Tu, Tu, Tudio…

Okay, I know that’s a really bad title, but all I could think about when I was making these tutus was Phil Collin’s singing “Stu, Stu, Studio…” Is that even what he’s saying in that song? I have no idea, but tu, tu, tudio it is.

I’ve been meaning to make a tutu for awhile now. I’ve seen them all over the internet in the last year, especially in photo shoots with little girls. I used this tutorial and it was so easy. It took me two hours and about $10 to make all three of these. It probably wouldn’t have taken me that long, but there was a learning curve when it came to cutting. My tip- use the tulle that comes on spools in 25 yard lengths (located in the wedding section in my JoAnn Fabric’s store). I made the light pink tutu and the red tutu using this method and it was SO much easier than the magenta tutu, which I purchased in the fabric section off the bolt and then had to cut, and cut, and cut to get the lengths that I needed. While there were more color options using tulle on the bolt (bright blue, green, purple…), I don’t think I have the patience to go that route again. Also, I decided to use ribbon that can be tied in a bow instead of elastic sewn together at the ends. I figured this would allow the tutu to “grow” with the girl and not be limited to a certain waist size.

The red and magenta tutus will stay here for Little E, at first for photos and then to go in her dress up box when she’s older. The light pink one is going to my neice for her second birthday with a few other girly goodies. This is really such an easy, fast and inexpensive project that I foresee making many more of these as gifts in the future.

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Nesting…

 

Little projects for Little E. Nursery is coming along but not quite done. Will be back with photos when it is.

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Around the Yard

Now that we’re definitely in the grips of spring, we’ve been working outside more, trying to get out yard up to speed. One of my main projects for this year was to have raised beds for a vegetable garden. Well, more like a tomato garden, with a few peppers thrown in, but that’s what we like around here.

The WMD built these boxes for me while I was in Michigan a few weeks ago. They are 4×4, giving me 16 square feet of gardening room in each box. I originally was going to go with the Square Foot Method, but I sort of went overboard in the plant buying department, so this is more of a hybrid between SFM and raised beds. Our forty (!) tomato plants and eight pepper plants fit fine right now, but I expect that it will look like a veggie jungle in a few weeks.

This is what the plants looked like last weekend right after I planted them:

I can’t believe how much they’ve grown in just a week! The WMD was good enough to fence it all in this week while I was out of town for a work conference. I don’t know who the culprit is, but two years ago we lost the tops of the tomato plants to one of the critters that live in the woods outside. Last year I only planted a few pots of tomatoes and the chicken wire fence did the job of protecting them, so we went with it again this year, but expanded it a little bit to allow me to walk around the boxes without having to remove the fencing each time. 

My irises hit their peak this week. They’ve just about packed the little bricked in bed next to the front porch, so I think that I’ll have to split them up after they’re done blooming this year. I’ll have to figure out where to move them.

The WMD has been busy finishing his rock wall and I have to say, he did a really great job! It definitely makes our home look a little more “cottagey.” He either dug up all of these rocks from the property around our home or hulled them from a giant pile of rocks at our church from the construction going on there. It’s been a huge and tiresome undertaking for him, but I would definitely say it’s a labor of love.

He also discovered a bunch of old bricks in the woods behind us and decided to lay a brick walkway up to our front door. It seems that there once was a house on the property and all that’s left is a brick foundation and crumbling chimney. The WMD decided that they’d make a nice addition to our home and has been spent a lot of time lugging them out of oblivion. He likes playing in the woods.

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What Would You Do?

So, after mulling over, discussing and praying about a move to Kentucky next summer so that the WMD could switch seminaries and we could be closer to our families, we’ve decided that the best thing for our little family in this economy is to stay put right where we are for the next four years and let the WMD get his Master’s degree here. Really, other than not being closer to family, we’re very, very happy with this decision.

What that means is that painting the kitchen cabinets are back on the table once Little E is not taking up residence inside my belly anymore. Originally, with a new baby on the way and the possibility of putting our house on the market pronto, we installed them as is and figured they were better than what we had when we moved in. They are really great, solid wood cabinets that have served us much better functionally in the last 8 months that we’ve had them than I originally thought considering we only paid $150 for the entire kitchen (we didn’t have room for all of them, so the WMD got a nice little workshop in the shed out of it too), which is a ree-diculous CraigsList score.

However, they are buttugly.

Our home is small and I want white cabinets, which I assume will feel less imposing than the dark brown stain that’s currently on them. I also think white will lend to a more airy “cottagy” feel, which is what we’re going with in our home since, well, it’s technically a cottage. All of this to say, I’ve been researching how to paint kitchen cabinets since a) we don’t have the money to pay someone to do it, b) even if we did have the money, we probably still wouldn’t pay someone to do it (but that’s because we would have gotten all new white cabinets to begin with. And we wouldn’t live in this house. We’d live in this one a few blocks over from us.), c) I figure I’ll have boatloads of time on my hand since I will be staying home with Little E (I assume that’s correct, right, all my mommy friends?(I’m kidding)), and d) I’m a glutton for punishment. I’ve spent the last four summers standing out in the sweltering North Carolina sun painting something and I figure, why should this summer be any different?

So, as I was doing some research, I stumbled across Remodeling Guy’s post about painting cabinets. I figured if anyone knows what it takes to do this sort of project, Remodeling Guy does. He started with Part Iand then pulled the ultimate switcheroo with Part II. Really, I can’t do it justice, so just go over to his blog, read what he did and then come back here to let me know if I should attempt his method in Part II. I’m curious to see what my readers have to say about his Plan B. It appeals to me in a way very similar to the way dill pickles appeal to me right now, so to say the least, I’m leaning strongly in that direction.

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Dressers

I finally found a dresser on Craigslist that was in our price range, the style I wanted and within a reasonable driving distance. It also came with a matching nightstand. I have plans to paint both, but I’m not sure which color yet. I think the nightstand will go in the living room, so it will probably end up apple red like the other side tables we have in that room to bring it all together. I have an empty spot waiting for it and it will be a great place to store our board games, cards, etc…

As for the dresser, this will serve as both the changing table and clothes storage for Little E (whose wardrobe is quickly eclipsing mine already!). The WMD doesn’t think I should paint it at all, but I drew my veto card on this one. Yes, this is a hill I will die on. I did ask him if he liked the decor of our home and he said yes. I then reminded him who was responsible for that and that he needed to leave the dresser color up to me. Besides, he was just yanking my chain. He loves to do that and most of the time, I’ll play along. But not when it comes to painting furniture.

So, while I’m deciding what to do with the dresser, I’m mulling over these inspiration pics:

Courtesy of babybomb

Courtesy of kmk7878

Courtesy of tashanoel

Courtesy of inkstainedwriter

Any opinions? Should I go with color or just do a creamy white?

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Nursery

Now that it’s pretty obvious to most observers that I’m indeed pregnant, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about Little E’s nursery (the chick formerly known as Little WMD).  Since her parent’s are the frugal type and purchased a small home, she won’t be getting her own nursery. But, the two walls she will get will be cute!

Since we’re not repainting that room, I’ve decided to incorporate red and white into her bedding, decor, etc… to go with the tan walls. Sorry that the photo above is so small,  but it gives you an idea of what I’m thinking. The room color is in the upper right. The crib sheet is red and the crib skirt is the polka dot fabric behind it. We’ve purchased the Ikea Gulliver Crib in birch for her and for now, we have the alphabet poster in red and the Love You print that I’ll mat in white and frame in black.

The other photos are my inspiration photos. I’ve been searching CraigsList relentlessly for a dresser that will also serve as a changing table. I’m looking for something with good lines, that’s feminine and, most importantly, cheap. I really like the white one in the photo above and have been looking for one similar to it that I can paint. However, it seems like people on our local CL want upwards of $100 for an old dresser. Knowing that I could just as likely find a free one on the curb, there’s no way at this point in the game that I’m dropping more than $50 for one.

I’m considering making the hoop ribbon mobile in the lower right, only in shades of red, pink, and white. I have plenty of ribbons and a hoop, it’s just a matter of sitting down and making it. The photo with the little girl jumping up and down is really more for references than anything else. I love Meg’s thrift style and would really like to copy it in Little E’s room. The last photo in the upper right corner shows embroidery hoops with different color/pattern fabric in them. Such an easy and inexpensive way to decorate a wall. I also like the fact that I could place these on the wall above the crib and not have to worry about heavy objects falling into the crib.

Basically I’m trying to create a sweet area for a little girl that blends in with the rest of the room, which is used as her dad’s library and study area. I wanted to make sure that her art would be something that I would hang in our house any way and that her area not be full of pink, ruffles and butterflies. I want her space to meld with ours. Hopefully I’ll be able to achieve that.

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Ikea Redux

This:

Plus This:

Equals This:

My mom, my aunt and I made our annual pilgrimage to Ikea while the WMD and I were in Michigan for the holidays (Note: The WMD did NOT go to Ikea with us. That’s not the WMD’s thing. He would want me to note this for my readers). Since it’s only a once a year kind of thing,  we took our time meandering around each floor and enjoying lunch in the cafe.

Now, there’s never a shortage of things that I want each time we make this trip. In fact, there’s usually a surplus. However, taking into consideration that any items purchased have to be transported across country and then find a place in a teeny, tiny house means that I often leave with very little. In fact, it wasn’t until we got to the very end of our shopping trip that I spotted this little number. I liked the shape of it and I liked the $6 price tag even better, so I snapped it up in a heartbeat.  Once we were back in good ole’ North Cackilacky, I went to the HD (Home Depot), picked up my color de rigeur and spray painted that baby a nice shade of apple red to match the other side tables in the living room.

Now I just need a plant. Should have picked one of those up at Ikea too.

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Red Christmas

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at dying bottle brush trees ever since I saw this post last year. However, the only trees I could find in my neck of the woods were way to expensive to justify mistreating them with bleach and Rit dye. But, on one of the many trips I’ve had for work in the last few months, I passed a Hobby Lobby and decided to pop my head in and see what they had on sale. Man did I hit the jackpot of bottle brush trees!

So, last weekend I bleached them and then this morning I dyed them red. I didn’t realize how expensive Rit dye has become. But then again, the last time I was anywhere near that stuff was elementary school and before I had money of my own to spend.

So, if you want to try this for yourself, go buy some bottle brush trees, which should be all over the place now that Christmas decor is out. If not, you can probably find them in the miniature train section of your local hobby store. Get yourself some bleach, Rit dye, a little hot water and some salt and before you know it, you’ll have a whimsical little forest of whatever colors your heart desires.

Bleaching the trees:

Bleached trees, post cold water rinse:

Dying the trees:

 

Pile of dyed trees:

Little red forest:

 

I like the curved one the best. I might add some glitter or snow drops to some of these, but for the $10.00 total cost of this project (which includes many, many more trees than the three above and the dye), I’m happy. You can find more of these by others here.

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Gussied Up Candle

I know, I know- I broke the cardinal rule of not talking about politics or religion. And most of the time, I manage to stay out of it. But, when politicians start invoking ideas from God, I can’t help but comment. Sorry if I was a downer to anyone yesterday, but I couldn’t let it go.

And actually, there are some things about Obama that I like. And there are some things about McCain that I like. And there are things about both of them that I don’t like. And thanks to the two party system that runs the country, I’m over a barrel on who I have to vote for. And that’s something I don’t like most of at all.

So now, let’s move on. To pretty candles. Because what’s hope if we don’t have pretty candles?

With my spray painting kick came a crafting kick and I threw this little candle together after seeing the sweet creations over here. While I did have some of the stuff they’re made with on hand, I had to improvise for most of it and came up with this:

I have to admit that it looks better in person, but it’s not too shabby in this photo. I used a candle holder from the Dollar Tree, a map from a vintage encyclopedia, scrapbook paper, raffia and handstamped inventory tag. Cost me probably $3 in all and twenty minutes of my time.

When Matthew saw it, he asked me where I bought it. I don’t know if he was trying to pull a fast one on  so he could get more chocolate out of me or not, but that got me thinking about that craft and bake sale I mentioned yesterday and perhaps trying to peddle a few of them. With more practice of course.

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Free, Cheap and Easy

This is a story about spray paint and how it fixes everything. Well, probably not everything and fix  isn’t the right word, but work with me here. It’s been a long week.

I’ve been inspired by bloggers like the Nester who take ordinary, inexpensive objects and mistreat them into beautiful objects. I really haven’t been focused as much as I usually am on decorating this house since it’s constantly under renovation, but I got on a decorating kick last week and went crazy.

I picked up some old (and free!) plates and some spray paint to go from this:

To this:

I used one can of spray paint for each color, superglued some picture hangers on the back and nailed them up. I really like them.

We’ll see how long it takes for them to start falling of the wall.

Total cost: $14

I also picked this urn up, free, and spraypainted it from this:

To this:

It needs something more to give it some weight and I’ll probably change the filler out for the seasons. And yes, that’s pumpkin. It was $1. I’m trying to summon autumn into visiting me early this year.

Total cost: $4

The last thing I spraypainted was this tulip vase:

It was so ugly (think poorly painted pink roses) that I couldn’t bear taking a before shot. So this is all you get. This and our dented wall. Because I care.

Total cost: $1.98

Four new projects for $20. Not bad.

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