Vinyl Cupcake

Emma and I went yard sale-ing a few weekends ago, and found this shelf for one dollar. It had a really ugly spot on top, but we are all about fixing things to suit our fancy here in Montgummibear land.

So when she was at school the other day, I cut out this super cute cupcake and put it on the top of the shelf so the ugly spot was covered up! It turned out beautifully.

I used my Gypsy (Gypsy Wanderings cartridge) to create the cupcake to the correct size, and used my Cricut to cut the pieces out in different colors of vinyl.

Here it is!

Before (very ugly, no?):

 After (super cute!):

Love!!

Jewelry Display

I put this jewelry holder up last weekend. It's a towel bar and S-hook shower hooks. It's so super easy and so elegant. I love this!

My grandmother gave me a little jewelry holder (pictured below) that I've been using for a long time, but this way I can put each necklace on a separate hook. I'm still using the one she gave me, but now just for bracelets and some of my very cool vintage pins that used to belong to my mother and grandmothers.

The closeup of my newly acquired very-cool-jewelry-holder, looks just like the picture I pinned to my Pinterest board. :)

 Here's the whole thing. So pretty!

 A closeup of the one my grandma gave me a long time ago - super cute!

And this is what it looks like on my wall. It's not centered, because the small one on top is where it was before but the new one wouldn't fit if it was centered. So I don't care. Hee! I absolutely love this. I would have done it sooner, but it took me a little while to find S-hooks shaped shower curtain hooks.

I'm so glad I did!

Sewing

I finally like sewing again.

Here's why.

First, the history: my mom sewed almost all of my clothes when I was young. She even made my prom dresses and my wedding dress. And my bridesmaids' dresses. And I could go on and on.

But I won't. {You're welcome}

I learned how to sew, but since my mom always did the sewing, I never really had to. Earlier this year I finally got rid of an old machine that wasn't working well (and helped create a disdain for anything that had to do with using that machine) and replaced it with a new machine from Costco. I got a great deal too since a), it was at Costco and 2), it was the "floor model", so I got a discount on top of the already good price.

Last weekend I found this sewing table - complete with old (early 60's?) Singer sewing machine. I haven't tried that machine yet, but I was told it works. So I cleaned the table up yesterday and gave it a light coating of Old English, and it looks pretty good. It really needs to be refinished - the stain was chipping off here and there as I was cleaning it. But it will work for now.

I added my knobs to the drawers for my own personal touch, and put my new machine on top. I sewed some little mermaid tail toys for my girls this afternoon and flipped out the top flap of the table on the right side for more table space - it worked out really well. I can't put my machine on top of the existing one when I flip out the left side of the table - it won't fit in the space unless I put some other piece of wood over the top of it. But the way it is for now worked like a charm. I'll most likely be keeping this around for a while.

I think it turned out pretty nicely for ten bucks. And the machine looks in good shape to boot -- I'll be trying it out later and let you know how it goes.

 What shall I sew next?

Antiques

I love yard sales. I love to find great deals on stuff that other people want to offload. As a result I sometimes end up with my own "offloads" so I also enjoy spending time with my dear friends having our own yard sale once or twice a year.

A few weeks ago I went out with one of my friends and we both found antique glass door cabinets, they were in a driveway back to back. She looked at one, I was drawn to the other. It was so much fun to find these things!!

So here's mine. It goes great in my entry way. I put my fun kitchen knobs on it instead of the brass-y ones that were on it, and it's perfect.

Enjoy.
I know I do, every time I walk by.

  

Glorious.

Prodigal Socks

I am convinced (and have been for several years now) that there is a planet in a far-away solar system that consists entirely of unmatched socks.

I know there are several theories of where these socks actually go - maybe a dryer or washer "eats" them, or maybe static cling makes a sock stick to the insides of pants or long sleeved t shirts. Whatever *really* happens to some of them I don't know (except for my above theory), but we occasionally do find one. Sometimes in the strangest place, and sometimes we even find one where it should be - unmatched - in the sock drawer. The poor thing was just a bit misguided. Maybe even a rebel.

Regardless of where they are or how rebellious they might be, I have always had a sock basket sitting on the top of the dryer, stuffed with socks waiting for that poor missing mate. It's dark and stuffy in there, and they just hang out in the dark until one of the mates is found. When that happens, the awaiting socks rejoice, almost like a 'prodigal son' homecoming. "Our dear sock has returned, let us rejoice! Go and kill the fattened dust bunny!"

Even though I know from past experience that the odds of finding a missing sock are heightened exponentially whenever the mate is thrown away, I still keep them because I just know that I'll throw one sock away, then the missing one will show up, then I'll have to throw *that one* away also, which is just a waste of socks. So I hang on to them. and on. and on.

Frankly, I'm tired of the sock basket, so I've come up with another solution. I've created a way for those socks to remain in the light of day, not stuffed in a basket so that we forget who they are. They now hang on a little clothesline on the laundry room wall, for all to see and be reminded that there are, in fact, poor socks that are missing their mates. It's kind of like a "missing persons" wall. Instead of posters and milk cartons, the look-alikes hang on a line and wait for their mate to show up. Eventually, the prodigal socks return. Winter comes, the long-sleeve shirts are worn, and a sock is found. Boots are worn and socks are found. An occasional search of the sock drawer or under a bed, and another missing sock is found. Just today, I used a coat hanger to reach under the dryer, and I found one (The "Thursday" sock shown in the picture below)!! There *was* much rejoicing.

Below is a picture of my "missing sock" wall. I did my "vinyl" thing and hung up a little clothes line for them, complete with some ladybugs here and there. Pretty cute, if I do say so myself. And not to mention fun to use some creative juices that haven't been flowing all that much lately.

Here's hoping that by having these socks out in the open, it will remind the (sometimes rebellious) missing socks that it's ok to "come home" and they will still be loved, even though they were missing.

Here's the location of the Missing Sock wall...

...and a closeup of the sweet little socks awaiting their missing matches.

Come home, prodigal socks...come home.

Sayings around the house

Lately I've been a little bit "vinyl happy". I've put sayings all over the house.  I put a couple up last year after we moved in to make the house feel a bit more like home, but over the past couple weeks I've gotten the Cricut out and cut more words to put up in more places around the house. If you stand still too long, I might label *you*. :-)

Here are some pictures of what I've done recently. It's not really anything that elaborate, but it's fun to decorate a little. I still have painting to do, and so I'll most likely have to re-do these vinyl sayings after the paint goes up, but it's ok.

To start, here are the ones I put up after moving in last year, in the entryway and on the fireplace.

I've always wanted to put this verse above my front door.

I actually started the latest "binge" of cutting vinyl when I decided to put these verses above the girls' beds. They love the reminder that God is always with them, especially at night when bad dreams come to call.

Rachel's room:

She chose the flourish, and put the little butterfly up herself.

And Emma's room:

She chose her flourishes too, but instead of making them pink like she asked (she has decorated her room in lots of pink and green), I did them in green like the words. Silly me.
Good thing she's an easy going gal. :)

I also made a cute little thing in their bathroom:

And here's my Laundry room. I love this one. Very true for me. I might have to make one for beside the hamper that says something to the effect of "you leave it inside-out, you get it back inside-out". :)

My latest creation is in red vinyl. I did the lettering and also cut a bunch of flourishes along with it, using up all the blank spaces of the square-ish piece of vinyl. So I have put a couple flourishes up in extra places. This is my craft desk area in our living room that doubles as a craft and music area.

And this last one is of little flourishes I put up around a picture in the little powder room in the entry. I had to take a picture from the side so the reflection of the light wouldn't show up.

It's been fun to decorate the house up. I have friends who want me to make sayings for them too - so I'm happy to oblige. It's a great use of my Cricut. I use it for scrapbook layouts and cards too, which I will have to start posting pictures of to share as well.

Family members be warned: if you sit around too long you might be next.

My Shiny House

As promised (read below to see the earlier posts where I promised pictures...) here are pictures of my bright shiny sparkling spotless house. We have cleaned, de-cluttered (we have a bunch of our things in storage, we knew we needed more space, but wow...), painted almost every room, and now our house is ready to sell. I took a bunch of pictures today, partly for my ad and partly to show my mom and sisters, who probably won't be able to visit to actually SEE this wonder. I'm praying that this house will sell quick enough that they won't have the chance, even though I want them to see how awesome it looks. We really had accumulated a bunch of stuff over the years. I had many useful "creative storage solutions" but it really all boiled down to clutter! So we cleared out stuff and are ready to show someone how awesome this house actually can be. I'm adding the picture of the front of the house, and also of "The Great Wall of Pasco", since it looks so good! I will miss my wall.
I "panoramanized" (that's my own made-up word) a bunch of pictures so you can get a view of the whole thing. Most of them turned out really good. You can tell that some parts are a bit stretched out, but you get the idea here.
So Mom, Tan, and Tash, I want to hear how you like my pictures and our rooms!!
And if anyone else has any words, let me hear them! By the way, if you know of anyone who wants to buy a house, please let them know that this little number is for sale!!
(Click here to see my ad on Craigslist)

Our cute little house:

The Great Wall of Pasco:

My Awesome Kitchen:

The Living Room, from several angles:

Emma's room:

and her reading corner:
Rachel's room:

And her reading corner:

Our room: