a few of my favorite things

i have been slowly pulling out our

christmas decor the last few days.

i'm having a hard time getting going this year.

not feeling super creative or energetic when

it comes to decorating.

i did manage to get a few cuttings from the yard to

make a fresh door swag

and i've been piddling with the mantle but am not happy with it yet.

my lack of holiday decorating mojo might have something to do with the

impending sinus and ear infection i feel building in my head.

in the meantime i thought i would participate in the nester's

favorite things party by sharing a few of my

own.

so, here we go. a few things i'd rather not live without.

1. john frieda's frizz ease dream curls :: i have seriously tried almost

every product available for curly hair. from the expensive stuff to the

cheap stuff and everything in between. about two years ago i picked this up

during a buy one get one sale and have never looked back. it's cheap and it

controls frizz and softens my curls like nothing else ever has. you can find it in any drugstore.

2. blue chips with flax seed :: love these. alone. with humus. with homemade

pimento cheese. with salsa. for lunch, snack or dinner. i love them. blue chips

are naturally organic and the flax seed is full of health benefits. my favorite brand

is target's archer farms. i find it to be the most flavorful and it is also the least

expensive. double like.

3. my (not so) storybook life, by elizabeth owen :: i really enjoy a good

memoir. i also really enjoy a book that can make me laugh. this book made me

laugh. and cry. and then laugh again. i had to put it down while reading

during a hair appt recently because i literally could not contain my laughter and then, moments later,

had to ask for a tissue because tears of sadness were streaming down my face. (i received a 'poor thing' kind of smile from my hairdresser's apprentice and then i picked up people magazine)  liz is talented i tell ya.

her story of friendship and personal growth will leave you feeling warm and hopeful

and longing for the next chapter. you can find it here. oh, and liz blogs here.  

4. tazo organic chai tea concentrate :: my favorite hot drink is a 

starbucks chai tea latte. really, i think i'm addicted. i craaave them and

my day doesn't feel underway until i take that first sip. problem is a gande is just

under 4 bucks. not a habit we can support on our budget.so, i set out to come up

with my own chai latte at home and tried many different brands of chai tea in the process.

then. . . THEN. . .

i came across this at, of all places, wal mart. just over $3 and it lasts me a week

and is EXACTLY what is used at starbucks. my barista friend told  me so!

5. sweet leaf green tea with mint and honey :: when i'm not drinking
hot chai i am drinking this. love is also not too strong a word here. the only
two places i have found this in our town is earth fare, a whole foods grocery
store, and publix, a typical (but not!) grocery store. way cheaper at publix and often on sale.
i currently have four 64 oz bottles in the fridge. i'll need more by saturday.

 

6. campbell hausfeld compressor and nail gun ::  with all the projects
i've done around here this year this has been invaluable! it's user friendly, lightweight,
and packs just the right amount of punch for the average diy'er.

is it weird that three of my six favorite things are food/drinks? don't answer that.

instead go check out all the favorite things linked up at the nester's party. there's sure to be
some great gift ideas in there.

~ stacy ~

musical chairs

in my quest to get the scale of things right in our little cottage

i made some changes around our table this week.

we've had windsor back chairs around our farm table for several years

now. and while i like them they just weren't working for us in

this house. they felt too heavy for the smaller space.

so, i craigs listed them on tuesday and they were gone 24 hours later.

i knew i wanted something lighter in feel and in weight. and something that would

tuck under the table a little more. i narrowed it

down to the two below.

i threw it out to friends on my personal fb account and the majority

voted for the wood chair.

but i couldn't get images like these out of my head. . .

images above are from my pinterest boards.

so, i went with the metal tolix inspired chairs. how awesome are they in yellow

by the way?!

i like the retro look and the pairing of a more industrial chair

with our distressed farmhouse table. i also decided that wiping

pasta sauce off these chairs would be way easier

than the caned seating of the wood chair. kid friendly

is at the top of the list around here! 

i got ours at a local place called southern salvage. they were literally a quarter

of the price of an original tolix. they had several colors and i was tempted by them all

but settled on a matte gunmetal grey since the colors

in my house are in constant flux.

i did keep the wood french bistro chair. i just couldn't part with it. :)

i envision it in the kitchen when we get our "one day" banquette built.

~ stacy ~

wall makeovers (& a lot of pictures)

i think someone spiked my chai tea latte's with some

red bull this weekend.

after 14 months in our current home our to-do list is still

pretty long. some big projects and some small.

saturday i was determined to cross off some of the

small projects i'd been dragging my feet on.

namely, dressing up some walls.

i've been working on the boy's room's upstairs as i'm able to get materials.

the stairwell leading up to their space is dark, has poor lighting, and up to now

has had nothing on the walls. bOrInG!

i knew i wanted to deck it out with color and with stuff  that would be

fun for the boys. i want them to love their rooms, and the walk up!

everything on the wall came from around the house. i didn't spend a dime.

the above print is hanging on an old barn door which is leaning in the corner

on the landing at the bottom of the stairs.

most of the frames received a fresh look with

either spray or craft paint or both.

five keys representing the five of us.

an 8x10 print from my friend jessie. hopefully she won't

mind i cut it up to achieve a different look.

the boys' artwork. . .

the excerpt above is from a book "the clowns of god" talking

about children with down syndrome, challenging the things on which most

people place value.

there are three framed numbers on the wall. a 3, 5, and 7, the ages of the boys

when we moved into quinby cottage.



i can't remember where i got this print. it was years ago. it was on etsy.

that's all i know.

i have just a few spots to fill in and i'm sure

it will be ever changing as the boys grow.

next up is the wall on the other side of the staircase. it looked like this for a

long time. . .

one of our problems in this house has been lack of space for

bookshelves. after tripping over books stacked in wire baskets

and even an old antique wash tub i'd had enough and decided to

throw up a couple shelves on this wall.

(please ignore the different color trim. still working on painting it all out.)

i bought a few scrolly brackets and two 1 x 6 x 6 boards, stained them

and slapped 'em up there.

it really warms up that wall.

looking at this side of the room is totally different now. i love it.

so, that's what i did on saturday.



oh, one other thing got changed. i wanted to use the little mirrors from

our front room in the stairwell.

and the 'w' and the chalkboard which i spray painted red. so i had to

 re-do this wall.

here it is now. prints from jones design company.

whew!

love checking things off my list!

~ stacy ~

sick day equals progress upstairs

i had other plans today.

plans to hang out with a friend

and help her with a project.

but when tank wandered into my room at 4.30am

with a high fever i knew plans were a changin'.

after dropping spinner and bean at school and getting tank settled on the sofa with some blankets and cartoons

i decided to knock out one

of the 150 things on my to-do list.

the boys' room's have been under a slow over-haul

for a good month or more.

so far i have painted various walls in both rooms

and planked the hall landing at the

top of the stairs that connects their rooms.

today was all about planking a small bit of wall behind

bean's bed.



there is so little light upstairs (as it is nestled in the trees) so pics

are nearly impossible to take. what i'm saying is, forgive the grain!

before i started i realized i needed to slap some

dark paint on that wall because i wanted the

gaps between my wood to be large and

haphazard (and i didn't want butter yellow showing through).

i used 1 x 4's and 1 x 6's cut at varying lengths.

i layed it out on the patio as i cut so that

the seams were where i wanted them.

the rest was pretty easy. i just used my nail gun to put the

cut wood up, starting on the right side to make

sure the wood was flush with the wall's edge.

i did have to extend the outlet.



i use these little plastic doohickeys. they work

great and are super easy.

once extended i finished up and put on the new outlet cover.

like i said, i wanted it to look haphazard and piecemeal with

random gaps and spacing. this picture really shows the gray

wall  through the cracks put in the room the spaces just

look dark, which is what i was hoping for.



i'm pretty pleased with it. i love the natural color

and will just top it off with a coat or two of

wipe-on polyurethane.

now i need to find a swing arm, plug in, wall lamp to put

in the upper right quarter so my little guy can

read in bed.

next step for their rooms is beadboard for the rest of the half-walls.

fingers crossed i have this all done before thanksgiving.

and when i do, i'll give you the full reveal.

~ stacy ~

homemade laundry detergent

laundry detergent is expensive.

have you noticed? of course you have.

even with coupons and sales and combining the two.

no, that's not grated cheese

so, i made my own.

there are all sorts of homemade recipes out there

for liquid and powder detergents.

here's what i used:

2 cups borax ($3/box)

2 cups arm & hammer super washing soda ($3/box)

1 bar fels-naptha soap (less than a buck/bar)

mix the two powders and "grate" the soap. stir it all up

good then throw itin your food processor and mix until

the soad is so fine you just see pretty yellow specs

throughout the powder.

pour it into a suitable container, i used a glass

canister that has been sitting empty.

then make a pretty label and enjoy.



i use 1 tablespoon per load.

with three smelly/dirty little boys and one big

boy that runs and cycles and sweats like no one

i've ever met i knew this stuff was going to have to work hard.

after 3 weeks i am very pleased. everything is

clean and smell super fresh.

i doubled the recipe so i'd be set for a while and there is plenty

left in both boxes of powder for another batch!

happy laundering!

life and a yard sale

mornings are always a bit hectic around here.

school drop off is 7.00am.

we walk out of the door at 6.55am.

at 6.45am the hall bathroom looked something

like this.

the toilet lid was closed prior to the snapping of

this picture in order to protect your eyeballs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

while waiting on the plumber i got busy with sorting items for

our yard sale this saturday.



need some china? linens? vintage aprons?

home accessories? come on out. we'll have furniture

and lamps, too.

and ironstone. it's killing me but i'm thinning my collection

in order to maintain my simple living commitment.

if you're local holler and i'll give you directions.

~ stacy ~