Winter Wonderland

Finally, some snow. It's been a really easy winter so far this year! Here's what I saw through the window this morning when I woke up.

I may complain (often!) that I wish we still lived down south because I hate the cold and snow, but there is something so gorgeous and magical about seeing the mountains and trees. Then I snapped out of my reverie when I had to go clean off my car. Any snow in your neck of the woods this weekend?

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie

Flippin' Pages

This is what's laying on my bedside table these days.

What are you guys reading?

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie

The Lost Art of the Repurpose

Last weekend we were doing our normal errands and my husband begged me to break down and buy us new bedding. I begrudgingly complied and bought a set on clearance. He's been complaining for awhile now because we have a super awesome down comforter I bought as a splurge to keep me warm while he was in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, he's a space heater shaped like a man and it's been an unseasonably warm winter up here in Maine and is basically sweating out bullets every night. Fine, husband, I suppose I can spend a few dollars to make you happy.

Anyway, that caused a huge reorganization of the space under the bed where I hide our other sheets in a space bag (so classy) and I found that I had kept the sheet that was on our mattress in the moving truck which got all sorts of dirty spots on it. I tried washing it but it isn't salvageable. Oh well, I though, it pains me to throw out this beautiful Martha Stewart fitted sheet, but it lasted us two years. Then, LIGHT BULB, didn't I just see something on Craftsy about making a crocheted rag rug out of an old sheet? You mean, I don't have to throw out this nasty stained sheet but can instead repurpose it into something else I can love? SIGN ME UP!

Sunday morning was spent hunched over on our tiny floor cutting back and forth along the sheet, turning it into  strips I could roll into a ball and use as "yarn". That's the only difficult part, and by difficult, I mean a little bit repetitive and knee crushing. Then I had this GIANT ten pound ball of old sheet. So I made a simple crochet ring, and double crochet increased each row so that I now have this awesome (but small) circle rug!

So I've decided, who needs the flat sheet that matches it anyway? I'll cut that up too to make a larger rug. Then I thought about all the fabric scraps in my stash...I could make one out of those too! The options are endless! You could use old t-shirts, or jeans, as long as all the fabric weights you use in your rug remain similar. 

To think I would have thrown this sheet out to take up space in a landfill somewhere, but instead I have turned it into a handcrafted decoration for our future home with just a little work. What can you find around your house that is headed for the dump that you can turn around and reuse? Next time I'll show you my new use for beer bottle caps!

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie

The Plot Thickens

I wish there was someone to sit you down when you start the process of buying a home and EXPLAIN THINGS TO YOU IN LAYMAN'S TERMS. We've got our pre-approval letter from a woman whose number was given to us by our realtor, who is going to turn around and sell our mortgage before the ink is even dry on the paper. We'd prefer local servicing. We found some great trailers to look at, yet no one told us that trailer financing is a whole different ballgame than home financing. Now that I've read up on the subject I can understand why, but regardless, couldn't someone have TOLD me this? So basically, what we can afford is an old run down house as opposed to a nice sparkly trailer on a nice plot of land. ARGH! This is way more time consuming, confusing, and stressful than I had ever imagined. What the HELL are we EVEN DOING?

Okay, end rant. The husband has secured a part-time position with the post office on top of his full time job, YES! And, if you could quite possibly click on some of my advertiser links if you see something interesting, you too can contribute to the "please oh please let me find my own place to live" fund. I mean, the quicker we find somewhere to live the quicker you'll see lots of annoying before and after pictures! And who doesn't love those?

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie

A little early V-Day Love

Okay, I'm going to fess up...I love Valentine's Day. Not the whole commercial, Hallmark deal but the fun red and pink hearts and giving presents part. I am a sucker for any reason to give a gift. This year, being extremely tight on finances I thought I'd just give my husband some cookies and a kiss on Valentine's BUT while trolling the web I stumbled upon this art gallery who sells prints by our favorite artist, Kurt Halsey. I figured for 8$ plus 3$ shipping, I could afford to give my husband an awesome one of a kind gift. Now, to find a frame was the difficult part. The nice ones are really expensive and the cheap ones are, well, pretty cheap looking. I figured I'd bide my time and save a little and get him a nice frame. Lo and Behold! My mom cleaned out her closet and found a really cute frame that she gave me. Unfortunately, it was a little too big, but I figured I could make it work. So I brainstormed a bit and decided to glue muslin in the frame to place the print on top of so the background would work with the vintage paper look of the print. I think it came out FABULOUS and now I can't wait for Valentine's Day to hand it over to my husband and see him smile!

Wanna see? Here it is, in all it's splendor.

Another example that you can give great, thoughtful gifts on a budget with just a little imagination!

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie

"I'd be lost without you, I'm not sure I can face this world on my own..."

This song is making my skin tingle these days. Love love love.