Rabbit Trails

 It is quite normal on any day home for me to flit between have-to projects and want-to projects without finishing any completely until the end. For instance, if you are painting something, dyeing something and doing the dishes, you start the dye water heating, then paint so a layer will dry, then do the dishes while you keep an eye on the water.Add about five more things and you have Sunday!

All week while doing futile time consuming work, I'm thinking of these projects, and come day off its just too hard to choose. This method is crazy but a lot gets done. Until, of course, you add the camera. Then its off chasing shafts of sunlight across the house while stuff burns.

This house does get the most beautiful light at all times of day and in all weathers. Shimmering, shifting bars of it are dancing on my keyboard right this moment from the window.

 It is a petite home, and I love that. It can be challenging sometimes, fitting all the little things, hammers, buckets, band aids that you seem to need but don't use often, and all the things that you want. But it also puts you on intimate terms with everything you own, it is all really used or really loved. That, to my mind, is the definition of cozy.

A great deal of what is in the house was acquired from nature. Chris and I love hiking and exploring, and looking at the shells, rocks and flowers makes us smile. Everything has a story here.

 What makes a house a home to you?

Have a wonderful day! 

Twirling

This skirt makes me feel like a Little House on the Prairie character! Laura or Mary, not Nellie. Giant poof sleeved monstrosities of Easter dresses remind me of Nellie. I love the way this skirt moves. It fans out and flutters just from walking, which looks lovely with the swirls of color.

Later in the day Chris and I escaped to the beach for a while, to look for driftwood for a project. We had to snap a few pictures of the skirt doing its thing in the wind. 

I am wondering how hard it would be to make a skirt like this, the individual components seem fairly simple! As my sewing skill increases a bit, I am starting to break down every garment I look at mentally. 

I would love to be able to sew all my own clothing eventually.  There's Little House on the Prairie for you. 

Over my Head

In the ongoing quest for house beautification, there has been a new addition! Chains of flowers and wooden beads, to hang from the sari canopy over the bed.

I thought about doing a tutorial, but it really is so simple! Paper Flowers, made with a loop in the back so they hang off center for a more realistic effect, spaced on yarn with wooden beads. They were hung with thumbtacks, which is great because it is a rental.

It is unfortunate that so many limitations come with renting. I would love to do a full canopy of sheer curtains, with beads throughout! In the meantime I do like how these look. They add lots of bright color, make lovely shadows and are a cheerful thing to wake up to.

This was a very inexpensive project. I had all the elements to hand, but even if you needed to buy everything the total would be less than ten dollars.

They have me thinking about what other parts of the house could use more flowers. Which is to say all of the parts of the house!

Beach Break

 It has been a really heavy work week! It is not likely to slow down any time soon either. I do have the good fortune to work only a few minutes from the beach, and its lovely taking lunch breaks on occasion that look like this.

 We've also got a bit of debris from the tsunami in Japan washing up lately, which is fascinating and sad. What a journey this must have taken.

Fringe

I only have a couple of pictures today because the neighbors felt this was the most interesting thing going on. The irony of putting pictures on the vast internet and being self conscious about being watched doesn't escape me. But to be fair you guys get to skip the part where I trip over a broom, curse like a sailor and accidentally set the flash off in my face, while getting a good bewildered one eye picture. 

Okay, I might watch that too.  Anyway, this top is from Ross. It serves no particular purpose, but it is sure fun to look at. Its a bit like that William Morris quote: "Keep nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." I've seen a few of these sweet lacy shirts lately and manages to resist, but this was just too lovely. 

The necklace is from an estate sale, and it has little etchings I wish showed up more.

Have a wonderful day! 

Here at Home

This weekend turned out to be a bit gray, perfect for staying in, baking and crafting. And taking pictures, naturally! Here are a few pictures I got of the house. It is still a work in progress, but I like it.

Apricot

This was a risky dress. It sat at Goodwill for three weeks, tempting me, but with stains right on the front. Still it was such a lovely color, and set off perfectly by its golden swirls, that I finally gave in. Luckily my Grandma (confirmed expert on possibly everything) had the perfect solution. Dawn dish soap, applied directly and left to sit for two days!

And its gone like it never was! Sadly this does not work on all stains. I have a beautiful turquoise off the shoulder dress I've been wrestling with for a year. I've even dyed it with no success! But I can't bear to get rid of it because its so darn pretty. Sigh.

I am still however, incredibly happy with this one. I added a necklace I made myself, a thrifted henley, and some perfectly old fashioned leather heels.

And the belt from the infernal dress-which-will-not-unstain. So there is some consolation anyway.

I love the way this looks with the light shining through it, and there is plenty of beautiful light today.

We are off on an exciting spice hunting adventure in Olympia! Hope you have a marvelous day! Any tips on stain removal?

DIY Beachy Mirror

 Lately I've been working on decorating my bedroom. I am hoping to give it a bright but natural feel, and spend as little as possible. I decided to spruce up some picture frames and this mirror, with shells from beach adventures.

 I love how it came out! Its nice being able to see each shell in greater detail than when they were crowded in a jar.

If you would like to make your own you will need- 

sand paper

painters tape

acrylic paint

polyurethane 

epoxy or other glue

a mirror or other wooden surface

shells, agates and sea glass

(River stones and other sturdy natural objects would work too.)

First, run painters tape neatly along the inside edge of mirror to protect surface. Then sand down any rough spots, and give the whole thing a light sanding. Dust off the frame and give it a thin coat of your paint. If you are using a light color you may want to use a primer first. Letting the paint dry between layers, keep going until you are happy with the opacity.

While this is drying, you can choose to give all of your stones and shells a coat of polyurethane. You can skip this step and the stones will have softer colors, but I like the way the varnish brings them out.

Once the paint drys add a coat of polyurethane to the frame, and allow to dry. Experiment with where you would like the stones until you are happy with the results. I had enough similar pairs to match the sides over the whole mirror, but this is definitely not necessary.

Glue your decorations to the mirror and allow to dry. Add one more coat of varnish if you would like, and you are finished! Hope you enjoy this tutorial! 

Ruins

In a previous post I talked about exploring abandoned places. This week we've come across another fascinating example, sitting at the edge of Grays Harbor in Aberdeen, Washington. Reached, as is often the case, through what looked at the start like a deer trail, it opens to a wide clearing in the trees. 

Spread out inside it are bricks, hundreds of bricks, maybe more. Some still bearing the name of their maker. I wonder how long ago it was standing. When was it built? Men once lay each of these bricks down on its bed of mortar. Someone made even the bricks. In our age of centenarians, have men lived to build, then witness the final deterioration of their work? 

 Because of the objects we found in the ruins, I believe this to be a house, but I can't be sure. We found a purse, and this hammer, which was slightly amusing in all this destruction.

 Sadly we also found syringes and caps scattered around, and other evidence of squatting. This is infuriating, as children would love this place. What kid doesn't love finding places like this for forts? The unfairness of a child contracting illness from being poked is extreme, not to mention the dangers if someone is there.

There are individuals locally who go to sites like these with the correct equipment to remove all the dangerous materials. This is a very noble and a worthwhile endeavor to my mind. Even with the disturbing aspects, this is one of my favorite abandoned places.

On our way in we spotted this hair brained contraption, a piece of wheel barrow that had been ineffectually tied to a chunk of shopping cart. Ahh, modern anthropology.

If you would like to see more pictures, you can find them here, including a few in color!