Moving to Ohio?

No, we aren't! But, my friend has her house for sale in Columbus!
If you are looking or know someone who is (please feel free to spread the news), check out the house.

Organized???

Melissa commented that I am organized. Proof of this untruth is
revealed. Here is the shambled state of bedroom #3. Sewing is not so
easy in this current state. Walking isn't either.

Whimsical campsite

Check out this cool guy's work (via dulemba.com). That is just awesome stuff there!Can you see this big sized, like Howl's Moving Castle sized? A bunch of tiny, whimsical houses in our campsite! That will be cool!
From the same guy is some really cool automata! I love automata and my paper automata love hasn't gone away, just took a hiatus. Check out this totally cool leprechaun trying to get out of the mason jar. That is actually me, but instead of a mason jar, mine would be a pile of laundry! My laundry room may be all organized, but it doesn't lessen the amount of clothes to wash, unfortunately. Also, I wouldn't be a leprechaun.
I love seeing stuff like this because my mind starts churning with ideas. Get out the journal, time to sketch and label.

Laundry room makeover

We got serious about adding some storage to the house. It began with some shelves in Phoebe's closet. Wow! 2 shelves makes such a difference in her room! Seeing how great that was, the determination was made to equip the laundry room with organization. Lowes had the cabinets we wanted because it allowed me to keep a bar next to the washing machine for hanging lightweight stuff on the circular doohickey. (Notice I start out with "we" and move onto "me." Mike is a good man and is good to me!)
See that tall cabinet? We originally were going with another cabinet that was $100. While heading to check out, I spotted that tall cabinet clearanced for $25. Can you believe that it matched the front exactly? Mike wanted to make sure that I wasn't just getting it because it was cheaper, but I was sure. Totally sure to this day, too, because I got an open shelf out of it.
Mike installed a 1x2" piece of wood to the ceiling and then I attached hook tape to with a staple gun. I sewed up this pleated curtain with the loop tape on the back. Easy up, easy down, easy to wash, excellent to cover up the additional junk up there above the cabinet. $1 a yard home decor fabric, too. Got 20 yards of it and I fear that won't be enough for all I want to do with it.
Originally, this horrible builder-installed shelf system thingy was above the machines. To expand air drying capacity, I moved it to the opposite wall above the door. All of our medicines are way out of reach, clothes can hang to dry, and oddball computer stuff has a home. (Notice the wooden clothespin on Mike's polo. He doesn't like it when I button them up to hang as is whacks out the buttonhole. I don't like how the whole collar looks whimpy without it being attached while it hangs. Problem solved with a clothes pin.)


Here is the additional shelf I got because of the $25 cabinet. Since we went with the bar on the large set of cabinets, there was an extra chunk of "wood" for this. The laundry items I need are in easy reach, the liquid won't make a huge mess (last bit of purchased laundry detergent there. Making my own! I will report with recipe and how it works out.), and you can't see it from the hallway!
The pièce de résistance is that I filled in all the holes and touched up the walls. It looks perfect!
For that honey-do list: laundry room-check!

The circular doohickey strategically shot around the unmentionables.

PS-I like to blog about all the stuff I do as it helps to quantify things for me. I feel accomplished when I can rave about my, well, accomplishments! Not all are fantastic, but a darned lot of them are pretty downright cool!
My posts have been minimal lately as we ended off the school year and I have a great big list of things to post about. While outlining them, I realized that some need raving here, but tutorials and more info can go on my LbP crafty blog. I keep the other WordPress blog because I can upload PDFs and that is my preference for patterns and print-offs. Duplication has been a concern between the 2 and has subsequently kept me from doing a whole lot with the WP blog. So, to differentiate, this blog will rave and the other will outline the process.

Future campsite fun

Going along with my tiny house love is our future personally owned campsite. The way I envision it is that we would have a nice piece of land with our own little house and a few other little houses and structures. There would be a guest house, for sure! We could have guests and they would have their own chunk of privacy.
Mike hasn't been converted to the future campsite idea. I am not talking crazed off-grid, beard growing fanatics here. I am talking about the opportunity to live easier with an outdoor kitchen area around a fire pit. I want a witches cauldron bubbling with brew over that fire pit!

This family has the idea. Surf around their site. It is cool.
The shelter house is rad!
A zip line! Yeah!
I want the pool bin! Isn't that just the coolest ever!?!

What would you add to the campsite?

Clean your dryer

Today is Earth Day.
Have you cleaned your dryer out lately? It will run better and you will help prevent a house fire. Pull it from the wall, remove the lint duct, and clean-clean-clean! Remove that lint monster!

Also, if you use dryer sheets, using liquid dish detergent gently wash your lint screen. The softener tends to build up over time on that screen and reduces the effectiveness of the machine, therefore using more energy. That adds up to money savings!
Run home now! Don't wait! I(Take the day off, you deserve it. So does your dryer. The boss will understand.) Save the Earth! Save your wallet! Save your tumble-tumble-tumble dry!

Cat door done!

We have been project central around here for the past few weeks. You name it, we have been doing it or thinking about doing it.

One such project that has loomed on the To Do List is the installation of a cat door. The bathroom off of the kitchen shares an outer wall with the garage. This location was where the litter box was housed, along with a cat bowl for water. I hated it there! Horrible location in a house for a cat potty, but it was a bathroom. We finally finished that project and now I wish we would have done it before we even moved in.

All of the food bowls are in there now. No more kicking a cat bowl and food scattering everywhere because our big feet didn't realize a cat had scooted it all over trying to get that last crumb out.

This is the garage side of the door. Mike made some little cat steps for ease. These cats are so spoiled! The nice thing is that we were able to use steel shelves we bought a Costco for the enclosure. Some 1X2" wood for frames, some 1x1" metal mesh screen and a few bolts and we were good to go. We had a pretty detailed idea of how the screws would fit into the holes on the shelving unit for access. Those plans weren't needed as the threads on the bolts functioned perfectly to keep the frame in place and swing out to remove the litter box.

One aspect that I am pleased as punch about it that we can go on vacation, remove the front panel, and close the bathroom door. Friends can come and check on them, but we won't have roving cats all over the house being mad for being left alone. If you have had cats, you know what vicious things they do when you leave.

Oh man! I want one!

There are wind farms around us and we see them whenever we head west. At night, the little red lights on the top of them blink in and out because of the spinning arms. It is cool, very Quixote-esque.
It is weird to see the pieces to build them on trucks. They are huge! Absolutely gargantuan! A traffic light is the size of a person, but you wouldn't think it to see them at every intersection. Perspective throws the real size off. Same with business signs. When you see one being erected next to the interstate and it is larger than a 18-wheeler, you know that is one bad boy. The arms for wind turbines are massive. It warms my heart to see them being trucked down the interstate. "That is one cool truck driver," is what I think when I see them.
Currently, I pay a nominal fee to our electric company encouraging wind generated electricity. What would be better? The actual turbine on my property.
See, I have this dream of one day having a Tiny House. What I would implement into my house would be:
solar chimney
grey water system
handwash toilet top
half flush
solar array/wind turbine
premier tub

Granted, some of these items are probably not be needed for a tiny house, but they are cool. That Premier Tub is awesome. I don't think I need a broken hip to use that in my house. It is the bomb! I could be like the captain of the ship in Hitchhikers that stays in his tub and commands. That tub would be in the center of the house and I would command my minions (at least, the ones I think are there).
Add to all of this a biodiesel rig. Awesome! Imagine the fun!

Soap making

Here is the soap I made all cut up. The plastic tube I used didn't work out too well. I ended up cutting it open to release the soap. The rectangles are a bit uneven, but they are going to be usable.
I asked Mike if we can make a wooden box and he said it should be easy. Easy is one thing. Completion is another. We've got so many projects around here!

beady floral decor

I am not a big home decorator. I just can't picture the way I want things permanently and am afraid to install or spend money on anything that won't fit the ultimate bill. Plus, the thought of having to fill in holes from hanging stuff on the walls makes me cringe. Just my quirk, I guess, and I am getting over it!
The hole in the kitchen ceiling was repaired by my dad and I. That was a major accomplishment. I bring this up only to demonstrate that I will have a hole in my ceiling forever, but cringe about a nail hole! Seriously, I am getting over it.
So getting over it, I put in matching hangers in the kitchen. One holds Momo's pot and the other holds a flower arrangment glass thingy from our wedding.
I have been changing out the flowers for the seasons. The leaves stay the same. It looks cuter each time I do it. Michaels had 40% off some seasonal decor and I picked up $3 worth of beady-type floral things.
That $3 worth was too much for the kitchen so Phoebe crafted up her own arrangement to put in her room! It was so much fun because we hadn't crafted together like that in so long. She is a busy girl with school, chess club, Girl Scouts, and earning all her AR points. She needs less than 150 points to make it to 500 for this year. She made the goal herself to get to 500 and has dedicated herself to accomplishing it. I can't wait for her to hit her goal!

Completed desk and stool

WHOO HOO!!! The desk is complete and in place. It has already held the screws and tools for the new curtain system we purchased. Pictures of that later, once the "supervisor" and I have determined the best solution for the streamlined, linear look I am going for.
I put some foam and a removable top to cushion the stool. An embroidered frog is in the center. Mike says I should have made it a turtle instead of a frog since the stool looks turtle-like.
This whole project came out totally awesome, don't you think?