Finally a Finish and More

Wow! What a difference a week can make.  Ohio is SUPPOSE to be a stay at home order from the governor, but I can tell you it isn't being followed by many.  My honey has been laid off indefinitely so our plans to build or buy a home this spring is on hold now.   Plus, I don't think I would want to put my house on the market and have people coming in and out to see it anyway right now.  

This week I attempted to work on my applique project and ended up ripping out what I did because, well, I used a color that did not blend at all.  I was either tired or blind when I picked it out.  You can see below what I initially picked, which is on the paddle, and the new color that is the skein.

PINK!  Seriously why did I pick pink?!?!?  LOLOL.  I didn't notice until today and ripped out the edge that I had already done.

So, this is the end result with the right color edge.   I may try to figure out how to hang it.

Last night I decided to redo a cabinet that I moved to my dining room.  I moved it there a couple weeks ago when I was rearranging, but never redecorated it.  So, last night was the night.

For now I'm pretty happy with it.  I still need to put a back on my penny mat in the first picture, but after this one it shouldn't be too hard.  

We are staying in this weekend and doing some cooking.  Bill made some banana bread today as well as cooking dinner.  I think I might get used to this. LOL.  He actually is a very good cook.  He has had to cook for himself since he has been a bachelor for the last 27 years.  He never married and never had children.  Lucky for me he has accepted my kid's as his own and does so much for them as well as me.

Social Distancing vs Introvert

I don't care if it's social distancing or not I am and have always been and introvert.  I was so excited to wake up this morning and not have to go anywhere.  I actually slept in until 9:30 this morning.  Most weekends I'm up and have things to go and do.  The normal grocery store trip or errands or whatever Bill and I find to do.  He has been home from work since Wednesday because he started with the chills.  We decided that he would stay home just in case.  I have asthma so we aren't taking any chances.  Yes, I'm still going to work because we won't can't shut down.

Anyway,  since I was home I figured I do some crafting.  I was going to do some painting but I need rubber gloves for my finishing step and just ran out.  They are not a necessity so it will wait.  Instead I decided to pick up my wool, needle, and thread.  Lately I have been on a pineapple kick.  I have been looking for just the right wool for it and finally found it.  It just shipped, but until then I decided to try one with what I have on hand.  I recently had a Facebook friend give me a kitchen trash bag full of wool.  She was cleaning out her stash and thought I could use it.  So, I went digging today.

Ready to stitch.

I got this far and kept thinking it needed more.

So then I decided to add some "embroidery" stitching.  I'm still not done with it.  I think I want to add some red in a border.  I have some ideas I will try tomorrow.

Remember when I said I have been on a pineapple kick?   Same pattern but I hooked it instead.

Once I get my new wool I have a different pineapple shape I want to use.  If I'm home again next weekend I may get to do that too. LOL.  

Close Ups

Well, we have been very crazy at work.  I am working over time and not taking a lunch just to keep my head above water.  I worked 10 hours today with no end in sight.  We will not be shutting down since I work in the food production business.  So, needless to say I haven't had time to do much crafting except for making a few more strawberries. I have been looking for that certain gold wool that would make great pineapples for applique.  In my mind I know what I want, but I just can't find it.  I will know it when I see it.  The search is on!

That being said let's take a break from reality and look at some primitives.  Why? Because they make me happy when I walk in the house after work every day.  Ok. That and my doggy Oreo. LOL.

Have you been doing any Etsy shopping lately?  I just sold a Santa yesterday.  I'm thinking I need to load up my shop in case people are bored and ready to shop! LOL

Until next time... Safe healthy and safe.

Spring Cleaning

My spring cleaning has started.  Yesterday Bill took both the boys (our dogs) to his house so I could do some cleaning.  My dog, Oreo, came from the local shelter.  He has anxiety that is through the roof. When it comes to loud noises he is so afraid.  Meaning to vacuum he will actually attack and bite my vacuum.  I have holes in the hoses that have had to be duct taped so I don't lose suction.  Yes, it's true duct tape fixes everything. LOL. Hey! I have a 10 year old Dyson and I'm not about to buy a new one. This one works even better since my son refixed it yesterday.  Anyway, so while the puppy was away Mom got a ton done!  I thoroughly dusted, vacuumed, cleaned carpets, and rearranged in my living room and dining room.  It felt amazing! Though today my body is NOT feeling amazing.  UGH!

So, I figured I'd show you a couple pictures of what I'm up to.

Of course a rabbit that I painted had to be included.

Yes, I take pictures of my dog's blanket.  :-)  My house is lived in so I keep it real. LOL.

This wall is my nemesis.  Up until today all I had was the empty blanket crane.  I just could not decide what to hang on it.  So, down to the basement I went and found the cream and mustard fabric pieces and the locker hooked bunny that I won on a blog giveaway many years ago. I think I want to make a sign to go above the crane.  I have plenty of old barn wood to do it.

HAHA! Don't look at my ugly ceiling fan.  There are only 3 light bulbs in it and no shades.  That is a project I will tackle soon.  As you can see I love brown crocks and jugs and incorporate them everywhere.  You already know I love wood bowls too. :-)  

I will take close ups soon of the shelves and dining room once I get it the way I want.  

Alright, since this is my "diary" I have to write something about what is going on the world so when I look back next year I will remember.  These are only facts of what is happening in Ohio as of today.  All schools have been closed for at least 3 weeks.  All bars and restaurants are closed for dine in but you can still carry out and go through the drive thru.  According to most people grocery store shelves are bare of toilet paper, bread, hand soap, and hand sanitizer.  The governor is also thinking about keeping the schools closed for the rest of the year. No gatherings of 100 or people are allowed.  Where I work we are amping up production to make sure grocery stores have our product for people.  This is very strange because this time of year we are slow.  

If you are reading this I hope you stay healthy and happy.

Time to Rearrange

It's 8:30pm.  You know what that means if you read my last post.  LOL.  Time for bed you ask? Why no. It's time to start decorating. I don't know about you, but when I decorate I move things around multiple times.  Bill always tells people it takes me hours to decorate my Christmas tree because I will put the lights on it, sit down and drink coffee and look at it.  I put my garland on, sit down and drink coffee. I put the ornaments on and sit down and drink coffee and move my ornaments, drink more coffee and move them once more.  That IS true, but that makes me sound like I'm OCD.  Truth be told he and I BOTH are in someways which makes it even funnier.  We always start out the sentence "At least I'm not OCD but you are" LOL. 

Anyway, as I was pursuing Google last night.  If you couldn't figure it out I am a big time Googler.  I LOVE looking for decorating ideas.  Sure Pinterest is awesome too, but I can be specific when I Google.  I look up some of the dumbest stuff that pops into my head.  That's a whole other story.  But I digress.

So, today after work I washed up my icky brown jugs and bowls and moved them to a different spot.  Oh, did you think I was going to reveal everything tonight?  Nope! LOL.  The lighting is terrible AND I'm not done 😁

So then that led to redoing this cupboard...

Which led to starting above my kitchen cabinets.  I have a great idea for up there, but I will need to make it first.  It is dark in the picture I know.  I will get better pictures in the daylight AND when I'm done.  Makes you want to come back and visit doesn't it?  Btw,  my cheese box idea came from my Googling addiction. It is just the right size for up there.  The downside is finding things the right size to put in them. 😒

I think it's time to settle in for the evening before bed.  I have been going nonstop since I got up, but what else is new. I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.  See you soon my friends.

Kitchen Cabinet Decorating

Why is it I get the bug to redecorate at 8:30pm?  Last night I was looking at pictures of how people decorate above their kitchen cabinets.  I think it is time for a change.  I mean leaving my Christmas greens up all year for 2 years isn't long enough. LOL That's like leaving your Christmas lights on your house year round.  I actually had white lights up above with the greens with my huge wood bowls and brown crocks.  It was so festive until the cheapo Dollar General lights blew out.  But instead of changing them out I just left them. Go ahead and call it laziness if you will. LOL.  Anyway, I have some ideas, but I need to stare at it for a day or two being empty.  I don't want to overload it because cleaning aka dusting is a hassle.  I am really liking the less is more/ simplify thing. 

Excuse me while I make dinner.  I am multi tasking.  Talking with you and making dinner at the same time.  And yes, the drawer pulls and handles are shiny 90's gold.  In fact, they matched my bathroom ones. LOL.  And of course everything is oak!  Again they are in great shape and I can't paint them quite yet.  I did use this wall color to tame down the yellow in them.  Besides, I will be selling this home soon.  Bill, does not like living in town with neighbors.  He has a couple acres that he owns that we are looking at building on or getting a double wide to put on it.  In fact,  he was meeting with a builder tonight who came up with a house plan. 

These bowls now need to find a new home and cleaned up.  They are huge, but I think I have just the spot for them. The jugs are totally disgusting from being up there.  Guess they will be getting a bath. I'm hoping within the next few days to have some progress.  I'm hoping by blogging again I will start decorating like I used to.  I loved sharing my home with you.  :-)

Bathroom Redo

When I bought this house almost 3 years ago I repainted almost every room with the exceptions of the bathrooms, laundry room, and my son's room.  Mind you nothing had been done since the house was built in 1995.  It still had the original contractor cream on all the walls.  I left my bathroom alone up until a couple weeks ago.  That look needed to go.  Keep in mind I have a very small budget so I did what I could.

My sink was chipping and stained.  We have nasty water here in my town.  We have a softener but for a long time it wasn't working properly until I did my research and fixed it.  At that point it was too late because the finish was worn off the sink.

The oak cabinet is still in very good shape, but the gold handles need to go.

The flooring is still in very good shape.  It is an ugly pattern with blue and pink BUT no need to replace it yet.

The light above the sink is a shiny mirrored gold and silver with round bulbs.  It screamed 90's!  I have no other storage so the medicine cabinet stays.

Now for the update.  It cost me less than $500 to give it a face lift.  My son helped me with this little project. I'm not done decorating, but I thought I'd share it with you. 

Yes, I kept the flooring and the oak cabinet.  I couldn't bring myself to paint it because it was in such good shape and all of the woodwork is oak as well.  The paint on the walls is leftover paint from my living room so $0 spent.

 A very good friend of mine sent me this mustard plaid shower curtain that I never used until now.  The picture I've had for 5-6 years, but haven't used it in about that long. LOL.

I changed the knobs and pulls with brushed nickle.  I also LOVE the sink because it is all one piece.  I didn't want one with a lip where the counter meets the sink. I finally found this one at Menards's, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite stores.  The sink and faucet is where most of my money went.

Not much choice on a light when it is attached to your medicine cabinet. 

Last but not least a new shelf made from a vintage drawer of some sorts.  I bought 2 of these a few years back and they have floated around being used for all sorts of stuff.  But I love it because no my stuff won't get knocked off the shelf.  I even raised it a bit so Bill wouldn't hit his head on it. LOL

I love my new bathroom.  I need to put some other things on walls, but I'm trying to decide what I want because of the moisture in there.  So, that may take some time.  I'll keep you posted.

Wool Strawberry Bowl Filler Tutorial

You all know I LOVE doing tutorials for you.  I have always tried to make and decorate with things I've made.  Most times it is out of necessity to save money. Other times I just like to see if I am able to do it. So, if I can help you on your creative journey I am all for it. 

This tutorial is based off of a few I found online with my own twist. So, let me introduce you to  Clyde my assistant for today.  This guy is my fiance's pup. He comes to visit on the weekends since Bill and I don't live together.  Well, he isn't exactly a pup because he is 5 1/2 years old.  Ignore my door panel flipped up in the background.  I have to open those so the dogs can lay in the sun during the day.

Supplies:

Red wool (mine is recycled felted wool that was a blazer I found at the Goodwill)

Green Wool

Needle and thread (I'm using black so you can see it)

A round plate or lid

A marker

Scissors

A little bit of poly fil for stuffing

Let's get started...

Start by tracing around your plate or whatever you are using.  This happens to be a dessert plate and makes larger strawberries.  The smaller the lid or plate the smaller the strawberry.

Next, cut out your circle on the line.  Many tutorials tell you to use half a circle, but I prefer to section it off into thirds.  They don't have to be perfect.  You can tell I had to redraw mine.  No worries because the marker will be on the inside of the strawberry.

Cut your circle into thirds.

Take one of your pieces and fold it so that the cut edges also has your black marker match up. All marker lines should be showing. This is the inside of the strawberry. Take about a yard or so of thread and starting at what will be the bottom point of your strawberry hand stitch a running stitch up the edge.  I like to keep them kind of small stitches so they don't pop open when I'm stuffing it.

Without cutting your thread do a running stitch all the way around the top of the strawberry.  This is actually the curved part of your circle. Do NOT cut your thread.  Turn your strawberry right side out and stuff it.  Not too full because you don't want your stitches to pop open.

I like to hold it like an ice cream cone to stuff it.

You should still have your thread tail.  Pull on the thread to draw up the edges to close off the top.  Make sure you hold tension on it or it will pop back open.

Re thread your needle and stitch the top closed while holding tension to keep it closed.

For your leaves you have a choice.  You can hand cut your own so each one turns out different or you can be OCD like me and make a pattern.  I found that I can't cut one freehand to save my life.  I had to make a pattern or 3.  LOL.  For this one I use the top pattern.  I made that by taking a quarter and drawing around it.  I made sure the quarter covered the top stitching of my strawberry.  Then I drew my leaves. Of course I drew it on leftover cereal box cardboard because it is easy to cut. 

Obviously you will need to cut your leaf out of your green wool.  The next step of pinning your leaf to the top is optional.  I like doing it so it doesn't shift while stitching it on. I did use green thread to stitch it on so you can't see it very well.  Basically take your thread and whip stitch the edge to the strawberry if you want the leaves tacked down.  I have made a couple where the leaves stick up and go wherever by not whip stitching the edge.

You can sort of see in this picture how I stitched the leaf on to have willy nilly leaves.  Just stitch the top in a "snowflake/start" pattern.  Basically all you want is to cover where you pulled the strawberry together.

If you want seeds then there are several ways you can do it.  If you can make french knots then use embroidery floss and do that.  If you suck at it like me I settle for a needle and thread.  You can use gold, black, white or whatever thread you want.  I used black.  Basically you take small stitches here and there to resemble seeds.  I like to give them a light tug to make it "dimple".  

Continue doing this all the way around the strawberry until it is covered.  Knot your thread and pat yourself on the back.  You now have a strawberry.

I personally like the newest one I made because of the leaf color.  The others were made of a dark/teal color I had when I was experimenting with these. The next ones I make I want to make out of osnaburg fabric and trying painting them with paint and coffee stain to look more primitive. I can't guarantee it will be this weekend because it suppose to be 60 degrees tomorrow. Woohoo!