wednesday. addicting.

because i really needed another time-waster ... not. this one is way too fun. it's like searching through never-ending magazines about whatever you want—only in pictures, and you get to instantly add them to your page with all your faves and see how they all look together.



leave a comment if you want an invite to join!

caution: it's addictive.

tuesday. teak-y teak-y.

i saw this really nifty idea in a magazine the other day. a lady bought a really nice teak door mat ... of course, she had a vintage super-cute watering can, and her back deck was all clean and nice and pretty.

in my attempt to copy, i had some cedar deck tiles from IKEA that i bought about six years ago (they got a nice hose-down after sitting in the garage for five years or so), a target plastic watering can that does nothing for the eyes, and a messy back porch, but the idea's the same.

when you come inside from the garden or out in the yard, your feet (and flip-flops) are dirty. the slatted door mat is perfect for water and dirt to fall through, and the watering can provides the perfect shower for your feet and flops. plus, the back porch gets a nice shower every time someone comes in. easy-peasy, keeps my floors clean inside, and free!

friday. stockings.

after a nasty bout with strep throat this week, and upon being plagued with boredom by yesterday afternoon, i rearranged the much-needed living room! complete with carting the lovely electric fireplace up from our room to position as a main centerpiece in the room (thank you mom and shay!). LOVE it! even the husband noticed and agreed that it looks SO much better.

something about the fireplace tells me it's ok for fall to arrive. and with that, i'm starting my christmas projects early this year. yes, i said the dirty word. i'm not going crazy, i just want new stockings for all of us this year!

so, everyone keep an eye out in the thrift stores for me, i need fabric! i'll be doing a tutorial once i get things going a bit. but, until then, here are my inspirational photos.

men's old suits, tweed, wool...


wool sweaters, scarves, shawls ...

yay for fall ... er, christmas preparation?!

monday. the beach street knitting society and yarn club.

dear blog,

i miss your face.

i know, i know. it's been forever. but, now that i'm caught up on the harvesting, canning, and storing of the massive garden this year, i have a little more time for you. i promise. it was a stressful, complicated month, and now it's over ... or ten days from being over, which is over enough in my little head!

i found a new-ish book. and so far, it's lovely. i've been missing summer already, and extremely hesitant to get into the fall swing of things. don't get me wrong, fall in spokane is just about as perfect as it gets. it's my favorite season ... even if it only usually lasts two weeks-ish. BUT, this year ... ohhhh, this year ... summer was elusive and ninja-like, what with her not starting until the middle of JULY. and i'm not ready to let her go yet!


the beach street knitting society and yarn club is quick and cozy, and it'll make you wish it was raining and your house was clean so you could sit in front of your fireplace (or if you're like me, you'll sit and hope to get through a page before one of the kids decides that you are not allowed to sit for five minutes quietly ... all while imagining you had a fireplace) and read it from beginning to end in one sitting. it will also make you want to drink tea, open a wool shop, and start using 'bugger' as your new favorite swear word. it sounds a lot nicer than some of the ones that usually come out, does it not?

best part? there's a second book! needles and pearls. totally indulgent fiction. it's not for everyone, all the time. but it certainly is for me, some of the time!

totally makes me want to learn how to knit something other than an endlessly long scarf. like amazingly adorable and totally functional arm-warmers! i feel a project coming on ... i guess i better get on that whole "learning to knit something other than a scarf" thing.

monday. garden markers.

other than fall, late summer is my most favoritest time of year. the garden's ready for harvest, pumpkins are getting big and fat and ready for the taking, the husband and i spend evenings canning, freezing, and bathing kiddos after spending the day playing in the dirt.

aside from what looks to be a short growing season, the garden this year is exceeding my expectations—if anyone needs zucchini, CALL. and last time we were over in seattle visiting the fam, my wonderful step-mom had a great project for the kids—garden markers! nothing like fun stuff to beautify the garden even more!

karlene bought a bunch of butter knives (spoons would work, too!) from goodwill, stickers, sharpies, ribbon, etc. and let them go crazy—just spray with polyurethane spray after the creating is done and plug em' into the dirt! Super cute!


my favorite ... and most useful ...

sunday. project DONE.

what started as a three-day project, quickly spiraled into being put on hold for our vacation, avoided, not in the budget, and so on. but, after several loooong weeks of waiting, taylor's room is finally 90% done. here's a sneak peek.

... and i don't know what it is about taking pictures of a room, but it never quite seems to do it justice. the walls and lighting look yellow—they're white.

drumroll ... the B-E-A-utiful newly refinished hardwood floor and lovely molding.


paper lanterns from pier 1 (thank you, auntie stephie)—i just took a bunch of the fake gerber daisies from pier 1, cut off the stems, and hot glued them to the paper lanterns in contrasting colors. easy!


bedding she already had ... i think we need to add another bright blanket and a few more pillows to offset the white, but no rush.

canvas paintings i found at burlington coat factory of all places ... for $5.99 a piece, i should have bought ten of them!


lucky for us, taylor's giant bunkbed works well in pieces—desk, dresser, bookshelf, and bed—without having to be hooked together.
what's a room without a bug?


taylor loves it ... as does her baby brother.

monster mash.

brennan's first birthday is coming up quick! since we're pretty sure he's going to grow up thinking his name is 'monster,' we've decided a monster-theme is in order for the party! what better reason to make our own little monsters for the occasion?

a trip to the fabric store (jo-ann's is liquidating the store right next to us)—CHEAP!

making a pattern stemming from these cute little UglyDolls®—FREE!

helping a 5 year old hand-stitch without either party getting frustrated—impressive.

an afternoon sewing and chatting it up with my oldest monster making these goofy little, er, animals? ... priceless.

here is poofy-toofy. poofy, because she has poofy stuff inside her (batting), and toofy because she has funny toofers. she lives in africa (the same place that simba's from. apparently, they're distant cousins), her favorite thing to do is play tag in the backyard (but not the freeze-kind, cause that one's not as fun as the regular kind), and her favorite thing to eat is peanut butter cookies (but only the kind that have the fork-marks in them, because they're the best).

'poofy' has taken over taylor's baby doll bed, kicking her baby to the curb, and was already packed this morning and sitting on her desk wrapped in a blanket, to be taken for 'share day,' tomorrow. i think a kid's sewing machine is in her near-future ...

this crazy little gremlin (who reminds me frighteningly of 'plankton,' from SpongeBob™), is garble-de-gook, referred to lovingly as, 'garble.' he enjoys, bird-watching, people-watching, reading the fine print, and chewing the corners of unsuspecting books. he currently resides in the legal reference section of the spokane valley public library, but is thinking of making a move to non-fiction, to 'mix-it-up' and live a little. his best friend is 'poofy-toofy' and has been since the day they met (yesterday afternoon). although, he thinks poofy is crazy for having moved to africa ... and can't STAND that 'tag' game. (Possibly because of the tiny-legs?)