Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Time Management


I'll be the first to admit that I work well in a schedule. In fact, I only work well when I have a schedule. Perhaps this fact is the reason why the last few weeks I've been feeling frazzled. I have picked up a new hobby (sewing), decided to bake a beach ball cake for my son's birthday, finish his scrapbook (I'm on April '09) before his party in 2.5 weeks, and join a new playgroup. This has left me with no schedule which has left my house a mess, projects not finished, laundry piled to the ceiling, and me feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. I feel like the clock is ticking and I'm failing at everything I'm trying to do. Ever feel like that?

So, I apologize for not posting more this week. I'm going to work on my "schedule". I've decided that I need to do more things for me in the evening and that means less computer time. Anyone else wish there were a few more hours in the day?

What do you do for you?

Monday, August 24, 2009

The Pillowcase

My sewing class yesterday was so fun. I ended up being the only student, so I got one-on-one attention and got to ask a lot of questions. I'm so surprised at everything I remember from my sewing days MANY years ago.

I pulled my sewing machine up from the basement and I'm going to make a few more pillowcases to practice.

Here is my what I made. Isn't it cute?

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I bought some more fabric (remnants/clearance) and I'm going to practice this week making a few more pillowcases. On Sunday I have my next class and we are making a tote bag. I'll share that too.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Sewing Class

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I have my sewing refresher class tomorrow. I say "refresher" because I did take a class in 7th grade and oddly I remember a lot from that class. I have also sewed a few bags in the past few years that came out alright. I'm really looking forward to it.

I have dreams of making present for people and dresses for my daughter. My Mom gave me her old sewing machine, which is very basic, but it gets the job done.

Our class project is a pillowcase. I'll share it with you tomorrow. Anyone else sew?

Friday, August 21, 2009

The Teacher in Me

I love school supplies. When I was teaching I used to both love and hate this time of year. I hated that my summer was coming to an end, but I loved buying school supplies and decorating my classroom.

I get my love of pens from my Dad. He loves pens, fine point. He would buy a few and split them between the two of us.

I saw a commercial for the Sharpie pen and just had to try it out. Now, I had originally wanted Black, but when I went to Meijer to get it a very rude man was standing right in front of the Sharpie section. So, I patiently waited with my son in the cart and my daughter talking nonstop. After about 1 minute of waiting I politely said "Excuse me, and reached for the pen." He did no move an inch and this entire time did no grab for one pen. Anyway, I accidentally got the blue. The blue is a little darker than your normal blue pen, and I really love it. It doesn't bleed through to the back of the paper and is very smooth.

Here's another Sharpie pen lover. Lila shares my love of pens, so if you are looking for a new pen, she has many reviews on her blog. Here is her thoughts on the Sharpie pen.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Dreamy

I'm in love with this house owned and styled by Kelly Moseley. I love her use of bright punches of colors throughout the home, it feels so cozy and relaxing. This is my favorite room.
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Picture Via Design*Sponge.
I love the calm feeling with the punch of orange. I'm also loving her bamboo blinds mixed with curtains. I guess I'm behind on this trend because I've been seeing it all over the blogs the last few weeks. Oh well, better late than never right?
Kelly Moseley has her own design firm, Anabel Interiors. She also has a blog you can read here.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Going Dutch

Last week as I sat and watched my son steal my daughter's crayons off her art table in her room and color on the floor I starting thinking that there had to be a way to keep him out of her room. Right now we are desperate so I pulled out the old safery gate from the basement and put it up on her door. This of course made her very happy, but it did not make my son happy one bit. In fact, he was very vocal about his feelings!

I just sat there thinking, there has to be a better way. A few days later my daughter politely asked me to "trap me in". She wanted the gate because guess what, little brother was at it again!

Then a thought popped in my head, a dutch door! I vaguely remember my great Aunt Ester having a dutch door at her farm house, but it was an outside door. I found this door at Country Home, which I love, but it is also an outside door.

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They have a tutorial here if you are handy enough to make your own, we are not.

I googled some more and found some beautiful doors at Dutch Door Store, but once again, they were outside doors. I finally found the Jeld-Wen site and they do in fact make interior dutch doors.

I, of course, want two. One for my sons door and one for my daughters. I just need to convince my husband that this idea is genius. Somehow I don't think he'll be as excited about it as I am...

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Happy Flower

When my son was born in September we began the transformation of my daugher's room to a "big girl room". We put our guest room bed in her room, bought her new bedding, and that was about it. Over the past few months we have bought a bookshelf, rug, some artwook, and I've made some things for her walls. Here is the (almost) finished room. I still need to get her a new white table and a new alphabet for her wall.

This is her dresser from her nursery set. I bought the pink curtains from Target. It is a tradition for use to buy her a snowglobe when we go to a new place, so now those are all displayed on her dresser.
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I found these pictures on Etsy from the shop design roots. They were $10 each and I bought
inexpensive white frames from Target to hang them on the wall.

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I made this for her hairbows. I bought all the pieces from Michael's and painted them using pink and
yellow paint. I already had the pink ribbon from another project years ago, so I cut them to size and
hotglued them to the back.

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I had this in the basement. It is a depression class jar that I bought years ago on Ebay. It is the perfect
size for her elastics.

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For her bed, I wanted a quilt. Even though we live in Michigan and it gets very cold in he winter, her bedroom
is very small, so with one vent in her room, it gets quite warm in there. When I saw this bedding I fell in love
with it. It is Happy Flower from Target. I loved the bold colors and the price was right. We don't have a
headboard, and I'm not sure I want one at this point.

The wall flowers are the vinyl appliques that they have on sale in the bedding isle. Her name letters were bought
at Babies R Us before she was born.

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We also got this dollhouse bookshelf from my favorite, Target. I waited for a whle for it to go on sale before
I bought it. It's the perfect height for her and fits all her books. You can see a little of the rug in this picture,
it's also from Target.

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The wall with her closet is her "art center". The table we have in there now is an old side table from the living
room. I have my eye on one from Ikea, but I haven't made it to the store yet to check it out. The chair was a
curb find, and I love it. It reminds me of an old schoolhouse chair. I bought the cork board from, you guessed
it, Target. I sanded it down and painted it using the same paint from the hairbow holder. I also need to get a
new alphabet. This one was a freebie from my teacher days.

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And the last thing left from her nursery is this lightswitch cover. My husband wants to get a new one, but I just
can't part with it.

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Overall, I love the room. It was done on a budget and most things were bought on sale at Target. It feeds her
vibrant personality well.


Monday, August 17, 2009

Table It

Last night I went to my new favorite store, TJMaxx, to look for a few things and found myself in the home section. I was browsing around when I saw a great side table for the living room. I didn't have size dimensions with me, so I decided to go home and talk to Rob about it. Plus, the line was soooo long! It was crazy. I actually walked out of the store without buying a thing.

I went back to today for the table and it was gone! I was so bummed. When I started looking around I found this one.

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I really liked the side detail, and the color. The first one I saw was cracked and in bad shape, so I searched and found another one. I think it looks great next to the chair and I love the way it looks next to the new curtains.

The very best part (and the reason why I love TJMAxx):

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Sunday, August 16, 2009

Yes Please.

I'm not sure which look I like better. The skirts are beautiful and I love the way the looks are styled because they are my style.

Sateen Saturday Skirt (I want the entire outfit)
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Rumpled Cotton Safari Skirt (I'll take this entire look as well)
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Saturday, August 15, 2009

The Tale of the Wallpaper

When we moved into this house 5 years ago we thought about redoing our bedroom. You see, it has floor to ceiling wallpaper, and since we live in a 50's bungalow, there is one really tall wall that I stare at every time I go into our room.

When my mom saw the wallpaper she called it "modern". Her definition of modern and mine are quite different I found out that day. It comes complete with a matching border too.

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We decided we would rather do other projects on the main floor and leave the bedroom alone. So, we did those other projects and for 5 years I've been searching for a way to redo this bedroom without touching the wallpaper. I also need to mention that we have matching blue carpet. As you can see, my option are very limited.

We've decided to put our house up for sale in late winter, early spring. So, I've finally found something that I love and would love to move into a new house with a (hopefully) more neutral color palate.

I found this pillow at TJMaxx. It's Grammercy Studio and it cost $11.99.

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I'm searching for the bedding I have in my mind and when I find it, I'll post it. Stay tuned.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Watch Out!

I love watches. I usually find one I love and wear it for several years. Right now I am wearing a Citzen EcoDrive watch I got for my birthday in 2007. I love it, but I want something new to wear, not as an every day, but more of a "weekend" type watch. I found this one at Fossil. I like it. I had one similar to this a few years ago that I could probably dig out of my drawer, but how fun it that.


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Thursday, August 13, 2009

FALL!

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This is the time of the year where I get
really annoyed because it's 90 degrees outside and every day I get a catalog full of
cold weather clothes. If you remember I really don't care for cold weathr. But, with
that being said, I love the changing of seasons. There is something to be said about
living ina state that has four season. While I'm not looking forward to the colder weather, I'm looking forward to shopping.

A few days ago I got the LLBean catalog. I usually don't get this catalog, but I
ordered my daughters backpack from there last month. I'm impressed. Here are a few
things I found that I think I must have. :)

I love brown suede. I can see these as my go-to every day shoe.I love brown suede. I can see these as my go-to every day shoe.
I love brown suede. I can see these as my go-to every day shoe.
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Aren't these fun! I have a pair of gold ballet flats that I've had for years that are looking worn, so these may need to be purchased as well.
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I've bought a lot of cute tops this summer and it makes me sad to think that
I won't be wearing them for 1/2 a year. So,I'm thinking of buying a few cardigans
to throw over them during the winter. Anyone do this? I like this one, but probably in brown.
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