Pair of pears

Here's my first attempt at my own art. I recreated a set of prints I saw in Domino that sell for $177 each. I made my own for approximately $20 total (woot!). While I like the way they turned out, I'm not sure I'm crazy about the blue in my dining room. I'm always partial to orange, so I might redo these in that color.

My art recreation

On the wall in my dining room

The original (it could be yours for the low, low price of $177)

Diagnose that furnace!

Quick, it's quiz time! What's wrong with my forced-air furnace if it makes a loud creaking, clunking sound (much like a rusty, old metal gate) when the blower shuts off?

a) Bearings are going bad.

b) Fan belt is wearing out.

c) Blower motor is cracked.

d) Nothing is wrong with the furnace; a rusty old register cover isn't screwed to the wall so the forced air causes it to move and then slam back in place once the furnace shuts off.

The answer is d! I spent the better part of a day fretting over my furnace until I discovered that rascally register. It's pure folly at my house, friends!

Notice the conspicuous lack of screws. This register is so, so sad.

Orange you glad...

Orange you glad the kitchen's done? Well, almost. There's still a lot I want/need to do in there like get faceplates for the outlets (the other ones are covered in wallpaper), find some new curtains, hang my artwork, buy more cabinets, switch up the floor and patch the ceiling. But, the first big task has been completed - the walls have been painted! Here they are in all their glory.

Before - Looking into the dining room

After

Before - stove side of the room

After

A shot from the dining room looking into the kitchen

Sneak Peek

Chad and I painted my kitchen this weekend! As of 9:35 p.m. today, it's still a federal disaster area, so no full shots just yet. Here's a sneak peek, though.

The paint is Mulling Spice by Behr

De-clutter

De-cluttering might be my new favorite hobby. It makes me happy to reclaim my space. I did an overhaul on my office/spare bedroom this weekend and got rid of a bunch of papers and knick-knacky goods I do not need/use but have moved from place to place since college. Here's a sampling of what got tossed:

• A dozen training modules (for training I never even took or facilitated)
  
• Old cell phone manual
  
• Hair dryer warranty (lets face it, if my hair dryer breaks, I'm just going to buy a new one)
• Prospectuses
• Fact sheets on houses from my house-hunting days (clearly, I've picked a house)
• Marching band drill formation charts (I kept one for memory's sake)

The sole survivor of my de-cluttering rampage

Ta-da! New Layout!

I'm pleased to introduce...my new layout! I've been toying with the idea of a new blog layout for awhile and I've tried out probably two dozen banners until I found a color scheme and design I really liked.

How did I create it? Well, I'm no graphic designer and I don't have any kind of design software, but I am resourceful. I found a banner-friendly template from Blogger and then used Microsoft Publisher, www.picnik.com and some painstaking measurements to make my new banner. You can see my creative process at the dummy blog I set up to test everything before finally pulling the plug.

Thanks to everyone who helped me pick my new design! A special thanks goes to Brian who let me call him five times today for his opinion.

Bye-bye, old template.

Framed...again

Yay! I'm glad everyone seems to like frame 3. That's the one I prefer too. I'm still undecided on the mat. I thought mats were purely decorative, but then I read they actually serve a purpose, like preventing your artwork from sticking to the glass and allowing air to circulate (read more about the amazing mat). So, now I'm stumped.

To mat?

Or not to mat?

Framed

Three months have elapsed and I still haven't framed my couch print from Etsy. I'm taking the initiative this week to get a frame from American Frame. My one and only criterion: frame must be gold. That's it. So, how hard can it be? Very hard. I'm too indecisive. Further complicating my choice is the fact that the company throws in a free mat with every frame purchase. I don't really think a mat looks right with this print, but I'd hate to pass up something that's free...oh, the decisions!

Here are my options so far:

Gold frame 1

Gold frame 2

Gold frame 3

One tough cookie

This weekend, I watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen about cookies. A viewer wrote into the show asking how to keep cookies soft. A very good question, in my opinion. The host answered, "Sorry, there's no way to keep cookies soft. You just need to eat them." What? He is wrong, or at least, not completely right.

Here's what he should have said, "Add a piece of bread to the cookie container to keep cookies soft or to revive hard cookies."

Mmm...soft, chewy cookies