12.31.2011

New Year's Resolutions

I know, New Year's resolutions are so cliche.  I stopped making them about 12 years ago because I never followed through on them and haven't looked back since.

Recently, however, I came up with a house goal and since it is the end of the year, I suppose it can be given the resolution title.  My goal is to GET organized and STAY organized.  We don't have a huge house, and we are definitely lacking in closet space.  Plus it isn't abnormal for my husband to remove his work clothes in the kitchen and leave them on the floor/table {the laundry room is literally four steps away, mind you}.  But unfortunately, he is not the only problem in the house.  My craft supplies seem to permeate everywhere, and B likes to leave lots of chewed up surprises all over our floor.

Anywho, we have already started this goal, and it is going pretty well.  Soooo, I'm thinking about adding "making the bed every day" to my list.  On one hand, it seems so pointless.  On the other hand, it seems like the grown up thing to do.  This little chore is on MY list {as opposed to OUR list} for two reasons:

1.  Cody wakes up before me every morning.

2.  When Cody slept by himself, he would make his bed every morning.  This consisted of folding the corner of the blankets back up which didn't shift an inch during the last 8 hours.  In my bed, however, 90% of the time my sheet is on top of the comforter, which rotated 180 degrees, and is completely wrapped around me like a mummy leaving my bed partner out in the cold.  Seriously, its pathetic.

So, obviously this resolution is completely up to me, and obviously it isn't that pointless since every night when we go to bed its a struggle to find the sheet/blankets that I somehow made disappear during the night before.

These are now officially my two resolutions, put on my blog so you can all keep me accountable :)

Thanks for the support!

12.29.2011

Dave Ramsey Fabric Envelopes

My sister has been following Dave Ramsey's envelope system for awhile now.  A couple of months ago, we were shopping together and I noticed her fumbling through her purse trying to retrieve her cash without pulling out her wallet.  Upon closer inspection, I realized there was no wallet.  Only this:


No wonder she was hiding it.  I knew I needed to do something, so I did some pinterest research and came across this tutorial for fabric envelopes.   


The tutorial suggests cutting out squares 7 3/4 x 7 3/4, but I found it easier for me to just cut out 8 x 8.  That way, I didn't have to worry about sewing so close to the edge.  


I used a medium weight interfacing for the inside of the envelopes.  I wanted the envelopes to be firm, but not too bulky since there were so many.


I chose coordinating fabrics in blues and greens for the envelopes so that the inside and outside would look good together.


The tutorial was very helpful for how to sew the envelopes together.  After making 8 envelopes, I decided to make a holder for them all.  I did not have any instructions for this, so I went with the whole trial and error method.  The dimensions of the large envelope ended up being 10 1/2 inches wide by 14 inches from the tip to the bottom.  The peak of the envelope started at 10 1/2 inches.  I followed the same process as the smaller envelopes, except I skipped sewing a seam at the bottom of the envelope in order to allow for more space.


I also sewed a small piece of cord between the two fabrics and a button on the front of the fabric in order to close the envelope.


And after only one error, the envelopes all fit inside of the holder!


I should probably go make a set for myself now too.

12.28.2011

Stockings or Sleeping Bags?

I cannot believe Christmas is over already, especially since we STILL do not have any snow.  But despite  that major let down, we still managed to have an amazing Christmas.  Our weekend was booked solid with holiday parties, complete with lots of family, too much food, and just the right amount of presents :).



This year was a crafter's dream Christmas, complete with a new sewing machine, everything I could possibly need for my sewing machine, and a silhouette.  I have already planned on dedicating the month of January to my new Silhouette Cameo, which should be pretty easy since I have had a list of projects I have been wanting to do for months.  

Although Christmas morning wouldn't be complete without stocking stuffers, my mom seems to be a little confused about what exactly this consists of.


You see what I mean?  The worst part is, not all of our "stocking stuffers" even fit in the stocking.  As a matter of fact, I think these dogs were the smallest things that were inside the stockings at all. 


Contrary to this entire post, I didn't just receive presents.  I actually gave a few to people as well.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's post where I will talk about the little handmade gift I made for my lovely little big sister.

12.23.2011

A Little More Christmas

I was at a flea market last fall and found this old toboggan that I thought would make a cute decoration for winter.  When I bought it, everyone thought I was crazy.  After looking at it for awhile, I started to think they were right.  I really had no idea what I was going to do with it, so I just let it sit in my basement.


Then one day {about 2 days ago} it hit me while I was trying to take a nap.  All this little guy needed was a wreath and a little paint.

After it was finished, I realized it would look really lonely sitting outside by itself.  So I went to Goodwill {of course}, where I found this lovely orange container.  Obviously, this needed a little paint as well.


And here is the final product, complete with Santa's key :)


And this is what it actually looks like by our house.  I just didn't have the heart to put away the patio chair since it happens to be Boston's favorite place to sit.


The decorations in the rest of the house are pretty minimal.  I decided last minute {a.k.a. last night} to put up a second tree downstairs.  I will explain the reasoning behind that more after Christmas :).  Since it was unplanned, I had to use random decorations for this monster tree.  


 Somehow, the addition of the tree just makes the space look so much more finished.  Oh, and can you spot the little surprise I had mentioned earlier?  And by little I mean HUGE, but now that it is here I can already tell we will be spending a lot more time in this space.


 The entry way got a little Christmas cheer as well.


Well, this is officially the end of my Christmas decorations.  I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

12.22.2011

Christmas Packages

Our Christmas presents this year don't look very presenty to me at all.  So from now on, we will refer to them as our Christmas "packages".  I am nowhere near done wrapping, but I do believe this is the earliest I have ever wrapped in my entire life.  Usually I leave that job to my sister {which may or may not include wrapping her own gifts from me}, but this year I was forced to do them all myself since I live in my own house now.  Apparently she was just as disappointed with this as I was.  Anywho, I'm kinda loving how they all turned out.


The gift tags were made from scrapbook paper that I just cut out and ran through my sticker maker.  Super easy and they look great with the "packages".


My favorite presents, however, were the most difficult to wrap {there are two balls in that one:)}.  I am more excited to watch him rip them open than he is!


Well, I guess I should finish wrapping up the rest of the presents now.  After all, Christmas is only 3 days away!

12.21.2011

Home for the Holidays

As promised, I will finally be revealing my little surprise and his new home, along with all of my Christmas decor.  It really isn't all that exciting, but hopefully you enjoy!

So here he is in all his glory.  We had to move our TV stand into storage for the winter to make room for this lovely new fireplace.  


I have a small obsession with fireplaces, and although it is not real it sure keeps me toasty warm. 


I even flipped all  my books around because I liked the dark colors for Christmas.  No worries though, as soon as spring rolls around those babies will go back into hiding.


I have already revealed my tree and pillows, but the tree looks a little happier today with packages below.


And luckily, B has pretty much left all the presents alone.


Except for a small incident where he managed to find one of his presents behind all the rest.


He clearly felt pretty guilty about it too.

.

And now, on to the kitchen.  I'll start by saying I originally took these photos yesterday but noticed my table looked oddly depressing.  I had completely ignored her in my holiday decorations and didn't even realize it.  I knew I had to do something, so I pulled all my scraps of fabric left over from the stockings and pillows and  decided to make a table runner.  I didn't have much left over, so the runner had to be a little...piecy {yep, that is definitely not a word}. 


I had to quickly "sew" her together last night, but I think she turned out rather lovely given the circumstances.








And here is the final picture of the two spaces, which is actually just one big space.


 I'm all ready for Christmas!

12.18.2011

Christmas Treats

Mom and I spent the day yesterday making our traditional Christmas cut out cookies.  I could really feel the spirit when she whipped out her favorite Christmas cassette.  


The cookies sure are delicious though!

12.17.2011

Basement Renovation

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have been living in our home for almost a year now.  When we moved in, the basement was unfinished and a little dingy.


Okay, a lot dingy.  


And cold.  


And dark.


So we added some insulation.


And lots and lots of lights.


And when I say we, I do not in anyway mean me.  I don't think I even stepped foot in the basement during this part.


But after the mudding and taping was finished, I was able to finally see the potential in this little space.


It was sooo bright in there after the sheet rock and lights went up.


So we added a little bit of a darker paint color.  The color choices were a very hard decision.  I had my vision, but Cody had his vision for his "man cave".  In the end, the compromise left us both a little unsatisfied.  That is not supposed to happen in compromises!


I really like the taupe/gray/beige/green wall (seriously, no one can figure out what color it is, it could go any which way).  We were even able to talk the in-laws into helping paint.  It was a good thing too because they ended up doing more than Cody or me.


A year later, it is still a work in progress.  We bought furniture right away, but no TV.  


So I guess we will leave this post with "To be continued..."

12.14.2011

Morning Messages

Cody and I began a little tradition recently.  It is like the best idea in the whole world, so I feel like its my duty to pass it on.

 Let's start by talking about things I like.  I like being a wife much better than being a girlfriend.  But there are a few things I miss about dating, one of them being morning text messages.  Is there anything better than waking up to a sweet little note from your beloved?  Well, I supposed actually waking up next to him is better, but 5 out 7 times, I get neither of those options.  

Now lets talk about things I hate.  #1:  My alarm.  

Solution?


Yep, this little note from the hubs is my alarm.  Honestly, I get a little excited now when my alarm goes off and I have something like this to read.  No worries, I also get in on the fun with his phone.

So here's what you do:  Go to your alarm, click on alarm description, and type away!  You only get 100 characters, so keep it short and sweet :)  

P.S. I just learned how to take a screen shot on my phone, I always wondered how people did that on DYAC!!

12.11.2011

Christmas Card Holder

Sometimes I like to procrastinate.  But after receiving our first Christmas card in the mail from this lovely couple, I figured it was time to get busy on my card holder.


Just like every other project I ever do, I started out with a Goodwill frame.


The color was a little light, so I stained it the same color I used on our kitchen table.  I also used the leftover jute webbing from my Christmas tree.  And by leftover, I mean the 65 yards that I didn't use {it was cheaper to buy in bulk, I promise!}.  


I used about 14 strips, so if you are buying webbing for this project, I would suggest at least 10 yards depending on the size of the frame.  


Once all the pieces are cut, you can begin weaving them together.  I waited until they were all weaved until I glue them down, and I only glued around the edges. 


 Here you can see the frame stained darker.


 Oh, and my lovely extra large coffee cup that I *threw* back in college {don't mind me, I'm just whipping out my ceramics lingo}.



And there is our first Christmas card hanging up in its new home :)  

P.S.  I don't know if you will read this Jessica, but hopefully you don't mind if you do!


This project is inked up here, check it out for more holiday ideas!