featured

earlier this week i sent in the pictures katelyn took of williams room to spearmint baby, a blog i follow dedicated to nurseries and kids rooms. they liked his room and featured it on their site this morning. if you've never seen their blog before, you should go check out the dozens of nurseries and kids rooms that have been submitted. i like looking through for inspiration.

williams room

children's bedrooms are one of my favorite rooms in a home. i love planning out the space, finding each piece and making everything come together.

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here's williams room just after we moved in in april.

the room walls were a smurf like blue with fake, wood trim around the windows and doors that made the room look dark.

here is the during process

i painted the walls a soft blue from sherwin williams called glimmer (SW 6474) and did a 3-step process on all the trim to make it white. first coat is zessners oil based paint so it would adhere, then a coat of regular primer, last coat was wall and trim paint. the results are just what i wanted.

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now that william is two-and-a-half we decided to make the transition to a big boy room. his room is a little small so i went with ikea's trofast extendable bed and mattress, and i love it.

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the chalk board i bought at goodwill for $4.99 and painted the trim brown

small school house chairs $30 for both

i bought the dresser for $30 at an antique shop in the area

globes were about $4o for all four - the fourth globe is a big one that you can't see in the pictures, it's on the shelf in the closet next to the books

world map over his bed was a gift from my friend michelle, she found it at an estate sale

i made the curtains with 6 yards of britton hus fabric from ikea

williams silhouette i made

pictures/pieces on wall are from different vendors at farm chicks

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thanks kate for photographing his room

my kitchen then and now

it's been four months since we moved in i've been a little busy and a little lazy. i wasn't able to get to seattle for my "big house furniture buying trip" until the end of july, so i was set back a bit. (you can see all about that fun trip here)

karl and i plan to update and probably renovate the kitchen the beginning of next year, so my plan until then was to make a few small changes that would make big difference.

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first i took down the existing curtain rod and mini blinds from the windows to bring in more light. then removed the dining room light and installed the new pendant light i bought from ikea. i also put up light filtering roman shades to replace the blinds. i chose to take off the top cabinet doors to give a more open feel, plus i really like open cabinets with white ware on display. i bought a new table and chairs that fit this dining area better than my rectangular table

from our last place.

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so here is it, my kitchen

then:

and now:

then:

now:

a few details up close:

i'm very happy with the results. it feels like a new kitchen and i love it.

for william's books

william's room was the first project in the house to get underway. i knew i wanted to stick with the same theme for his room but really make everything come together with the finishing touches i never got to before.

the last month or so i've been looking for something to house william's growing book collection. i got lucky when out with katelyn a few weeks back: i found a used book shelf/cart at a thrift store in pullman for $4.99. one side stored the books and the other side had red felt glued on from it's previous owner. it was nasty, dirty felt, but i knew exactly what i wanted to do with it.

i scrapped off the felt and used chalkboard paint to give william an area to be creative and draw.

william and i both love how it came out. i hope to have the rest of his room, before and after, up shortly.

william's cute little face.

thursday morning will and i went to katelyn's place for a craft; we made silhouettes of our kids to display as art. i sat in front, looking at each of the children, entertaining them so katelyn could get the right angle for each photo. after that, she did the hard work of changing, shrinking each one, getting it just right for printing. we then cut them out using a razor, traced them onto the paper we wanted and framed 'em. that's it. short and simple.

i love william's, he looks little, yet so grown up. this was a fast and easy project, one that i was happy to start and finish in a day.

temporary sewing room

after unpacking the important boxes for the last couple weeks i just recently made time to put together a sewing area for myself. it's very temporary so the "box" desk is what i used because i had so many sitting around. it gets the job done right?

here is the before.

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here it is after. nothing fancy as you can tell, just the necessities.

i put an old thrift store basket to use holding my fabrics.

and carved out a few shelves to store my knitting accessories, decorating books and picture frames not currently in use.

nothing to do with decor

or anything i made, but i'm posting it because i really like it.

i found a cool song last week while looking through itunes. since downloading it i've played it more than a dozen times. because i'm unpacking boxes and won't have anything creative to make for a while i'm sharing this song with you. you'll be surprised by the female singing. i think she sounds pretty good.

tell me what you think, have you heard it before?

27

i didn't mind turning 27 today, i felt so loved that i didn't care how old i was getting. my friends katelyn, michelle and heather took me out last night; we walked the mall, went to bucer's pub/cafe, a favorite of mine, here in town for some italian sodas and hot cocoa. to top the night off they surprised me with more friends who met up at eastside cinemas for a movie. thank you so much.

karl brought home the tulips this morning and made my day. love you karl.

michelle gave me this pitcher that for now hold my flowers but will be added to my whiteware collection to be put on disply. thank you michelle, i love it so much. plus i get 3 free vinyl decals for my new house.

katelyn gave me lots of goodies with this metal "&" from restoration hardware for my birthday to add to my number/letter collection. i love it! it will be perfect in my new house. thank you kate.

karl took me to "the breakfast club" this morning and gave me $25 toward something at pottery barn and $25 toward music at itunes. i can't wait to shop. thanks babe.

we're moving

karl and i have bought a house here in moscow and plan to move in the 30th of this month. i can't wait to get out of this little condo where i can paint and renovate. we've waited to announce it because there are a lot of hurdles to get through the first 5 weeks or so. but at this point we're past anything going wrong so we can safely say it's ours!

we will be getting the first home buyers credit of $8000 and most of it's going to new furniture and updates throughout the house. the pictures below are from a few different places online that i've collected since our offer was accepted. these are where i drew inspiration for some of my plans and hope to recreate a little something like it in our new, to us, home.

the entry way will have one of these shoe cabinets from ikea to provide clutter control and give a little shoe storage.

our kitchen will eventually get new counter tops and cabinet doors similar to these above. the current cabinetry in the kitchen is from the 90's. not terrible but in need of an update.

the house has 3 bedrooms; one being sort of small, leaving not a lot of room for an office. i don't want it out in the open so i'll be looking for something similar to this beautiful desk to hide our computer.

i hope to recreate our master bedroom to look something like this. a little romantic yet still neutral so i can easily change the look with bold color and accessories.

the house is 1200 sq ft so i still have to be creative with storage and space. karl and i both want a library but it will have to be in the living room. there's a small nook in the main room where we can do something like this. it's cozy and inviting with a little light and comfy couch i hope to be reading a lot more than i do now.

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knit kiwi bird

i just knit my favorite project yet. a kiwi bird for my little buddy, masaru, who turned 5 on tuesday. after finishing the baby bootees i went in search of a new project, the best places being ravelry and etsy. i came across this free pattern on etsy and fell in love.

from start to finish was probably 9 hours and i loved every minute. more than likely i will not duplicate it for anyone else because it was a perfect bird for a kiwi kid. masaru's mother, melissa, is a good friend of mine. she's an awesome sunday school teacher and has two of my favorite qualities; strong testimony and a super cool, new zealand accent. she and her family are moving in a few months and i'm happy to have left her kiddo with one of my favorite knitting projects. i'll miss you guys.

baby bootees

this is the first pair of baby bootees i've knit. i made them earlier this week for my friend michelle who's having a baby in a few weeks. they looked so easy in the book, but i'll admit, they were a bit tricky, but only at first. before starting i spent an hour watching videos and tutorials on the internet so feel free to take in a little professional help. ravelry.com can also be very helpful, you do have to create a log in. very worth it, the site is full of awesome free patterns. yes, free patterns.

they take anywhere from 2-4 hours to make which isn't bad. they are a perfect gift for those expecting and very cute on little newborn feet, i imagine. as far as beginning knitters i think this would be a good challenge. you learn to read patterns and also a few new techniques. give it a try, the name of the book is at the bottom of this post.

i hope you like them michelle and congratulations on baby girl number two!

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this is the book i have that has the pattern and many more cute things to knit.

a quick dress alteration

i bought an awesome dress a month ago at a great new shopping place in town, the storm cellar. i bought because it fit me well and the older style interested me. after buying it i showed my friend katelyn and asked what she thought of it. right away she said, you have to take off those long pockets in the front, they make your boobs look saggy. i agreed and that was the first change i made just using a seam ripper.

here is the before shot on my new sewing mannequin. my friend told me about it being on clearance at joann's, originally $200, i got it for $25 because the height adjustment was broken.

close up of the pockets, they're actually seven and a half inches long.

here it is pocketless, a very easy and quick change.

next i shortened the sleeves to a little above my elbows. making the sleeves shorter was the trickiest part. i had to make sure they were even and not too tight.

i took the cut off length, measured my biceps and machine sewed two new sleeves.

here it is all finished. i can't wait to wear it.

girly purse

we went to california to spend christmas with my family this year. before leaving i made a purse for my niece mckinsey. i haven't posted until now because i forgot to take a picture of the finished product before wrapping it and giving it to kinsey. anyway, my sister just emailed me pictures and now you can see how easy it is to make.

for easy step by step instructions and items you'll need, go here. purlbee had the original idea, i made my own variation due to a budget.

isn't she cute?

it needed a little frill so i added a fabric flower, which was just as quick and easy as the purse itself. here is the flower pattern i used.

total cost for everything, under $5.00

toddler necktie

i'm a bit picky when it comes to some things, toddler ties are one of those things. i had been looking for a black tie to go with williams new black church shoes but had no luck. until my friend jenny emailed me this tutorial a few weeks ago i was settled on never finding a cute black tie. after reading it i was anxious to make one. i found my tie at the storm cellar for $4.00.

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i didn't follow the directions exactly because i wanted to made a real tie that actually tied like a big boy tie does.

my first attempt at it didn't work too well. i begged karl to try and tie it to fit william. he managed to get it around his neck but the knot was so thick, the tie stuck out and the shorter tail was really short.

here it is on him. notice the larger than normal size knot? i knew it was a little off but i really wanted him to wear it once before giving the tie a rework.

in-between steps

the second and better attempt at his tie.

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horizontal view in case you were wondering what it might look like ; )

girls dress from women's shirt

i bought this shirt last week from goodwill for $1.99 thinking it would make a perfect girls dress. so tonight i pulled it out and did my first clothing refashion in an hour and a half.

i measured, pinned and cut off about 3 inches on both sides of the shirt. also took of the shoulder straps.

here it is with the sides sewn up.

i took the excess fabric that was cut off the shirt to make thicker straps.

here is the finished product.

i brought it to katelyn's place to see if it would fit lauryn. she thinks it may work for brooklyn. if not her than another cute kiddo may sport it for a little while cause i'm anxious to see it on someone soon.

fun, easy and cheap project. just keep your eye out for shirts, either mens or women's, that can be cut smaller to make a shirt or dress. next i would like to refashion something for william.