Short & Sweet - My New Entertainment Center

On or Around 2004 I bought an entertainment center. A really, really heavy entertainment center - for $450 from a furniture store called Meeley's. I love this entertainment center - but it:

a) now goes with nothing we own
b) was built for a non-flat screen tv (read: the tv doesn't actually fit) and
c) was too big for our room.

So we haven't used it while we've been in this house. I think maybe for a month or two in the beginning, but not now. And you should know I hate our current (but free) TV stand. It's plastic and black so it picks up all the dog and cat hair. Plus it was open at the bottom, not great for baby-proofing. While it is modern looking, I sill don't like it - its a little cold. So I asked the husband to modify the one we've kept down the basement. If it didn't work - then oh well. But if it did - well I may just have a darling (and still free!) entertainment center.

So after years of those hints, nudges, and requests (think "All I want in life is a nicer entertainment center... *SIGH*"), he pulled out the Sawzall and cut my dreams down to size (bu-dum-dum). And its BEAUTIFUL!

Here's the before - on the left there used to be a glass door - but I wasn't quick enough with my camera.

And the current state... He cut just above the cabinet doors and just below the top 'finishing' piece - and then fused the two together with a little husband magic. Seriously - you wish you had one of those magic husbands, don't you? Sorry, you can't have mine.

If we get tired of it as an entertainment center, it can double as a window bench... and just look at all that storage!! I can't even begin to tell you how stoked I am.

It still doesn't match our other things - the living room is black and cream and grey and currently red (but maybe soon that will turn to orange...). And it does have scratches on it from not taking care of it. So we'll have to paint. This is what we're thinking: a cream top (to hide the dust & dog hair), and the black bottom (which definitely makes it heavy, but it 'goes' with all our other pieces!)

And just for fun, here's the piece in some more funky colors to give us options. Orange - I think the potential orange I would pull in would be a little more 'burnt' than this - but you get the idea. I think we may redo the coffee table in the accent color though... decisions, decisions.

And red - to match the current accent decor. I think it looks too country in red.

PS- yes, I know, our basement is gross.

Another Item I'm Counting As Green

Happy Environment Week!

The only thing that sucks to me about painting is the cleanup. I hate that we have to scrub the brushes and scrape and waste water to clean up the paint tray - or just throw the inserts away later. I hate how the paint tray ends up looking like something I don't want to use - rusted and scratched. But now I don't have to hate those things anymore. Look what we found.

The paint tray is coated in Teflon - and the paint drys on it enough to just peel off. Yeah. Its completely awesome. Sorry the paint happens to be the same color as the tray... I'm sure you get the general effect.

Lunchskins: Creepy name, seriously awesome product.

Every Christmas and birthday I get spoiled. My family is way to awesome and give me all the stuff (and much more) than I could ever imagine. And its certainly not the money behind the gifts - its the thought. So when I got three Lunchskins, I was beyond excited. Haven't heard of them? Let me introduce you to your new best friend: dishwasher-safe, reusable sandwich and snack bags. They come in different sizes and patterns. And the fact that I'm never going to buy disposable sandwich bags again is just too much excitement for to contain. I love pulling them out of my lunch tote every day at work. Its like my own personal love note that my mom and dad used to send me on my napkin or pressed into my sandwich.

http://www.lunchskins.com/

College Pillows

I found this in my 'to-post' file from last year. Whoops! 

We had gotten a few free t-shirts (that we'd never wear except for yard work or painting) and I found a great way to repurpose some of my things! I made them into pillows and sent them to my brother-in-law (who had played football at Elon) and sister-in-law for their apartment.

In an effort to be totally green, I didn't even buy stuffing. I just took an old mis-matched bedsheet that was torn (and not usable other than as a dropcloth) and some of our old t-shirts (that were headed for the scrap pile anyway) and cut them into little squares. I used them to make the stuffing. I then sewed the t-shirt into a pillow and stuffed it full of the fabric scraps. It took a while, but was fine to do while watching TV. Plus it was totally free.

The only thing I would change? I would use sweater scraps or something light and fluffy next time; the t-shirts and sheets made the pillows really heavy and took a while to get enough to fill up the two 17" square pillows.

Where Cameras Go To Die

A few weeks ago I was checking out a local thrift store and came across this display of cameras for sale. Cameras that will likely never be purchased, as so many of us already have at least one of these in our own homes, and everyone is moving away from film. It made me a little sad to see this camera graveyard (as I snapped a photo with my iPhone). I looked to see if there were any ones with a cool factor for decorating purposes, but not this time.  I would have picked up a poleroid camera just for the baby to experience later if they were still selling the film. The green in me wants to scream, but I guess its just the necessary cycle for technology.

Repurposing and Reorganizing The Food Closet

One of the first things I recognized when we moved in 5 years ago was the need for a new pantry storage system. The one we inherited was makeshift and didn't even go all the way across the pantry (it left about 1/2 a foot or more of space! The shelves were wobbly, and things would often fall through the slots (i.e. hot chocolate packets) . All of this made it very hard to see what we had (which made me buy more!)

But we didn't want to fork out the dough for a new shelving system. So we waited. And waited. And WAITED.

Then we redid our closets and had a VERY long shelf left over. I asked my husband to repurpose the shelf into 4 separate ones that could give us more space in the pantry, and he surprised me with this one day when I got home from work!

Hello organization! I still need some storage solution (carts or baskets or tubs) for the floor and the door which has our lunchboxes, soda and formula. But I can now see everything! All the canned items are together! All the breakfast items are together! All the pastas and rices are together! All the baking items - guess what? They're together!! And of course, it was another 100% free project that was saved from the landfill. Go Green!

THAT was a good present.

I've Been Hanging Around - and Repurposing Things!

Wow, its been a while. My bad. In my defense, I've been busy doing projects and getting ready for the holidays- and I have been 'capturing' these moments - just not sitting down to post about them!

A few weeks ago, the hubby gave me a present: my very own tool set. I took this as a subtle hint that he was tired of me waiting for him to help me hang, hammer, and level things that need to be done. So I took that opportunity to cross off a few of my projects. The one I'm most proud of is hanging a headboard and bedside lamps. 

BEFORE

AFTER

We've been long admiring headboards in magazines, store windows and on TV shows (hello Parenthood!) But we couldn't settle, and didn't want to shell out for a headboard. So after our recent bathroom demo, I took the salvaged tall closet door and saved it for our headboard. I was originally thinking of recovering it (and still may one day), but am loving the reclaimed modern look of it- which goes with our floating night stands.


The door was actually two seperate cabinet doors stacked one on top of the other and held together by a thick scrap piece of wood. That unfortunately stuck out too much and interfered with hanging the door flat on the wall. So I took the hinges (that had once held the door on the cabinet) and used them to hold the two cabinet doors together! And who doesn't love a free (and green) headboard?

We also needed some better lighting and more space on those tiny (but space-saving) night stands. Things were just not fitting between the cell phone, alarm clock, baby monitor and books. We picked up these two inexpensive plug-ins from Ikea.

Both the headboard and lights required drilling, anchors, hammering, screws, tape measure and a level. But it was so worth it!

Time Keeps On Ticking, Ticking, Ticking - Into The Future...

14 days from today is McNugget's due date. If he or she doesn't decide to pull up stakes he/she will be evicted in 21 days. Hooray!

But in the meantime, I'm playing the waiting game. Its pretty much my only activity that I have been permitted to do. I'm sneaking in doing laundry and light cleaning here and there -but really, I'm not able to do much more than that. But with energy through the roof, I really am in need of keeping my hands and mind away from idle... hence the nursing covers and shopping cart covers from last week.

To quote my mom "good Lord, please let this baby come before she sews something else!" Well, sorry to say, the baby hasn't come yet so I picked two new projects - which didn't take very long, but had FANTABULOUS results. I'm still dancing around the living room in celebration of them.


The first project was to reupholster my kneeling chair. The second was to recover my computer chair (I'll post more on that later this week). I picked the chair up off of freecycle - having wanted one forever, but not willing to spend $70 to buy it. The fabric was pilled (as the girl mentioned in the ad), but all in all the chair was in great shape. She left it on her front porch so I just picked it up while I was in the neighborhood.

So I just unscrewed the four bolts from each the top and bottom, then cut fabric to fit, pulled it tight on the chair and stapled. I like to alternate sides for stapling so that my fabric doesn't get too short in any one direction. I save the corners for the end - creating small tight pleats.



All told the chair was done in under an hour - and for the cost of 1/2 a yard of upholstery fabric ($5). Doesn't it look superb?!?

"Seamingly" Thrifty Sewing - Part 2

"Sew" what did I do with the rest of that Ikea duvet cover? I made a shopping cart cover of course! I'd never been around a shopping cart cover, but my dad swore it was a lifesaver and the husband said EVERYONE has them. Well, then, if everyone has them, mcNugget and I can't be left out in the cold as outcasts, can we?? (The shame we would feel!) I didn't even know we were missing out - I hadn't thought to register for one.

Anywho, since I'd never experienced the glory of a shopping cart cover in person, I needed a pattern. None free online - well none useful to me who couldn't understand the darned thing without seeing one in person. So off to the store I went to buy a fancy-schmancy McCall's pattern and some elastic (I had all the fabric at home).

The cover is actually 3 layers. Top, bottom (aka the 'contrast') and batting in the middle. Well guess what, I didn't have the batting - or rather I probably do, but I couldn't find it - so I used thick fleece instead.

I cut out the rounded square (a squoval?) from all three fabrics, stacked them and stitched them together inside out, and then turned them right-side out. The pattern did a pretty good job of walking me through cutting and what to layer where (though I made an error in judgement of layering and had to unstitch the whole darn ring... whatever, practice makes perfect.) I even sewed up the edging and got the elastic in the band without any problems.

When it came to finishing of the leg holes, however, the pattern confused me, so I jimmy-rigged it. No one will be looking that closely to that part anyway. I also nixed the fancy pockets and belt straps to save myself time. Heck, I didn't even register for a cart cover in the first place- why does it need bells and whistles?

Here's my finished product. Isn't it awesome? Bonus, it's "green" from that reclaimed material, cost me a pattern and under two yards of elastic (I shelled out a whopping $10). I already had the 'contrast' (underside) fabric and the fleece for the 'padding'. It took me 2 evenings - one for cutting and the other for sewing. Now that I understand it, it would probably only take 1 night for me to make another.

Seriously, this was magical fabric. What else do you know that can turn from a bed comforter cover to a boob cover and a germy shopping cart cover in the course of 3 days? I am totally taking this to the store this weekend to see how it fits in their carts.

"Seamingly" Thrifty Sewing - Part 1

One of the things I didn't get at my baby shower - (gasp - can you believe there was something that I didn't get in all that stuff?!?) - was a nursing cover. Sooooo my sister advised me to make one and I quickly agreed. I have heaps of fabric remnants in my craft room - so all I would need was an old double ring belt.



Said sister and I ventured then over to the thrift store to donate some clothes and books (thereby clearing out a smidge more of our house) and came across a heap of fabulous belts at somewhere around a hefty $0.50 each. I knew the raspberry colored one would be perfect for some of the old fabric I had. We also came across the most awesomest (yes spellcheck, that's a word) orange fabric that used to be an IKEA duvet cover for a twin bed. The fabric cost $5, and I scored another bright orange belt to match; then I was off to the races with a HUGE smile on my face for my purchases.

For nursing cover 1 - aka the "winter" nursing cover, I used an old curtain panel that I had made a few years back which had a more heavy-duty fabric. I already had sewed up the sides and even had spent the time giving it a muslin backing. Finishing the cover would simply be a matter of cutting away the hook end and stitching up the new open end.

Then I took the belt, cut about 8" off of the ring side, and sewed it in between the front layer and the muslin. Way too simple, and hello, it cost maybe $0.50.

So onto my "pricey" summer version of the nursing panel. This one used that fabu ikea duvet and the orange belt. I just cut away a square corner of the material (so that two of the sides were still stitched together) and sewed in the belt. The fabric is cotton and stretchy, light, and airy - and I made it intentionally smaller so I wouldn't be sweating with a baby and all that fabric. I did need both sides though to make sure it really did act as a cover. Heck, you could even use a large pillow case or two to make these.

This one was a portion of the $5 panel and the $0.50 belt. Even if I threw away the rest of the unused material, that's a far cry from the $35 one that all the other moms will be sporting at the park. AND it's green since it's reused stuff. (Hooray!)

And here's me modeling it on my very pregnant belly.

But of course it would look better on someone else. Enter my very willing (and adorable) model:

Just don't tell his dad - he's afraid that life as a model will ruin his street cred.

Outdoor Herb Garden!

The husband did something wonderful for me this week- he surprised me with my first raised-bed square-foot garden. I had visions that 2010 would be host to a full-on victory garden at our house; with my own homemade compost, herbs and veggies grown from seed, etc. But then mcNugget, the bathrooms and the heat got in the way.

When we got a slew of wonderful herbs as favors from my baby shower, I had a couple of doubles - and not enough window to put them in. So enter in the square foot garden. In under 30 minutes, he had constructed the 3'X3' bed below from scraps in our basement. There is something seriously sexy about being married to such a handy man... it just makes him so much more manly. Top that off with his ability to read my mind about the style, then make it appear for free - and without any nagging on my part... yeah, its better than an ice cream sunday to this 9 month pregnant woman.

So once it was built, the rest was up to me (since he was at work and I was desperately excited to get the project done). I actually went to the streets for the next step - and picked up the yellowed newspaper ads lying in the street from in front of my house and the neighbors (which had been bothering me for a few weeks). (Note: I cleaned up the neighborhood AND got weed-deterrent for free... self high-five!). Then I laid them out right over the grass and gave them a good soak.

Then I filled the plot with about 6" of soil, and planted my herbs. 2 basil, 1 chamomile, 1 marjoram and 1 mint.

Note the mint is actually planted in a plastic bucket since its so invasive (left column, center row... aka "Jan Brady"), it would have taken over the whole garden. This plant was a donation from my next door neighbor Kimmie.

As you can see, I still have 4 more squares to spread to, but I wanted to keep at least one of each herb handy in their pots in the house - which is all I had window-ledge space for anyhow. The whole project only cost me $10 in dirt - which if I had the energy, would have been free also using my compost. The build took Bo 30 minutes, and the rest took me an hour... and if a 9 month pregnant woman can do it in the first days of summer, anyone can! (Don't worry, I was really careful to do this in the evening when it was cooler and not lifting anything I couldn't... the dirt was 75% relocated by hand and cup, which is why it took me an hour!)

So now I just have to water and watch to make sure none of my little beauties get heatstroke or dehydrated. I'll keep you updated on their progress!

Shower Favors: A Close-Up

The photos from the shower didn't do my party favors justice - here is a better photo of the basil plants now residing in my kitchen:

Wish me luck in learning to actually cook with them- I'm brand-spanking new to herb gardens. I am quite pleased at this opportunity to avoid having to buy basil from the "stupidmarket" that goes bad before I can use it though - its a great 'green' gift that way.

Skirting The Issue

This weekend, I finished one of my to-do-before-mcNugget projects - getting him or her a crib skirt. And by getting I mean making, though it was only out of necessity and boredom.

The bedding set we registered for at Target has been out of stock for ages, and it doesn't look like they'll get it back any time soon. The problem is, that was the only set we liked! We're really not into the whole nursery/baby-print thing, with Noah's arc and wide-eyed jungle animals. But, it may end up being a blessing because the room already had stripes in the new rug and polka dots on the glider, so another pattern (regardless that it has adorable mod hippos on it) may have fuddled up the room... well, that's what I'll tell myself since it doesn't look like we'll get it. And to tie in my un-funny pun of a title, I'm just working around the issue of not having the set that I wanted by making one that I do. :)

So anyway, I spent Saturday sewing away on a crib skirt that matched our glider. The hardest part was figuring out how to put pleats in each side, but after reading some instructions I found online, I figured it out quite quick. Below are the results, which, btw, look better in person. My cell phone camera isn't so hot when there's not a ton of natural lighting in the room!

The center panel (white), hidden by the mattress, is actually from an old sheet that I was going to send to Goodwill. How's that for being green?! Also, I accidentally got a heap of extra fabric - so I may end up making a bumper and blanket for when mcNugget is over the one-year mark.

Happy Earth Day! Green Thinking On Mulch

We have two very sizable trees (40+ year old Maple & 70+ year old Oak) on our property that are a leafy disaster come fall. Last year, my helpful hubby purchased a leaf blower/shredder combo for himself so we don't have to break our backs raking. Yeah, it was one of the best purchases we could have ever made... in one afternoon they are all easily erased from the fence-line and rest of the yard.

But what to do with two trees full of leaves? We've tried bagging them - what a waste. We tried composting them - but there are simply too many. So this year? We mulched them! I can't take any credit for the idea - all the credit gos to my man. However, it turned out absolutely beautiful! Up close it may look like a pile of shredded leaves, especially without the coloration of the dark dyed wood chips we used to buy. We'll have to get natural shredded chips for the other beds this year. But from a few paces away it looks like beautifully done mulch... My favorite parts are that it's both free and healthy for my plants! I actually wish we had more leaves to mulch the rest of our beds; we'll just have to wait another year.

Shopping Makes Me Feel Better

Not having use of many of my traditional stress outlets sucks. royally. I can't drink my wine and let loose with my friends all night. I can't go running because I have a bum foot and a big belly. I can't even imagine working harder to get what I need off my plate because at 5pm I'm really tired and ready to go home and at 9pm I'm ready for bed. Plus I haven't been sleeping well, so all of the stress from work is magnified, and I'm cranky.

So when the opportunity to spoil myself today came along, (well spoiling myself via mcNugget) I did. I just went for it. Wait until you read what I consider spoiling myself though: I spent $66 on a cloth diaper intro set so that I can try it out when he or she arrives. Yes, I'm a freak for the environment and I don't care. :) Actually, my friend sent me a link to the diapers, and I read 100+ reviews on them - then decided I wanted them. no, I NEEDED them. And buying them did the trick - it gave me an outlet - something to let myself 'go' with. Something to smile about and get me into baby mode instead of just harping on today's issues. How will I convince the hubby to use them on the nights and weekends? yeah, i don't know the answer to that one yet, but I'm really stoked anyway. Bonus? Its another green item in celebration of earth week!

Item two I've been sitting on is a new vacuum. I did tons of research online several weeks ago. His requirement being its bagless (I love you my practical, unknowingly environmental and increasingly frugal husband). My requirements that it is light-weight and works on dog hair- no, that it works on dog hair on any surface, mostly hardwood, but carpets and couches too. Oh and it has to be loved by many. So I bought the $199 canister Hoover Windtunnel vacuum. It got good ratings by consumer reports and users alike. Now my baby will be able to crawl in piece! I'll let you know if it truly lives up to all the hype when it arrives.

So the shopping calmed me down - taking me off the ledge of stress for now. Let's just hope this doesn't continue - or that we win the lotto. :)

Happy Earth Week!

This week I'm going to try 5 separate projects at home to celebrate earth week.

Yesterday I pulled out my handy-dandy lifetime supply of soap, turned it into the liquid stuff, and refilled all the soap containers and my body wash in the house. I only used 12 cups of water this time, still a bit watery. I can't believe that last batch of liquid soap lasted us this long - August until April!

Tonight I'm going to try my hand at making throw-pillow stuffings out of donatable clothes. We'll see how it goes!

Super Geeked: Crib Update

I just had my virgin experience with Overstock.com - and I'm super excited about it. Birds are chirping, the sky is blue... I just bought McNugget's crib mattress!



Okay, so I never thought I'd get geeked about buying a crib mattress - but I am. I was really hoping for a top-rated mattress that was: cost-effective, earth-friendly, easy to clean, and easy to change the sheets on. The first natural one I found in our price range was a little too thick for our crib (and when I delved further it also didn't get top ratings). I was starting to get a bit worried when the answer didn't jump out at me at my first few casual online shopping trips and trusted blog articles.


Then I discovered the Sealy Soybean Foam Core Crib Mattress. The first thing I checked is that it fit our crib. Then I read the reviews - it got 5 stars at Walmart and 4 at Amazon for its ease of cleaning and changing. It's made from hypoallergenic & renewable soybean materials, and is a lightweight foam product. Bonus? Its made in the USA. Overstock had the lowest price (under $150), free shipping, and a good return policy. So yeah, I'm pretty geeked about it. Another thing crossed off in the McNugget preparations! Now if we could find a mattress that good for me and the husband...

Giving Back (Some More)

In September I donated 6+ bags of summer clothes to GoodWill. That's both a win for the community, the environment and my closets.

Last month I ran an impromptu cell-phone drive at work - collecting 25 phones for Verizon Wireless' Project HopeLine which benefits victims of domestic violence through funding, new phones and donated cellular airtime minutes. We recycled 6 phones and countless batteries and charging cords ourselves which was both environmentally friendly and helped us clean our closets a smidge.

This month we're running a food drive at work, so I've brought in a few cans of soup and vegtables. I'll buy some more things like crackers and toothpaste when I'm shopping later this week for the donation pile.

I'm also thinking about going and volunteering at our town's Soup Kitchen for thanksgiving. Its always a little nerve racking doing something you've never done before, but hopefully it will be a good experience!

Squeaky Clean

I have connections...in the soap business. My brother knows someone who gets free sample products from one of those major beauty/food products manufacturers. These aren't the tiny sample bottles either- they are Sam's Club sized gallons of shampoos, soaps, mayo... you name it! So every couple of months we are being pleasantly surprised by random tubs of beauty products and fooding stuffs; one month we may get 10 sets of shampoos, the next month bars of soap and granola bars. My sister has donated much of her freebees (hotel shampoos and these gifts) to the local women's shelter as well. Whatever we can't use, someone can.

Seeing the 30 bars of brand-named soap on my shelf next to the 18 partially used hand soaps from all the hotels I've stayed at - I can't clean enough to use them all! But I decided to try my hand and turn some of those soaps into liquid hand soaps - something we were running low on - and without the additional chemical additives! Here's the play-by-play:


1: Heat 1 gallon of previously boiled or distilled water until its just steamy.

2: Shave 1 bar of soap until its nice and thin.

3: Add soap to steamy water, remove from heat, blend. Let sit for a few hours and make sure its well blended. 4: Funnel into soap containers.

Technically this can also be used in place of body wash (since they are effectively the same thing) but with out the $12 price tag. So one bar of free soap just saved me $12 any way I use it. It only took 15 minutes to make the soap (without the time to wait for it to sit!). It came out a bit liquid this time, next time I'll use a smidge less water.

Winter Weather in June

I'm tired of the rain. More over, I'm tired of the weird weather we've had this year. It started snowing before Halloween, and now it is mid-June and there is monster hail on the ground. Who says there is no such thing as global warming?!