2012 TDL: Update!

I thought I'd kick the week off with an update

First, here's the list.

1. Chalkboard paint and frame out the bulkhead in the kitchen.

2. Reorganize my Pinterest boards.

3. New curtains in the dining room.

4. New hummingbird feeders.

5. Laundry room renovation

6. iPhoto overhaul. Delete/Albums/Save

7. Empty at least 2 of Iris's "old clothes" containers.

8. Grow some of our own food.

9. Update/Reorganize some blog stuff.

10. Tap the maple trees

#2. Done.

I added a few new boards and organized my pins accordingly.

Now I can find things easier.

I could go on all day about the silly things (in my opinion) that people pin.

 I don't understand why a scene from Twilight needs to be pinned.

Just me.

Just sayin'.

But I find Pinterest to be such a great organizing tool.

No paper.

No clutter.

I can link to infinite websites, tutorials, and blogs.

#7. Done and done!

Read more about that here.

#8. Progressing.

 I'm going to cross it off but it will really be a work in progress all season. I'll post some pictures just as soon as the work begins.

Danielle and I are planning a trip to the nursery today.

#9. In progress.

You may have already noticed I've deleted, and reorganized some things on my page.

I still want to rewrite the "about blog" and "about me".

Both these things have evolved and I want to update them so they reflect both blog and me accurately.

# 10. Over and out!

We didn't have much success getting alot of sap.

In the end I think we ended up with about 2 oz. of syrup.

But that's ok!

We learned alot (do's and don'ts) and from what I understand, because of this mild winter, nobody had a good harvest.


So things are moving forward and I'm very pleased!


We've been enjoying warm afternoons here out on our back deck.
Enjoying sunshine, spring blooms, and eachother.
Spring fever...the good kind!

2012 TO DO LIST!!!!

I finally sat down and wrote a few things in my notebook. 

Things I'd like to accomplish this year no matter how small or silly they may seem. A couple of them are carried over from last year.

Here is last year's list if you missed it the first time.

It keeps me focused.

This is what I have so far.

1. Chalkboard paint and frame out the bulkhead in the kitchen.

2. Reorganize my Pinterest boards.

3. New curtains in the dining room.

4. New hummingbird feeders.

5. Laundry room renovation

6. iPhoto overhaul. Delete/Albums/Save

7. Empty at least 2 of Iris's "old clothes" containers.

8. Grow some of our own food.

9. Update/Reorganize some blog stuff.

10. Tap the maple trees

Much shorter than last years.
I may add a thing or two, but then again, I may not.
I've got a jump on some of these things.


#2. I've started juggling some things around, deleting some pics, and generally just trying to make it make more sense ...
 to me at least. 
I even added a new board. 
I'm one of those Pinterest users who actually uses it the way it was intended, to remember ideas, recipes, products, fashion, and the occasional visual and verbal inspiration.
I've noticed with it's growing popularity that some people post total nonsense. No one that I follow, just stuff I see on the "Everything" page.
It's just one of my peeves.
Done ranting.


#8. I pulled out my seeds and some containers. We live in the woods but our back deck gets lots of full sun so it's an ideal spot for container gardening. I have a small herb garden in the front yard. G. (who is a stone mason) built it for me some years ago. 
I even called my local Borough Hall to contact the manager of the community gardens in our town.
Danielle and I belonged when we were in our early twenties and it was a blast. We grew some outrageously good tomatoes amongst other stuff.


Here's Nuggie watching Daddy move a small tree that was about to shade out my herb garden.
Don't you just love that sweater. 
It was hand made by her Aunty Allison!

If you look behind her you can see my herb plot.

A little worse for ware at the moment.

#10. Well, I got my supplies so I just have to tap.

That needs to happen soon.

So there it is. As promised.

The 2012 TDL.

What's on your list this year? I'd love to know!

Fashion.

I've been wanting to do a fashion post for a while but never really thought I had enough material to make it interesting.
It still might not be but I don't care.

Recently, I've had a string of good luck in consignment stores, rummage sales and even my own closet.

I think it's worthy of sharing.

If you've been following my 2011 TDL you'll know that #24  is to make more of our clothing or buy second hand.

I picked this little number up at a rummage sale. It's Laundry by Shelli Segal. Silk and cotton. $20.
I'm in the process of taking up the hem so I can wear it with tights and boots in the winter and a strappy heel or sandal in the spring/summer.

I wore the hell out of this white dress while I was pregnant. Afterwards it just seemed to long to be functional for a mommy on the go. My intention was to remove the bottom, raise the hem and reattach it. But once I removed it I realized it would be a really cute skirt. So I just hemmed the dress and bought a zipper to turn the bottom into another whole piece of clothing. Genius.

I just like this. I have a really great 

vintage (as in, I found it in the back of a cupboard in my husband's office) leather messenger bag.

But I love the canvas/leather combo of this one.

Here's mine.

This little beauty came from my favorite consigment shop, Greene Street Consignment in 

Lambertville, NJ. 

It's Kimchi & Blue. $16.

I wear it ALL the time.

Sometimes I belt it sometimes I don't.

It's sheer so I wear a little gray dress underneath, usually with tights and boots.

I also scored a pair of Paper Denim Cloth boyfriend jeans for $16.

They are not pictured because they're in the wash.

I looked on their website and they retail for $90 and up. 

Score.

I have also been making pajama pants for the nugget out of her old recieving blankets.

Way to upcycle!

More on that later.

2011 TDL: Checking In

It's been a while since I've done an update on this list. 

In case you're just joining us, you can get up to date here and here.

2011 TDL

1. purchase mushroom growing supplies and make preparations for logs

2. pot rack for kitchen

3. organize phone and message center in kitchen

4. clean and organize under kitchen sink

5. purchase supplies for maple tapping for next spring

6. new couch for living room and general living room design

7. paint dining room

8. figure out a better situation for shoes/recycling by the front door

9. finish reorganizing and clean dressing room

10. clean windows

11. start and finish handmade gifts for Jenny, Helen, Becky, Melissa, Allison, Carol, Sarah and Pat.

12. new lighting for Iris's room

13. organize and backup iphoto

14. clean out pantry and wipe down shelves and bottles (ANTS!!!)

15. find and purchase vintage ceramic egg holder

16. sort through wardrobe and donate, trash or repurpose

17. learn one new knitting pattern

18. learn one new crochet pattern

19. paint giant urn and candle stick holders

20. finish mending and repurpose projects

21. plant salad greens, tomatoes and kitchen herbs

22. keep blog up to date

23. start etsy shop

24. buy more vintage/secondhand goods and hand make more of our clothing

25. run in at least two 5k's 

26. organize baby's outgrown clothing

I've checked off everything I've done to date.

#22 will likely go unchecked as it is more of a goal and ongoing process.

#1 is going to require a bit more research. I've tried to get books from the library but they haven't had what I'm looking for. I'm turning to the internet next and, if I must, I'll buy a book.

#24 has been a huge success and there will be a "fashion" post about that soon.

#26 has been done for a while and you can find out more about that here.

The couch is probably a pipe dream as it has not been the best year financially. Maybe next year.

#13 is going to require some real discipline but if I get through half of it by the year's end, I'll be happy.

Time is ticking away but I feel good about the things I've done so far.

#9. Check.

If you missed the sneak peek you can read about that here.

Let me first tell you I ended up buying the bookshelf new. Why? Well, the person I was going to get it from on craigslist took to long to get back to me and in the end I would have had to drive too far and it came with a coffee table that I didn't know what I was going to do with. In my book it was a wash. I still got the desk for $20 and sold my Trofast system for $50 so I only ended up spending $20 total in the end. Not too bad!

The next thing is I wanted to use the desk in a formation that it was not made to be used in. I new I'd have to do some retrofitting of my own but in the end I would have exactly what I wanted.

We used metal brackets to secure it to the book shelf and I leveled it (since the bookcase on it's side was a little taller than the desk) by shimming it up from the other end.

I also want to address why I chose the dark brown bookshelf with the white desk. 1) I didn't want all dark wood in that room as it is already lacking in natural light. 2) I like the idea of a simple white worksurface especially with patterned fabrics and sometimes small objects that could be hard to see on anything but white. 3) The dark brown and white combo is the same as Iris's furniture and I thought it might one day make a good place for her to do homework if we ever decide to move it into her room.

I spent alot of time rearranging, repurposing and reorganizing all sorts of things so that this new configuration would work for all it's purposes.

This person didn't help much.

Just to name a few... I moved a hanging organizer out of the closet to use as storage for fabric and took what previously resided in it (pants, pajamas, etc.) and placed them on the shelves (pictured below) of the ikea closet system that I was not utilizing (bad girl). Then I moved Iris's old yet organized clothes (you can read about that here) into her closet and also maximized some use of space in there. That freed up a three drawer rolling storage (bonus) which slipped perfectly under the desk. For now it remains empty but will soon house some of the clutter that still lingers.

This room is doing overtime and busting at the seams (puns are fun) but for now it works for me. 

It's like a puzzle. You just have to experiment and find where all the pieces go.

Tomorrow is the reveal of the Pinterest Challenge! I've been working feverishly to complete my challenge and so far I'm pleased with the results. I hope you will be too! Betcha can't wait to see what I chose to do. I'll give you a hint...You'll find it on the board titled Nugget.

Another Update.

 In case you missed it the first hundred times.

2011 TDL

1. purchase mushroom growing supplies and make preparations for logs

2. pot rack for kitchen
3. organize phone and message center in kitchen
4. clean and organize under kitchen sink
5. purchase supplies for maple tapping for next spring
6. new couch for living room and general living room design
7. paint dining room
8. figure out a better situation for shoes/recycling by the front door
9. finish reorganizing and clean dressing room
10. clean windows

11. start and finish handmade gifts for Jenny, Helen, Becky, Melissa, Allison, Carol, Sarah and Pat.

12. new lighting for Iris's room

13. organize and backup iphoto

14. clean out pantry and wipe down shelves and bottles (ANTS!!!)

15. find and purchase vintage ceramic egg holder

16. sort through wardrobe and donate, trash or repurpose

17. learn one new knitting pattern

18. learn one new crochet pattern

19. paint giant urn and candle stick holders

20. finish mending and repurpose projects

21. plant salad greens, tomatoes and kitchen herbs

22. keep blog up to date

23. start etsy shop

24. buy more vintage/secondhand goods and hand make more of our clothing

25. run in at least two 5k's 

26. organize baby's outgrown clothing

# 7 is officially off the list and you can read all about it here.

We are making strides on #9 as well. I have had major light bulbs (idea light bulbs that is) going off in this room. Initially I was going to work with what I had storage wise and continue to use the dining room as my space to sew. But having it all prettied up (the dining room that is) forced me back to the drawing board. Not to mention nugget is on a mission to explore and discover and pull on every cord in this house so the dining room was becoming less appealing in that respect. Anyway, I bought an Expedit book shelf from ikea for nugget's room a while back and thought about getting another for the dressing room. I was going to place it in the center of the room (in place of the storage ottomans I got rid of) so that it could be accessed from all sides. But when I went to the website to research price and possible sales I saw this. Eureka! This solves some much needed storage issues and creates a (if not temporary) workspace for me. To take it a step further and to keep in line with #24 I decided to take a peek around craigslist and JACKPOT! There were soooo many of these expedit bookshelves for sale in every shape and color for half the price. I found the shelf for $50 and the desk for $20. Wait it gets better...so I have this Trofast storage thingy in there now which houses alot of fabric/sewing/block printing materials and is perfect condition. Well I put it out on facebook that I was looking to get rid of it and would sell it for $50. A friend jumped on the offer and it's sold. That means when all is said and done I've only spent $20 and a little sweat equity on what I think is a pretty damned good idea (that's right I said it)!!

You can read more about #9 here.

Just to be clear I was not paid to mention any of these products and never am. I mention them because I like them.

We're Back.

We would have been back yesterday but with more house guests, a request for a trip to Target (twist my arm) and a computer that had a mind of it's own I had to let it go. So here we are back on track.

And yes, we finally completed #7 . If I'm going to be totally honest it was a little dark for what I had in mind at first. But having lived with it for a week + I like it alot now.  I've already been scouting fabric for curtains (but that's not on this year's list so it is also not a priority - there's no harm in looking).

Here is the dining room before in all it's chaotic glory

 ( I also sew in here which makes it 10x more chaotic)...

Prepping...

During... 

Posing...

and after.

A couple of notes at this point - I plan on taking down those dated curtain rods and replacing them with black rods instead, reframing the artwork (brought back from a gallery in Australia by G.) in black gallery frames and possibly rematting them and I always wanted to make small pillows for each of the parson dining chairs, but again, maybe next year.

This is the fabric I'm considering for the curtains.
Also want to try to make an area rug I saw here with this canvas.

I designed this buffet (below) and had it made by a furniture maker with wonderful results. It really didn't cost much more than a store bought item and it came with all of my specs (fits perfectly under the window) and customization (drawers, metal feet). Well worth it in my opinion. It houses our fancier glassware, an extra set of silverware and many other various item ( too many to name). I placed these books here to get them out of Iris's reach but really like how it looks and will probably keep it like this.

Yes those swollen wood doors and ugly fan are due to the fact that we don't have air conditioning (mountain weather suits us just fine).

2012's To Do List is just dying to get out.

Progress.

This is getting ridiculous! Apparently It's not just the vintage gods smiling on me but the fabric gods as a whole.  I was handed this entire bolt yesterday by a family friend.

It's a simple print. I'm not sure how many yards it is exactly but the number 15 is scribbled on the top. I see a picnic/beach blanket, some kind of roll up bag for tools or brushes or maybe some farmer's market bags I have been itching to make.

I also picked up my gallon of paint for the dining room project (#7 on the 2011 TDL). I purchased Rendezvous by Olympic (Zero VOC of course).  There is very little wall space so I should be able to bang it out in a couple hours. I'm treating myself to more babysitter time today so I'll try to tape off the room that way I can just start painting when the opportunity presents itself.

#9 is STILL in progress. Here are some before and during shots below. I don't like the white curtains in this room. They just sort of disappear so I'll probably put the ones I had in there back up. It doesn't look much different than the before shot but some organization has taken place. I've purged a bunch of clothes and shoes (#16), put a shoe organizer on the back of the door, organized all my reference books and art/craft supplies and hung an organizer from the coat rack.

Before.

Believe it or not there are 2 storage ottamans under those clothes. There trash now.

I keep my long dresses in the actual closet.

During.

If you look to the left of the book shelf those bins are  the beginnings of #26.

Lots of shhhhhstuff on the floor still.

Obviously this room is doing double duty as a closet and a place to store all my sewing/craft/art supplies. But hopefully someday I'll have this or this.

#2 ... no no nothing like that

#2 on the 2011 to do list was the pot rack. I suggested to husband that a pot rack  would free up some cabinet space to make room for a recently acquired and long awaited Kitchenaid mixer which was residing on the countertop. I was also able to stash the blender (also on counter) and a few items cramming up a shelf in the pantry. Now the counters feel more spacious and the cupboards ... less gridlocked. Deeeeeep breeeaaaaatttthh! Ahhhhhhh!

Where did this pot rack come from and why is there no before picture you ask? Well no sooner did I mention my idea and G-man was in full on project mode. He produced a piece of trim with the same finish as our cabinets leftover from the reno ( I thought that was a little matchy matchy but I'm not gonna complain about free), five old pot rack hooks (what the?), some hardware and chain within minutes. This pot rack materialized, no joke, in an hour. I went online and ordered 3 more hooks (Taylor & NG) and viola... pot rack!

Here it is again close up.

Now the phone and message center (directly underneath) just need a liitle spruce up and we'll be in business.

To Do List: Part 2

This is my list so far

1. purchase mushroom growing supplies and make preparations for logs
2. pot rack for kitchen
3. organize phone and message center in kitchen
4. clean and organize under kitchen sink
5. purchase supplies for maple tapping for next spring
6. new couch for living room and general living room design
7. paint dining room
8. figure out a better situation for shoes/recycling by the front door
9. finish reorganizing and clean dressing room
10. clean windows
11. start and finish handmade gifts for Jenny, Helen, Becky, Melissa, Allison, Carol, Sarah and Pat.
12. new lighting for Iris's room
13. organize and backup iphoto
14. clean out pantry and wipe down shelves and bottles (ANTS!!!)
15. find and purchase vintage ceramic egg holder
16. sort through wardrobe and donate, trash or repurpose
17. learn one new knitting pattern
18. learn one new crochet pattern
19. paint giant urn and candle stick holders
20. finish mending and repurpose projects
21. plant salad greens, tomatoes and kitchen herbs
22. keep blog up to date
23. start etsy shop
24. buy more vintage and handmake more of our clothing
25. run in at least two 5k's 

My makeshift dining room office/studio

I even have one thing checked off already (see next post). There are not 50 items but again those were just boundaries to work within. Having composed this list I already feel lighter and more focused.