While she slept...

A cure for what ails you

2010-02-18T13:13:00.003-05:00

I received notice today that Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn site is hosting the spring Kitchen Cure. Without hesitation, I am in! You see, I have a new kitchen (just a year and a half old). I am certain that I could clean better. I am certain I could be more organized. I think this Cure is just the thing to kick off some spring cleaning.

Will you be joining The Kitchen Cure too?

**For fun, here is a (bad) picture of my kitchen. Please ignore the things that are out of place! :) This pic is the only one I can find at the moment.

Am I the luckiest girl ever??

2010-02-16T08:43:00.010-05:00

Seriously. I feel so blessed this morning.

I woke up this morning to the sound of my six month old chatting in her crib. It's not a bad way to wake up really. She's very sweet. But this morning, I was still tired and my feet were dragging.

One of the first things I do after getting my little one situated in the morning is to check my google reader. BAM! First blog listed. I won. What? So excited!! I am sure you know of the blog, Nesting Place. I became acquainted with the Nester just a few months ago. It's one of the blogs that you find and then spend whatever time required to read EVERY POST EVER WRITTEN. Such great ideas! I especially love her tag line "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." So true! I feel that way too!! Anyway, thank you Nester! I am so grateful for the $50 gift card to Dayspring. I can't wait to start shopping! With so many great things there, I am not sure how I'll decide!

Another blessing was winning some beautiful picture frames from The Crane Family blog. Holly has an eight month old, so I can totally relate to her family. Check it out! Also, those awesome frames are from CSN Stores. They have an amazing offering. I can't wait to get the frames and put them up in my home. I'll try to get pictures posted here once they find a home.
Thank you to both ladies (and their sponsors)! You have totally made my week! (An otherwise tough week - my baby is getting her first tooth and is pretty miserable..)

Also, because I haven't update you for a while, here are a couple pictures of the "she" of "while SHE slept":
Have a great day!

A star is born

2010-02-15T11:29:00.005-05:00

Okay, so nothing was born, per se. However, my idea has finally come to reality... finally. As in, I have had some of the materials for MONTHS. I am sure others can relate. Please, tell me you can relate! :)

So the idea really started probably a year ago. I had been looking for art to go in our master bathroom above our tub. I've tried to use a very subtle shell/beach theme. I am not one to be overly theme-y, so I've been cautious with every addition. I found some gorgeous framed shells from a website. I thought a series of three or four would look terrific. Also terrific would be keeping the $400 that those four pieces would cost. So I hemmed and hawed for months trying to decide if I should splurge or if I could find something else.

Then it hit me. I was going to do it myself. I was inspired by an episode of Deserving Design. (I think that's what that show was called. It was hosted by Vern Yip.) Anyway, he inspired me with a starfish canvas piece he made. I decided I would get a shadow box and fill it with starfish. Easy peasy. Kinda.

I went to the craft store to buy the starfish. Do you know what they cost at a store like Michaels???? $4 each. No thanks. But I did find the shadow box there. It was black and that was totally not what I was looking for, but the size was good. So I went with it. Then I found a vendor on ebay that sells the starfish for a MUCH better price. I think it was something like $25 for 50 starfish or something great like that.

I painted the shadow box the same color as our trim. It's color matched to Restoration Hardware's Right White. The back of the shadow box was a black fabric. I bought some inexpensive cotton fabric for a couple bucks. Unfortunately, you could see the black fabric through it, so I had to line it with some cotton duck fabric I had laying around. That did the trick. Stapled the fabric into place. Filled the shadow box with starfish and it was done.

After over a year and a half in our home, I finally have something on the wall of my bathroom. Feels good.

While I am here, I don't want to forget to let you know about an awesome giveaway being hosted by Centsational Girl. Great blog. Great giveaway. You can check it out here.

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear how you've incorporated themes into your home successfully. I'd love new ideas!

Linking up to:
DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Metamorphisis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Get your craft on at Today's Creative Blog

Shaking out the cobwebs...

2010-01-04T11:07:00.004-05:00

I am back (again)! It's been an interesting month since I've been here. Both for the good and for the bad. My father in law was hospitalized for a couple of weeks. They found a tumor in his stomach that turned out to be an aggressive and rare form of stomach cancer. Praise God, the surgery to remove it was successful. However, following his surgery, he had a stroke. This was really the more devastating of the two events. His prognosis for both is good. He is regaining his strength each day and thankfully it seems he will be able to fully recover soon!

Because of this family emergency, my husband was gone to the hospital pretty much all day, every day for two weeks (after just getting home from a trip for work). This left me to take care of our little one and hold down the home front. We also made several trips to the hospital all while trying to prepare for and celebrate the holidays. But we are so blessed! It turned out that my father in law was able to come home before Christmas and we were able to celebrate all together. I hope your holiday was as blessed as ours! Here we are on Christmas Eve:

I have also had a couple of exciting things happen in the last few days. First off, I won! I actually won! Whisperwood Cottage was kind enough to host a wonderful giveaway last month for what should prove to be a fantastic book, The Find by Stan Williams (aka The Elegant Thrifter). I haven't received the book yet, but I am eagerly awaiting its arrival. Also, if you haven't spent time on the Whisperwood Cottage blog, don't even hesitate... go there now! She has great ideas (such as her recent wreath make over) and inspiring makeovers that WILL make you drool (such as her master bedroom makeover, my personal favorite). So, thank you again to the Whisperwood Cottage, not only for the wonderful giveaway, but for hosting a wonderful blog that I enjoy so much!

The other excitement is the new year. Notice I didn't capitalize that. New Year's Eve is not my favorite holiday since we usually end up being very low key. In fact this year we stayed home with our little one who is dealing with her first cold... pretty minor in the scheme of things, but still has thrown her off her regular game. So back to my new year... It's a wonderful time to re-evaluate, re-configure, and re-organize both the tangible and intangible. I've never been big on setting resolutions of the new year, but this year is different. I want to really focus on being better... as a mom, as a wife, daughter, sister, friend, homemaker, etc. I am planning to share some of my resolutions here as a way to keep me accountable. So I guess I am giving everyone permission to call me out on those resolutions!! (one of which does involve being a better blogger!:))

I've rambled and I apologize for that. I look forward to sharing more of my thoughts, projects, and ideas here in the coming days and weeks. So if you feel so inclined, come on back and see what 2010 brings for me while she sleeps!! (And while you wait for those posts, be sure to check out a FANTASTIC giveaway at Beneath My Heart. Traci is hosting a $75 giveaway for Lisa Leonard jewelry... one of my favs! You can check out the giveaway here. Don't miss it!)

~Alisa

A few of my favorite things

2009-11-22T15:36:00.008-05:00

I am so excited... my first followers! :) Thanks to PK from Room Remix and Miss Mustard Seed from Mustard Seed Creations. These ladies write two of my favorite blogs! So glad you were able to stop by. And if the rest of you haven't visited their blogs yet, then you must check them out! They are so creative and inspire constantly!

In order for you all get to know me and my home, I wanted to share some of my favorite things. You see, as recently as a year ago, I only thought about accessorizing with new, contemporary items. Slowly, I have been seeing the light! I now feel like I get so much more from homemade or antique items in my home. They just add so much character and history! So, here are a few of the items that I feel bring some interest to my home.

I had this little nook off of our mudroom and knew I wanted a table or something there. But it's an odd size area, so it took me a long time to find something to fit. I found this table at a resale store and loved it immediately. I still have some accessorizing to do, but love the start.

A close up of the pictures above the table - These are pictures of doors my husband and I took in France last year (we were so lucky to be able to go because of his work!!). As we walked around Paris, I noticed how beautiful the doors were and started taking pictures. I knew I wanted to do something with them. For now, I have them displayed here.
This is a very recent addition. I am pretty certain it's not even in it's permanent position yet, (thus the cord isn't even hidden yet!) but I am really loving this vintage fan. Again, it has so much history and character. This was something I found on ebay.
I found these decorative balls at an antique show a couple years ago. But they aren't actually decorative balls. I am told they are antique Japanese fishing net floats. I loved the variations in color. The picture really doesn't do the colors justice. They are sitting in a "bowl" that was fashioned out of a vintage grain scoop.
And you've already seen this, but I wanted to tell you more about it. You may notice that each "coin" has a number 13 on it. 13 is a significant number for our family and we're obviously not superstitious about it! :) Anyway, these are from coal mines. Each miner would have a number. When they went into the mine, they would take their number off of a board with all the tags and put it in their pocket. This was so if there were any incidents, it would be easy to tell who was in the mine at any given time. I found them at a vintage store and loved the patina and of course, the number. I decided to display the tags by using a shadow box. I covered the back with burlap and used small straight pins to mount the tags.

I will share more of my favorite things - new and old- with you over time. I'd love to hear about some of the favorite things in your home!

A few fall touches

2009-11-16T20:34:00.004-05:00

Being the mom of a three month old, I don't feel that I can really justify the time to do any major seasonal decorating yet. But, I couldn't go the whole season without adding at least a few fall touches. I wanted to share a few of them here with you.

I am sure wheat is considered "so last year", but I still love it!

One side of the mantle holds a brown vase and a shadow box that I'll post more about later this week.

I also changed the filler for my hurricanes in our dining room. I like using more natural elements for fall, like the filler shown here.

I have a burlap runner for this buffet started, but not yet finished. In due time, I suppose. I feel that is kind of the story of my house though... lots of ideas but no finished rooms! I'll be blogging more about that too!

So, in light of the ongoing quest to decorate for seasons or just decorating in general, do you think there is ever a point where you are "done" with a space? Or is it truly a never ending project? I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

So much for commitment...

2009-11-13T13:58:00.000-05:00

So I was adamant that I was going to keep up with the blog. ummm, yeah... It's only been over THREE weeks since I wrote already! **sigh*** Anyway, I am back.

I spend a lot of time each day getting great ideas from so many blogs online. I just don't have the time or funds at the present to take them on. However, I am filing these great ideas away for when I have both of those things! Most of the ideas are crafty or decor related. I do have some home projects in mind that don't fall into those categories though. For example, I want under cabinet lighting. Scratch that... I NEED under cabinet lighting!

from www.renovation-headquarters.com

Also, I have a window seat in my closet. That's great. I don't sit in my closet often, but it looks kinda cute. However, I can think of plenty of better uses for the space. A few options are to take the top off and hinge it. I'd want cedar or some treatment on the inside of the box and then I can use it for sweaters or other longer term storage. Another option would be to take the seat idea out altogether and put in more shelves or drawers or even a vanity. It is a nice little place to keep my jewelry or even my make up. No matter what I choose, I'd just like it to be a more functional area.

I would like to switch out the light fixtures on the front of the house. Our current fixtures are just visually too small. I don't know if the physical size is too small or if it is because they have too much white that doesn't give them enough presence. Either way, I have the new ones picked out (our builder used it on the next house they built...bummer). I just don't have the funds on hand to pick them up.

This borders on decor, but I want to get a large shelf unit or have a built in unit built for my little girls room. I know how much little girls like to display things (as do mommas!). I also know how many more books and toys are in our future. For that reason, I want to have ample space in her room to store things. We'll need to get bins or something for "closed" storage, but a large shelving unit would get us on the right track! I think this one might work:

From the Linnarp collection at IKEA

If I went with this shelf, I'd paint it white, do beadboard for the backing and add a small crown moulding to top it off.

These are just a few of the most "pressing" projects on my mind. So many ideas for decorating and crafting too...maybe those will be my next post!! :)

~Alisa

Project Update

2009-10-21T14:25:00.000-04:00

Well, after many hours of work, we're much closer to being done with the surprise bathroom makeover. My husband scraped up linoleum and adhesive for many hours. I spent a few hours prepping the walls (the price you pay for pulling down wallpaper). The mudroom is painted and only needs flooring. The bathroom needs at least one more coat of paint, flooring, and then the installation of the sink, light, toilet, trim, and towel ring. Okay, so it felt like we were a lot closer to being done before I made that list! :)

We'll be working again tonight. It's how my husband and I will be celebrating our third anniversary. Not exactly romantic, but at least we'll be together.

More to come on the make over... hoping the room is complete by Friday so we can actually relax and enjoy our weekend! :)

Hawaii and a new bathroom

2009-10-16T22:01:00.000-04:00

What on earth can Hawaii and a new bathroom have to do with each other? Well, they have my parents in common. My mom and dad left for Hawaii on Wednesday of this week. That was the day that I told my husband that I felt really bad that I hadn't thought about doing a surprise room make over for my parents while they are gone. He encouraged me to still consider doing it.

My first step was to call my sisters. I couldn't go into the endeavor without having the support of my sisters. I know my parents have been talking about re-doing their half bath, but I needed my sisters to reassure me that this wouldn't get me banned from the family or anything! Now that I have them backing me up, if anyone gets banned, we all get banned. We deteremined that my dad should definitely be okay with the change. But, my mom... well, she may not be ecstatic upon first seeing the change. Time will tell. They will be home in 8 more days.

8 more days...we have to redo a bathroom in 8 days and take care of a 2 month old and go to work. Should be interesting. We have all of the components ready to be installed. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly. I'd hate to have my parents come home to one less bathroom in their house!

I snapped a couple pics to remember how UGLY this bathroom was before we started. After photos to come soon!

Wish us luck!

-Alisa

Copy Cat

2009-10-15T20:31:00.000-04:00

Tonight while my husband (we'll call him S for the sake of the blog) was changing our little one's pants, he was talking to her, cooing and overall just loving on her. This is normal. He is so sweet on her, it's amazing. As I watched and listened, we heard her make what seemed like the same sound that S was making. Thinking that it might be a fluke, he made the sound to her again. She repeated it! We both looked at each other in awe. Our little girl is growing up!!

While she slept...

2009-10-15T11:28:00.001-04:00

So, I've tried blogging before, but didn't keep up with it. But I am compelled to give it another try... and to stick to it!

I'll begin this blog by sharing a bit about myself and my intentions with this blog. About me... I have been married for nearly three years now. It's amazing how quickly time goes! Just two months ago, we had our first child - a little girl. She's fantastic! I don't know if anything has ever warmed my heart like when she smiles at us! She's growing fast and changing daily. I'll likely use this blog as a way to journal about those changes.

photo by Terri Gillis Photography www.terrigillisphotography.com

As of now, I am a stay at home mom. I am a victim of the "down turn" in the economy. The company I worked for went out of business earlier this year leaving me and 40+ others out of work. I continue to keep my eyes open for new opportunities. As of now, I will continue to enjoy my time at home with my daughter.

Even though I am busy being a new mom, being unemployed is so odd for me. I have always had a job since I was 15 years old. Not working outside the home has been difficult in some ways for me. Part of me is longing for that additional fulfillment of using some of the sides of me that mommy-ing doesn't. I have found much inspiration from many blogs for how I might get this fulfillment (at least until a new job and I find each other!). I intend to try to refinish furniture. Putting that down in print almost makes me laugh at myself! I have refinished one piece of furniture before. It only took me about 3 or 4 years. YEARS! Okay, so I quit in the middle for a long time. :) The project was successful, but I am sure I'll still have a lot to learn as I try this new hobby. I can't wait!

Why wait- you may be asking. Well, the title of the blog says it all. Right now anything I do gets done while she sleeps. For example, typing this post...she's sleeping on my lap! (she doesn't like to nap in her bed!) So, until we get into a better rhythm for daytime sleeping, it is unlikely that I can or should take on any of these furniture projects. In the meantime, I'll dream about what is possible!

-Alisa