Sharing a Genius Idea

Hi all!

I was just catching up on the blogs I follow and stumbled upon a wonderful idea for curing boredom in the summer.  This is probably geared towards kids, but let's face it- anyone could find it fun.

Jen at the CSI Project came up with a "Chews" Wisely Summer Boredom Buster.  The colors are what caught me first...

I thought to myself, "Oh what a cute picture to put by a jar of gumballs."  I love the light blue frame.  But it gets better.  This is not just a picture, no no.  It is a frame filled with ideas of fun things to do.

So when Jen's kids say "I'm boreddddd" they randomly choose a gumball from the photo and the idea is on the back.  The bigger, more expensive trips are on the 25 cent magnets for days when there is more time and cash.

I am blown away by this idea.  I think I might have to duplicate it just for me and Greer to get some fun going!

Read Jen's full post here.

Curb Appeal: Front Porch Overhaul

Porch by pennylane5309 on Polyvore.com
Mood board for our front porch hammock area. The hammock is not identical to the one pictured, but has gray-brown tones and is thick fabric, not shiny stuff.

(Click "Continue Reading")

Rabbit Hole Overhaul Mood Board

Rabbit Hole by pennylane5309 on Polyvore.com
The mood board for our home's upstairs landing space- dubbed the Rabbit Hole. Right now it's a big empty room.

 [Numbers correspond to numbers in image]

Ideas I love

Hello again!

I found some wonderful posts while catching up on what I've missed in blog land.  I really have to share...

Cate at A Tree Lined Street is not helping my "I want a baby" mode with her freakin' adorable nursery re-do.  I love trees and birds and watercolor and she just pulled them all in!

Please visit her blog to see the rest of the nursery room and read her story about the wall paintings.  I want to keep this in mind for 2.5 years down the road when we have a nursery to decorate.  I might use pages from Beatrix Potter or The Giving Tree.

I would love to better organize my closet... although it is semi-organized right now.  But check out this closet re-do showcased at High Heeled Foor in the Door:

I also stopped in to my favorite website Ana White Homemaker, the beauty who designs and maps out DIY furniture.  She had some good additions that I would love to build.  I don't have any room for this Washer/Dryer organizing, but I want to make a mental note of it for when I do, because I love this idea.

Lots of people like their washer/dryer raised a little bit.  Why not sort and store dirty laundry underneath?  GENIUS!  If only we had that kind of washer/dry area.

I also want to add these nightstands onto my list of projects.  Greer and I need some nightstands, but it's not my main priority at the moment.  I like the look of these "Cabin Collection Nightstands" from Ana White Homemaker.

Perhaps this would be a nice little peice for the upstairs landing.....

From Ana White Homemaker of course!

And lastly from Ana White, I will be making this little number to store my sewing machine...

It's March?

My goodness time is speeding by, which is good and bad.  Good because I cannot WAIT to start grad school (June 13!).  Bad because my projects have fallen by the wayside.  Between work and Zumba, I have almost no free time.  The free time I do have is usually spent laying on the couch napping.  I shouldn't complain, though.  I'm lucky to have a job, especially one that is flexible with my Zumba career.  And Zumba.. how many people can get paid for the hobby? Paid to exercise and dance?  Yes. I am lucky.

So... update on projects:

1. I did finish the dresser.  Just need to screw the handles back on (holding off on specialty knobs) and I'll throw a picture on here.  I think it came out pretty well, 3 coats of paint though!  I don't think I'll use glossy paint again.  I don't like the stickyness of it. 

colors are funky with my camera

2. I just need a few more tiles of the shelf I've been playing with and then that will be finished and posted here.  I still don't know where I'm going to put it.  I'd put it for sale, but the wood is kind of junky and it was just a fun project.

you guessed it...colors aren't right

3. My co-worker's custom bench is nearly done!  My dad and I worked on it for a long time yesterday and got the rest of the peices cut, sanded and assembled.  I only stripped 2 screws! Wahoo!  All that's left is sanding and painting.  I can't wait to give it to her- I think she'll love it.  I'll post that up here too when it's finished.

4. While I've been crazy busy, my dad has cut a lot of the pieces for Greer's and my hutch base.  A little back story: We have a DVD shelf that is just the old shelf my dad built for me in college to put on top of my flat desk.  It's come in handy, but we have used up all the shelf space and then some.  So I had the idea to make a base for it with some doors and turn it into a hutch.  More DVD storage and perhaps some record storage for Greer.  He doesn't want doors, but I'm afraid I will insist.  The top can stay sans-doors.

5. The dollhouse is nearing completion.  It has been the. biggest. pain. ever.  I do believe I now hate Greenleaf dollhouses.  They do not assemble easily.  It is not just shove the tab into the notch.  It does not just take wood glue.  It took multiple tries and an different solution to get the main walls and floor assembled.  I will go into more detail when I post it.  I don't think I will ever make another dollhouse. 

7.  The $5 end table I purchase from Seed for the Nations Thrift Store- I have done one thing.  Pulled of the old leather.  Eventually I'll get around to completely stripping the thing.  I'm kind of nervous about the intense chemicals I'll have to use.  Part of the hobby I guess!

6.  New project on the list!  My parents are re-doing their laundry room and they got rid of the big old hanging cabinet in there.  Where did it go? Me!  They know I love finding peices to re-do, and always need more storage.  So that giant is in our storage shed for me to play with when I wrap up the other projects. Which gives us plenty of time to decide where to put it.  Here it is...

7.  Downstairs storage bathroom- just an idea.  What was supposed to be a pantry was converted to a half bath when the house was built.  So we have 2.5 bathrooms and just Greer and I live there.  Right now that half bath is a scary thing to open, with Greer's laundry literally falling out the door and the vacuum balancing on top.  My goal to straighten this up?  Install some high shelves for storage and a TALL laundry bin for Greer.  Turn it into the pantry it should have been (and possibly usuable as a bathroom?).

I think that's it for now.  Share what's up in your world!

Knobs, Knobs, Hardware and Knobs!

Helloooooooo Anthropologie!  You are so much monies but so very adorable!

I have seen loads of DIY Anthropologie-inspired projects in the creative blog sphere that have turned out fantastically well that I thought I'd take a look at this pricey store for inspiration.

Then I found the hardware section and went nuts!  So many beautiful drawer pulls and doorknobs!  Who gets excited about this stuff!?

Me.

I have a few favorites of course......

 
 




Among my favorites are a few I am deciding between for my dresser re-do.  I want your thoughts!  Think 1930s-40s carnival flavored and which do you see? 

I have my idea...but I want yours too.  And it can be a combination...

 

What do you think, eh?

Curb Appeal: Front Porch

We have a giant, half wrap-around porch that is not really put to good use yet.  We have a wonderful hammock on wheels that is just plopped in a corner.  We also put our old kitchen table (remember this?) in another corner so we could enjoy breakfast with the sunrise.  Other than that, nada.  I'm brainstorming ways to fix this...feel free to add your suggestions.  What do you do with your porch or outdoor space?

The Burrow Gets Wired

Finally!  We got the Internet hooked up at The Burrow!  It's slow, but it's connected.  I spent the first night downloading music I've been waiting for, then next night writing a paper and emailing it to myself and the third night....

...Blue Screen of Death.

Reduce, Reuse, Revamp, Recycle!

Go Green!  We seriously do need to save our planet.  I won't get on my soapbox about that, but just mull it over sometime.  Where will we be if we don't change?  If you're not sure, visit your ever-expanding local landfill and think about what disentigrating into your water.

On that happy note....!!  Here are so really fun ways to use some of those items in your house that are just hanging around.  I don't like throwing things away because I don't want to junk up the world.  I donate a lot, but I buy a of of thrift store goods instead of new goods.  Read on to see if you can re-vamp and recycle anything you've got stashed away....

Idea Trunk: Landing Space

Hola todos! Que tal?  I've been hunting around for ideas for using the small landing space between the rooms upstairs.  It's a decent enough size for a chair and table or desk.  Ideally, the space will be decorative AND functional (but isn't that the goal of most spaces?). I don't like the idea of just putting a table with decor plopped in the landing space when it can definitely become a functional space. 

The landing space/Marzipan's kitty room



What do I do with this space??

So, I thought I'd share and archive some ideas I stumbled across.  The first chunk of photos I found from Country Living, and boy does that make me want to subscribe to them!  These were from a nice little gallery about small space decorating.

A Hiatus and a New Day

Not that anyone is following this blog (YET!), but I took a hiatus because returning to school (Chem & Stats & Physiology classes), getting married, working, learning/teaching Zumba, moving to a new house that needs to be freshened is just TOO MUCH.  So I'm back at the 8-5 grindgroan for a month until classes start in fall and I hopefully get into the MOT program.

Anyhallyhoo, Greer & I re-did the house.  Majorly.  It's been livened up from the original gray, mustard, hunter green, maroon colors to bright orange, teal, purple, red, spring green, coral!  I love it. It's like living in a rainbow.  I also renamed it. The Burrow.  Yep, stolen straight from HP!

Decor-wise, it's still skeletal in my opinion.  A skeleton with ligaments pressed on here and there (thanks, Physiology class!).  We kind of threw things up on the walls and in corners to have some decoration and somewhere to put everything.  But now I'm staring at the place thinking...how do I make this more cozy?

Thrifty Find: Headboard

While shopping for wedding tuxes, Greer and I stumbled upon the most adorable headboard I have seen.  (We made a side stop at a thrift store...)  I fell completely in love with it, but we knew it wouldn't fit in the car.  My darling fiance called the store later in the week and purchased the headboard over the phone (only $37!!)  My sister and I drove back up to the same area for a wedding hair trial (diseaster...) and picked up the headboard (thanks for letting us borrow your car, Mom!).

So now, I have a beautiful only slightly broken (and easily fixed) headboard for our future daughter.  Who won't be around for at least 3 years.  And may turn out to be a boy.  Will he like a pink and yellow flowered headboard?  .....only time will tell.

Inspiring Ideas Keeping Me Afloat

My goodness I have completely disregarded A Clearing in the Woods for a little bit, along with any wedding or home projects!  Writing 4 papers in 2 weeks has not been fun, but it's complete and I have a short break before the next paper flood.  Work has slowed down also, which frees up more of my time during the day to skim through crafty home blogs and find some new inspiration and projects.  Shhh... I look very busy in my office at the moment...!

There are so many amazing projects I've found that I cannot wait to make my own attempts. I desperately want to move into Clearingwoods Cottage and start making a home, but until June I'll have to put my efforts into the wedding and keep notes here.

So....here's some more inspiring photos and bloggers that I think you might like...

Inspiration Blog: A Tree Lined Street

I just stumbled across A Tree Lined Street and fell in love with this blog for a few reasons.

1. She uses a Blogger template and her own photo and she has followers! This helps me feel better that, at least for now, I don't need to change over to WordPress and buy hosting and get someone to design a blog theme for me (let's not get into the fact that web design was my major and I still know very little about it...)

2. She has so many great ideas that you really must check out. One of my favorites is her use of old doorknobs to hang tile decor.

3. She has some good tips and reminders for decorating and renovating your home on a budget. I really liked her Repurpose What Ya Got post (with the doorknobs!)

4. She has a really fun writing style that makes you want to keep reading. I certainly hope she keeps posting because I am now a follower of A Tree Lined Street.

Que vayas bien!

Everyone Else is Doing It

Am I allowed to do 3 posts in 1 hour? Maybe not, but work is slow and I just keep finding new projects and ideas from others and I thought it might help to keep track of them here. I won't put everything in my computer Crafts folder, but some favorite things, a la Kimba at A Soft Place To Land (if you haven't visited, you should!).