Halloween

Apparently my dog goes CRAZY for pumpkins. Weird. He couldn't get enough of the scraps--made for easier clean-up!

The great thing about being part of your own construction is the left-over tools. We used some painters plastic to keep the kitchen clean. Plus, a nail and utility knife came in handy for husband's design (below).

Husband's masterpiece. I was very impressed, especially because most pumpkin sculptures use special tools. Husband was limited to a steak knife, potato peeler (which broke), nail, and utility knife. Not too bad!

I was careful to plan my own pumpkin so the hanging man had enough support but accidentally bumped it afterward and he fell down. Luckily husband is very crafty and we strung him back up with a proper noose (sewing thread).

I've never been much into decorating for holidays. I think I am 1) too lazy, 2) too cheap, and 3) lack the decorating sense for regular decor, let alone keeping up with the seasons. My other excuse has been that up to this point, I didn't have a house to put the decorations in.

I did find myself, however, a little disappointed that I didn't have a single Halloween decoration. So I made my husband buy me a pumpkin--the night before Halloween. I was impressed with the ones we found--apparently the only pumpkins left at the store were monsters or teeny tiny. We went with the monsters.

I also tried to get batting to make spider webs outside and husband found a blacklight for the porch. Unfortunately, I unknowingly bought the wrong kind of batting and it simply pulled apart into fuzzy clumps instead of becoming stringy like webs. For indoors, I got a $2 ghost tealight holder. I know, I really went all out. We had some guests over for dinner and I bought an orange ghost plastic table cloth, some candy pumpkins and a few rubber mice (husband contributed a few mouse traps for effect).

I have decided that I can handle a tasteful wreath for each season. I am counting on finding a discount one after the season is over. Maybe next year I'll be ready.

Time to finally get to the nursery!

This is my little gummy bear--I mean, baby, at 9 weeks. I am now about 13.5 weeks and looking forward to the "golden trimester." I am optimistic the morning sickness and fatigue will be subsiding soon.

Just in time for me to resume sewing my nursery set (it was definitely put on the backburner while we built our home). I began sewing a yellow and blue nursery set probably 2 years ago as a hobby. Boy am I glad I started it early--being pregnant is tiring and I am glad I don't have to stress out about finishing a whole set by myself. I am excited to start sewing again. I hope I'll have enough time and motivation to also make some additional baby accessories--clothes, burp cloths, blankets, toys.

I plan to paint--or rather, have the nursery painted by someone else, yellow. I am semi-motivated to do it myself, but keep hearing insistent pleas from others that I will damage the baby with the toxic fumes. I wonder if that means I shouldn't clean the bathroom, either. ;)

My in-laws are generously providing us with a crib--once we pick one out. I found a cute one I liked, but I guess it was cheaply made with fake wood. The idea of getting a nice crib is that it will be an heirloom. Anyone know of any cribs with style that are also durable and high-quality (solid wood)?

I also know a nice chair is an absolute MUST-HAVE. I'll have to keep my eyes open.

Work Bench

Our garage has been a disaster since we moved in. Ingeniously, or maybe foolishly, we decided to load all of our belongings into the garage and box by box unpack and place everything in its place. It is taking significantly longer than I anticipated and I must admit I am losing steam. Where does all that junk come from and if it truly is junk, why can't I stand to part from it?

As soon as I heard my in-laws were renovating their kitchen several months ago, I knew I wanted the old cabinets. They graciously saved them for us until our home was complete and I just convinced my husband to finally put them up. At first he didn't see the vision, but the following is what he ended up coming up with.

Pretty cool work bench and storage area, huh? I definitely wouldn't have thought of doing this and I am very impressed with the way it turned out. I am grateful for the extra (hidden) storage space and like to see that every tool has its place. My husband really did a great job.

The best part, this entire project cost less than $40.

Cabinets: free

Counter-top: $3--old solid wood door cut down to size

Peg board: $15

Peg board accessories: $20

I like this alternative much more than the $350 workbenches my husband has been drooling over.

Open House

Found some photos from our open house.




This is my house on a cake. Funny!

View from the front

This is our view from the front of our home. We live right by a turf farm and several fields, which are very pretty. Word is an elementary school will be going in soon.

Notice the pheasant (a rooster) in the middle of the field.

Notice how exciting a hunting dog gets when he lives so close to a field--especially one full of pheasants.

Summer Pre-requisite

A grill has been on my summer wishlist for several years. I am pleased to have a backyard (or a skeleton of one) to house one. Bring on the BBQs or cook-outs (if you are in NC).

What a mess!

I've dreamed of having an Ikea closet system for several years now. I have decided to compromise, however, with a solution to deal with this obnoxious problem:

It just seems like everything I've tried either malfunctions, doesn't seem to save much space, or doesn't hold many shoes.

That's why this is all I want from Ikea, probably multiplied by 3 or 4.