from the heart.

one of my goals this past christmas was to give more homemade gifts. i didn't really succeed with that goal, but i did manage to knock out a few gifts that were a hit with the recipients.

in christmases past, i've always made ornaments for my children's teachers. i didn't do that this year. instead, i made rag wreaths. four of them, to be exact. each wreath was 12" {i also made a 16" rag wreath that was part of my gift for the sneaky santa game we played at my mother-in-law's house}.

 {my kitchen table was a disaster for most of the month of december}

{the pics were taken with my cell phone}

each of my children have two teachers and i let them choose the color scheme for each teacher. this project was super easy, but time consuming & slightly messy {if you can't tell from the frayed fabric pieces on  my legs in the picture above}. as for cost? you can make a 12" rag wreath for less than $10. how? the wire wreath frame is only a couple of bucks {even less if they are on sale or you use a coupon} and i used one jelly roll of quilting fabric for each wreath. the jelly rolls were about $12 regular price, but i used 40% or 50% coupons to buy each. the jelly rolls made it easy because the fabric was already coordinated & the fabric strips were the perfect size to cut with minimal waste. i cranked out three wreaths in one night while sitting in front of the television.

i also knitted a scarf for my sister. i promised her an orange scarf last christmas and, well, that didn't happen. so this year i taught myself the mock cable knit stitch and whipped up a small infinity scarf out of some very lovely orange peruvian wool yarn. the color is called clementine.

{this is what i do while the kids are at their kickboxing lesson}

i have one more skein of this yarn and i'm thinking about making another scarf just like the one i gifted to my sister. what do you think?

i think the best present of all was the picture i drew of my parent's dog, nono. originally, i was going to frame a picture of her, but i decided - at the last minute, in fact - that i would draw one instead. it's been years since i've sat down with a sketch pad & pencils. but, considering we said goodbye to nono just weeks before the holidays, a framed, hand drawn portrait of nono would be a perfect gift. 

i managed to draw this picture two days before christmas while watching "the hangover, part 2" with adam. i'm not entirely happy with how it turned out, but i'm proud of what i did. i think i even like it better than the painting i did of frisco nearly a couple years ago.

at any rate, my mother cried when she opened the package containing nono's picture. i can't wait to visit my parents to see where they hang the drawing. 

so, i know the holidays have come & gone and i really should be focused on organizing & cleaning my home, but i think i'm going to start now to make a more conscious effort to give more homemade gifts. they truly are the best gifts to give.

i linked up with kristen from ladybug blessings for handmade tuesday.

best christmas gift ever.

i know, i know, valentine's day is monday so why am i talking about christmas?  

malia made this 'snowman' in school.  i think it's pretty damn awesome.  i especially love that it's made out of a brick.  y'all did know that adam is a bricklayer, right?

it currently sits on the hearth.  i don't think we'll ever use it for it's intended purpose - a doorstop - but, instead, we'll keep it on display year round because we're in love with our daughter's creativity and thoughtfulness.  it really was the best christmas gift ever.

revamping le crapper.

remember a few posts ago i mentioned that i found three new bathroom vanities i liked at that big, orange home improvement warehouse?

well, as much as i would like to totally redo our hall bathroom, it's just not in the budget.  instead, i'm going to repaint the walls {and maybe repaint the current vanity}, switch out the bath mat & hand towels and work on some new artwork for the walls. 

the hall bathroom will be going from kid-friendly & fun to more grown up & sophisticated.

i bought this shower curtain at kohl's over the weekend {it was originally $49.99 and on sale for $29.99, but when it rang up at the register it was $24.99!}:

{source}

i have some leftover paint that will match the pale, pale blue color in the shower curtain.  and, i actually have a beige that should look good with the shower curtain, too.  i am thinking i might put a horizontal stripe on the wall opposite of the sink & toilet.  the hall bathroom is small {as is the rest of my house!} and i think taking the bathroom from the funky mandarin orange color it currently is to something cool & light will open the space up.

the biggest challenge will be decorating the walls.  i currently have beach themed artwork on the walls.  i may just put a vinyl decal on the wall or just paint a canvas in a design similar to that on the shower curtain.  or, that horizontal stripe on the wall just might be all of the oomph the walls will need.

i'm hoping to get started on the bathroom redo this week.  the biggest hurdle will be priming the walls with a coat of kilz.  and, i suppose i should snap a few before photos for you, right??

home depot is the devil.

over the weekend, an innocent trip to the home depot {for spark plugs for the weed eater} resulted in yet another project being tacked onto adam's never ending "honey do" list:

see those three vanities in the picture?  the home depot must have known that they were my top three favorites at the store.  i manhandled the vanities.  opened & closed doors.  pulled drawers.  caressed the counters.  played with the fixtures {even though they are a separate purchase}. 

adam should have never, ever walked away to look at measuring tapes.  he left me to my own devices and i immediately started planning out a new hall bathroom.  it's satisfactory at the moment, but it could really use a face lift.  of course, that means a new tub/shower stall, a new floor, possibly a new mirror {unless we frame the existing one out} and definitely new paint for the walls.  oh, and new shower curtains, a new bath math, maybe new towels.  you know, to go with a new vanity.

yep.  another project for the "honey do" list.

realistically, we don't need a new bathroom.  but aesthetically, we do.  ha!  so, until i convince adam of this, i'll just keep dreaming about:

which is your favorite?  is there a "honey do" project you can't wait to scratch off the list?

{all pictures were found here}

SEEING RED

Why did I get a wild hair up my butt and decide to paint our front door red? Oh, that's right...because I've always wanted a red front door. While the idea seems really spectacular in my mind, the whole process of it has been anything but. I'm currently waiting on the 3rd (uneven) coat to dry. Red paint is a pain in the you-know-where. Don't get me wrong...the color is absolutely gorgeous (Holly Berry by Behr), but the task in itself is frustrating. I mean, even after two coats of primer (the door once was a really deep Hunter Green) the door STILL isn't looking right. I should have known better...I mean, this isn't my first experience with red paint (fortunately, I didn't have the joy of painting that wall red...Adam did, but I got to hear all of the cursing and complaining that resulted because of that red wall...which I've since painted over).

The hubs says not to worry...that after a couple more coats the door will look fine. I suppose I DO need to be more patient and just ease up on my a little too perfect standards and just go with it. I'm sure in the end that the door will look beautiful and will be all that I have envisioned. For now, I'm read to take it off it's hinges and buy a new door from the Home Depot. But, of course, the whole reason for painting the door red was to avoid spending $200 to $600 on a new front door. *le sigh*

Hmmm...maybe I should just take a break from the red and continue painting the trim around the door white. Perhaps a bit of a break will keep me from going insane.

JUST CALL ME ELIZABETH ARDEN

The paint for our front door was purchased last night - HOLLY BERRY by Behr. That's right, I'm painting my front door red. It's a lovely shade of red, too...of course, we chose it out of an exterior paint finish book by Behr while we were at the Home Depot. Go figure. One teeny little paint swatch determined the fate for our front door. I mean, I wanted a red door and Adam agreed it would look nice. While I had six other colors picked out, Holly Berry was it.

So, this weekend, I'll be painting our front door red...stay tuned for pictures!

Kitchen progress

So, it's now been four whole days since I've had a working kitchen sink. It's starting to get kind of annoying. While I'm thankful that everything else in our kitchen is still accessible and working, it really is difficult to work in a kitchen without a sink. Before, we were still able to at least run the dishwasher but Adam turned off the water supply to the kitchen last night because he had to redo the plumbing underneath the sink in order to accomodate the deeper sink and the new garbage disposal. *sigh*

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I just want my kitchen back!

I suppose, however, that this kitchen renovation is going a lot smoother than originally planned. And, just knowing that we can get this done and NOT have to worry about the kids (since they are with my parents) has been quite a big help, too. I couldn't even imagine taking on such a project if the kids were at home. They practically live in our kitchen!

Anyway, Adam and I went to The Tile Shop yesterday at Lynnhaven. We brought a piece of our existing granite tile in order to find a suitable match for it. Also, we needed to find three 12"x12" tiles to closely match the granite tile because Adam found out that he was 3 tiles short to complete the job in the kitchen. We had agreed that our "bar" area would just have ceramic tile since there wasn't enough granite to cover it as well. Well, upon entering the store, we were greeted by Jason who helped us out with everything. The best thing we heard yesterday was, "We have that exact tile here in the store!" Adam and I couldn't believe our ears! Seriously?! The Tile Store had our tile? Sure enough...they did! It wasn't from the same run number (duh!) but Jason told us that the granite we had was probably some of the most popular...or was it the most common (I dunno)...but, irregardless...they had our tile! This meant that we didn't have to use ceramic for our bar area...hooray! And, to make things better, they also had matching end-pieces and corners! Hot diggity dog!

While at the store, we also chose our glass mosaic tile for the backsplash. It wasn't the color I had originally fallen in love with online, but I think it's going to look beautiful just the same. The color worries me just slightly since our kitchen walls are painted a turquoise blue color (it's "Embellished Blue" by Behr), but the eat-in portion of our kitchen has a darker blue colored ragged onto the walls (a la moi!) called "Surfer" (also, by Behr). So, I think it will be fine. The glass tile I saw online was actually MUCH, MUCH lighter in person and would not have worked at all. Adam chose a coordinating mortar color (something to go with the granite and also the mosaic tile) and then Jason totalled up our purchase. A good portion of our purchase will be shipped to the store on Wednesday so our kitchen will be complete by next weekend!

I've taken a few pictures here and there and I'll get those posted soon. I'm just excited that we're actually doing something substantial to our tiny kitchen. Maybe I'll even spend more time cooking in it once it's finished....ha ha ha, yeah right, who am I kidding?!

Another year...another dollar...

So, what big plans do I have today with my sweetie? Well, let's see...last night before we headed out for dinner (we had Mexican...mmm) we ran the dishwasher. As Adam went to get the dishwasher detergent out of the cabinet he noticed that there was a leak underneath our sink. Grrrrreat. The garbage disposal had a hole in it and, well, I think you can imagine what the cabinet space beneath our kitchen sink looked like. Ew.

Thank goodness New Year's day isn't like Christmas day and stores are all open and ready for shoppers. We made a trip to the Home Depot and bought a new garbage disposal. We upgraded from 1/2 HP to 3/4 HP...don't ask me what that means. I'm just excited about getting a new garbage disposal. I don't know the life span of one, but the one we're replacing is original to the house and our house was built in the late 1980s, so.....

Well, while at the Home Depot we also bought a new sink and a new fixture for the sink. Adam had his eye on a very pretty black enamel sink, but I talked him out of it and we settled on a $99 stainless steel sink that gives us a bit more room since it's 8" deep (our current sink is only 6" deep).

So, Adam's in the kitchen as I type this. He already took out the bottom of the cabinet...MDF and water don't have the best of relationships...and he's replacing it with some plywood. If the "OW!" I just heard means anything, then he must be wresting with the garbage disposal right now...you know, getting the old one off. I'm supposed to be helping. Ha ha ha.

This is all quite exciting although it was money that neither of us really wanted to spend, but I think this has motivated us now to replace our kitchen countertops and I think we may start that project this weekend and take advantage of the time since our children will not be at home (allowing us more time to spend working and getting the project done faster). We have some granite tile in the garage...or maybe it's marble...that we plan on using as our new countertop. I am envisioning a glass tile backsplash that runs from the counter to the bottom of the upper cabinets, but we'll see about that. After all, this kitchen renovation is on a tight budget...a really tight budget.

More ornaments!

And, hopefully this time one doesn't have a va-jay-jay mysteriously appear on it...damn paint has it's own mind!

So, here they are...12 more hand painted ornaments in all of their glory. These are smaller ornaments than the ones I previously painted and, again, the photo quality is crappy because I still haven't put batteries in my camera and my camera phone is obviously crap. Enjoy!

Decking the halls...

Well, just Christmas trees...this year I decided to make ornaments for friends, teachers, etc. After 12, yes TWELVE, failed attempts, I finally got it right and did NOT forget the key step of cleaning the glass (duh!). These pictures don't do the ornaments justice and this is only a small sampling of what I've done. But, I'm proud to say that the kids' teachers have all received one and I'm making more this weekend...handpainting ornaments my way (thank you, Google!) is a lot of fun. The pictures are not the best...I used my cell phone since both of my digital cameras were D-E-A-D...guess I need to plug in the charger for the batteries, huh??

Enjoy!