Crochet! Foot stool cover

One of the last sort of home projects I wanted to complete before I sold the house was to update the ikat stools that were kicking around for many years.  They had resided in many rooms throughout the years but eventually landed in Little L's room. They worked well there but the colours were no longer relevant.

I took up crocheting last winter during my son's bi-weekly soccer practices. I completed his blanket in the fall.  My fingers were itching to do more, now that winter had arrived and the indoor bi-weekly soccer practices resumed. On a whim I checked out A.C. Moore's closing clearance sale and discovered the empty yarn aisles. Except for these two colours, peacock blue and coral yarn. The exact colours of Little L's room.  One done, another to go and a month left of indoor soccer practice.

In regards to the sale of my home, we listed it on a Thursday. Had a potential buyer come look at it the same Thursday evening and they were so thrilled with it they put in an offer the next day. We let the 4 other interested folks check it out on Fri and Sat and then I decided to sign off on the offer. The offer met the selling price plus a bit, they had no conditions and the young man really loved it. I believe the house would really suit him. It happened much faster then I anticipated and needed to ask for a few more weeks before closing day (mid June) so my kid could finish off his school year undisturbed. And he kindly accepted that.

We are just signing off on the inspection notes and then I will have two months to pack and load a POD.

Each step has brought me closer to my reality and moving back to my home country. Our hearts are heavy as we have lived here for 15 years.  My kids were born American.  My son has a close group of friends he has to part with. I too.  I wonder if I am doing the right thing, will my kids forgive me? is there a loop hole I missed? Could I have tried harder? Or perhaps I didn't want that fight (Visa requirements state once I close down my business  I must leave since I am no longer useful to the US). I hope to get warm fuzzy feelings upon my repatriation.  In the meantime I am day dreaming trips to Bora Bora. My coping strategy!

p.s. check out pinterest crocheted stool covers (I was put to shame, oh well! I like mine but some of these are beautiful and intricate)

Doily, patch curtain

A long time ago I pinned a lacy, patch curtain and started to envision trips to exotic flea markets and antique shows, collecting various pieces of lace and doily's and making my own patchy curtain. And then showcasing it in my own breezy window either in the country farm home or urban brownstone.  This lasted only a moment. Thank goodness for pinterest. Reality is, soccer, skiing and family things trump browsing; picking through vintage stained doily's and lace is clearly destined for another time in my life.

And then one day (today) I was preparing my house for sale and washing the linen window treatments that were hanging in my bedroom. The bed had been placed in front of the windows, and the pillows had pressed against the linen, pushing them against the winter damp glass windows. Over time they had become vintage yellow aged from the window condensation.  All my furniture is pushed aside right now because of the wall construction going on in the room, so a good time to reach the curtains and wash them. When I took them down they were intact, other then the yellow stains. Taking them out of the laundry, much to my dismay, I discovered two large holes. Apparently there was more wear and tear then just the yellow stain.

Before I had a chance to be completely bummed and solve my window treatment replacement problem, the lacy, patchy curtain plan came to the forefront of my mind. And while the baby napped, I successfully basted the one and only doily I have in my possession onto my worn and tired linen curtain.

And now browsing antique shops ETSY is high on my list, so I can patch the other hole.

Perry blue

 A last minute decision on a Halloween costume had us at A.C.Moore's this morning looking for orange felt and blue paint.  It was obvious that this is what she should have been from the get go, after all, for the past few months she had been introducing herself as this character to any one who asked her what her name was.  Yes, I got some hairy eye ball looks, bad mom for naming a child that.  She crouched like him. She growled like him.

A month ago, she had caught site of an old Bear costume in the box in the attic and decided to be a Happy Bear for Halloween.  Oddly for her, every time she put on the costume, it came off minutes after. "Too scratchy". Much different then last year when she wore her dragon costume for a month, every.single.day. And then continued to use it as her winter jacket.

I started to keep my eyes peeled for this character, just in case. A quick search on line killed that idea when $80. dollar costume appeared. No thank you! (actually, they were adult sized, not too many toddler sized ones). She was happy with her Happy Bear declaration; I kept my idea on the down low (not wanting to exert myself into costume making).  Until last night. When she was watching the reruns for the billionth time. And there on the show, the cartoon sister was wearing a costume of the character.  (I'm not sure why, I wasn't following it, except that people kept calling her "Mom"). It was simple. And it had to be done.  In a few months her obsession will have passed. This memory had to be captured. Time is of essence.

 

One painted box and we are almost done... Any guesses?

Wallpaper art

My mom is tearing off the 30 year old wallpaper in each of her kids rooms. My childhood room, that is.  When I visit I would sleep in the cheerful room.  I tried helping her scrape off the wallpaper this weekend, but that job sucks. Sticks too well to unfinished drywall.  Before I gave up I snagged a few pieces and thought to frame them.

The flowers were on three walls and the striped blue was on a fourth wall (or maybe the other way around). I'm a little sad she is removing the wall paper (she wants to paint the room gray; how modern and up too date of her!), but I have long moved out and this will be a nice memory.

A memory for myself, and a potential gift for my mom. I need to collect the wall paper from the other two rooms and make a triptych of her kids wallpapered rooms.

Chalkboard paint & wooden airplanes

While applying coat after coat of classic gray paint to the medicine cabinet, in between we dabbled w/ chalkboard paint and wooden planes.

Sleek looking and fun!

Sprucing things up

A few years ago my assistant and I scraped off the wallpaper in the vestibule. Then hired a contractor to lay some mosaic slate flooring and fix the wall.  The trim had been left untouched (other then her removing it and reinstalling it). The colour was old and the caulking was still visible, and the grubby little finger and dog snout dirt (he scratches his head/ears by rubbing against wall corners...does yours?) piled up and the painting began.

 Left side before, right side after

Simple update, huge improvement.

And since that is such small update, lets move inside the main room and check out another simple, crafty update.

That 6 panel fake window frame has been up for several months, empty. Before that it was leaning against the wall for two years. Look close enough and you'll see where I bought it from x's 6.  Every time I decided to get some pictures in there, I realized how few vertical pictures I have and that sorting through a gazzillion files was daunting. This morning I finally decided to update the Pier 1 paper fillers with some scrap material.  I have others around my house, frames displaying unique pieces of fabric.

A long, long time ago in my coming of age days, we wore our jeans over and over until they wore out and then we sewed patches on the knees and butts and anywhere else.  Guys and girls swapped scrap fabric. Guys and girls sat around sewing their own patches. I still have my vintage Levi's jeans with patches, I wonder how much they go for, but I digress.  Deep down my my scrap fabric bin were some "vintage" scrap material.

Nothing to explain here, simple crafty update: cut scrap, tape it down, reassemble frame.

Not much of an improvement and a lot of reflection, so I guess I need to find some photos.

BUT the next one is big. HUGE. MY life improved...

 Hooks. Lots of them.

Before this life changing event, all our coats were tossed on the butterfly chair. In sight. Cluttered looking.  A bit depressing. Yeah, there are hooks in the vestibule, but it's very small and if you are familiar with cold, cold winters, stopping in the vestibule to take off shoes or coats is not an option (at least not in my house). No where to turn, tripping over each other. So enter living room and then what?

I won't go in to it here, but front door entering into living room layout sucks. I knew it when I bought the house, I've complained before. And I went ahead and bought regardless, (for many other reasons that trumped this issue).

Up until recently it was a huge quandary of mine; how to lay out furniture so it is inviting (impossible) and family friendly.  How to deal with all the jackets. How to add living room storage for out door stuff without taking away from the space being a living room. Then one day I looked at my room differently. I needed to approach it as a loft in an industrial building. Most have walk in spaces. I moved some furniture around, changed horizontal things vertical to add dimension and accepted the fact that we have jackets. Lots of them. So up go the hooks, in the living area.

And so far, so good.

Sources (because I love the trench coat and the designer, so Ill list other things too:

Paint: Dove white on the trim, Oatlands Taupe on the walls, both by Benjamin Moore
Trench coat: Yargici

Window picture frame: Pier 1 Imports
Sofa: Wests Elm Tillary
Urban Outfitter curtain
Mexican Mirror Frame
Anthropologie lamp shade
Urban Outfitter butterfly chair
Gray & white stripes: Eddie Bauer Vintage Gray & Chantilly Lace Benjamin Moore
Kilim pillow case on chair: bought in Grand Bazaar Istanbul
White pillow case: West Elm

Yellow blanket

A little double stitch here, and a treble stitch there. An half hour sit-com and I've completed 6 long rows.

Almost half way done; lets unroll it and see where I am at.  This is my first crocheting ever. A twin sized blanket.  Trying different stitches, creating a random pattern.  Adding in different colours as I please. Lots of loose ends to knit in afterwards. I 've done enough stitches that I am confident with single, half, double and treble, but sometimes forget how to start from a new chain link. After thie blanket I'll have had lots of tucking in ends experience too.

The first narrow, long striped piece was the beginning of my crochet adventure, mostly single crochet. Some of the stripes are doubles. Things  I lost about 5-10 stitches by the end. I didn't and dont have ANY desire to count. My problem happened when I added in some thick yarn. I'll fill in the gap when I attach the pieces.   The wider 2nd piece is done with the different stitches, creating a bit of interest and breathability.

I was getting pretty confident, until I searched afghan and crochet. So many beautiful pieces and lots of other kinds of stitches to figure out -basket weave, ripple.  After this I will have to learn the granny square. That's what I really like.

In the mean time, while I worked on the blanket, my son made a little purse and a bulky yarn toque, which he has already lost.  Good thing he is learning to crochet. FOUND!

Linking up with Happy Crochet party.