jane's apron

beautifully handmade halloween

 

I've read a few blog posts recently about how easy it is to bring fall and Halloween into your home...without buying anything.  I like it...shaking my head yes and saying "it is easy".   And even easier when you participate in a swap and receive some of the coolest handmade Halloween-ness ever.  

My swap partner for the Sweet & Sinister Swap was Elise from bird nests & paper.  Elise sent a beautiful mix of items (including a pretty apron) and I am excited to show two of my favorites.  The collage says "birds in the night"...proving that something can be scary and pretty at the same time...love that combo.  And the garland?  It has surpassed all others to become my new favorite.  Elise made the garland by stacking pretty papers (tissue, book pages, doilies, etc) and threading them with seam binding and other pretty bits.  It's awesome...it's handmade...it's got serious style.  Way, way better than anything you'll buy at the store and you can make it...with things that you already have in your crafty-girl stash. 

 

My best decorating tip (other than adding tea lights to milk glass containers) involves only two things; packing tape and ribbon.  I hang stuff from frames I already have. Thread the item on a ribbon and tape the ribbon to the back of the frame.  

 

 

my little peony

Someone told me that when a peony is transferred it takes five years for it to bloom.  I've never attempted to verify this fact but know that I transferred this one from our old house to our new house ten years ago and it took her quite a while to bloom.   But worth the wait.   I lifted a few heavy blooms into my vintage planter so we could see their pretty faces. 

Happy Mother's Day...hope it's a beautiful one.

busy

She was busy in that wholly-consumed way...and I snapped a picture.  

The pattern and fabric have been selected for her First Communion dress.  I've practiced sewing a simple dress.  I will take my time sewing it...none of my usual non-stop-get-it-done rushes...I hope.  I've got two weeks.

IKEA and the arrows

We did something a little wacky on Saturday.  We rented a U-Haul trailer,  drove to the IKEA store in Chicago, and came back home that night with seating for five.  

I've never been to IKEA and had no expectations.  We knew want we wanted and went there to buy it.  Looking back, it feels like some kind of crazy tour of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.  We went in and, somehow, found our way back out with four carts full of furniture and a Swedish candy bar...wondering "What the hell was that?"

Have you ever been to IKEA?  Did you follow the arrows? Did you, like any normal person, have to walk against the arrows?  Did you ask someone for help and did they, without turning to face you, say only "Follow the arrows"? Did you wonder why the store smelled like cinnamon buns?

I know we were there because the furniture (which I love) is sitting in our sunroom but it all seems like a dream...like I've got post-traumatic-IKEA-syndrome or something.  

halloween squares

I created this mosaic to give a quick look at how Halloween looks around my house.  I am really liking how the china cabinet in my living room can be dressed up for the holiday and can't wait to "stage" it for all of the holidays on the way.   

One of my best decorating tricks is to hang things from pretty ribbons...layered on top of framed pictures, mirrors, or big platters (an example of each is in the mosaic).  I'm sure there's a better way to do it, but I just use packaging tape to tape the ribbon to the back of the base (picture, mirror, or platter).   It's an easy up & back down decoration for us busy/thrifty girls. 

And the last picture is of my favorite decoration...our sweet black cat. 

We have teacher conferences this week and are off school on Halloween.  I have allowed my kids to extend way beyond my usual Halloween costume cut-off date and have a feeling we will be running around on Friday putting costumes together.   Just in case I don't make it back with a post before the end of the week...Happy Halloween everyone!

granny chic

First up on my everybody-is-back-in-school project list is putting the next layer on the living room. Everything stopped abruptly last spring and I'm embarrassed to admit that the ceiling is half painted (and my husband is quick to point this out when I call him "captain half-ass"). Anyway, the room is painted "coffee",  I've repurposed a dining room set from Craig's List, added two orange sofas, and purchased curtains...the colors are warm with touches of robin's egg blue.  

I found the big picture at the thrift store this summer (still has the $8.98 price on the glass).  I'm not sure if the picture is "granny chic" or just granny but I'm really liking it.  The picture is big (about 3 ft. wide) and the frame just needs a good cleaning...but I could be talked into painting it.  Anyone want to persuade me with some ideas?  And should I hang it or keep it sitting on the mantle?  

  

I also found this pillow at the thrift store...but I'm thinking the wii is killing the granny chic vibe. 

the office

 

I have a thing for vintage office supplies... clipboards, labels, tags, coin envelopes, office chairs.  When our boys moved into their own rooms last year, I tried for a long time to thrift school desks for them but never had any luck.  I broke down and bought them desks at Target...but held out for vintage office chairs (can't have too much new stuff in one room).   I found one for Ross that is the coolest, most comfortable chair....all wood, metal, and a vinyl seat in perfect condition...$5.05.   

I've also thrifted vintage globes for all of the kids.  The one in Ellen's room is my favorite because of the green plastic stand...love the color.

green flowers

When we moved to our house there was only one flowering shrub in the yard...everything else was just boring low-maintenance evergreen bushes.  I've slowly yanked stuff and added perrenials and our yard is finally starting to look more colorful.  My favorite flower though is from that one flowering shrub...a really big, pretty, green hydrangea.  It started my love of green flowers.  

I discovered a new photo technique by accident.  If I sit back from my subject and zoom in, the focus stays on the subject and slightly blurs the background.  I have no idea of the technical reasons for this but I like the result...and took lots and lots of pictures of the kids.  One of them seems to be in need of a hair clip...

 

vases and roses

I am terrible at arranging flowers...but really good at choosing cute vases.  My new vase is from Farmer Julie (the link is a direct-line to her etsy shop).  It is the perfect size with perfect little handles and perfect little dots along the top.  I'm so happy to add dimensional and functional handmade artwork to my house.  Thanks Julie!

I've always loved roses and planted one in the garden at our first house.  It got black spots on its leaves and I asked my Mom what to do about it.  She said something like "everyday, sprinkle the leaves with...".  She lost me at "everyday".  I am not a sentimental gardener and don't tolerate high-maintenance plants...and yanked that rose out as soon as I got the chance.  When we moved into our current house, I planted a low-maintenance shrub rose...and then another, and then another.  These are the roses I always wanted...tolerant of humidity, naturally happy, and blooming all summer.  Two of my roses are called "bonica" and "the fairy".  The rose in my vase is called "knock out" and is available everywhere...the perfect rose.   

wedding present

After a weekend of 4 soccer games and 3 baseball games, I came home late Sunday afternoon and told my daughter we would plant the flower she bought at the garden club sale.  One thing led to another and I ended up getting everything planted...not stopping to change my good shoes or to even put garden gloves on.   After dinner I came out to sit on the swing  and ran back inside to get my camera to take a picture of our beautiful dogwood tree.  The dogwood tree is pretty but it also has a cute story...

The original owner of our house moved in when he was a teenager.  He married for the first time when he was 80 years old...and planted the dogwood tree as a wedding present to his bride.