Projects, Projects, Projects

Yeah!!!!!! I finally made my first piece of furniture, from start to finish, using the fabulous plans of Ana White. If you haven't seen Ana's fabulous site Knock Off Wood, be prepared to swoon. There are so many projects I want to make on her site, but I decided it's best to start simple.
I love the simple, rustic yet modern, look of the piece. I emphasised the found wood look of the piece by adding pieces of an old fruit crate to it! Supplies cost around $20.
Wanna try?

Taking on projects with Jack around always makes things exciting. No, I didn't leave open paint unattended. Somehow he got the lid off.

Nothing a little paint couldn't fix. Anyway, this was my belated Valentine's gift to my hubby. He does a lot of work from home and I thought a more organized workspace, with built in shelves would be helpful. They still need be "styled", or, I've also considered putting a floor to ceiling curtain in? Any thoughts?

Some projects have bigger pay-offs than others

I don't think I'm a natural fit for the stay-at-home-mom role. I always feel like I should be doing more... and so I recover chairs, start an Etsy shop, tackle home improvements... and on and on. Sometimes though, it helps to stop.

So today, I didn't tackle an ugly chair (trust me I have several needing help). Today, I decided I'd tackle a project Jack would appreciate.

I made a track or ramp for Jack's Hotwheels cars using cardboard and duct tape.

The project evolved throughout the day. We added pieces, tried it in different locations, tried different types of cars and generally had a great time.

I know there will be other projects to tackle and laundry to be done, but today reminded me to keep my eye on a certain little guy who has never heard of Martha Stewart. I like her, but let's face it, she needs to loosen up. And so do I.

Blessing Barrells

At our St. Vincent DePaul, they have "Blessing Barrells" out front that they fill with donated items that they decide they don't want to sell. Most of the time it is just junk, but every once in awhile I find some nice items, like a random old drawer.

I think it probably went to an old work bench. I thought it had a great patina, so I strengthened it up and decided to turn it into a unique collage frame. I tried to balance rustic elements with modern ones to give it a freshness and so it doesn't look "country". Not bad for junk.

Another day, another chair

I didn't take a before shot, because I didn't think it would translate. It was covered in ugly brown vinyl that I thought might just look like leather in the picture. Ain't she a beauty?

She's a gift for a friend. Can't wait to see it in her house!

Thanks sissy-boo!

I can't tell you how much I admire my sister. She's one of the strongest people I ever met (except perhaps when there is a spider around.) You have to be strong to be the spouse of a serviceman, especially when he is deployed and she does it with grace.

One thing I especially admire is her dedication to take care of her family, starting with meals. I always struggle with getting meals on the table, which makes me feel like a failure because I am a SAHM and it seems like this is part of the job. Anyway my sister has told me before it's all about having a plan which she lays out in a helpful post on her blog here.

For Christmas, she gave me a fantastic gift, a binder full of recipes she's already made for her family; complete with a dry erase page where I could work out a meal plan for the week. (Also she handmade me a beautiful apron.) Above is a recipe for Sausage Ratatouille. Mine even looks like the picture!
Super easy and yummy... a medium eggplant diced, two zuchinnis slices, a bell pepper, an onion, three minced garlic cloves, sauted. Add sausage (in this case I used pre-cooked polish kalbiesa because it was on sale, but the original recipe calls for sweet italian sausage) add a can of diced tomatoes and a couple of spoonfuls of tomatoe pasted and some seasoning and presto dinner.

I'm told my nephews even eat this meal, but I wasn't so lucky with Jack...sooooooo picky! I just served it with crusty bread, but it would be good noodles too.I was so inspired I even bake a spice cake, simple box mix and store bought frosting. I just added some nuts to the side to make it a little fancy. With myy first week of meal planning under my belt, I feel ready to puruse my cookbooks and make some more culinary plans.

It's the little things...

When it comes to Christmas decorating , I find it's the little things that really make me smile. I've had this little sled ornament for a few years. It use to be on a wreath, but when I reworked the wreath it was left homeless. I added some elements from my vintage stash -- an old bottle-brush wreath, bells and snowy baubles-- and I found myself smiling from ear to ear. It's a little thing, which probably no one else will notice, but it makes me happy. As does my collection of tiny porcelain bells (see the one in the bottom left of the picture?)

If you inject vintage and little into the picture, then I really start to smile.

One of my favorite "new" items this year was a small, gold-tinsel tree, which belonged to my great-grandmother.

I have very distant memories of her. I faintly remember my mother taking my sister and I to visit her at a nursing home when I was very little. I remember all my aunts crying over her loss at her funeral.

Anyway, this year, when my grandmother cleaned out the attic, this is one of the things that was found. It is covered in little chenille ornaments and I just love it to pieces. My grandmother tells me her mother would be thrilled to know I have it and love it... and that I do.

I love this little choir of angels I picked up years ago. It sits on a little accordion-style wood base that expands for display, it's a little worse for the wear, but it makes me smile every year when I unpack it.

I have a collection of vintage ornaments too, but there is always an element of heart break when you love vintage items. The years make them brittle and your always bound to lose a few.

It seems there is an element of hearbreak in anything worth caring about -- the bitter in the sweet.

What a whirlwind!

Wow, it's been a whirlwind preparing for my "Favorite Things" party on Sunday.

Preparing gave me the perfect excuse to finish a major project, a belated birthday gift for my dear friend Katie. If you want to see what it use to look like, check out this link http://paddywackdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/09/its-before-now-but.html

I've also been finishing up projects big and small, in case any of my guests (or non-guests) would like to take some rescued chairs off my hands.
Here's just a few:

I like this piece because it fits with Christmas, but I think it can carry you all the way to Valentines...

I was glad to finally wrap up this project too! I picked up this great cabinet at Genesee County's Habitat For Humanity's Restore shop. I then hung it in a dead space in our dining room to give me more room for storage and display. My aunt suggested I build it in, to give me additional room for cookbooks. This was a whole lot of trial and error, but I think it looks pretty good.

I was wishing I had some more Tomboy tools!

If you can't come to the party, but are interested in looking at the tools designed to empower women to tackle dyi projects visit http://www.tomboytools.com/attendees/icannotattend.asp?pid=4080 . Orders should be made by Dec. 13 to count toward my party and to ensure Christmas delivery!

And since I'm out of staples, it's time to tackle the food.