wise craft

five things

On Saturday we did a big blitz through the yard... cleaning, weeding, decluttering, mulching. It felt soooooo good, everything immediately felt so fresh and new outside! (I didn't even mind the smell of the fresh compost.)

I must have taken an iron supplement that morning, because after our big outside clean, I did some deep cleaning inside. I went through our medicine cabinet (long overdue, no real need for those baby fever reducing suppositories anymore), decluttered and disinfected the laundry room, and made a list of what else I plan to clean up and clear out. There's no shortage of projects like that around here.

I've decided to work hard on consciously paring down what we have around here. There  always feels like too much stuff, and even when we work hard on not bringing in more stuff, what's already here is sometimes overwhelming to think about. I've decided to work on getting rid of 5 things each week. I ran across this idea somewhere a while ago and filed it away. Just 5. Although getting rid of more is certainly allowed. But 5 things seems like a great place to start. Doable.

Week One- I got rid of 2 bowls (that I really never even liked), a set of cloth napkins (made from a polyester type fabric which feels gross to use), and kid jeans. Those succulent plants in the photo above were in a planter that I've always thought quite ugly, so I pulled them out, replanted them in a new spot to enjoy, and got rid of said ugly planter.

5 things.

Poof!

All these things went into a box labelled "giveaway" in our garage. I'll keep adding to it till its full (no danger of me bringing those things back in, fet too good to get rid of them). I'm sure some weeks it will be harder than others, but not for a while. I've even put a reminder in my ICal in case I forget to perform this little exercise each week.

Please share any tricks you have for decluttering, I welcome anything that will continue to inspire me. Already I'm feeling like I can breathe again!

 

friday links

I am completely engrossed in a project that I can't seem to get my head around, so I took a little time away from it to look around the web and thought I'd share what caught my eye.

- I am so in love with this quilt! The colors... the hexagons... everything.

- Wren Handmade's beautiful crocheted mobile.

- Urban Comfort's decoupaged lace vessels.

- I'd like to make one of these necklaces for soon-to-be (almost) t-shirt weather.

- And, off the web, I am savoring every page of Undecorate. A lovely book full of new, inspiring spaces.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

xo,

Blair

coast thru a sewing rut

A few weeks ago I was feeling uninspired, overwhelmed, and basically creatively frozen, so one afternoon I decided to just jump in and sew something. Anything.

For whatever reason, I landed on the idea of making some new coasters for the wise craft house. Even though I've spoken of Peter's favorites, 4 coasters isn't enough. These were fast, easily made in assembly-line style, and quickly got me out of my sewing rut.

The original pattern for these is in Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. The birdhouse fabric is by Lisa Congdon (which sadly I don't think she sells anymore). The cuckoo clock fabric is current, but I forgot the maker (if you know please chime in!). Those mugs are only used by special people in my house, made by Diana Fayt.

How do you get out of a sewing rut? Or do you get into sewing ruts? Maybe its just me.

the edge of summer

School is out in a few short weeks and this is around the time I get my act together and try to plan out a few things that will be fun for all of us during those brief, yet long, summer days. The kids are so easy to jump in the car and go with at 9 (almost 10) and 12 (almost 20), so I want to take advantage of that as much as we can. Peter has a few bike races that will take us to some new places around the Northwest, and there will be some travel to see distant family, but I'm also putting my own small list together for here close to home. Here's what I have so far:

1. Teach both kids to cook a meal, and have them prepare a meal for the family. I haven't taught them much beyond how to make their own weekend breakfasts, but I think they are definitely ready. Plus, they will (hopefully) gain a little more understanding of what is done for them nightly.

Oh, those sweet, dear little picky eaters...

2. Take them to visit and tour the state capitol in Olympia. I remember doing things like this when I was young (I'm recalling a rather important stop by the Liberty Bell at my elementary school, I was on the news!) and I think its important to see and put these things out there for them. Plus I'd like to tour it myself.

3. A day(s) of paper crafts. I have been secretly collecting some rather rad paper crafting books from my thrift store visits and hiding them from the kids. That first boring summer day, a pad of paper and those books are coming out!

4. A day of Puppet Play. Diana's first book was a huge hit with Emma, and I'm hiding this one because I know she will lose herself in it too, and there's too much left to do to wrap up the school year.

4. Weeding for dollars. Aaaannnddd... since my kids will do almost anything for money, I'm really hoping we can get some major weeding done around our yard.

We have discovered (or rediscovered) board games big time, since our chess obsession began. I asked for Clue for mother's day (I LOVED that game when I was a kid), and I've been picking up puzzles and other board games at the thrift stores (always check to make sure the pieces are all there).

I would love to hear what you are doing over the summer with kids, anything new and unexpected??

And thanks so much for your kind comments on my stumps! : D

stump table success!

I do wish there was a more glamorous or sophisticated name to call these, other than stump.

But, let's face it, that's what they are. And I finished them

I had always planned to use one of them by our tub, and in our extremely white and cream master bathroom, it is a nice contrast. Don't you think?

The second one I had no real plans for, but decided to put it by the bench in our dining room for now.

In turning these stumps into actual tables, let me point out what I learned. Feel free to take these tips into consideration if you plan to make your own.

*Linseed oil stinks. When I rubbed these down with the linseed oil, it didn't smell, not really. Later, however, I could smell an unpleasant smell, perhaps the linseed oil and raw wood together, not sure. I was worried that it would linger, but it didn't thankfully.

*The wood really drank up the polyurethane. I put on 5 coats and could have probably done, more but the madness had to end. Its worth putting on several coats, because these really start to feel like furniture when they get that glossy, smooth surface.

*Sand, sand, and sand again. I wish I had done more between-coate sandings to create a smoother surface, I highly recommend it. Next time....

I adore this project! I am proud of myself for seeing the whole idea through from initial idea, to running down introducing myself to a stranger who was cutting down a tree to acquire these stumps, to actually creating the tables.

I think I have won the family over... maybe they understand why I like them now.

But they still think I'm nuts.

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Just a reminder that I am continuing to post over at habit all month. I really enjoy looking at my days this way, and am sad the month is coming to an end this week.

boo!

There's several cans of spray paint by our back door, more stacks of thrift store things around here than usual. Can you guess the reason why? Its time for a new round of Value Village DIY projects. I have SUCH a good time doing these projects, this set of Halloween projects will be year 3 (the photoshoots from 2009 and 2010).

I never liked Halloween until I started doing these DIY projects, is that weird??

twelve year old version

Emma has been watching the progression of several of my embroidery projects lately and decided she wanted to try some. She has embroidered in the past, with my help, but those of you who are familiar with twelve year olds might already know this, but its best if the idea is their own. No prodding of the gentle arts from Mom are going to create any enthusiasm these days. But I guess looking over my shoulder enough times did it for her. She asked for ideas, and I sent to a wonderful, all-inspiring book of embroidery sampling called, appropriately, A Rainbow of Stitches. (How's that for a gripping title for a tweener?) I showed her a few basics, like how to copy her pattern onto the fabric, and how to make basic stitches... backstitch, chain stitch (loves that one), split stitch, etc. That took about 5 minutes, or at least that was all she would give me. She nodded her head with impatience and before I realized it, she was gone. Off to stitch.

EEEEKKK! I'm so giddy!

i knew you'd understand

Thank you for your support of my magpie ways and my stump table project. And yes! Make them, make many of them, they are easy and so doable (and, I'm assuming, totally worth it, but mine still need some finishing so I'll let you know.)

But for now, it is getting dark, and I've got pjs to get into and some serious crewel-ing to do. And... I shamelessly admit, some Housewives to watch.

What?....

Oh! And I made a new crafting mix for you! Something to put on while we're sewing, or creweling, or sanding stumps, or whatever. Enjoy!

only you would understand

why I slammed on brakes one day last Fall, to strike up a conversation with a woman out in front of her house, to ask if it would be possible for me to grab a few of the cut pieces from a tree they'd just had removed.

(blurry, sorry)

Peter didn't. He didn't realize that I'd been looking and trying to justify the price tag of this piece on West Elm (which I couldn't.... still can't.... IT'S A LOG). Dammit, I had to be able to do that one myself!

The kids definitely didn't understand. (When you're 12 and your mom is stopping to put random tree stumps in the car, you are mortified. Believe me.)

I brought home 2 log stumps from that random conversation (I don't even know what kind of tree it was) and left them in the garage all winter to dry out. I'd almost forgotten about them, until this past weekend, when I tried to get the bark off. Using a screwdriver and a hammer, the bark peeled off quickly, in large sheets. And I was excited!

And here it is one of them, after I sanded it down with the palm sander-

They got slightly darker when I gave them a rubbing of linseed oil, which I read somewhere online helps to kill whatever tiny things are left living after all that-

Once these are dry (I'm giving them a day), I will begin applying the 3-4 coats of polyurethane to seal them. I will show them to you once they are done, I already know where I will use them. What I can tell you right now is that for this project I have spent about $6 for sandpaper, $10 for a quart of polyurethane, and $7 for the linseed oil. And that is quite a bit less than the $199 price tag of the West Elm one.

Before I happened upon the downed tree in that nice lady's yard last Fall, I already had plans to call an Arborist in the area to see if they would give me some tree stumps, I felt sure they would.

Emma and Ian are just relieved they aren't chairs for them.

The story I told them when they saw me put them in the back of my car.

summer stitches

I haven't talked about Alicia's most recent book, Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living, yet, have I? I have spent many evenings looking through it since I got my copy late last year. It is sooo pretty! If you love embroidery, or want to learn it, this book does not disappoint. Alicia's modern, homespun aesthetic and attention to detail suits itself perfectly to needlework. The examples of the projects themselves are photographed clearly for reference, and are flawless. The book full of lovely color, beautiful photographs, and gentle designs that can be used on all sorts of projects.

I've had my eye on the "Woodland in Wool" crewelwork project. Actually I had a dream about it the other night. So that means I should do it, you think? Of course I think its one of the harder projects in the book, because in my dream, I could do all types of crewel stitches. I'm really hoping I can actually pick it up with a little concentration in real life. I have never done bonafide crewelwork, although I've probably done many types of stitches that are variations of crewelwork.

Alicia, I'm calling you for help if I get frustrated, okay?

I ordered a rainbow little skeins of Appleton crewel wool from Purl for my little woodland scene and couldn't wait for my box of color to arrive. 24 colors! Beautiful stuff, this wool. I've never used it before but I already think I'm going to like it.

I think this will be my summer project to pick up on those bright, yet lazy evenings when its simply too warm to work on a quilt or a crochet blanket. Completely portable too.

I'm already dreaming of where I'll hang it.