Who knew this was so much work?

When I started this blog, ummm, less than two months ago, I had no idea how hard it was. At first, I stayed on top of it. Who am I kidding, I stayed on top of it for like three days. I was using it as an excuse to get things done around the house while I was on summer vacation. Before I knew it, my summer class started and so did all of the homework that came with it. And now that it’s over, I feel like all I need to do is relax. But the thing is it wasn’t hard. I shouldn’t be relaxing. There is no need to relax. Either way I’m in a rut. Roscoe and I are hanging out together in our basement watching Friday Night Lights and friend M informed me today that I’m a movie/tv freak. These days I either have my nose in a book or my eyes glued to the TV. I need some inspiration, a spark, something to get me out of this funk. Hopefully it comes this weekend and I have a new blog post on Monday. Until then, happy weekend!

things from around the world wide web...

schools started (and almost ended).  i haven't had time to do a full post or any fun projects, but i wanted to make sure i posted something to stay in the swing of things...

here are some things that i found tonight that i love...

who wouldn't mind having these adorable recipe boxes on their kitchen counter full time?...via design*sponge

seriously considering signing up for this when i'm addressing thank you cards after our wedding...

i love maine and design...please take me here...via casasugar

this is GREAT news!!!...via casasugar

along with a 50mm lens for my digital camera, i'd like a new flash...look at the difference it makes!

my class ends next week!  can't wait!  wahoo!

i adore thrifting

To procrastinate from doing homework and the endless amount of cleaning that I had (have) to do before Mr. Man's mom comes for the weekend, I decided to swing by my favorite thrift store in Madison.  The St. Vincent DePaul store on Jenny Street is the oldest and biggest here in town.  I'm never able to escape without putting my debit card to good use (or Mr. Man's). 

When I first started thrifting, I would always walk in looking for specific things, "A blank for the blank that I can do blank to."  And I never had good luck.  After changing my mindset to, "Just look to look, look at everything with an open mind," I've had much better luck.  I just slowly peruse and I look at everything.  Linens, housewares, books, magazines, frames, furniture, lamps, seriously EVERYTHING.  And these days, I hardly walk out without a cart full.  It drives Mr. Man nuts.  When we go together, I can tell when he's over it all.  He starts following me around the store, looking over my shoulder, literally breathing on my neck.  Drives me nuts.  So much so, that eventually I get so annoyed that I insist that we leave.  I think it's all part of his master plan. 

Anyway, Monday I went.  By myself.  And I loved every minute of it.  I normally go on the weekends, when it's crowded, people are all over the place, the aisles are crowded.  Monday, it was empty.  Me, one older lady, and the workers.  I was there for an hour and a half.  I left with GREAT goodies.

The houseware aisles are probably my favorite place to find different odds and ends.  I love looking for old juice glasses that I can turn into candles.  They put a smile on my face.  Also in these aisles I always scour for brass candlesticks and brass birds.  With a little sanding, spray metal primer, and spray paint, they turn into great updated accessories for our home.  Here are some candlesticks I found on Monday.

On this particular thrifting trove, I found this beautiful piece just staring at me.

I didn't hesitate, didn't think twice.  At a buck seventy, this owl was going home with me.  I have big plans for this napkin holder.  It's going to be great.

Updating brass is kinda a kick I've been on lately.  It screams dated in its original state, but with some imagination (and spray paint) it can be glorious.  So when I saw this lamp, I knew it was going home with me.  The fact that it has pull chains (my Grampa swears by those pull chains) and it has double bulbs (which I'm supposed to be calling lamps now, based on my lecture on Thursday) are mere bonuses!

This lamp immediately caught my eye.  I love the crackled glass spheres around the base.  I love the vintage brass floral decorations that went along with the spheres. 

But it's kind of a love/hate relationship.  When I put it in my cart, I loved it.  When I put it on the counter to check out with it, I hated it.  And my mind keeps waivering.  Hopefully I can find a shade that'll make me love it.  Should I paint the brass?  Or leave it in it's original shape?  Thoughts?  Ideas?  Help!  Here's a close up.

And finally, I love ornate, old frames.  I absolutely love finding them, spray painting them bright fun colors, using white mats, and framing original artwork or black and white photographs.  Here is the pile I gathered up on this latest adventure.

All for about $80.  The lamps were more than half of that.  But lamps are always expensive and these beauties are going to be one of the kind.  All the treasures I picked up will be.  And you can't put a price on unique objects going into your home. They help show your guests who you are, both individually and as a couple.  We don't want a house full of Potterybarn accents.  As appealing as they are, everyone has them. 

i'm a faker...

...when it comes to sewing.  On a whim four years ago, Mr. Man and I decided to buy some lounge chairs for our living room to provide guests with extra seating.  At the time, we only had a couch.  Well, we got the chairs at a couple of thrift stores, for a grand total of $15.  As comfortable as they were, they were ugly.  No problem I said, I'll just make slip covers for them.  At this point, Mr. Man gave me a puzzled look, "How?  With your magical sewing machine?"  I replied, full of sarcasm, "Yep, the magical one you're going to buy me."  Off to Target we went.  After HOURS of pinning and sewing, pinning and sewing, I finally had two slip covers made out of king sized sheets we also got a Target. 

And that ladies and gentleman, was my first time using a sewing machine.

Sure, since then I've made some pillows.  Hemmed a pair of pants or two.  But every time, I've winged it.  No pattern; just me, pins, fabric, and my sewing machine.  Basically, it's amateur hour of here.

With my new found confidence, my obsession with fabulous fabric began.  I started buying anything I loved, without thinking about what to do with it.  And quickly, my collection started busting at the seams (one day, I'll post a picture).  I've been saying for months, maybe even years, that I'll make dinner napkins out of all the fabric to give away as gifts and to keep on hand.  Well then life got in the way.  Fast forward to this summer and my tin jars.  I put off the napkin experiment yesterday and today was the day to put it into action.

I ran to Ace Hardware this morning before my breakfast date, spoke with this nice gentleman named Brad who was able to cut me a piece of plexiglass before I had time to stroll down the aisles of the store looking for more inspiration.  For a mere $12 (take that Hobby Lobby), I got my 18" x 18" square template to use for cutting my napkins.  WAHOO!  I was finally ready!  Here's how I made the magic happen.

I went to find the design*sponge DIY tutorial that I thought I book marked, but apparently didn't.  Wah wah.  (I did eventually find it).

Then, I decided to stop looking at the tutorial.  Step three of said tutorial is ridiculous, "press down a 1/4″ rolled hem on the top and bottom, pinning in place if necessary."  Uhhhh, what is a rolled hem?  So I did a quick google search and it turns out it requires a special foot for my sewing machine.  Well, that wasn't going to happen.

Next, I had to pick out fabric to make the napkins out of, grab the supplies I'll need to cut it with (cutting mat, rotary cutter, plexiglass square). I ended up with these three fun ones.

The red fabric is vintage fabric I picked up a while ago and the other two are from Hobby Lobby.  Anyway...

I laid out the fabric, put the plexiglass on top and went to tracing.

Here's a better shot of how the plexiglass helped guide the rotary cutter. 

So I went about cutting square after square after square.  Twenty squares later, I was ready to sew!

So, there I was.  All these perfect squares and not a clue as to how to sew them.  I mean, I know how to sew a straight seam, but I didn't want the raw edge to show.  So somehow, I had to roll the fabric under and sew it.  If I had three hands, I could have done it no problem.  If I had four, I could have gotten a good picture of my failed attempts.  I tried pinning it, but there wasn't really enough fabric to pin.
 
So, being the faker I am, I just started rolling the fabric with my hands. 
 

So, I twisted all four sides, on twelve napkins, and my wrist is still a little sore.  And, I'm in LOVE with the results.  At the beginning, I was worried about making sure all the seams on any given napkin were equal, but that soon became a thought of the past.  I came to the realization quickly that people are going to be wiping their mouths with these napkins and they aren't going to notice if the seams don't match, and if they do, they'll love the imperfections or they won't.  If they don't, they won't get any more goodies from me.  :)  And hey, an imperfect cloth napkin is better for the environment than a perfect paper napkin so I'm at peace with the imperfections. 

Here are all twelve of the finished lovelies. 

Here's an up close picture of the fabulous seaming job I did.  Try not to be super impressed.  I know, it's gonna be hard.  :)

And finally, this is a (bad) picture of a napkin when it's unfolded. 

Tomorrow's a new day, with new projects to work on! 

task jar: day 1

Today couldn't be any different than yesterday.  First,  yesterday was GORGEOUS.  Today is, well, not.  Rainy, grey, cold...lame.

I woke up to a breakfast invitation and I was getting ready, another friend called for a ride home from the airport.  So, I rescheduled the breakfast (tomorrow!), and ran a couple of quick errands before going to the airport.  First stop, Barnes and Nobel to return a couple of books.  I found the same EXACT books at Costco for HALF off the price I had paid at B&N.  So back they went...

Next up, returning some knobs I got at Anthropologie for a jewerly board project that I did with my friend L while visiting her in Las Vegas.  Random question, but how do those girls work at Anthro?  How do they go home with a paycheck?  I feel like I blow mine there and I don't even work there.  Could you imagine working there?  Being privy to all the sales, being able to see all that fabulous merchandise still in there big cardboard boxes in the back room?  Even thinking about that scene makes me giddy with excitment.  ANYWAY...

Picked up my friend from the airport, dropped her off, and then decided to go see a movie. 

...So much for my uber productive day, inspired by my task cans. 

Letters for Juliet was good.  I'm happy I went by myself.  Mr. Man is always scoffing, "so predictable", "oh my gosh, I didn't see that coming"...all while rolling his eyes.  So I sat there and enjoyed the chick flick by my lonesome and left with a smile on my face.

Hoping to recovering some of my lost time, I ran upstairs to pull my first circle out of it's home.  I couldn't help but frown as I read it.  "Make 12 dinner napkins."

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuummer.  I AM excited to do that.  I have PILES of fabric in the closet of my office/craft room, but I wasn't prepared.  Instead of making those 12 napkins, I decided to get ready to make those 12 napkins.  I've been thinking for a couple months of how I can make cutting the fabric easier for myself.  Then today while I was in Hobby Lobby I walked by the quilting section and noticed something like this:

Yeah!  A plexiglass square that I could just trace with my roter cutter would make things SO much easier.  Although this was for quilters, I could still use it for my napkins.  But I couldn't pay $23 bucks for the thing.  So I put it back on it's hook and walked away.  All was not lost, inspired by what I saw, I called my local Ace Hardware asked if they cut plexiglass, got the answer I was hoping for (YES!), and plan on picking it up tomorrow morning before my breakfast date.

Tomorrow I will make 12 dinner napkins!

...and a summer of fun begins...

It's been almost a month since school got out for the summer...and this girl has been living large and relaxing.  I jetted off to Vegas to visit my bff from college, L the day I turned in my last project.  I was there for week, enjoying myself, sleeping in far too long, hanging out with L's dog Boss and met all of her friends.  It was the perfect way to end the school year and to catch up with an old friend.  I was home for two days, then packed my bags and left for Pittsburgh to visit my friend M with two of her friends from Grand Rapids meeting me out there.  The weekend was fabulous...full of shopping and Sex and the City.  It was perfection. 

...and since I've been home...I've been l...a...z...y.

Sure I've done a few things.  My parents came out to visit us over Memorial Day, so I cleaned the house.  I've baked some goodies for Mr. Man, and after starting to watch Smallville the Friday before school got out, I can say with a smile on my face, that I'm watching the first episode of season eight, the last season on DVD as I write this post.  Twenty-one more episodes of this season, all of season nine (which I'm going to have to figure out a way to watch soon!), and then I'm all caught up when the tenth and final season starts this fall.  But nothing I've done has been productive.  Nothing.

Inspired by a post I was pointed to by M, I decided to whip up a couple of jars myself.  One full of DIY projects I've been wanting to do, and the other full of house projects I've had on an ever growing to-do-list.  So I dug through my cupboards and closets and was able to come up with two cans, some twine, scrapbook paper I haven't used in ages but still love, a couple pens, a circle puncher, and scissors.  I hopped back onto our bed (hey, I could do this while I watch Smallville...amazing!) and got to work. 

I whipped up these two bad boys. 

Started punching some circles. 

Pulled out the multiple to-do-lists I have going on, transfered my goals onto the backs of the circles, folded them all into quarters and threw them into the cans.

And Viola! 

The goal is to pull out one from each can every day and complete the tasks at hand.  I HAVE to do the goals but I can't use it as a way to avoid other things (school work, house work, hanging out with friends).

Mr. Man has already joked that although it's a great in theory, he can't wait until the day I decide I don't want to do the circle I pull out of the jar and just give up on the whole idea altogether.  ...I'll show him!

I start tomorrow!

PS- M loved the idea too.  But naturally took more time with her labels and came up with these beauties!

Since then, I've requested that she make me two to replace mine with, DIY and house, and a new FUN! one so that Mr. Man and I can toss in some fun things to do around town.,.new resturants, new trails to hike, new bike paths to explore, new places to shop (and yes, the FUN! idea is stolen from M too).  M included a jar for her husband, Mr. Man's task just got thrown in with mine.  :)

PSS- M's new lens is AMAZING.  I've only seen a handful of her shots with the 50mm lens, but so far I'm in love!  Can't wait to get one of my own!