I Turned 25 Today

Today was my birthday!  I’m now a quarter of a century old.  Isn’t it amazing how fast the time goes by?  Sometimes I feel like I’m still in high school, although, there seems to be a lot less drama now.  Also, I have a lot more responsibilities now than I did then.  I’ve got a house to take care of, animals to feed and clean up after, and well….my honey falls into those categories as well, but now I have someone to love and who loves me back.  Someone I can share my hopes and dreams with, as well as my fears and annoyances.

Steve let me stay home from work today to work on my curtains, which was so nice of him.  We own our own electronic cigarette company for those of you who are wondering why Steve would be the one to decide if I could stay home or not.  It definitely is nice being your own boss!

I was able to fully complete 4 curtains, and now I only have 2 left!  Then all we’ll need to do is order the patio furniture from Home Depot and we’ll be all set!  I can’t wait to see what it looks like!  We’re trying to decide between these 2 furniture sets:

Tan Patio Furniture

Blue Patio Furniture

I like the blue, I just need to make sure my pillows will match it.  If not, I’m fine with the tan.  I couldn’t believe how cheap…..I mean inexpensive….they both were!  Almost all of the patio furniture we had seen before these were at least $999.  So $299 and $399 is quite a steal for a 4 piece furniture set!  And they offer free shipping!  Can’t beat it!

My love gave me these beautiful earrings for my birthday.  They’re aquamarine (my birthstone) and diamond.  And yes, “He went to Jared.”

We went out to dinner with our best friends Rustin and Elizabeth and Elizabeth gave me my veil as a birthday present!!!  This obviously isn’t a picture of it, but it’s the same style.  Cathedral.  LOVE IT!  I tried it on when I got home, and good news…..it fits!!!  🙂

In other news……I’M GOING TO MEET THE PIONEER WOMAN THIS WEEKEND!!!!!  If you’ve never heard of her you should check out her blog The Pioneer Woman.  She’s doing a book signing at Borders in Atlanta, and Steve and I are making the 4.5 hour trek out there.  Hey, this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m not going to miss it!  I’m literally on her website every day.  I can’t get enough!  She lives on a ranch with her husband “Marlboro Man” in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma.  She’s written a cookbook, a romance novel telling the story of how she and her husband met and fell in love, and a children’s book about her lovable basset hound, Charlie.  She blogs about everything that goes on at her ranch, homeschooling her 4 children, photography, and hundreds of recipes.

Another highlight of our trip to Atlanta will be visiting the Ikea!  We don’t have one here in Nashville, and we haven’t been to one since we lived in California, so it’ll be fun to see what they have.

Well that is the summary of my birthday!  I’ll let you know how the trip to Atlanta goes when we get back on Saturday.  I can’t wait!  Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday on facebook.  You all made me feel very special!

Patio Curtains

For my 2nd sewing machine project, I decided to make curtains to match the pillows I made a few days ago.  Don’t worry, I didn’t use the same patterned fabric.  That would have been WAY to much pattern.  Instead, I used white linen fabric for the curtains and the double roller blinds, and then to make everything coordinate together, I used the fabric from the pillows to make cute buttoned ties to go around the middle of the curtains.  Thank goodness for Coupon Commotion at Joann Fabrics.  Otherwise this little project would have turned into a very expensive project!

If you’d like to make some curtains of your own, here’s my interpretation of how to do it.  Granted, I just kinda made it up as I went along and did what I thought seemed right, so if there are any experienced sewers out there feel free to tell me how I could have done this better.  I’m still working on sewing in a straight line with the machine!

I started by cutting my fabric to the length and width I needed.  When I told the lady at Joann’s that I needed 8 yards of fabric she gave me a very surprised look, until I explained that I was making curtains.  Then a couple days later I decided that I wanted to cover every opening on the patio with curtains instead of every other, so I had to go back and get 8 more yards!  That is where my 40% off coupons came in very handy.

I then ironed the fabric so it was nice and smooth.

I barely had enough room to stretch my fabric out on the floor, but I managed.

Next, I folded the fabric 3/4 inch all the way around and pinned it.  This is probably too thick of a seam, but I didn’t want to go too thin since I’m still practicing sewing in a straight line.

I then pressed the fold so that it made a nice sharp seam.  I will neither confirm or deny that I stepped on a pin sticking straight up during this process.  You can’t make me admit to it!  This pain in my heel must be from something else.

Now I was ready to sew the seam!  That light on the sewing machine is so helpful!

When I finished sewing the seam around the entire curtain, I then folded and pinned a 2 inch section across the top of the fabric.  This is where the curtain rod will go.

Then I was ready to make the patterned button ties.

I started by cutting 2 identical 4×15 inch pieces of fabric.

Then I laid the fabric so that the right sides were facing each other, and pinned.

I sewed 3 sides together, leaving one short side open.

I trimmed the excess fabric from the edges so it wouldn’t be too bulky or fold in a weird way once I turned the fabric right side out.

After the fabric was facing the right way, I pressed it.  This was a little tricky since the seams didn’t want to expand fully.  I ended up inserting my ruler into the little sleeve that was created when I left the one end open and was able to force the fabric out so that the seam was nice and tight.

Then I folded the open end in about 1/4 inch and slip stitched it closed.

You’re supposed to barely be able to see the slip stitch if it’s done right.  I need a little more practice, but I think I did okay.

I actually figured out how to sew a button hole and button onto the fabric using the sewing machine!  Granted, I studied the directions for several minutes before I started, and then I still ended up messing up……twice.  But at least I’ll know what NOT to do when I make the next 5 curtain ties.

And here is the finished product!!!!  There are 6 openings where the curtains will be.  I know I probably should have taken this picture when it was light outside, but I finished sewing the curtain tie around 12:00am and I couldn’t wait!  Hopefully once we have the loveseat and chairs accessorized with the pillows I made out there it will all tie together and look nice.

At first I was just going to have the curtains left loose at every other opening, but it just looked too plain.  So that’s when I decided to add the ties.  I think it looks alot better.  What do you think?  Any suggestions?

Here’s an updated picture from this morning.  Looks so much prettier during the day. 🙂  Gotta love that natural light.

My First Sewing Machine Experience

Well, I figured since Steve so thoughtfully gave me a sewing/embroidery machine for Christmas this past year I might as well put it to some use.  So last night I taught myself how to use it.  I had never used a sewing machine before, and the only time I had ever seen one used was on TV or in pictures.  So I had alot to learn.  For my first project, I decided to make some pillows for the furniture we are getting for our screened in porch (a love seat and 2 chairs).  Here is how I began.

I cut out 2 pieces of fabric 13×13.  2 of the pillows I was going to use for this project are 12×12 and I wanted to leave a little room for the seam.

Next, I hand stitched the 2 pieces of fabric together at one end so that the correct sides of the fabric were facing each other.  The wide loose stitch is called “basting” and it’s used for when you just want to hold fabric together temporarily.  Once you’ve machine stitched, you can remove the basting stitches.

This is what the fabric looks like when I opened it up.

Then I pressed the seam open.  This is where the zipper is going to be.

For the record…the fabric is cream and blue, not green.  My camera just decided that it wanted to pick out the slight green hue in the fabric and make that color the dominant one.

Next I basted a zipper onto the open seam.

Then I used the machine to sew the zipper firmly in place.

Now I’m not sure why I stopped taking pictures at this point.  Maybe I was distracted by Lazarus’s arm clawing at me from under the door, or maybe I was just so focused on my work that I just simply forgot.  Either way, this is how I finished.  Once the zipper was securely in place, I pinned the rest of the fabric edges together and machine stitched all the way around the pillow case.  Then I turned the fabric right side out and inserted my pillow.

Tada!!!!!  The first thing I ever made with a sewing machine.  I was really proud of myself!

I repeated that process 3 more times, with 2 of the pillows being 12×12, and the other two 14×14.  Now I’ll have some nice home-made pillows to accessorize our covered patio!  Next I’ll be making some white linen curtains for the same space.  Stay tuned!!!!

Tumbleweeds

This is what happens if I don’t sweep my floors two days in a row.

These “tumbleweeds” gather around by the baseboards if I don’t sweep for 2 days.  And these are not the result of me sweeping a bunch of hair into a pile….oh no!  This grotesque mass formed all on it’s own from the loose hairs my shedding dogs have so abundantly supplied.  Kaylee especially is blowing her coat in preparation for the warmer weather, so much so that I can literally pull handfuls of fur out without any trouble.  The Saints shed year round, but twice a year they REALLY shed!  So I warn you, before you get a dog with a long coat, ask yourself if the above picture is really what you want to deal with on a daily basis.  The drool is another factor, but we’ll save that for another time.

After I’ve swept all the hair up into a nice HUGE pile, guess what always happens…

That’s right…..Lazarus lays in it!  He does this without fail whenever I sweep!  Even while I’m sweeping he’ll lay down right in the path of my broom.  It’s gotten so consistent that I have to lock him in the laundry room whenever I want to sweep.

Then he rolls around in it.

Oh yah, buddy!  Cuddle that hair!  Maybe he thinks it’s his long lost brother coming back to play with him?

All I know is that he loves that hair pile, and that he’ll always be willing to help me clean it up……or not.

Sowing My Seeds

My mom is a phenomenal gardener.  You should see her yard!  It’s like the Garden of Eden!  Whenever I come to visit she always shows me what new plants or flowers she’s added to the already lush grounds that surround my parents’ home.  Here are some examples of her gorgeous flowers.

I mean honestly!  No wonder so many people want their baby/bridal showers and wedding receptions at their house.  So, when I have any gardening questions I know exactly who to go to.  I hope one day my thumb will be as green as hers!

For now, here is my attempt at a green thumb.  The other day, Steve and I were at Walmart, and what did I stumble across?  Aisles and aisles of seeds!!!!!  Well, there was really only one big aisle, but it had pretty much every seed you could imagine!  Herbs, flowers, vegetables….you name it, they had it….except for gerbera daisy seeds which i was specifically looking for since that is my favorite flower….oh well.  Anyway, I must have snatched up at least 30 packets of seeds.  I knew I would sow some directly into the soil when it got warm enough, but for now the herbs and a few flowers and veggies have made their way into pots and onto my windowsill.

My dream would be to have all my herbs neatly arranged on the windowsill above my kitchen sink, but once they started sprouting leaves, my cats would be all over them and all my beautiful plants would be eaten up in less than an hour.  So, I am forced to keep them in the only western facing window that the cats don’t have access to, which is the sewing room/guest bedroom.  It’ll have to do for now.  Once it gets warmer, I’ll move them to our screened in porch which is right off the kitchen.  At least then I won’t have to go all the way upstairs in order to snip off some herbs for a dish I’m making….that is if I can even get them to grow.

So far here are the seeds that I have…..uh….sown.  Basil, Cilantro, Chives, Oregano, Thyme, Parsley, Rosemary, Jalepeño, Bell Pepper, Purple Coneflowers, African Daisies, Cosmos, and Great Imperials.  What’s nice about these pots they’re sitting in is that they can be transplanted right into the ground without having to remove the actual pot.  It’s probably better for the plant that way too.  The less shock the better!  I’ll keep you updated on my plants’ progress in the weeks to come!  Wish me luck!

White Baby Blanket

I really enjoy crocheting.  Especially when I’m making something for one of my friends that is having a baby!  This is a blanket I recently made for one of my best friends since childhood and I cannot wait to meet her baby girl!

Has anyone else noticed how many women are pregnant right now, or is it just me?  It seems like every week I find out about someone else who is either expecting, just had a baby, or in one case, is now having TWINS!!!  Sigh….my day will come soon, hopefully, and when it does, you can be rest assured that you’ll be hearing all about it whether you like it or not!  (evil laugh) 😀

Until then, I guess I’ll just have to enjoy making things for all my friends’ precious little ones.  If you, or someone you know would like to order a blanket or other item from me, you can check out my facebook page here.

From Nursery to Sewing Room (Part 1)

When we bought our house in June 2010, we had so many ideas of what we wanted to do with it.  But time went on, and we went to work, hung out with friends, and watched movies, but somehow we never really changed anything in the house.  Granted, there was the painting failure in the dining room, where we changed the color from lime green (yuck) to charcoal gray.  Now, I know you’re thinking, “Charcoal gray in a dining room?” but keep in mind that we don’t use our dining room for eating.  My white baby grand piano sits in there, and we thought the dark walls would contrast nicely with it.  And don’t get me wrong, they do….it’s just we used the wrong type of paint.  See, we have really slobbery dogs!  Pretty much all of our house is painted with matte finish paint, and it is a beast to keep clean.  You can’t just wipe drool off a matte finished wall without it leaving a huge streak, so when we went to Home Depot to buy paint, we asked the (seemingly) knowledgeable employee what we could use that would look good, but still be easy to clean.  Do you know what she recommended?  SEMI-GLOSS!!!!  Now, I’m no paint expert, but after taking her advice and painting our dining room in a semi-gloss finish, I can tell you with great certainty that semi-gloss is never the way to go on an interior wall!!!  Not only is it oddly shiny among walls that are completely dull, but you can see every single little imperfection in the wall as well as all your brush (roller) strokes.  Moral of the story….don’t paint walls with a semi-gloss finish.  I’m glad I’ve hit that home for ya.  Now that I’ve completely gotten off track, lets get back to the subject of this post, shall we?

My wonderful honey, Steve, got me exactly what I asked for last Christmas….a sewing machine that also embroiders (among many other things….including my 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.  Did I mention that he was wonderful?)  Now, I have no idea how to sew.  Crochet, yes….sew, no.  So I wanted to learn how, and what better way than to learn by doing?  That’s always the best way in my opinion.  The only problem was, I didn’t have a room to set up my sewing supplies in.  (Yes I realized I just ended my sentence with a preposition, but I like to live on the wild side, so you’ll just have to grin and bear it.)  When we adopted Lazarus (kitty) in August, our other 2 female cats did not get along with him, so we would always lock him up in the room you see in the above picture when we were gone, or at night so he wouldn’t get attacked without us being able to break it up.  So up until now I’ve kept my sewing machine on the computer table all covered up and lonesome.  I couldn’t use it to learn on the computer table because #1 it is too small, and #2 the kitties would destroy anything I was working on and would annoy the crap out of me as I tried to work.  So there it sat, waiting for the day when it would get to fulfill it’s purpose in life.

Well the kitties are getting along much better now, and we’ve been able to leave Lazarus out all day and night, so now it’s time to put my sewing room into use!  That is after I de-nurseryize it.  I know you like my made up word.  Stick around, you might just learn some more new words.  The people who lived in this house before us had a baby boy, and this was his room.  Now, I’m not saying that I don’t like to look at little bears playing sports, but I wanted a different sort of look for my sewing room.  Maybe not so “baby boy.”  So here is my project to change the nursery into a sewing room!

As you can see, there is a boarder of sporty bears that lines the entire room….so first things first, that had to come down.

Unfortunately, once removed, it left a lovely darker shade of blue behind.  Fortunately I was already wanting to paint this room a different color.  Any suggestions would be appreciated!  I was thinking a light gray with an accent wall of some color where the window is.

At least my sewing/embroidery machine has a home now. 🙂  Don’t mind the sheet I converted into a table cloth.  You do not want to see the ugly table underneath, so this will have to do for now.

The Thing About Elizabeth….

Elizabeth Elwell (soon to be Franklin) is my best friend.  We only met about a year ago….maybe even less, but I already feel like I’ve known her my whole life.

If I’m ever having a bad day, she always knows just what to say to cheer me up.  I know I can always go to her with my frustrations or annoyances and she’ll be right there with a patient ear.  And I hope she knows it goes both ways.

She loves her fiance, Rustin, and seeing the two of them together makes you believe in love all over again.

She and Rustin are getting married 2 months before Steve and me, and we are each other’s Maids of Honor.  I can’t wait to plan her bridal shower! 🙂

Did I mention she’s my best friend?  Love you, Betty!    P.S.  Don’t call her that….it’s an inside joke between the two of us.  She prefers Elizabeth. 🙂

Lazarus

I have never met a kitty like Lazarus.  For those of you who don’t know the story of how we adopted him, here it is.  We were looking to add a new kitty to the family.  Since we already had 2 female cats (litter mates) we knew we wanted to get a male.  We also knew we wanted a lazy cat, so a kitten was out of the question.  So, where could we find an adult male cat?  Petfinder.com of course!  I highly recommend adopting an animal from a shelter or rescue as opposed to buying from a breeder.  Not that we haven’t done both.  However, there are SO many homeless animals out there that would make such wonderful, loving pets if they were just given the chance.  I will say that there are some good breeders out there, though, but finding them by weeding out the Backyard Breeders or Puppy Mills is a hard task.  Don’t EVER buy a puppy from a pet store.  Those are pretty much entirely puppy mill dogs, as any reputable breeder would NEVER sell their puppy to a pet store.  They would want to know where their puppy was going and that the home would be the best possible.  Ok, rant over.

Anyway, we searched on Petfinder for a day or so, and we kept coming back to Lazarus.  I have wanted an orange tabby cat ever since I saw the movie Milo and Otis, so we were trying to find one to adopt, but we just couldn’t find any that we really liked.  Lazarus’s story really captured our hearts.  He had been hit by a car and left in the road for dead.  Another car, thinking he was already dead, straddled him so that they basically drove straight over him with their tires on either side of him.  When they looked back, he lifted his head as if to say, “Hey I’m still alive!  Help me!”  They immediately stopped and brought him to the vet, where they worked diligently to save his life.  Amazingly he didn’t really have any scratches on him, but they think that he was mainly hit in the head, because he has some brain damage.  He was very wobbly when he walked, almost like he was drunk, and he still has very slow reflexes.  When we called about him, our first question was if he could still jump over things, because we have several baby gates up around the house for the dogs and we needed Lazarus to be able to jump over them like our other kitties do.  The vet assured us that he could, so we came to see him and immediately fell in love.  The first words out of my mouth when I saw him were “He’s so beautiful!”  We knew we had to adopt him.

When we brought him home, he was skin and bones.  You could prominently feel his ribs and his hips.  Now he is a healthy weight and definitely a character.  While he is still not as fast as the other cats, he has improved in so many areas.  His first couple months at our house he had to literally climb over the baby gates, and now he can jump over with ease.  He no longer walks with a wobble and he is able to hold his own when it comes to wrestling with the other cats.

Lazarus is our friendly cat.  Our other kitties will run and hide when we have company over, but not Lazarus.  The more attention he can get the better.  But watch your hands….he gives love bites when you’re not expecting it, but then licks afterward.  He is definitely the most vocal when it comes to food time and will be IN the food container as soon as I open it.  He gives the best snuggles.  Unlike our other cats who stiff arm you when you try to cuddle them when it’s not on their terms, Lazarus just melts into your arms like a baby doll.  Our life would not be the same without him.