Category Archives: Around the house

Christmas with Monograms and Sheepskins (the essentials)

Posted on December 21, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I have a major thing for the letter “T”.  It’s my last initial (now that I’m married of course) and I can’t seem to stop collecting them.  I worked as a graphic designer in college and still do a lot of graphic work now inadvertently for our school clients.  So a part of me has always loved fonts. 

I was meandering around Hobby Lobby the other day, when lo and behold, what did I see but “T” ribbon.  It was perfect and I bought all the rolls they had. 

Now it’s making an appearance on our Christmas presents for the other “T” family members. 

And no, there’s not coal in that bag — it’s gift cards!  I saw it at Schnucks and couldn’t resist.  I have been wrapping all the gifts in simple brown craft paper and I pulled out one of my faux-fur sheepskins for the tree skirt. 

On a side note, I saw this sheepskin blanket and fell in love.  Love.

Soft, turquoise goodness.

It’s $800!!  From a store in the mall!!  I promised JT I would wear it as a coat every day (even in the 100 degree humid STL summers)  and sleep under it every night but no dice. 

So there you have it.  Although I’ve been trying to do some Christmas good deeds (I donated blood on my day off on Monday!)  I also suffer heavily from the “I wants” and other such first world problems.  I’m no stranger to the green-eyed monster.  Just trying to keep it all in perspective.

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Posted in Around the house, Gifts, Miscellaneous Diversions

2011 is going out with a bang.

Posted on December 20, 2011 by | 1 comment

You guys, I’ve done something crazy. 

I’ve been working towards a bedroom remodel and also had my sights set on the kitchen in 2012.  Yesterday JT and I took the day off work and I bought living room furniture instead.

Yikes.

So here’s the living room as it stands now.

It’s working pretty good except we only have one sofa, two people and two very spoiled dogs.  All four of us end up crammed into the couch every night and it was starting to get old. 

Then I saw an interesting blog post pop up on Mister Modtomic’s site about some Danish Daybeds.  Two.  A matched pair.  One for JT and I and one for the damn dogs. 

(Image above from Mr. Modtomic’s blog)

I couldn’t resist.  I was helpless in the face of more leg room and vintage modern furniture.  Yesterday JT and I  trucked up to North County in the trusty Saturn and loaded her down.

We were once again able to surprise people with what we can cram into this car (like the queen bed before).  Luckily the legs came off and the backrest piece disassembled so it was pretty simple. 

Now — upholstery.  Almost the kiss of death for a designer because it’s so hard to choose.  Really hard.  We put our current sofa on Craigslist (for a pretty good price if you know anyone in the market – ad here) and the ottoman needs to go too so our new floor plan can end up looking like this:

Yep that dashed in circle is the round coffee table I’m on the hunt for next. And the squares are more FLOR area rug.  It never ends people, it never ends.  And my last batch of insanity has killed my crochet gift scarf pace.  I have three more to start and finish in about 5.5 days.  It’s like the bros before hoes rule – Furniture first, life later. 

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Posted in Around the house, Furniture

Santa Came Early!

Posted on December 12, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I guess I was good this year — Santa came early!  A brand new (used) camera arrived from Montana the other day via Amazon.  I love it already and I don’t even  know it that well.  It’s technical name is “Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5S 9MP Digital Camera with a 10x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom”.   I might call it Lover for short.

I tested it out on the tripod the other day.  First I put up the old camera (a CoolPix?  I’m not even sure.  It’s in the drawer forever now.  It’s dead to me.)  Then, keeping the tripod in the same spot, I put up Lover.  See how much more the Wide Angle lens will get ya?

Christmas is here at the Ts.  We put up the tree the other day and have been slowly decorating the room.  Can anyone count the number of Elvises we have in our living room? (What is the plural of Elvis — Elvi?)  It’s like Where’s Waldo but, you know, with Elvis.

So far all our (2) Christmas cards have matched the color scheme.  Those lucky guys get displayed on the mantel.  (Little Jack man, so cute!)  The others will be banished to the refrigerator (fair warning, folks).

We definitely went the faux tree route — it has a narrow profile so it takes up a lot less room in our tiny floorplan but sill looks like, well, a Christmas tree.  Someone told me the other day they were surprised we put up a tree at all, you know since we don’t have kids.  That took me back a little bit — are childless couples not allowed to decorate for Christmas?  Guess we’re breaking the rules.

We do have these two helpful mutts, who posed on the new fleece blanket all day.

JT joined some kind of Maker’s Mark club, so a little sweater arrived for his whiskey bottle the other day.  How nice.  The wreath on the console table is made of white plastic grocery bags.  I had found a little metal stand at Goodwill a while back for $1 and it turned out to be just the right height to be a nice wreath hanger for my free wreath.  Pretty sweet.

Looking at everything through my new camera lens, I already see a few things for my list in 2012.  #1, the accent wall behind the fireplace is history — in 2012 it will be white!  #2, something needs to be done with the fireplace — it had a horrible brass and glass surround on it that we promptly took down but the concrete is stained where that used to be and #3 I will be painting the heating vent over the white floating shelves to match the wall color because it sticks out like a sore thumb now. 

Back to my new camera manual I go.  Have a great week everyone!

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Gifts, Miscellaneous Diversions

The Gambler

Posted on December 1, 2011 by | 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 by | 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 by | 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 by | 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

Thankful

Posted on November 9, 2011 by | 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 by | 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 by | 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