WIP Wednesday... (UPDATED)

You didn't think that just because I am sick that I've been sitting around doing nothing, did you? Good! I've been working on a few things and here are two of the things I've been working on.

Here is my version of Tootsie's candle wreath. I was so impressed with her clever idea that I blogged about it here. I'm happy to report it was just as easy as Tootsie promised. As you can see, my potpourri was bigger, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It still needs to dry a little, so the wax paper is a necessity. I think it will be really pretty with a green or white candle. What do you think?


Then, in an effort to use up stuff I have had for a while, I pulled out this pre-printed wreath project for Buttercup. If you look carefully, you can see the date on the fabric says 1991 (!) and I know for a fact I bought it before 1995...you do the math. Anyway, I spent my time cutting out all the leaves, the wreath itself, the ribbon and the berries. Then I pinned all the leaves and the wreath for Buttercup, who'll be sewing this week. I'm embarrassed how long I've had it, but I'm happy Buttercup is going to finish it.


So, there you have it...a few of the things that we've been working on. What about you? What have you been up to these days.

UPDATE:

My sister, the brat, says my picture of the candle wreath isn't very good and doesn't show it as pretty as she's sure it is (nice save there, Kate) , so I thought I'd give you an
other one.

So, what do you think? I still think it is pretty. And the Modge Podge did not do away with the Paperwhite scent. It is all good!

WIP Wednesday

Well, all the mending and alteration is done from last week, but I still need to try my hand at freestyle applique on that Pepsi shirt. In the meantime, Superman is finishing up a little project in our dining room and I thought I'd share it with you.

Before: We wanted the dining room to be more separated from the entry way...


Stage 1: So Superman got to work. (The red rug? A victim of the cat and outside drying out after being cleaned.)


Stage 2: Look! All that is needed now is a couple coats of paint and a vacuum. The dining room looks separate from the entry way and the entry way is still nice and open. Isn't Superman wonderful!


Next step? A bench with room underneath for people to put their boots. We need a place to sit while taking on and off winter gear! Superman is going to make one and I already have the boot caddy.

P.S. That pumpkin came from our own garden! Isn't that cool?

WIP Wednesday - Family Room Update

Well, if you remember from this post, we've been working on our family room since I came home from a camping trip in June inspired and energized. We quickly figured out it was a bigger job than we'd anticipated and so, here we are in September, still not quite done, but getting really close. Painting the room orange led the way, but getting all the furniture rearranged helped us see how we could use the room better.

Since then, I've been purging school supplies and craft supplies that I'm no longer using, as well as rehanging pictures and generally working to get the room feeling open. We still need to put in the flooring, but that can be done when outside work can't be done. We've also decided to remove the backing from the shelves so the orange walls will show through.

Still on list, but truly undecided, is new slipcovers for my Ikea couch and chair. JCaroline Home just introduced slipcovers for this chair and the Poang chair and is working on the Klippan slipcover, so I could definitely go with something bold. I really can't decide if I should go with something bold or if I should just get new, fresh (translation: cleaner) slipcovers in the same colors. I told you about some bold fabrics I bought to make pillows, but I think I'm going more modern than that (at least it is emerging that way). I really can't decide.

Here is the view from the door, looking into the room. The two big windows help keep this room full of natural light all day, but in winter, we close up those red blinds almost all the way, seal the windows with plastic, and get all cozy.

Here is the view from my desk, looking at the opposite corner and the kids desk. (They're cute little WIPs, too, aren't they?) The mirror over their desk is bold, but also helps keep light bouncing around the room. (See the backyard reflected in the television? That illustrates how much we feel like we're in a garden in this room.)


Finally, this is the view of my desk from the bookshelf side of the room. As you can see, I've set it up so I have a sewing side and computer side. I think it is working out really well, but we'll see how I make it through the Christmas season--fingers crossed. You can't really see them, but that is a picture I picked out myself when I was very little and some art that Superman made for me as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. I love them all. Oh, and the shiny thing? That is our personalized license plate from California. It says: NAGLE5.


So, imagine the room with the tile completed (and after the great flood of last December, we'll be keeping tile...it is impervious!) and the backs off the shelves and tell me, what would you do?

WIP Wednesday...

Guest Room/Gym - It's not done, but it certainly is ready to accommodate guests and a little bit of cardio. What do you think? Any takers?


The bed is ready to go...although the throw pillows aren't quite right. (Ignore the black towel on the bed. The cats have already begun enjoying the bed.)


The desk looks cute. I bought that lamp at a "clearance, clearance" price because I loved it ($10, I think.) It took me two years to find a way to use it.


This little guy will get hung in the corner next to the bed. (I had the bird and a friend was throwing away what she thought was a plant hanger- which we painted black and we combined them.)

Oh, the cost? $22 for new pillows. That's it! Everything else is stuff we had in our basement storage area. Not bad, eh? I really think it looks welcoming.

Work In Progress Wednesday

It is Work In Progress Wednesday, that not-quite-regular time where I share the things we've been working on in the Nagle household.


This week, I want to share with you the progress we made on Buttercup's under-deck club house. The swing is painted and back up and the cushion was covered before we headed off for our camping trip.


I still need to find my old white curtains to make it more cozy, as well as making a cushion for the other chair (which you can't see), but I think it is heading in the right direction. What do you think? Not bad for some scrap wood, oops paint and a clearance rack shower curtain!

WIP Wednesday

Superman is doing a fantastic project this week, but I can't show it to you because I don't want to spoil the surprise. In the meantime, I thought I'd show you another Work-In-Progress project that will be finished this week. This one, however, is being led by Buttercup! Yep, you read right, Buttercup is managing this project.

It all started with a hanging bench Superman made for Buttercup last year. It hangs under the deck and that area has become her clubhouse. (She desperately wanted a treehouse, but we only have mature pine trees in our yard...not going to cut it!) Then I saw a post by Tootsie (which I can't find for you) where she converted the underside of a playyard into a little den and wondered why I'd left her clubhouse so, well, not girly. I had this cool fabric (a fabric shower curtain from Target - $4) to make cushion covers for the bench and then I found $5 "oops" paint at Home Depot in a fabulous chocolate chip mint ice cream green color and it is all coming together.
So, that is your peek at Buttercup's clubhouse as it progresses...I'm really liking it. What do you think?

WIP Wednesday

I haven't done a Work In Progress Wednesday for a while and I thought I'd like to try to get back into the habit. So, what am I working on these days?

Well, I came home refreshed from our trip and rededicated to simplification of our lives. The same feelings that inspired all of this was calling out for more, but less drastic, action. Tuesday after the vet, I definitely needed to keep busy, so I pulled out a bunch of stuff from the shelves in the family room. I sorted, tossed, donated, and rearranged. I organized my fabrics a bit better. I got rid of magazines and weird odds and ends. (I also "found" the Christmas lights I wanted to use on the trailer awning...two days after the end of the trip.)

Today I'm tackling more stuff in our storage area. I refer to this area as the Black Hole. It is a great place to store furniture (heirloom cribs, playpens, high chairs, small furniture) and holiday decorations, but it is becoming a catch-all for stuff I think I want to hold on to, but I don't know where to put. That needs to stop because it is all too much. I'm getting rid of tons of gift bags I've been holding onto/adding to since TK moved away in 1999 (!) and Superman has agreed to get rid of an old fireplace insert we've been holding on to. I'm going to double check to be certain that any little pieces of furniture we're holding on to we actually want. I'm also sending some clothes to my sister (oops! I told) and even more clothes to charity.

I'm excited because I've fertilized our flowers so I can participate in Tootsie's Fertilizer Fridays this week and I'm looking forward to snapping just the perfect picture. You haven't seen Tootsie's flowers? Oh, you most head over and see her garden. I'm so pleased with how my started-from-seeds flowers are doing. Zinnias, marigolds, verbena and impatiens. Not much of anything survived, but I did get representatives of each of those.

I've been reading all kinds of crafty blogs as I look for Christmas ideas and I'm delighted to discover I'm not the only one already thinking of Christmas in July. I'm getting some ideas ready to share with you all as I refine my own lists. In the meantime, have you seen what Pretty Organized Palace is looking at? If not, you should head over to her place and see what she's been thinking of.

So, what are you all up to these days?

Work in Progress Wednesday...

It has been a few weeks since I've updated you, so I thought I'd share a little bit of what I've been working on these days.

Remember this? I asked you all for some advice because I was stalled. (You'd think after boldly painting my room macaroni & cheese orange that I'd be able to go from there, but it just didn't work out that way.)


I took all of your comments and advice and bought all of this fabric to make pillows for this room. So, I ended up with the citrus-y colors. They seem to go best with the fun theme I'm working towards. Do you like the colors I picked based on your recommendations?

I think these will make awesome pillows and tie everything together without being too much. (I love the floral on the brown background so much, if I'd found it earlier, it would have become my dining room chair covers!)


A few months ago, I saw these at a super-clearance table at Lowe's...they were two dollars and I was sure I could find a use for them, so I bought two. So, what do you think of my blow-dryer caddy?



(Yes, I might have gotten rid of the hot rollers of yesteryear, but I still blow dry almost every day! That piece of equipment needs to stay handy.)


Now I just need to figure out what to do with my 'extra' one...any ideas?

Finally, I did turn the ruined pajama pants into pajama capris and, at the same time, cut the sleeves off a long-sleeved shirt so that Buttercup can wear it this summer...according to her, it is "...even cuter now, Mom! Thanks!"

Really, what more can I ask? She's thrilled with the few things I've learned to sew for her and, so far, she's liked the modifications I've made to turn winter shirts into summer shirts. (Remember the tank tops? They've turned out to be favorites.) Phew...I'm pleased at how willing everyone is to be my guinea pigs as I learn a new skill.

So, what have you been doing this week?

Work In Progress Wednesday...

It's Work-In-Progress Wednesday, so I thought I'd show you what I've been busy working on this week.

While I've been housebound with this nasty cold, I've gotten a lot of sewing done. (By Sunday I was still feeling bad enough to keep my pajamas on all day, but definitely bored of being in bed!) In addition to the cat pillow and my own piping, which I showed you yesterday, I've been working on these things, too:


This is a birthday present for a friend of mine. Her birthday is this weekend, but she doesn't read my blog, so I think I'm going to take a chance and show it you all. Isn't it cute? The little patch says, "Green is the New Black". This is the second time I've used this pattern and, like anything else, I'm getting better every time I do it.



All my cushion covers for my dining room are done! What do you think? I really like them and, if they don't work for winter, I'll just find new fabric for fall and winter (how fun is that?).

(This is the part that touches the desk.)

Finally, look at what you can do with 1) oil pan gasket felt - Superman had some lying around - I think it is a guy thing, 2) fabric and bias tape - I had some lying around - definitely a me thing, and 3) modge podge. You can make mouse pad.

(This is the part the mouse rests on.)

Superman stole my mouse pad, so I decided to make one I liked better. (If you have an ugly old mouse pad, you could do the same thing...just paint modge podge - or get spray adhesive - on the old mouse pad, lay your new fabric on the old mouse pad, and smooth it down - viola! A pretty mouse pad!) And this is top...isn't it cute? It is the same fabric I used for the cat pillow, but I trimmed in red this time. I love it and the kids are now insisting they get personalized mouse pads, too.

So, what are you working on this week?


P.S. I also made Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies last night, too...I wasn't going to tell you because I didn't want you to be jealous, but then I thought I should tell you so you could make them too and then you would eat them and I wouldn't be the only one to have chocolate-chip-cookie-guilt.

Work-In-Progress Wednesday...

I think a little accountability goes a long way. Since I've declared Wednesdays to be "Work in Progress Wednesdays" I work a little bit harder to get things done...I don't want to have to confess to you all that I'm too lazy to work on my projects. I think it is a win-win...you get new ideas (maybe) and I get my projects done.

So, here we are on Wednesday again. I'm home from the museum and the chicken burritos were awesome (as usual), and I'm finally getting to my computer to update you on my project status. These are a few of the things I've been working on.



First, I finished the last set of "dish towel pillows" and I got creative to make the pocket closure rather than having to sew them closed. I really like the ways these turned out. I also like that none of them are the same!


Second, Superman got the family room/my craft room/the schoolroom painted and put back in order for the week to start on Monday! He is truly amazing! I ordered some fun fabrics to make pillows and cover the ironing board with, but it already looks so much better. As for all of you who were skeptical of orange, I think you'll agree this turned out really, really fun! Sadly, I didn't take before pictures because I thought I had a ton of them and it seems I only have bad ones! Still you get the idea from them...that will teach me to assume!


P.S. Notice the gorgeous cabinet our television sits on? Superman made it...like the frosted glass? It is plexiglass that he frosted for me...the remotes work through it so we don't have to have the doors open all the time. Isn't that awesome?

What about you? Any projects you want to share with me? I'd love to see what you've been working on.

Roller Skating and getting a few things done...

I took the kids roller skating at the roller rink today. They had a terrific time and I have to wonder why we don't do it more often. I'm definitely keeping it on my list of things to do when the kids are getting antsy.

I also tried some new recipes that I'll be posting about later and finally made progress on some of my projects. Since it is Work In Progress Wednesday, I thought I'd share some of them with you and update you on the projects I've posted previously because I know you're keeping track (right?). LOL! I still have to finish the tote bag and the second pillow for Charming's room/the gym, but I did get the fleece for Buttercup done. In the meantime, I've taken two of Buttercup's long-sleeved shirts (with puffy shoulders - she didn't like those!) and turned them into tank tops for summer. The colors were so cute and the shirts were in such good condition, I had to find a way to lengthen their lives. I just cut off the sleeves and hemmed the armholes. I think they turned out well, what do you think?


Then, the shirt she has from her gymnastics school shrunk a lot and she didn't like to wear it anymore. So, I took another shirt she'd outgrown and cut the bottom off and attached it to the gymnastics shirt. Now it looks like she's layering, but she won't have to (which is good because just how many shirts does she want to wear over her leotard on the way to gymnastics?). It is definitely not perfect, but I will definitely do something like this again.



Finally, we're trying to pick a color to paint the family room, but since we're going BOLD, we're struggling to find just the right color before we take the plunge. Look at all our paint chips!


Can you believe I'm seriously going to paint a room orange? I can't...this is seriously a departure for me. Maybe it is insanity brought on by the grey winter? If so, then Superman has it, too. Anybody else out there going bold?

The Fleece is Done!

If you read my post yesterday, you saw that I'd gotten this fleece for Buttercup cut out, but hadn't done more as I was letting the thought of putting in the zipper keep me from finishing the project. Well, I bit the bullet and the fleece is done. Phew! Buttercup is so happy and this is my best one yet. Doesn't it look cute on my little chef? (I've been working my way through the family...unless Charming wants one, I'm moving on to siblings!)

I recently read on a blog (I can't remember which one, darn it!) about an old lady who said if you want to know how to make a pie, make 14 pies. By the time you've finished the 14th, you will know how to make a pie. Isn't that the truth? Sometimes we quit after the first or second one of whatever it is we try doesn't turn out well, but I'm pushing past that and now I'm seeing success. No, I'm not very good at zippers, but I'm better than I was. I'll bet by the time I finish my 14th one, I'll have figured it out.

Work in Progress Wednesday...

Over on 365 Things You Didn't Know About Me, Kate and I have gotten bored of talking about ourselves, so we've mixed it up a bit, getting to know each other in different ways. Wednesdays are now "Work(s) in Progress" where we share something we're working on. Since I thought you all might be interested in what I'm doing, too. I These are three of the projects I have going and I will have them all done by this weekend.


First, a coral colored fleece for Buttercup. I hate doing the zippers on these, so even though it has been cut out for a week, I haven't sewn a stitch on it. Since I promised her, however, it will get done.


Second, the two other pillows for the gym/Charming's room/guest room. I whipped up the other two in an evening and I'm going to try to get these two done tonight.


Finally, I am making a tote bag (the big light blue one in the picture on the pattern) out of the striped fabric and having a dark blue liner. It is all cut out and ready to be sewn, too. I got the fabric from the remnant section at JoAnn's and I had the pattern, so the whole thing will cost about $3.00.