Simple House Helpers

A couple weeks ago while stocking up (on plastic moving bins) at Target, John spotted this little guy.

This Simple Human can is specifically designed for recycle.  There is a large hole on the front of the hinged lid, it has a cute little dial to show purpose of the bin (glass, plastic, etc.), and they are stackable so you could have one for different types of material.  Lucky for me I don't have to sort my items for collection, so I only need one.  I love it, it gets the cans/bottles off the counter without running out to the bin 8 time a day.

My parents are coming to town late tonight for the holiday weekend, so no posting till after the holiday.  Have a great (& safe) one!

Bloom

       

We still have plenty of snow in DC, but it is starting to feel like spring in my house.  I snatched a Smith and Hawkin Amaryllis kit for $2.00 at a Target after-Christmas sale.  The kit included a bulb, dehydrated dirt, and a cream planter.  I figured even if it didn't grow I was getting a simple, pretty, mid-size pot for a good deal.  I just realized the pot isn't shown in these photos, oops.

But...it grew- tall.  It was fun to watch, it seemed like all of a sudden it shot up out of nowhere.  Over the weekend the 4 (!) flowers bloomed.  They are so pretty, I love having them in the house.  I can almost trick myself into believing spring is around the corner. 

Last night some of the leaves fell over from their own weight.  They are still attached but are drooping over the edge of the pot.  Is there something I can do help them?

Anyone know if this flower will bloom again?

Ikea Argument

As a twenty-something who likes to decorate, it is fair to assume that I appreciate Ikea .  Also, as a DC-area resident I'm lucky enough to live within twenty miles of two Ikeas (I know Emily is jealous right now). John is more or less accepted the situation. (except for when our Hemnes bed collapsed, but that is a story for another post.)
But when I brought this home after my last Ikea run, he was less than impressed. 

IKEA STOCKHOLM

I still love it, he just tosses junk it.  What do you think?

Underground Showers

While shopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond for wedding shower gift, I picked up a little something for me too.  It wasn't planned, but when I saw it I had to buy it:

photo/link to buy

A shower curtain with the map of the DC metro!  How fun is that?!?

Also, very useful- the new house has twice as many showers than we have shower curtains.

I can check something off the list now.  :)

Wax On, Wax Off (I hope)

One of my candles (from a new centerpiece I still need to post)  melted, a lot, all over my quilted table runner.  I peeled a bunch off, and even stuck it in the freezer to try and pry more out.  However there is still a good bit of wax on (and I think even inbetween the layers) the fabric.  How do I get it out/off?

The current state of my poor table runner. 

The Search Is Over (?)

I mentioned about a month ago that we've been house hunting. Well, over our extra long holiday weekend away we found out that we had 2 offers accepted. Yes, you read right- we got 2 accepted. After some discussion and a pro/con list, we picked one of the houses. The one we selected is a short sale, so our fingers are crossed that things will move fast (I'd be okay with "break-neck speed") and there are no major troubles with the house (short-sales are sold "as is"). Keeping our fingers crossed….

Flashback #1- ikea and a purse

In May Elizabeth came for an overnight visit; we packed a lot into 24 hours!

A visit to Ikea, where I found a lovely kitchen (though I don't enjoy the pine cabinets) with lots of cabinet space, a great hood, nice tile and a cool pot rack.

And a fun craft room.

We also did some crafting ourselves. Elizabeth made two funky pincushions, and began a purse.

I made the popular Buttercup Bag; I was proud of myself for not selecting my typical blue fabric! :) Unfortunately, I had some trouble with the pattern. The bag was much smaller than expected and the top band was an odd shape, which made it too small for the button details. Still I think it came out pretty cute, I'd make it again.

Mostly, I was really proud that I learned how to install a magnetic snap.

It was a busy but fun weekend.

“Schools Out for the Summer!” (Now my real life can begin)

I know I’ve been a bad blogger (again); it’s been over a month- yikes! In fact, I hope there is still someone around to read this. But in my defense, it has been a busy month: wrapping up the end of the school year, a couple of plays, a few baby showers, a batch of out-of-town guests, a weekend trip, and a two concerts. I’ll be doing a couple “flash-back” posts to review all those fun happenings.

But the real time-consuming reason I haven’t blogged much is, that we’ve been house hunting. We’ve been looking for about 2 months (although it feels like three times that); and contrary to media reports, it isn’t a great buyers’ market. Most of the reasonable priced houses are crapholes, which need more work than they’re worth. The nice houses are overpriced, and the seller’s won’t negotiate because they bought when the market was inflated, so now they don’t want to lose money. And the ones in-between (well priced, and needing just the right amount of updating) are few and miles between. Clearly, none of the 5 offers we’ve submitted have been accepted. While, it is frustrating and time consuming we are fortunate enough to be working with a great agent!

Anyway, on to fun topics…..today was the last day of school! Actually, the kids finished Wednesday, and then we had 2 teacher workdays.

How have I celebrated so far?

The summer table runner and centerpiece have been pulled out.

Summer berries have been baked into breads and muffins.

We enjoyed a “Huey Lewis and The News” concert last night at the beautiful Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, with a picnic prior to the show.

I’ve painted my toes a bright shade. (Yes, I have stars tattooed on my foot). Chester is excited to have me home (I didn’t have pose him that way).

And look at the awesome end-of-school “gift” someone left for me in their large item trash pile! (Yes, I totally looked like an idiot pulling over on a busy road and single handily tossing it in the back of car.)

I’m so excited about it!!! I don’t have any plans for it yet (where it will go, how I’ll refinish it), but I’m pumped to have the set!

Now, I think I’ll take a nap before going out for an end-of -school date tonight!

Happy summer to all!

Signs of Spring

While the forecast is calling for snow- signs of spring have sprung up around the house.

 

First~

The winter dishes have been packed up and stored away for next year.

kaboodle.com

And the white dishes are on the shelves.  

amazon.com

Second~

Shamrocks have sprouted up around the house. 

 

 Some even found their way onto Chester. 

Where are you spring?!

Annoyed

I can’t believe Domino is shutting down! First of all, I know many people who read the magazine- it is pretty popular. Second, I just got a subscription for Christmas. I’m annoyed.

Oh, what a night

This was the scene outside of our house tonight.

After arriving home due to an early release from school (snow and ice), I started a fire. Well, after many hours of a roaring fire our chimney started to spark. Just to be safe the fire department was called. We are fine, the house is fine- so all is good. We just can’t have any more fires until the chimney mortar is repaired.

Phew- exciting night. Chester is pooped.

Dear Santa- I'd like a new craft room please

I can’t wait for the day when I live in a real house with a large craft room. I just finished reorganizing my craft room for, I dunno, the 6^th time since we moved in 3 years ago. Ahhggra

I want a big craft room, that I don’t have to share with my office, where I can invest in the workspace and organization set up that I want. It will be beautiful, fun and functional.

I know I’ve posted this before- but this is what I want. Christmas is coming soon! Hint, hint- wink, wink

click on the pic to see the full room

www.kevinandamanda.com/photos/scraproom/new/#paper-scraps