Living the Road Less Traveled

30 Days of Christmas – Project 24

2012-01-10T16:34:00.001-05:00

Popcorn tins. They always appear at Christmas. What to do with them when they’re empty? Well, if you’re a member of our extended family, you hand them off to MOI!

I’ve been fighting with storage for the playroom since we moved into this house. I thought these might help corral some of the toy chaos.

I considered spray painting them, but then they’d just look like a bunch of spray painted popcorn tins.

What’s a girl to do?

Fabric + glue gun = brilliance.

I covered the lids on 2 with more fabric. This did make them more difficult to close so the lids aren’t secure.

The other 2, I left the lids plain because I liked the red.

Just in time to make room for all of the Christmas toys the kids received! (Our families are too generous.)

30 Days of Christmas – Project 23

2012-01-10T15:02:00.001-05:00

I picked up a few packs of Styrofoam trees thinking I’d make all sorts of cute trees with them. I only used up 1 pack this year, losing inspiration to the chaos quite quickly.

I used scrap strips of burlap and an old shirt I should never have had in my closet in the first place, the glue gun to hold it all on, a few button “ornaments” and…

Voila:

Cute. Easy. Love.

30 Days of Christmas – Project 22

2011-12-29T13:33:00.001-05:00

I did quite a bit of sewing for gifting this year. I found this and this adorable puppet theater on Pintrest.

I am all about imaginative play and knew my kids needed one. It was so easy for me to put together I actually made a second for my nephew.

I used a combination of new and on hand fabrics and trims. I then picked up a couple of tension rods.

Now all we need are some puppets… though my kids are pretty entertaining without them.

30 Days of Christmas – Project 21

2011-12-28T12:01:00.001-05:00

OOMPH. It’s been a crazy week. I think the house is fully disinfected, my daughter is well again and we somehow made it through Christmas fully intact.

I’ve got 10 Christmas projects left to share and I’ll be doing so over the coming days.

After discovering how easy it is to make comfy pants at Halloween, I’ve been cranking them out like it’s going out of style. My kids are loving their custom made pants.

I found some cute little striped flannel fabric and thought it was perfect for some Christmas morning pants.

I attempted to get smiles from my sick daughter and stubborn son.

Then the horsing around ensued and the photo session was over as quickly as it began.

My poor little girl got sick all over her pants before I got a picture of them under the tree together. Maybe before the tree comes down we can make another attempt….

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!

30 Days of Christmas

2011-12-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

Between technical difficulties and sick children, I’ve got to give in and say I can’t get my series done before Christmas. I know my limits and I’ve officially hit a wall this week with too much on my plate.

I do still have more projects to share and will do so next week. After I’m done disinfecting the house, getting 1 or 2 full nights of sleep and enjoying time with my family.

Check back next week for the final 10 projects.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

30 Days of Christmas – Day 20

2011-12-22T08:56:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died simultaneously forcing me to play catch up for much of this series.)

There are lots of great ideas online for classmate gifts. Last year, we brought reindeer food, cookies and hot cocoa mix. This year, I wanted to do something different.

I found this cute idea on Pintrest but definitely needed to tweak it. I can’t very well send in glass jars to a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds – and I kind of hog my glass jars because we do so much food preserving.

After some thought and a little research, I decided to go to my local deli and ask to buy some clear soup containers. I found a printable label here to dress up the containers a little. The kids and I then got to work making the play dough, which was a super fun project in itself.

The dough was really easy to throw together.

The peppermint smell is perfectly potent.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 19

2011-12-21T21:32:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died simultaneously forcing me to play catch up for much of this series.)

Monkey’s classroom also has a teacher’s aide. We surely can’t leave her unloved this holiday season.

A perusal through my shamefully vast fabric stash had me finding just what I needed to make her a tote as well. I kept this one fairly simple because the fabric has a lot of personality on it’s own.

Pardon the terrible lighting. It’s “work after the kids go to bed” night again.

I lined the maroon fabric with a plain brown and included a few pockets for organization.

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it when I first started working on it, but I really like the finished product. I may need to make another one of these!

30 Days of Christmas – Day 18

2011-12-21T21:24:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died simultaneously forcing me to play catch up for much of this series.)

I shared yesterday the fabulous shabby chic bag I made for Monkey’s teacher. We also found a tutorial on pintrest (which I can’t find now) for making your own personalized notepads using your printer and rubber cement.

Huh. I can handle that. Monkey chose the scrapbook paper for the cover. Then we designed the notes themselves to say “a note from Mrs XYZ.”

Cut down to size, hold notepad together with binder clips and spread rubber cement on the binding liberally. After it’s dry, remove the clips and tie your notepads together with a pretty bow.

I did try using GOOP when I was having no luck to find rubber cement. It held great but didn’t go on smoothly so it created a literal goopy mess on the binding. (I just trimmed it down and re-glued after finding rubber cement)

I tucked them in the tote with a handmade card from Monkey, a few packs of baby wipes (she loves them for cleaning up the kiddos hands – can’t blame her!) and a gift card to help out with school supplies.

I hope we were able to show her how much we appreciate all of her hard work.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 17

2011-12-20T17:23:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died simultaneously forcing me to play catch up for much of this series.)

I introduced you to Alphie, our Elf on a Shelf, last year. He was residing in our Charlie Brown Christmas tree that particular day.

There are lots of families out there who’s elves get into all sorts of Elf Shenanigans. Many even blog their Elf Shenanigans.

I’ve seen marshmallow baths. I’ve seen snowball fights and snow angels. I’ve seen budding artists (I’ve actually considered the Rudolph one because my kids would love it).

Well, Alphie isn’t a trouble maker. He’s very well behaved. This year, he’s had a thing for candy canes and we keep finding him either in the real ones or hanging out with decorative ones. If he’s helping himself to any, he’s been cleaning up after himself even. Yup. No shenanigans here, thank you.

Instead, he tries to find the trickiest hiding spaces. Monkey & Little Man LOVE to play hide and seek. Alphie is more than happy to oblige.

He found the ultimate hiding space last night. He’s hiding in the grate between the 1st and 2nd floor of the house. He left his feet dangling from down below to help them find him, but the little buggers found him from above!

Alphie needs to work a little harder at hiding before he leaves us for another year.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 16

2011-12-20T12:10:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died simultaneously forcing me to play catch up for much of this series.)

I had fully intended to list a few items in my etsy store this month for the Christmas season. Enter laptop malfunctions and life and I never did get around to creating the listings.

I did, however, make some fully lined festive stockings that will end up sitting in my office until next year. Or I’ll add them for an after Christmas sale if I don’t have Christmas burnout in the meantime. ;-)

I’d almost like to keep them for myself but T’s sister had personalized stockings knit for us two years ago. I can only hang so many stockings before Santa says I’m being selfish and stuffs them all with coal!

Festive.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 15

2011-12-20T11:48:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died simultaneously forcing me to play catch up for much of this series.)

I saw this bag months ago and fell in love – which is really odd for a woman like myself. I rarely carry a bag other than Little Man’s backpack full of diapers (which isn’t a major requirement for outings anymore).

I pinned it with the full intention of recreating it for myself.

Instead, I’ve gone and made my own rendition of it for Monkey to give to her teacher for Christmas (hopefully with a few goodies inside).

The lining is red striped ticking. I included a few pockets for more organized storage. I also used the lining fabric on the outside of the handles to add more color interest. I decided to leave off the flower because it competed for attention against the handles and ruffles. I also treated the edges of the ruffles with Mod Podge to prevent the fraying from going from Perfectly Rustic to Falling Apart after a bit of use.

I still love the bag and still think I need one of my own.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 14

2011-12-15T16:23:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

Part of our Advent Calendar Activities was to make cookies to deliver to our neighbors. I needed some containers to deliver the cookies in that I don’t care if they get returned or not.

My kids love Clementine oranges. I had purchased a box of them last week – and the kids had already emptied said box. So here I have this empty box sitting on my counter, waiting to go out to the trash.

I got a bright idea when I saw it next to my stacks of cookies.

Enter Mod Podge and scrapbook paper.

I tucked tissue paper inside – under, around and over the cookies.

NOM.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 13

2011-12-15T16:12:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

My card wall needed some love. It was just pretty boring with the small smattering of cards we’ve received. I saw this garland on Pintrest and thought it was just the thing I needed.

It ended up being a project to share with Monkey. She quite enjoyed using the hole punch. Little Man helped me with the sewing by handing me the circles as I stitched them together.

Much better.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 12

2011-12-13T10:31:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

Our Christmas cards have started to filter in in the mail. I’ve been looking for a simple way to display them. I also had a large section of wall needing some Christmas-fying.

A length of twine stretched across two pins, some clothespins and I’m done.

The large expanse above the cards still needs something.

I have something in mind already!

30 Days of Christmas – Day 11

2011-12-11T14:42:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

I was perusing blogs one morning with my coffee. Monkey likes to come look at the pretty pictures with me and pointed this pillow out to me. She wanted to make it. So we did!

Monkey wanted to learn how to use my sewing machine so I gave her a simple lesson. I did the majority of the sewing while she sat on my lap and helped guide the fabric through the feed. The lumpy filling? Both Monkey and Little Man had to take part in stuffing.

She’s extremely pleased with her first sewing project (even if Mommy did most of the work ;-).

My children can’t help themselves when we set up for photos. They just love to sneak in!

Strike a pose.

If you couldn’t guess, Monkey has claimed this pillow as her own and it’s now living on her bed.

I do believe I’ll need to start making multiples when sewing pillows if I ever want some to land on my couch.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 10

2011-12-11T12:36:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

I’ve seen them done a hundred times (at least!) and decided it was time to add some of this cozy goodness to my winter decor.

I found myself a plain old sweater at Goodwill for $1. I got myself two wide pillows plus scraps for something else out of it.

I backed them with a green fabric from my fabric stash.

This is what happens when you try to do a photo shoot in this house:

My son has claimed them for his own and keeps taking them upstairs to his bed. Little stinker. He was seconds from stealing them here.

I think I need to find myself some more old sweaters.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 9

2011-12-11T11:22:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

I’ve been saving all sorts of inspiration for an advent calendar but still couldn’t decide what I wanted to make for the kids. I started looking through the craft stash and STILL couldn’t decide what I wanted to do.

One afternoon, we pulled out our Christmas wrapping supplies to wrap our community service Secret Santa gifts. I found a slew of glitter gift tags I’d picked up on clearance last year and my light bulb went off.

Here’s what we came up with:

I got the numbers printable here.

I got the activities printable here – though they ended up being too big for my tags so I had to cut them down. A lot. I used blank ones as well to fill in some of our own activities.

The tags are just pinned to the backing with push pins we hot glued some little jewels to.

The beauty of this calendar is I’ll be able to take the tags and pins off after Christmas and reuse the frame for something else.

Activity du jour? Make a Christmas craft. Should be fun!

30 Days of Christmas – Day 8

2011-12-05T17:01:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

Remember our Jack O’Lantern fridge?

Today, we turned our fridge into a snowman.

Monkey loves practicing her scissor work, so I drew the pieces out on the back sides of the papers and let her have at it. Little Man helped me place the pieces on the fridge with some plain scotch tape on the back to hold in place.

Easy.

Cute.

His mouth has since been straightened out. ;-)

30 Days of Christmas – Day 7

2011-12-04T22:06:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

It’s just not Christmas in this house if there’s no baking involved.

My Country Living magazine finally arrived in the mail this week. The Christmas edition is always much anticipated by me!

I found a recipe for Chocolate Whoopie Pies in one of the articles.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies? What’s so Christmas special about those?

The peppermint filling, my friends.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies w/Peppermint Filling

Of course, the whole point of Christmas baking is doing it with little helpers. This little helper was quite pleased with his taste testing.

Oooh.. Nom.

I did deviate from the original recipe a teeny tiny bit. I rolled the edges in crushed candy canes for a little extra added love.

NOM.

Have I sad that yet?

30 Days of Christmas – Day 6

2011-12-04T21:46:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

I was playing outside with the family in the dusting of snow we had on the ground. I walked by my front porch and decided I really needed to add another pop of color.

I then realized I’ve had this pile of red twigs on my deck for a few weeks, trying to figure out what I was going to do with them. I needed to deal with them before T decided to get rid of them.

A stroll through the garage and I found a big clay pot filled with dirt. I just started shoving twigs in, still not sure what I was going to do with it even after it was finished.

A second stroll through the garage found me pulling out things I’d put away for winter months ago! I also found an old rusted star we’d taken off the house left by the previous owners. I told T not to throw it away at the time and now I’m glad I held onto it! A hit of red spray paint and it was good as new.

You don’t need to look far to find inspiration. Sometimes all it takes is a stroll through the garage.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 5

2011-12-04T21:22:00.001-05:00

(My laptop charger AND battery died. I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

Remember Monkey’s fabulous curtain hangers at the old house?

The old barn boards with glass knobs were a favorite, however the layout of windows in her new bedroom does not offer the opportunity to re-use them. The two boards have been sitting on the breezeway for nearly a year, waiting for a new use.

I found the perfect use for one of them this weekend.

I painted “THE STOCKINGS WERE HUNG…” on, hot glued a twiggy star ornament to it and I was done.

I love it. The kids love it. The husband tolerates it (as is true with most of my projects. ;) )

WIN!

30 Days of Christmas – Day 4

2011-11-28T14:37:00.001-05:00

A Scene from a Christmas Horror Movie…

It’s what I walked into when I came home one day last week.

*cue horror music*

This would be a 3 foot tall styrofoam snowman my grandmother gave me. You can call him retro, I suppose. I call him in sad scary shape.

His paint is faded, his snow is dingy, he lost the present he used to hold – and his hat… oh, his hat. My grandmother tried giving him a facelift before with some spray paint. The paint ate the foam – hence the addition of the lovely knit beanie.

He’s definitely seen his better days.

Lucky for Frosty, he was dropped on the right doorstep. I was not to be deterred nor to be intimidated (much to my husband’s dismay, of course).

Off came his bow, his hat and his mitten. I ripped off whatever it is he’s holding and got to work.

Look at him now!

He got a fresh coat of paint (acrylics!) and a new scarf from an old scrap of burlap. I then hot glued scraps of an old wool skirt to his hat and hands. A strip of remnant fabrics made nice mitten cuffs and ribbon for his hat. A red sharpie worked great to replace the string that was once his mouth. I finished him off by hot gluing a frame where the present once was filled with a printable (found here – note that printing it in a smaller size did cut the edges off ever so slightly).

While he may still be a 3 foot tall styrofoam snowman, Frosty was given a new lease on life.

After many years gracing my grandparents front porch, Frosty will spend at least a few more greeting visitors on mine.

(Because I did not dare spray him with sealant for fear of more foam melting, this Frosty will be spending his winter days protected from the elements).

Don’t you just love a happy ending?

Linking up here:

The Shabby Nest

30 Days of Christmas – Day 3

2011-11-28T10:35:00.001-05:00

My little trees on the front porch are still in need of some sparkle. I’ve been waiting a little because I’ve had them out there for near a month now – that’s a little early even for me to do Christmas decorating. :-)

(Please ignore my chipped front door. I didn’t get to it this year but it’s top of the list for next!)

I dug out the last two boxes of vintage lights and some twine.

I’m not sold on it, but it’s cute enough and works for now.

They can’t all be a win, I guess.

You haven’t seen the last of these bulbs yet. I have one more project lined up for them this week.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 2

2011-11-26T14:58:00.001-05:00

Here’s another project from the Pinspiration Files.

Isn’t this Santa Can adorable?

[SOURCE]

Come on! How easy is this to do yourself?

After a quick jaunt to the thrift store for a couple belts, I gathered my supplies:

Ok, so 38F is a little chilly for spray paint, but I couldn’t help myself.

I first took the belts and fit them around the cans to find where I’d need to punch new holes in them. I used a hammer and a nail to punch through the leather. I then took my two cans into the garage and quickly sprayed them both. While we patiently waited for the paint to dry, the kids and I went off for a nature hike to cut some greens.

Then we assembled. Wrap belt around can, dump some dirt into can, tuck greens and colorful branches in using the dirt to anchor and……

Voila!

I dug up the little trees for the planters. Now we’ve added our Santa Cans. Our front door still needs a wreath and I’d like to add a little more sparkle to the front steps, but I think we’re off to a good start!

Total cost is $1.00 for the belts.

Ho Ho Ho!

30 Days of Christmas – Day 1

2011-11-25T14:25:00.001-05:00

The Christmas projects are going full bore in our house.

I’ve hauled out all of the totes of decorations and put most of out. We still need a tree but with T working this weekend, I must be patient for another week.

In the meantime, I have all sorts of Pinspiration to keep me busy.

My grandmother has been cleaning out her attic and gave me a stack of vintage Christmas light packages – never been opened. I don’t dare use them as is because I really don’t know if the wiring is safe.

I thought this was pretty cute, but I already have a wreath in mind for the front door – so not for me.

[SOURCE]

This is more along the lines of what I was thinking, but I don’t use a lot of candles in my decor because of the kids (A- dangerous B- Monkey likes to scrape them with her fingernails and make a mess)

[SOURCE]

Ah. Here we go.

[SOURCE]

I gathered my supplies:

I used the toilet paper roll in the center to act as a filler. The gallon jar I first grabbed just was not working for me so I exchanged it for an old quart sized canning jar.

Voila.

I also found some pine cones.

Total cost: $0. I had everything on hand and got two cute little displays out of it.

I still have another two packages of lights.

I have another idea brewing for them… maybe I’ll get to it tomorrow.

Who’s in the spirit of the season? I sure am!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T11:46:00.001-05:00

On this day of thanks, this is what I am most thankful for.

Everything I do – everything I am – is for these two independent creative free spirits. (They don’t let me even make them sandwiches anymore. *sigh* They grow too quickly.)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Wood for Winter

2011-11-08T07:39:00.001-05:00

Half of our supply to keep of warm this winter.

It took the 4 of us about 10 hours total to get it here, in and stacked.

We were lucky to have a fantastic weekend weather-wise to deal with this.

It’s November.

Now we’re ready.

My Busy Weekend

2011-11-01T08:52:00.001-04:00

Remember this wonderfully inspiring mess I showed you this weekend?

Oh yeah. Messy mess.

I was barely able to function in here. My work and client stuff were the only things I had organized in any manner – just barely. There were craft supplies, my personal paperwork, miscellaneous decor I haven’t found new homes for, etc etc etc.

Oh, something for Jodi to deal with? Toss it in the office.

Literally.

Tossed.

Into the office.

The kids and I spent much of our weekend in here. Just cleaning, organizing and unpacking.

(Excuse the bad lighting. The lighting in this room is terrible.)

Organized work space, all set up for work.

This desk deserves it’s own post. Soon.

Home of my future sewing space.

I need a second desk for my sewing machine and a very large table for workspace in the center of the room.

Children’s Creative Corner.

I always like to keep it real. Check out the last lonely box. It’s almost empty but I ran out of steam – and time.

I have plans for this room.

Big plans.

The layout is basically what I want – plus the two new furniture pieces I still need.

I’m contemplating pulling down the paneling. This is the one thing that will hold up my painting in here – to pull it down or not to pull it down? That is the question.

But for now, it functions. Which I very very badly needed for my sanity.

I actually feel like I can be creative now. It feels good!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:44:00.001-04:00

From Cold Weather Dora and Hunter Man.

I used Handmade Mommy’s 15-minute jammy pants tutorial for the Dora pants (I had a ton of orange fleece leftover from the goldfish I did NOT turn T into for Halloween last year. I needed to use it. ;-). I bought a witches wig at Wal-Mart and gave it a bad haircut - just like Dora. (PS – those pants were so easy. I’m going to buy a bunch of fleece and flannel to make us all a huge stack of “comfy pants” for winter).

Little Man was supposed to be Boots the Monkey (Dora’s sidekick) but had a change of heart two days ago. He decided he wanted to be a hunter. Pretty easy, what with everything already in his closet - but I didn’t have a vest for him. Enter more of the orange fleece and I threw this vest together this morning flying by the seat of my pants. We borrowed the toy gun and he was complete.

Dora isn’t complete without Backpack, of course. I made Backpack loosely following At Second Street’s tutorial. (I drew out my own pattern, own dimensions, added a pocket for Map and didn’t make the straps adjustable – I wasn’t joking when I said loosely followed). Map is just a piece of rolled cardstock I quickly drew a face on with Sharpies.

Notice the animal in Backpack? Yeah – that would be our back up Boots the Monkey. I took a stuffed animal and quickly made some red felt booties for him – but he rode in Backpack all night.

My kids both loved their costumes – and helping make them!

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

BOO!

Want to See Something Truly Inspiring?

2011-10-29T16:46:00.001-04:00

You’ve come to the wrong place.

This was my office/craft space this morning.

I’ve been working on reorganizing and emptying out the last boxes I’ve had since the move. (These boxes were miscellaneous decorating, craft and office supplies I had no need to pull out of boxes yet.)

For the past 9 months, I’ve worked in this space.

NO MORE!

I can say it doesn’t look nearly as bad now after spending the afternoon in here but it’s nowhere near a showcase. Not to mention, I haven’t even dealt with paint – I’m waiting until next summer for that at this point.

I’m hoping to have an inspiring space soon. Very very soon. Or, at the very least, a clean one.

Just keeping it real, folks!

My New Coffee Table

2011-10-23T06:01:00.001-04:00

Remember this red beauty?

Ok. Not really a beauty but she’s got great bones and is super sturdy.

Look at her now.

Say what? You’re distracted by the big red lump on the couch?

It’s ok. The cuteness is pretty distracting. (They were tuckered out from partridge hunting).

Back to my coffee table. I stripped the top, sanded it down and gave it some love with Kona by Rust-Oleum (stain). The base got a coat of primer and 2 coats of Sea Salt by Behr. I then distressed and gave the entire piece a polycrylic top coat.

The new handles are an Oil Rubbed Bronzed finish. I got them on Ebay. (The Knob Shop – I use them a lot. Great prices and a great selection.)

When I finally put the table in place, I realized I should have checked the height FIRST. It was about 6 inches too tall. T hacked the legs down for me and now we have perfection.

It’s great to finally have a place to put up our feet! The drawers are an added bonus to hide coloring books and crayons for the kids.

One more project completed. A gazillion left to go!

Linking up here:

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Little Man’s Bedroom

2011-10-22T13:38:00.001-04:00

I’ve been working on getting Little Man’s BIG BOY room finished. It’s been such slow going, what with all of the projects I have going at any given time – not to mention life in general. ;-)

This was Little Man’s bedroom when we bought the house last January:

We painted the walls and trim immediately but that’s about as far as we got. He was still in his crib and had my old hand me down particle board dresser.

Piece by piece, I’ve been putting his room together over the past few months. It all started with his new bed. One of T’s friends had this old trundle bed in need of a new home. She knew we were going to be putting LM in a bed soon so offered it to us.

Bed before (It’s on sawhorses waiting for a makeover):

I also got this great dresser at a yard sale:

And let’s not forget the bookshelf my dad built for him:

We’ve had this bedside table for years (it was most recently white and being used in Monkey’s old bedroom – I also just found out my mother-in-law built it!):

I also had this framed poster from T’s childhood bedroom:

Now we have this:

and this:

The details:

The bed is painted Chianti by Behr and outfitted with a quilt I’ve had for years and years.

The nightstand received a 3rd makeover, getting a quick coat of Chianti and then painted with a premixed Rust-Oleum semi-gloss black. I then distressed the edges to show the layers of white and red beneath. I also used an old tow rope from camp to make a new handle.

The lamp was from KMart for $17 and the fan I picked up at a yard sale for 50 cents.

My $15 dresser didn’t need much work. It had a Formica top I ripped off. The glue required far more scraping than I could handle so I used a stripping agent to get it down to bare wood. The same Rust-Oleum semi-gloss black, some light distressing and a top coat of polycrylic and it was done. The tractor and piggy were gifts – the old rail lamp was $2.50 at an antiques store.

The bookshelf received the same treatment as the top of the dresser.

Most of our books were either gifted or from my large box of books from childhood. The trophies are a couple of T’s hockey trophies from middle school. I got the truck for $2 at an antiques store.

Lastly, we have T’s old poster. I spray painted the frame black with some random generic black paint I had on hand (I had done this at the old house and even had the poster up but I only just put it up here last week). There was a tiny bit of overspray on the inside that I could easily have wiped off but I like the added character it gives.

The total so far in his bedroom is $71.

$25 wall paint
$10 bed paint
$17 lamp
$15 dresser
$5 wood truck, fan and rail lamp
$15 for new sheets
All other paints were from my paint stash

Left to do:

Finish shades (he has 1 – needs a 2nd)- fabric already purchased for $15 – will also have plenty extra for throw pillows
T needs to put new window trim in (just replaced those windows) – not counting towards room cost as we’re doing this throughout the house
My grandmother has an old dresser mirror I plan to put in there
Random art – I have most everything here just haven’t gotten to those projects yet

I love love LOVE how his room is turning out. I love the history of the pieces and the stories they tell. I also love how rugged the pieces are – they’re very able to survive a growing boy.

The best part? I do believe the total cost will remain just around $100!

I hope you enjoyed the tour!

Linking up here:

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Dinner is Served….

2011-10-17T05:31:00.001-04:00

We had a busy week last week. T had been pulled in the moose lottery this summer for the October hunt. This was his second go around after having tagged his first moose back in 2005.

My man knows how to provide:

He wasn’t going to be picky. First cow he saw was coming home.

Sure enough - on Monday morning, down she went.

She weighed in at 694 pounds.

We split the meat with his buddy (sub-permitee).

What ended up in our freezer and on our shelves:

20 canned quarts of stew meat (21 – I broke one)
8 packs garlic & cheese sausage
8 packs sweet sausage
7 packs hamburg
18 various cuts of steak
3 roasts

We had our first stew this weekend. The meat is fantastic - and canned, it is so wonderfully tender. You just dump your jar in a pot and add veggies and a bit of water and you.are.done.

Nom.

We’re heading out to target shoot today because I’ve yet to bag my first partridge. I made nuggets with a few last week and the kids DEVOURED them. We need some more for the freezer – I need to get on my game and stop missing the birds.

:-)

Hair Clip Organizer

2011-10-16T08:57:00.001-04:00

We’ve had this frame for quite some time:

This summer, while I was refinishing a coffee table (I’ll share that soon – it’s been done for months but I haven’t taken any pictures yet!) I needed something to entertain the kids with. They wanted to help paint – I was NOT letting them touch the coffee table. So I pulled out an old quart of paint, grabbed a couple of foam brushes and dug this frame out of my heap of a craft room. Monkey wanted it in her room but I had no inspiration, so it’s been sitting pink ever since.

Until now.

I found this adorable organizer on pintrest a few weeks ago.

We’ve seen them done over and over again so what stood out with this one?

The hooks for the headbands!

Brilliance.

And ridiculously easy to recreate.

I had a couple packs of cup hooks I never used in my kitchen remodel at the old house (you can get them at any hardware store – I’m sure you can even find them at Walmart in the hardware section). I grabbed my trusty spray paint and gave them some love (Eden by Rustoleum). After they’d dried, I just screwed them into the bottom of the frame.

Then I grabbed some strips of fabric leftover from the shades I made for Monkey’s room and stapled them to the back of the frame with my heavy duty stapler.

The frame was missing a hanger hook on the back. I’m too cheap to buy them for such a light weight project so I hot glued the tab from a soda can (meh – who am I kidding? It was probably a beer can. ;-) ) to the back of the frame to hang it.

Voila!

The inspiration photo looks like the hooks were attached and then the entire piece was spray painted at once. (I’m assuming – I never went looking for the link because it’s not linked properly on the pin). Ribbon was used rather than my scrap strips of fabric. Use what you have!

While we were at it, we had this old mirror we got at a yard sale this summer for $1:

I taped up the mirror to protect, hit it with some Heirloom White (Rustoleum) spray paint, lightly distressed it and…..

She wanted it down low so she can admire herself after she puts clips in her hair, of course. How did I end up with such a girly girl? lol

Total for both projects = $1. Yup. I had everything on hand.

I love when that happens.

Linking up here:

300 Miles in 3 Months Update:

2011-10-11T17:06:00.001-04:00

Update #1 of many (I’m sure).

I calculated an average of just over 23 miles per week to stay on track if I want to complete the full 300 miles.

Week 1: 10/1-10/7 I completed 10 whole miles – entirely on foot. Awesome, yes? Hardly.

BUT, over the weekend, I got in 14 miles (on bike). I think I’ve managed to get on track – and if the weather holds, I may even be able to sneak in some extra mileage as well.

Excellent.

I’m having more fun doing this than I should be, I think. ;-)

300 Miles in 3 Months

2011-10-04T08:47:00.001-04:00

Kim at Achorn Farms is taking part in a challenge – Complete 300 miles in 3 months via biking, walking, running, elliptical or swimming.

I’ve decided to join in and give her some company in her challenge.

October through December, I’ll need to average just over 23 miles a week to complete the challenge successfully. This could be super challenging seeing as we’re entering our snow months in Northern Maine – and my miles will include pushing or pulling Monkey and Little Man for most (if not all) of them.

After spending so much time on my bike this summer, the past 6 or so weeks, I’ve not been very active. I can feel it in my ~~pants~~ bones. I felt amazing all summer and was getting into great shape.

I put in 4 miles on foot this weekend with the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Only 19 miles to go for the week…..

This could be interesting.

Family Day

2011-10-04T08:33:00.001-04:00

We woke up to rain yesterday morning, but we weren’t going to let it ruin our plans. Thermoses were filled with piping hot [homemade]chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate, woolen socks and flannel shirts tossed on and a couple of mugs of piping hot coffee made for The Man and me. We were off on our first ever family hunting adventure.

There’s something calming to the soul to be out on the dirt roads in the middle of the woods, no cell phone service, just surrounded by trees. The leaves are changing over beautifully in these parts.

The rain stopped and we had only the occasional shower for the rest of the day. We stopped frequently to stretch our legs and just breath in Fall in Northern Maine.

We saw a couple of turkey vultures hanging out together. (Look just to the left of the center of the picture – 2 black things on top of the dead tree)

Those are some pretty big birds. I’ve never seen them so up close before.

I can’t end this post without giving you a chuckle at my expense. Yesterday was the first time in ten or so years I shoot a gun. We came upon a partridge on the road I could have hit with the door of the jeep. It was maybe fifteen feet away – and I missed my shot. Really? Perhaps I should stick to Gatherer and let T keep the Hunter status of our home.

I did redeem myself on a soda bottle later in the day. We found one on the side of the road he set up for me to have some target practice. I took one shot. He wanted to know where I was aiming before showing me I was spot on. Spot on. We should have done the target shooting first, perhaps?

Alas, we came home empty handed - courtesy of my blunder. That bird should have been dinner! But, we had a wonderful day together so the day was most definitely not lost.

We’ll be going back out tomorrow. I am determined to add Huntress to my Jill of All Trades accomplishments.

I Clearly Have Issues

2011-09-30T18:08:00.001-04:00

The kids and I went on a playgroup outing this morning. We carpooled with another mom with her two kiddos – the same ages as mine. On our way out of town, I noticed a small pile of items on the side of the road. It looked like they were for free, but I wasn’t sure.

On the way back, I noticed the pile again. There was something that had caught my eye earlier but I didn’t want my new mommy friend to think I was a freak so I didn’t ask her to stop… though rest assured in my head I was yelling “STOP THE VAN!”

I took it as a sign the universe was telling me to go visit my grandfather today because not only did I have my contacts in (he has no idea who I am when I have my glasses on but thinks I’m my mom with my contacts) but said item was less than a mile from the nursing home. So later in the afternoon, I packed the kids in the jeep and headed out for a visit.

I drove by said pile a third time. I couldn’t see a sign and my inner turmoil talked me out of stopping.

On the way back home one last time, I was driving by really slowly looking for a sign…. and then I saw it – a teeny tiny sign on the pole above the pile of stuff. “FREE.”

Tires squealing, I pulled over and tossed the one item I was after into the hatch back.

After I break it to my husband, I’m going to have him check the wiring before I make the final call as to what I’m doing with it. If the wiring is good, it’s getting a pink and sparkly makeover for Monkey’s room. If the wiring is bad, I’ll rip it out and turn it into a candelabra of some sort, probably for the sun porch.

Have you found any treasures on the side of the road lately?

My Wood Pumpkin was Featured!

2011-09-29T09:54:00.001-04:00

In all of the excitement of the vomit and the party and a trip down south, I almost forgot all about this.

I was so excited to see I’d been CAUGHT!

My cute little wooden pumpkin was featured by Gail.

I am honored my scrap wood is among such creativity.

Barn Light Electric Giveaway!

2011-09-29T09:32:00.001-04:00

During my meandering blog readings, I’ve recently discovered Barn Light Electric – and quickly fell in love. So many wonderful light fixtures – so few places to put them!

Well, they are having a GIVEAWAY!

And now, I day dream. *eyes glazing over, staring off into dreamland*

I could see this over my kitchen sink. It would fit in wonderfully.

Or this one over my kitchen workspace. I could see redesigning my entire kitchen around this rustic beauty. Yes, yes I could.

This chandelier would look amazing over the farmhouse table I’m hoping to build this spring.

Or a few of these little beauties in my office and craft space (which should hopefully be receiving some love in the coming month). I’d love to get rid of the box lighting in there.

So much eye candy.

How could anyone choose?

In order to participate:

1. Look around online at Barn Light Electric and pick lights you'd love to win.

2.Share your picks on your blog and link to the lights if you can.

3.Copy and paste these rules at the bottom of your blog post.

4. Once your post is up, you must email your blog link to: contest@barnlightelectric.com to be qualified to win. The contest ends October 12th, 2011.

What fun!

Throwing a Party

2011-09-29T08:52:00.001-04:00

My aunt and uncle recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. My cousin decided to surprise them with a party.

He booked a party room at a local restaurant but wanted to make the cake on his own - with some help from me. Neither of us had any real experience using fondant, but he had his heart set on finishing the cake with it. After a couple of trial runs, we felt we were prepared to make a nice looking cake.

I ended up out of commission on Friday (getting over either a 24 hour bug or food poisoning – I’m not sure which but it wasn’t fun).

PANIC! We need to make cake!!

T saved the day by baking two of the three layers for us. My cousin came after work to bake the third layer, make the butter cream crumb coat and make the chocolate ganache filling. By that point in the day, I was able to peel myself from the couch for small spurts so I was able to show him what he needed to do. The day ended with 2 layers filled and crumb coated when we were supposed to be finished!

EEEEK!!

We somehow managed to pull it out in the end on Saturday morning.

I found ribbon in my ribbon stash (I think it was from my wedding six years ago, even). The leaves (dipped in melted beeswax) and roses were a last minute touch. I felt it looked too plain and you could see any imperfections in the fondant (and that the ribbon was a little too short. Shhhh.)

About a week before the party, he started to get nervous about decorations. I went rummaging in my craft supplies and came up with a game plan – maroon and orange (not shown) fabrics on the cake and gift tables, a couple of potted mums off my front porch and mason jars filled with sunflowers from my garden for centerpieces.

It all came together perfectly and we had a fantastic evening celebrating a wonderful couple.

The best part? The surprise didn’t get out.

Here’s to at least 25 more happy years!

Jack o Lantern Fun

2011-09-22T14:17:00.001-04:00

I snatched this idea from a friend on Pintrest earlier this week.

Source

But Jodi, that is a snowman and it’s fall.

Yes yes. I know.

How about a jack o lantern instead?

Monkey wanted to make a happy pumpkin. I used white chalk to outline our facial features and Monkey cut most of it out. I just used rolled scotch tape on the backs and let the kids put them where they wanted.

Easy peasy fun.

A Princess Birthday

2011-09-18T17:14:00.001-04:00

Monkey was invited to her first birthday party. It was a princess party so I wanted to stick to the princess theme when looking for a gift.

A quick search online and I found this adorable idea:

Source

The Princess and the Pea story book with a handmade princess with her mattresses to go with it.

LOVE!

Here is my version:

I got to go through my scraps stash and put some pieces to adorable use.

Next up – an embroidered gift.

My Little Wooden Pumpkin

2011-09-15T09:30:00.001-04:00

I found these adorable pumpkins while perusing the web a few weeks ago.

Source

I just happened to see them while our carpenters were here putting in our new windows. I grabbed a few pieces of small scraps off the trash pile (ok – I grabbed more than a few but I set a bunch aside for future projects ;-) ), grabbed the drill and got to work.

This:

is now this:

I knew the back wasn’t going to show so I screwed the 3 pieces of scrap together with a small scrap of strapping on the back.

I took the paints to it yesterday.

I like the new colorful addition to my fall decorations!

I found these pumpkins a few days later:

Source

I’ve already found wood in the garage to make something similar to these as well. I’m hoping to get to work on that today but it looks like rain so we may not be playing outside today. Too bad. I’m itchy to get started.

Next up – wreaths!

Linking up here:

Pintrest Inspiration

2011-09-13T12:08:00.001-04:00

Fall Edition

Pintrest is such a great source for inspiration. I find myself adding to my inspiration files on a very regular basis.

How cute is this?

Source

Simple centerpiece for a dinner party, perhaps?

Source

It almost seems a shame to cut up an old book like this, but look how cute this pumpkin is!

Source

Our front door still needs a wreath.

Source

Easy pumpkins – there is always scrap wood lying around here.

Source

I think these adorable pumpkins need to hit my to-do list.

Source

And after a hard day of crafting, enjoy some pumpkin cream cheese muffins. YES, please.

Source

Oh yes. I love this time of year.

We’re getting Halloween decorations ready… and I may already have a pretty big inspiration file going to Christmas – gifts, projects and decorating. Dangerous.

Linking up here:

Fall Fun

2011-09-12T12:27:00.001-04:00

Yes, it’s mid-September but here in Northern Maine, the fall weather hit us this weekend.

I picked up a bunch of mums to swap out my summer annuals, rearranged all of my outdoor vignettes and pulled out the Halloween tote.

Better. My doors need some attention – and I have something fabulous in mind – but I’ve promised T I’d finish some other projects before starting anything new.

Those poor milk jugs of mine needed some love. The stone paint had all washed off in the rain.

Fresh paint and a fresh look.

I’d put our old wine barrel in the middle of a flower bed this spring and it ended up being covered by the flowers (I was not expecting 7 foot tall flowers!). We moved it out to a more prominent position.

We didn’t have any luck with the pumpkins in our garden. I also haven’t found a new “go-to” pumpkin patch for cheap pumpkins. So for now, this will do.

We’re getting our Halloween decorations ready with some new homemade goodies. We’ll put them out in a few weeks but it doesn’t hurt to get ahead of the game in crafting! My favorite so far? This repurposed screen headed for the trash:

I found a witch image online to mentally guide myself with, but I freehanded this bad boy. I’m quite pleased with it. I have a second trashed screen waiting for a similar treatment.

Enjoy the change in the seasons.

I’ve linked up here:

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes…

2011-09-06T16:09:00.001-04:00

When we bought our new old house, we knew we were going to need to do some updating – the windows being one of the needed updates.

We went through last winter paying attention to which windows were in the worst shape and decided which ones to change this year.

Our carpenter is finally here this week.

Before – exterior (excuse the shadows – I forgot to take my pictures until THAT morning – the sun was uncooperative):

Of course with an extremely old house, nothing can be simple. The new windows are just a hair smaller than the old, which caused issues with the two big windows – particularly with the trim.

Our carpenter came up with a fabulous way to hide the problem – and it makes such a huge impact!

He is still up on the scaffolding working so I cropped him out just to show you the window. LOOK at that trim! You can see the difference with the window below it (old window).

The big windows make my heart go pitter patter.

T and I have been discussing paint colors. The decision has finally been made that the house will get color-matched. The trim will get an off white or cream, similar to it’s current primed color.

Next up, interior trim. I can’t wait to see what he does for us inside!

A Pintrest Breakfast

2011-09-04T08:51:00.001-04:00

Pintrest has sucked me in (as it has many many other people).

I found a cute breakfast idea yesterday on a friend’s board.

Broccoli and Italian Sausage Egg Muffins

Source

Say WHAT? Of course! Everything is cuter as a muffin!

My version includes bacon and mushrooms because you know me…. I work with what I have.

I crisped up my bacon, chopped up my mushrooms and proceeded as normal.

VOILA!

The possibilities with this one are endless!

Enjoy!

It’s a box!

2011-09-03T08:39:00.001-04:00

No, it’s a car!

What you need:

1 cardboard box
1 toilet paper tube
3 paper plates
Glue (glue gun, craft glue – whatever you have)

Cut 2 plates in half.
Attach to box with the flat part of your cut towards the floor to make wheels.
Attach tube to flap inside box (on a short end of the box).
Attach last plate to the tube to make your steering wheel.
Let the kids have at it with paints, markers, crayons – whatever you feel like (or don’t feel like) cleaning up after – to decorate.

It took longer waiting for the glue gun to warm up than it did to assemble. This will lead to a pretty full rainy day of fun. I’m pulling out some stickers when the marker fun wears off. ;-)

Voila! Look how crafty I was before 8 AM.

There’s been a lot going on here in the past month. I have so many projects to share! I’ll probably be able to while the kids are busy with the box car. hehe

The Very Full Day

2011-08-04T14:50:00.001-04:00

My nephew Scooby is visiting us today.

I’ve been trying to find new activities to do with the kids while he’s here.

We started the day by making S’Mores Pudding Pops. MUCH better than the juice popsicles Scooby thought we were going to make. (Verdict – they were super tasty but the pudding pop portion was WAY tastier than the marshmallow portion, in my opinion.)

After a quick lunch, we went to the park. The kids played on the slides and swings, kicked around the soccer ball we brought with us and then had fun throwing rocks in the water.

Next in my bag of tricks was making liquid sidewalk chalk. This one is a HUGE hit. (They’re playing with it as I write this.) It was just as fun to make it and mix up the colors as it is for drawing in the driveway.

Scooby wants to know if we can make something else. My bag of tricks is currently empty. I’m off to hunt for something else before the chalk is all gone!

I LOVE Happy Surprises!

2011-08-02T20:22:00.001-04:00

Remember this?

And this wonderful ~~mess~~ blank slate?

Well, I was finally able to deal with 2 of the curtain panels. (Excuse the poor lighting. Momma takes pictures when the kids allow – usually when they’re in bed for the night. ;-)

There’s a lot of red accents (i.e., toys) in the room already. I’m trying to tie in some green – and my curtains were too short.

Tada!

But the curtains isn’t the happy surprise. Nope. No no. That was just pure luck on a rainy afternoon and parking the kids in front of Dora for 20 minutes. (Hey – sometimes Mommas gotta do what Mommas gotta do!)

THIS is the happy surprise.

T pulled out the wall paper steamer today only to accidently (or so he says) punch through many layers of wall paper – and what we thought was cardboard wall paneling of some sort underneath said wall paper.

Looky at what he found for his wife. Aren’t the wood slats just wonderful? I wish you could have seen my face when he showed me. There was only one section visible through the mess he was ripping (no steamer needed at this point) off the walls. I audibly gasped.

No? Ok… but after hours and hours of scraping by yours truly, I think they’ll definitely be wonderful then! Oh, yes. Yes I do.

SO, we are now back to square one with a wall that still needs to be dealt with. I’m not sure what color I’ll be painting it now. The pale gray blue in the rest of the room just doesn’t seem right. I think a fresh coat of creamy white is what these old wood walls are yelling for.

PS – The wall WAS supposed to completely be turned into a chalkboard. There is NO WAY it can be a chalkboard now, so we’ll offer up a different wall in the room for that fun project.

Thanks for your mistake, honey!

Backyard Camping

2011-07-31T08:43:00.001-04:00

Look where we slept last night.

It was a long night crammed in between my 2 best buddies in 2 sleeping bags zipped together (Temps were forecasted to go down to 49 – I was worried they’d get cold – hence sharing a sleeping bag instead of each using our own).

I will say, you get to hear a lot of pretty cool things in your backyard at random hours of the night, though. I’d never heard deer “talk” to each other before. Too bad they were talking to warn of the foreign object in the yard while they were helping themselves in our garden. ;-)

You don’t need to go far to show your kids a good time! Mine are already asking when we’re going to do it again.

Beignets

2011-07-30T08:10:00.001-04:00

Yes, please!

They sound scary, don’t they?

They aren’t.

First - mix the following:
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Second - in a saucepan, stir together:
2lbs of brown sugar
1 1/2 cups water
Note – this sauce can be substituted with maple syrup
Bring to a boil:

Third – using your trusty cereal spoon, drop dough into sauce.
Cook about 4 minutes on each side.

Dust with a little powdered sugar if you wish. Really, what’s a dusting of extra sugar at this point.

Breakfast is served!

Just a note: The beignets weren’t crispy, as they should have been. I would fry in oil and then give them a dunk in the sauce if you want traditional crispy beignets.

What is best about this photo?

2011-07-28T14:15:00.001-04:00

We just went for a ride to the grocery store. About 1/4 mile from home, I hear Monkey in the back saying “Mommy, he’s smooshing me.”

I looked back and found this:

I don’t know if I’m loving the fact they were getting along, the fact that they are so flipping cute or the fact that one of them was sleeping the most.

Ahh…. mother’s bliss.

Taking Advantage

2011-07-25T21:37:00.001-04:00

T’s been working the past few days. We don’t get any family time when he is so we were more than happy to take advantage of the beautiful weather today. Unfortunately, duty called and we both had far too much to do around the house.

Ahh.. but an early dinner proved to be just the ticket to sneak in a hike before bed.

The Falls were pretty as always.

The kids even got an after dinner snack when we found some ripe blueberries.

Nom.

Enjoy summer while you can! It seems like it’s already almost over – and it just began.

The Center of the Storm

2011-07-22T21:25:00.001-04:00

We had some crazy weather around here this evening.

Over our house, the sky was blue but the backyard was under very dark storm clouds.

The sun was trying to peek out at me.

Then these 2 systems seemed to collide – it may have freaked me out more than it was warranted, but with all the insane weather going on this year, I couldn’t help but freak out a little.

It was pretty cool to watch the really white clouds come full speed into the dark clouds.

Then they just slowly melded together.

I enjoyed the show – and managed to stay dry as we only had a shower (though T’s aunt & uncle live nearby and they got pelted).

It seems other areas of The County weren’t as lucky. I hope everyone stayed safe.

My Life is an Unfinished Project

2011-07-15T13:45:00.001-04:00

Our playroom is needing some love. I’m finally getting to it.

Yes, that is marker alllll over the window frame. I tried scrubbing it but it won’t come off. I was going to paint it but the window is being replaced next year. The marker can stay. ;-)

Oooh! Look! Curtains! Well, darn. They’re too short.

AND, there’s another window over there. Still minus the curtains. Poop.

And don’t forget the wonderful mess. Yes yes. The wonderful mess. Those shelves are sure lovely but the mess never seems to make it off the floor. (I have a solution I’m hoping to finally get to today).

And, of course… let’s not forget the wall papered wall. Do we ever have a lovely plan for that wall – if we can ever get around to peeling the paper and prepping the walls. It’s a doozy. The kids are going to love it.

That’s just the playroom.

Then you have the projects out on the breezeway waiting for me. A desk to replace the card table my mother-in-law has been lending me [for 7 months now] and a cabinet waiting to be turned into a side table for the dining room.

Then there’s the coffee table I scored at a yard sale this morning.

Little Man’s bookshelf has made it outside. It’s received its spackle and is moments from receiving it’s first coat of paint – I hope.

Oh, hi! His dresser is [FINALY] done and in his room! Notice the old dresser still there as well (to the right) and his books are all in a pile on the floor in front of it [because – you know – his bookshelf is outside right now]. We’re moving in the right direction at least!

Maybe today will be the day I get another project done?

I’m not counting on it.

The weather is too darn nice to tie myself to a paint brush.

But a girl can dream, right?

It’s the Little Things in Life

2011-07-10T09:27:00.001-04:00

My father-in-law spent an hour at our house yesterday giving the kids a big surprise.

It involved a bit of work but we finally got it up there.

After a quick trial run to make sure it was safe (or so he says – I think he just wanted to swing. ;-), we let the kids at it.

Monkey loved it. Little Man doesn’t “get” it…. yet.

It reminds me of my childhood days spent behind my grandparents house with my bestest friend in the whole wide world, swinging away on the big old tree back there. (Luckily for me, the kids can’t climb this one because I remember having to go after her mom once when she got stuck in that big tree. *giggle*)

A huge thank you again to my father-in-law.

The kids are going to get years of entertainment from your [our since I did get roped into helping – hardy har] hour of work.

Summer fun

2011-07-09T22:32:00.001-04:00

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer. Ours has been fun so far!

Homemade Croutons

2011-06-15T12:20:00.001-04:00

Remember my mammoth bread?

We still had half left this morning when I got up. Half of a mammoth 2 day old bread.

Yum.

Not really.

I cubed it all up and tossed it in my roasting pan. I then drizzled about 1/4 cup melted butter on it and sprinkled it with garlic powder and a pinch of salt before tossing it all together to coat.

In the oven she went at 350 for 25 minutes.

Crunchy.

Remember my mammoth salad?

Nom.

A perfect way to top your salad.

So easy. So good.

My next kitchen experiment will be to replicate the cheap bad for me French dressing I enjoy so much. I’ve found a knock off online this week but have yet to give it a whirl.

What are you cooking?

I’m going to dive back into my salad now. Eating your veggies never tasted so good.

What I’m working on

2011-06-14T23:20:00.001-04:00

I went to a city wide yard sale with my mom [and my kids, but that’s another story] a few weeks ago.

I scored this beauty for $15.

Originally, it was on wheels. No thank you.

It also had a great Formica laminate sheet on the top which I immediately pulled off upon getting home.

It really doesn’t need much work.

Scraping the glue remnants from the top will probably be the only time consuming part of this project. (If it doesn’t scrape well/look good after being scraped, I’m painting the top black and distressing it).

Little Man’s new dresser should be in his room by the weekend.

SCORE!

Go BIG or Go Home

2011-06-14T08:39:00.001-04:00

The theme in our house yesterday.

What’s that big pot on the stove?

Why, it’s our turkey fryer pot. But what’s in it?

A whole lotta spaghetti sauce. We had dinner with it and then packed the rest into 32 oz yogurt containers for the freezer. We had 16 make their way downstairs. (There are 4 lbs of ground moose and 4 lbs of ground beef – PLUS another 2 lbs of ground beef and 1 1/2 lbs ground pork in my take on Alton’s Baked Meatballs [we don’t eat lamb and I made a batch and a half-ish].)

Salad goes well with spaghetti, right?

I’m hoping that bad boy lasts us more than 2 days. We’re on a big salad kick right now – I made 3 last week! (There are 2 bags of chopped lettuce blends, 1 bag of baby spinach, 4 carrots, 2 cucumbers, half a tomato and 1 each of 3 different colored peppers in here. NOM.)

Let’s round out the meal with some bread.

Don’t mind the end where my 2 little mice ripped off a chunk to taste it. ;-) This would be a Rustic Bread from Country Living. It’s big. It took up most of my half sheet baking sheet. I think I’ll be making some croutons with some of it to go with that big salad.

I’m getting hungry again. Maybe I’ll go rip off a chunk of that bread……

I’d like to send a shout out to Kim @ Achorn Farm. I may have given her the heads up on using Windows Live Writer but she clued me in to the fact you can edit pictures and so much more here! I’ve been editing in Picasa, uploading to Writer and it just takes so much time that I don’t have much of. So.. YAY! Thanks! (Maybe you’ll see more of me now?)

Mission Organization: Day 5

2011-05-25T08:39:00.001-04:00

All of the soggy weather we’ve been having is good motivation to keep moving with my kitchen organization.

My 2nd window eyesore was much worse than my 1st. Yesterday, I fixed that problem.

The Monkey art (birdhouses) received some wood glue and have made their way outside. The yeast tin was cleaned up and put on the 1st windowsill. We’ve planted our seed pots and put them in the living room with our Table O’Seedlings (our seedlings are still inhabiting my living room but are to be transplanted in the garden ASAP). Everything else was trashed or put where it belongs.

I decided my precious mixer needed to be moved and gave it a home under my butcher block table and rearranged the small display shelf immediately to the left of the window.

Ahhhhh. So much better.

I’ll be putting a few potted herbs on the sink under the window mainly because I am sick and tired of buying fresh herbs all of the time (and my thumb isn’t nearly as brown as it used to be).

The shelves have 2 old milk bottles, complete with lids and the Maine Seal in the glass. The large glass jar is a Tom’s peanut container my grandmother gave me. I use it as a cookie jar but my mom remembers it being filled with homemade doughnuts all of the time when she was a kid (I love pieces that have a story – especially when it’s a piece of my family story). A couple of cookbooks and my recipe box round it out. My recipe box got some love and a makeover while I was at it.

Monkey did a number to it on the shelves at the old house. I had to replace a few letters and changed the ribbons. I’ll have red in the kitchen even after we get around to redoing it, so I’ll incorporate red accents now and ignore the orangey-red on the cabinets and walls in the meantime. ;-)

Here’s what I attack today:

It’s the good, the bad and the ugly here, folks.

I’m trying to decide if my Day 7 and final day of this round of organizing should be under my kitchen sink or my junk drawer. Both need a little [lot of] help.

I can’t go wrong with either, that’s for sure.

Mission Organization: Day 4

2011-05-23T16:02:00.001-04:00

I realize I’ve posted Day 1-4 today. I started on Friday but just haven’t kept up posting. :-P

The kitchen is coming along nicely.

Today, I took a small and easy organization project (seeing as I have my hands full with fiddleheads!).

The window above my sink was a real eyesore.

I’ll be putting a display shelf up eventually. Until then, I’m keeping a few small NEAT things on the windowsills.

Now:

So much better. I got the yeast tin at a yard sale for $1. I keep our matches and scraping blades hidden in it (out of the kids’ reach, of course). The spice jars I found in my grandfather’s store. It’s mostly been cleaned out but there are a few little hidden treasures still. These jars are still full! (The thyme still smells good too – though I have NO intention of using them. lol)

Next up – the 2nd window sill in my kitchen.

What.an.eyesore.

Mmmm… Fiddleheads

2011-05-23T12:31:00.001-04:00

I think my father-in-law felt a little badly for T yesterday when T informed him we wouldn’t be doing our annual fiddlehead picking. As much as we love the rewards of our hard work, we just don’t have the time. So, my father-in-law took it upon himself yesterday to pick a 6 gallon pail of the tasty green delicacy for us. T then helped him clean them.

Now I have the fun job of par-boiling and freezing them.

It’s an easy process, really. It just takes a little time.

First, I boil them for a minute or 2. Then I drain them, stick them in an ice bath and then drain them again.

Then I lay them out on a towel to dry for a few hours before I pack them into freezer bags - in meal sized portions.

My counter is currently full of them.

These are about ready to hit the freezer so I get to go start round 2. I’m hoping to get our cooler half empty before I need to make dinner. (They’re in cold water in the cooler until I process them all. Ideally, you want them refrigerated, but we just don’t have the space. We’ll rinse any left in the cooler tonight and put fresh water until I can deal with the rest tomorrow.)

NOM.

Mission Organization: Day 3

2011-05-23T08:40:00.001-04:00

After finishing up on the sun porch, it was time to move into the kitchen. The one room in the house I insist on being clean is my kitchen. My entire house can look like a tornado (or 2) came through, but my kitchen MUST be clean.

One day last week as I was doing my morning cleaning, I noticed I have a few hot spots of clutter. They’re spaces that we stick things to keep them away from the kids or because we don’t know what else to do with them – or, my favorite, something that needs fixing and we still haven’t fixed so it sits there, forgotten.

This is really what sparked my Organizational Mission. As I was looking around I realized, no matter how clean my kitchen is – the clutter just detracts.

No more.

I started with the kids cubbies. I forgot to take a before picture of this. Bad, I know. Let me describe the mess for you.

The cubbies are a freestanding unit given to me by my boss. It has 3 cubbies, each with a hook and a shelf. I have the kids hang their jackets on the hooks, put mittens and hats on the shelf and shoes on the bottom shelf. The extra cubby had a ripped plastic bag stuffed with paper recycling.

The top has a basket for T and me to leave our hats and gloves. A basket for mail was also there, overflowing with 2 weeks worth of junk mail. I also had a nice collection of tupperware to return to family members (we’re a big family of stuffing filled tupperware containers to give each other. :-)

Does this paint a good enough picture for you?

Now:

I tidied up our basket of gloves (yes, we are still wearing gloves – but they are our work gloves which get used almost daily), sorted through the mail, put up our farm sign and added a plant on the top. So much nicer.

Don’t mind the weird shadow. My kitchen doesn’t have the best natural lighting.

I added a hook to the side and made a bag to tame all the tupperware (which, amazingly, I have none of right now!). I also made a matching bag for the 3rd cubby for our paper recycling.

It’s so much better.

Today, I attack windowsills.

In particular, this one:

These projects don’t need to be big or time consuming. They just need to make an impact.

Mission Organization: Day 1

2011-05-23T08:21:00.001-04:00

and 2.

I am completely amazed at how unorganized our house is. I thought moving would help me get us organized, seeing as everything was being pulled out and put into new spaces – starting fresh.

No.

That would be too easy.

We use the entry in the kitchen as our main entry. To get to this door, you must first go through the sun porch.

This is what has been greeting my guests for the past 4 months.

Ok, so maybe not this mess in particular but it has been a mess of one kind or another.

We’ve been using it to spread out some painting projects, holding firewood and an in between for hauling stuff either out of or into the house.

I spent a few hours one afternoon hauling everything out, vacuuming it up and cleaning up the walls, floor and windows.

Day 2 involved making it a little bit more welcoming.

I have big plans for this room but I won’t be able to tackle it any time soon. I couldn’t live with the mess in the meantime.

This? This I can live with.

Who Cares if it’s Not Done?

2011-05-15T16:53:00.001-04:00

I’ve been so deprived of workspace next to my stove for the past 3 1/2 months.

So deprived I hauled this bulk around on my own today.

I know I said it was too big to go near the stove, but I don’t know if I’ll be moving it again any time soon.

My husband may not like it but I love it.

I’m also finding it super handy tonight.

Ok. Enough drooling over my table. I need to go take care of the chicken.

Tissue Paper PomPoms

2011-05-15T15:59:00.001-04:00

Monkey’s birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. She’d like a flower party. I started working on our DIY party decorations this morning.

Martha Stewart has these awesome tissue paper pompom flowers I’ve been seeing pop up all over Blogland. They’re adorable and girly – perfect for a flower party.

We gathered our supplies,

folded our tissue,

and tied a length of wire around the center.

I then trimmed the edges (Good Lord I need a manicure – and Monkey needs her nails trimmed!),

and carefully started spreading the tissue out (Monkey photography).

Hmm. Not nearly as pretty as the ones I’ve seen in Blogland. This looks like a big bow.

My second attempt wasn’t much better.

For my third attempt, I cut three sheets of paper into quarters. I then did the same as above, in a smaller version. (She loves both equally)

Much better, yes?

The trick? Don’t be cheap and use more stacks. (My first was only five sheets, my third and smaller version had twelve sheets).

Now I know the trick, I’ll be heading back to the store for a bit more colored tissue paper.

It’s Here!

2011-05-14T17:40:00.001-04:00

My brother just stopped in with a special delivery.

Remember this?

And the love I lavished on it?

It still needs some work - but look what my dad did today!

It’s love.

HEEEEEERE We Go!

2011-05-13T23:46:00.001-04:00

We’ve been having a lot of evening guests this week.

First my dad.

Then, this lovely machine.

He made quick work of what would have been a backbreaking and nearly impossible job for us to get done on our own.

Now… let the fun begin!

Name That… Egg?

2011-05-13T17:05:00.001-04:00

While raking up the mess we made taking down Big Green, I stumbled upon a couple of nests buried in the dead leaves at the base of the tree.

I thought they were rocks at first, but upon further investigation have decided they are eggs.

Can anyone tell me what they are? I’ve never seen them before (I’m sure either T or my dad know, but I don’t have either of them handy at the moment. ;-)

I’m quite intrigued. And hoping it’s not snakes.

UPDATE:

My brother thinks it’s some kind of nut/seed.

My father in law had no idea.

T thinks it’s those brown puffer things (technical, huh? I have no idea what they’re really called) that have been petrified from last year.

I’m just waiting for my woods expert (aka my dad) to come here so I can see if he knows.

I’m a Lumberjack, Baby

2011-05-11T22:20:00.000-04:00

We’ve changed the location of our garden. It will no longer be hanging out in the backyard with the blueberries.

Instead, it’s going to be directly behind the garage – much closer to the house. (It will also be 40’x40’ rather than the 20’x20’ and then 20’x30’ we had originally – and secondly – planned out).

There was only one problem with this new locale. Big Green was blocking all of the sunlight.

Lucky for us, we happen to know a very skilled lumberjack.

Here’s my dad, doing one of the things he does best.

It’s also something he loves. He’s like a kid in a candy store when someone asks him to pull out the chainsaw.

He had an audience. Little Man is pure boy and completely enamored with tools and “man” toys.

It only took him a few minutes to get the job done.

Then we loaded her up.

Oh, hi! The rest of our audience.

Three loads later and a stump is all that remains.

Sorry Big Green. You have been sacrificed.

Also, anytime I hear a chainsaw, I get this song stuck in my head

(heavy metal but no nudity or swearing)

So of course, I’ve been singing this song all.night.long.

I am in love

2011-05-10T03:35:00.001-04:00

I’ve been saying for a very long time that I need a bigger dining table. Our little thing works great for just the 4 of us but when we have guests, it tends to become a tight squeeze.

I stumbled upon this Saturday night:

It’s ok. Swoon with me. *SWOON*

Shelby and her husband over at Honeysuckle BUILT this fabulous table! They built it. From scratch. With their own 2 [err.. 4] hands.

I showed it to my dad, showed him the plans and he told me “No problem!”

See, but there is a problem. I want to build it myself – with his guidance and expertise, of course. (Oh, how my dad will get tired of having me live so close. lol “Dad, what do you think about this? Easy? Can you help me?” He hears these words often. ;-)

It’s on the [massive] to-do list. It’s down low on the list, but it’s there.

Yard Work Never Looked So Good

2011-05-03T13:33:00.001-04:00

We’ve got a pretty big yard at our new house.

I was told there used to be a softball field back here. The previous owners had 3 athletic sons. We found a remnant this week now that the snow is finally gone. T tells me it’s home plate and pointed out what he thinks is the old backstop down the bank.

We’ve been doing a lot of work outside.

Of course, there were our new apple (and plum) trees.

We also mapped out where our new garden plot will be (the 4 flags in front will be the 4 corners). Side note – I can’t WAIT for the lawn to green up.

We also put in blueberry bushes – only 9 for this year with hope to put in more next year.

I’ve discovered a lot of flower beds.

Most of them need some work.

They currently look like weed piles – but we do have some growth!

So far, my favorite find was hiding in this bed:

Most of those bricks were laying on their side and almost completely covered with dirt and plants. I also found a stack of them behind the garage AND another small bed only with a partial border – most of which was also covered in dirt and plants. I won’t have quite enough to go the whole way around, but I’m sure I’ll find more old brick lying around here somewhere.

I’m planning on slowly edging all of the beds. Weeding and mulching are on the short list. I’m not planning on doing anything else in them for this year because I have no idea what’s in them, for the most part. So I’ll let them go and see what’s up.

Then there’s this:

T started cutting out the brush yesterday. The goal is to get it all cleaned up and then decide which of the old trees has to go (we have some dead rot. :-(

There is another patch of trees and brush that will need cleaning up as well. We’re doing the section that shows first then we’ll get around to the other when time permits.

I feel like we’ve already done so much in just a week or 2 of outside work!

Next up: Revamp one of the more unsightly beds in the back for the kids garden. Sunflowers, pumpkins and peas, oh my!

Sleeping Beauty

2011-05-03T07:51:00.001-04:00

Remember my new ride?

The weather has finally warmed up and dried up enough for me to pull it out – hopefully for good!

I took the kids out this weekend for a ride on the recreational trail in town. I wanted to scope out the levels on the river so wore my camera. I’m so glad I brought it!

My Little Man loved the ride but hates his helmet. He whined about it the entire ride. (He’s since gotten a little better about it, but still not pleased to put it on).

See? Happy boy. Loves his new wheels.

What’s Monkey doing in there, you ask?

Yep – she’s having a snooze.

This makes it official. My kids can sleep anywhere.

How I Spent My Day

2011-04-29T17:33:00.001-04:00

Remember this?

Gross old thing, huh?

Three hours of sanding later:

Then it received a good scrub with bleach (it’s still drying here, hence the darker cracks – it’s clean, I swear):

It needs a bit more sanding with a finer grit sandpaper. And I’ll probably scrub top and bottom with bleach again before I let my dad take it away to add the legs and a shelf.

I really expected it to take much longer for me to refinish the top.

The top will need more love once it’s here and in place (wax and oil) but that will probably be the easiest part of the entire process.

LOVE!

Starting to take shape

2011-04-29T08:52:00.001-04:00

It’s slow going.

It took 1 coat of primer (BIN – Kilz has not been working for us in this house. We’re now BIN all the way.)

Then 4 coats of paint (Champagne Bubbles by Do it Best)

I’ve pulled the boxes back out and am starting to put it together. Don’t mind the old tube. Our “new” [7 year old] television doesn’t fit. We’re getting a new new one when the man can make up his mind – hence the rather large cubby. He didn’t think my old stereo would fit - it didn’t all fit in one section together. I can’t believe I made it fit (I’m tired of “needing” to buy something new just because the old doesn’t work well here – our box spring and tv at the top of the list).

I don’t know if I’ll ever be done tweaking it. Those tiny cubbies are causing me a little grief. I’m also missing a few items I had mentally placed in here. I know I’ve seen them since the move – I just have no idea where they are right at this very moment.

I LOVE the hidden storage. All of our games, movies and other random stuff we use but I don’t want out fits wonderfully.

Next step – a big cushion to sit in front of the window and curtains for the speaker cubbies. I’ve also got new knobs for the cabinets on their way.

And curtains. Dear Lord, we need curtains.

Monkey’s First Sleepover

2011-04-28T19:55:00.001-04:00

My little girl is having her very first sleepover at my parents tonight.

Sleepover as in just going to spend the night and not because Mommy & Daddy needed a sitter.

Little Man cried and cried as his big sister left (and for about 40 minutes afterwards).

He soon got over it. When we called to say good night we found out Monkey is getting ready for the royal wedding.

Yep. She’s going to get up bright and early with Grammy to watch.

What’s a royal wedding without a crown?

Queen for a day!

Setting Down Roots

2011-04-26T22:42:00.001-04:00

Literally.

The kids each got their own baby apple tree.

Really, they just look like a big stick right now.

We got them from FedCo.

From the FedCo catalog:

The only known mature tree is on Charette Hill in Fort Kent, Aroostook County. The massive tree, thought to be about 200 years old, is still pumping out large crops. The late Garfield King, long-time northern-Aroostook fruit explorer, introduced it to me and told me the apple had almost certainly been brought south into Maine by French missionaries long long ago.

How cool is that? (I chose them because of their name.)

We also planted a couple of plum trees.

What’s a little forage into the dirt without finding some slimy buddies?

It was all fun and games until Little Man decided to taste it.

Last but not least, Momma got herself tangled up in the burdocks. That is a pained expression in my horrible attempt of a self-portrait.

You can see the crown up there if you look really carefully.

No? You need a better look?

There was no hair harmed in the creation of this post. There was 30 minutes of pulling, tugging and combing to get it all out. The husband was of no help to me because he was laughing too hysterically.

Those burdocks have met their match. Soon, they’ll be meeting a weed whacker.

Trash to Treasure

2011-04-25T09:05:00.001-04:00

I’m so excited.

When we arrived at my parents yesterday, my dad had a surprise for me in the back of his pickup.

This rather disgusting looking slab of wood used to be the meat counter years and years ago in my grandfather’s store.

This rather disgusting looking slab of wood is going to be getting some much needed love this week.

A bleaching. Lots of sanding. A waxing. Then legs.

It almost sounds like a day at the spa.

She’ll soon be sitting here – to the left of my stove:

It’s a very badly needed workspace.

I can’t wait to go get my hands dirty. (And it doesn’t involve paint. Oh, happy day!)

Hope you all had a fabulous Easter. Ours was a wonderful day filled with extended family and too much good food.

Holy Paint, Batman!

2011-04-22T13:14:00.001-04:00

Before:

Right now:

I’m going to go wash the paint off of myself now.

(Linked up at Centsational Girl)

It’s Spring!

2011-04-20T16:50:00.001-04:00

Mother Nature has not received the memo.

Someone get on that, eh?

Momma’s Got a New Ride

2011-04-19T15:16:00.001-04:00

We’re in town now – close to everything.

I told T I’d be willing to run errands on bike this summer.

Obviously, we needed a way for me to bring the kids along.

The trailer finally arrived yesterday.

Monkey loved it (Little Man was having his nap when T put it together and has yet to try it).

*cue Wicked Witch music*

We’ll be able to leave both vehicles parked much of the time (he mostly uses his motorcycle in the summer months – weather permitting, of course). The kids and I don’t really go very far. I think this is going to be a great thing.

(I love that I’m wearing my painting clothes – but had on nice jeans to run to the grocery store. HA! Real life, people. Real life.)

PS –Yes, we have helmets. This was an impromptu quick turn a few houses down to give it a try. They’ll be finding their way into the kids cubbies by the door in a few days - when it’s warm enough to take them both out.

In need of organization

2011-04-18T08:01:00.001-04:00

Life has been… crazy. Yep. There is no other way to put it. But, we have been loving being near our families. And the kids are eating up all of the extra attention.

Unpacking all of our belongings made me realize one thing. Ok, maybe two. First, we have a lot of stuff. (The two biggest culprits would be toys and crafting stuff – though T has quite a bit of hobby stuff too). Second, I need to do something about the jumbled mess.

I’m in need of quick projects. Quick projects may not have a big impact on their own but they add up fast.

Today, I’m making a knitting needle roll to contain the jumbled mess I have tossed into a tote. They’re nothing new. Just new to me. :)

Inspirations:

Oooh… the possibilities. It gives me a great excuse to get out of my painting clothes for an hour and I won’t be so discouraged while trying to get scarves and hats knitted up for the kids for next winter! Win/Win!

Egg Carton Crafts

2011-03-04T13:42:00.001-05:00

My kids have cabin fever. Actually, I do too. So I set off on a virtual hunt for an idea on what we could craft now that my craft stuff has finally made it out of it’s boxes. (YAY!)

I found these great egg carton caterpillars, and having no shortage of empty egg cartons in our possession, I thought this would be a great activity.

It required quite a bit of help from me, but they loved it. Then I started chopping an egg carton apart and let Monkey have at it with paint. Some pipe cleaner stems and we got some adorable roses to add a touch of spring to the playroom.

Having not had enough messy play, Monkey wanted to make pictures while Little Man had his nap. I also have a large collection of mulberry scraps for scrapbooking (because I do so much scrapbooking nowadays – note the dripping sarcasm).

I think I’m framing them for the playroom.

I really channeled my inner Picasso – except with paper and glue.

What messy fun have you been having with your kids?

I’m currently hunting for more ideas along the lines of the egg cartons. I have a few to pull out for next week… and Monkey wants roses for her bedroom too.

World Cup Biathlon 2011

2011-03-03T15:38:00.001-05:00

Fort Kent was dubbed years ago as The Little Town that Could.

Boy, can they ever.

A few weeks ago, Fort Kent hosted World Cup Biathlon competitions. There were so many activities in town for the events. We didn’t do nearly as much as town was offering.

We did very much enjoy the International Light Parade. Our favorite float, by far, was roasting marshmallows and handing them out to the crowd.

So much awesome.

An ice castle was built in the middle of Down Town.

Inside was a bar – also made of ice.

Then, of course, there were the actual races. It was really cool to watch.

We did need to entertain ourselves (the children) a little while they were actually out on the course.

If you’re in the area this Saturday, be sure to check out the Can Am Sled Dog Races. There aren’t nearly as many activities, but it’s just as fun!

This time, I’m packing a thermos of hot chocolate in the back pack.

Our new OLD house

2011-03-02T07:42:00.001-05:00

WHEW! What a whirlwind this past month has been. We closed on our new house on Friday and were moved in by Sunday thanks to a lot of help from a few family members.

A month later, we’re all settled in. All boxes, save a few, have been unpacked as of 2 weeks ago. The few in question are either craft boxes (I’m not ready to deal with my craft room) and paintings or curtains and the like that I’ll take out after we’re done all of the painting we’re working on. There is a ton of painting.

One of T’s new coworkers is a local historian. While we aren’t sure and will probably never know for certain, he estimates the house was built around 1850. How cool is that?

Without further ado – Welcome! (LOTS of pictures ahead – all from before we did a thing to it – with a summary of what we’re working on)

The front of our wonderful new home. I think I’m taking the bush out this summer and putting a perennial bed along the front of the house.

While I always wanted an old farmhouse, I’ve always imagined it with a rather large covered porch for rocking chairs. That’s the only thing this house is missing – and believe me, I’m not going complaining. We do have a great sun porch and rather large deck to make up for it.

We have more land than our old property but the back yard size seems to be about the same (the property line runs into the woods and down a bank whereas our old place was 100% lawn). We also have a detached single bay garage T is going to turn into his work shop. (Canoe Making 101 may be our theme next winter!)

This is the sight that greets you when you walk in the door. This great little pot belly stove has been taken out temporarily. It was replaced with a fully functioning large wood stove which we’ve been using to heat the house this year. We’re planning on putting in one of those fancy schmancy dual box furnaces this summer for both oil and wood and putting the pot belly back in – just for looks.

Here is where all of the food magic happens. The cabinets are getting a makeover to a cream color soon. The walls are going to be blue (the same blue I just painted in the old house. Shush. I liked that blue!)

My only complaints about the house are in this room, though.

There is no range hood. I managed to burn supper for the first time ever because I was opening a door/window to get the stir fry steam out of my face and stepped away too long to do so. I’ve been informed there are stoves that have them built into them (from beneath) and will be looking into these when we’re ready to buy new appliances – in 5 or so years.
There is no work space near the oven. I have a solution figured out and once my dad is on mud season layoff, he and I have a date in his workshop. Let’s just say it involves a really old meat counter from my grandfathers old store.

Great backsplash. I don’t mind the black counters but the black does show EVERY.SINGLE.PIECE of dust and toast crumb. When we’re ready to deal with the kitchen (ie, buy new appliances), I can see us probably changing it.

We have a dining room. Here is your first good look at the gorgeous floors here. They are gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. This room will be getting the same blue on the walls and a fresh coat of white on the trim. We have forced hot air here and have grates throughout the house. Some of them are fabulous old grates with intricate details. Others, like the brown one in this room, are more modern – and plain and boring. I’d like to find more period appropriate grates to replace the modern, plain and boring.

We also have a powder room. Having always been in a one bathroom home, I never realized how great having two toilets in a house was. Yes. It’s awesome. It is going to get a pale green wall treatment as soon as the wallpaper has been dealt with. It will also eventually get new flooring.

This is our playroom. It has since received blue on the walls and white on the trims while the built in shelf is cream. While I’m not a fan of carpets, I like this one.

One wall did have wall paper on it. We’ve peeled off the top layer but still need to attack the glue portion before we can paint it. It’s the same wallpaper as in the powder room.

Our living room is massive. The walls are now blue and half of the trim is white. We’re working on it in small sections.

Here is the other half of the living room. That’s right. Other half. When I said massive, I wasn’t joking. LOVE the built-in. It’s going to get a fresh coat (or 10) of cream color also. T has already modified it to fit a new tv. The shelving unit isn’t deep enough to fit our old mammoth. Though, the tv will only serve the purpose of movies, dvds, games and some random online streaming. Having no cable/satellite service has been a very welcome thing in our home.

Our very narrow staircase proved interesting when we tried getting our bed upstairs. Let’s just say our Queen box spring didn’t make it. (We discovered the beauty of split box springs after a week with our mattress on the floor). I’ll be giving the stairs a new paint treatment and adding some sand to the final coat on the treads. I worry with the kids and socked feet about slipping.

I had one requirement before we moved in. This rail HAD to be changed. It was wobbly and I had no way to even put in a portable baby gate to keep the kids safe near the top of the stairs. My dad built in a great new rail and gate.

Monkey picked her own bedroom. She picked the bedroom that has no closet. She’ll regret that as a teenager. haha She also picked her wall color – pink like Minnie’s [Mouse] bow. I’m still working on painting the trim white and need to add white polka dots to one wall. Then I can put in curtains/shades and wall hangings.

That left Little Man with this room. It’s basically the same as Monkey’s – but he has a little closet. His walls are now a blue similar to what he had at the old house. I’m also still working on painting the trim white. Then I can put in curtains/shade and wall hangings for him as well.

Eventually, some day, way way way way in the future, I might consider taking down the paneling to see what’s underneath. Not any time soon. I’m really not ready to deal with whatever surprises I’m sure to find (I actually know what’s in Little Man’s room because his closet was built in and the back wall has a very lovely OLD pink wall paper. We know how I feel about wall paper. haha)

Our room is pretty big, also. I have no idea what I’m doing in here other than the fact the walls will get a color – someday – and the trim will become white – also someday.

I’ll have room for a sitting area if I feel like getting fancy, even.

We also have a fourth bedroom that is slowly becoming my office and crafting space. No, there hasn’t been any crafting in here for a while (I’m in need of a fix, too). The only thing I’ve managed to make is a couple of draft stoppers. That’s not very fun.

This room will be getting a pale green on the walls and white trim. I also may have discovered a surprise under the carpeting (the only carpet in the house that could stand to be replaced but it actually won’t look bad with the new wall color, so it’s staying for now). There MAY be an old barn floor type wood floor under that carpet. I’m going by what I’ve seen in a closet and hoping to have a great surprise when I’m ready to peek under a corner in the room.

The chimney at the end of the room had chipping and flaking paint. I attacked it with a putty knife and have since scraped away about 1/4-1/3 of the paint. I’m kind of liking the half scraped look, but knowing myself as I do, I’m sure I’ll keep scraping away a little at a time until I see all of the brick underneath.

Last but not least, the full bathroom. In a few years, I’m getting a new one. I’m not painting or anything in here until we’re ready to rip everything out. I’m hoping to talk T into a claw foot tub with a shower kit set up. He’s currently not sold on the idea. I have time to sell him on it.

I’ll leave the general layout of the room as is so we don’t need to play with moving plumbing. In a house this old, that’s not really something we want to mess with.

The double vanity has rustic charm. It’s not the kind of rustic charm I’m aiming for though. T is on board with pulling this out.

We may put a new water efficient toilet in sooner rather than later because the green beast is a water hog. If I get my claw foot tub set up, the current stand up shower (not seen in the pictures) will be converted to a closet as we don’t have one. There is one in the hallway being shared by Monkey and extra linens, but bath stuff is currently on a large wire shelving unit in the bathroom. It’s not very nice to look at – but it gets the job done!

So, there you have it. This is what has been taking all of my time. I fear I’ll be painting for the rest of my life at the rate we’ve been getting the painting done. I just keep reminding myself one little section at a time and it will get done. (And primer is my best friend as far as turning the trim white. Yes… yes it is.)

The kids had no problems adjusting to the new house. There really was no adjustment period whatsoever, which surprised me. I expected a few rough nights or a tantrum or two. Nothing. They moved in and took over like they owned the place.

More updates to come soon! I’ve got a few new recipes to share as well.

I hope winter has been treating you well!

Avocado Ice Cream

2011-01-09T13:52:00.001-05:00

I’m participating in an online Iron Chef competition with friends. Our mystery ingredient this week was avocado. Having just received an ice cream maker attachment for my beloved Kitchenaid, I decided it was destiny that I’d seen an Alton Brown recipe for Avocado Ice Cream a couple of weeks ago.

What you need:

12 ounces avocado meat, approximately 3 small to medium

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Start by peeling and pitting your avocados. Mix with lemon juice, milk and sugar. Alton calls for a blender, but I don’t own one (nor does my mom, who’s kitchen I’ve taken over).

Her trusty immersion blender did just fine for us.

As with everything, Monkey was all too eager to help.

Whisk in the heavy cream, cover and chill 4-6 hours (until it reaches a temperature of 40F or lower).

Process in your ice cream maker, according to manufacturer’s instructions.

It sets up fairly quickly (it took mine about 10 minutes).

You can serve immediately if you prefer soft serve. We put ours in the freezer over night for a Sunday afternoon snack.

Mmmmm. It didn’t taste as I expected. While it’s not my favorite (chocolate!), I enjoyed the creamy nutty flavor.

Enjoy!

Happy 2011

2011-01-06T09:31:00.001-05:00

“Every ending leads to a new beginning”

We brought in 2011 with a bang this year. We received (and accepted) an offer on our old house last week. T happened to be off this weekend, so we decided it was now or never in going to empty the place out.

There wasn’t all that much left. The kitchen hadn’t been packed yet. We expected to be spending a week there later this month to finish packing it up in anticipation of moving everything to the new house.

Instead, all of our furnishings and the last of our belongings had to be trucked 200 miles and placed into storage.

With the help of a handful of family members (and a friend of my father-in-law), we had everything loaded onto a U-Haul in a matter of hours (even our massive swingset/clubhouse!).

I thought that was pretty good, considering we still had quite a few boxes to pack.

I was never in love with our house, but it was our house. We worked hard to buy it and we put a lot of sweat and tears into that place.

We got married while living there. We brought our babies home to it. We have nearly 7 years of living and memories inside those walls.

I never did get to finish all of my projects. I figure that’s normal for someone who always has a never-ending list of projects, though.. right?

And the only thing left are bare walls

years of memories

echoes of little voices

echoes of babies crying, laughing, playing

and echoes of the pitter patter of little feet

ready for someone else to come in and make it home.

We are [im]patiently waiting for the closing on our new house. We found a great old place in town. Maybe we’re crazy to get into the upkeep of an extremely old house, but we both loved the place when we finally saw it in person (after nearly a year of driving by – and looking at the listing online - saying “God, that place is perfect for us.” ).

So, here we are in limbo. We’ve been living with my parents for the past 2 weeks now with 4-5 weeks left to go in this portion of our adventure. The kids have adjusted so much easier than I anticipated, though it was probably easy to adjust living here with Grammy and Pa. The new house with just our little family might be more of an adjustment. Luckily, children are resilient little creatures – and I’m trying to keep them busy enough they (specifically Monkey) don’t have time to dwell on it.

So welcome, 2011 – welcome. Here is to the start of our new adventure.

For the record - I am NEVER MOVING AGAIN!

Homemade Classmate Gifts

2010-12-19T14:27:00.001-05:00

In trying to stick to my mostly handmade Christmas (which I’ve failed miserably at thanks to our move), I decided to try to keep gifts simple for Monkey’s classmates. We’ve had a lot of fun putting them together!

Included in each gift are Snickerdoodles, some homemade Hot Cocoa Mix and some Magic Reindeer Dust.

I bought some cheap red plastic bowls, made tags for the top, we had a glitter party and added some curly ribbon. Voila!

Monkey doesn’t really want to let them go. Lucky for her I made sure we made extra of everything.

Here’s a final look at our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We had a lot of fun making ornaments for it.

I hope everyone is having all ready for Christmas and having a wonderful holiday season!

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown

2010-12-06T15:11:00.001-05:00

With our upcoming move looming over my head, I decided not to get a Christmas tree this year. I even went so far as to pack up all of my ornaments and most of our Christmas decorations. They have all since made their way (along with numerous other loads of boxes) into my parents shed for storage.

Thanksgiving came and went. The holiday spirit started to nibble it’s way in to my soul. BAH. How can I not have a Christmas tree for my kids?

What did I do? I went into the woods behind my house (on my land, k?) and dug up a 4 foot Charlie Brown tree. I didn’t even cut the thing. I dug it up.

I even had to buy a string of lights because those are all in storage, too. (I like to buy the strands that are green with white lights but wasn’t paying attention and picked up white. Oops).

Ok. We have a tree. We have lights. Now what?

A trip to JoAnn’s was in order. We found some great papers for a paper chain garland.

The only casualty during the construction of the chain was a slice of my thumb when Little Man tried to help with the paper cutter. Better mine than his.

Well, that’s a little better. I should have bought more paper and made a longer chain. Oops again.

A trip to Target got us a few $1 ornaments to add. During the packing of some boxes last night, I found the ornaments we picked up at Santa’s Village this summer. This week, we’ll have a crafting session to make some salt dough ornaments (especially the hand print ornaments!).

Will it be the prettiest tree we’ve ever had? Not a chance. But it will have been decorated 100% with love.

Now what do I do about a topper?