Spring at Last

 Even though I took down my winter mantel MONTHS ago and started to fiddle with a sprint set up, nothing was working together and I let it sit being lame for several months.  Then a few weeks ago, when I'm sure I should have been doing something else, I saw it as the perfect procrastination technique and began again.

On the left.  Love my little white bird and the painted picture frames.

The right side was really giving me fits.  I found these sweet paper mache' bunnies at a yard sale, dry brushed a few light colors on them, and TA.DA.!  I love them stacked on some old books wrapped in twine.

And here's the whole, difficult to photograph, lots of orange from the wood photograph.  It looks so nice a springy!  So glad spring is really and truly here.

Curtains

You know how curtains are supposed to be really easy to sew.  Well, as we are quickly learning, nothing is going to be easy on us around here.

These simple curtains turned into a major project when we realized that they had to be lined because they were too thin and because they needed to look nice close up from the backside.  The two windows these ladies will adorn look out onto our front porch.

This isn't a great picture because it is pretty difficult to take a photo of something that is blocking the major light source to the room you are standing in.  The colors are not even close.  It gives you an idea, though.

The curtains are lined and finished on both sides with custom bias tape (read, I cut, ironed and sewed for HOURS.)  We also needed to be able to tie them up to keep them from catching on fire in the winter, courtesy of our very ugly base board heaters.  The ribbons were also made (and top sewn down both forever long sides to keep them nice and flat) from the same fabric as the bias tape.  While I will be letting them down as soon as it's warm enough to turn the heaters off, I kind of love them tied up like this right now.  They look like little French Country Girls who are holding up their skirts to keep them out of the spring mud!

They took a long time to make, but I really like how they turned out.  Now I just have to get my act together and make yet ANOTHER set for the window next to this one.

Sigh, just getting curtains in this house has turned out to be such a big job.

Punch List - Front Room

I wish there were cookies to go along with this punch. . .

In order to keep focused on what I want to do I made a list of what I need to do in each room in the upstairs.  (I have a tendency to move from one thing to another aimlessly.  I'm hoping this will help a little bit.  No one noticed that my bathroom sat with half the wall paper stripped for several months, did you?)

It's quite the list.  I thought I'd share one room at a time and include some of my wishes for each room.

Living room:

* hang curtains - I need to finish making the four panels for the front windows.
* buy a  new rug - this has to wait until more funds are available, but I am thinking about having a piece of carpet bound.  My sister had this done and it looks great.

In my dreams one of these rugs would come to live with us.

Apple House Rugs by Megan Penny Wright on Polyvore.com

FELICE SEMI-FLUSH MOUNT @ Home Decorating online shopping mall
Contemporary Area Rugs, Contemporary Area Rug Store Sale Miami,
Caspian Rug | Transitional Rugs

* paint the mirror frame and hang it properly - Right now it's just sitting on the mantel and it's tilted up to give us a nice view of the ceiling.
* more light - I have some new (to me) lamps that need a little makeover and will hopefully add more light to the room.  Who ever thought it was a good idea to leave overhead lighting out of main living rooms?  This is my third house without overhead lighting in the living room.  It's annoying.  (rant)
* hang pictures  Still not sure what I am going to do here.  I had a large wall full of frames of the boys and my family in the town house.  That's not an option anywhere here.  Also the stark white frames are a little modern for the space.  Maybe more paint.
* find new hutch and paint it - I'll post about this soon.  I really like the one that is here.  There are only two major problems with it.  1.  It needs to be painted  2. It doesn't belong to me so I can't paint it.
* make new pillows for the couches

Here are some pillows that might inspire me to get going on that one.

Apple House Couch Pillows by Megan Penny Wright on Polyvore.com

Block-Print Pillow Covers - Terra Cotta | Pottery Barn, $19
Pillows - For the Nest
Nautica Calaway Floral Decorator Stuffette Pillow - Grey
Crate and Barrel - Caney Teak 20 Pillow customer reviews - product...
giant_scallop_pillo

An Apple Wood Mantle

My sister told me yesterday that mantles and banisters are the best for Christmas decorating.  How true, right?  The Apple House has a very special mantle and banister, they are both made of apple wood from the orchard.

I have never had a mantle before, so I was very excited to get to decorate it for Christmas.

 It's not a small job.  The mantle is 10 feet long and about 5 feet off the ground, much higher than your typical mantle.  That posed some challenges.

 Off to the far right are the three little trees I made from burlap, tea stained coffee filters and buttons.  I painted a piece of scrap lumber to provide some variety in height.  I bought those cute lamb skin boots for Leo, but they didn't fit the giant baby.  Oh well, they make a charming addition to a winter themed display.  Link and I purchased the jug on our first trip to this area several years ago.  It was made by a local artist.  I would have never thought then we would be every be living over here!

 The polar bear print was a gift to my parents from my uncle many years ago.  It doesn't fit well in the style and decor of their home, and it eventually ended up in their basement.  When Link and I got married I went "shopping" for art to hang on our walls down there.  This is one of the items that I took and it has hung in various places in our homes ever sense.  I love it.  It reminds me that in nature, with no need for pretenses, the most ferocious hunters living in the harshest climate find no need to disguise sweetness and affection.
The nativity set is one of a few that I own, but it is my favorite.  You will probably laugh, but it was given to me by the younger brother of my high school boyfriend long before Link and I ever dated.  I love the simplicity of it.  I found a weathered piece of lumber to provide some height variation and to prop up the baby Jesus a bit, as the mantle is so high that you could not easily see him.

 We don't know where the giant pine cones came from.  They were in the house when we got here.  They are very cool, though.  We think they are from a Jeffery Pine, but aren't sure.  The cone tree in the back I also made.  I hot glued some leftover Detra in a cone, then covered it in craft paper and tied a ribbon around it.  Simple and cute.  To the left is another simple nativity that I made a few years ago.
All of the greenery was cut from a huge pine tree in my front yard.

 I picked up these ornaments last weekend at a craft bazaar.  The woman who makes them pours them, fires them, and paints them.  I HAD to have this one for Leo's first Christmas ornament.  Could anything be more perfect for my little chunk?

John Henry is currently loving a game we call "Amazing Tricks!"  The kid can twist himself into all sorts of crazy positions and move in ways that humans really weren't meant to.  This pose happens to be one of his favorites right now.  Perfect.

I will add the stockings I am working on under the mantle before Christmas along with my favorite advent calendar.  Link's aunt gave it to me.  Each day has a little knit hat or mitten with the appropriate number knit into it.  Inside of each is a cute hand painted ornament.  John Henry LOVES to get out the ornaments and hang them on the little tree we got for him.