I Am Totally NOT Ignoring Y’all. Honest!

This past holiday weekend was a blur of activity at Casa de Aggie. We raked leaves, cut down errant branches, trimmed unruly bushes, and washed down dirty patio furniture. That was outside, obviously. Inside, we installed new light fixtures, cleaned the old ones, changed filters, dead light bulbs, unclogged drains, and did general maintenance.

Someone told me there were some football games of import. The only thing I saw on the TV was a layer of dust, and that was promptly removed.

I hope to get back in the groove of blogging soon. Between cleaning and organizing and downsizing and therapy (that’s physical therapy, ok??), it feels like I have no time left to blog. Oh, and I have a wine party next weekend. Oh, and the weekend after that I have a birthday and a scrap swap. Oh, and it’s almost time for Blood, Sweat, and Tears Day™.

DOES THIS EVER END????

Don’t bother answering that. It was rhetorical. Anyway, here’s a pic of the new foyer light fixture.

Yeah, it’s not this one, but it’s still pretty cool! Not only did I get it waaaaaaaaaaaaaay on sale, I also put an Edison™ bulb in it. It was a moral imperative. Next up? The Just-This-Side-Of-Redneck Chandelier™. It would be an awesome Mother’s Day gift.

Yes, I know the next so-called holiday is Valentine’s Day, but I ain’t holding my breath 😉

A Place to Stick It

I use pins a lot. I use them not just for sewing, but also in my altered art. Pins are useful, needful things, aren’t they? You see them everywhere in your house, until you absolutely need one.

Then you can’t find one to save your hem.

Anyway, I decided to make a few pincushions from old tea cups for the Craft Pay-It-Forward. There are several tutorials on the internet and all are very easy to make, and have few variations. So, without further ado, here’s my simple tutorial on making teacup pincushions.

You’ll need:

• old teacups
• scrap fabric
• poly fill
• needle and thread
• scissors
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
• round template, like a salad plate

First, cut out a circle of scrap fabric using your choice of template. My teacups are about two and three inches in diameter, so I chose an eight inch salad plate for the larger cup, and a six inch dessert plate for the smaller cup.

Two Front Teeth and a Box of Rocks

For the life of me, I don’t understand what is so hard about giving me gifts.

My mother swears up and down to anyone who will listen that I am the HARDEST person to shop for. I’m sure this stems from the Spiegel™ Dress Incident of 1983. She purchased a rather nice dress from the pricey catalog for me, and I was not overly gushy about it. In my defense, it would not be acceptable at school because of it being strapless, and I was such a fuddy duddy that I felt uncomfortable wearing it.

I have since gotten over that hang-up, as you can probably tell.

I am a creature of habit. Seriously. Coffee, wine, bubble bath, pajamas, chocolate, jewelry….not ONE of those things have ever changed. Admittedly, I have found some things that I like as I’ve grown older.

Sadly, they are appliances, pots and pans, and air fresheners.

Knives, earrings, comfy sweats…. I am happy with almost anything.

Except artwork. I have no space for it, and no patience trying to decipher what the artist is trying to tell me. Besides, I quite love the artwork my kids have made over the years far more 🙂

My Inner Muse Has Laryngitis

I can’t think of anything to write for today. I have to go grocery shopping, and then have the kids help with decorations and cleaning. On the upside, I get to completely supervise. On the down side, anything on the tree that I can’t reach will necessarily stay there.

That goes for lights outside, too.

My house is the one on the right…

Anyway, I hope my muse gets better soon. Until then, have a great Saturday 🙂

I Love a Good Bargain

I was at the outlet mall this afternoon, searching for that elusive perfect gift for my in-laws.

I did not find it.

Seriously, they are very difficult to shop for, mostly because they own everything that house can possibly hold they could possibly want. But on a lark, I decided to peruse the Williams-Sonoma™ section of the Pottery Barn™ outlet. And you know how sometimes salespeople find old stock in the backroom, and bring it out at a super reduced price, because it was discontinued a looooong time ago? Well, that happened, and I was there at the right time!!

That is a 1 quart Le Creuset™ Round French Oven. It retails for $105.00. Yes, you read that correctly. The original outlet price was $65.00. And the marked down price was $22.00.

And it was 30% off.

AND I got a 10% military discount.

AND I AM ONE HAPPY CAMPER!!!

I would have given it to my in-laws, but they only like the blue Le Creuset™. Pity, isn’t it?? 😉

Struck by Lighting

Sorry for my absence yesterday. I was busy playing chauffeur and had to go downtown to purchase myriad random stuff for the kidlets. And lack of sleep was sure not helping to motivate me.

Anyway, last week my friend Flower Girl and I went to a friend’s open house. I have to tell you, Flower Girl is obsessed with light fixtures. She went to Ikea waaaaaaaaaaay north of here JUST to get a light fixture for her bedroom.

I would be afraid to sneeze with that giant dandelion dangling over my head.

At the open house she fell in love with the drum-shaped fixture in the foyer. Unlike my foyer, my friend’s ceiling was at normal height, so the small fixture was just right for the space. Which then got me to thinking about my two-storey ceiling area in the foyer. It has a flush mount fixture the size of a salad plate, and with the lumens power of maybe two candles in a storm.

Seriously, it provides enough light to identify shapes. On the ceiling…

So now I have the lighting bug. And I thought that it would be easy to just find one and be done with it. But as usual, nothing that simple is ever easy. I had thought to get just a wrought iron looking pendant with maybe three bulbs. How hard could it be, right? OMG… There are different finishes, different metals, different lightbulbs, different cords, different everything! As the photos of fixtures swam across my eyes, I had a sudden thought: why not look for something more….Sithy?? And I found just the thing.

I can just see Hubby’s face when he walks through the door to that. After the “What the hell is that thing??” and before the “This is a joke, right?” he will just look at me and shake his head, wondering if it’s too early for a drink. Which is silly because he should know that a drink would be waiting for him on account of me getting a Sithy light fixture. I am that considerate. Besides, he would eventually realize it could be worse.

I could go out and acquire a giant metal chicken 😉

SQUEE*hic*EEEE!!!

This evening I am hosting a wine party, featuring Spanish wines.

You’ll notice I did not call it a wine tasting party.

Anyway, there will be wine, women and song. And by “song”, I mean the music channel will be on. Trust me when I say, no one wants to hear me sing when I am tipsy. Ok, maybe they do so they can record the fiasco and post it on YouTube™. It wouldn’t be the first time. And because I am hostess, I get to use my wonderful gift, courtesy of my sister, Reno Queen:

My newest addition to my Lolita™ collection!!

And the best news? I will not be in need of a designated driver 😉

Have a great Saturday!!

Out of My Gourd

I love pumpkins. As an Aggie, I had…. issues with their color for a long time, but once I had my first slice of pumpkin pie, my issues were over. Carrots weren’t such a big deal because Texas A&M figured out a way to make maroon ones. But not pumpkins, which is a real shame because I bet a maroon pie would look amazing.

Anyway, yesterday I showed y’all the paper mache, or if you are a stickler for correct terminology, papier-mâché pumpkins. I had waffled around trying to figure out what to do with them for months. But finally I managed to decorate them.

First, I applied a thin coat of medium and laid strips of Ideaology™ tissue as I went along, pressing it into the curves. Once it dried, I sprayed some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist™ in Tattered Leather, a dark brown, and then rubbed in Distress Ink™ in Spiced Marmalade, repeating the process twice. Once THAT was dried, I glued jute twine into the crevices for definition. I applied some Distress Ink™ in Peeled Paint to the stem, as well as to some Sticky Back Canvas™, also spraying it with the brown glimmer stuff. Then I cut out leaves from the canvas, peeled the backing off, and stuck it to some more tissue paper. I crumbled it, and then reformed the leaves to suit, gluing them to the stem. I curled some more twine and voìla! Rustic pumpkins for my Great Pumpkin Mantelscape of 2012!!

And yes, the big one in the middle is a mercury glass one that I purchased a while back. It is open in the bottom, so I placed some Christmas tree lights inside and light it during the holidays. I couldn’t light it for the pic because A) it would be too bright for my crappy phone camera, and 2) the extension cord was too short. After Thanksgiving it will be moved down to the hearth area so I can once again plug it in.

Oh, and I just remembered the rest of the pumpkins I have stashed away. I may or may not have enough room on the mantel, but hey, that’s what the fireplace is for 😉

The Big Reveal!!

FINALLY!!!!

Ok, so I am still not completely done. I’m working on a coggy collage that will go over the headboard. But I got tired of waiting. Anyway, y’all remember what it looked like, right? For those who don’t, here you go:

What a nightmare that was. There were days I wanted to take a rake to it. And a lighter.

And here is the after!!!

My 500th Post, a Birthday, and Update

And I really don’t know how that happened.

Today is my blogger friend XBradTC’s birthday!!! And like a good friend, I made him brownies. I say “good”, because if I were a great friend, I would have mailed them to him.

They were delicious. Take my word for it, Brad.

Also, an update on Eldest’s room. Yes, the big reveal was postponed forever due to school commitments, but here is a pic of the final big project I did for her room.

It’s a light fixture made from two hanging baskets, a lantern light kit and an Edison lightbulb. And as you can see, that is the cord cover I was sewing my fingers on that inspired me to ask for a sewing machine for my birthday, which I probably won’t get because I really have no room upstairs for it at this time.

Hope you like the sneak peek. I am counting on getting everything done today so that I can FINALLY do the Big Reveal™ tomorrow. If not, I’ll just make more brownies 🙂