Lighting the way to 2010

As you know, we bought into a "70's-chic" house. Right when we moved in, one of the things we knew we would be changing was all the brass. Nasty! Now that it's warm out, we decided to tackle the exterior sconces.

Here are the brass-tastic sconces before...

And the scary light by the back door...

And now our pretty new satin nickel sconces...

So much better and it makes a huge difference!

1 brass task down, many more to go!

Linking up to:

Show Me the Progress at Serenity Now

Summery Garden Flag

Ever notice how those store-bought outdoor seasonal flags all look so cheesy? I bought this flag pole years ago, but I never found a flag that I liked enough to actually use it. Until now! I realized I could make my own!

I was at Joann's the other day and I found these discontinued outdoor upholstery sample swatches on clearance for $1. Perfect! I would definitely suggest using fabric that can handle the weather or your flag won't last very long. I also found some matching nylon fabric that would also be able to handle the Chicago weather.

I designed this flag to have a quilt-like look, so this is the layout I worked from.
(Darn, I worked so hard to get these to enlarge when you click on them and now it's not working. If you want a pattern, just email me!)
To follow this design, you'll need:
(using a 1/4" seam allowance)12.5" x 20.5" nylon for the back
Two 2" x 16" nylon strips for the sides
2" x 12.5" nylon strip for the bottom
3.5" x 12.5" nylon strip for the top
9" x 16" upholstery fabric for the middle section
extra nylon for applique letter
matching thread

First, I cut out all my pieces and pinned the side strips to the middle section. Sew using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Then I pinned and sewed the top and bottom strips on. Note that the top strip is taller because it will be folded over later. Press open seams with a warm iron.

I printed out my letter T on the computer in a simple font. Then I placed a piece of nylon on top and traced the outline of the letter.

To stiffen the letter, I ironed a thin piece of interfacing on the back.

To applique the letter onto the flag, I set the sewing machine to a zigzag with the stitched very close together. It took a couple tries to get the ideal size stitch, so I would suggest playing with it beforehand.

Pin the letter securely to the flag.

Carefully stitch around the letter. This was pretty scary for me because it was my first real applique, but it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be.

Once I stitched around the entire letter, I left some extra thread hanging so I could tie off the ends. I used a needle to bring the extra threads to the back side of the flag.

Then I tied a few knots to hold the stitches in place.

To attached the back side of the flag, I pinned the back piece to the quilted front piece with right sides together. Then I sewed around 3 sides, but left the top open. Flip the flag around so the right sides face out and press with an iron.

On the top of the flag that was still open, I folded over about 1/2" and pinned.

Then I folded over another inch and pinned. Sew across the width of the flag using a straight stitch and be sure to reinforce at both ends. This will create the pocket for the flag to hang from.

So happy with how this came out! I can't wait to make another one!

Linking up to:












Frugal Mom x 3

Life, Liberty, Ups & Downs

Happy Memorial Day! I was so excited to put this up because it was the first thing I bought for our new house last summer while we waited to close on it.

The horror! I finally convinced Hubby that we needed a screw in the door to hang all my signs. He was absolutely against this, but gave in when he saw how much it was going to scratch the door! I put felt stickers on the back to avoid some of the scratching.

While we were hanging the sign, we decided to change out the hardware on our front door. It was brass so we ordered new brushed nickel hardware from the manufacturer.

Here's where the whole night goes bad...I tripped over the drill with a sharp drill bit in it. NO! Horrible pain! I looked down and there was blood everywhere!

I cut my two toes on my left foot so bad that it took 2 hours to stop the bleeding! In the morning I went to change the band-aid and it started up again! So I was sitting at work all day like an idiot with 2 band-aids on top of each other and my toe wrapped up in a bloody kleenex.

The weird part is that my mom dropped a gardening shears on her toe on Tuesday and my grandma broke her toe this week too. My family is cursed with toe injuries!

And on a good note, another blog award!

This one is from Jill over at Westbrooke Drive. Thank you, Jill!

I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself.

1. I'm a girly girl, but I love watching cop shows like Cops, Law & Order, Jail, 48 Hours Mystery, Lockup, etc.

2. I was a gymnast and dancer growing up and would argue with anyone who challenged me that these were not considered sports. They ARE!

3. I have a work fish named Mr. Bubbles. Yes, a work fish which means he lives at work. Coworkers come to visit him and say hi during the day.

4. I wear a size 8.5 shoe now, but when I was a kid, my feet were huge. I started wearing women's size shoes in 3rd grade. So glad they finally stopped growing!

5. I eat a bowl of cereal every single day.

6. I've never been to Las Vegas and I feel like the last person on Earth that's never been there.

7. Hubby taught me to cook. I refused to do it until a couple years ago!

I want to pass this one on to three sweet bloggers who have left me such nice comments lately.

Debbie at Where's My Rolling Pin?
Cheryl at Sew Can Do
Malia at Yesterday on Tuesday

Have a great holiday everyone! Share your ups and downs from the weekend!

You've got mail

Back in the fall when we first moved into our new house, I posted about our lovely mailbox.

While it might fit someone's taste, it's a little too feminine and girly for my house.

So after a long winter and searching for weeks for the perfect mailbox style and size, I finally found one that I liked.

I really liked this one from Restoration Hardware, but I found a very similar one for half the price!

Presenting our new mailbox...

My house is happy now.

Lovely Spring Surprises

We moved into our house in September, so we only saw the plants that were around in the fall. Nothing to special so we planned to make some changes this summer.

So imagine my shock when I found these outside one day!

Ok, so there's only one blooming plant right now and 2 that are still maturing, but I love them!

We have a small tree in front of our house and I never thought much about it. So I was shocked when I noticed purple flowers starting to come in. I have always wanted a tree with flowers ever since I was little (and purple was always my favorite)

I wish the flowers would bloom all summer so we could enjoy them even longer!

And this surprise is Kitty's favorite - We have a family of birds that lives in the tree against the house. Kitty spends hours sitting in the window watching them, so I decided to get them some bird seed. A squirrel got to it way too fast and knocked it down, but hopefully the little birds got something to eat too.

Happy Spring!

You've got mail (boxes)

Wanna see the beautiful mailbox on our house?So yes, we do need a new one. Here are some ideas I found, so tell me what you think. Here's our house from the front. We put on brushed nickel locks and will be buying matching sconces for the exterior lights.
Ace Hardware has this white one with a brushed silver medal for $33.99.

This one from Lowe's is black with a satin nickel lid and decorative medal for $29.97.


Should we go with plain black or white from Home Depot with this one for $34.97?

Plain white with a traditonal style border from Home Depot for $15.98?

Restoration Hardware has this one in satin nickel for $89.00.

This one from Lumens comes in black and stainless steel, but is it too modern for our house?

I found this one on Ebay, but it might be a little too flimsy since it's $19.95.

This one from Bellacor is really pretty, but yikes, $171.50 for a mailbox!
Thoughts?