Card Catalogue Craft Storage

Many years ago, when we were still in Dallas, I relieved my mom of the last card catalogue in her library. It's at least 50 years old and solid wood. It gets put in place and never moved and over the years it has mostly housed random things that I couldn't find anywhere else for.

Back in... January? February? I got inspired to actually do something aside from stack boxes in front of it and library books on it.

This is what it looked like. Not pretty, but full of potential.

My ex-brother-in-law turned it down when my mom offered it to him as a toolbox because of these holes. He has proven to be so very short sighted. A little card stock and some double sided tape later...

I used post-it flags to label intended drawers. 

Then I cut cardstock and printed labels...

This kid loves a good organization project.

The orange labels are drawers he has full access to, and he respects that the blue drawers are for Mommies and Daddies only.

After:  

That's my camera bag and some more art supplies down there.

Let's be real about what the top looks like, because this is as neat as it gets:

(that pile on the left is stain glass bunting...tutorial on its way!)

Ultimately, it's my favorite piece of free furniture to date!

If you can't find one on Craigslist and $800 is a good price for you, Land of Nod has some on offer right now.

The Old Girl is Giving You Everything She's Got...

In May, we inherited a piano that has been in my stepfather's family since it was made in 1901 (1911?)

Baz was an instant fan:

 He did not care that it was out of tune.

 He played it and played it. Well, "played" it.

I finally managed to call a cleaner/repair/tuner man and he spent 3 hours on Tuesday cleaning, repairing, and tuning.

 Movement before. I wish I had gotten more pictures of the amount of dust inside (at least 50 years in some places) but I was trying not to hover and also to keep the curious toddler out of their hair.

Movement after: note the red bits on the hammers? (The tops aren't dusty, those are felt.) We are all breathing easier knowing where we stand with this particular heirloom.

He "tuned her to where she's at" - which is "about nine cents flat." (That thing up there being clamped is a sharp/flat key that need gluing. The handle thing is a tuning tool - he's using the ear of the computer to tune; it was an impressive piece of software.

I am not possessing of a trained ear, but even I can tell it sounds better. Heck, it sounded better after it had been seen to be a shop-vac. Husband says it's lost some of its Honky-Tonk, but still "has a little Honk" and is now "Good for Blues and Gospel." SO....I'm off to find a Johnny Cash songbook. And Bill Withers. And Nina Simone.

Unrelated to the piano, the two best Blues Dances of my LIFE were to these two songs:

and (this is an awesome video, btw. Totally worth watching.)

Some Light Nesting

A while ago, on Pinterest, I ran across this image: 

(source)

(also - I totally have that orange-striped travel mug. Love it.)

It's been in the back of my brain ever since. We have an odd little cabinet that's a jumble of to-go mugs and bottles. And we've had our coffee maker and grinder shoved into another awkward corner, where it often gets trapped behind drying dishes or gets in the way of meal prep.

Our kitchen was added on to our house in 1969, the still on the up-curve of convenience food and less kitchen activity. Our landlord moved in directly afterwards and didn't touch it. I know you couldn't tell...

So before:

 Cramped award corner.

I cleaned out the cabinet before I thought to take a picture. I'd even removed one of the shelves. I was on a roll.

So notice that the fancy cabinet up there has a pot filler and, one can assume, a plug. Our house is not that fancy, but there is a plug directly beneath, so we just have to lower the maker and grinder and go to town.

The downside is that coffee (and beer and wine) taste like blue cheese and dirt to me these days. Gotta love pregnancy hormones!

Anyway, after:

 Not a total Betty, but a vast improvement.

Woot!

Not pictured - I stood on Baz's Learning Tower to reach the shelves. That thing is amazing. It's like indoor scaffolding. Two thumbs up.

We'll see how this bears out in actual practice. But I'm already quite pleased with it.

Snap Shop: A Review

FOLKS, can I just take a moment to spread some Ashley Ann Campbell love? Because as you know, a few weeks ago I invested in her SnapShop course - an online photo course designed to get beginning photographers away from the automatic setting of their fancy new DSLRs.

In the interest of complete honesty: I was not strictly a beginner. But my fancy DSLR is the first DIGITAL SLR I've owned, and the ISO control was mind-boggling, so I had been shooting to give myself control over the Aperture and Shutter Speed, but leaving my camera to do auto ISO. It did a decent job, but it was only 2/3rds the amount of control I really wanted to have. (if you care, my 35mm SLR is this one. Ashley Ann shoots on Canon, but has helpful Nikon info as well.)

As an example - here are some of my BSS (before Snap Shop) images - all fine, but none stellar. There are unedited, and I used my kit lens.  

 In retrospect - adjust the framing and the exposure.

 Again - framing, exposure...it drives me crazy that his face is so dark.

I'm ok with the framing on this one, but the exposure...whew. And now all I can see is the orange that looks like an earring.

So - then I took the plunge. 3 weeks, at my own pace, with her advice and techniques rolling through my brain. Composition, tell a story, get the exposure right, don't be afraid to use an action when the light in your office/music room is all kinds of wonky.... and while they're not perfect, I can see that it is equal parts my pushing the equipment to its limit and pushing my own technique to its limit. With practice (and better glass) my images will only improve. But what I've got now is nothing to sneeze at:

 This is a Nelly Nero Action - like Ashley Ann, I find that actions to be an amazing timesaver. Could I have sat at the computer and adjusted curves and color casts until I got here? Sure. But, as I'm sure you can tell by the frequency with which I've been posting lately, life is busy. 

Let's just say Actions are to Photoshop as Dishwashers are to dishes. (I say as someone with NO DISHWASHER. It's inhumane, really.)

Other actions/PS goodies I love can be found here and here.   

 This one is imperfect. I do not care. 

This is one of my favorites - I managed to catch this expression (he's delighted that Daddy has just come to "light" his coals) and the lighting is good and there are no weird mergers and I'm happy with the cropping. I've got this one printed and waiting to be hung already. (The little barbecue can be found here.) 

Let me just say that if she ever sets up a Snap Shop Phase Two, I will be all over it. Or even if it's Snap Shop Photo Retreats...and if we're ever in the same town, I am buying that woman coffee. Or a smoothie. Or something. Because SHAZAM...I love her.

If you're looking for tips/inspiration and you just can't wait for the next snapshop - check out her Photo Tips here. Some of my favorite inspirational images are among those posts.

PS: At the risk of just going completely gooey-centered....she's not just an amazing photographer, she's a great mom, a fun crafter, and a truly inspirational human being. If you follow that last link, make sure to read about the incubator project and what became of it - she's not only opening her home to a child who needs one, she's helping improve the lives of children she'll never meet. We should all be so lucky to have someone like her in our lives.

Tip: cleaning crayon off of wooden toys

Baz - months ago - discovered that crayons will mark on *anything.* He demonstrated as much by coloring some of his wooden diggers. This morning, I got sick of looking at them all marked up and did some googling. The suggestions ranged from "tough luck" to "scrub them with baking soda" and a lot of references to a magic eraser (which I don't have.) But I do have regular erasers, and those work like a charm. Check it out:

Before.

Yes, even Baz helped out. It's never to early to learn how to clean up your own messes.

After.

The toys are these, and as you can see, the paint cleaned up much easier than the plain wood. But that's ok. It's leagues better than it was before. When we discovered that the toys had been colored on, we explained to Baz that they were now out of the toy rotation so that I could clean them. They lived on my desk while I tried the damp cloth trick (fail) and then after about a week I decided having a clean desk trumped clean toys and they went back on the shelf - I said nothing to Baz about returning them, but he noticed their presence and happily played with them. He has not colored on a single toy since, though, so the message must have gotten through. He was very excited to have them clean today. And I'm very excited that I found a *super* easy cleaning method!

The Autonomous Child

So I'm a big fan of letting Baz call his shots. I try to respect his opinions and desires as much I do my husbands, and as much as I expect them to respect mine. I also feel that if I go with his flow most of the time, then when I need him to go with mine, he'll be more willing. It's along the lines of the "fix game." (which totally works, by the way. Especially when you follow it with "Now sit here and watch an episode of Roary while I vacuum the rest of the house." He's had dedicated mommy time, I get ten minutes of not tripping over him while he tries to help push the vacuum. Win. Win.)

Last weekend (two weekend ago?) a friend of mine suggested giving Baz access to his snacks so that we can move past the "I want it/I hate it" stage. I saw genius in this and immediately knew where to set up his section of the kitchen.

Behold - our stash. The drawer was filled with random junk (you know what I mean) and the rest was haphazard and behind the most irritating kitchen cabinet doors ever.

Seriously - do you see where the magnets are? And the pulls are in the top/center of the door? I didn't take physics, but I know that ANNOYING. So I took them off.

And yes - that's all my coke. Hush.

After!

Everything found new homes with minimal rearranging (cleaning out the junk drawer made a huge difference) and now here is his stash.

Top shelf: glasses, bowls, muffin tin (have you witnessed the genius of muffin tin meals?), two snack options, to-go cups, to-go snack holders.

Bottom shelf: pots and pans, pitcher, spoon, play food, spatulas and spoons. 

Inspired by this post, we set up a water station several months ago. As soon as his glasses were within his reach, he started filling them. 

Happy baby!

He does enjoy having everything where he can reach. He hasn't figured out that he can grab his toys and take them up on the counter with him - while he's in his learning tower - but I think we're close to that. Could be soon. And then - that'll be an interesting day, won't it...?

Painting the floor...sortof

Many months ago, one of the blogs I follow (who even knows which one - there are well over 100 in my reader) linked to this wonderful blog, where she painted the foam floor tiles that are ubiquitous in houses with kids.

Her "After" is very involved. I'm not that ambitious.

Then there was another post on another blog...again a little ambitious for me...although we have also had the foam tiles in our kitchen. Whether they will return again completely depends on my floor-cleaning schedule.

So anyway, here's my before: (from June, but fairly accurate in terms of neatness and what the floor looked like)

Pretty bright, considering the part of the house they're in. I went to home depot and got some primer and paint.

After one coat of primer:

After a second coat of primer, two coats of paint and sealer.

A friend of mine, after the last house post, said "where the crap is your tv?!?" It's that hulking tube screen in the corner back there.

I think we'll like it. And that mantel back there, it's a work in progress. Don't worry: it should be done in time for me to decorate for Christmas....

You did WHAT to your closet?

I organized it.

And BOY HOWDY did it need it.

Seriously:

 clutter

 clutter

 !!!!

much cuter to just focus on something else, eh?

So then I hit the Container Store (they do not gave two shakes that I am writing this post, btw. I just like what they've got)

 So my helpers are: 1 Garment Bag, ! package of (the wrong style) hangers, 1 actual doorstop, and shelf dividers. And a cement mixer. Gotta have that.

 Into my poor son's closet (with the wrapping paper) goes the garment bag full of bridesmaid dresses, maternity, and nursing dresses. All of my pre-pg dresses that aren't dated but fit weird are also in there. 

Then I attacked my shoes. My feet shrank during my pregnancy, so several pairs had already been passed to my sister, but a few remained...no longer. YES, i save the shoeboxes. Respect your shoes.

The view from the door - the cedar chest is accessible again!

I centered the shelf (from target for $5 a zillion years ago...it might get painted) and used the dividers - everything has a place now. To the left are pants and tops and to the right are skirst and dresses and the few pairs of shoes who have lost their boxes. I wear those Toms every day. I'm not kidding. Toms also doesn't care who I am. I love their shoes, though. 

That bag just to the left is a Christmas present for my son. I am officially my mother.

Conundrum: I have 5 American Girl dolls + clothes, accessories and..yes...some furniture. I kept it out in the hopes that a daughter would come along to play with them. That hasn't happened yet and I'm starting to worry about moths and dust and etc....anyone have any genius storage tips?

In the meantime: clean your closet! You will thank me.

A Little Porch Action

I have a single "before" shot - and it's of our brick pile:

That's actually halfway depleted - the other half having been moved several months ago...and abruptly cut off by my need to kill a black widow. It took a while to get up the gumption to go back.

But go back we did, because I hit up IKEA last friday and bought patio furniture...which necessitated the rearranging of the hodge-podge we already had.

So while I put this together:

Steve moved bricks (I helped move bricks, too, just not as many...due to the spider issue. And the child refusing to nap issue.)

The child sorted twigs for us:

And finally! It was all moved:

A bit of cleanup (and cheering) and we now have this setup:

 The hidden brick pile (we're keeping those bricks for re-use eventually) and the barrel of trash and a random folding table top and some plastic that is there to protect the concrete from the weather (or something)

  The owners old picnic table (which is halfway sanded and will be repainted) and bench, and the two folding chairs we bought from Target last year.

 (cushions, table set)

New picnic table and chairs! The wind chimes were an anniversary present from Steve's sister and her husband. I LOVE them. I had to wrap the chain in green because raw chain is just not something I could be down with when I hung it.

(bench, side table)

The front porch. We like that every piece is sized and weighted so that a single person can pick it up and move it - so when we have guests we can accommodate more people in the back where the action is.

A few other shots from around the joint:

 I got sick of what was over the mantle. Now it needs attention.

 Baz's new sand and water table. Yes, we have "shirt, diaper, socks" days a lot around here.

 Peonies growing in spite of my adoration.

Pomegranate blooms!

The peach tree and the "new" barbeque table.

Plum cherries...maybe to made into wine?

Figs

 More plum cherries

Aren't they cute as they run away? Mama does not like that I scared her babies. This brings out feral cat colony up to TEN. Traps will be procured and set when they're weaned. It's beyond time. We're the crazy cat people!