Let's play catch up!

I know I know, it's been a while. Here is a brief update of what's been going on.

While it was still cold, I made an ear warmer headband from this tutorial by PrudentBaby

I found a great deal on more wooden crates to add to the collection.

We've gone to see this cool bluegrass band called Off the Wagon at the Station Inn. That made me want to learn to play mandolin. 

I made a kinda-sorta costume for Read Across America day. It's supposed to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are. Basically I sewed ears onto this fluffy white jacket I found for $8, and I made a crown.

One of my neighbors lost their kitten so I got to hang out with this cute guy one afternoon.

I got this awesome wreath made from wood shavings that I'd been eyeing at Target, and I found it at TJMaxx for cheaper. Also, you may notice I hung the drop cloth garland above the bed. 

My man had a birthday. (And my Max crown got some extra use as a birthday crown!)

We have been doing some spring cleaning/sorting/simplifying.

The mantle got a spring update.

But the most exciting update is our urban garden that is thriving on our back patio!

We went to Lowe's and stocked up with strawberries, bell peppers, cucumber, zucchini, spinach, romaine lettuce, and a tomato plant. We also got this beautiful anemone flower and a plant called sea pink. 

Luckily we already had most of the pots we needed. We repurposed an old kitchen island what we no longer had room for as a plant holder. (You might notice it was on the far side of the bed as an ugly side table)

Now they are getting so big! It's been great since our patio gets full sun, and that's exactly what they need.

And we have evidence of our first fruits!

I tried my hand at tea dying. My first victim: a pair of lace curtains.

One found a home behind the ladder. The other is on the lone window in our bedroom. It is lovely to wake up to each morning. 

My next victim was our new set of sheets. Hopefully I'll do a full post about this process. 

Oh, and I collected a bunch of those little pink helicopters. They will now and forevermore be known as "fairy wings." Because that's what they look like. And I'll tell my kids that the fairies shed their old wings at the beginning of each spring and get a new pair. Or not. 

So yeah. Now you are up to date on my life. Kinda. 

Tomorrow I start working as a young toddler teacher at the preschool. I have been explusively in the infant rooms since November, and you better believe I'm going to miss holding those itty bitties and hanging out with my infant coworkers. The plus side of moving rooms is that I'm getting awesome hours! I'll be off at 4 every day. I hope that helps me be more productive this summer.

We'll see.

Stay tuned,

Haley

Handmade Gifts: A Special Touch

IT'S FINALLY AUTUMN!!!

Suffice it to say, I'm extremely excited that it is "officially" autumn! Exuberant even. Life is better when the air is cooler. You can quote me on that.

Last week I dug out my needle and thread and got back to work. A friend at work had a bridal shower, and I knew she liked the shabby chic, thrifty style also. Seeing as we are on a tight budget (aren't we all), I decided to embroider a little something for her. 

I figured this would be easy enough for a noob like me: 

source via Pinterest

Except I have no idea what stitch that is...I thought it looked a bit like a chain stitch, but I tried that and it didn't work out so well for me. I went with the easy-peasy running stitch, and it ended up looking like this:

I'm no expert... this is only my fourth attempt at needlepoint. I'm really just winging it. 

I should get my mom and mother-in-law to teach me what they know. (Shout out! Hi moms)

I added their wedding date to the bottom. Nice touch, eh?

{Side note: Speaking of "eh?"... Josh went to Canada last week for a gig! He forgot to bring my maple syrup, but I'll make sure he remembers when they go back in November. Maybe I can get him to write a post about his adventure. End side note}

So I put it in a nice frame. A little cottage style touch. I'm happy to report that my friend (and her fiance) loved it. 

Here are two other projects I've completed...

This little guy, ahhh. He makes my heart happy. Unfortunately he still hasn't found a home.

And this guy was a birthday present for my friend and maid of honor Melanie. (Shout out)... It was actually quite big, but you can't tell by the picture.

Here is a site I found (via Pinterest, of course) with step-by-steps of all the embroidery stitches you can imagine. I found it very helpful.

In other news... I added a couple more autumn touches to the living room

Has anyone else noticed there is a lot of touching in this post?

I have really enjoyed this little pumpkin fillers that I got last year at Michael's.

And the two stuffed pumpkins from Hobby Lobby last year (placement subject to change)

And the autumn wreath I made last year (featuring the little pumpkin fillers). 

And yes, our door is purple.

I can't wait to get some mums and real pumpkins.

Oh, and while we were at Michael's, I looked for a matching basket for the one I got last year that just happened to be the perfect size for our coffee table cubbies. Success! (And on sale, so double-success!) I think maybe I should spray paint the baskets yellow instead of painting the coffee table yellow. Thoughts?

I have some more mini-projects in the works.

Stay tuned,

Haley.

P.S. Here is another shout out to another one of my bridesmaids: Happy Birthday Dana!

I've been holding out: Mini-makeovers

There have been quite a few changes that I have failed to present to the blogosphere. I will remedy that now.

First off, has anyone noticed the sidebar and under-the-post advertisements? Yep, we have officially monetized the blog. This is a good thing. So please, when you check out the ads on the side, you support me and Josh. Theoretically the ads customize to the subject of my blog, so I hope that no inappropriate ads pop up.

Second, The coffee table has been updated. Got a bit of a facelift. Well, more like surgery. Here is the "before."

When we went home about a month ago, we utilized my father-in-law's miter saw. 

AKA ultimate man toy.

So Josh and his dad tore up my coffee table pallets. 

Making any sense yet? 

 Enter cedar planks...

Well this is the outcome...

Ta-dah! Cubbies! The basket on the left is the perfect size, simply my coincidence. I got it a year or two ago, so I hope Michael's still sells them. I think I'm going to spray paint them.

Also, did you notice I put the scraps of wood in the fireplace? hee-hee. (We won't burn them. They will come in handy some day, but they were in the way for now.) I can't wait til we get to have a real fire to cuddle up by.

Josh's mom and dad also gave us some patio furniture.

It has been so handy since it started cooling off.

We've also done a bit of rearranging. We put the record player on top of one of the wooden crates by my grandmother's chair. Now we can actually use it, and it also serves as a side table. 

So the other crate stands alone. Luckily my grandfather-in-law gave me this cool old shoe-polishing contraption. You would put your shoe on top and all your supplies go in the compartment. Which now holds some mason jars and poetry books. 

We also moved things around in the guest bedroom. 

And I made a little wine bottle decor.

It is really difficult for me to throw away glass bottles of any sort... So we had all these wine bottles sitting around.

I thought it looked a little too "college frat party," so I added a bit of brown butcher paper and lace to make it seem more intentional.

I wrap all my presents in this brown paper. (It is also very handy to put under canvas so you don't accidentally get paint on the carpet.)

All I did was cut it to size, use one little piece of tape to secure it (as you can see under that lace), and tie a ribbon of lace around it. I had these twig branches from a previous project and just stuck them in each bottle so it looks like a little wine bottle forest. 

I think it is very autumnal, which is kind of the theme of the "red room" as Josh calls it. 

Speaking of autumn, the mantle got a little mini fall makeover.

 I used the scrapbook paper leaf cutouts that made an appearance at our wedding (we asked out guests to "leave a message" on them) and used the tiny clothespins to clip them to the chicken wire. 

And because I love to include wedding pictures, here are the scrapbook paper leaves at our wedding:

So I used some of the leftovers for decoration.

Another change is in our kitchen. We have very limited counter space (and cabinet space for that matter... small kitchen in general) So we hung a shadow box type shelf thing. 

Here is the "before."

And the "after." We put lots of random things on it that just didn't have a home yet.

Such as our favorite coffee mugs, K-cups, salt n peppa, all our vitamins, an iron trivet, tiny teacup from my pretend tea set as a child, etc.  

Remember kids: always take your vitamins. We really do take these every day. Yay us!

 I don't think I've ever shown you my little side wall between the kitchen and living room. 

Can you spot the thermostat?

It's in the middle! Cute, huh?

By the way, that daisy yarn-embroidery picture is one of my favorites. 

I have also placed a little wooden folding chair (given to me by my sister) in the empty space behind the too-small side table.

I think it is adorable. It's just there to fill the space (and it fits perfectly) but it looks like a little desk.

Also, you can see that the ladder is currently the blanket holder.

Well that's all for now folks. 

Stay tuned,

Haley