Sewing Project #5, 6, 7

Using the fabric that I sewed the kitchen blinds with, I made a few other little things for the kitchen.

Wall Art - I bought frames from IKEA and painted them white. Using contrasting patterns from the set, I sewed a little bird and leaves onto the background.





Chair Cushion - For my little high chair, I sewed a little cushion for the seat. I used a different pattern for each side of the cushion, so if I get bored with one side, I can flip it over. I sewed small ties to tie to the chair and I plan to add buttons to complete the look.





Pot Holders - I love this idea! It was the most time consuming, but I love the results. I sewed fabric on each side and stitched over the padding in a criss cross pattern. For the rounded one, I added a pocket where you can slide your hand into. I also sewed a little bird onto the pocket. Then I sewed binding around it which looks horrid, but it was the best I could do. So for the next one, I decided to sew a square one which was easier. The band across the middle allows you to slide your hand into.

To-Do list Update

We've really cut down our To-Do List!

New-Wrap insulation around ducts in basement ceiling.

FALL ‘08
Things to Do Soon

• Put up Christmas lights around outside of house.
• Install gutter guards.
  
• Buy new dryer (ours is on it’s way out)

Living Room

• Staple molding around room and get corner molding. (Not a priority)
  
• Tape South window (it’s sagging and drafty).

Yard

• Patio with pavers under BBQ grill- (Spring ’09)
• Mulch around house throughout fall.

WINTER ‘08
Kitchen

• Install cabinets on refrigerator side.
• Install dishwasher.
• Install cabinets on sink side.
• Cut existing counter top.
  
• Do floor tiles.
  
• Give kitchen second coat of paint.
  

½ Bathroom

• Spackle, sand and paint. (Working on spackle now.)
  
• Staple molding
• Toilet - Getting an estimate for installation soon.
  
• Do floor tiles - $60
• Paint and Install door (in attic)
  
• Replace light and cover.
  

Cabinets continued II...

Finally, the cabinets are up! The hubs spent every night getting them up. It took a great deal more time and effort than I thought it would. The cabinets still need knobs and molding.



Before:


Here are the instructions on how to install the cabinets! Can they be any bigger?!






We spent a lot of time with the prep - measuring, aligning and pre-drilling holes. For security, he had to drill pieces of wood onto the wall first. Then hang the cabinets on those pieces of wood and secure with more anchor bolts from the inside of the cabinet.


It took approximately 2 hours to hang one cabinet, but once you got the hang of it, it went by more quickly.


While he worked on that, I began sewing the kitchen drapes. I think it turned out pretty cute. The curtain rod is from Joann's. Everything was 50% off.


I might add ribbons or sew some tabs 1/6 of the way in. I also still need to sew another curtain half way down the window in something sheer or or maybe white eyelet lace.

Cabinets continued...

Yay! It's done!

I literally just finished painting the room the morning of our party. Keith spent the previous night priming the walls and ceiling.



Just the day before, he spent all night spackling the rest of the room as completely as possible. He also installed the light and put in a new light switch.


After learning from our first mistake, I duct taped Keith into the room, so that the dust wouldn't escape. Some dust still got out, but at least it wasn't nearly as bad as the last time. Pretty regularly, I notice a lot of dust on the piano, so it's still settling or we kick it up from the carpet.


There are still imperfections which we will slowly patch up, but at least the room is in a usable and aesthetically pleasing state now. Over the holiday, I'll work on my sewing and craft projects.

Gingerbread House Station

The gingerbread house station was a huge hit! It kept the kids occupied and they really came up with some creative houses! I used Honey Graham (no sugar sprinkles) crackers and broke them in half. For the icing, I bought fluffy white cake icing and didn't bother making the icing glue.



My neice made a gingerbread condo.


Some of the kids showed up in Christmas pjs which I loved!


My other niece was really deligent and made a very neat looking house.


We also had kiddie jello shots and they loved them!


My best friend L brought gingerbread people cookies based on Martha Stewart's recipe. I love the one with the overalls on!

Gettin' Ready to Partay!

Look at all the goodies I have to share. I've been slaving away making preparations for our partay-tay! Below is the dessert buffet. I baked gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, brownies and put out madarin oranges.



I made the cookies really thick and I love the way they turned out. They are super cute.


Here is the candy buffet. It's mints, marshmallows, twizzlers, juju beads and chocolates.


I bought a box of Hershey's chocolates and arranged them in an olive boat. To me, it looks like a city skyline.


Getting the candies ready for the kids to make their gingerbread houses.


On the menu tomorrow will be Singapore Meifun, so I'll post the recipe for that.

Weekend Update

Santa came early and dropped this dishwasher and air compressor off! Thank you Santa!!



I finished putting the garland up around the house. It looks so festive. I wrapped a ton of presents and made photo gift tags for the gifts.


Christmas is getting closer and closer, so we're trying to finish up the kitchen quickly. Keith continued spackling the walls and ceiling. Then, he installed a new light switch and ceiling light. The light switch was a bit of a pain, but it works!



Let there be light! He also installed the molding back around the window. I can't wait to paint.


Another wall still needs spackle, but then we have to sand before we can paint. I hope we can get it all done before Saturday.

I received my Amy Butler fabric the next day I ordered it from Fabricworm! I went to Ikea and got some frames to paint and display the fabrics as wall art. Here I was laying out the patterns I liked.



Here is the combination I like best for the kitchen window drapes. I'm going to sew faux roman blinds.


The window with garland, but no drapes.


After 2 long weeks of overtime at work, I'm exhausted. I still have to paint and set everything back up before our Christmas party.

Kitchen Round 2

Hello in there!



Part I

After a 1.5 month long hiatus, we picked up where we left off and started tying up lose ends. I primed and painted the molding around all the doorways and the door with high gloss paint.



Painting a 5-panel door is not fun. If you care about how it looks, it takes some patience and a few coats to get it to look nice and consistent.


The kitchen is turned upside down again. For the molding around the window, I had to fill the holes to the finishing nails with spackle again because the first time around wasn't enough. I also found that you can smooth spackle down with a wet rag instead of sanding the spackle down. It's much cleaner and easier.


I cleared out the back room behind the kitchen and began removing all the old nails. Then I primed the walls with primer. It was a lot more work than I thought.


Then Keith began spackling. He liked my tip about using a wet rag to smooth the spackle down so you don't have to sand and it worked like a charm. It takes some of the labor out of the process anyway.


Next, he still has to spackle where all the edges meet and the ceiling.


This week, we'll continue to work on:

• the spackling and painting.
• changing out the outlet covers.
• changing out the light switches.
• installing the molding around the window.
• installing a new ceiling light.
  

Sewing Projects

I'm trying to prepare for projects that I plan to work on over the holidays. Often times, by the time I realize I want to do something, order it and then wait for it to get here, it's too late. That or I get too lazy to run out and buy anything. Do you ever feel that way? What plans do you have for the holidays?


I ordered this set from Etsy seller Fabric Worm. The fabric is "Daisy Chain" in grey by Amy Butler. I hope to turn them into:

• A curtain or valance
• 1 chair cushion for my yard sale find (more to come on that)
• wrapped canvas as wall art
• various counter top runners, place mats or hand towels.
  

Some other ideas I saw on Etsy that I thought were really cool to use the fabric:

• pot holders
• trim on existing store bought towels
• flowers
• napkin rings
• an apron

Christmas Decor

Getting ready for the holidays has forced me into finally hanging up some photos and frames. I had other plans for this wall, but I loved the way this trio of frames came out. I ordered some photos from our trip to San Francisco to fill the frames.

And just for your information, putting garland up is a lot harder than you think. Keith picked out the cutest stockings with pom poms. I would have never picked those out, but they turned out really cute. I added a silver "K" and an "A" ornament to each stocking that I got for 99cents last year at Target. The monogrammed throw is a wedding gift from Bee and John.



We got an early Christmas gift - a nativity scene which we placed over the piano.


Outside, we started putting up rope lights around the windows. We also planted these little trees! Just kidding. They're fake. At first, I thought the fake trees (fake anything) were cheesy, but again they turned out really cute - another pick by my husband. My family never decorated so he's a lot better at this stuff than I am.



This weekend, we're going to pick out a tree!

Wall Art

A few weeks ago, I put these photos up from our travels - me on the beach in Saba, me in a rain forest in front of a cool looking tree, us in Chichen-Itza, Mexico, and us in Paris. The sad thing is we don't have high res photos from our travels, so my picture choices were limited and not very artistic. Now, I'm looking for various antique elements to go along with the picture frames.



Sconce in the hallway. I bought this a long time ago and never put it up until now. It adds a really pretty touch to the space.



Things to do:

• Frame photos from the garden.