Put Away and Give-Away

Remember the picture from last week of (one of) my crafty area(s)?

I actually took that mid-December but it hasn't looked any better since then. Til today.

Check. It. Out. Did it in bits and pieces over the last three days.

I'm so proud. Because for a change, I didn't just shove things from one pile into a nicer-looking pile--or into a box somewhere else. There's actually a plan. Not that said plan won't easily be buried beneath layers of future projects. But hopefully, I can cycle back to this plan--and its calm-inducing orderliness--on a regular basis. Ask me in a month or two. But here's the plan...

Other fun news. Recently, I won my first ever "bloggy giveaway" and my winnings arrived in the mail yesterday. In honor of the approaching Chinese New Year, a pair of scrumptious desserts (of the truly no-calorie variety), from a hugely talented crafter, Lorraine! (Yes, I took the picture with my laptop screen showing my winning number that was picked. Yes, I'm a dork.)
The delicacy on the left is a "pineapple tart," a traditional Asian dessert around CNY. I can't believe how perfectly Lorraine replicated them in felt and fleece. Here's what they look like in edible form (image found at KitchenSnippets blog, full of scrumptious-sounding recipes!).

And I assume the delicacy above on the right needs no introduction, though I do love that she called it a "Prosperity Donut", again in honor of CNY. Here's some more of the donuts she made last year. (If you want to feel amazingly inferior be amazingly impressed, check out the Donut-Shop-On-The-Go she made for her girls, complete with hats, bags, tongs, trays and more. And she makes cardboard... stuff. My kinda' gal!)

Hmm, I think I'm hungry...

P.S. Maybe I should have a give-away one of these days. Just have to find/pick/make something to give away...

I'm back...

It’s been about 5 months and now it’s time for me to jump back in. Not sure where to start (I’ve been sewing up a storm ever since making Jana a camera case in August), so I’ll pick up where I left off…

The playhouse (here you go, Karee) -- that’s how it looked at the end of the summer. Porch done, shingles on, door latches finally installed, window still needs some work. (Notice the window frame laying there on the porch?)
Now it's covered in and surrounded by about 6 inches of snow. And I forgot to bring in all the stuff that was inside! Oops.

The trip I went on to Cleveland in June (that is part of the reason for the long break) is still having fantastic ramifications in my life – yay! It’s always nice when your “mountaintop experience” doesn’t fade into forgottenness after only a week or so.

And my kitchen counters? Well, see for yourself. Here's a reminder of what they looked like in July…

And this is what they looked like last night! Tada! See all the vast improvements? (Other than turning off the flash!)

No really, demessing progress is being made. I’ll get there. See, this is what it looked like after I gave it a little attention tonight. Aaaahhh…

And as my "reward" for tidying up instead of sitting on the couch eating bonbons leftover Halloween candy (I should probably throw that out now, eh?), I worked some more on Lumpy the Elephant and wrote up this blog post. I'd like to show you Lumpy and his sidekicks (I need some advice), but that will have to wait for another day. In the mean time, I’ll show you a project I finally finished over Thanksgiving at my in-laws. I'd already finished the angel, hobby horse, and dove and had cut out all the parts for Santa... back in middle school! As in, 20 or so years ago! I'm really happy I finally completed the set! By the way, to my friend who shall remain nameless: rick-rack is the zigzag trim these ornaments are covered in.
So, here's to finishing, not just starting stuff! Anyone else have a project (crafty or otherwise) that you should REALLY finish up? Any chance it'll get done before Christmas?

Kids' Coat Rack Shelf Thing

Ken's finally home again, arrived late Thursday night. Then, Saturday, we had a "pirates & princesses" birthday party for Heidi, but since I haven't downloaded those pictures yet, I'm posting another past project, staying with the rain theme from last week: a shelf I made, with hooks for the girls coats and umbrellas. This is no woodworking masterpiece or home dec showcase piece, but that's kinda why it makes me so happy. It's not "perfect" but it's "good enough." I made it without endless planning and researching, just during an afternoon after decluttering our entry and realizing we really needed a spot the girls could reach to hang their coats. And best of all, I only used stuff I already had around the house:

• piece of wood from the odds-n-ends pile in the garage; not really wide enough to be a "shelf" but good enough
  
• some fabric from my free stash to cover the stains, etc on the wood; not really what I would've picked if purchasing but good enough
  
• some L-brackets bought for a project about 10 years ago which was never even started; not super sturdy but good enough (esp. considering the dinky width of the shelf)
  
• leftover hooks from the coat rack/cubby thing hanging higher and to the left of this little one (it's hard to see in the mini-picture of it here, but the 6 hooks along the front had seemed too busy to me, especially since there were already 8 along the back, so I only attached 2 when I assembled it. And surprise, surprise, 2 years later I was able to find the other 4 I hadn't attached!); more than good enough, they're great!

What I'd really love to do is make a coat rack/cubby thing that matches the one we already have except with 3 cubbies ('cause we ain't having a 4th kid!). I salivate just thinking of the measuring and sawing and routing, oh the routing, that would be required. But by the time I actually get that done, the girls will all be tall enough to reach the IKEA one we already have or maybe even off in homes of their own by then! So the dinky, thrown-together shelf it is! : )

Slicker Suzie

This is Day 9 (of 11 total) of Ken being out of town. I have put almost all thoughts of "making stuff" out of my head, concentrating instead on surviving a week-and-a-half of solo parenting and making sure my kids are clothed, fed, and generally happy (including my one-year-old with chickenpox. Yes, chickenpox. Which she got from me. So it's really my own fault, but that's a whole different post...)

Anyway... I'd still like to post something on this blog. So, in honor of the rainstorm that's going on outside and the simplifying and decluttering that's going on inside (mostly after the girls are in bed!), allow me to introduce you to Slicker Suzie.

What does she have to do with rain? Well, hopefully, that's obvious. I'd thought about making her an umbrella, but with the hat and the coat already, I figured the girl was adequately protected!

And what does she have to do with decluttering? Well, a while back, I was sorting through the linen closet. I found a clothes peg. Made me think of the blog post I'd seen recently (and have no idea of the address anymore, wish I did) where a mom and daughter made cute little clothes peg dolls to give as birthday gifts. Hmm, I should tuck this away somewhere so I can make a little doll... Sort, sort, sort some more. I found two plastic gloves. Not a "pair" of plastic gloves, since that would mean a right and a left. Nope, my two were both lefties, with no righties to be found anywhere. (Which is really quite fitting: In dancing, some people are said to have two left feet. In the same vein, when it comes to housekeeping, I've got two left hands. So it figures that I'd have two left-handed gloves, right?)

Old Karin would have said Gee, I'll just put these right back in the closet. I'm sure I'll find a match someday. And in the meantime, if I pull really hard, I bet I can fit my right hand into one of these. New Karin however said Ooh, I bet gloves are not that expensive at Target, if I decide I even want a new pair. These are getting tossed! Hooray for New Karin. Keep it up!

But New Karin is not yet fully developed and could not toss the gloves without thinking there must be something that they were still good for. Saw the clothes peg. Thought "rain slicker." So when the closet was done, I rewarded myself with a bit of scissors and glue time. With two young helpers at my side, I decided I better scrounge up another peg so they could make a doll too. Wish I had a photo of that one!

Oh, and why Suzie? (Other than the alliteration with slicker?) Because when I was a little girl, I knew exactly what my first daughter's name would be: Suzie. And my second daughter's name? Susanna. Oh yes. Suzie and Susanna. Clearly, I didn't understand much about nicknames at the time...