Author Archives: CT

The Gambler

Posted on December 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

December is here folks.  Time to make some magic happen.  I have now completed TWO of the nine gifts that I deluded myself into thinking I had time to craft.  Number Three is in progress.  I’ll need to stay on a pace of about two days per gift if I want to pull this one out.

So . . . . have I worked on my house or any of my projects?  Not so much.  I had a somewhat brilliant idea to line the back of the bamboo shades in the music room to make them more private.  Right now you can basically see right through them in the evening.  Considering we have a four family apartment building about five feet north of the side window, it’s not great.

(It’s that window, next to Johnny.  You probably couldn’t tell due to my lackluster photography skills).

I hopped over to Hobby Lobby thinking I would get some black duck cloth or something and lo and behold, they have curtain blackout fabric.  It’s a weird vinyl-y sort of thing that is white on one side and beige-y yellow on the other.  I pulled one shade down and got to work measuring and cutting out a backer piece.

I stitched the blackout fabric with the yellow side towards the blind, so anything that peeps through between the grass reeds would blend in.  It’s a roman type shade so it has multiple rings and a string system to pulley it up.  I stitched the blackout to each ring spot and left it behind the strings.

No dice.  After JT rehung the shade for me and we attempted to operate it, it wouldn’t go all the way up because the blackout fabric is gathering up in a reverse roman shade from the paper/bamboo shade.  Boo.  I need to get back in there and run the blackout between the strings and the shade but that means redoing all the sewing I did the other night and I just don’t have the time right now (Christmas gifts!!!)   But I think (fingers crossed) that it will work out. 

So is anyone else freaked out that it is December?  Does anyone else have total project failures like me?  I thought I would share that it’s not all cake and roses when it comes to getting things done.  Sometimes it takes a few tries and sometimes it just doesn’t work out at all.  You’ve got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them folks.

(PS — That’s The Gambler.  JT played it for me the other night at his solo gig.  I am his gambler — CT has a thing for the slot machines.)

(PPS — I was looking through some images the other day and realized I had never shared Blog Version 1.0 (Beta).  http://www.alleycrafts.blogspot.com/.  So now I have blog history all the way back to 2010.  I was so late to this party, I’m suprised there’s still booze left, you know?)

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Posted in Around the house, Hand Crafted, Music related

Behind an Eight Ball

Posted on November 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

You guys, I am so behind!!  We have less than 30 days to Christmas and I have just completed ONE of the NINE things I told myself I had time to make.  Granted #2 is about 75% done, but it is time for Pedal to the Metal.

In case anyone was wondering what to get ME for Christmas, I saw this great article a while ago on Apartment Therapy for the “cash strapped collector“.  It’s an interesting list of 10 classic items for under $200.  Actually I heard Santa may be bringing me a new camera.  Three cheers for better pictures on this fricking blog!

I’ll report back if and when I get anything done I can share around here.  At some point I’ll have to decorate for the holidays. I’m thinking of borrowing a few ideas from Emily Henderson’s holiday “Secrets from a Stylist” episode.

Namely this —

We’ll see how it translates.  Love the wall color!  Teal/sapphire blue and lime green and white and wood?  Don’t mind if I do.

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Posted in Around the house, Gifts, Miscellaneous Diversions

It’s a Wonderful (Dog’s) Life

Posted on November 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

While I’ve been hard at work on gifts and such over here, some members of the family have been less than useful.

Shenanigan.

No his butt isn’t that big, but it should be for how lazy he is.   Here he is dripping off the sofa . . .

Sophie knows how to get her lazy on too . . .

It’s a dog’s life.  Happy Friday everyone!  I wish you the peaceful relaxation and complete mindlessness you deserve after a long hectic week, unlike these lazy dogs who do not have to hold down jobs.  I’m headed to Hobby Lobby this weekend so I may have a new project (hopefully a completed one!) to share with you on Monday.

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs

It’s Hush Hush time.

Posted on November 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

Interwebs, it’s about to get a little quiet around here.  You see I’m starting up (hopefully not belatedly) some gift projects and I can’t exactly be posting those, not with all my gift recipients as readers.

(Yes we did have Elvis as our tree topper last year and we very well may do it again.  Elvis is the King.)

To which my family probably says “Oh no, not more scarves!”  Yes more scarves!  Deal with it. 

Ok, it’s not scarves.  But I’m not going to divulge anything here til after the holidays. 

So . . . . hmmm (crickets chirp).  I did start one other much belated project.


JT’s dad and step-mom gifted us this armoire when they sold their house and downsized over a year and a half ago.  Yep it’s been in the basement that long (and there are drawers, they just got taken out for moving).  In that year and a half the elder Mr. and Mrs. T have completely refinished and redecorated and reupolstered almost everything in their new house.  I should get some pictures for the blog —  the amount of work they have successfully undertaken is inspiring.  And this poor armoire?  It waited oh so patiently for me to get some motivation. 

I highlighted its new location on the bedroom floor plan in orange above (and no, the armoire is not staying orange, I’m thinking a nice white with some details.) That way we can have the little TV and all it’s pesky wires tucked away out of sight and the bedroom will be one step closer to being complete(ish). 

Has anyone else started working on their holiday gift scarves?  Just me?  That’s cool.  The smart people probably started those back in June anyways.  Sigh.  See you around interwebs.

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Posted in Around the house, Furniture, Gifts, Hand Crafted

“I’m A Giant!” Doll House (small) update

Posted on November 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

I have been woefully behind on any and all things doll house  related.  Emily Henderson posted an update on her blog of all the blog-land participating in the doll house challenge and there’s a lot of people out there killing it pretty good. Not so much here.  But I promised an update, so here’s what I got:

Floor plans!

I think because I work a lot of most days in AutoCAD it is hard for me to plan a space without a floor plan.  Having the dimensions of the space set down and available for on-screen twiddling makes the whole process a lot clearer to me.  So you’ll see I gave each space a purpose (bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and so on). 

However the space (left over and) intended for the bathroom didn’t quite function as is.

With the current roof pitch, I could just get my giant-sized hand in there and that’s about it.  I googled some doll house images and saw that a lot of doll houses are more “cut off” in the back and I didn’t necessarily need this return roof slope.

So I got out our smallest tack hammer and gently pried that piece out.  Voila — doll house bathroom!

I’m going to take the piece of material I removed from the roof and use it to create a back wall for the bathroom.  I need to shave it down a little first so it will fit into the space.  Next up is the bigger span of roof return on the rest of the house.  However, the work table I am using in the basement is in the one area with absolutely zero light (excuses, excuses, right? Right!) and so I need to remediate that situation this weekend before any further doll house progress can be made.

And because it must be said, there is a person on Etsy selling the little white plastic supports that come in your pizza box as doll house tables.  It says so right in the item description.  Crazytown. 

I’ll leave you on that bomb shell.  Have a great weekend folks!

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Posted in Hand Crafted, I'm a Giant (doll house) challenge, Miscellaneous Diversions

Thankful

Posted on November 9, 2011 | 2 comments

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching (yay!) and I have so much to be thankful for.  For one thing, this tiny blog has reached 1,000 total page views  after 60 posts.  Thanks for reading everyone!

This small milestone in my new blogger life got me to thinking about all the projects I have yet to finish and all those I would like to start.  There’s a lot.  Maybe too many. 

Here’s the part where I scare away all you readers I worked to entertain.  The basement.

Yes, this is my very own basement in my very own house.  This is one of the many jumbled furniture piles I have down in said basement.  Run away screaming now.

I did a quick inventory to see how bad it really was . . .  It’s official, I may  be eligible for Hoarders on A&E.

Here’s the shame:
2 ottomans – 1 with a wood frame and one fully upholstered
Full size bed upholstered headboard
2 wood lounge chairs with strap seats – 1 with cushions, 1 without any
Slat Nelson-esque end table to match the one I have upstairs in the living room
Armoire in the process of being painted to go up in the bedroom
1 side table that I half-stripped green paint off of and need to finish
1 dining Captain’s Chair
3 vintage wood folding card chairs and a wood folding table
1 white bamboo side table
1 large lamp shade  that I spray-painted black and is waiting for a base
Base of the dining table  (I swapped it because the 4 legged base wouldn’t slide under the banquette)
A white Formica kitchen table (it used to have two chairs but I craigslisted them)
My childhood (child-sized) rocking chair
Mahogany cabinet that used to hold the old big (pre-flat screen) TV upstairs
2 flowered upholstered chairs waiting for their turn in the music room
4 wood folding chairs for use with a 5 foot folding table for dinner parties
2 wood TV trays that used to be bedside tables in our first apartment

So onward and upward.  Hopefully I can conquer this basement in the next 60 posts, right?  Part of the impetus for me to start blogging was to take a small step towards my dream of the “Thompson Guitar and Thrift” store.  After my basement inventory, I might almost be ready for an antique mall booth or an eBay store as a starting point. 

And speaking of projects that I start but don’t finish: The Dollhouse!!!  I’m working on it and should be back this week with a (little) update.  Don’t get too excited — not a lot has changed, but I am working on it slow but steady.

Thanks again for reading my ramblings and assailing your eyes with images of my half-finished projects.  It means the world to me.  I’m an avid blog reader myself and would love to hear of any other good blog recommendations you may have.  Cheers!

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Posted in Around the house, Furniture, I'm a Giant (doll house) challenge, Miscellaneous Diversions

One of these things is not like the other . . .

Posted on November 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

I’ve mentioned before my complete and inexplicable love of sheepskins.  I am a vegetarian (sort of – fish, dairy and eggs all make their way onto my plate) but somehow I can’t seem to reconcile this with my love of animal skins.  Maybe vintage animal skins make it okay?  Like if the animal died over 30 years ago and I’m just “recycling” it to keep it out of the landfill?

Thankfully on our marathon one day IKEA trip, I found a faux answer.

The nice thing about the faux sheepskins is that they are listed as washable.  Which is good because Sophie really goes to town on those bones and the after result is not pretty.  So I had already washed that one a few times but left it out to air dry based on the tag’s directions.

Then one morning we discovered one of the dogs had PEED on their nice sheepskin and scrunched it into a ball while trying to hide the evidence.  No one has fessed up yet as to who the culprit is. (They don’t seem too concerned with it actually.  Maybe because they’re dogs.)

So it got washed again, in hot water this time AND put through the dryer.

So now I have all three kinds of sheeps living in one room — the real one I put on the Lucite computer stool, the faux (non-washed) un-doggified ones I have on the dining room bench seating as well as on the white vinyl side chair and the curly sheep (faux that’s been washed) stayed on the floor for the dogs to destroy a little more.  What spoiled dogs.

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Miscellaneous Diversions

Music Room Money Break Down

Posted on November 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

The music room has been “all done” for a little bit now and we have been enjoying it.  This room has been a storage closet for far too long. 

In the spirit of inter-webs oversharing, I wanted to do a budget break-down to see what our little make-over did to the pocketbook.

Furniture ($145 subtotal)
Shelving unit (3 piece) – Craigslist score  – $60
Wooden chairs (2) – Free in the alley
Black vinyl & chrome stool – from a hotel liquidation center – $10
White and wood Gap sweater drawer – from a different liquidator – $75

Accessories ($168 subtotal)
IKEA magazine bins (3) – $20
Target Missoni stash box – $12
IKEA clip lights (3)  – $36
Black floor lamp – college gift – free
New lamp shade from Target – $30
Guitar hooks (2) – $30
IKEA faux sheepskin – $10
FLOR area rug – found at St. Vincent de Paul – $30

Art ($160 subtotal)
Blues Guitar Player artwork – gift
Omaha train poster – from an antique mall, way back – $60
Johnny Cash, bird flipper, won in an auction  – $100

Supplies ($48 subtotal)
Blue paint (2 gallons) and some paint supplies – $40
Black spray paint – $4
Painter’s tape $4

Having a place to store your husband’s clunky, large  musical equipment so that it looks good — priceless.


Grand Total: $521

So . . . not the cheapest room make-over ever but really most of these items we have bought over the last few years or were lucky enough to be gifted or acquire for free.  It is funny to me that I spent more in the accessories and art category than the furniture category — that’s not typically how interior designers operate.  However, I do have a matched pair of alley chairs in the basement waiting for reupholstery. . .  So once that happens, the furniture part of the budget will jump up a little more.  JT suggested a home upholstery job, which might keep costs down but maybe not nerves and tempers.  We’ll see.

The biggest impacts in the room were probably the wall of storage ($60) and the sapphire blue paint ($40).  So even if I had just dropped that $100 to start out with, the room would have been on a good step towards being done.  That’s the little take-away for me.  Sometimes I have a tendency to not want to start a project until I have all the bank set to finish it up the way I want.  So then I never really start on projects!  With this one, I just jumped in and got it started.  It will be a work in progress but the paint and the storage made it feel enough like a new room to feel like Phase One of the makeover was complete.

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Posted in Around the house, Furniture, Thrifting

Happy Halloween!

Posted on October 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

I got bit by the “craft” bug this weekend and jumped past Halloween straight to Christmas and beyond . . . .

I saw this tutorial on How About Orange for paper lantern/ball thingys.  I’m picturing about twenty more strung together to make a funky garland.  I might even use the white Christmas lights and make them into glowing lanterns.

It was pretty easy, just some quick paper cutting, a few hole punches and a brad — voila paper lantern.  I picked out a few more pretty papers at Hobby Lobby and think I might use up the rest of my paint swatches as well. 

Next I tried out some crochet fun . . . .

Eight loops of a “chain link” type necklace thingy done while watching the Cardinals victory parade. (See the tutorial here.)  Yes the Cardinals are World Champions!!  (or at least Champions of the USA and Canada, but we’ll take it.  I’m using this as my excuse for why I didn’t get a lot of other things done this weekend . . . .any one else buying it?  If so, you are probably a Cards fan too.)

Shenanigan was also in a non-productive mood . . .

Considering this dog is about one foot tall, he sure is long. While Shenanigan snoozed, Sophie tried on her princess tiara Halloween costume.

Happy Halloween everyone!  That means it is closer to Christmas and I can put up my new decorations!

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Hand Crafted, Miscellaneous Diversions

Design for all . . . including dogs

Posted on October 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

I’m finally starting to get more projects finished up around the house.  A while ago I shared some images of our first artwork (here) and after looking over those pictures the wall still felt a little empty.

So I did what any obsessesd-with-monograms person would do.  I put a “T” on it.

I made my trusty little newspaper template and hung up one of my many letter “Ts” on the wall.  It felt so much more balanced — happier if you will.  But see that piece of wall on the other side of the kitchen door.  Blank.  Boring. 

It is no longer blank, or boring.  It’s for the dogs!

Sophie and Shenanigan got their own (handmade) artwork.  As a finishing touch I updated their placemat with the rest of the left-over table runner. (A story about why I hacked it up here.)

I’m not sure if they appreciate and/or enjoy their new artwork.  I think they only appreciate and/or enjoy all the dog treats I gave them to stand still for these photos.  I pieced together some paint swatch chips (Sherwin Williams Bosporus, Gecko and a couple of grays, can’t remember their names . . . ) and used a picture frame I already had lying around. 

Shenanigan, true to his name, was being squirrely and kept checking Sophie’s bowl for more treats.  Little monkey.

I tried for the life of me to get my models to cooperate for some better pictures but luck was not with me.    But with sweet little faces like this . . . .

. . . . it’s hard not to give them all the treats in the bag some day.  So I gave them some artwork instead.  Next up is a designer dog bowl.  Maybe for Christmas, if they’re good puppies.

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Dogs, Hand Crafted