Christmas Upstairs

Mandy has had her room decorated since the beginning of November. She said she was in the Christmas mood early! We have had so much fun decorating our "new" spaces this year.

This little wooden cut out nativity was from JoAnn Fabrics. A new addition to Mandy's collection and so cute!

A couple of years ago Mandy knit an advent calendar. The ornaments are so cute and little!

A sneak peak at Mandy's room! Such a cozy room. One of my favorites are the little straw ornaments in the frame.

Even the closet got a little Christmas! As you can see, these are now plant shelves.

Mandy has a lovely snow globe collection and now she has more room to spread them around!

Stay tuned! Tomorrow I will be back with my room decked out!

Book Nook Footstool (Part 2)

 This little project has been patiently waiting in the wings for awhile now. Do you remember my post on Making a Footstool? I did finish, quite awhile ago in fact. But somehow there was always something else to post!

 I recently found a frame for the house drawing from my brother-in-law. So excited to get it hung up! Then I finally remembered I hadn't shared my finished footstool.

Originally, I wanted to make a quilted cover for the foot stool. But then decided a quilted pillow and quilted footstool might be too "quilty". So when I was cleaning out my sewing closet and came across two pink dish towels from Ikea and Mom suggested I use them for the book nook stool. I knew I had my answer! I didn't even want to waste the rose trim from one of the towels, so it now covers the seams at the sides!  

My favorite place to perch while perusing the shelves for my next read? This stool!

 Next to the bedroom doorway above the chair, hangs the house drawing. I am not sure why the frame caught my eye, but I love the simple combination of twine and black metal. And it pairs perfectly with the drawing. (The story behind the house drawing is HERE.)

DIY Footstool for the Book Nook (part 1)

Another project I have been working away on whenever I get a moment is the footstool in the book nook! I finished part 1 a month or so ago, but haven't gotten around to part 2, the quilted cover, yet. The project got a little way laid this fall as I let my sister borrow the foam squares I had bought. She returned them in a few weeks, but then Christmas was right around the corner and in the hustle and bustle is got put on hold.

I used this tutorial from Better Homes and Garden for inspiration. Who knew it was this easy to make an ottoman?! I really wanted a round footstool but the trend seems to be square and it was a bit difficult finding a small one. This one is just the right size to perch one's feet on! 

 Once I started looking I was surprised at how easy it was to find all the parts. A round pre-cut piece of wood from Lowe's for the base; legs and brackets from the hardware store I painted white; two foam squares with batting wrapped around them from JoAnn Fabrics; topped off with canvas fabric leftover from another project. Now I just need to make the quilted cover! 

 I also had to share another new addition to the book nook, a beautiful pillow my sister Becky made me. What a lovely surprise! 

 I love how she used a vintage napkin on the front, it highlights the details so well!

So what projects are you working on Friends? Are you sprucing up to get ready for Spring?

Poppa Santa Claus (Book Nook)

Time to head upstairs for the tour! First stop, the piano window on the stairs, where we hung more ornaments.

This years theme in the book nook is Vintage Christmas Cards. I guess I am starting a collection! A few were gifts last year, a few from the year before, some I found in an antique store this fall.

And these little cuties are actually Christmas seals. They have old fashioned lick-and-stick on the back. These were used before cellophane tape was widely available to seal packages and cards. 

 My favorite seal. Since the theme seemed to be cards, I thought it would an easy and great way to display them by making the seals into mini cards.

 This card is one of the newest finds. Love the bells!

Book Nook Updates

You know how once one has lived with something you don't really see it anymore? As I am looking at these pictures of the book nook, I feel like there has been quite a few changes since the last post, but I really am not sure what they are! I will try to remember, but you might discover a few yourself.

One of the main changes is finally another shelf! At first you might not notice, but there is a smaller cube shelf next to the bigger one. I also picked up a few baskets at Ikea to tidy up the dvds and cds. I love that our entire book collection, dvds and cds are all in one place! I don't think that has ever happened. We do have a few books in the living room, but those are mostly our knitting and quilting books, up here are the novels.

 Once we  put the new book shelf in and reorganized the books again, it felt much more finished, which inspired me to add a few finishing touches. I rearranged a few unhappy house plants, added some small mementos and hung up this little English cottage scene.

This is one of my favorite pictures, but I have had the hardest time trying to figure out how to frame it. Finally I arrived at this idea; hot gluing the picture onto a fabric covered board (I used fabric sheets with adhesive on the back from the scrap booking section). Originally, I really wanted to hang it in my room, but I just couldn't find the right place. Here I still get to walk past it every morning!

This section is the new shelf. I can't believe how much they hold!

Our grandparents.

The other change I am really excited to share is the new pillow! Isn't it darling? I had such a fun time making it. I really am addicted to hexagons...... To me it says cozy vintage cottage. 

 It is so nice when a project comes out exactly how you dreamed it would!

Do you see my foot stool?! I am so excited to get to work on the cover. It was on the list for this week, but the foam I had purchased for the top was borrowed. Once it is returned, I can get to work with my scraps again as it also is going to be patchwork!

Next up, we will take a tour of my bedroom. Stay tuned!

Book Nook Chair

I couldn't decide at first whether or not to share pictures of the book nook, I still have a lot of plans for it. But then I thought, Life is all about plans and progress. It is always revolving and evolving. Blogs are suppose to be a chronicle of daily life, right? And sometimes I get a little bit tired of all those amazingly-perfect-pictures out there. That certainly isn't life! 

 So on to plans and progress. I have been so excited about putting this space together, but now that the weather is warmer the place we all gravitate towards is the front porch. So book nook has been put on hold and I have switched my focus to the porch.

 The biggest change is the chair!! Oh how I have dreamed and dreamed of this chair! It is perfect here, the right size for the space and still comfortable to cozy up with a book. It is Ikea's Tullsta Chair. Eventually, I think I will make another slipcover for it. Pale blue ticking or floral? I am working on a quilted pillow cover also, right now that is just a pillowcase.

 But how can a comfortable chair be complete with out a ottoman? I found a great tutorial on making your own and am so excited to tackle the project. I purchased a round wooden board for the base a few nights ago and am trying to determine the best height. (Hence the baskets under it.)

 To give you a bit of perspective, when seated in the chair one faces the bookshelves. They also are still in progress. One more bookcase needed to fill the spot where the tubs are. I purchased a couple of shelve baskets from Ikea for cds and dvds too. (On top of the tubs right now.) They work wonderfully! I think it is going to be a great way to keep them organized. Once we get the other shelve the baskets will also go on it.

 From this picture you can see my bedroom doorway is right there. The whole landing is about five foot by five foot. Not a lot of room, but in a small house one has to make use of it all!

 Looking from my bedroom into the book nook. The window faces East, I love the sunlight that pours through in the mornings.

Hopefully our African Violets will be happy here and bloom for us.

Thanks for taking time to see my progress! 

Do you have any projects in progress or in planning?

Book Nook

We have been doing a little rearranging here lately. This cube shelf was originally for Mandy's closet, but we decided shelves hung on the wall would be a better use of the space and moved it up to the book nook. It was so fun unpacking some of our books! I love coming up the stairs and seeing all of them tucked in the shelf. You can see to the right we still have a few more tubs to unpack and space for another shelf.

Don't you love how the simple task of unpacking can lead to four hours of cleaning and re-organizing?!

Have-Done-List

While I was working on yesterday's post, I was thinking of all the things we had done in each room. Even though it hasn't been that long ago, I had forgotten some things.(too many things happening at once!) So for future reference and to remind me just how far the little house has come I am going to make a Have-Done-List.

 

 

 

Entry

Tore up linoleum floor.

Steamed and scraped tar paper off of floor

Re-wired switch and outlet

Added ceiling light

Patched holes from electrical work

Primed and painted walls, ceiling and trim

Sanded, stained and shellacked floor

Replaced quarter round trim

 

Living/Dining Room

Pulled a million and one staples out of the floor

Pulled up carpet tack strips

Re-wired switches and outlets

Added ceiling light in the living room

Moved ceiling light to center of dining room

Patched holes cut for electrical work

Primed and painted walls and trim

Sanded, stained and shellacked floor 

Replaced quarter round trim

 

Kitchen

Pulled up carpet

Removed cabinets so we could pull up wood floor

Pulled up wood floor

Added new joist to fix sagging floor

Installed cement board and tile on floor

Patched walls behind cupboards

Primed walls (no paint yet!)

Primed and painted cabinets

Re-installed cabinets

Replaced counter tops

Re-wired outlets and switches

 

First Bedroom

Pulled up carpet

Removed staples and carpet tack strips

Rewired switches and outlets

Added ceiling light

Patched walls where plumbing had been plastered in and old wall light had been

Primed and painted walls, ceiling, trim and doors

Shellacked floors

Replaced quarter round trim

 

Second Bedroom

Pulled up carpet

Removed staples and carpet tack strips

Rewired switches and outlets

Added ceiling light

Patched holes from electrical exploration

Primed and painted walls, ceiling, trim and doors

Shellacked floors

Replaced quarter round trim

 

Bathroom

Removed all fixtures, walls, floor and ceiling

Re-wired switches and outlet

Added exhaust fan

Install new window 4" to right of old one

Frame in bathtub and new closet

Cement board the floor

Install new tub

Replace plumbing

Insulate walls

Drywall walls

Plaster walls

Tile floor and tub walls

Prime and paint walls and ceiling

 

Front Stairs and Landing

Ripped up carpet

Pulled out staples

Re-wired switch and light

Painted and primed walls and ceiling

Painted kick plates on stairs

Shellacked steps and landing

 

Upstairs Bedroom

Ripped out carpet

Pulled up staples and carpet tack strips

Switched door from out-swinging to in-swinging

Tore out outlets that were on the outside of the wall

Added new outlets inside wall

Re-wired switch and light

Primed and painted walls and ceiling, trim and doors.

Shellacked floor

 

Sewing Room

Pulled up staples

Re-wired outlet

Primed and painted walls and ceiling, trim, windows and doors

Scraped paint off corner of floor

Shellacked floor

 

Porch

Pulled up carpet

Scraped old glue and paint off floor

Primed and painted floor

Washed walls

Painted trim