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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Ho Hum projects

The weather has been miserable this weekend and we had NO plans, that makes for a project heavy weekend.  I still don't have anything finished to show and I've lost a bit of steam because I'm just not blown away by anything.  Don't you hate when that happens?  No epic fails, things just aren't turning out quite like the visions in my head. 
 
I did have one small happy result though.  I wanted to make two extra pillows for our new outdoor patio furniture.  I found a pack of 4 napkins at Target.  They just happen to measure 20" x 20", and what do you know but Joanns has pillow inserts that are 18" x 18".  PERFECT!!!

It only took Stella and I about 10 mintues to do.  It honestly took longer to get my sewing machine out and set up.  I really liked them outside, but in the end I decided to use them in my family room.  Maybe I was just in need of some happy pillows in the house on a dreary weekend.  (They're a bit more yellow than they show in this last picture.)

We have had a few other successes lately... 2 batches of raspberry jam, 2 batches of strawberry, chocolate ice cream, and lemon sorbet.  YUM!  Maybe we'll just stick to the edible projects.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

A year in the making

It's been a year since we moved into our new (old) house.  I thought that for the little anniversary I'd list all of the things we've done, what we'd like to do in the upcoming year, and the "someday" things we'd like to do.  Probably not a fun post for anyone, but it will be good for me to see all that's changed and have a list of things to come.  One thing I've learned is that I'm terrible at taking "before" pictures!

July 8, 2010 - July 8, 2011 DONE:

Living Room:
-paint
-carpet

Family Room:
-paint
-flooring
-fireplace (in progress)
-new light fixture
-window blinds

Kitchen:
-new counters
-new sink
-new faucet
-new flooring
-lights above sink
-painted cabinets
-paint
-tile backsplash
-window blinds

Dining Room:
-paint
-floor
-new light fixture

Nursery:
-paint
-window blinds
-valences
-all of the other decorating!

Master:
-paint
-headboard

Front yard:
-torn everything out
-planted 7 trees
-in the process of planting grass

Back yard:
-torn everything out
-ordered shed

Mud Room:
-shelving

Garage:
-took down cabinets

Plans for the upcoming year:
-do flower beds in the front yard (this summer)
-trees/flower beds in the back yard (this summer)
-redo the back patio (this summer)
-replace siding as needed
-paint the outside of the house
-fence the front yard
-paint the hallway (we have swatches up and we've picked a color so this one will be fairly soon)
-I've seen a few pictures on Pinterest, I want to take out the cabinets and do some shelving.

Someday projects (hopefully that means in the next couple of years):

Powder Room (I'd like to do this this year if I can get Jim on board):
-new vanity
-new light
-new mirror
-paint
-floor?  I'd LOVE to do little hex tiles but I'm not sure how that would work since the tile that's in there continues into the hallway...

Girls Bath:
-paint
-new vanity
-new mirrors
-new lights
-new tile???

Master Bath:
-add a door?
-new tile floor
-new vanity
-new mirror
-new light
-new shower - this is the biggie!  We want to ditch the tub and do a big tiled walk in shower with a partial glass wall and no door!

Masther:
-expand one of the closets
-change the shelving area BACK to a linen closet... I don't know why he ever got rid of it!

Hallway:
-new front door

Family Room:
-built-ins in front of brick wall
-sliding glass door (or maybe french doors)
-get rid of the ceiling texture
-new wood floor
-move the furnace into the garage

Kitchen:
-you name it!  This is the room I'm dying to demo and start from scratch!!!
-add a pantry
-new appliances (move the refrigerator over)
-new tile floor
-knock down half of the wall between the kitchen and dining room
-new cabinets
-new counters
-new sink/faucet
-I want an island, but we'll have to see what the designer says when we find someone to help us
-add a bar to the peninsula if we don't have an island
-add more canned lights
-light above the sink

Dining Room:
-new tile floor
-add a window
-get rid of the ceiling texture
-possibly wainscoting?  I LOVE what Centsational Girl did here!

Living Room:
-redo the fireplace, I don't like the tile he put in

Outside:
-new back patio (maybe pavers???)
-new front patio/walk
-new pillars in the front

Again, if I didn't suck at taking "before" pictures (oh yeah, and if I could actually find any of my pictures from last June - September which sadly seem to be missing) I'd love to do some before/afters, I'll have to try to work on that!

For now I'll have to leave you with a picture of my rapidly growing "baby".  She's already to the point where she doesn't want to just lie back and she gets BORED!  How is it that it takes 9 months to grow a wee one and then when you blink they aren't a teeny tiny anymore?  Sad stuff.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th!


I've never really been a huge nail girl.  I paint them at times, but nothing serious.  However, I recently stumbled upon this blog and I must admit that it's given me a bit of the bug!  She does some of the cutest manicures and I saw many posts with cute little designs on her nails.  I just assumed that she was using some fancy (expensive) machine to do it.  When I finally looked it up on Amazon, the tools cost....  $3.80.  Can you believe that?  Now, you do need to purchase the designs, but still it's pretty resonable.  I still don't think I'll become a serious manicuring girl, but I must admit that this was awfully fun for a holiday (and yes, I still need practice, they're not perfect).  The main reason I got it was for the girls.  Can you imagine the years of fun they'll have with these?  I can see a lot of girly nail slumber parties in our future.

Being a holiday weekend means that of course it's project time for us.  Perhaps someday we'll get to relax on our vacations?

Happy 4th!