What a Difference a Weekend Makes

I think calling myself out her on the blog was motivating. This weekend I got in gear and did what decorating we plan to do this year. I think it turned out lovely, just enough. My biggest anxiety this year was about the fact that I will have to take it all down and pack it up in a few short weeks. I know, lame. I will say I’ve heard lots of others say they just can’t get in the spirit this year. Don’t know what’s up with that. Either way, I think I really need to sort through all my decorations and reorganize things before I put it away this year. Ugh. I don’t enjoy that part.

But I’m just not going to think about that right now. I’m going to enjoy for now.

Baskets of ornaments are always festive.

I didn’t pull out any of our traditional ornaments for the tree. We bought some new teal balls and pulled the purple ones out of the ornament bin. I wanted garland, but wasn’t finding anything I liked. Until I stumbled on this.

I just love it! It’s actually yarn with pom poms! How fun is that? Simple and a little funky.

I have lots of nativities. I only put out three this year. This traditional one.

This one is the my oldest. It’s been through a lot. And I love it.

I worked a little magic on the frame from this post. I think it turned out pretty cute.

I really love the aqua/teal. It makes me happy.

And of course, I did some fun things on the mantel!

I love the one red ornament.

The only down side….I have this to clean up!

The whole dining room table covered in stuff. Ugh! The remnants of my creativity.

And I might have a slight addiction to ribbon…

There are worse things to be addicted to:).

A Pinterest Christmas

Are you having a Pinterest Christmas? You know, where you get fabulous ideas and implement them all and they turn out exactly like the picture and the angels sing the hallelujah chorus right there in your house? Here’s my Pinterest Christmas.

A beautiful decoration for the front porch!

 Whip up some ribbon trees for the sideboard.

Throw a beautiful printable in a lovely frame.

Add a little pretty to the mantel.

Ahh, the beauty of Christmas so elegantly displayed in my home. Warms the heart doesn’t it?

It would.

If I had done any of those things!

Nope.

Not one.

Those are some really talented ladies! You should click on the pictures and visit their blogs:).

But this is my handiwork this year.

My tree. It’s looked like this for over  a week.

The mantel. I think I captured the minimalist movement quite well don’t you?

How about my dining room table centerpiece? You’re so jealous!

I did manage to change out the fabric on my board {thanks Mom for helping me pick it out!}

I do love the fabric and it’s a perfect shade of red – to match my walls!

I have gathered some things. I’m working on changing the colors for this year. When I painted my dining room/kitchen an orangey-red, I wasn’t thinking about Christmas. But I really love this teal/aqua color and would like to incorporate it. So that’s the direction I’m going. But I’m just not getting a vision. And so, this is what I have.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by Pinterest? By Christmas? By peer pressure? Even grown ups have peer pressure. It’s called “keeping up with the Jones’!”

Guess I better get going. I’ve got a lot of work to do to get this house in shape for Christmas!

Sideboard

I made my first Craig’s List purchase  a month ago. Middle Son went with me to check it out. It is a really solid piece of furniture! So he and the seller loaded it in our van, I paid the man and we headed home. I have to say I was a bit creeped out by the idea of going to a stranger’s house to buy something. But we survived just fine.

I had been searching for a while for something to use in my dining room. I had a shelf I had purchased and painted when we first moved into this house. It worked, but all the shelves were open and I really wanted a cleaner look; something with doors or drawers. I’ve seen some great repurposed mid-century hutches that I really like, but I have this awesome mantel on the wall. So I really needed a sideboard rather than a hutch.

I knew I wanted to paint it, although when I stripped it I did hesitate for a minute. The wood looked so good! But I already have two shades of wood with my floor and table. I don’t want to throw another in the mix. So on went the primer.

As a side note, I found a great no-odor stripper that I could use in the house. Good thing since it was getting cold outside.

We picked a yellow a few shades darker than our living room. It was actually paint I already had and it really pops against the red-orange walls.

I really  love how it turned out!

I love the clean lines.

Since it was such a simple design, I added quirk with the drawer pulls.

Each drawer has a different pull.

Love them all! And the best part of the whole thing?

Ok, there are two best parts.

1. I only spent $100 on the entire project! Perfect for a frugal girl like me:).
2. I started and finished this project in the same month! {I would have been done more quickly, but I had a weekend out-of-town for work in the middle.} I never finish a project that quickly!

I also have lots of free space in the hall closet where I used to keep many of the things that are now in my sideboard.

Yay for upcycled furniture! Yay for storage space! Yay for finished projects! And Yay for getting to be creative!

Pop on Over

I’m posting on my photo blog today – From My Perspective. I do a weekly feature called What is it? Wednesday where I post a photo of an everyday thing in a new way. You can try to figure out what it is and I will post the reveal on Thursday.

Pop on over and see if you can figure it out!

Instagram – ’cause I needed another social media outlet!

They FINALLY came out with an app for Android. So, ya, I joined Instagram. And I’m slowly getting hooked. I like the filters for playing with pics on my camera. The part I didn’t anticipate is the community aspect; likes and comments on your photos, followers and following. And then there’s the hashtags. A lot to learn but, hey why not! So I’m linking up for my first INSTAfriday. Hope you enjoy!

Last weekend started with a cold drink and a good read – outside! Love this weather!

Found a project to work on at the thrift store. I think it may be the new light for our entry way…we shall see!

I played a little tennis with Middle Son. We went after dark and found this sweet little bunny on the courts. I’ve never seen that tiny of a bunny! Mama was watching closely; I think she couldn’t wait for us to leave:). I’m pleased to say none of our stray balls hit the poor thing.

Hubby and I got to attend a scholarship reception for Oldest Son. He’s so stinkin’ smart! Proud of that boy.

We are now entertained with the music of the marimba in our family room. I actually love the sound!

We got a new fire pit and Youngest Son assembled it for us! Now we just need to make time to light a fire in it:).

Saturday we went to the Old Shawnee Days Parade. It was a good time, but I learned parades are a lot different when you don’t have little kids with you!

Hubby and I went to the Eddie Money Concert. It was a gorgeous night to be outside. The music was ok. The company was great!

We’re preparing for college orientation with Oldest Son. Soooo much to think about. So much to tell him to help him be successful!

Found this sweet girl in my bed in the morning.

My boys found their Yu-gi-oh cards when they cleaned their rooms. Do you remember these? They are making a comeback in our house. So funny!

This was the sunrise yesterday as we headed to college orientation. Almost made it worth getting up so ridiculously early!

That was really more than a week, but I’m still figuring things out.  Feel free to follow me on Instagram – @judys_perspective! It’s a little bit addictive:)!

I’m linking up here – I think anyway, if I did this right:)!

T-Shirt Quilt

I’ve been saving the kids’ t-shirts for years! When Oldest Son out grew something it went to Middle Son, then Youngest Son. After everyone had outgrown a shirt we decided if it was for the t-shirt quilt or Goodwill.

And now we have three bins like this! Bags and bags of t-shirts. For the most part they are sorted by kid. I was pretty good about labeling the bags, but there are a few shirts that they all wore.

This was one of the projects on my “before Oldest Son graduates” list. Over Christmas break I dug out all the shirts and started sorting and counting.

I had 44 shirts for Oldest Son! And what a walk down memory lane that was! So fun to remember the outfits he wore and where he wore them.

I have seen lots of t-shirt quilts with all different kinds of designs. Most were traditional quilts with sashing between the shirts. They were awesome, but I had so many small shirts to use. I didn’t know how that could work. So I had something different in mind. I’d really been dreaming of essentially a crazy quilt. I wanted a style that would allow me to use all those tiny shirts I had kept. One that worked for all different sized pieces. I was thinking I could do this if I just picked a base size – like 3″x3″. Then as long as the pieces were all multiples of three it would work. I had this idea in my head, but really wasn’t sure if I had the time to figure out the details. And then…I stumbled on Too Cool T-Shirt Quilts.

AAaaHHhhAAaaHHhh…like the hallelujah chorus! I have a solution!

They have a website and a book with great directions. And you can purchase plexiglas templates to use in cutting your shirts. I had the great fortune of borrowing the set from a friend (Thanks Cindy P!).

It was quick and easy to cut out all the shirts. Just lay the template on and decide which size to use. Then came the really creative part! There’s a formula to use at this point to figure out how big your quilt will end up. Then I created an Excel diagram and started arranging pieces. I thought this part was fun! Once I had all the sizes working out, I added in the colors to make sure the colors would be mixed up and look good.

Two super awesome friends spent a day over spring break helping me sew the pieces together. It took us about 6 hours. Not bad for a 76″ x 80″ quilt top. And we did lots of chatting while we worked.

Such a sense of accomplishment!

And tomorrow it’s off to the quilter! Can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s all done.

One down 2 to go!

Lists, Anti-Procrastinators and Other Random Thoughts on a Saturday

I am a list maker. Are you?

I love to write down – yes, with paper and pencil – everything I want to accomplish. It feels kind of liberating and empowering to me. Maybe that’s because my memory is horrible these days? {On a side note, I did hear something on the news about not getting enough sleep makes you have bad memory and they think it may lead to Alzheimer’s. Great! Hubby and I are doomed.}

Saturdays are when I feel a super strong need to have a list. And my sons are very aware of that need. I think if there is one area I feel really guilty about not doing better parenting, it is with time management. {Ok, who am I kidding, there is way more than one area! But let’s pretend there’s just one.} You see, I am a procrastinator at heart. I’m pretty sure it’s in my DNA and just who I am. I do hate the judgement that comes with that. Procrastinators get a bad wrap! There is this whole thought around how that means we are less organized, disciplined, responsible, etc. I think thee is another side. Procrastinators are resourceful, creative, and adaptable. I think there is something weird about having to do everything immediately or way ahead. {Notice there is no name for the opposite of procrastinators! What’s up with that?} What are you afraid of? Think you’ll forget it? Think something terrible will happen and you won’t finish? Think it won’t be as good later? Maybe those who must do everything ahead are really negative thinkers. And procrastinators are the positive ones. I don’t want to do it now, because I will have a better idea tomorrow. I want to give it some time to gel. I think I will have more passion for it tomorrow. See, procrastintors are optimists! Tomorrow will be the perfect day!

But I digress. {Shocking!} Back to the list. I think keeping things on a list that I can look at any time, helps me to prioritize. Lists prevent out-of-sight-out-of-mind-syndrome, which is a deadly syndrome. It can kill productivity in a heartbeat! By making a list, things don’t sneak up on you. Not as easily anyway. You know what is coming on the horizon and have time to prepare. And it frees up my mind! I like that! I like being free to dream up creative things to do, solutions to problems, anything creative. And when I have things to remember, it messes up my clean slate for creating. So, I write it down and am free to be Awesome!

Sadly, I haven’t done a good job of teaching my sons list making. We’re working on it, but they kind of seem like old dogs – you know, they don’t want to learn Mom’s new trick.Saturday mornings are my day to impress upon them the importance of the list. The cleaning list, the homework list, the errand list, the project list!

Which brings us full circle. Gotta go – have to wake some boys up and get going on our lists before they turn on Skyrim!

Happy Saturday!

Trash to Treasure

I have a project to share! I’m so excited. I started and finished this in one evening! If you know me, you know that’s a big deal. I’m not great at finishing things. But this was so easy and turned out so cute! So here it is.

I found this shade at the thrift store and actually liked it. But when I looked a little closer I realized there were a couple of tears in it. Not big, but definitely there.

{BTW I’m still getting used to my new dining room color. I need to find the right setting on my camera so everything a photograph isn’t red – especially the people!}

I decided to rehab the shade:). To get strated I tore that paper off. This was fun – I kind of like being destructive:)!

This left me with a wire frame. I’d seen a shade on Whatever that I really liked. So that was my inspiration. She had a straight shade though and mine is tapered so I had to get creative. I started by tearing 1 1/2 inches wide strips from each cutting of fabric. I had 5 coordinating fabrics, but you could probably do it with all one or fewer patterns. I just like the variety.

 

I wrapped the top and bottom wires with the same fabric. It took one strip the width of the bolt for the bottom, and a little less for the top.

I picked a spot to start and wrapped the piece back over itself to hold it. I wrapped until the whole ring was covered and put a dab of glue on the end to hold it in place.

Then I took the other strips and started wrapping them around the shade. I didn’t take pictures of the wrapping part – I was too excited to see how it turned out. Because the shade was tapered, I looped the fabric around every other vertical. If you look closely you can see how one piece just goes over the vertical and the other wraps around. I did this for every vertical wire and each different fabric. When I got all the way around, I tied a simple knot.

Then the next row I used a different fabric and started one vertical support to the right. So when I looped it around every other one, they ended up alternating. This helps keep it from sliding up the frame since it’s a tapered frame.

I used the fabrics in a random way because I didn’t want it to look to matchy-matchy. When I thought I was done, I stepped back to take a look and decided it needed a couple more rows. You could see too much bulb through the shade. I think you could do this as tight or loose as you want.

I think I ended up with 12 rows of fabric strips. I also took a couple of strips and tied them to the lamp itself. I thought it needed a little something to finish it off.

And here it is with the light on.

I absolutely love it! It makes me happy every time I look at it. It has received mixed reviews from the family. Not surprising considering I live with 4 guys! I think it will go on my desk at work. I’m gearing up for an office makeover…more to come!

Sleep Problems

I’m having trouble sleeping. Not the kind of trouble you think. I can fall asleep just fine. And stay asleep.

My problem is actually giving in and going to bed! By the time I have taken care of all the family business, updated the calendars gone to the meetings, proof read the papers, signed the forms, and found the exact shirt they needed…it is late! It always is. I could go to bed at that time. However. I have so very much I want to do and accomplish that the thought of stopping to go to sleep just makes me frustrated. And of course, when I wake up in the morning I’m not rested. I would love nothing more than to sleep in. However, on the days I can sleep in, I wake up early, grab the computer and get to work.

I wish I were one of those people who only required a couple of hours sleep a night?). As it is I usually get about 6 and it’s not quite enough. But the alternative is skipping some of the fun things I want to do in the evening. Or just neglecting all Mom duties. Don’t love either of those options.

I want to craft, and write, and cook, and take pictures. I want to repurpose things and paint them and make something beautiful.

I don’t want to spare a minute of creative time to sleep.

Is there a cure for my dilemma? Other than quitting my job so I can be creative all day? That would require buying a winning lottery ticket I think.

Maybe this craving for crafting will be satiated when my nest is empty…

What’s a creative soul to do?

Thankful Thursday – Hallway Surfing

The three teenagers were home. all. day.

With only a cleaning list.

That included dusting.

Which led them to the furniture polish.

The thought process from there is rather a mystery.

I’ve learned over the years, sometimes it’s best not to ask.

But you know what happens when furniture polish gets on a floor.

I’m thankful that they warned Hubby and I when we got home.

I’m thankful that I didn’t receive a call during the day telling me that someone cut their head open, or broke an arm.

I’m thankful I didn’t have anything breakable in the hallway.

I’m thankful for boy ingenuity.

I’m thankful my guys can laugh together.

I’m thankful they enjoy each others’ company…most of the time.