Tuesday, August 28, 2012

10 Pins Tuesday- Wish List

I was going to do another upcycling themed 10Pins, but then I thought I'd change it up. My birthday is fast approaching... and this, is my wish list :)

1. I still really want a card catalog!

 2. and THIS coffee table!

3. and this AH-mazing print. It's the entire book. Pride and Prejudice.

4. or this Pride and Prejudice scarf... cute!

5. I sooo want to stitch this!

6. Mama is getting me a bottle cutter, so I can make these!

7. Fall is almost here, and I LOVE sweater tights.

8. OH MY LANTA! I LOVE THIS!

9. If I had a color printer, I would have made this already! (If you have a color printer, this is what I want from you!)

10. These rings! I would sooo wear them!

AND! For my party, I'd like to do this!
who's with me???


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

10 Pins Tuesday- Upcycle!

I found some awesome projects this time that can be done on a broker-than-broke budget.

1. doodle outlet... LOVE IT!


2. buttons bow cardi, so cute... two of my favorite things.


3. upcycle a building with graffiti, this is so cute!


4. tutorial for wrapped chain jewelry, love it!


5. wine crate coffee table, so much storage!


6. world's coolest lunch box! it's a picnic in a box, lol.


7. sassy pants!


8. or chop them in tiny bits and stitch them into art


9. old record + plant stand = awesome table


10. bottle cap back splash

Friday, August 17, 2012

so excited!

I'm going to start working on an epic project! How epic? So epic, I'm afraid to even talk about it much because I don't want to get your hopes up in case I a. run out of money and can't do it for a while b. start doing it and realize I'm in way over my head c. start doing it and realize it's going to take forever, and lose your interest. (don't worry I know how it is)

But here's what I can tell you without running any of those risks.
  • we are finally going to convert the sun room into a play room (nope, no buns in any ovens, just too playful nieces who come over a lot... one of which doesn't pick up after herself very well, and currently all their "Aunt Clare" toys are in my living room... not a great mix)
  • I'm going to use 10, that's right 10 colors of paint in there and finally do an AWESOME focal wall.
  • There will be some upcycling, but of course.
  • We've started!
Found this awesome inspiration photo a while back and pinned it... I'm kinda afraid to blog it for above said reasons, but I needed paint colors... lots of paint colors. I followed the lady's advise and made a swatch of all the colors we've already used in our house. Who knew I had almost a full can of the perfect shade of grey?! Bonus! I popped in three bright shades (yellow, orange, and pink) and a darker grey for the trim work. There is a lot of trim work.
These will make up the focal wall, which is the most exciting and scary part of this room redo.
Technically, I don't think I can call this a room redo, because all we've ever done with our sun room is store crap in it, lol. We pretty much had it decluttered and ready for a very deep cleaning, when a summer pop up shower ruined everything. We'd emptied the whole room and taken everything out onto our back patio when "CRACK, rumble, rumble" thunder broke out and it started pouring. We had to scrabble to get everything back in.

Today, I measured, priced, picked out my extra colors AND bought something super cool I intend to upcycle (no details yet... could be an epic fail on my part... metal is not my favorite medium to work with.)

I also went to visit my kids from my previous class. I MISS THEM! (and I was glad to find out they've been missing me too!) I got hundreds of hugs and Kiki gave me a million "moochies" her word for kisses. I hung out with them for about an hour, and if we hadn't found that huge earth worm, I might have never gotten out of there, lol. I miss the kids and teachers at my old job, but I much prefer the atmosphere at my new job. I'm making new friends little and big, and I feel like I can breathe again. It'll also be nice to be part time for a while... I'm ready for a little less stress in my life.

I will keep you updated on the playroom (and those sweaters I felted) as it unfolds. I hope you are getting to do all the projects and such that you've been dreaming about!
Love, Clare

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

new

hello again :)

Life is settling down for me again. I have a new job, which is significantly better than my old job. There are a lot less hours right now though, which is a bit troubling. I took a leap of faith with this whole process, and now I'm stepping out in faith everyday.

Yesterday, I was on call, but did not get called in. The DH and I got a lot done. We cleaned out the garage, took a lot of stuff we didn't need to goodwill, and started the conversion of our sun room (clutter room, more accurately) into a play room for our nieces.

This weekend, I painted our front door "totally turquoise" and I love it!
the first pic is my door before, the second is with two coats of primer, the third is with the insets and trim painted. 
ta-da!


Also, I felted some sweaters yesterday with the intent of upcycling them. The gray one didn't felt as well as I'd hoped, so I will have to play around with them.
so yeah, I'm still here, and I'm still my crazy crafty self... and hopefully, I'll have more time to let you in on what's going on in my life.