Moving...Blegh

My husband pulled in late Sunday night with a U-Haul full of things that I thought we needed but now I'm not so sure. You know how that is? Packing and unpacking really make you re-think what you need to live...for me unpacking is the worst. Maybe we should have just sent the whole "kit and kaboodle" to Goodwill. (Tangent: Whatever happened to Kaboodles?)

This is going to be P's bed and playroom, right now it's just the overflow of everything we don't have a place for yet. I've pinned some great inspiration photos on Pinterest, mixed in with a few other home ideas and some nursery pics. The color I picked out for the walls is gray with some blue undertones, I love it!

Empty moving truck: Check! Watermelon break: Check!

My sewing machine is sitting neglected on our kitchen table beside plastic boxes full of fabric just yearning to be shaped into something great!! Soon...I'll be back!

Felt Refresher

I really enjoy the magazine Real Simple. I usually find the "New Uses For Old Things" Section pretty interesting. This month featured sandpaper. I don't remember all the other uses, but one that stuck in my mind (because it seemed ridiculous) was to use sandpaper to remove pills from sweaters. It sounded like a recipe for a destroyed sweater...but when P's Halloween costume came out of the washer looking absolutely horrible and covered with fuzz, I figured sandpaper was worth a try.

Here I had already tried to pluck off the fuzz with my fingers, no luck.

Here I had made a few passes with the sandpaper on the left side, so you can compare it with the "no -sandpaper" on the right. I was really impressed with the difference! You can't be shy with the sandpaper, you really have to put a little muscle into it.

The fabric definately looks a little more fuzzy, but much better groomed than it looked straight out of the washer. I will definately keep this little tip stored away in my brain, I'm sure it will come in handy!

My Sewing Area

So I recently found No Big Dill's "Never Enough Orange Sewing Room Reveal" and I was drooling. It is amazing! I love her ideas and how creative and eclectic it looks. I'm all about eclectic decorating. We are renting a little place in New Orleans while my husband is finishing school. We have the space we need, but not enough for a sewing room! I consider a sewing room a true luxury, maybe one day...



For now, the dining room table is my "sewing room." Our living room and dining room are combined so it makes it easy for me to sew and watch Baby P while he plays in the living room, but it makes it a little tough to sit down for family dinner when the table is covered with pins, buttons, and fabric scraps. Here was my "Sewing Room" yesterday.

Yes! My poor fabric stash has been living in a plastic box in my closet or under the table if I'm in the midst of a project. Here's the only part of my sewing area that I'm proud of!

        This is my third baby. (Hubby and Baby P are obviously top of the list). I kept all the original packaging (styrofoam and box and everything) and when we moved back in the summer, I packed her up and made sure she had a safe place in the back of my car. No moving van for this lady!

        So, given my limited space and my need to have all my sewing supplies near where I will be sewing...I decided to clean out this cabinet that I have by the front door. It's a yard sale find from a few years ago. I snagged it for $20 and after a little sanding and refinishing, I love the way it looks. I've been keeping placemats, chargers, cloth napkins and paper products in it, kind of a waste of space. So I cleaned out all the junk and was left with this.

        I also wiped down the inside with a little white vinegar, it had a musty smell and I didn't want musty fabric. And yes, there is a random square cut out of the bottom.

        Here is most of my sewing stuff all organized and put away! The plastic box contains all my trims, buttons, needles, etc... and my thread and clothing labels are above that. The fabric on the left is apparel (seersucker, shirting, corduroy, denim...) and the pile on the right is all quilters cotton. I'd like to get some shelving that I can stick in to help me keep things organized, but I've had a hard time finding exactly what I want. Maybe a specialty closet store? Most of my patterns are in the plastic file box. I also have a reusable shopping bag that I'm going to slip right in the front (over the hole) to keep my partially completed projects in order. All my jersey and home decor weight cotton is staying in a large plastic box in the bottom of my bedroom closet. I only use those things on occasion.

Now maybe we can eat dinner at the table tonight like civilized human beings :).

Mini Mantel Makeover

             I got the idea in my head last week to 'mini makeover' my mantel, so I finally finished yesterday. After I painted last year, I just chunked a bunch of photos up there without really thinking about it, got busy with baby stuff and never fixed it. So after looking at some inspiration photos online and of course referring to my fav home decor blog-younghouselove.com- I realized again how much I needed to do this little re-vamp. Here are a couple of befores:

No real order, too much red, even worse... boring.

So I started rounding up things from around the house: pictures, stacks of books, etc... and finished this mini-makeover for just $1.99. I bought one little thing that I couldn't resist on clearance at Cato. Let's see if you can spot it.

Those biological prints (they're actually framed pages from a neat calendar) in black frames I used to have in our bedroom until it became a nursery. The glass urn things came from TJ Max super cheap (like $5 each sometime last year when I wanted more green in our house). The frames I've had for years, they were already on the mantel (the sweet pewter one was a bridesmaid gift from Sarah!), the wooden candle holder was also a wedding gift, and there's no shortage of books in my house. I robbed the piano for that houseplant on the left--I love a fresh, green houseplant.

Oh yeah, the metal circle deal was something I got years ago on clearance at Pier 1. It's been all over the house, on the wall, propped against things, etc...

It's not perfect, but it's definately an improvement! Any guesses on what I added for $1.99? It's probably obvious since I already mentioned everything else. It's that cute, little ceramic bird. I'm not one for knick-knacks, but it's so green and was so cheap I couldn't resist.

Bathroom Redo

My bathroom has been in need of a paint job and some freshening up for a while now. I liked the bold colors a few years ago, but I've started liking neutrals on walls. Rooms look so much bigger, more fresh and clean with a nice bright neutral on the walls.

So over a few episodes of Gilmore Girls (I like to watch and listen while I work) and in between feeding the baby...putting him to sleep...etc... I brushed and rolled and made-over my bathroom.

Surprisingly it only took two thin coats of that lovely taupy, grey to cover the red and chartreuse. I kept the brown shower curtain, shade and towels and found a new rug at Bed, Bath and Beyond on clearance. It is bigger than the rug I used to have and while still a neutral, it has threads of navy, blue/grey and teal as well. I'm going to look for some light teal towels sometime and make some kind of wall art that brings in the teal as well. I'll post it when I'm finished. I also added a plant, I love houseplants to brighten things up and they just seem fresh and clean to me. I'm looking for a rectangular planter-in a blue or brown shade. Overall, I like it and am so happy to have a more inviting room!