Going Green With Our Garbage

This summer we had a very sad, very poor attempt at composting. The problems we faced were mostly related to the lack of space and the fact that we share a yard with several other people...and all of their animals. I did a lot of research and I think when the time comes that we have our own house I will know enough about composting to be able to do it effectively and efficiently. Looks like that counter top compost container wasn't a waste of $30 after all! :)


One thing I found out about composting is that most cities and counties in Utah offer composting services! If you have a garbage can that is specifically for yard clippings, you have your own large compost collector. Our "compost can" is our brown garbage can. This is where we put the usual garbage...grass clippings, pulled weeds, raked leaves, etc. I thought I would share with you the other items that can be placed in these bins in order to save you space in your regular garbage bins, clear up space in the landfills, and help turn these natural fibers back into nutrient rich soil that can in turn be used to grow more plants and trees!

Think twice before throwing out the following items into the regular garbage bin:

• Coffee grinds
• Hair clippings
• Nail clippings
• Egg shells
• Expired produce
• Freezer burned vegetables
• Paper towels
• Matches
• Banana peels
• Old spices
• Potato peelings
• Orange rinds
• Q tips (ONLY if they have cardboard middles, not plastic)
• Houseplant trimmings
• Corncobs
• Nut shells
• Apple cores
• Lobster shells (if you eat meat, of course)
• Lint from the dryer
• Dust bunnies, and other things you empty out of the vacuum cleaner
• Feathers and bird cage tray cleanings
• Dead flies and bees you clean out of your windowsills
• Sunflower seeds leftover from last baseball season
• Leftover Jack-O-Lanterns (sad, but I know that there are still a few sitting on porches)

Pretty cool, huh? I will keep you posted as to how the composting goes when we get our new place. I hope to be completely self-sufficient when we grow our own garden. Next year....next year....

The Little Garden That Could

Just more validation to my philosophy; "Everything grows with love and sunshine!"

What started out as a bunch of weeds growing between the cracks of cinderblock tiles, gradually transformed from this:

to this:

and finally became this:

 My honeysuckle grows more everyday, as does the english ivy. I was super surprised when I went out the other day to pull weeds and found out that a couple of the mystery plants that just appeared one day (I didn't have the heart to tear them out because they had such cute little white flowers on them) ended up being jalapeno plants!

I am so proud of my little garden! I can't wait until next year, when I get to see which of these lovelies will be rejoining us.

Houndstooth Heaven

When I planned on re-doing my family room (more just doing it in the first place...I couldn't re-do something that had never been done to begin with) I had all these visions of my favorite things: Color, texture, and HOUNDSTOOTH. My couple trips to Joanne's proved to be unsuccessful, as the worker I spoke with on several occasions let me know that they only carried houndstooth print in the heavy duty upholstery fabric that was far too scratchy for couch pillows. I went with my second favorite pattern, french damask.   
My sweetie can never know this, but I secretly grew annoyed of the pillows that I made for the family room. I LOVE French Damask, but they were just so stinking loud with the different colors and the fading...not to mention the difficulty I had in getting the particular fabric I had purchased to stop fraying. The seams were a hot mess and anyone with any sewing ability at all would have seen what a less-than-desirable job I had done.

Fast forward a month. I'm at Joanne's to buy a few things for a different project. I see there is a sale on fabric quarters, so I meander on that way. What to my wandering eyes should appear? Oh, only the answer to my prayers. White. Chocolate. Houndstooth.   Needless to say, I am in heaven.

Bought my fabric. Waited for my sweetie to be away from the house, then quickly re-covered the pillows and put them back on the couch as if nothing had happened. When he finally got around to noticing (it takes him a few days sometimes) he asked what happened to the other pillows. I didn't dare tell him that I hated my old pillows (he told me that I would and I don't like to point out when he's right) so I just told him that I finally found the fabric I originally wanted.

I must say, I am quite pleased with the results.



Less busy. Nice and houndstooth-ish. Just the way I like it.




My new pillows being modeled by Toby.



Wallflowers

There are a few things in my house that there is never a shortage of:

(in no particular order)
1. Dog hair on couches
2. Beer cans (empty and otherwise)
3. Empty toilet paper rolls
4. Testosterone
5. Baked goods

One day, the Artist in me would like to be able to re-use one or all of these things for something absolutely creative and totally fabulous. Until the day comes that black dog hair on white clothes becomes a fashion statement, cupcakes make you lose weight, and beer can chandeliers are all the rage, I will have to work with what I've got.

#1: A piece of old wood that I cut off my super fantastic new-old desk.

#2: Toilet paper and paper towel rolls, folded in half and painted to my liking.

I took the painted paper towel rolls after they had dried, and glued them onto the old piece of desk (that I had also painted the same color as the desk drawers). I used all-purpose craft glue from Joanne's so it only took about an hour to dry completely. (You can kind of see where it's still wet in the picture above)

TA-DA!!

I am pretty freaking proud of this project. It too me all of a half hour to make, and it looks absolutely fantastic, in my humble opinion, next to the lamp shade I also made with old fabric scraps. (Please excuse the poor lighting)

Family Room Redo

I am slowly getting my house nearer and nearer to completion. Not that I ever intend on being "finished"...as there are always things that can be done to improve or mix things up!

This weekend I spent quite a few hours in the family room. The more I looked around, the less I liked it. I knew that I had more to do in here, but all of a sudden I couldn't wait anymore. I had to do it, and I had to do it - now.  Perhaps my new desk sparked my inspiration and creativity? At any rate, I found myself being faced with two problems. Luckily, I was able to cure them both.

Problem #1: Hideous hand-me-down pillows that have been taunting me from the corner of my craft room for months...and my space for years (sad, I know).

Yuck!

Solution #1: A quick trip to Joanne's fabric + one old shower curtain that had also been the cause of much aggravation. 

Chocolate and Teal - wonderful combo in my humble opinion

Problem #2: Too much boring beige in my family room. Everywhere I look - boring, boring, and more boring!

We usually use this ottoman for additional seating

Toby and Boozer love cuddling on this boring couch

Solution #2: See Solution 1* 'nuff said. 

I la-la-LOVE the french damask pattern

Comfy AND cute!

And look how lovely my desk looks with those few pops of color!! Yaaay me!

Target sure is wonderful :)

Best. Desk. EVER.

If you know me, then you know that I spend at least an hour or so everyday on KSL, browsing the treasures and sorting through the junk. I LOVE to see the things that people post and look at most things and daydream about how beautiful I could make them, given the money and the time.

One such day, I came across such a find in this desk for $25.

I really had no idea what I was in for....

I mean....REALLY did not know...

I picked up this treasure and brought it back to my folks place for a spit shine and sand down. I didn't realize how bad of shape the desk was in before I agreed to take this project on. This is a perfect example of buying on emotion, without thinking it through completely. Oh, well. All is well that ends well I suppose.

First order of business (after peeling off stickers, wiping off sticky stuff and dust, and removing those terribly hideous knobs) was to remove the part of the desk that folded up to expose the part underneath. To do this, (without completely destroying the desk) I had to get a small handheld saw to actually cut the old hinges out. The hinges were built into a piece of wood, and then that wood was glues onto the existing part of the desk. If I would have just removed the strip of wood that contained the hinges, the desk top would have been to narrow to fit the computer on. So...I began hacking away.

After the fold out top was removed, I grabbed my handy dandy wood filler and began filling all the holes and cracks that this desk so terribly needed. 

Like I said, if I had inspected this desk more thoroughly before buying it, I probably would have opted against it. Since I let my imagination make the decision for me, I had to make the best of what I had to work with.

SO - I filled all the holes (where the hinges were, as well as the two drill holes that it took to hold each ugly knob onto each drawer).

Up close you can see the less-than-desirable condition of this wood

Once the filler had dried, I sanded it down so that it could be covered with primer. I used white primer because I knew that I wanted to sand down the edges of the desk so that it would keep that antique, old, french country kind of feel to it. 

After I had covered the desk in two coats of primer, I began applying the top coat of paint. I went with an almond, vanilla kind of color (which I love) for the actual desk. 

The back part of the desk is really hashed. I will eventually have to replace it completely, but that is another task for another day. I would have liked to have removed it completely until I can replace it, but I would have been unable to do so without compromising the structural integrity of the whole piece. So far, that is the only thing that I don't love about this desk.

The drawers I decided to paint chocolate brown so that they would match the rest of the furniture in the front room, and also to make them stand out. I then installed the new, 73 cent knobs  (compliments of Lowe's) and sanded down the edges of the desk, too to make them look worn.

I must say, that I am quite pleased with the end result!

I will still need to remove the back board of this desk, (as you can see) but the stool that I bought to use with the desk will hide the wood...for now.

Awesomeness at it's finest!

 

I Love Lamp

I don't know about everyone else, but I am finding more and more nowadays that my frugality has sparked my creativity. Whenever I see something...usually anything...I think "Wow - I could SOOO make that!" so instead of spending $26 for a throw pillow, $45 for a wreath, $35 for a new lamp shade, etc. etc I am just doing it on my own. It's a win all around because #1 - I save tons of money #2 - I am reducing by re-using or 'up-cycling' #3 - I am creating truly one-of-a-kind treasures to help our home to be unique, colorful and all around wonderful!

Here is how my latest project started. I saw a pillow similar to this:

I fell in LOVE with the texture and the pretty, feminine ruffles. I wanted to find a way to incorporate these into my room that I am still SO excited about! (...will post more pictures when I finish my best and final projects in there!) Coincidentally enough, I had a lamp shade that didn't match my new room. "Ding!" The light bulb went off.   

This lamp shade was pefectly fine on it's own...just not green enough!

I had seen a couple different techniques on some of the DIY blogs that I follow on how to make ruffles, but was scared of using fabric for it being too heavy and keep the light from shining through. Paint wouldn't work (plus I'm pretty sure it's flammable) and finally settled on.....are you ready for this?....coffee filters. True story.

I started by taking the coffe filters then folding them into eights. I folded back a corner and put hot glue on the point then started at the top, and staggered the coffee-filter-ruffle-triangle-thingies all the way down the lamp shade. (like so:)

Don't worry...this only took like 90 hours of my life and 40 gallons of hot glue. 

Halfway down the lamp I realized that I was turning my lamp shade from one neutral color to another. Boooorrriiing! This bad boy needed some color. Solution? Tule. I had some extra from Joanne's that I had bought for another project that matched (almost) perfectly. I cut it into 3" by 3" squares and then folded and applied them in the same fashion as the coffee filters. Color = check.

I then had to hide the ugly edges of where the lamp shade ended and the ruffles started. All I did for that was hot glue them to the inside of the lamp shade instead of the outside. After all was said and done, I used 2 packages (160 ct. each) of round coffee filters, and about 20 mini sticks of hot glue. (Make sure that if you try something similar to this you use HIGH HEAT hot glue, so that the lamp head doesn't melt the glue - and ultimately all your hard work)

I wish the lighting were better so that you could see all the ruffley-detail. It's been raining a lot so it's gray and crappy outside. I will post a better picture later. In the meantime? Use your imagination.

TADA!



:)



My little slice of heaven

Alright, ya'll. Here is an update on our new place.

#1 I love it.

#2 I hate to leave it.

#3 It gets more and more perfect everyday - with every picture that is hung, every new piece of furniture that is assembled, every weed that is pulled and every flower that is planted.

I. Am. In. Heaven. I don't even like to leave in the morning to go to work...and I LOVE my job!

Any how, I thought I would post a couple more pictures to show our progress from when we moved in. Since it's been rainy and crappy out here lately the light quality isn't the best ever, but you get an idea of how lovely it might look if it were sunny and delicious outside.

Welcome to our home! We hope you enjoy the view!

Our last room was all in brown and beige. It has been nice that I was able to just paint and recover to make small adjustments that made a big difference in our room!

The sight I look forward to everyday

I wish I would have taken "before" pictures. Once these flowers all fill out, I will have the cutest little yard ever!

Oh yeah...that's right. I totally built that wall all by myself!

You can FINALLY see the table! :) I wish you could see how big this room really is. I can't get a good angle at all of this room. (Especially one with the blinds open so you can see how much natural light this room gets!

IKEA has helped add so much more space to our counters and pantry.

This rug hides this weird vent that seems to serve no purpose...except be creepy.

Love, love, LOVE my kitchen!

Love!

We have taken every little tiny thing in this room and made it different. I LOVE that my room is so unique!

A Work In Progress - Continued....

There is still much to do...but here is what we have accomplished so far. Our house was built in 1921 so it's not the biggest house you've ever seen...but it is just perfect for us! The high ceilings help prevent you from feeling claustrophobic and, in my personal opinion, I think it adds to the cozniess and charm :)

Family Room

Family Room 2

Family Room 3

Family Room Window

Bathroom - Yay!

Bathroom 2



Kitchen



A Work In Progress

We signed our lease Wednesday, got our keys Thursday, cleaned and started moving in Friday, and finished the process Saturday. Pretty sweet, huh?

Here are  a few pictures of our place...there are a lot still missing, as I didn't take pictures of the parts that were especially bad as far as needing to be unpacked, cleaned, etc. 

I feel that it's important to see where it all started in order to truly appreciate how far we've come!!



You can't see my clawfoot tub, pedestal sink, or the big beautiful window with all it's natural light. This just does not do this room justice. Thanks for my beautiful bathroom Cori and Karen!

 

New bedset...isn't it beautiful? Thanks Karen! And thanks Mike for listening to your sister and not putting up as big a fight as I thought. :)

Aaaaahhhh couch. We meet again - at last!

Kitchen table/Computer desk/Garbage pile/Storage area