In This House #6

This spring we decided that weeds are plants too ...
now we are a little frightened each time we walk by the "flower" bed.

re-arrange

I just can't help myself. We have lived in our current "home" for a year and I am sitting here on my hands to keep from rearranging the furniture ... AGAIN! I'm beginning to wonder if I could ever be settled in one decor. I need to do something to ease the decorating itch that drives me crazy every time I walk through the living room, it's an unavoidable space with our floor plan. I'm hoping pillow covers, a lampshade, and just a few moved pieces will pacify me for more than a month.

Before

After

who knows what's next

In This House #5

We don't keep animals in our home, but we always have lovely visits at the zoo.

In this House #4

We are SO ready to frolic in the spring sunshine. BRING IT spring ... seriously, pretty please?

In This House #3

This is our dream freezer.

In This House #1

There is no such thing as too many bubbles.

One Hundred

This is indeed my 100th post. Craziness. This is also the perfect time to remind you that we moved over the summer. Paint colors, fabric swatches, and curtains OH MY. I know I married the right man as we are guaranteed a move every few years and therefore get to rearrange furniture A LOT. This move however was literally 10 minutes away. We LOVEED our apartment, but moving to the privatized housing near base is not only cheaper with more space, it also means guests will have a bedroom all their own WHICH MEANS more visitors and more blog adventures for us! Thank you to those who read this blog. I appreciate the opportunity to communicate with you and look forward to continuing the experience!

Treasure Find Tuesday/Halloween Wrap-Up

This post is picture heavy. I'll try to keep my chatter to a minimum, but i'll reply to comments =) Enjoy! Hope your Halloween was Spooktacular!

Wonder what we did with our pumpkin pickings? Chris' Jack was def best on the block.

Our goose-like gourds greeted people at the door.

Here is the lovely mummy I told you about earlier.

She's also got a handsome male friend. They were super easy and fun to make!

Trick or treaters had to reach into the jug for candy. The chair was thrifted for $3 so I can recover it =) . Note though that it is NOT a good idea to put food coloring directly on your hands unless you want to hear lots of "caught you red handed" jokes.

Our little pirate stood in for the statue of liberty in our mini NYC.

We had some unexpected guests pop up in our bathroom mirror!

Mom sent me these lovely spiders and some more of grandmas never ending doily collection. End result? DOILY SPIDERWEBS!

Saturday we mixed up some corn syrup, food coloring, and chocolate sauce for some bloody fun in our Dexter theme garage. We served all the drinks in here for our party which I didn't get photos of due to all the fog from the fog machine.

The pumpkin was carved out and filled with ice to chill the white wine.

Last but not least your hosts. Chris dressed up as Dexter and ... I had a little fun. I thrifted the hilarious leopard shorts and transformed myself into your crazy aunt agnes just back from her trip to Mexico. I had so much fun explaining my costume. The moment someone would ask who I was I would put on an accent and go on a tirade about how sad it is they don't recognize their own family and it's all because they don't call often enough. I am sure I freaked a few people out, but it was all in good Halloween fun.

Treasure Find Tuesday

This weeks treasure find post will be extended all week show off the thrift/crafty treasures I've gotten for Halloween. I'm still putting things together for our party on Saturday. Be prepared to get spooked and inspired! Here is the first peek:

This skull came into the base thrift shop. It was love at first fright. The arm belongs to a mummy you will meet later.

There is a monster in the window looking at you wether you are inside or out! Maybe he lives in the wall... This creature is simply a piece of cardboard I saved from our move. I cut out a trace of my hand, painted it electric green, and hung it in the window. The eyes are clear contact paper that I drew pupils on with a sharpie. Perhaps we should give the creeper a name, any ideas?

Delay

It wont be long until I finish our living room enough to post photos. I like to think that it takes me so long to finish a project because of my creative mind. Ideas have to stew for awhile before they can be fabulous. I love decorating, but for me it takes FOREVER. Waiting for a room to come together is crazy frustrating for me because I tend to be extremely impatient. I feel a bit lazy not having everything done, but thank goodness I caught Aaron Sorkin talking about his writing process in an interview yesterday. He spoke about a particular movie scene that took him months to write. He made it clear that although he was working on the scene for months, it often looked like he was sitting on the couch watching ESPN. Sometimes we just need to let the wheels turn for a bit before we leap into action. Thank you Mr. Sorkin for validating my TV habit! Just because there are dishes in the sink, paintbrushes on the floor, and empty spaces on the wall doesn't mean work isn't happening.

In a time where we can have whatever we desire almost instantly, it is important to remember that the creative process is just that, a process that often needs time.

A Colorful Morning

Don't you love waking up to an "unknown" phone number! I began my morning by practicing a few hellos (hello hello HELLO hello ) before answering the phone to discover that a home maintenance person would be arriving six hours early ... aka ... IN TEN MINUTES! Yikes! It turned out to be just fine. I speedily made the bed, changed, and threw the dirty dishes in the sink. Just as the doorbell rang, I thanked god I had brushed my teeth before going to bed. Now that the maintenance man has come and gone, I don't have to spend all day getting ready for him! Now I can use by day for much more than I had intended! Off to coffee and the paint store!

The Mess Above the Fire

The other morning when I clicked onto one of my favorite reads { Pinecone Camp } I had to laugh at myself because I immediately looked up and saw this:

The post was all about collecting. Now, I know everything on the mantel doesn't go together as a cohesive collection per say ... but I am sure I can create a convincing argument that it is a collection of stuff (or "duff" as my adorable niece would say). All of this business ended up on our mantel because I am not sure where to put it next. I set it there to get it out of the way. The longer it sits there, the more I think I like it. I know that simple mantels are supposed to stand out in a room, but there is something about the clear chaos that keeps me staring. What do you think? Jumbled mess? Should it stay or go?

I have also got quite a few wine bottles I am about to take to recycling ... something tells me I should peel off the labels and keep them around somehow. Any ideas on what to do with them? I would love to decorate with them, but then again I don't want people to walk in and think gee ... that's a lot of bottles ... awkward. (CONFESSION: that is usually what I think when people openly display their alcohol, I can't help it. It's an automatic reaction.)

Turtle Love

This little guy now has a happy home on my office filing cabinet. Turtles always make Chris and I laugh. When our nephew was little we took him to the zoo and no matter what animal we were looking at be it lion alligator or elephant he managed to find and point out turtle in the exhibit. We would say "oooo look a tiger" and he would say "look a turtle!" When we found this drawer pull we had to bring it home.

I just wish I could throw one of these rugs down on the floor to pull the room together.

All of these lovely items can be found online at Anthropoligie.

Dear Laundry,

Please wash, dry, and fold yourself. Afterwards I will gladly put you away.

love,

rachelmarie

A Paper Plane in a Pine Tree

We have been very lucky this holiday season. between generous family donations, my thrift shopping, and a little creativity, we have been able to deck the halls and make this apartment our home.

Chris and I drove five minutes (yes you read me right only FIVE minutes) down the road to a tree farm to saw down our tree. We figured our first christmas needed a fresh tree. Plus it is the perfect time because there are no pets or small beings to mess with it ... the only downside was the family of jumping spiders I discovered while decorating ...

When it comes to ornaments on your tree, it is well known that your first year can be a bit skimpy. When my brother got married my sister and I were still young, so his beautiful wife invited us over to make ornaments with popsicle sticks, glue, and lots of love. I believe some of our masterpieces still hang on their tree today.

For our first tree, I had picked up some shining glass balls at the base thrift shop and we were pleasantly surprised with the Christmas cheer passed onto us in ornament form by our families over Thanksgiving break. I look forward to the day when we get to pull out the ornaments and tell each of their stories. Right now I will share one of them with you. Two of our favorite handmade ornaments make our hearts soar with pleasant memories each time we look at them.

These paper airplane F-16s were lovingly thrown at us as we left our wedding reception rather than rice or birdseed. Somehow I stumbled across a how-to paper airplane F-16 video in the wedding planning process and proceeded to cut, fold, tape, and stamp until I had a few hundred prepared. I am so happy that we have found further use for them! (and thanks to those who helped me fold!)

Thanks also to my ADORABLE nephew who picked up each airplane after it was thrown, we still have dozens of them ... any ideas for other uses?

I Dream of Pantry

If you are an HGTV junkie like me, its likely that you have drooled over hard wood floors or bathtubs with invisible edges. Chris and I look forward to the days when we have a family home full of toys to trip over, children to chase, and plenty of organized space to play. For now we decided that we wanted to stay small after just being married and therefore chose to go for an apartment over base housing. We LOVE our apartment! Somehow we lucked out with a working fireplace, vaulted ceilings, and two walk in closets. The moment we walked into the space we were sold.

Our kitchen though is still a typical small apartment kitchen. I can't reach over half of the cabinets because they are so high up. This got me dreaming.

www.womansday.com/.../ Pantry-Perfect.html

www.closettailors.com

www.paradiseclosets.com/pantries

www.paradiseclosets.com/pantries

I have done what I can with what we've got to bring the dream to reality. Our apartment comes with a room equip for a washer and dryer, but I have decided to save up quarters and haul our loads to the club house in order to enjoy a walk in pantry. There is something about being able to see all of your groceries and cooking gear.

It is a big help to keep mixing bowls handy.

Clear containers are AMAZING.

and of course don't forget to recycle.