Off the needles: Incognito

This mustache cowl was part of my Christmas knitting... that I'm still working on. I hope the 8 year old recipient will love it as much as I do.

Pattern: Incognito from Knitty.com

Yarn: Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton at A.C. Moore

The Guest Bedroom: molding

The molding project is where the Dude really rocked it out and completed the project in a weekend. Previously, he was the guy that would call Roto-Rooter if we had a faucet leak. After watching a lot of the DIY Network and building our shed from scratch with my father, he's all about tackling any project himself (except for the roof).

The original molding in the guest bedroom was removed at some point and a plain wood molding was added. Bleh!! Last January, the Dude ripped it out and replaced it with a mixture of scrap wood and MDF (good luck to anyone in the future thinking they want to refinish it) to mimic the moldings in our office and hallway.

While he reworked the moldings, I painted the room from "Finding Nemo" turquoise to beige. I'm still not sold on the paint color in that room, but we got the can of paint for free.

The Dude also replicated the baseboard moldings that are found in the rest of the house. I'll have to try to locate those pictures and post them another day.

In process:

Finished:

The Guest Bedroom - The early years

Guest Bedroom c. 2005

The previous owners of our house had our guest bedroom/craft room as a kids' bedroom with a "Finding Nemo" theme. The walls were an okay shade of turquoise but all of the moldings were painted teal. The window and floor moldings were replaced sometime in the 80s/90s with some basic wood molding. It was one of the only rooms on the main level of the house without the original 1920s chunky wood molding.

After we moved in, the room became a junk room, craft room and our bedroom. I felt like we were living in a Clean House episode without the dirt. We decided to live in this room until we finished working on the upstairs bedroom (which still has to be finished).

moved in with our crap..blah.

Tomorrow I'll post some pictures from last January of the Dude rebuilding the moldings to match the rest of the house. It was one of his proudest house/woodworking moments.

In case your forget, the guest room currently looks like this at the moment.

On the needles: Incognito

pattern from Knitty.com

Overcoming my fears in 2010

I'm starting off the new year on the right foot by overcoming one of my biggest fears...hanging pictures on our plaster walls.

It took me four years to figure out what to hang over the couch, so working on a collage of pictures was a big deal for the guest room.

This room is still a work in progress. Hopefully, 2010 is the year of the guest room!!

(L-R.) 1 1/2 year old me in Strathmere, NJ; Paper cut out pattern from Kingpod Mailorder #8; Jen Corace for Tiny Showcase; Fifi Lapin

(L-R.) Cross stitch sampler pattern from Kingpod Mailorder #5; Amy Ruppel for Tiny Showcase; Great-grandmother's diploma from secretary school; Newspaper from 1972 found behind wallpaper in our living room

A Toothpaste Resolution

(love having a chance to use my Martha Stewart labels)

Part of my New Year's resolution will be to make more everyday household items (cleaners, shampoo, ect.). So, last night I started on the journey and made my own toothpaste from the Big Ass Book of Crafts (thanks Jaz for the book!).

The toothpaste combines lime zest, baking soda and peppermint oil. It stays as a powder and you just dip your toothbrush in to the jar.

The results- so far, so good! I've used it just two times and my teeth still feel minty fresh.

Anyone else want to join me in making household stuff? Maybe each month a different item? What do you think?

An Ikea Lunch

Here's my strategy to fit a trip to Ikea during your lunch hour (many of my time saving rules were broken today).


Parking

Bring a child or two other co-workers to qualify for family parking.

Park near the exit not entrance if you think people will give you the stink-eye by parking in family lot.

Planning

Research what item(s) you need before the trip. Go with a mission.

Decide on who will play bad cop (i.e. “Focus!” “Stay on target!”)

Store plan (Acknowledge that you can not walk around the whole store. Either choose the room vignette space or choose touring the marketplace, but not both. Also, take advantage of the short cuts.)


Food

(don't judge my food choices)

Stick to easy eating meals and ones that do not need extra preparation from kitchen staff (stay away from the cheese steaks).

Normally it's not advertised but there is a $1.99 pasta meal

Seating location. (Depends on store. You may want sit near the place to put trays away or near the exit.)


The secret of the elevator. The South Philadelphia store has two elevators - one goes to the market place, one goes to the entrance. If you are just there to eat and leave, find the elevator that goes to the entrance.


No shiny objects


Designated bad cop reminds you to stay focus

No impulse buys. You don't need weird Swedish candy, even if it is on sale.

Check out Time


Items prior to check out – Ignore

As is section – Glance in

As I learned today, only go to the Self Check out lanes. Even if the regular cash register lane looks empty, you will have someone in front of you buying a "glorpglorp" with no price tag.

Time for ice cream!


Also, beware of wacky school holidays and going back to college season.