Bringing Objectivity to the Closet

Welcome to the Great Closet Clean-out of 2011!

One of my annual New Year tasks is to CLEAN OUT THE CLOSET.  I've seen some scary closets in blogland lately and I'm very thankful that we're fairly tidy closet people.  No, we don't have some fancy closet system, but in the spirit of full disclosure, we're fortunate to have a spacious walk-in closet.

Sometimes, I'll do a quick cleanout in the summer too.  My usual cue that it's time to cull the old clothes is when I run out of hangers before the laundry is finished.  But in January, I'm ruthless.

I usually head straight to my neighborhood thrift store to donate, but this year I had a few nice sweaters in there and a practically new pair of boots that I had bought on clearance then decided they were too uncomfortable.  So I hauled them to one of those used clothing stores that will buy the good stuff on the spot.  So my closet clean-out made me $20.  Not too shabby.

Next step:  Everything left hanging in the closet, I hang BACKWARDS.

Then as I wear each item throughout the year, it is returned to the closet hanging FORWARD.

This makes the decision to toss a lot easier next January when I can see that a full year has gone by and I HAVEN'T WORN IT.  I'll make exceptions for some items, like special occasion dresses or suits.  For those rarely used items, I just judge how much dust is on the shoulders.  :)


I'm linkin' up...

Cheap Art for the Walls

Hope everyone had a fun, safe weekend!  Did you have a great calendar had to be retired on Saturday?  Do you need to fill your walls on the cheap?

There are some really beautiful calendars out there, and I'm not talking about the ones with puppies and kitties on them.  :)

I'll use old calendars to decorate my walls, especially in areas that are prone to moisture or dirt, like bathrooms and the laundry area.  Wall calendars have nice big images that are printed on heavy cardstock.  You could get them matted and framed, but I'll often just cut out the image and put it in a floating frame.  This great black and white print of the Eiffel Tower hangs in one of our bathrooms.

Floating frames have a great look, but they are rarely on sale.  Pick them up at Joanns or Michaels with a 40% or 50% off coupon.

We went to Wilson and Wilson Art Co. on a recent trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas and met artist Blakeley Wilson.  We really wanted to buy one of the giclee prints, which were reasonably priced, but out of our budget on that trip.  And we couldn't decide anyway.  Maybe next time!  But we did get their 2011 calendar.  I'm going to swap out the image each month rather than display the calendar as a whole.

I recently painted walls leading to the back entry red and this print really POPS against the wall.  We really aren't folk art people, but their work just makes you feel so happy.



I'm linking up...

Favorite Projects of 2010

Yes, another "Best of 2010" post.  Let's get on with it!


Since I didn't start blogging until last summer, I don't have a full year of projects to look back on, but here is a few of my favorites (in no particular order):

Simple Valances

I finally find the right fabric to pull together the living room.  Full TUTORIAL on how to make these easy valances.  If you can cut and sew a straight line, you can make these too!

Ballard Designs Inspired Bulletin Board

Love the catalog, not the prices!  Gather ye craft store coupons and make this stylish bulletin board.

Re-purposed Message Board

Gutting your kitchen?  Got a Habitat Restore in your area?  I love these message boards made from old cabinet doors.

Hearth Room Mini Make-over, part 1

I finally clear the clutter and raise the eyebrows of a thrift store clerk with this mantel make-over.

Hearth Room Mini Make-over, part 2

MY MOST POPULAR POST THIS YEAR:  I cured the cat scratch fever plaguing a pair of antique chairs.

Linen Christmas Pillows

Natural fabrics were BIG this year, but I buck the burlap trend and opt for smooth linen with these Christmas pillows.

Dumpster Divin' Vanity

Yup, I pulled this one from the curb!  She had a solid body, great lines and didn't deserve the trash heap yet.

DIY Mannequin

I thought everyone would laugh at this one, but I bet there were a few people who started rummaging through their underwear drawer after reading this post.

Child's Rocker Overhaul

A friend building her own photography studio finally kicks me in gear to fix up an old garage sale find.

Shiny Brass Vanity Light Makeover

I blow the budget on a powder room makeover, but it wasn't on new lighting!



I'm linking up...

Bottlecap Tambourine

I love giving homemade gifts as much as I love receiving them.  On a trip to our favorite junk antique store this summer, my husband saw a tambourine-like thing made from vintage bottlecaps.

Now, being an amateur musician with a home recording studio set up in a spare bedroom, he loves noisemakers, the more primitive, the better.  He was intrigued by the design but not the price tag, so he asked if I could make something like it.  "Sure!" I said.

Then, he loaned out the miter saw.  Humph!

I managed to get the miter saw returned to us right before Christmas and I whipped out a tambourine in an afternoon.  Here's how:

I'd been collecting bottlecaps for another project for some time, so I had plenty on hand.  I tried just pounding with a hammer to flatten them, but I found it was easier to use pliers on them first to pull out the crimped edges.

Then, I could go after them with a hammer.



I keep an old cutting board on hand, which makes a great work surface.

I used a large nail to pierce a hole in the center of each bottlecap.

I had some scrap pieces of 1x2 in the garage and used the bottlecaps to measure how long to cut the wood.  Then, I raided my jewelry-making supplies for some long headpins.

I clipped the head off the pin, and then twisted one end into a loop.  If you had an eyepin, you could skip this step.

I pre-drilled small holes in the wood and threaded the wire and bottlecaps through it.  After setting the second piece of wood on top, I clipped the excess wire, looped it, and pounded both ends of the wire into the wood.  I used a nail set to really get the wire embedded into the wood and smeared a little wood putty over it.  I wanted the overall effect of the shaker to be rustic, so I wasn't worried about hammer marks or a little wire showing through the finish.

I gave the whole thing a good sanding and painted it with black acrylic craft paint.  Finally, I sanded the edges one more time to expose a little bare wood and finished with a rub-on polyurethane.

When Mr. Tallgrass unwrapped it, he beamed and pronounced it was his favorite Christmas present.

I knew it would be.  :)

 

I'm linking up...

Chocolate Dreams

On a trip to New York City, my husband and I ate at some overpriced restaurant before going to a Broadway show.  It was a nice enough meal, professional service, blah, blah, blah.  When it came time for dessert, the waiter flourished a bowl of fruit and said, "Perhaps the lady would care for some lovely fruit for dessert?"

Now, I like fruit.  But I'm from the Midwest.  Fruit, no matter how ripe and luscious, is not a restaurant dessert in my book.  Serve it at brunch.  Eat a quick bowl for breakfast.  Enjoy for lunch when tired of salad.  Have some for a snack.

But it's just not dessert.  I'd rather eat cheese for my final course, like the French, before I ordered a bowl of fruit.

Bless Mr. Tallgrass, I'm sure he saw my look of dismay.  He leaned over to the waiter and said in a mock-whisper:

"The lady likes CHOCOLATE."

Oh yes!  I LOVE CHOCOLATE.  The more, the richer, the darker, the better.

And that's what I was thinking when I saw this brocade.  Rich chocolate goodness.  Had to have some of it!

It's satiny and delicious.  It could be yours too because I made an extra for Etsy.



And what did Santa bring me for Christmas?

I must have been a good girl this year.  :)

Merry Christmas!

"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred,
and we are better throughout the year for having,
in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime."
~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Altered Composition Books for Journaling

Mr. Tallgrass and I love to travel.  And we've been fortunate to visit some beautiful places.  More importantly, we always felt that it was the JOURNEY that was the most fun, not just the destination.

It's easy to remember the big stuff, like the time we saw Prince Charles at the Tower of London.

The "locals" in the crowd around us didn't get all that excited.  One woman said seeing Prince Charles wasn't a big deal, but when Diana was alive, seeing her was a thrill.  Wonder what kind of reception Wills and Kate are getting these days?

And my husband won't let me live down how I took a nap in this courtyard at the Louvre.

Hey, in my defense, we tackled the Louvre on the first full day in Paris (read: jet lag!) and Mr. French History Major had to look at every stinkin' statue and portrait of every dead French king in the place.

And then there was the time we were at the beach in Barcelona and we saw a guy walk to the water, fully dressed, stripped down to NOTHING and waded right in.














What, were you looking for a picture?  Sorry, I'm running a clean blog here, so no photos of that one!  :)

But, there are just some memories you can't capture with a camera, so on our more recent trips, we began journaling as well so we could remember the quirky, little details.  We love to sit in a cafe in the evening and recount our day, taking fast, snapshot-like notes in a composition book, and some days, we journal in our hotel room, aching feet dangling off the bed.  We just keep adding to the same book, and we enjoy spending our time waiting in airports recounting past trips in anticipation of the journey ahead.  It's amazing how much you can forget over the years!

So I decided to deck out our travel log.

All it takes is an old atlas, lot of glue and plenty of patience.  I finished the outside with acrylic sealer.  The inside covers are pages from the index of the atlas.  Then, I added a cute bookplate.

We're ready for our next adventure!  In the meantime, I'll dream of France...

Or maybe Spain and Portugal,

Or perhaps Italy?

I made some extras to share in my Etsy shop.  Where would you like to go?