Bookish Birds

Another Friday night, another paper craft, another corner of my room made more homey. 

I had this idea and looked online to try to find someone else who had done the same thing for some tips or tricks. Couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, so I just winged it. Ha!

Pardon the non-matching pillowcases... LOL! Amazing what an old book and some ribbon will do, huh?

Sewing Adventures

A bit of a creating bug coupled with some things we needed, and it's been one adventure after another around here! Let's start with the easy... a skirt!

This used to be a vintage dress, but the top was funky and I never wore it. Also, it was just a tad too short, which is why I originally added the lace on the bottom, but it just wasn't a comfortable length and draped strangely. Since it was high-waisted, I just cut it at the waist, added a t-shirt band from an old t-shirt (that used to be red, then faded in the sun to the exact color I needed... how strange is that?) and this is now the most comfortable skirt that I own. The fabric is vintage, a beautiful well-loved cotton blend that doesn't wrinkle, breathes well, and makes for a very nice grab-and-go skirt.

Next up was a dust ruffle for my bed. My bed looked lonely and strange without a bottom layer, so I began looking around for one to buy. Finally found a store here that sold what I wanted, but only in twin and double size, not queen. It can't be too hard to make my own, I thought! And it wasn't.

(Now that I actually have this picture up here, I realize you can't really see the print of the fabric. Oh well... click to enlarge, but I think you get the idea :)

I've had this old green-flowered sheet for ages. It's a favorite one that I picked up from a thrift store - vintage, I think, as it has no tags. I've used it for many things - a curtain, a tablecloth, a couch cover, and even as a sheet, since that was its original purpose. Now it has new life as a dust ruffle. :) I cut the twin-sized sheet into three long sections and sewed them end to end, salvaging the folded over 'top' for another project. Then, I was going to ruffle it up and attach to a middle piece, but when I took my bed apart to measure, I realized I could just pin it to the box springs. So that's what I did. :) Minimal sewing, it works just as well, and it will be easier to take apart and use the material for something else. As with most things, I'm sure this is just a temporary solution and it won't be long before I change my mind again. 

Last of all, for this blog post at least, was something much more difficult. In fact, this was something that pushed my skills and our poor little sewing machine to the max! That something was a window screen - two window screens in fact, and more in the queue for when I have time. 

Those of you who have been to Africa or other countries who do their windows similarly know how the windows can be a bit challenging. Of course, we have bars on all the windows for safety reasons. Also, the windows don't generally slide up and down. Rather, they open out and all the hardware for latching, locking, and propping the windows is between the window and the bars. This makes installing screens rather difficult, because the screen needs to be removable so you can still access the window. 

There are lots of solutions, but the 'easiest' solution is having someone custom make the screens for you. Generally these are a wooden frame you can pull out of the window with real screen material tacked on... and since window sizes vary so much (no standardized windows... everything is custom made) and lumber is so expensive (not a lot of trees around here, if you haven't noticed!) this gets rather costly. 

After spending two summers here, we know well the choice that has to be made - either you keep your window shut to the cool night breezes or you open the window and endure the mosquitoes. And while mosquitoes can be endured, I suppose, I don't really want to risk getting malaria. Other bugs don't really bother me, but I have a healthy fear of mosquitoes. :) I'll be honest, though - a lot of nights last summer, it was so hot that I just didn't care and opened my window! 

So my brother had the idea of making our own screens. This way we could keep the cost down, get it done in a timely manner, and be able to open at least our bedroom windows this summer without letting in the bugs. We looked at several options, and decided on what would be a) the cheapest and b) the easiest. 

Basically, we went with a tent window. Four outer strips of canvas sewn into a frame with a zipper all the way around, then screen in the middle. We were having problems finding screen, in fact, the only 'screen' we found had holes so large that the only thing it would keep out was anything larger than a fly. Not mosquito-proof, in other words. So we went with awning material, believe it or not! Once everything was sewn up, with little snaps at the top to roll and stow the screen, we screwed it to the wall with four grommets, stretching as much as we could. Then a layer of contact cement all the way around ensures there are no little holes where a stray mosquito might find his way through.

A little campy, no? But it's really not that bad. During the day, I snap up the screen, and with the curtains, the only thing you can see of it is the canvas strip at the bottom, which strangely enough, matched my wall paint. Everything gets zipped up at night, but then you can't see it anyway. Now I can have my window open all night long, and never have to worry about a mosquito!

So there you have it! In all, one window screen takes about 3 hours for me to do alone (not quite 3 hours if Sam is here to help me measure, trim, etc), and costs about 17 US dollars. Not too bad! And with the cost that low and the way it is now glued in, we would probably just leave this in the house should we lease another place to live. We could easily make new screens for our new house, which will probably have different sized windows anyway. :)

Turning Gray

I love quiet and I love gray. My room is my retreat where I can go to get quiet, and this weekend my room turned gray.

Gray is the color of understated beauty. Gray days bring a respite from the sun and signal the coming of precipitation. Snowy gray is my favorite, of course, but I love a good gray rainstorm. Blue grays and green grays are all natural colors found around us. Gray can be such a complex color… it changes hues depending on the light and what is near it.

We all love sunshine, but here in this land of heat and blinding days, bright colors and vibrant life, I crave the respite of gray. I look forward to the gray overcast days and the coolness they often bring. Since that doesn’t happen very often, I decided to bring the gray inside.

To say I love my new color would be an understatement. I received a beautiful white duvet set for Christmas, shown in the picture here. I don’t keep it on my bed all the time. With African dirt, tile floors, a black-haired dog, and an air mattress on the floor, it wouldn’t be white for long! I look forward to using it once I have a real bed, which will hopefully be sometime in March (long story – still waiting for our container). Until then, I don’t really need the extra layers for warmth. ;)

We are enjoying the lull before the storm, so to speak, as our house will be packed to the gills by the end of the week. We have six guys coming from various parts of the world to be part in a six week Missions Mentoring Module. Basically, that means they will be living with us, working on some special missions projects, and receiving training – both classroom teaching and practical field work. It’s going to be a lot of fun, but will be a bit exhausting for all of us. We’ve prepared everything that we can, and save for the final house cleaning and grocery shopping, we’re ready for them to get here. The first couple arrive on Friday and the rest will be arriving through the weekend by various means of transportation.

Here’s to a crazy six weeks, where I look forward to having my nice gray room to retreat to when I need the quiet. :)

living outdoors

I love looking at pictures of outdoor living spaces. I love the idea of spending lots of time outdoors, and I suppose I do. I often work on our front porch, and we try to eat out there when the weather is nice. The problem is that we often have such extremes of weather here in PA. No one wants to eat outside when there is snow or freezing rain, but after a couple short weeks of spring, we delve right into hot, sticky, humid summer - and that isn't very appealing either. So I guess I like the idea of outdoor living spaces more than the actual reality, unless one day I move to a part of the world with perfect climate year-round. :)

This weekend is my graduation from LVBBI here at our home church. After the graduation, we are having a smallish party at our house. Well, smallish means 70-80 people, so we obviously won't all be seated inside. Thus, I've been thinking a lot about how I want to set it up outside. Nothing maybe quite as nice as the picnic scenes below, but I've got a few creative ideas. Now I just have to find the time to pull them off before Saturday gets here!

Some of my favorite pics I've saved of outside living spaces:

itching to paint

I'm itching to remodel something. But instead of remodeling, I'm supposed to be cleaning out and packing up. I don't mind the cleaning out part or even the packing up part, but I'm seriously getting antsy to paint something and go on the hunt for some vintage furniture.

So I satiate my remodeling desires by looking at pictures online. I've already shown you a portion of my kitchen pictures...here are some bedroom pics.

First, kids' rooms - just because they're fun and often feature bunk beds (something I missed out on in my childhood):

And then big people rooms:

Though all of these have elements that I really like, none of them captures perfectly what I would like to have in a bedroom. The following picture probably comes the closest, but something is missing... It looks awkwardly laid out, but maybe it is just the angle of the photo. I like the separate pieces, colors, patterns, etc, it just feels like it is missing the 'personal' element a bedroom should definitely have.

Wouldn't it be cool to have a closet like this? Maybe I just think so because I've spent so many months out of the past couple years living out of a suitcase. :) In reality, I have a closet 3 feet wide, and it suits me just fine!

Next time...whenever I get to it...I'll have to show you my favorite collection of pics - outdoor living spaces!

My Dream Kitchen

I like interior decorating. I think if you read this blog for any length of time, you pick up on that. :) I'm not a big magazine person, until it comes to decorating magazines. Even if the magazine is primarily a style that I dislike, I still like looking at pictures and, more importantly, seeing how they do things. 

I browse a lot of design blogs - both from the style side of things and also the 'how-to' side of things, because that is really what interests me. I started a folder of pictures that I particularly like - just this ever-growing folder of pictures, and occasionally I go back and see what I've saved in my folder.

Today I thought there was such striking similarities between all these kitchen pictures. Just looking at them, it's not hard to see what I like, at least in theory. :) Most of these have a couple things in particular that I like, though I wouldn't necessarily want everything as pictured. (And I have no idea where I got these pictures...I've been saving them from all over the internet!) 

So just by looking at these, you've probably picked up on their similarities. Evidently, I am drawn to simple kitchens with lots of white, lots of light, cupboards that are open or with glass fronts, elegant hardware and fixtures, with little splashes of color and little personal touches.

This particular picture has really captured my interest. I love it! I would put up a curtain, but other than that, I could totally see this kitchen in my house. I love the big contrasting tiles, the dresser and lamp (so unexpected!), the chandelier, little accents of green, the branch/tree thing, just everything about it! Looks like a gas stove too, which would make me very happy. :) And do you see the microwave down below? What a great idea! And they have a dog and a couch in the kitchen, books on the table and plants in the window...I'm seriously wanting this kitchen right now. :)

Then in all these pictures of white, simple kitchens, I have these two gorgeous, colorful kitchens. I'm not sure that I would ever go with kitchens like these, but I still think they are beautiful. I'm all for using color, but I think I prefer to use it in other rooms of the house and keep the kitchen more simple. But still, I can admire these. Bek, the first reminds me of you. :)

Daffodils and Sunshine

I've always wanted to do this...

We have so many interesting varieties of daffodils this year! My favorites are the one fourth from the left, in the short green bottle. The petals are all ruffled pale yellow, with little orange petals in the center. So beautiful and unique!!!

Decking the Halls

I love making do.

Is that strange?

I love the challenge of trying to do something ordinary, but in unusual circumstances or with limited resources. Making tortillas for 10 hungry people when I don't have a rolling pin or a good pan for frying? And this country doesn't sell shortening? Oh, bring it on! Doing laundry without a washing machine, dryer, or endless bank account to take it to the cleaners? Let's do it! See, it's not a problem, it's a possibility.

Is there something wrong with me? I think I thrive on the challenge more than the actual project. If something is too boring, I won't even bother with it. Enter a hurdle that must be overcome and I'm all over it.

*sigh*

So, I decorated for Christmas. I was actually surprised at the amount of decorations available here. In Game (think mini Wal*mart), there were three or four aisles of decor - lights, packaged gift sets, wrapping paper, ornaments, wreaths, even Christmas trees. Everything seemed to fall into two categories - inexpensive, Oriental Trading quality stuff, and expensive-yet-still-cheap-looking stuff. Hhhmm...I opted for something different.

So my challenge? Make the house Christmasy as cheaply as possible, without lights, without a tree, without anything really. We didn't really even have room for Christmas decorations. We still have 9 people in the house, so we're a little packed in. Oh, and make it look nice, not cheesy.

I bought craft paper and splurged on a package of red raffia (in all, I think I spent 10 dollars). We already had scissors, tape, and a stapler. I just started cutting and taping, stapling and tying to my heart's content.

Bing Crosby was a must for this project. I don't think I would have gotten very far without his crooning to buoy my spirits and make me really feel like it was Christmas, even though the temp was well over 100 that Saturday.

The end results? A lot of paper chains, red raffia bows, and 3D snowflakes. Hey...just working with what I had.

All in all, I think it turned out alright. It will work for us, it was cheap and fun, and in the end, I can wad it all up and throw it away. (Because I am NOT carrying paper chains back to the US in my suitcase, no matter how long it took me to do them!)