had my favorite tea to keep the brain waves moving. If you haven't heard of this stuff it's AWESOME! I wasn't even an avid tea drinker until I tried "Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice". (Barnes and Noble and Fresh Market are the only stores I've seen it in. My family knows....it's what they always get me for my birthday and Christmas! Thanks fam!) Basically, it tastes like melted Big Red gum...in a good way...mmmmm.

To conclude, it was a perfect way to spend the evening with my best friend! (new resolution: memorize a page in the dictionary each day to win the next "Bananagram" date night...we'll see)

A winter wreath

Scissors, greenery, ribbon, bead garland: snip...glue...pin...tie...then squint your eyes and hold your mouth just right until you're happy with it. A friend asked me to make a wintery wreath for her front door. It's very easy to be inspired for this while snow still sparkles outside! Ah...

Some crafts I've made:

Here are photos of little things I've made lately. Most were gifts and some were just for fun (for us to enjoy around the house!) You can also see them listed in my "Crafts I've Made" tab. Some are for sale...if ya want one :)

Ta da! New curtains!

Isn't it amazing how long one can go with an unfinished area in their home (or life for that matter)? Our master bedroom and bathroom was the first room we remodeled and painted ('chartreuse' and 'charcoal')...and I just hung curtains a year later! (note the matching shower curtain) Also, Steve and I have managed for the past 3 months to completely ignore the blue painters' tape trimming our hallway!

Still more details to add though: matching nightstands with some sort of breathtaking art over them (any ideas?) and a bench at the foot of the bed...and I'm drawing up plans for a padded headboard.

The showpiece will eventually be the chandelier from the living room that will replace the ceiling fan (which we might regret in June...but "design over logic" I say!).

What's next?

So the wallpaper is more stubborn than I am. You can ask Steve and he'll verify that I was only in the laundry room with the step ladder and squirt bottle for 10 min....max. (and I am not ashamed, lazy, but not ashamed)

I know it's legend that one is never supposed to wallpaper over wallpaper, but this one is relentless! (sorry aunt Terri, I think I might have to do it anyway) The other 4 rooms in the house were papered but they came off with decent effort (even the awesome green and aqua flocked paper in the bathroom that had been painted over!...I would've left the original, but those darn 80"s led the previous owners to mask the 'would-be-anthropologie-style' wallcovering with....beige. yuck) "Ca sera sera. "

Now I'm on to curtains instead! Really, they are shower curtains that I'm having to trim and lengthen to work in our bedroom. I can't just buy regular curtains can I? (Steve rolls eyes)

It's a new year!

...and it's a snowy one so far! I've decided the snow looks best at night under the street lights...when it turns into glitter... my favorite craft supply. Speaking of crafts...

Not that anyone would be interested, but I've been in a very crafty mood lately. Crafty in the sewing, painting, card-making sense, not the clever, scheming, cunning sense. Now that our Studio (I like to capitalize Studio...it makes the space seem more of an official part of our home) has been painted and all my tiny unorganized supplies are finding their tiny organized places, a rejuvenation is upon me and my list of projects is getting longer...and longer! This little miss frog is a re-do of one my Mimi made all the grandkids years ago. I have the pattern, so I made another one in a more trendy 'outfit', if you will.

You see, the Studio is only one of three rooms in our new house that is finished in our TOTAL HOME REMODEL (t.v. announcers voice-over). And by "finished" I mean it has: sheetrock (check), seams mudded (check), primed over the nicotine stains (check), a beautiful coat of paint (check), and furniture in it's rightful place. I am still deciding on what curtains to make, whether or not to paint the desks orange, a new stool for my easel that doesn't make my legs go numb, and what we're going to cover the popcorn ceiling with (beadboard, fabric, cork,....) Home updates to come. Meanwhile I have some projects that need my attention. (cue 40yr. old wallpaper calling to me from the dated laundry room)