Scraps of Memories

I have wanted a weekend with no plans

no expectations 

well this one was close ~ but there are plenty of weekends left in 

January and February for that!

since I packed up Christmas last weekend

but did not get around to anything else ~ I cleaned on Saturday

and put things back out where they belong

changing some things and leaving others

I have been having fun with my chalkboard

looking up different quotes and then trying to replicate them

and yes ~ I am doing it all freehand

probably did not need to point that out!

Before Christmas when I bought the mini lights to make these

and the ones I got originally had the green wire instead of white

I set them aside with all intentions of returning them

but they never got back to the store

meanwhile on Pinterest I found pictures/tutorials for 

ribbon or fabric garland

and my mind immediately went to a tote full of fabric

I have in the closet from days gone by when I used to make

fabric covered photo albums and address books

think late 80's / early 90's

 basically fabric I knew that I more than likely would never use again

but was holding onto it because that is how I roll!

so I spent the afternoon measuring and cutting

strip after strip ~ smiling at the memories some of these fabrics hold

and I knew I was on the right track

so I have started knotting them on the lights and I really like how everything is coming together

I will add in some ribbon as well then string them up

easy peasy!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Twinkle Twinkle

The last couple of weekends I have taken a break

from cooking and cleaning

and have spent my time in my renovated room

with no natural light ~ creating

finally taking some of those things I have pinned

and made them for myself

I have also been having some fun with my chalkboard

wow ~ there are so many cool quotes and fonts

plain inspiration everywhere you look

since our Thanksgiving was last month I chose this one

as I thought it was a bit early for me 

to be putting something Christmas related on it

a couple of weekends ago I made these sweater pillows

again ~ crappy lighting ~ sorry about that!

found on Pinterest ~ a couple of sweaters from goodwill

some batting and stuffing and I used embroidery floss instead of thread

I have 2 or 3 more sweaters to do and 

can't wait to see how they will look on the couch.

This past weekend I made these...

egg cartons + paint + mini lights = cute!

I love them and they were too easy to make

again ~ another Pinterest find

so my little corner of the world is basically complete

that sweater hanging over the chair was one my Grammy Brown made me

and I cannot part with it ~ so after the chair gets recovered with this fabric

the sweater will become another pillow!

I picked this up on my trip 

and it is awaiting a perfect little spot of wall

thought I would take some random shots of my space

as I will soon be hauling out the Christmas wrap, ribbon and bows

and this will become filled with everything Christmas

yes that is my old stereo with a turntable

because you never know when the girls are going to show up 

and we will drag out the 45's and have a dance party!

see randomness and whiskers abound

along with peanut butter pie ~ to die for delicious 

and currently crushing on these ~ please come to Canada soon!

Happy Tuesday.

Randomness Abound

It's Sunday night

and I am achy but happy

I just drove Samantha home

she really does fill my heart right up to overflowing

and it hurts me when she is sad or hurting

it must be what motherhood feels like

she is having some issues with her father

and I am her buffer ~ her safe haven

and I am glad that I can be here for her

and be the fun aunt!

we were creating first

I bought all the supplies to make these cute little necklaces before Christmas

but the time got away from us both

and we got to do them today

I am in no way a jeweller

so I am just saying that these were easy peasy

and cute to boot!

the link to the instructions are here

then I showed her what I was working on yesterday

I found it on Pinterest and thought it would look good framed

so Sammie made her list and is going to work on hers tonight

we had our dinner on Friday so the rest of the weekend was 

free and clear for us

yesterday I ran errands 

and started the makings for these rolls

I tried them last month for the cooking challenge

and I had used the wrong yeast so my dough did not rise

I am pleased to say that is rose just fine this time around

and they are delicious!  

they are time consuming but worth it

I think that I will be having one with a cup of tea soon....

today along with the fun

and finding a crocus in the side garden

we also did some priming

when the drywall guy was here last week

he asked us to put a coat of

oil based primer on the walls

so the plaster would stick to it when he comes this week

so with all the up and down with the roller

my knees are screaming at me tonight!

so that is done and dare I say

I could be painting the walls next weekend

woohoo!!

I picked some samples up yesterday

and was leaning towards a safe colour

but I think my brave side has won

as Barleycorn Flour is the chosen one

I wish this shot showed the truer colour

but it is very pretty

it was a gorgeous weekend here

and our snow has gone down a ton

we noticed buds on the forsythia

and I know it will not be long now

as it was great to sit out on the deck in the sunshine today

I hope that everyone had the most wonderful Easter!

Goodbye Stucco ~ It's Been Nice....

First off let me just say

that I am not a DIYer

you will not click on this blog and find loads of before and after shots

because I am good at the before

the doing and after parts are lacking

so with that little disclaimer out of the way I will move along

so......

remember the end of January

and I was on vacation

and it was so cold that I did not want to get out of my jammies

or leave the house for necessities like

bread, milk or wine??

well ~ I hinted around that same time that I had a project

that I thought I may tackle 

if I was feeling brave

or foolish ~ pick one ~ it doesn't really matter

and also I feel that must mention our house was

built in 1974

so the basement was finished by the original owners in the 70's

are you following me

do you know where I am going??

one of my pet peeves when it comes to this house is the rec room

the place where we spend most of our time

it is where I am typing this post in front of the tv

on my big comfy couch

adjacent to the rec room is what we call the craft room

when I used to craft and create

and it has also been known as the catch all room

you see where I am going now ~ right

so we have talked the last couple of years of what we are going to do down here

other than call Fox to see if they wanted their set back

for a That 70's Show re-boot

we talked about gutting it and starting fresh

but then we realized $$$

so maybe put something over top of the existing treatment

but then all the electrical would have to be built out to accommodate it

or attempt to remove the stucco and see what we have to work with

easy peasy ~ right?

while I was on vacation armed with a spray bottle of hot water

and a putty knife I moved some things out of the way

and went to work

no ~ I did not pack anything up

cover anything or have proper ventilation

I moved things out of the way

dumb dumb dumb dumb

so here is a quick before shot to see what I was up against

yup ~ all it's thick swirly goodness

like frosting

silly me thought if I was wetting it down

it would not create dust

that it was soak in the water

and I could scrape it off

wrong again ~ you would think that I would use this computer

for research before starting a project

so the good news I did 1 1/2 walls on my own

and then stood back and said

"what have I done"

then Trev came home and said

oh ~ you are removing the panelling too

yes I am!

so yesterday we went back at it

yes ~ 4 weeks later because that is how we roll

I did pack up a lot of things before we started again 

and I have visions of the finished product already

we left off here because I did not have the time or the energy 

to empty the pantry cupboard to move it out of the way

we are going to have someone come in now and give us a quote

to do the seams and such as the drywall was installed

horizontally instead of vertically

we figure a good skim coat should get us paint ready

then I can pull up the carpet

and pick flooring and a paint colour

then we can also see if this was all worth it

before we venture to....

the other side.....

Hope you are having a fantabulous weekend!