the next step: FABRIC

As promised, here is what we did with some of that fabric I bought last week. I am amazed by what that Nester can do with a hot glue gun and 5 uninterrupted minutes. Here is what our half bathroom looked like before we moved in.
Notice the custom made cornice board over this window. They were on nearly every window in the house.
And here it is today.
We haven't changed the floor, the tiled wall or replaced the counter top and sink. I have begun to clean the grout on the floor in the far left corner, but I can only do it in small chunks. There is a lot of grout. We also haven't gotten around to replacing the clam shell toilet seat, either. Though after seeing it in a photo, it has climbed several spaces on the priority list. But don't you think it looks better already?
The fabric on the window was $5/yard and I had 4 yards of it. The ribbon was about $3 for the spool. The hot glue stick was about a penny. And The Nester, well...she works for 2 large pieces of chocolate cake. She did this window mistreatment in about the time it took me to walk upstairs, and take 1/2 a shower.
Here's what I did with the leftover fabric. This one I actually did myself, though you and I both know where the idea came from.
See how hard that was? I already had that little tension rod and all I did was drape the fabric over it and fluff. Too bad our A/C vent is under that counter top. Who needs to be cool when you can be cute?

he's home

This is a photo of the man saying goodbye to the wee ones at the airport. He has been out of the country for a week. Judging from yesterdays post, my mind went with him. I am happy to report that my sanity walked back into my arms in the form of a six foot two, dark eyed man. As fun as it is to stay up late and watch reruns of Friends and eat girl meals with no meat, it was starting to get old and fast.

Rest assured I will not be posting anymore photos of myself. Or Trinity. Back to serious stuff...like what we did with that cheap fabric. Stay tuned.

in which i waste time and think i'm funny

Most of you know about my sister, The Nester.
But you've never heard about my twin, Lilly Mae.

We're the best of friends. Ever since we were little, we have loved singing together. She sings soprano and I'm an alto. For the most part, our lives are in sync just like our signing voices.

Still, sometimes we fight. She's been jealous lately that big sister Nester has been spending time with me.

But we always work it out.

It is good for us to remember how great it is to have a twin.
One day maybe I'll introduce you to our other sister. Her name is Trinity.

She doesn't get out much.

me and my imaginary brides

Yesterday while driving alone, I passed the site where the man and I had our wedding reception. The grass had grown up around the sidewalks and the many windows were cloudy with dirt and disregard. I found myself wishing it weren't up for lease. As I drove, I began to think about brides and weddings and the beginning of marriage.

I thought of all the brides and grooms who live in my town who will be getting married this weekend. I thought of all the families on their way, the luncheons, the rehearsals, the last minute dress alterations.

And then I thought of one bride. For one imaginary bride, I wished her day to be everything she dreamed it would be and some of what she didn't. I wondered if she was giving herself permission to enjoy this week or if she was at her bridal breaking point. And then, I prayed for her photographer. Prayed. Out loud and without a second thought, I prayed for her photographer to be wise and smart and creative. I was alone in my car and that is what came out. I sort of looked at myself sideways. Are you kidding me?

She doesn't even exist. I made her up. And then, I prayed for her pretend photographer. What about the bride herself? The groom, even? Or the marriage? Why not pray for like, the important stuff?

I could have done all that, I guess. But that's not what came out. Though I don't know her name or what she looks like, I do know that one day seven years from now, she will be like me. And a major part of her abilities to remember the day when she and her love became one will be from the photos.

The job of a photographer is to be the teller of a story that is vulnerable, colorful and true. I'm not a wedding photographer. I haven't gone to school to be a photographer. But when I see a bride and groom on their wedding day, there is something inside me that feels compelled to capture it.

So even though I feel crazy praying for a photographer who I'm not sure even exists, I like to believe it makes a difference for someone. And I will probably check the Celebrations section in the Sunday paper to get a real life peek at one of my imaginary brides.

the most important ingredient

I forgot to mention in my last post the fuel behind all the creative work that has been going on at my house.
I'm not saying that stems and fabric can't be arranged without the chocolate. I'm just saying why risk it?
Look how happy we are! And look how difficult it is for me to know where to look when taking a photo in a mirror.

the next step: STEMS

Thank you all for your encouragement on the baby steps I've been taking with the extras in my home. You will be glad to know my sister has arrived in town and she has been encouraging as well.
Here are the stems I talked about yesterday. This is what happened when Emily walked in the house from Hobby Lobby. I saw a vase, I put them in it. Done. I kind of knew it was not the right size, but I didn't have anything smaller and wanted to get a feel. The Nester pointed out that they actually don't look bad there, but the vase is a bit too tall for this space: tall lamp, tall vase, tall lamp. Too much tall.

So this is what happened when The Nester came over and saw what happened when Emily walked in the house from Hobby Lobby.
She got out the glue gun and went to work.
And she shot out all that hot glue all over my black hat box that had been on my bookshelf. I had also bought those green things when I went to Hobby Lobby. Again, didn't know what to do with them, but thought they might come in handy with stems.
Turns out I was right.
The key to this project is to buy what you love. Buy what looks real. And buy a lot of it. I did all that right. You don't have to know exactly what you are going to do with it all. If you love it, you will use it.
Or you will get your sister to use it for you. Either way, you win. Or in this case, I win. And I feel a lot more confident on what to do with stems.
So much better. Stay tuned for what we did with that $5/yard fabric. I will be using the term "we" very loosely from here on out, just so you know.

baby steps

When we were first married 7 years ago, I was a decorating idiot. I remember nearly having a nervous breakdown because in one room of our house we had 15 foot ceilings. The walls were all white and I knew I wanted color but the idea of choosing one brought me to my knees. I'm not exaggerating. Like, literally crying on my knees, an emotional new-bride basket case. The man wasn't sure what he had gotten himself into, I'm certain of that.

I've gained confidence in what I like over the years: a lot less crying and a lot more trying...and buying. At least when it comes to the basics.

I've been encouraged and motivated the past few weeks to do some more things in our house, namely adding fabric and layers of texture to help it feel more cozy. I've been waiting for stems to go 1/2 price at Hobby Lobby. This week, they did. So I bought these.

I have no idea what to do with them.

I've also been waiting for a good chance to drive south to a discounted fabric store. Today the chance came, so I bought these.
I have no idea what to do with them, either. Are you seeing a pattern here? Other than the obvious checks and toile?

I have the basics down. I can pick out a couch, no problem. I can pick out a table without help. I know a must-have tassel when I see one. I have confident taste in paint colors, back splash tiles and light fixtures. It's the the little extra things that give me problems. Like how to arrange those stems that I love. And how to mistreat a window without being laughed out of town.

Seriously, I mistreated a window in our half bath. Yeah, there is no way in Tinsel Town I would show you the result. It was an abomination to all things Nester. Forget the normal Window Treatment people, I would have been arrested by the Mistreaters as well. It was a crooked hot mess.

Do you have trouble with the extras? The layering? The textures and patterns? I think my biggest obstacle is a lack of confidence in that area. I need to give myself permission to try something, hate it, and then try something else. I would do well to remember The Nesters' mantra: it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

Still, what to do with all those stems?

the solution

As I've said before, the people who previously owned our house must have been small people with magic clothes that apparently never got dirty. Otherwise, they never could have tolerated the washer in the kitchen for TWENTY YEARS. What about the piles? Where do you put your detergent? What about the piles? Oh. I said that one already.

I can't really take credit for this next transformation. It was decided more by the men involved than by me, but I nodded my head a LOT while they were talking about it.
As you can see from this wider shot, the kitchen was not lacking in the sink department. There were three. I could have washed both my hands and my right foot all at the same time in three separate sinks. Anyone up for a friendly game of sink twister? I could see the reasoning behind having a prep sink on the island, but the secret sink behind the back door had to go. But what to put in its place?

We didn't want to spend money to buy any new cabinetry. So it was jigsaw puzzle time.
See that cabinet there on the left in the breakfast area? Pretty random, right? Well, we took that out and put it in place of the 3rd sink. Here is a peek at the process. Look how awkward that fridge is there!
Then, the other cabinetry on that wall was simply rearranged, the sink was replaced with a counter top and moved to the far left and the fridge fit perfectly in the space where the washer and dryer had been. Again, we didn't have to buy any new cabinets, we simply rearranged what was already there. Here is the end result.
And by the way, we do still have a washer a dryer. You can read about that room here.

For you who are interested, the paint color in the kitchen is Ivoire from Sherwin Williams (the same color I used in my former kitchen), the granite is New Venetian Gold and the back splash is a bisque mini-subway tile. I'm not sure the official name of it. I think the wall color looked better in my other kitchen because the cabinets were black and it was a nice contrast. But this kitchen is still in progress, so stay tuned.

pizza and picasso

We found a highly skilled artist to pencil sketch this portrait of us...
...who happens to be an anthropomorphic mouse.
It only cost us one token. And it's signed. Stupid rat. I'm gonna make a killing from this on eBay.

another kitchen do-over

If you are coming over from Today's Creative Blog, I invite you to stay awhile and chat at the sky! Kim included some before and after photos from my old kitchen in my old house (we miss you, Sophie Marie). It was just the inspiration I needed to go ahead and post some before and afters or our kitchen in our new house. I haven't done this yet because some of it is still in progress, but I think the results so far are drastic enough to make it interesting.
Here is a view of the kitchen on the first day we walked through the house. Notice the laminate that goes all the way up the wall. Notice the green. Notice. Just notice.
I couldn't wait to get rid of that green. I am still testing out hardware, as you can see there are many knobs missing. And I definitely miss my black cabinets from our old house. Maybe one day these cabinets may see some paint as well.
Obviously, we left the cabinets as they are. We did replace the countertops, added a back splash, some under cabinet lighting, changed a few fixtures and painted the walls a nice, neutral Ivoire from Sherwin Williams.
And this is what you get. As much as I miss my old kitchen, this one is bigger. It also has a lot more natural light, which I love. Can you spot the 1960's light tube in the ceiling? And two points extra if you can tell the color of the paci in the child's mouth.

I will be posting more before and afters of the kitchen soon. After all, I've got to show you how we remedied this:

the shameless promoter of sisters

As many of you know, last week I did a couple of guest posts over at Nesting Place because her computer was in trouble. It has been running slow and loud for some time now and over the last few weeks, it began to present symptoms of an incurable disease. Hospice showed up towards the end of the week and by Friday, they paid their last respects and laid that fella to rest.

My sister has been open on her blog about her and her Manly Man Husbands' desire to get and stay out of debt. They are committed to buying their computer with money they already have rather than putting it on credit. She has been working her little bird tail off making tassels and other goodies to sell in order to raise money to buy another computer.
So she's hosting a giveaway. All you have to do to enter is buy something from her etsy shop and you can win this basket of lovelies. For those of you who have compassion towards the cause but don't think you have any use for something made from ribbons and fringe, allow me to try to change your mind.

Enter: The Tassel.

According to The Nester, this is the prettiest thing you'll never need. I completely agree except for the part about not needing it. I saw this bird tassel listed in her Esty shop and couldn't buy it up fast enough. And I'm her sister. She would have given it to me for free. But still, I was willing to pay for the birdie goodness.
Look, she has a birdie bustle with her trademark Nesting Place ribbon peeking out from underneath. I just love this bird. I look at her every night before I go to bed. And since The Nester fussed at me for buying a tassel when she could have just given me one, she threw this surprise in the box with the birdie when she shipped it out.
A bonus tassel. A church for birds. My bird tassel loves Jesus. And she goes to church in this little church house. For bird tassels.

The bird was the first tassel I bought, but it isn't the first tassel I've ever had. When the twins were born, along with the garland she made for them, she also made several tassels to put in their room. Here is a close up of one of my favorites.
I am beginning to realize I am somewhat partial to the tassels that have an animal as a topper. The dogs are to die for. My girls love the rabbits. And the horse. Oh my. The horse. I saw one on her blog yesterday and I nearly spilled my coffee for all the lurching I did toward the screen to get a better look. Then I clicked on the image to make it larger. Then I just left it up there on my screen and gazed. Oh, that horse.

I know not everyone can afford to buy something they don't need, no matter how pretty it is. I respect that for sure. But if you have had your eye on any of those tassels and have been meaning to get yourself one, I would encourage you to do so this week. And be sure to pat yourself on the back for contributing to a worthy cause.

little ball, lots of smoke

We didn't watch fireworks this year. We stayed home and put the kids to bed on time. We did have some fun in the backyard with smoke bombs. They are small, cheap and unassuming. If you're looking for a pop or a bang, they are pretty useless. But for my preschoolers, they sure are entertaining. All they do is make lots and lots of smoke. Very environmentally conscious, we are.

Watching those smoke bombs light from a spark and then fog up the yard in a matter of seconds, it made me think about the crazy way our minds work sometimes. For example, the other day in a brief moment of four-year-old panic, one of my girls blurted out "I don't like these clothes, my face is wrong and I don't want to have that smile." Well, then.

My face is wrong? Are you kidding me? She's four. How can her face be wrong? Her face couldn't be more right. I thought of how dramatic she was being. How irrational. How ridiculous.

And how familiar. She sounded just like me. She was simply brave enough to say it out loud.

To be honest, sometimes I feel badly about myself just like she does. I feel insecure and listen to the voice in my head that says I'm not good enough or don't measure up. What starts like a spark in my mind quickly ignites and fogs up the truth. And the emotions burst forth from their familiar hiding place and run around aimlessly, untamed and unruly.

The truth is, the smoke bombs will go off. The sparks will come, the emotions will swing from high to low. That is normal, neutral even. The challenge comes in knowing what to do in the midst of the smoke, in remembering that my identity is secure in Christ even if my emotions imply otherwise. Even harder than believing that myself is teaching my little ones what it means to not allow those crazy emotions to rule the day.

So here's to an even keel Monday. May the smoke bombs be few and far between at your house. And if they happen to go off, as I'm sure they will, look on the bright side: at least they are colorful.

sweet veggie tales

I went to the grocery store tonight. I came home with these and piled them on my counter.
It made me so happy to see all those fresh veggies waiting to be fed to my family. It also made me remember this wasn't the first pile of veggies I've seen today.
I've actually been to the store twice. My first trip was this morning in my kitchen with two sweet little cashiers. And they didn't even make me pay.

Our mornings aren't always so fun and creative. But today, it just was. As I watched my girls pretend to shop at the grocery store, I thought about how they were imagining themselves to be real mommies with real babies at a real store. They were pretending to be me.

I kept waiting for them to snap at their baby dolls or shove a pretend cookie in their little pretend mouths. Of course, their pretend babies didn't whine. But still. They were sweet and kind and patient. They were good mommies.

What an incredible responsibility it is to have a little audience all day, everyday, watching your every move. That is why on days like this, I can't help but be thankful that somehow they are able to see beyond my faults and learn from me anyway.

a link and logs

Thanks for all your ideas about the gas logs vs. real logs fireplace question on my last post. It helps me to hear from you who have had both, as well as you who have strong opinions on the matter. If you have any more ideas, I'd love to hear them.

As I said before, the man loves to make a real fire and I like to look at a real fire. But a wood burning fireplace is useless to me without a man. They should sell fire-making men along with the logs at the grocery store for when the man of the house is at work. I guess they kind of do. They're called "gas logs". I am an embarrassment to my gender.

In the meantime, I did a guest post over at Nesting Place today. Her computer is still on the blink, but she wanted to be sure people had a nest to read about even if it wasn't hers. I showed some photos of the nursery, although I'm not sure I can still call it that since our baby is now two.

Oh well. I'm just glad I finally had a reason to use "on the blink". It's gonna be a good day.

calling all birds

Consider this a bird call for all you birds who love The Nester. In the middle of her Tour de Rental 2008, her computer came down with a chronic illness. She asked me to post a note to her readers on her blog, which of course I did...adding a little link of my own because I'm the little sister so what did you expect?

Since I am the keeper of all things Nester for at least another 24 hours, I decided to take one of her commenter's advice and post a few updates of my house that maybe Chatty and Nester readers alike can enjoy. Besides, since she was posting house photos this week, I'm keeping with the theme.

Let me start by saying I'm the worst at remembering to do this. We've been at this house for 2 months and still, no finished fireplace wall to show. Some of you have reminded me, saying "HEY! We wanna see that fireplace wall!" Nicely, of course. Well, today is the day. After all, you helped me get there. This was our living room before we moved in. Remember all that brown paneling?
I've posted about this room a few times. I asked for your help in knowing how to paint it here. You can see the progression if you follow that link. This is what it looks like now, complete with a cute little four year old girl coloring on the floor.It is hard to get a feel for the wall color here, as I didn't use my flash in this photo. It is Tobacco Road. Here's a closer view to give a better idea. This is the room where we do life, for the most part. The Nester came up a few weeks after we moved in and did the mantle, basically. I took the suggestion of many of you and removed the doors from the built-in shelves.
We haven't decided what to do with the fireplace. It is wood burning now and that's what we've always had. The man loves to build a fire and I really like having a real one. But we have a guy who has offered us a great deal to run a line for gas logs. It would be nice to flip a switch and have fake fire. Any thoughts? Real or fake?

As soon as I find the boxes containing all my favorite hardback books, I will put them on some of those shelves. For now, it's fun to look at all the black and white photos of the family.
Speaking of photos, this is the wall opposite the fireplace wall. I love having a table in the family room, as our house was built in 1963 and the open floor plan was not yet invented. So our kitchen is at the other end of the house. But having a table helps it seem more hang-outy. I've started a photo wall of white frames here that I may add to as time goes by. I can't get enough of the white frames.

Thanks for stopping by to peek into my world. I hope those of you who flew in from my sister's place got your nesting fill for the day. Here's to hoping she comes back soon.