From a House to a Home

The house is quiet. Like whoa. The Bear is watching a movie (likely one that I wouldn't watch with him aka something totally demented and awful) on his laptop, the dishwasher is going, the baby moniter is buzzing peacefully with no cries from the other end, and I am sitting in a comfy spot editing photos and drinking a glass off wine. Yes please! Did I mention my house is NOT littered with baby toys and garbage from dinner? Cause we cleaned. Impressive.

Today I took a trip with my Mad to Ikea. Lately that has been a good way to pass the time when I have some cash in pocket and ideas in my head. Truthfully I never leave with what I was searching for but I'm always happy with what I do end up with. Today it was pillows, kitchen randoms, bathroom randoms, & picture frames (hopefully some cute "after" images to come soon).

Speaking of shopping....I've actually been doing a lot of it lately. My favorite! We had a birthday party for my sister at our house and while The Bear and I were at Pier 1 shopping for some serving trays he offered to buy me the chair I've been coveting for several months now. It's more expensive than it was when I first saw it on sale but definitely still reasonable in my book. One off my biggest complaints in our home was the lack of color. Brown and beige was the name of the game. I've done my best to colorize tastefully but it can be overwhelming at times. The cost I mean. This chair looks so HAPPY in my "great" room. I call it a "great" room because it fits the bill of  a kitchen and living area in one but it is just a normal sized space, nothing really GREAT about it's size.

Cutie pillow from Bedbuggs on Etsy, similar to this one

 Additionally I found a dining chair that was a lone soldier and thus was discounted like crazy. I paid $40 for this pretty thing and it looks so sweet at my desk. Ok, so it wouldn't be comfortable if I sat there all day every day but because I only sit down intermittently throughout my day it's perfect. And cute too.

 My goal is to finish our library slash temporary play room (until I'm ok with Mad going up and down the stairs and playing while I can't watch her constantly) in the next couple of months and then I'll move on to our hallways and master bedroom. Of course there are a million other little ideas I have for the "great" room but for now it's definitely in a good place. I really love adding fun items to my home and in the spirit of decorating I've added several design blogs to my feed. Anyone have any blog suggestions for me? Send them my way!!!

Decorating Around for No Reason

I wanted to brag share the pics of the wreaths I made for Valentines Day. Pretty sure The Bear is going nuts with all the Valentines Day crafts since it's the most awful and ridiculous holiday in his mind. But, I've got to stay sane and making felt flowers is doing it for me right now. Why can't cleaning do the same? My kitchen would really like to know.

The pictures range from kinda crappy to really awful because they were taken in bad light.....oh yeah and with my Iphone....but, lighting aside, the general idea is there. The first was for my sister. That is the worst of the photos, because the sun was glaring right at it, so you can barely see detail. Oops. The second is mine. It's mini and hanging on the inside of my front door. This was the first wreath I made with felt flowers and I love it just for that reason. The last was for my mom. I <3 all but the ribbon. I was just so ready to give it to her so I didn't want to take the next few days to think on other ideas for that space. Yuck to the ribbon but YAY to the earthy slash homemade style of the grapevine and flowers.

Happy End of Holidays

Tonight The Bear and I went out to do some last minute shopping for some friends. MISTAKE! Big mistake. It was raining and crowded and absolutely ridiculous. Baby Bear was awful, which is pretty typical this month. Probably because her nap schedule, that I worked so hard to enforce the first 15 months of her life, has been totally up in the air while we run errands and I give into her fits of clingy not wanting to nap-ness. So, let me say, I cannot wait for Christmas to be over. I'm tired of her opening all 3 of the presents that I put under the tree (because they are too big to hide elsewhere), I'm tired of Christmas music (except for Glee), I'm tired of crowds and selfish bratty humans, basically I've lost the Christmas spirit. Bah hum bug!!! But, I'm super excited for Mads to open presents because she'll be so so excited and that makes me excited. Bratty brat brat!

Just like I got the itch to decorate for Christmas right after Halloween I've started to get the itch actually start decorating for Valentines Day. I've been wanting to make some felt flowers to put on my yarn wreaths and I figured it out FINALLY.

So I made a wreath and I won't lie, it's awesome. I'm saving the whole picture until after I take down my Christmas stuff (TOMORROW! not really, but I wish) and find a spot for it. I can make you one too, if you're nice to me! It's my best wreath yet, I have to admit. Even The Bear lied really well about liking it.

My last glass of wine is almost empty and that means it's time for teeth brushing and bed. Here's to hoping for a bed to myself all night. Myself and Mr. Bear that is. And, not that I don't love a good snuggle but Mads is a really serious bed hog. Just sayin.

Falling for Fall

Now that the sickness is gone things have calmed down. The last week was difficult, I was tired and ornery and it's safe to say I wasn't being the partner I needed/wanted to be, but it's over and a succession of really amazing days helps to forget it. And by forget I mean simply to stop obsessing over the details of what made that week so awful.

Fall has settled in here in Utah and Baby Bear and I are loving every minute of it. We go on relaxing, albeit short walks, open the windows so the house smells of fresh air, and enjoy the colors of the season. The colors around us are more gorgeous than I remember from years past. The burnt oranges and greenish yellows roll around the hills and give a crisp warmth to our Earth. I've never considered myself much of a seasonal decorator (for example, I'll decorate for Halloween but won't replace pillows candles, flower vases, etc. for each season) but this year I'm really wishing I had a seasonal decorations budget. I'd love to throw some Fallish pillows on the couch or have more surfaces to put up candles, garlands, pumpkins, and things of that sort. I have so much space to decorate in the future but right now, this season, I have a lot of empty corners and not enough places that can easily accommodate frequent decor changes.

However, I do have some space outside! I have a pretty small front porch and a couple little nooks out front which make it easy to fill and decorate. I've been coveting these yarn wreaths for well over a year now but at forty bucks, or more, a pop I knew that I could afford ONE for the whole year, not multiple wreaths, plus buying it wouldn't give me the satisfaction of figuring out how to do it myself. So this week I did it. I asked The Bear if I could spend $20 at the craft store, not sure what I was going to spend it on, and then I decided to go for it. It took me one day and even though I spent just a little more than the $20 planned I have a lot of extra Fall flowers to use in the future. I admit that it's a far cry from the beautiful wreaths on Etsy, but the idea is to get a feel for it and eventually they will get better. I can't wait to do one for Christmas!



Please excuse our awful front door. I hate it and hopefully will be able to at least sand it down and re-stain it before Winter. Door's are expensive!

Craft-O-Rama

Since we bought the house I've been obsessively searching the internet for design ideas to help me fill up all the empty wall and corner space. I've replaced a lot of my favorite celebrity mom blog spots with design on a dime style blogs and they've given me the itch to start re-finishing furniture more often.

Years ago I helped a friend finish a table for his house. During the whole process he bitched and moaned about how he could have found the same table, finished the exact same way, for a lot less money, at DownEast and he wouldn't be stuck in the garage at that very moment, with paint fumes filling his nostrils, in the middle of Winter. I admit we didn't really know what we were doing and did almost all the sanding by hand (there was A LOT of it!) which made the process even longer but it gave me the itch and I've never lost it. Sometimes I wonder if he still appreciates that table and all the work we put into it......probably not. But I appreciate the lesson learned!

My itch to thrift shop for furniture to re-finish is also coupled with the strong desire to add some color to my home. I don't want to just have a stand to throw keys on I want to have a COLORFUL one. I want to have a red/blue/green/orange/yellow console that I can hide all the awful electronics in my living room. I want to have the awesome creative furniture that people "oooo" and "awwww" at when they enter my home. Currently I am a RcWilley couch owning, Costco rug loving, Pier One table dining woman. I hate that there is no character to my entry way. I loathe my cluttered counters. I despise my poor attempt at pillow creativity. I need to be more crafty!!!!!

I enjoy finding a project and getting to work on it. Mostly it's my sticktoitivness that starts to lag after a while. When we moved in I was going to do everything, ALL AT ONCE! Of course after finishing two picture frames and not really loving the design outcome I sort of lost my momentum. A shelf for Baby Bear's bedroom sat, forgotten, on top of the washer/dryer for months. I shocked myself when I ordered, and actually picked up, a gorgeous photograph that my dad shot. The easy option was to buy a frame from Target and I shocked myself again when I found energy one day and hung it. This required measuring, marking, & leveling which are not things I enjoy. And you know what. I love that picture. It really adds to our small bathroom and every time I see it I smile.

This weekend while The Bear was sick and my mom was babysitting Baby Bear for our not so datey "date night" I pulled out the shelf for the nursery. I sanded and painted that night and the next morning I put the last coat on and did some antiquing. It turned out lovely! The Bear helped me hang it and, aside from agonizing over what should be placed on the shelf itself, it looks amazing! When Mad wakes up from her naps she smiles at me and points to it, showing me the new addition to her room. She's very attentive to details in her space and the fact that I have her approval gives me the drive to do more.

So, here's a goal for the Fall/Winter. Be crafty. Furniture, frames, candle holders, kitchen decor. Whatever it may be, large or small, I'm going to get it done before Spring. Ok. Maybe not all of the things that need to get done. But some of them. A lot of them. And it won't take me weeks of mental preparation either. Maybe next year I'll have the nerve to approach the subject of wall painting with The Bear......