Paint Sample Wall Hanging

One of my (many) house projects is to decorate our guest room. This may sound somewhat simple, but I have a slight complication. You see, the guest that's here most often is Mr. 31's 10 year old brother, but the room also has to be suitable for grown ups. So, I've decided to decorate the room in shades of blue, using metal washers as accents. That way, it can look polished enough for adults, but in a fun, funky way suitable for a 10 year old Star Wars fan.

One of the first projects was a wall hanging. Inspired by the Iron Crafters challenge from Fireflies and Jellybeans, I decided to make it out of paint samples and washers.

I started by gathering paint samples in the shades I wanted: Ink Drop, Blue Corn Chips, Lazy Day, City Gray, and White (in Kilz brand).

Then I purchased 1 inch wide washers, navy blue satin ribbon, and fishing line.

I started the process by punching circles out of the paint samples using a 1 inch punch. I got 4 circles out of each sample. Then I punched 2 holes in each circle using a safety pin, unless the circles were going to be on the top or bottom line, in which case it got 3 holes.

Next I laid out the pattern I wanted (the hanging measures roughly 24 inches by 18 inches).

I then strung the top and bottom lines of the design using the fishing line and secured the line using hot glue.

I assembled the rest of the hanging upside down. I found out it much easier to assemble that way so I could glue without having to flip each piece over.

Once all the paint sample circles and washers were strung together (and my back was sufficiently sore from bending over it!), I decided to glue some smaller circles from the paint samples onto some of the circles to make it a little more interesting. Then I strung the navy ribbon through the 4 washers on the top line. The hanging will hang from those ribbons when I actually hang it.

I'm happy with the results. It's fun and different, and will add a nice touch to the guest room. Also nice: the cost. The total was roughly $8.00, though that's the total cost with the fishing line and ribbon, both of which I have lots left over.

I'll be linking with Fireflies and Jellybeans' Iron Crafters contest and also the usual suspects on my link party page.

Craigslist Made Me Happy

I have long heard mythical stories about fabulous Craigslist finds. You know the kind: "I found an antique ebony dresser and matching vanity for $3.00! Woohoo!" Now, I totally believe people when they tell me these stories. But, during my Craigslist searches I was seeing items that were more like "you can have my 1980s era, gigantic, laminate entertainment center for $125.00!" Until Monday, that is, my friends.

I was just glancing through the latest listings when I saw one that said "free pianos". I've been wanting to get a piano for Mr. 31 for ages; he loves to play but doesn't have much opportunity to do so. So, I opened the listing, thinking it was going to be (a) a scam, or (b) a serial killer trying to lure me to his house, or (c) a piano missing all the strings and hammers or something.

But it was for real! A local church was giving away old pianos they no longer used. So I told Mr. 31 to call the church first thing Tuesday morning. He did one better: he went to the church first thing Tuesday, and it's a good thing he did. The church's phone was ringing off the hooks with people interested in the pianos, but Mr. 31 was the first person to physically show up to look at the pianos, so he got first dibs!

So, long story short (too late!), we are now the proud owners of an upright grand piano that we know was built by a company that was located in our hometown and it was built somewhere between 1900 and 1920. And it's really pretty (oh yeah, it sounds good too!)!

Below are some pictures, including some closeups of the decorative accents. Also, I love how the center panel tilts out to hold music!

Thank you Craigslist!!

Rearranging My House

I had a very busy but productive weekend.

Saturday, I decided to go yard saling (that can be a verb, right?). I have a wish list a mile long and a decorating/furnishing budget an inch short, so I decided that yard sales, thrift stores, and Walmart will have to be my shopping destinations for the time being. I didn't find too much on Saturday, though, so it was kind of disappointing. Maybe it was the neighborhood that the block sale was in, or maybe I'm out of the loop with yard sale pricing, but I don't remember ever paying $3 for a paperback book at a yard sale. Sorry. Not gonna do it. However, I did find 3 really good quality frames for $2 total and a stack of really good cloth napkins and a couple of tablecloths for $1, so I guess that made the trip worth it!

Then, on Sunday, my husband decided that we were going to move his office downstairs. His office has been upstairs in a spare bedroom since we moved into our home. But the temperatures got unbearable in that room this summer, so we moved him downstairs temporarily (so I thought). However, once we got the computer down there, he liked the temperature and was actually more productive downstairs than upstairs (he works from home, so productivity is important!). And I figured out that I liked him downstairs too; when he's working in the evenings I can see him from the living room and kitchen, so it feels like we're spending time together more so than when he's sequestered upstairs.

What made the decision easier was the fact that my sitting room had no furniture in it, which sounds strange, but let me explain. A couple of months ago, I came home to discover my sitting room carpet in my driveway. That particular carpet had been a source of nasty smells since we moved in (having to do with the previous owner's incontinent dog and then our cats' assumptions that, since the dog went there, so could they. Argh!!). We laid down a laminate floor during our pre-fourth of July home-fixing-up extravaganza. But, for some reason, the furniture never made it back to the sitting room. I'm not sure why, it just didn't.

So, I spent my Sunday carting furniture and electronic equipment and office supplies from my second floor to my first floor. It actually doesn't look too bad, though like the rest of my house, I hope in the future to replace our during and post-college laminate/particle board furniture with what I am calling "grown up" furniture. Once we get everything set up, I'll post some pics.

After all that hard work, we ended our weekend with some Olive Garden (L-O-V-E me some Zuppa Tuscana!). And what could be better than that?

And the Harvest is Here!

For the past couple of summers Mr. 31 has planted a small vegetable and herb garden in our backyard. I say Mr. 31 because, as you may recall, I = plant death.

This week, we have our first harvest of vegetables - a ton of yellow squash! And I mean a ton - we gave some away, we ate some, we're saving a couple for seeds...and as of yesterday afternoon I still had a stack of it on my counter.

Soooo...I'm now freezing yellow squash.

See that stack to the left? That's after giving away four, eating two, chopping three, and I still have 3 left on another counter to eat later this week.

I'm also making a contribution to our compost bin - the ends of the squash are all in the white bowl awaiting transfer to the great outdoors.

I ended up with seven bags of yellow squash - which I'm sure we'll be happy for this fall and winter.

I had to move it all to our freezer downstairs, so I had made a handy dandy (not fancy, mind you) list to hang on my refrigerator upstairs so I don't forget what I have down there.

(And, no I'm not advertising for National City Bank - National City doesn't exist anymore, so my dad's wife who worked there gave me some of these handy clip magnets. Hi Pam!!).

From the looks of things, it's good my husband bought the Sam's Club pack of freezer bags. We could be eating yellow squash for a long time!

I'm Going Green! And Frugal! Two Points For Me!

Okay, maybe I should calm down. Really, all I'm talking about (today at least) is the fact that I have successfully switched my household over to cloth napkins.

I decided to make the switch after reading about others' success in the blog world. Before, I always thought it would be such a pain to have to wash them. Plus using cloth napkins seemed too fancy for everyday.

However, after reading all those blogs, I finally got sick of throwing away paper napkins. Mr. 31 insisted that he needed two napkins for every meal, plus there was everyone else's. That's a lot of paper napkins going in the trash. That's a lot of waste that we're producing and that's a lot of money being tossed into the garbage.

So, I decided to dive into the stack of cloth napkins I keep for "special occasions" and give this whole green/frugal thing a spin. And, I've gotta say, I love it. I have a large supply of white cloth napkins, which seems weird because you'd think they'd get stained quicker, but they're great because I can bleach them.

My next mission is to switch my husband from kleenex to handkerchiefs. He's open to that - I just have to find good quality, soft, white ones (his request). I would also like to break my house of our terrible paper towel habit, so I'll be working on that in the near future.

The one thing I probably won't switch to in the paperless world: reusable rags instead of toilet paper. I just don't think I can go there. Sorry hardcore environmentalists and frugalists. Just can't do it.