mousetraps and other cleverness

 

little banner on my living room wall

" free space heater"  also.. "why didn't I think of this earlier".  No, i didn't turn on the oven JUST to heat up the house (but it certainly doesn't take much for me to turn it on these days), I figured why waste the heat once I was done cooking. 

I've also been making things for/rearranging/decorating my house- mostly off of cool ideas from the internets, with some creativity thrown in for good measure.  I found this awesome frame with an ok picture in it.. and swapped it for this quick DIY image.  That's a picture of my great grandmother at my age... but it could be me.  I can't bear yet to poke too many holes in my beautiful new walls, so for now it'll stay on top of the shelf.

Here is my new studio space- rearranged and re-decorated again.  I went "shopping" for that board in my attic (which has a mishmash of wood pieces for a floor, including old doors and trim).  I'm pretty excited to have more flat work space.  I also discovered the (gross orange) carpet is only laid down on top of the floor, no staples, but is covering old linoleum on my wood floors.  sigh.

I also used some of the chalkboard paint I bought for school to make my own kitchen chalkboard, and a project chalkboard square in my new basement workspace.  I just painted over the glass of a thrift store frame.

Speaking of thrift stores, I was SO lucky yesterday on my thrifting adventures.
Here's my list of treasures: 
4 red curtains for dining room
2 gold curtains for dining room
pair of adorable pajamas for winter and summer
beautiful black shirt/dress
swiffer
shoe rack
awesome frames
yellow vase
pine candle
tall warm boot socks
a wooden farm box!  I really can not believe I found this and only for $3!!!

it's just perfect for the farm materials!!  I about fainted in the store.

And in other news from school- We are chugging along, it's a bumpy ride sometime, but we are moving forward.  On Monday, it was so quiet in the afternoon, our friendly classroom mice, who usually wait until it's just me to show themselves, made an exception, which immediately ended any chance for a normal afternoon.  Thinking fast, I told them the mouse would not come back if they were loud and/or moved (true!), and then I suggested we all make mouse traps.  Out of cardboard and pipecleaners.

haha.  Sadly, they have not caught our little friends yet.

Stay tuned for upcoming sewing projects and more house renovations!

dreaming...

Oh where has the time gone?  This past week was 3 months that I've been here in the little red house.  There have been many changes- and some changes that are long overdo!  Today I finally caved and got bamboo roman shades for my front windows, which I barely got up before it got dark.  I finally gave up on the hooks that came with them and just put in nails.  I'm sure my neighbors have thought "who is that crazy lady standing inside her windows?", but all is well now.  Sadly, the shades are still transparent enough from the street that I'm going to need to add some curtains- but I can manage that.  It makes a huge difference in here!  I'm also on my 3rd? 4th? furniture arrangement.  Pictures to come when I have new, beautiful light. 

So now that I'm used to the space and have my share of ideas/ complaints, here are a selection of dreams in the form of pictures in my house plans folder!

embroidery hoops with fabric swatches!  Definitely sewing studio wall art.

 

bedroom built ins!  I have not closets, and so this solves that while still keeping in the style of my house.  

http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/our-cheap-o-patio-makeover/

 

 

 

I am so doing this patio in the spring.  LOVE the fire pit! 

oh. my. goodness.  This is the best pantry ever- and would actually work for my wonky hallway-ish area.  

so beautiful!

That's all I got for now.  I also picked up some paint swatches at Lowes today- hopefully painting next weekend!

October!

Welcome October, chilly evenings, blankets, crunchy leaves, hot cider, and pumpkins!   You snuck up on me. 

It's been busy around here.  My schoolwork pile is threatening to rise up and grow arms to strangle me.  We had a bit of a hurricane blow through here last week, leaving me a tiny flood in my basement.   But nothing we can't handle! The wet/dry vac and I (who I am now calling r2-d2) had a disagreement; I asked him to vacuum up the water, he spat it back in my face.  But, I won and got most of the water up. 

In more exciting news, it's finally cold enough to turn on my oven! I've been starting to do some baking, including my first challah bread.  MMM!  quite good, and definitely filling.  I made some into french toast this morning, also delish.

  I made a beef stew yesterday as well, which turned out very delicious.  As soon as I go get some pumpkin, I'll make some pumpkin bread or scones... and maybe a pie.  Speaking of pumpkin, I have one on my porch, which I noticed yesterday now has a bite out of it.  Really?  There isn't enough other food that animals need to eat my pumpkin?  That's never happened to me before.
I went out looking for good thrift stores in the B-more area yesterday, and found two decent ones, and a yard sale.  I did find some good things, but sadly not the things I really needed to find.  My favourites were a present for my mom (i know she reads this, so stay tuned), orange glass jars, and these window clings:

haha, they make me laugh!  Perhaps I'll go find the rest of my halloween decorations in the attic...

hello again!

So, wow.  It's been a crazy month.  I moved, set up a classroom, started children, got new ones, tore apart my bedroom, and I'm finally settling down to breathe again. 

Look at these awesome packing skills!  I do think this is the last time I'll go the DIY route for moving. 
Funny thing is, even though I had a full truck, my house is still (mostly) empty...

Here's a glimpse of the construction, more on that when the project finishes...

Another project.  There had been a ramp here, which we (wrestled with) took out, carried across the street to my neighbor's house, and then realized the steps underneath were super steep and dangerous.  Dad and I went back to Lowes and got lumber, posts, and stringers.  He built these in a (long) day, aren't they beautiful?!

Our classroom is off to a wonderful start (other than the mishap on Friday where my over the sink shelf fell out of the wall 15 minutes into our work cycle.  That'll keep you on your toes.  Sadly, many of the water glasses broke.  Back to Ikea we go!)  We've started cooking Fridays, which has been a huge hit with the afternoon children.  Here we are making pesto with basil we planted last spring.  This isn't the best picture, sorry. 

I've also hosted two get-togethers here at my new house, and we are now starting potluck and game sundays!  More to come about that.  I'm so happy to finally have a place to invite people over and cook for them!!!  This is my living room at the moment. 


A proper house tour is on the way- current this-is-what-I can-do-now state.  I'm excited to put some of my big ideas into action, and really make this place my own.  Perhaps also a classroom tour? 
Here's a picture of (part of) my craft studio space:

Hooray for unpacked fabric!  I had so many boxes of fabric, and three boxes of unfinished projects.  Geez.  Hope I can share the finished results soon!

more things to love

porch furniture from a log cabinish house in thurmont.  Yes, they look cabin, but oh so comfy and inviting.  Hello front porch!

the start of my thrifted tableware set- mismatched in all its glory. 

stained glass window to go by the new front door.  Dad and I went looking for one of these after some internet research, and were mostly unsuccessful until we were tipped off about this awesome place.  We walked in, greeted by about a hundred of these windows.  Not only did we find a perfect pattern for my 1924 craftsman house, we found three matching and chose the best one.  I also decided to get a second for the back door area.  What a find! 

Family Summer party!

Hello again.  It seems this summer is slipping away...  my life has been a bit shaken and upside down recently, and I'm starting a new chapter very soon!  (exciting!)


Meanwhile, we had a family get-together this past weekend just because.  I love my family.  They are really funny and lots of fun.  We had it at Mom and Dad's house, and i was in charge of decorating/food.  While it all turned out pretty tasty, it was a bit of a fail in my book.  Lesson learned: pan-frying cut up chicken for 14 people take a long time, and three eggplants for roasted vegetables are way too much!   Also- pavlovas DO expand in the oven, and be sure to have the egg whites super stiff.  Mine was soupy, and puffed up to the size of the baking sheet, not the nice circle I placed it in.  However, everything was quite delicious (especially the pavlova!), and there were lots of leftovers.
I also made raspberry-mint lemonade  using a simple syrup.  Wow.  Super easy, and super tasty. 

yes, I'm still here...

Just stopping in to let everyone know I'm still here.  I'm currently working on larger things in my (real) life, and this space has been neglected.  Things should settle down in september, and hopefully I'll sneak a few pictures in before then! 
I got my vintage swap partner info today!  More on that soon...

I'm also working on lots of things for my (not to distant) future classroom!  I have been given the room I've been subbing in this past year, but gaining a new (awesome) assistant AND we moved upstairs.  That's still a big job and currently my things are all pushed together in the middle of the room, semi-organized.

I've learned a lot over the past two years about what kinds of materials work and what I like, and I'm determined to start this year (mostly) prepared.  My current projects are overhauling the reading system: handmade digital classified and reading 3 part cards, who am i? for different scientific and social categories, as well as pouches in matching fabric.
Also on the list are aprons for practical life and art activities (other than ones I made before, there's a sad shortage of these).


...oh, and I'm also buying this house and moving in August!