wanted: poodle skirt. a dining table makeover.

in the sixth grade, i met blondie. i spent lots of time at her house and always marveled at the fact that no matter what, her family ate dinner at five o'clock. every day. for reals. so perfectly 1950's. so perfectly awesome. despite my mom's best efforts, our family drifted to the opposite extreme. occasionally we all ate dinner together, but more often then not, my mom had to catch us between our comings and goings to gymnastics, volleyball, hockey, etc. we ate at the kitchen table, kitchen counter, or sitting on the couch. at some point along the way, i decided that when i had a family, i was aiming for the 1950's version of dinner time. right.

my DIY assistant.

when the mister and i got married we had no table. we ate sitting on the couch or at the kitchen counter. but i wanted us to be able to gaze adoringly into each other's eyes over our plate of macaroni and cheese, so the day our ikea opened, we went and bought a little table and chairs. it was great for a few minutes, until our life swallowed it. and then big-E rolled in and that was the end of even thinking of dining at that table.

our starter dining set.

we ate all of our meals on the coffee table, sitting on the couch. we even bought the little guy his own chair, perfectly sized for him to join us at the coffee table. and when people came over, they joined us, on the couch. oy vey.

literally 1950's. no, thank you.

we have a lot of furniture. a lot. we had a full house of furniture and then a few years ago my grandmother passed away and we acquired more. the arrival of big-E exasperated the problem, but last week, as i was sewing at our "dining" table, i had an epiphany. get rid of all the little bits of unnecessary furniture cluttering up our two rooms and buy one big dining set. oh, and did i mention that we had no money for this? seriously, zero cents.

the mister painting the base coat under close supervision.

enter craigslist. i posted some of our excess furniture for sale and voila! moolah!! we even spontaneously sold our coffee table. exciting, although it was a rash move, because our living area is now devoid of all tables. oops. anyhow, we took our greenbacks and went shopping. we found an old queen anne-ish style dining set. probably built in the 1950's. $50. yes, please. SOLD.

transformation.

we bought it. dismantled it. recovered the seats. repaired it. and painted it. now, it is so delectable. and we can all eat together at a proper table. we can even invite friends! and we can teach big-E some proper table manners. happy mama. now i just need a poodle skirt.

swoon.
(ignore the lack of any other decor. we have a toddler.)

wonky windows #20.

looking at the world through my eyes.

yesterday, i went a-hunting for some toys for pringle. i did find some goodies at target, but i have to admit, some of the prices seem ridiculous, especially for toys the kid will discard after a few months. so thinking i might be able to find something in good condition and easy to disinfect (hello BLEACH!), i wandered over to the local goodwill store, where i found a couple great toys. yay. and then i saw these shoes. and if this one isn't bad enough, just know that there is an entire display. it is a ten-foot-square, waist high stack of boxes filled with this ridiculous footwear. i am eagerly anticipating the day when i see someone trying to walk down the street in these. as i am typing this, i am terribly bummed to realize i did not look at the price. clearly i was too mesmerized. unfortunately that means i cannot finish the sentence..."these can be yours for the bargain price of __________ dollars."

sometimes i try to act like an adult. here and there i think i manage to fool a few people, but not in the grocery store. i am like a five year old. who needs lunch when you can have a box of animal cookies?

wednesday windows #7.

did you think i forgot? nope. not this week.

i took this picture while i was driving to work. this is a lotus. i love the movie "pretty woman" so i was hoping that i was getting to see a real live lotus esprit just like the movie, but no such luck. this was a lotus elise. or something like that. can't say i would mind driving one of these around town, but i am guessing it is not worth the investment, since there is no place for pringle.

maybe it is the jewish side of me, or maybe i am just a cheap-O, but i hate paying for parking. it gets under my last nerve EVERY time. naturally pringle's doctor is at a medical center that requires every single car to pay for parking. argh! i detest this so much that i park on the street and walk the two blocks to the doctor's office. not only does this save me from the irksome fees, it also gives me a modicum of exercise.

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framed by chaos.

as if i did not have enough projects on my plate, on tuesday i decided that i should give a gift to some of my colleagues. of course i cannot walk into a store and buy some little trinkets like a normal person. oh no. i have to create. right. on a budget. super. luckily, i mentioned this to mrs. nipper knapp and not surprisingly, she is a treasure trove of ideas. she promptly rattled off some quick and easy options and i was ready to roll...picture frames for the ladies and one embroidered hanky for the gent. no problem. except for having only 48 hours to buy the supplies, make the frames and hanky, and wrap up all the goodies. yikes!

a quick trip to michaels and target to secure supplies and i was ready. twelve picture frames...here we go. i set up a little assembly line to whip through these as efficiently as possible. paint the back of all the frames. apply modge podge and attach purty paper. cut the paper to size. modge podge over the paper. three times. wait for it all to dry. clean up the edges. insert a cute lerato designs card in place of the advertisement picture. wrap it up and tie a bow with a handmade gift tag. voila! it only took sixteen hours.

and then i remembered that i needed to embroider a hanky. ummm...never embroidered a monogram before, but how hard can it be, right? eeeps. it might not be the finest monogram ever completed, but it was done with love and that is all that matters. i hope.

of course 8 hour days at work followed by 8 hour evenings of crafting means i did not get enough sleep and ran myself right into another cold. argh!!! but i will get better fast and then i will plow headfirst into the real christmas gift creations, because it would not be christmas if i was not crafting until the last possible minute.

making the rounds.

christmas has always been a big deal in my family. my childhood is filled with memories of christmas crafts and helping my mums pull down the boxes filled with ornaments and other goodies. i was always super excited to get started, but like most children, my attention span only lasted about 7.4 minutes. luckily my mums had enough motivation to single-handedly complete the days long task of decorating. the collection of goodies has grown through the years...these days christmas takes over the entire house, inside and out. every nook and cranny houses a snowman, santa, or christmas tree. there are festive towels, napkins, and dishes. and the pièce de résistance is the christmas village, which sits atop the rock wall between the living room and kitchen. all of this probably sounds a bit gaudy, but i assure you it is not. it is a sight to behold.

mums is the only person patient enough to properly adorn the tree with lights.

other than my two years in the peace corps, i have spent all of my christmas' at my parent's house. i guess knowing that i will be in the midst of my mums' festive house explains why i have not taken to decorating my own house. plus there is the minor conundrum that i have no place to store my decorations the rest of the year. but this year i decided that at the very least we should have a wreath on our door. i had only two requirements...it had to be perfect and inexpensive. oh and if i had to make it myself it had to be relatively easy, because i am supposed to be working on a thousand other projects. no problem, right? ummm...sure. except other than knowing i wanted something fun and modern, i was not exactly sure what i considered the perfect wreath. 

some lovely wreaths. clockwise from top left: contemporary wool felt wreath by pinno, warmest greetings wreath by anthropolgie,  peppermint red berry christmas wreath by stylish stems, glitter berry wreath by pier 1, modern wreath by itsnick, and sweet fabric wreath by jane joss.

and then out of the blue a fellow blogtress, mrs. nipper knapp, posted a picture of some adorable flowers she had made. how lucky for me that when i asked for flower instructions, despite my not mentioning i wanted to make a wreath, she directed me to this felt wreath tutorial!! soooooo perfect. i jumped in my car, raced off to michaels, procured the necessary supplies, and came home to make my wreath. i even got the mister involved making little balls of yarn, so that i would be able to wrap my wreath. the finished product was more perfect than even i could have imagined.

the flowers all cozy together.

voila!!

of course i forgot to buy ribbon to hang the wreath (oops). i tried to use fishing line, but the felt flowers are surprisingly heavy and the thing was hanging kind of wonky. i switched tactics and made a braid with some of the leftover yarn. naturally our door is metal, so simple things like a thumbtack in the top of the door were not an option. i had to dismantle one of the mister's hangers to make an over-the-door hook. but in the end, the whole thing worked out and if i do say so myself it is perfect-O!!

keeping time.

the backwards goofy watch.

when i was young i always wore a watch. i once had a goofy watch that ran backwards. i thought i was extra special because i could use it to tell time and everybody else looked at it and got stuck. stuck in time (hee hee). but somewhere in my twenties i developed a distaste for wearing watches on my arm. my parent's indulged my whim by gifting me with a gorgeous swiss army knife pocket watch. sadly the time-changer mechanism broke during my peace corps service, so the watch is permanently stuck on lesotho time.

my gorgeous pocket watch.

since then i have tried to find a watch that could fit into my lifestyle and my budget, but it has been an impossible task. i use my cell phone for the time and i have managed almost perfectly without a watch. the only glitch is my day job. i always have to know what time it is, but i do not always remember my phone. simple solution? get a watch. sure thing. except that i am me and i need a watch that is indestructible, adorable, and comfortable. oh and preferably under $20. ummm...no problem? big problem. i might be the pickiest person on the planet. i know exactly what i want, except that nobody makes it. in my search i did find a few specimens with potential, but considering their fragility or three-digit price tags, they are out of the question.

some lovely, but impossible watches.

what is a girl to do? make my own watch of course. well, sort of. i happened upon a kid's watch that has an easy-to-replace band, a cheap-O price tag, and is hopefully strong enough to survive life with me. i sewed (naturally) a new watch band and am now convinced that i have found my indestructible, adorable, and comfortable watch. time will tell.

the kid's watch that became MY watch.

p.s. all puns intended.