My Aparment!

Well, now that I have my own place, I've been decorating like crazy.  I've been buying things here and there.  Mostly at Goodwill, antique stores, and Target.  And some things I've made.

Here are some photos of the highlights (when a room is completely finished I will post pictures):

Nice and mostly organized pantry {more on that later}.

This cabinet was at my dad and step-mom's house and was passed down from my dad's side of the family.  It holds "junk" in the top drawer, table linens in the second, and more of grandma's china in the bottom.

The cabinet above was dug out of my grandparents' basement and it will soon be turned into a bar cabinet.  The sign was from a bar my dad used to go to in Florida- it had a large ear of corn drawn on it and took about 2 hours to get off.

 

 



My sister had left a couple of the plastic bins in the linen closet and a bunch of her leftover "extreme couponing" purchases, so I went and got a couple more bins and chalk wrote on them perfectly.

 

 

Free dresser from Aunt Sandy!

 

Curtains made from a twin flat sheet dyed pink.  Cheap mirror on the left with coffee filter flowers.  And the painting by ME!

{sorry for the blurry-ness} I got this library stool from the Derby City Antique Mall.  I can't decide if I actually like it with books on it like this, but we'll see if I can figure out how to change things around.

Craft corner decor.

 

Well, there is your sneek peak.  I will post more as I finish each room.

DIY Vintage Jello Mold Catch-All

My cousin, Leah, and her friend and roommate, Stephanie, came to visit a couple of weeks ago and we went to breakfast then to the Crazy Daisy Antique Mall.

 

{Taken with Instagram}

It's a really cool place!  I actually went there a few days before then and bought a table and bar cart (stay tuned for photos).

When with Leah, I got these cute little jello molds.

Supplies:
Sharpie
Wire
Metal Punch

Set your tins in the pattern you want them and mark where to punch your holes to attach them.

I was going to use jump rings, and you can, but then I decided to just use some thin wire and wrapped it like this:

I laid mine out ina six-sided shape.

Now it's my catch-all for all things metal- safety pins, decorative keys, alligator hair clips, pin backs, and ring bases.

DIY Crochet Hook Case

Hey guys!  I know it's been a while.  I'm going to try my hardest to get back into blogging now that I've moved and I'm going to have quite a few projects to blog.  My first is my Crochet Hook case.

My Aunt's (my uncle's wife) mother died :( and so she got a lot of her furniture and such.  Well, she gave me her dresser and in it was A LOT of craft things that were her mother's including a handful of crochet hooks.  So, now I have a ton and I just threw them into a small vase, but then when I need a specific one I have to go through and check the size on each one.  This is too much work, so I made a case for them.

{Please forgive any blurry photos I'm having technical difficulties with the camera lens I dropped on the floor.}

 

 

Supplies:

Lots of crochet hooks

Felt

Embroidery floss and needle

Scissors

 



 

First I stitched on the letters, which isn't my strong suit so forgive my technique.  Then I folded the bottom up to make a pouch then I did a blanket stitch (my first) around the sides and top.  Then I put a set of hooks into the pouch and stitched it up (I did it this way instead of just making them all the same because each set was a different width).

{Again sorry for the blurry-ness}

Keep On Crafting

In my previous post, I told you guys I haven't been doing much crafting because a lot of my supplies and tools have been packed away.  Well, I realized that's not entirely true lol.

All Instagram pics.

 

Tshirt scarf I made for a coworker.

Bottle top coaster I made for my brother-in-law's "man cave"

 



 

New wreath for the front door (this form as been recycled a few times) and this will be moved to my new place too :)

Not much crafting right now

With all the packing I've been doing I don't have a lot of time for crafting or baking.  However, I have crocheted a few things, mostly small.  Most of my supplies, though are in boxes and most of my yarn and fabric are in vacuum bags.

Anyway, I follow a blog called Under the Sycamore.  Not sure if anyone of you do as well.  But, just recently Ashley and her husband added a new little one to their family of 6.  Ashley calls her Little One.  She's from China.  She's SO cute!  She also has a cleft palette.  Ashley has written quite a bit about the whole process of adoption and the projects she supports for other children that have cleft palettes.  But yesterday she posted about her experience with other people out in public- people staring, pointing, whispering.  I instantly thought of my friend, Andrea.  She has a prosthetic leg.

She's beautiful.  When these photos were taken, we were in LA.

We went to Disneyland for a couple of days and she was such a trooper.  Her prosthesis is all the way up to her hip so she gets tired after a while because walking takes a lot of effort.  But she didn't complain.  Her twin sister, Amanda, and I were more concerned with her than she was.  For me, it was my first time going out into such a public and crowded place with Andrea.  A lot of people stared.  I got a little angry.  But, honestly, because I'm so used to Andrea's "walk" it took me a while to even notice that people were staring.  Then I did and I wanted to yell at them.  But I refrained because Andrea didn't even seem to notice.  I asked Amanda about it, and she said they've gotten used to it.  Andrea's had the prosthesis since she was a baby.

It's funny how self-conscious I get about the scar on my throat sometimes- from my thyroid surgery.  But when I ask people if it's really obvious, no one even knows it's there.  I think sometimes people are staring at it when they're talking to me, but no one is.  And then there are people like Andrea or Ashley's Little One that are born with deformities and the like, and they are just used to it- and don't even notice stares and whispers.

I think that's confidence- when you don't notice anyone else around you talking about you or staring at you.

Crocheted Awareness Ribbon {Free Pattern}

One day I came up with the idea of crocheting an awarenes ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

 

I made a bunch for all of us to wear at work. 

 

Pattern:

 

5mm hook

worsted acrylic yarn

Chain 24
1) ch 3, DC into the 3rd ch from the hk, 1/2 DC into the next 21 sts, DC into the last st., FO
Twist to form a ribbon, weave a safety pin into the back, or glue onto a pin back.

Easy peasy!

The Best Woman I Know

I was reading my Google Reader and saw a post from Joy the Baker about her mom, and I was inspired.

I'm moving in less than three weeks far away from my mom.  The furthest we've ever lived from each other for any length of time.  Twenty-five years of being in the same household.  And over sixteen years with my step-dad, Donyvan.

 

They are the cutest and I strive to find a love like theirs.

 

She's my best friend in the whole wide world.  I've never kept secrets from her because even if I don't tell her right away, I feel guilty about not telling her and eventually I confess all.  But she doesn't judge, she does, however, tell it like it is.

 

Things I've learned from my mama:

+ Music should be listened to at high volumes, and the words should speak to you.  It tells a story and a song can mean a lot, and take you back to a great place and time.

+ Be positive.  Now, neither of us always live up to this, but we try really hard.

+ Have fun.  But not too much fun.

+ Spank your kids.  I know this sounds harsh, and a lot of people won't agree with this, but in my family this is how we got punished and it worked.  She didn't beat us, but we got the point.

+ Work hard.  I don't think I've ever met someone who works as hard as my mom.  When she and my dad got divorced when I was about four, she had to go to work full-time.  She has been in construction for well over twenty years and she continues to kick butt at it.

+ Wear comfortable clothes.  My mom hates to be uncomfortable.  I think her closet is half-full of clothes my sister or I encouraged her to buy that she just isn't comfortable in.

+ Don't hoard anything.  When I was about ten we had a house fire, and ever since then we don't hoard anything.  That helped us to see that there are a lot of material things that we just don't need.  And when it came to our clothes every six months we had to go through our closet and get rid of things we didn't wear, and donate them- I still do this.

+ Be independant.  There's nothing wrong with relying on people for certain things, but my mom has always been independant and she taught me to do the same thing.  (sometimes too much to where I'm like "I don't need anyone," which isn't always true)

+ Don't be jealous.  Ever since she and my step-dad got married she's struggled with this and she doesn't want the same for me.

+ Be happy!  That's all she ever wants for me.

+ Be goofy.  Who cares who's watching.

 

Love them!

 

Thanks Mom for the lessons!

Moving Progress

The move is coming along nicely.  The only snags I've come across is my loving, yet over-concerned, friends telling me moving by myself might not be a good idea, and listing all the bad things that could happen.  Yes, I know it is loving concern.  But this girl is ready to spread her wings and take that leap of faith.  No regrets, right?!

Anyway, I've been packing.  Mostly so I can go through things and figure out what I want to sell at our garage sale at the end of this month.

There is storage space above my closet and it's filling up.

I cleared out an under-the-bed box and a plastic crate, and cleared off my bookcase.  Working at Starbucks, boxes are not in short supply.  However, some of them are awkward sizes, but I just pick the best ones.  When we moved to California from Tucson, we use primarily Starbucks boxes.  This time I discovered the boxes from the breakfast sandwiches- they are the perfect size for heavy things like books, china, etc.

I have my paternal grandmother's china.  My dad sent it to her from the Phillipines when he was in the Navy.  Then she gave it to my sister and I to split.  Well, I ended up with all of it somehow and it's just been sitting in boxes, collecting dust.  I'm going to try to figure out some way to display it, or store it nicely, when I move.  But, for now, it's in a box, or two or three.  It was in two boxes- one small and one large- then I had to split it up for ease of moving.

This box weighed a ton.  (When I got it out of our outdoor storage closet by myself, I almost died)

Isn't the china simple and pretty?!

Now, it's in these small boxes.  It makes me happy.  I can carry it more easily.  That other box it going to house something light in the move.

So, now I have two large plastic bins, seven small boxes (like the ones above), and that large box in my room.  I also have two boxes in my closet with nothing in them yet.

I'm hoping our garage sale at the end of the month gets rid of most of my furniture and the crap I really don't need to pack ever again.  That is going to make this all seem like much more of a reality.

I also was on the net looking at printables for my Home Organization Binder and found a Moving Kit from Pinch a Little Save-A-Lot.  I am now obsessed with printables to keep me organized.  And I'm making a Home Organizer for my sister.

Well, until next time.

DIY Home Organization Binder

I got this idea the other day, probably from something I saw on Pinterest, to make a Home Organization Binder.  I mostly wanted it to see a budget on paper, instead of jotted on a small calendar or spread out through various websites and emails from the bills.  Then I kept digging and I came up with quite a bit.  I'll list as many links as I can at the bottom of this post if you want to grab some of the printables yourself.

I covered the outside of a crappy old binder by, first, covering it with light colored paper (a large sheet kind of like tissue but thicker) so the black of the binder wouldn't show through.  Then I spray glued on the fabric.  Then glued on the ribbon.

In covering the inside with fabric, and then paper I covered up the pocket where I had put the pens, so I had to fix that.  I have a black pen, a pencil, a highlighter, and a colored pen.  And I glued on a clip for extra paper.

I didn't have any tab pages, so I just printed some plain titles for each page and put them in page covers.  First tab- schedule.

Second- finances.

My budget pages will seriously come in handy.

Third- shopping.

Four- housework.  Yes, I needed a schedule.  I'm terrible.

Fifth- lists.  This includes "to-do lists" and a media inventory list, which I filled out today and I have 70 DVDs, who knew?!

I perforated my "to-do lists" so I can easily tear them off.

Sixth- food.  I have a stock-pile list, and then some recipe pages.

Seventh- Medical for Dr's names, addresses, and numbers.  And space for notes in case I need it.

Eigth- Etsy.  It's an online income list for my store.

Ninth- WWW.  It's a list of all my usernames and passwords for various websites.

Tenth- ideas.  A sheet to list ideas and supplies needed for them.

Eleventh- Blog.  I found these printables to plan out my block each week.

I'm hoping this will help me stay organized, especially with the important things.  Let me know if you make one of your own with any cool ideas.  I'd love to see them!

Links:
Cleaning Schedule @ Evelyn Kate Designs
Blog Calendar @ Living Locurto
I got most of the tab ideas @ DIY Home Sweet Home
Stockpile List and What's In Season Calendars (schedule tab) @ About.com Frugal Living

 

Contact Info page for Medical @ I Love it All
Media Inventory List @ Pinch a Little Save a Lot
Monthly Budget @ SissyPrint
Binder Covering Tutorial @ The Creative Place
Blank Checklist (shopping list) and Online Shop Inventory List @ The Nest Effect

I think that's it!  I makes for quite the hodge podge of designs on the pages, but printing them from someone else saved me a lot of time.

Enjoy!