Quotable #1

Sorry for not posting, but Blogger refuses to work on the internet I have at home (Hughes.net, if you were wondering. Or even if you weren't). You know, I promised myself that I would never apologize for not posting--because I would post frequently. Oops.

Anyway, I came up with this saying and image last week and thought I'd share it with you. And to be totally honest, I wanted to pin something I had made on Pinterest.

The green is a little off from what I wanted, but I still like it. Now I need to come up with more Quotables!

New earrings

Last week I made a pair of earrings. If you know me much at all, you'll know that a) earrings are my favorite piece of jewelry, hands down; and b) the bigger an earring is, the better. These are my longest earrings, and although I haven't measured them, I think they are about 3 1/4".

I'm thinking about shortening the longer two chains a little, though. These are so long that they can't dangle freely when I wear a shirt with a collar. Besides, they look like they'd be better just a smidgen shorter.

The earring holder in the bottom picture is this one. The description says it holds 34 pairs, but many people (myself included) put two earrings in each hole so that it will hold 68 pairs instead. That's a lot of earrings!

Anyway, I really like these earrings and I have a couple outfits that they'll go with, and that's just fantastic. One more thing: I think the pearls would look better in the middle or possible on top, but I didn't want them to get scratched by the chains. Any ideas on what to do so that they wouldn't get scratched?

Pedicure socks

I get cold very easily. VERY easily. And I like doing pedicures. At this time of year, those two things don't mix very well. So, I decided the easiest way to remedy the situation would be: a) knit myself a pair of those pedicure socks; or b) cut the toes off a pair of socks I already own. Since I am terrible at knitting socks, the latter option seemed to be the best course of action. Here are the socks on my feet:

And off my feet:

As you can see, I cut just below the seam on the toe. In retrospect, I would cut a little higher (perhaps cut off only half the toe?) because, although they are the perfect length for toe separators now, the edges will curl.

But despite that, I'm rather pleased.

(The nail polish is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear. Pink is #29 Ice Coffee. Blue is #37 Blue It.)

Paper flowers: a collection of links

I have been fascinated with paper flowers recently. In fact, I made three roses out of paper that had been typed on (is it just me, or does anyone else think that this kind of thing would look great in a Shabby Chic room?)

Here are the pictures:

They still need stems (we were out of florist's wire). Perhaps I will use pipe cleaners, since I only want them to support the flowers (they won't be seen much, if at all). I would have made them out of books, except we were out of books needing to be repurposed.


However, I was trying to figure out just how many different kinds of flowers there were free instructions for on the internet. This is what I came up with (if you know of any different kinds of flowers not list here, send me a link to them please):

Black-eyed Susans: http://antiquedaisy.blogspot.com/2011/01/sunny-flowers-tutorial-how-to-make-mini.html
Calla lilies: http://inkstainswithroni.blogspot.com/2010/04/grunge-paper-calla-lily.html
Carnations: http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2011/06/sticker-and-cupcake-paper-flowers-and-a-jo-anns-coupon.html
Cherry blossems: http://sarahndipities.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-tuesday-tissue-paper-cherry.html
Chinese lotuses: http://www.ehow.com/how_10013684_make-paper-chinese-lotus-lantern-flowers.html
Daises: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Paper-Daisies/
Dandelions: http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/231065/how-make-crepe-paper-flowers/@center/272429/diy-weddings#133530 (it says spidermums, but I think they look like dandelions)
Dogwood: http://www.marthastewart.com/267034/paper-dogwood-flowers?czone=crafts/crafting-tools-center/crafting-tools-projects&center=276982&gallery=275000&slide=267034
Gerbera daises: http://crafteermisadventures.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/fresh-as-gerbera-daisy.html
Hibiscuses: http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_8264229_make-paper-hibiscus.html
Hydrangeas: http://www.duitang.com/people/mblog/27358358/detail/ (you might need Google Translator)
Lilies: http://www.ellinee.com/blog/diy-watercolor-paper-lily/
Lily of the valley: http://pansiespaperpetals.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-make-lily-of-valley-paper-flower.html
Mums: http://www.ellinee.com/blog/paper-mum-printables-tutorial/
Orchids: http://www.ellinee.com/blog/diy-paper-orchid/
Pansies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_WOXyF7SpY&feature=related
Peonies: http://www.marthastewart.com/271313/paper-peonies
Peonies: http://www.ellinee.com/blog/diy-paper-peony/
Poinsettias: http://kittiekraft.typepad.com/kittiekraft/poinsettia-tutorial.html
Poppies (giant): www.chiccheapnursery.com/2011/do-it-yourself/diy-how-to-make-giant-paper-poppy-flowers/
Roses: http://craftyloops.blogspot.com/2011/12/tutorial-peace-rose-raindrops-on-roses.html?showComment=1324780434301#c1787411302277618461
Sweet peas: http://www.ehow.com/how_12033590_make-sweet-pea-tissue-paper-flowers.html
Tiger lilies: http://www.ellinee.com/blog/diy-paper-tiger-lily/
Tulips: http://www.ellinee.com/blog/paper-tulip-printable-tutorial/
Wisterias: http://vintagehomemaking.com/anthropologie-inspired-paper-wysteria-tutorial/

Here are some flowers that I wasn't sure of the name for, plus some tips regarding paper flowers:
http://www.swirlydoos.com/sd_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?56785
http://curiouspurplepig.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/simple-paper-flowers-on-branches/
Shaping petals: http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/231065/how-make-crepe-paper-flowers/@center/272429/diy-weddings#/257232
http://rustsunshine.blogspot.com/2012/05/tissue-paper-flowers.html
http://ecosnobberysucks.com/2011/10/how-to-make-recycled-paper-flowers-for-a-wedding-bouquet/
http://www.allthelivelongday.com/2011/08/how-to-make-paper-flower-boutonniere-or.html

I don't own any of the sites that have links listed here, and I don't make any money off of the other sites or these links to them.

Organizing: Cords and Manuals

Okay, show of hands: how many of you have your extra manuals, cords, etc., stuck in a box because you haven't figured out a way to store them? (Or worse, scattered hither and yon over the house.) A few days ago, I decided to try using an expandable file to organize the above, but didn't try it until this morning.

Here's what it looks like now:

A surprising amount can fit in one of these files. I had all this in a 10-pound blueberry box before, and it pretty much filled it. If you do this, your file probably won't have such a gaping mouth as mine. I usually use a laptop, and very occasionally want a mouse, so that's in there. Also, my radio charger (I'm a ham radio operator) goes in here, and that's pretty bulky. The CD case I don't recommend for this purpose. Use paper CD envelopes for those purposes instead (I have to find the envelopes before I can use them, and the room where they are usually stored is currently being redone and its contents are scattered across the basement).

Closed, it looks like this:

Again, yours probably won't be as bulky as this simply because not everyone keeps a spare computer mouse in here.

Do you have any ideas for how to store your spare cords, manuals, etc?

Organizing: bathroom cabinets

For some reason, it seems like the bathroom cabinets are one of the first places to become cluttered and disorganized (outside of the pantry). So between yesterday and today, I did some serious organizing. It's not totally like I would eventually like to have it, but then again, I'm not sure how I really want it :)

Before pictures (right-side mirrored cabinet):

Left-side mirrored cabinet:

Under sink cabinet:

Top drawer (right-hand side of sink cabinet, underneath mirrored cabinet). Don't worry, those sour cream cartons are actually homemade deodorant and homemade toothpaste, respectively:

Middle drawer:

Bottom drawer (this drawer is all the pet stuff, like brushes, nail clippers, dewormer, etc.):

Upper level of towel cabinet (just cleaners here; we REALLY weren't using this space as well as we could have):

Lower level of towel cabinet:

Messy, no? (And somewhat blurry, too. Good thing this blog isn't here to showcase my photography skills.) After getting rid of a few outdated products, plus a few products nobody in the house used, it was looking better. Then I took everything out, washed the cabinets (not the towel one, because it was pretty clean), and reorganized it.

After pictures (right-hand mirrored cabinet):

From top to bottom, the shelves are: skin and nail care, first aid, W's stuff, and tooth-related items.

Left hand-mirrored cabinet:

I'm so excited about that empty shelf! I have plans for it! *insert crazy laughter* From top to bottom: empty shelf, empty travel-sized bottles and witch hazel extract, cold medicine, and cotton swabs (and cotton balls, empty saline spray bottles for homemade saline spray, and extra medicine measuring cups).

Under-sink cabinet:

It's a little hard to see in this picture, but there are three rows of products on the left-hand side. This is where we keep all the extra lotion, shampoo, etc. I just grouped like with like: shampoos together, conditioners together, lotions together, nail polish removers together, etc. The cardboard box at the back holds a curling iron, an electric razor, and two hair dryers (none of those are used more than about every 5 years in this house).

Top drawer:

This still needs work. I'm trying to find better ways to organize it, but haven't come up with anything yet. But did you see? The sour cream cartons are labeled!

Middle drawer (this holds extra toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss picks):

Bottom drawer:

Top section of towel cabinet (now all the paper products are up here):

Bottom section of towel cabinet. Not a lot went on here, but the towels are now organized according to size and whether they are people towels or work towels (ie, whether they are for drying a person or washing the dogs):

I'm pleased with how well this went, and hopefully can decide what else I want to do to this room.

Yet another watercolor drawing

Over the past few days, I whipped up this ship:

I think it's one of my better drawings, despite the paper "palette" I was using accidentally bleeding onto the paper (if you scribble with watercolor pencils, you can get that spot wet and use it like paint). The shading turned out much better on this one than on the other drawings, I think.

Do you enjoy drawing? Do you do it for fun, to decorate your house, or for gifts/sale? Or all of the above?