"Radio" Silence

I'm taking a vacation (stay-cation, really) so I'll be taking a break from blogger as well. Cross your fingers that between Christmas and New Year's I get my to-do list done: plant the garlic (and that it doesn't die), paint the living room, and switch out a light fixture in the stairwell. All with my handy-dandy helper, Max. (and my mom to help my helper not help so much)

Happy Holidays to you all, see you next year!

A Little "Me" Time at the Gym

Some of you may be saying, "um, obviously, Jess," right about now, but I realized something last night: My child and husband are not at the gym.

I'm not a gym person. It's boring, and there isn't a product directly related to my adventure at the gym. I'm very driven by production - when I clean the house, I get a clean house; when I sew I get a shirt; when I "insert word here" I get "insert word here." And "when I go to the gym I get healthy" just does not give me the satisfaction needed to keep doing it.

Now let's be clear, I'm not against exercise. I do enjoy exercising, especially when there's a result. Have you ever spent an afternoon tossing 50lb bales of hay into the back of a truck? That's a heck of a workout, and I got a truck full of hay out of it.

But you know what does give me enough satisfaction to hop on that elliptical? Alone time. Blissful.

(BTW - This is my 400th post!)

Decorating the Tree

Goodbye Auz

I'll always love you.

Crib "Bookshelf"

Max likes to read in bed, but having him get up and out of bed to get each and every book was not very restful for nite-nite time, and if he grabbed an armful the books strewn all over the bed made it a bit uncomfortable. When cleaning up his room one day I had a light bulb moment: why not put his books through the slats on the foot board?

I moved his bed closer to the wall for a little more stability, and it works great!

Dinosaur Sheets!

Check out this sheet set that I made for Max! (supposedly for Christmas, but I couldn't wait) He loves dinosaurs, and there was a massive sale on flannel, so obviously he needed sheets.

I used the tutorials available at MADE (she's absolutely fantastic, BTW) for a fitted sheet and pillowcase, then just winged it for the flat sheet.

I have enough left over for anther fitted or flat sheet, which is handy for when these are in the wash!

He's completely enamored with the sheets, this morning he was pointing out all of the stegosauruses (if you couldn't tell, he likes the stegosaurus).

These also qualify for serger savings: 75 cents per yard x four yards is $3. A twin sheet set (since I couldn't find a crib set) runs $30, so that's a $27 savings!

In the Clouds

There was a rainbow in the clouds this morning. It's not easy to see in the photo, but the full spectrum was there.

Grape Vine Wreath

To continue the hand-made decor, Max made a wreath. He's very talented, no?

Ok, maybe I helped a little. And by helped a little, I mean made the wreath. But he picked out which vines to use.

I'm lucky (haha) to have a bunch of scrub brush bordering my lawn, which includes a plethora of wild grape and Virginia creeper vines. Max and I took a walk through the "woods" and collected vines that I wrapped as we went.

If you have access to vines, making a wreath is remarkably easy. Just wrap them into a circle, and feed the occasional vine through the middle and wrap it around the edge to secure it. Even easier is to just bend them in a circle then use twine or yarn to wrap around it and secure.

For a bit of color I added some dried sedum flowers, but didn't glue them down in case I change my mind later. I have a feeling that I'll be replacing them shortly with some pine boughs and a bow...

To glam up the wreath I spritzed it with a light coat of gold spray paint. Then to hang it I used a very expensive and complicated method - I went through the scrap fabric pile, found the cuff from when I hemmed hubby's jeans, cut the edges with pinking shears, and tied it over the door.

(almost) free door decor. What's in your yard that might be decor worthy?

Homemade Centerpiece

Max and I went around the back yard to find inspiration for our holiday decor. We ended up with some dried sedum flowers that still had some great color, maple seeds (or helicopters) that I glitzed up with some gold spray paint, and grape vine.

I assembled them into a pretty pedestal vase I pulled out of the closet - and viola! A beautiful, nature inspired centerpiece.