I have not written on this blog in a long while! I am getting ready to do some interesting things to my home though, so I thought I'd get this up and running again. I'm starting by showing you some cute little stockings I made for this last Christmas. It was so much fun to see and hear the excitement when the kids (and adults) saw them as they came in. They loved them!

 If you are a fan of Sesame Street you will recognize the Yip Yips. These can be used for stockings, or for hanging up to store little socks or blocks or any other small items. I made them to use as stockings and then sent them home with the kids to use as they please.

They are made with Bernat Blanket yarn they crochet up quickly. I made nine of these in a week and a half! They are easy to do while watching Christmas specials on TV. The pattern is free on Ravelry and you can see it here: Yip Yip Stockings

Dining Room Window Curtains

 I've been trying to figure out whether I wanted to put dining room window curtains up. If there was a lot of greenery out there, I probably wouldn't, but instead it's the white of my very nice neighbor's house. I thank God for my wonderful neighbors! I decided to put up some curtains on the bottom half of the window and let those triple pane upper sashes show off.

This is the first project for my new sewing machine. So far so good! I used the same fabric that I used for curtains in the kitchen, which is actually some Ikea curtains that I've been cutting up and remaking to fit my windows. I love the print because it somehow seems to fit in my craftsman house...has an imperfect hand printed look to it, even though is, of course, mass produced for a big chain.  They are just hung on little tension rods from Walmart.

Lately, I've been mulling over whether to keep this blog. I like having it as a diary of my homes, and a way to share, but I also do much of that on Facebook these days. I dropped of the face of the blogging world when my computer broke and it took so long to buy a new one. Some things are just not easy to do from a phone, and blogging is one of them.

Wooden blinds...cheap and easy.

 Until this winter, I'd not been home enough during the day to realize how the glare from these windows would be strong enough to even wash out the TV. I love the old  windows though, and don't want to cover them too much.

 These are some cheap wooden blinds I'd had in a room at the shop. With the move at the shop, I took them down and brought them home. They are the perfect width for these windows! woot! Pretty much free blinds! I did shorten them a bit so they wouldn't be so heavy.

One down, one to go. I think it's going to work! You can see it cuts the glare quite a bit, and when they are up, the pretty old windows are still showing off.

 All done! I think it looks pretty good and solves the problem just fine!

Recycled Christmas Tree...feed the birds!

 This year, I hated to throw my Christmas tree on the curb just yet, so instead I stood it on the back deck. My yard has no shrubs yet....and I think that is why I don't have many birds. They don't have any cover. Then I decided it looked pretty bare, so I collected some pine cones, and spread them with peanut butter and pressed birdseed into it. Just like we made in grade school!

 These were messy and fun to make.

 I tied them on to the branches with bits of ribbon. It looked great! Next thing I knew, it looked like this:

And the culprit is the squirrels of course. So I tied it off to the railings. That seems to have worked so far...no more falling trees.

 The squirrels are really enjoying it. I've had a few birds, and I hope they tell their friends.

The temperature dropped way down, and I went out and got a heated birdbath at the local Big R farm store. It's super cold now, below 0 and it is still keeping the water open. I also moved the bird feeder with the squirrel guard up to the railing.  Seems to be a great way to enjoy the Christmas tree a little longer!

Bathroom Shower Doors Removed

There are so many things I want to do to this tiny bathroom, but most will have to wait because it's just not in the budget right now. I've been frustrated with not being able to get these shower doors really sparkling clean, so I decided to just take them out. I did this at the old house too. It's easier to launder a shower curtain than keep shower doors looking good. Today I took the screw gun to the frame, and hauled it to the curb.

Now I've got a clean shower curtain and liner. I don't know that this shower curtain will make the cut, but it looks fine for now. That old track for the shower doors was sealed with caulk, but there was still a lot of water and yucky mess under the track. I'm glad it's gone. Someday I'd like to put a tub/shower in, and tile the tub/shower walls. I'd like to tile the floor too.

I'd love to put in a sink like this one:

I like the shape and the fact that it has a towel bar right there where you need it. Cool floor too. 

I like the wall color in this one. Kind of a beach glass, or water color.

When I was antiquing last week I bought this great mirror to go over the sink (when I get it replaced). I love it and it's tall. That artwork will hang over the towel bar opposite the sink.

I guess I need to go work on putting the towel bars in, because when  I threw out the shower doors, the towel bars went with them!

Garden Path

So I think the little path leading to the door under the deck is pretty much done. I bought some paver sand and actually used a level to try and get it pretty flat with a slight slant out to the yard. It's not as slanted as it looks here. I'm thinking the sand might settle when it rains and it may take some tweaking, to get it just right, but for now it looks pretty good. The pavers are still dirty, but my spigot on that side of the house is broken, so no water except what I carry until I get it fixed.

Salvaged path, trellis, edging in the garden.

I'm trying to spend my money on shrubs and perennials, so I couldn't see spending 29+ dollars each on trellises. So I went to my aunt and uncle's farm and scavenged around. This was a looong ladder, and my uncle cut it in half for me. Just propped them where I have some morning glories planted. It might need some chicken wire for the plants to climb, but I can still add that.

The bottle tree needs a few more bottles. I guess I'll have to sacrifice for the cause and drink some wine selected by bottle color! The iron pieces are parts of a farm tool (rake?) that I bought at a garage sale. I've got some cosmos planted in there and these should help keep them upright when it rains.

My friend Warren colored the pic up for me, showing what the ladders would look like if they were stained to match the deck, with and without the rungs painted colors. I really like the one with colorful rungs, but I also love the old weathered look they have now. Looking at these pics, I can see how much simpler it looks with the ladders matching the deck color.  I wish I could change the deck railing from sunbursts to straight as well, and I will one of these days. I think the sunburst is a bit too contemporary for my bungalow, plus the gaps are too wide to be safe with little children.

Backyard to Garden (someday)

The front of my house is nicely landscaped (came to me that way!) but the back is a blank canvas. It has a very nice deck, for which I'm so thankful, since that would be an expensive place to start if it  hadn't come with one! The deck is like 3 little rooms stepping down to the back yard. Other than that there were no shrubs or trees or flowers.

Last year, I stained and sealed the deck, and planted this cherry tree. Or rather Jeff planted it...he did all the hard part, and since he planted gazillions of trees at his old house, he really knows what he is doing!

Here is how it ended up last summer. It was pleasant to sit out there, but the yard was still as blank as could be. 

 Behind the tallest part of the deck, I've been working on digging up a flower bed. There is a little door that accesses under the deck, and I laid stepping stones I found behind the garage (free! wooohooo!). I edged it with some bricks Jeff found in his yard. Tonight I'll scrub up those stepping stones and level them out with some sand.

This house is more a more casual style than the last one, and I think it lends itself to my penchant for recycling things. 

This is the yard at the old house. As you can see, I like to have some color! So hopefully soon I will have some here too. I will if I can keep the darn squirrels from digging the plants out of the pots. I had to replant the marigolds they tossed out this morning. Maybe they don't like marigolds?!

Up-cycling...making a planter box

 I am working on my back yard. It has a very nice deck but no plants. I'm also trying to spend my money on the plants that live from year to year, shrubs and such, so I'm getting creative with the other stuff. This wooden box was in my garage. I planted it with morning glories and then some other flowers in the front. Then I decided it was too plain.

 So I sat down on the ground and screwed some old license plates to it. That would have been soo much easier if I'd thought of it before I filled it with dirt and plants! Anyway, I think it turned out pretty cute, and I can't wait to see it with a bunch of blue morning glories growing up the side of the garage.

I set it on some bricks to help keep it from rotting, and attached chicken wire at the back.

Organizing...and finding treasure..

As you know, I've been going through boxes, and I've found some cool things. While moving things around I actually found 2 checks I can still cash.....woohoo! And I found these appliqued pillows. They were given to me by an exchange student from Egypt. At the time they didn't go with anything in my room, but look at how well they go now! I love that. 

Hawkeye loves pillows. He tries to use all of them he can.

Organizing...my way.

I've been organizing, and I've been doing it my way, which is why I'm organizing my art room, but you are seeing a picture of the corner of my bedroom. Makes perfect sense, right?

One thing seems to lead to another. My art room was FULL of boxes and many of them contained books. Boxes of books are heavy. I just wanted to put them away, not cart around heavy boxes. At first glance it seemed there was no place in my little house for more shelves, but I had these two little white shelves in the attic. I carried them down and found that I could squeeze them behind the chair in the bedroom if I stacked them on top of each other. I filled them with the books and now I have more space to walk in the art room. I will attach these to the wall so they cannot be turned over, since once in a while I have little ones in the house.

Lately I've been embracing my own way to organize or do chores. I alternate the chores and the fun stuff.  I do something that I've been putting off, such as cleaning out a junk drawer or emptying boxes that have been waiting since I moved here a year ago. Or if I'm going a pretty big project like organizing the art room, I do a little chunk of it, like sort through a few boxes, or clear off and organize a shelf or two. Then I do something fun.....like hang some pictures that I've been meaning to get up, or hanging the bird feeder I want outside the art room window. I pick something that make my eyes happy...and that can be done in a fairly short amount of time. Then back to doing another shelf or two. It works for me.

I learned this from my Mom, and as usual she was right. If I painted a room, I started and plowed through it, and was exhausted at the end. Mom would get her paint brush out and do the trim around just he windows and then quit, and do other things. Then the next day she'd do some more.  She keeps after it until it's done but she doesn't beat herself up doing it. And her house always looks nice. It's the same amount of work, of course, but pacing yourself, and rewarding yourself with fun breaks can make a big difference.

Every time I see that chair I smile. I got it at an auction for 2 dollars, and I've gotten soo many years of use out of it.

Bottle Trees

 I was on my way home from visiting my daughter in Kentucky when I saw these bottle trees. They are in a town near ours...Forrest, IL. The yard is completely filled with all kinds of yard art...a bit much for me, but you have to admire someone who isn't afraid to indulge their passion. My favorite part was the beautiful bottle trees...there are even more than these two, but I thought these were stunning because they have so many more colors than I usually see on bottle trees.

I want to have one like this in my back yard. My son thinks we can make it happen. I've already been saving bottles...some from friends, and some from me picking my drinks by what pretty color bottle they come in! LOL

Christmas Decorating...White Christmas!

 We've had snow...for the first time in a long while, 

we are having what feels like a good old midwestern winter!

 I've been doing some decorating. I started the weekend after Thanksgiving but have moved slowly getting the decorations up.

 I pretty much keep the mantle the same, but add greens and some starfish and a Santa. That Santa holds a list and when ever new children are born in the family, I had their names to the list.

 An old plastic Santa on the porch.

 The cushions on the glider are very summery, so I covered them with an old, rather tattered, quilt. 

 Come on in!

Here's the house on a cold snowy night. I have the tree up now, so I'll take a few more pictures soon.

Now it feels like fall.....

Today I broke out the boots for the first time this year. Boots are one of my favorite things about winter. What's not to like about something so warm and comfy as pair of kick-ass boots?

I saw this beauty on my walk this morning. Usually we have color much earlier in the midwest, but this year our first frost was just this week.

Soon I'll be closing the shop on Mondays, and also closing at 4pm. It's our slow season, and that will give me a tiny bit of daylight hours to get something done at home. Lots of leaf raking and putting away the summer stuff is first on the list.  I also want to get my art room sorted out, and then I'll be starting to paint the kitchen.

This kitty was peeping in Mom and Dad's window one night, and we shooed it away, and when I got home, this is what I saw at my back door. It tried to follow us in at Mom's.  It's very friendly and pretty, too. Surely it has a home somewhere. I'm not much of a cat person, but I hate to see her get cold.