graceful designs

A Curtain

I finished my curtain yesterday afternoon. I even installed it myself!

Do you see the extra little holes near the hardware? There are lots more of those, thankfully well hidden. My relationship with power tools is a tumultuous one.

This is what the window looks like now.

There is a dip in the middle of the rod that will be fixed when Daryl puts the last piece of hardware up. I'm still recovering from yesterday's struggle.

Laura is on the couch today because she is sick. She was up in the night with a 103 fever, but was quite angry when I kept her home from school today.

So I think I like it. Daryl definitely does, which is a relief. He was excited, and proud of me. The total cost of the project was around $15.00. The hardware was between $8-9, and the fabric was $5.77/yard.

When I first put the curtain up I was worried that the room was too boring and bland. So I pulled out some brighter decorations for my little shelf to bring a little color into the room.

The weaving was done by my grandmother.

A little note about the window~ When the house was built there was no window on that wall. We found this window at a builders outlet store for around $60.00. Daryl and my brother in law installed it. That was probably the best $60.00 ever spent on this house. The room is so much brighter and airier. We will be in big trouble if it ever gets broken though, I doubt a replacement would be easy to find.

Next on my list is pulling the rest of the room together. I would love to do something with the chair to the left of the window. It's pretty ugly. I bought fabric to recover it, but unfortunately realized that reupholstering furniture is out of my league. Maybe a nice throw pillow would be enough for now...

I'm off to the couch to color with Laura. I hope she is feeling better soon.

A Shopping Expedition

Yesterday morning I dragged myself out of bed, poured myself a travel mug of coffee, packed my baggie of Cheerios (because I am classy like that) and hit the road for my forty minute drive into town.

First stop was Walmart, which was pleasantly deserted. I bought fabric and hardware for making a window treatment in my living room.

When I bought the fabric I loved it, but now I am worrying that it is too grandma-ish. I am going to give it a try anyway, hopefully I'll be happy.

Next stop was Goodwill. I spent $4.82.

The strawberry sheet reminds me of summer, which feels soooo far away. 11 degrees is just too cold.

Last stop was Michael's. I finally picked up a copy of Cloth Paper Scissors.

I wanted to show my kids that we have art in our house made  by someone famous, and they were  sufficiently impressed, as was I. Jodi's work is simply wonderful.

I don't often go shopping by myself, but yesterday morning was refreshing and relaxing. I think I might try to give it a go more regularly.

I'm off to cut into that fabric~ hopefully I'll have a finished project to show off tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Can we talk desserts?

Dairy Free ones?

I am currently on week four of a dairy-free dietary experiment. So far, so good. I made it through the holidays intact, and only occasionally have severe longings. I do like cheese. And cookies. And ice cream...

In an effort to keep this effort positive, and have food be pleasure not simply sustenance, I am in a search for yummy goodness that satisfies my cravings. 

Brownies fit the bill.

Ice cream is out, but sorbet is in.

Very, very in, if you judge by how much I ate during last nights episode of Lie to Me (a show I thoroughly enjoyed, by the way.)

I made a dairy free cake for Laura's birthday that was quite good, but I had to forgo the cream cheese icing, which was only mildly painful...

What I am looking for is recipes. Tried and true. That don't make you  long for buttery goodness. With no dairy, or weird chemically engineered dairy substitutes. Margarine is out. Soy milk is currently in my repertoire, but I am not really interested in soy cheese or other pretend foods. Olive oil and applesauce are my baking friends. And I of course have eggs. Lots and lots of eggs, as my hens have been good to me this winter.

Any suggestions?

Thankful

Today I am thankful that the holiday season is officially over in our household.

I am thankful that the pinata held up.

I am thankful for my family and friends. It sure is nice spending time together.

I am thankful for the promise of a sunny day. Cold, but sunny.

I am thankful for new beginnings, and a reason for hope.
 
 We are celebrating President Obama today, and quite excited about the future.

A Week in Review

This week I:

~Made heavy use of my breadmaker. And only forgot the flour once. I am loving a variation of this recipe.

~The Crockpot came in handy too. Those two machines make a handsome duo.

~Got packages sent out. Finally!

~Cried too many times, and realized I need to lighten up. A lot.

~Enjoyed American Idol, but wished that they would leave out the exploitation of the mentally ill. I betcha people would still watch it.

~Gazed at my recently acquired supermarket plants, and pretended it wasn't frigid and simply awful out.

Enjoy you weekend, and stay warm!

Dog Water

Braeden had sticky hands yesterday and asked to wash them. I turned on the bathroom sink, and he got very upset.
Our conversation went like this:

"I need dog water"
"No, we wash our hands in the sink"
"No, I need DOG WATER!!"
"We don't wash our hands in the dog water. We use the sink"
"NO! I need a wag!"
"A what?"
"A WAG!!"
"A rag?"
"Yes!"
 
Problem solved.

Six

Yesterday we celebrated Laura's birthday.

When I was pregnant and imagining life with a daughter, I never thought it would be quite like this.

How could I have any idea that my daughter would be so brilliant and beautiful~that she would have such fierce determination? And a quirky, absolutely awesome sense of style? That looking at her when she sleeps would still make my heart ache, feeling blessed beyond belief.

Happy Birthday, Laura. you give us many reasons to celebrate.

A Frugal Kitchen Makeover

There are many, many things I love about our home. I hope to never leave it. On the other hand, there are a few things that I could do without. One of them was this kitchen closet.

It was functional, but ugly. The doors always popped off, and it was big enough to be a collecting spot for too much junk. We were always annoyed by it, but didn't know what to do until I saw this post.

Inspired, I put the word out, and kept my eyes open for a hutch. One day I stopped into the Salvation Army with $35.00 of babysitting money burning a hole in my pocket. There was a hutch against the back wall marked $59.99, with a half off sticker on it. I knew it was meant for me. I bought it immediately, stopped at a pay phone and called my husband with the news that he had two hours to find a pickup truck, drive into town, and get our new hutch. With the help of his dad, he brought a very heavy piece of furniture home, and then was stuck with the task of getting it into the house, tearing out the closet, and patching and painting the walls and ceiling. I am sure I said it then, but thank you honey... This was one of my great ideas that put a lot of pressure on Daryl.

But it was worth it.

Doesn't this look better? I wish I had taken before pictures of the hutch. It was dark brown, with yellow velvet fabric lining the back walls. It came with doors on top, but I recently realized that the reason I haven't painted them and put them on is because I didn't want doors on. So I am calling it done. I lined the back wall with muslin and vintage ribbon from my stash,and the paint was an oops paint from Home Depot that only cost $1.99. It's not quite so bright in person, I couldn't get a decent picture without the flash.

I love my kitchen now. I love how much brighter and happier it is, and that it represents me so much more than that closet. I love that the hutch is really functional. Those drawers hold a lot, and our dishes are much easier for the kids to grab now. I love that almost everything displayed is a "found" treasure, either from a yard sale, auction, my mom, a clearance aisle, or the dump (I seem to find all of my milk glass there~I don't know why so many people consider it garbage, but I guess I'm glad they do.) 

I am slowly working on mini makeovers in other rooms in our home, trying to shop from my basement and closets, and the occasional free pile. It's a fun challenge. Now if I could only find about 1,000 feet of hard wood flooring discarded...

Creating time for Creativity

It is a dream of mine to commit a portion of each day to creativity. To have the rest of my life in order so I could play guilt free, and learn and grow.

I'm not quite there yet, but I am moving in the right direction.

(Does anyone know how to take a good picture of a tall bottle? Tricky.)

 

Today is a snow day, and I took advantage of the down time and made something new.

 

I played with picnik too. I wonder if there is a way to turn the polaroids in different directions...

Does anyone have any ideas on how to structure time for creativity? Any tips, suggestions, books, podcasts?

Crazy Cats

There is something strange going on around here. 

 

I wouldn't say these boys were kind and loving. They are quite nasty in fact. And Tigger (our older fat cat), who can be the queen of nastiness has been seen caressing the baby as well.

They aren't nice to me, and they ignore all other toys, but this baby doll gets an awful lot of loving.

What's up with that?