Removing the Beast

When Steven bought our house around April of 2009, there was a lot of work to be done in the yard. We pulled out a humongous cattail bush, knocked out a cement planter from the front porch, pulled up this, cut that, and removed the jungle that had taken over the space next to our shed out back.

In present day 2011, there is still a lot of work to be done in the yard.

Behind the humongous cattail bush lived an even larger shrub...this bush is so enormous it has blocked out the sun from pouring into our living room. And while I've been thankful for the privacy the bush has provided while our windows have remained blindless, it was time for it to go! It just kept growing! This shrub has become ungodly and insufferable! It has enveloped half of the front of our house!

It really wasn't that bad, but it was beginning to be an eyesore.

So, naturally, we chopped it! Here's Steven halfway through...wow, there's actually a window back there!

And after just about 35 minutes of hacking away....

See the paper towels & all purpose spray? That window was filthy!

Yikes! It's so bare now! Less is more...right? But with spring just around the corner I am fast at work learning about landscaping so we can give the front of our house a lift. It needs one desperately!

One thing I've learned more about recently is hardiness zones...check out this map that'll tell you what zone you live in.

I also read an article about the top ten landscaping shrubs. Here are some of my favorites:

Red-Tip Photinia

Picture from Sherry's Place

Liriope

Picture from Colesville Nursery

Boxwood (in a more natural form, I'm not a fan of geometrical bushes)

Picture from Pride of Place Plants



Spirea

Picture from Hav-A-Lawn & Garden

And the Dwarf Crape Myrtle wasn't on the list, but I definitely think this would be a great option to grow in my place of the beastly shrub!

Picture from Gardening Tips & Resources

My front yard to do list (constantly growing):

- Chop beastly limbs off

- Rake away fall & winter's deposits (leaves)

- Pull beastly shrub stump out

- Paint porch

- Get new storm door & install

- Hang house numbers

- Rope off future landscaping beds & create river rock edging

-Turn up soil & prep beds for planting!!

-Plant!! ...when you've got the money to buy the plants :)

Anyone have any tips? Favorite landscaping plants? Any experience with landscaping at all? I'm not desperate or anything...

Attempt at Quilting Phase 2

Now that all the fabric is successfully washed, dried and pressed(uggh hate ironing!) I have begun cutting away with my awesome tools and have really made some headway in piles of square fabric pieces.

Cutting fabric has seriously never been this easy or fun, seriously! All you do is line your fabric up on the cutting mat and use your ruler to cut the width/length to your liking. For this quilt I'm cutting 5" squares, which just so happens to be the width of my ruler. Perfect! This is the main reason I decided to go with a patchwork quilt for my first time rather than a vertical row quilt.

And, after much deliberation paired with a temporary freak out session of thinking I hated the fabrics I had chosen (and bought), I am now certain that these will be the final fabrics used for the quilt!

I'm a little bit intimidated by cutting the striped fabric & keeping it straight...eeeeek!

The piece that really made it all come together is Amy Butler's Laurel Dots in Cilantro. This fabric was given to me for a super birthday present from my great friend Allie Pyles. She got the fabric at  My Little Sunshine Fabrics! Totally made my day! Thanks Allie!!

And after cutting away...

Can you say progress?!  The greatest thing is this really didn't take long at all. I was able to cut about 4 layers of fabric at a time.

I know it looks like a ton of squares, but I'm making extra for other quilted projects like pillows or a crib bumper. And I still don't really know what I'm doing & haven't done the math to find out exactly how many squares of each fabric I'll need, so I kind of just started cutting away! 

I guess I'm for real making a quilt! 

DIY Spice Jars

My white vinyl finally came so I could complete what I thought would be a speedy project! Ta daa!

They're so cute aren't they? I used magnetic knife strips and screwed them into the top of our cabinets. Then I filled 1.5 ounce glass hexagon jars (bought here)with the spices I use most often (or the ones I thought would be prettiest on display).

Finally, I labeled my jars with lettering cut from the good ol' Silhouette SD.  

Don't mind the messy countertops...is that spilt flour?

I did think this would clear more room out of our spice cabinet, but the 1.5 size jars are pretty small, and only fit all of the spices out of those teensy containers. So needless to say, I still have half empty spice bottles hidden around. The good news is I relocated those to a different place and at least now there aren't spice bottles falling out every time we reach for kosher salt...

My inspiration for this project came from GneissSpice:

I'm linking this project up at these wonderfully creative sites:

Attempt at Quilting Phase 1

Yesterday after talking with my friend Janna, I got motivated to begin entering into the world of sewing by making my first quilt!
Last year I watched my roommate Amy hand sew her first quilt together, and if I hadn't seen that, I would be completely lost!
After work I headed over to Hancock Fabrics and spent way too much time and money there, but I feel confident in purchasing these items, which have made cutting fabric so far much easier and efficient!

1. An Olfa Cutting Mat

This mat is self healing, which basically means it's kind of gooey and when you cut into it it'll morph to fill the slice back in, neat! It's like a superhero power!

2. An Olfa Ergonomic Rotary Cutter

This is basically like a pizza cutter on steroids! It's so fun to cut with!

3. A Lip Edge Ruler

This ruler hangs on to the edge of the cutting mat & keeps things straight, kind of like a t-square ruler.

I also picked up 7 different fabrics, but I still don't feel settled...I'm going to check out Tennessee Quilts for more fabric in Jonesborough as well (thanks Janna!).

My goal is to complete a small quilt, around 3x4 feet, and possibly a matching crib bumper, but who knows, this could turn out to be a learning lesson for future projects! Kind of like when I first learned how to knit, I made a knitted piece that resembled a blanket that a hamster would use...

Here's some inspiration:

Oooh Aaaah! I love the mixture of textures used in these pieces...I tried to mimic that idea and bought some cotton chenille fabric along with two different types of corduroy (is it bad that I had to Google the word corduroy to know how to spell it?).

And let me tell you, chenille is EXPENSIVE! No wonder these quilted beauties cost $$$!

Also, what's the deal with the lowsy selection of neutral fabrics?? Things seem to either be camo or flowers & butterflies. I could hardly find any stripes or polka dots! Mmmm seersucker would be nice! Did walk away with TONS of muslin though for super cheap, and I love the natural look it has! Thanks for the tip Ashley!

I'll stay updated with pictures as things progress, so far you haven't missed much, just washed and dried the fabric and tested out my supplies!

And here's a quote shared by Make it Do:

How much piecin’ a quilt is like livin’ a life! You can give the same kind of pieces to two persons, and one will make a “nine-patch” and one’ll make a “wild goose chase, ” and there will be two quilts made out of the same kind of pieces, and jest as different as they can be. And that is jest the way with livin’. The Lord sends us the pieces, but we cut them out and put ‘em together pretty much to suit ourselves, and there’s a heap more in the cuttin’ out and the sewin’ than there is in the caliker.

 -Eliza Calvert Hall in “Aunt Jane of Kentucky”

Any quilters out there have any advice for a newby??



Happy Valentine's Weekend!

I came  home from work yesterday to find a sweet little white package waiting for me from my besty Caroline! This is what was inside...

And then some Sour Patch Kids! Yayyyy! Perfect for our drive to Birmingham today!

This VDay has been a weeklong event...On Tuesday a group of us girls got together with materials spread all over Jamie's floor and made some cards for our Valentines! Everyone also made pink and red treats, so cute! And of course we watched Glee!

Not sure what I'm so excited about here...

Some of our finished products:

And Steven and I started celebrating last weekend when he surprised me with a trip to Charleston!

The Battery Carriage House Inn

We stayed in a beautiful Bed & Breakfast across from the Battery Park...we were both really surprised when we got breakfast delivered to our room. The next day Steven realized "That's why we got breakfast because we're staying at a Bed & Breakfast. DUH! But it was our first time so it's okay :)

We walked around and looked at all the old buildings, ate at High Cotton (yum!) then we spent a little bit on the beach(saw so many starfish) and then headed to Cypress Gardens, a beautiful swamp that lets you take flat bottom boats out on your own. Scenes from The Patriot and The Notebook were shot here and you can definitely understand why-totally worth the trip! Thanks for the tip Jamie!

Now it's off to Birmingham for Samford University's StepSing and wedding dress shopping with sister in law Meredith! Please be warm weather!!!

Etsy Loves Foxes & I Really do too!

Lately I have loved foxes. They're so classy, smart & mysterious. I read an article a few days ago that came to this possible conclusion:

"Early humans may have preferred the fox to the dog as an animal companion, new archaeological findings suggest."

I remember reading Fantastic Mr. Fox by my favorite childhood author Roald Dahl (although I must admit that James & the Giant Peach was my favorite, followed by Boy, plus I never read BFG and I know it's gonna be good).

Steven and I own the recent movie directed by Wes Anderson...Mr. Fox's way of thinking reminds me of my husband, Steven.

Watch the trailer here

We're dorks about movies we can't wait to buy. If either of us says nonchalantly "I would own that one day" what we really mean is "I LOVE THIS MOVIE!"

I will never forget the interaction the Grizzly Man had with Timmy the fox! You've got to watch it! I want one!

I have only seen mere glimpses of foxes in real life, except for the morning I saw a beautiful red-coated fox on the side of the road :( .

Anyways, I love foxes and etsy does too!



1. Natural Cotton Tote Bag by darkcycleclothing

2. Fox Fine Art Print by eastwitching

3. Mr. Fox Plush Pattern by wilsons

4. Foxes in a Balloon Print by papersparrow



1. Fox Pillow Cover by FreeBirdShoppe

2. Fantastic Mr. Fox by erosinc

3. Fox Ornament by HandyMaiden

4. Forest Friends Finger Puppet Set by stayawake


How amazing is this sock fox from blabla Kids?!

Did I mention I love all things fox? And all things etsy too of course!

Have you ever seen a fox?