Six Un-important things!

I've been tagged by Jenny over at Back Woods Wife for Six Un-important Things!

The rules for this meme are: (1) Link to the person that tagged you. (2) Post the rules on your blog. (3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. (4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. (5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Here goes:

1. I learned to knit LONG before I learned how to crochet- 5 years before! Yet I think I'm already better at crochet. Hmmm... does this mean crochet is easier? Or am I a natural with the hook? :)

2. I just love to watch the morning show on NBC. It reminds me of being home with my momma and drinking a cup of coffee watching together. I think this also stems from me being very much NOT a morning person and not wanting people to talk to me before a certain hour each day... tee hee. I'm getting better though- I can now hold a conversation with Colin before he heads to work.

3. I have a kitty curled up next to me, who looks like he's reading what I write. I wonder...

4. I usually have a "to read" list a mile long.

5. I hate tomato sauce. And pasta sauce. And pizza sauce. But I love fresh tomatoes and ketchup. Silly.

6. Finally... Having a completely disorganized house bothers me not at all, as long as the kitchen and bathroom counter are shiny, sparkly clean. Of course, I do think it does bother Colin, so I try to keep the *whole* house neat :)

I tag: Tilly, Sommer, Rachel, Emily, and Sara!

Stash Valentines Retro Apron!

After being extremely inspired by the lovely aprons on the sewing board, I decided I *must* have a spiffier apron. I was determined to do it without spending any money, so this is a true stash project- every bit of it. I didn't have enough of any one fabric, so I ended up combining three- the white and black polka dots I squeeeeezed out of some scraps, and I was so happy to find both red and pink bias binding in my craft drawers. Once again, I didn't have enough of either, so I ended up using both. I really like how the finished product turned out. I used my Retro Apron pattern from McCalls, but changed it up quite a bit, taking out the back piece since I hate putting things over my head, and made the skirt full and longer instead of straight. I hope I can inspire someone else in turn. :) Here's a shot of the back:

Penguin Pants

I'm almost ashamed to post the fact that I've been working on these for about six months. Terrible. I cut them out for hubby's birthday... in June. Wow. (Hangs head in shame) I finally sewed them up yesterday, after reading a very convicting blog post on a procrastinating spirit. I hopped up and away from the computer, freshly humbled about a project my very sweet and always giving hubby had asked me for. Here's the final product:



Isn't he just precious? Hubby's mom bought him penguin sheets when he was toddler. These are them. And yes, he slept on them. Until we got married and he had to give up his twin bed. :) He's both very frugal... and very much likes penguins. I cannot boast of ever keeping set of sheets so long.
So I promised I would salvage what I could from said sheets and make him some pajama pants to remember them by. I was almost afraid they would fall apart, but I was able to get plenty of solid pieces without holes or terribly worn spots for the pants. I'm so glad I read that post!

Delicious!

Nothing smells quite so good as blueberry cobbler baking in the oven! I used a bag of frozen organic blueberries and halved the recipe- we don't need any more cobbler than this :)
It turned out very yummy, and topped with some rGBH free Ben and Jerry's "Fair Trade Certified Vanilla" ice cream, it was delicious. Tee hee.

Oh, Heather!

I can't help but be inspired by Heather Bailey's blog. It's just hours of craft fun. So when I saw her newest project, the valentines topiary, I thought I had to try to make one for myself!

First I gathered some Valentines scrapbook paper. And of course, my best crafty helper, Ari.

A new little topiary ball to hang in the breakfast room.

A few touches of Valentines!

I normally don't get that excited or decorate much for Valentine's Day- but this year I had to put out a few touches...

A heart shaped candy dish and Valentine's table runner- and yes, I actually picked all the red and silver candies out of the "Leftover Christmas Candy Ziploc". I'm thinking I'll put out the green and silver ones for St. Patrick's Day... :)

A little sign my momma gave me... hanging with the spoons!

And well, of course, a red rose wreath.

And this isn't "Valentine-sy" at all, but I redid our mantle to match the blue wall. Yay for Michael's craft store half off flowers! I bought ten clear glass votive holders at Ikea (2 for a dollar, I think...) a year ago or so, putting them away for later. It's one of the best ideas I've ever had- I use them for every holiday and it is very inexpensive to put different colored candles in them!

Cozy Koozie

Here it is all said and done :) Not much for the looking though! Does anyone know how to dye cotton naturally? I'm thinking with a little color it might be more fun!

I just double crocheted and stitched it together in the back. If you want to learn to double crochet, I highly recommend the Lion Brand Yarn website! Sweet Rachel taught me the basic crochet, and then I learned the rest from the site.

"Klean" Water Bottles

I've been drinking out of Nalgene water bottles for about 6 years. I thought they were a great way to make sure you got all of your drinking water in for the day. Not only did I drink water out of it, but I'll admit... a few times juice... and it definitely went into the dishwasher too. Recently I was reading on the Green Guide about how Nalgene water bottles have been shown to leach into drinking water. Eek! This was certainly bad news for me. And it turns out it's even worse to put them in the dishwasher and expose them to high temperatures. And it's bad to put juice in them too. Oh no.

Well... I've found a new water bottle! It's safe for even hot liquids and juice. I've been using it all this week, and it's been great. The only downside is when you put cold water in it... the stainless steel is very, very cold to the touch! So today I've started crocheting a cover for it. And what am I using to crochet a cover?

Why, organic cotton of course!


Here are some articles just in case you are a fellow Nalgene user:

Organic Consumers: Nalgene

The Green Guide: Nalgene

The Dreaded Green Wall

There once was a wall in an apartment.... This wall was terribly green.

It made the living room an awful scene.

It was the color of... a green bean.

A wife asked a sweet hubby pleeeease paint it. She wanted something more... serene.

He surprised her and and taped it off... It was the opposite of mean. :)

He worked ALL day, like a machine!

He primed it white, without any caffeine.

Then he painted it blue! The wife was as happy as a queen.

This new marine....

It looks so clean.

Nesting

Recently I've been on a little home re-decorating kick. I'll be posting pictures as we accomplish things! It's been so much fun already. One of my ideas is to fill one of our walls with old pictures- wedding photos of grandparents and parents and such things. Here are a few of what we've collected so far. I still want many more!

My parents. Precious!

My husband's great-grandparents wedding photo. I love how back then you just wore your "best dress"!

Me and my brother.

My husband's grandparents... My absolute all-time favorite wedding photo. I just LOVE her cat eye glasses and fabulous dress!!