Oh, Pillow.

I got crafty over the weekend with my sewing machine. I've had a few spats with the ol' Singer in the past, but I was pretty confident that everything would run smoothly this time since my mom set it up for me correctly I'm such a pro now.

Let me show you my creation. Dum-dada-dum!

Ignore the wrinkles. Sometimes I'm too impetuous to dabble in the details. Plus, they'll smooth out when I lay on them. That's love, folks. I owe my success to the creator of a GREAT video tuturial, found here, at a blog called The Crafty Gemini. Thank you to Vanessa for making this, because I literally followed your instructions to the T and everything worked perfectly.

I won't detail the instructions here, because her video is much better than anything I could write up. I'll do a little picture parade though--a photojourney of sorts.

Singer Prelude

Back pieces of fabric pinned, ready to hem.



With pulp.



"Good thing this is a test piece"

Oh, right, the presser foot would help.



Machine working. Check.


 

Both back edges hemmed. Three pieces of fabric lined up to
sew around the perimeter of my pillow, inside-out.

 

Pinned.

Done sewing. About ready to flip to the right side.

Tada!



Envelope opening in back.

There you have it. I made the first pillow in about an hour, which is not bad for my first attempt (and much shorter than the two days it took me to make my first-ever curtain panel). Oh, and I did say "first pillow". That's right. I'm nothing if not utilitarian. I planned to make covers for my triangle-covered, came-with-the-sofa pillows, but I fell in love with the last 39" of this fabric (for $6.99) and it just wasn't going to cover two (they're 21" pillows). I played with the idea of making one pillow, but the thought of wasting 1/3 of my fabric on scraps irked me (read: it's not going to happen).

No fears, math to the rescue! (oh boy) I looked in my closet and found a pair of smaller orange pillows that matched nothing in the new house, and I determined that I could make two covers at this size with very little fabric to spare. Each pillow used  18.5"x22.5" piece, so I used a total of 37"x45 out of a 39"x45" piece of fabric.

That's math, people! Two for the price of one.

Something I bought

This is going to appear in my house tomorrow if all goes well. Uncharted DIY waters...

When Paint Colors Go Wrong

I don't have the best track record for choosing paint colors. Oh, let's see, there are a few incidents that stand out.

-"Modeling clay" Green
-"This wasn't supposed to be" Yellow
-The time I painted the most muted, boring "accent wall" in history
-Boysenberry.

Oh, boysenberry. The color was actually called "Strawberry Daquiri". I really should have known.

See, I had a little alcove around my sink that I wanted to accent with a fun, unexpected color. I was going for this color....this reddish, mauvish, beige-ish color. Kind of like this. Except that's not the color I picked out. No. I picked the most angry pink on the planet. It was an accident.

 It was so much brighter than what I had planned. I just kept telling myself that it would tone down when it dried. Wishful thinking.
Keep in mind that this was the apartment I would share with my husband. Even then, he gave me pretty free reign over color choices, but I knew this was gonna cross the line. And when the whole wall was done, I realized that even an apartment full of girls wouldn't appreciate this wall. The color looked awful.

You can see the lovely texture of our walls in this photo. I'm not sure if it's a bad taping job, wallpapered paneling, or what. I just know that Boysenberry  Strawberry Daquiri made it look even worse.

Erik came home, stared at it, looked at me, looked at it, and said, "It looks so....angry!"

"I know", I said. "I'm going to fix it."

Now, I'm sure Erik thought this meant that I would take what was left of the Rafia Cream and cover over this glaring mistake. At the moment, I thought I might.

But I really wanted an accent wall. And I didn't want to go back to Home Depot again.

I still had a half quart of the hot pink goo, but could I redeem it? I looked around at the various cans of paint that sat on my kitchen floor. I had paint for other rooms, some neutral colors from the kitchen, and a few from my mom *just in case*. It turned out that this was the case. I opened one of the cans to find a deep, calm, grey-green-blue color.

I knew that I wanted to tone down the sharp red tones in the paint. Blue would do that. It only takes a few days in kindergarten to realize what red and blue create. So I dumped the calming color into the stormy hot pink and stirred with delight as I saw what was happening.

That's the look of delight, by the way. I rolled the purple I created over the angry wall and it became quieter and quieter. The color was actually an exact match to the little lines of purple in our linoleum floor. It was a thing of beauty.

Is paint-mixing the best way to achieve the color you want in your room? No. If you run out of your one-of-a-kind paint there's no perfect way to get it back. I know it's best to take home paint chips, tape them to the wall, and think about it. I've definitely done the whole "paint sample" thing, too. It's how we picked out the perfect gray for our living room in the house.

But look, I'm a paint mixer. I don't always have the patience for the paint-choosing process and sometimes I just pick a color on the spot. And when the color looks a little bit "off", I don't fret. I take a trip to the basement and spin the color wheel in my head. Then I start mixing.

Valentine's Day, a Restaurant Review, and a Recipe.



 This year, for Valentine's Day, we opted to go out a few days early to avoid the rush, the price fixe menus, and the generally cheesy feeling we get when we're doing what everyone else is doing (like standing in line with a snow shovel hours before the storm hits). I wore red unabashedly since it felt more like my choice. There's no photo of this, but it was just a sweater and jeans, people. February is cold! Oh, speaking of my uber-practical nature, this is Erik's solution to my distaste for expensive bouquets of flowers.

"Look!", he said with glee. "It's not a bouquet! It's a plant!" Well, be still my heart. Flowers that are still alive =D. We had a reservation for 6:30 at a local restaurant, but after watching this week's episode of Modern Family, I laughed out loud and told Erik we'd better make it later. (The episode featured Claire and Phil out to eat on Valentine's day. They were surrounded by the early-bird crowd of elderly people in motorized carts. It was 6:30)

Erik reminded me that I get hungry very early. He's right. I told him I'm getting younger with age. He sweetly changed our reservation.

We had a great meal of tapas and wine at a very trendy new restaurant, but after dinner, we set off for dessert at our favorite little place for Chocolate Lava Cake.

The cake is hot, the coffee gelato is rich and flavorful, and the little glass urns of coffee are the perfect, personal touch.

Service is fast and polite, and the surroundings are totally unpretentious. Cozy, private booths and tables; homey, who-cares decor; dim lighting; and really, really good food. Did I mention that this dessert was $5.00?

And now, the big surprise. This is Thai Taste in New Haven - our favorite Thai Restaurant around. We first fell in love with their curries, noodle dishes, and soups. Then one day we said "why not?" to trying an American dessert at this decidedly authentic Thai joint, and we've never looked back.

And then, on Valentine's day itself, we stayed in for a home-cooked meal and relaxation. I had to work some chocolate into the day since it's Erik's first love, so I made these Chocolate Ganache Covered Strawberries. Excuse my lack of presentation. They were deelicious.

--Throw together two double-boilers.
--Into one, pour semi-sweet/dark chocolate chips.
--Into the other, pour (fewer) white chocolate chips.
--Add a few pours of half&half to each.

--Add a small pat of butter to each.
--Melt em' down, stir, remove from heat.
--Dip each washed&dried strawberry into chocolate, and place on wax paper.
--With a spoon, drizzle white chocolate over each strawberry.--Place tray into refrigerator to cool.

--Take them out 15 minutes before eating.
--Eat.

 

Oh yeah, and before I forget, here's wishing you one of these:

arts & crafts

Back in college, one of my senior management classes, titled "Creativity and Innovation", was basically an arts and crafts class. My first assignment was to create a personal mind map, which was actually a cool concept about using both sides of one's brain, developing clearer thinking strategies, etcetera etcetera.

WELL...my professor decided to ham up the project a bit, and I was basically instructed to glue pieces of glittery macaroni to a piece of paper. Here is a real quote from my professor (please read this in a female, 60-yr-old southern accent): "If you're someone who likes to go to the gym, don't just write "Gym" or draw a barbell. Hmmm, I know! You could glue a toothpick with a lifesaver on each end and make a barbell!"

This example struck me in several ways.
1.) *obvious shock and awe*
2.) I don't think that using sugary, artificially colored, flotation device-shaped candy is really in line with the whole "exercise" thing
3.) The ratio of 'bar' to 'bell' would be totally inaccurate for someone of my strength
4.) I decided in kindergarten that I was done doing arts and crafts

I am absolutely not kidding about #4. It is one of the clearest memories that I have retained from my younger years. Let me preface this story by saying that I have actually grown up to see some value in well-done, purposeful "crafty" creations.

Craft time. Everyone in my kindergarten class was handed a paper plate and piece of paper with a photo-copied outline of a duck. I was already equipped with the other elements that were necessary to complete this project: crayons, round-tipped child scissors, Elmer's glue, and a 5-year-old brain.

The plate was the water, see, so I took out my blue crayon and began dragging it over the surface of the plate. "This is a shame", I thought to myself, "using up so much of my blue crayon in such a non-creative fashion. Oh great! I snapped in half....*sigh*...if we're all just making our plates turn blue, why didn't Mrs. Edwards just give us all blue plates?"
The next step was to give the duck some color. I thought that this part was pretty fun. I enjoyed staying in the lines and using different colors for the eye and beak. I still like coloring, actually. It's purposeful and semi-imaginative. Coloring an entire plate blue? Not at all.

The final step was to cut the duck out of the paper and to glue it to the paper plate in an upright position. "Well that makes sense", I surmised. "It's a duck floating around in a puddle of water. Mom will think it's cute, anyway."

The plate was thoroughly blue'd and the duck was half-colored by the time the 3:00 bell rang (hey, you can't rush art). Mrs. Edwards made the same statement that she always made at the end of art class. "Those of you who didn't finish can complete the project at home". I had heard my teacher say this many times, but today I had an epiphany.
"I will not have anything more to do with this duck-on-plate nonsense. I have never spent any time finishing one of these projects at home, now that I think of it. I mean, this is fun to do in class and all, but I see no real value in most of these projects. Christmas ornaments I understand, cards for mom and dad are sweet, but a paper duck on a paper plate? Who came up with this idea? Who cares? Not me...I will not waste one minute of my own time on this lifeless duck"

Seventeen years after that day, I found myself in a similar situation. This time, however, it was for credit. I mustered up every ounce of craftiness I had, and worked feverishly on that mind-map until I sweat glitter. And you better believe there was a duck in there somewhere.

My First Renovation

  When Erik and I got married, we moved into a great, surprisingly large 3rd floor apartment in a 100-year old Victorian home. I was sold on the place when I set foot in the 14 x 15 foot kitchen. (Although I do remember tugging on Erik's sleeve and secretly mouthing the words "I WANT THIS!" after I saw the bathroom, which had been earlier on the tour). Here's my best shot of a specific area of the kitchen *before*

The cabinets were painted in a dark, faux-wood grain finish. The hardware was, too, because I hadn't yet written a blog post about painting etiquette for this offender to read. And also because the internet didn't exist at the time. And also because I didn't exist. Moving on...

Here is one more shot that shows how barren the walls were when we signed the lease. Look really closely and see the hidden potential.

Did you spot it? Here's an enhanced version:

Oh, the chair rail. I had big plans for something two-toned and I couldn't wait to get paint up on the walls. My sister and good friend helped me paint the kitchen pretty over a nice spring weekend. The result (complete with my cluttered temporary solution to food storage):

Very pretty, right? I decided to go neutral on the walls so the room would be able to handle my wondrous rainbow of kitchen decor. The lower part is Behr Gobi Desert and the upper is Rafia Cream. High gloss white on my trim and chair rail!

The story seemed to end there for a time. The kitchen remained this way for about 18 months. You see, I always envisioned my cabinets in WHITE. Either side of the kitchen had a row of cabinetry, but it didn't match. Add in the fact that my landlord told me on day one that I could not paint any of the wooden surfaces in the apartment (Which was highly problematic given that 50% of my apartment was ensconced in dark wood paneling. More on that another time.)

I bided my time and warmed up my landlady. I paid my rent on the first of the month, was a good citizen, and only mildly harped on her about pretty-please-can-I-paint-the-paneling-and-the-cabinets-puhhleeease?!?!? And then. She. Said. Yes! And then I ripped the countertop off.

I may have left out the part where I told you how much I hated my countertop. I wish you could have scratched it with your fingernail and experienced the clay-like substance that it had become. I wish you could have seen the tiny little bug crawl out from behind the metal edging. And I wish you were there when I pulled that thing off like a mother lifting a car off of her trapped child.

Okay, I'm not THAT impulsive. I mean, that is exactly how it happened, but I had previously researched my replacement options and found that I could throw a new pre-fab formica top on there for less than $80. I also have a brother-in-law with big saws and a pencil behind his ear. And I know what you may think about pouring money into a rental, but I love to cook, and a large, clean work surface was invaluable to me for our remaining years in that house. Plus, our rent was considerably lower than any other place that size. By my estimation, the countertop paid for itself in about two weeks. Less if you factor in my happiness :D
And my landlord? She loved the result, of course. Wanna see the photo that helped attract a new tenant when we moved out? I'm quite proud of it.

Quickie Bathroom Refresh

Our sole bathroom is a sea of blue. The tile is original and in pretty great condtion, the tub is solid, and the sink still sparkles. I just wish the color choice weren't so....monochromatic.

The mess is my fault, but it's the best photo I have (I'm much more intentional about taking photos since starting this blog). And don't get your hopes up about the big reveal just yet, because this is a post about a quick fix. No 'blue' was harmed in the making of this post. Just my finger.

One hundred points if you can guess how I got that injury. Fifty bonus points if you can tell I'm injured. It sure did hurt, but I kissed it, wrapped it in a paper towel, and moved along.



 Ready everyone? I have two new angles for you to admire in the Blue Lagoon. The first.....

Tada! Shelves. Formerly of my kitchen, formerly of my livingroom closet, formerly of my livingroom walls! Reuse and recycle, people. (I can't wait for the day I can say "formerly of the blue bathroom....") And then one more shot. My other project.

CURTAINS! I appreciate the utility of the sliding doors, but I think they're ghastly, especially since the far wall of the shower shouldn't actually be there (this was obviously once a stand-alone tub). 

 I opened these for y'all to see the system in place, although I prefer them closed completely. I also would prefer plain white, but when my white curtains didn't turn up, these guys stepped in as their understudy(ies?). These are my light-blocking curtains that I DIY'd a few years ago. If I hadn't been so impatient to find fabric *that very minute*, I may have ended up with something that looked a bit less like soccer balls. Oh well, sound the vuvuzelas! They sure are coming in handy now.

I also hung up some of our old bathroom art that Erik scored at a New Haven book store a few years ago.  Have any of you seen these before? The top one is little boys at a line of urinals, and the bottom one is a couple of toddlers being all Marilyn Monroe on a grate.

Sure, the bathroom has a long way to go (like getting a mirror to replace the medicine cabinet that I hastily ripped down), but it sure has come a long way. In the mean time, I'm making sketches on graph paper, pricing out a new tub, tile, sink, etc.

Uh oh...I think the sink heard me. It looks very upset.

We're famous

Erik called me from work today.

K: "Heyy!"
E:  "Do you know where the most recent newspaper is?"
K: "Probably in the recycling bin. Why?"
E: "I don't want to ruin it. Just look it over for anything that pops out at you."
K: "Here's one. It's from a week ago. Hmmm. Nothing. What am I looking for?"
E: "Well, my mom just called. She was looking at the newspaper when a picture caught her attention. She said she looked at it for a few seconds before she realized it was a photo of you and me in a Villa Capri add."

(that's where we had our wedding reception)

K: "Ahh! That's great!"
E: "Yeah, my mom's gonna clip it out for us. She said we should laminate it."
K: "Of course. And we'll put it on the fridge. And on the blog!"
E: "Right!"
*commence talking about whatever else we talked about. Probably this blog. And it was probably me talking.

Fast-forward to tonight. Erik is getting ready to go snowmobiling in Vermont for the weekend. My car is still stuck in the ice, so Erik brings me to pick up some sausage & garlic pizza for myself tonight (a necessity for any petite flower like myself). On the way into the house, we pick up the mail that *just arrived*. A newspaper! Yes!

Flipping, flipping, searching, poring....point! Squint!


This is not us. I love my in-laws.

DIY Network

I have a love affair with the DIY network. The renovations are sometimes beautiful, informative, and brilliant. Other times it's like Trading Spaces all over again. (Remember that time Hildi painted that hot pink ceiling and then glued HAY to the walls?)

On both ends of the spectrum (education vs. entertainment), there is a great deal of value in this channel. 


Pictured: John DeSilvia and Joanie Dodds of DIY Network's "Run My Renovation"



This is Run My Renovation, with Joanie and John. Joanie and Chachi. Tell me this guy doesn't look just like Scott Baio!

So maybe sometimes I add entertainment value all on my own. But seriously, this guy is the best contractor on the network. They're all good. Those DIY Network trucks can roll up my old driveway any time they want.



The Living room

Meet Living room

The first time I saw this room, I liked it. I liked the size (12x16 - larger than that of any comparably-priced home we'd seen). I liked the wide stairway that led upstairs, knowing we'd later open the wall. I liked the extra-tall baseboard moulding that matched the size of the radiators (look closely, they blend into one another).

I really, really liked the fact that this home had hardwood oak flooring under all of the carpets. And despite my chipper outlook on all-things-home, I hated the carpet so much that we wasted no time ripping it up.

When I say we wasted no time, I mean we ripped it up the night of our closing, even though the house didn't have the electricity on yet. We have headlamps ready for such projects.

It looked pretty bad in there. We knew right away that it probably couldnt be completely repaired with a few sandings. The former owners had pets, and well, those stains don't come out. (The good news is that all other rooms looked great and polished up perfectly in the refinishing.)

So, fast-forward through the refinishing. Floors turned out better than expected, but we have plans to completely replace them one day. Even so, we covered them with painter's paper to repaint the room. No sense completely degrading these poor old planks.

This is a shot of the room after everything, from ceiling to baseboards, was primed (well, except for the radiator covers. I enlisted my mom to help with that).

And we'll end with a shot from the holidays, when we were in the throws of a carpet crisis- hence the bare floor. You can't even see much of the floor damage in this shot. Bingo.

Shoutout to Wade in the bottom left corner!

Ice pruning

Freezing rain poureth down. It took down a couple of vine-covered tree limbs along the driveway. That's a little rain DIY. DII. Did it itself.

A quick tour.

 Just use your imagination and keep saying, "It has good bones, it has good bones...."





 

Wide staircase







Good-sized living room







Large Kitchen







Kitchen out into mudroom.



And then, the backyard. 



Under all that overgrowth (which came to be affectionately known as Fern Gully), there was a really stellar backyard. I started saying crazy things about fairies in the woods, twirling around, giggling (not in front of my real estate agent of course! I did it every time she turned around).

 We put in an offer the next day.