Searching For Creativity

Or, why I haven’t been blogging lately (one excuse).

We’re finally tearing up the kitchen!  This is the whole back half.  When that’s done (and the bathroom has to be ripped out too) we will be replacing everything but the appliances (which we already replaced), and the cabinets. We’ve even gotten the dark grey tiles for the floor waiting for us in the garage.  Hopefully more pics soon.

It was brought to my attention that I needed to post pics of the babies room. To be honest I’ve been putting it off, because I’m not quite happy with it. It’s just not done yet. But, I’ll just keep posting as it gets better I suppose. I doubt there will come a time when I think, “There, it’s done.”

Here’s Lillian peeping out of her crib. This is almost all hand-me-down stuff. Hence the blue and green. The new thing in the pic (besides the pink walls of course) is the cool bird painting which Ginny made from a tutorial from this blog (which happens to be one of my favs), and gave to me for Christmas. I think I want about 10 more. It’s of course made on Amy Butler fabric. But check out the store on that blog– I may have a new favorite fabric line.

And I couldn’t deprive you of this cutie. 🙂 She obviously doesn’t care that all her stuff is blue and green.

Here’s the corner with the rocker, which you’ve already seen. It also contains her messy changing table, and her collection of elephants. They sit in a baby rocker that was made for me when I was a little girl, and on a quilt that was made for me when I was a baby. Above the changing pad are a few of elephant and butterfly wall stickers. This rocking chair I got at a garage sale for $10 and it’s awesome btw.

Here is the room divider. A cast off from the living room. Stocked with toys, piggy banks, and books. Board books for now, and girly book I can’t wait to read to her when she’s a bit older. (Anyone else out there ever read the Elsie Dinsmore series?)

And here is the bigger part of the room. My craft area. Overflowing with projects: one of which is laying on the futon. A little teaser of things to come I guess. The little sewing desk (to little for my legs to fit in actually) is an antique (I saw it once in my favorite antique store down in Old Parkville) handed down to me by my G-ma. I painted it about 10 years ago, and it happens to go with the baby stuff very nicely. You can see that the two curtains don’t match. I haven’t gotten around to the second curtain yet. hehe. You can see the old version that I didn’t like there. Rug is from a garage sale last weekend. ($3–oh yeah). Basket of mending. Plastic storage dresser of scrapbooking stuff. The round things on the wall are embroidery hoops with Amy Butler fabric, which Ginny gave me for Christmas as well. Red chair needs to be painted to match the room. Probably just white. I think that’s about it. I’ll keep you updated as things progress!

B’s room is painted and unpacked now… it’s just missing some finishing touches like window dressings and a bed-skirt. It’s been a relief to have one place childproofed! We’re also slowly heading toward a nautical theme… as in medieval ships and St. Brendan the Navigator.

Can you believe how cold it got all of a sudden? I really don’t want to turn my heater on! Somehow I feel like I missed the transition from summer to fall.

And I keep forgetting to answer Kate’s question about do-it-yourself books. The closest thing that I have to recommend is The Virgin Homeowner: The Essential Guide to Owning, Maintaining, and Surviving Your Home. The author doesn’t really give a lot of DIY project information, but they do give a lot of helpful advice about what needs to be done to maintain everything. The only problem I have is that its a little bit outdated, and is written about her house on the East coast, which has differences I never realized.

More house pics to come…