Columns and Arches?

First off, Thanksgiving decorations!  Well, Thanksgiving transition.  Halloween is going away.  I took down the Halloween banner and put this one up.





On a whim, and because we had a lot of paint left, I painted these columns.  They were the same color as the kitchen and since I knew we'd repaint that at some point I decided to do some experimenting.



At first I didn't really like it because the contrast of what you saw when you looked past them into the kitchen was really strong.  But now I don't really see the columns (which is what I was going for) I just see past them into the kitchen.






Here they are after Richard got on the ladder and finished the job.





Oh, and we took the books and fake foliage and wine bottle down that the guy who owned the house before us left.



Now what the hell color should I paint the kitchen?

The 3rd Coat

The lady at the paint counter tried to tell me that it was the difference in the finishes (eggshell vs whatever is in the sample pot) that made the differences in the paint color.  I'm sorry, but if the finish type changes the paint color that much they'd have to put out paint chip papers in each finish for each color.  Because it was a completely different color. So it was either she try to match the sample pot or I try to find another color that matched the sample pot and then they could replicate (not holding my breath) the color easier if we needed another gallon. So I found another paint chip and debated whether to get a sample pot or just get the whole gallon. What's the point of a sample pot if it is going to be wrong? We got the gallon.

Which meant that on Sunday afternoon we put a third coat of paint on that stupid teal wall.  I wasn't quite sure if I liked it, but I knew that Richard wouldn't be up for a fourth coat anytime soon.  The left wall is painted and you can see in the corner where we've cut in the paint on the right wall.



Here is the third color on the bottom and left covering up the minty fresh paint.



It's taken until today for me to say that I like the color.  I've looked at it in all different lights (and there are many different lights that hit the wall behind the TV - which is where I spend most of my time looking in this room) and I can live with some of it and I like other lights.



It is very hard to get the real color in a photo, but this is close, and also, it is only during one of the lights.



We still have to do the fireplace wall and an adjoining short wall.  I'm not sure how I'll like the fireplace wall, because the color that it is now really pops out the black fireplace.

And this weekend Richard and his mom are going to paint Autumn's room.  Then hopefully I can get some decorating done in her room (after 14 months of living here).

Sigh...

Why can't the color on the sample chip match the color in the sample pot match the color that comes in the gallon of paint we bought? How can it be so different? We got the teal wall primed on Saturday and the green paint (Aspiration from Lowe's) up on Sunday (only the first coat). When we started I thought "this looks darker than I remember, but I like it in this little area that is done".



Then Richard did the high up cutting in and I did the low.



The light was changing as the sun was moving and at a certain point I thought "this really looks different, I'm not sure I like it". So I painted a swatch on the wall above the swatch from the sample pot. Yeah, completely different color.



The top is what is all over the big wall and just below that is the color I wanted. Now the dilemma is whether to finish painting the other walls in the room that color and then go back with the sample pot and get the correct color as the second coat (because it definitely needs a second coat). Really it comes down to if I can live with the color it is now, and I just don't think I can. Though it looks tolerable and even pleasant during different times of the day due to the sunlight, I think it is just too minty and not classy enough for me. Not that I'm so classy, but I wanted something that was subtle and neutral.

Sigh...

Goodbye Cruel Teal World!

When we moved in there was this ugly teal wall in the family room. For the first few months I could ignore it because we had the TV on another wall. But then we moved the TV to the teal wall. Luckily I was still able to block out the teal wall. All winter we kept the two windows on the fireplace wall open but once summer came around again and the sun was brutal. So we got out the cellular shades that the guy had. Dark green. Dark green next to a huge teal wall. I priced out some replacements but it just isn't in our budget right now. So we live with them.

When my mom was here last week we started talking about the paint color and that sort of started the ball rolling. We went to Lowe's and stood talking about all the colors I could choose. And then I picked up one light green chip and said that I was drawn to these colors. So we got two sample pots of paint, one from that chip and another from another sample group.

The teal wall just sucks up the color so that you can't even see the differences in the light greens. They just looked white.



But on the white walls you could really tell a difference. I like the color on the right in person, but the color on the left in pictures.



You can see the shades in the corner of this picture.



I've decided on the top color in that photo above. We just have to get the primer to cover up that teal wall.

Friday

I finished the first of three planned Halloween crafts today. I saw this link on a blog and just knew I had to make them. The Toymaker called them "Papel Picado" Paper Banners.



I started off with a piece of paper with the image printed on it sitting on top of the cardstock. That took A LOT of work. Then I printed out the design on the cardstock and I changed my x-acto knife blade and that helped a lot. Change your blade often!



I think it turned out really great! It is a good addition to my small Halloween stash of decorations.

Wednesday

For some reason I feel the need to document that I am about to get up off the couch and straighten up the house a bit. Why? Because I've been so lazy for the past year. I think I really checked out after the move and never checked back in. Granted, I wasn't a great house cleaner in the old house either. Maybe it is still the weather but I just feel more motivated at being responsible in my life.

The stuff from Costco is still sitting in our entryway, I need to vacuum seal Autumn's old clothes, and remove all of Autumn's toys from the family room back into the playroom. That should be a daily thing like it used to be.

Of course, right now I'm watching the Biggest Loser and I keep fast forwarding to the next person weighing in instead of getting up off the couch.

Windows are open, get that good air inside.

Monday, Or the Day I Ate Two Bagels

I had a bloodwork appointment after I dropped Autumn off at MDO. After that I drove over to Costco so that I could browse in peace, all by myself. I got there just before 10, which is when they opened, so it wasn't too crowded. I was partially looking for a few Christmas presents to buy early for Autumn, so that I could spread out the heft of the financial part. But I couldn't find anything. Not even in the kid's clothing section. Usually they have some pjs that I want to get, but don't. They only had footie pjs and since we haven't done those since she was a baby I wasn't sure how she'd react. So even though I went in thinking I would spend a tad more money on something for the future, I only spent my money on household supplies and food. I probably spent more than I should have, but I found these two jugs of syrup for under $6 when one large one (that is about half of one of the jugs) was close to $5 at HEB.

My downfall in the form of bagels came when I got close to the table of bread in the back corner and touched a bag of still warm Parmesan cheese crusted bagels. Still warm, and greasy to the touch. Which is sort of why I didn't get the Parmesan cheese ones, but oh, they were delicious looking. I ended up getting a bag of plain and a bag of cinnamon raisin. Big, thick bagels. None of that thin sliced stuff. Einstein brand. And fresh. After finishing up shopping I made it back to the car around 11:20 and I was hungry. So I ate a bagel on the way home. I had a piece of string cheese and a granola bar and called that lunch.

The only crafty thing I did today was to take apart some clothes pins and spray paint them in this reddish color that the guy who owned the house before us left. I've just got to do some more coats and then figure out what I want to use for a string to display Autumn's art in the playroom.

Then I went to pick Autumn up from school and we met her friend, Anna, and her mom at a nearby pocket park. We were there for almost 3 hours. Really. 3 hours of park time. Outside. The weather is just that great. Low to mid 70s. Awesome.





So by the time we got home it was after 4 and I was hungry again. Unfortunately, I spotted the bagels first and just couldn't talk myself out of another cinnamon raisin bagel. YUM!

More Cleaning

I went to bed last night thinking about how to rearrange the playroom because I'm trying to go to bed at a decent hour (midnight) even though I am not sleepy. I woke up at 4:20 thinking about a cousin. I stayed up for awhile unable to sleep. Woke up multiple times between 6 and 8. Autumn woke up just before 8, which is pretty late for her. I went to get a plastic container out of the cupboard and ended up cleaning out two cupboards of miscellaneous things that we don't need anymore. Like cheap pans from Richard's apartment 10 years ago. Not sure why I kept them when we've had much nicer ones for years. I also took out the foodsaver that I haven't used in years. And the old slow cooker that was replaced with a bigger one last fall. Why didn't I just get rid of the old one at the same time the new one came in?

The plan now is to move the playroom around to give Autumn a place to hang up her artwork, and also a place to display family photos so the sun doesn't damage them.

I should have taken a better before picture, but I had already moved the bookcase to the corner when I remembered.



I made a little reading nook for Autumn. She said, "Thank you to putting this blanket here!"





Then I had Richard install these knobs on the wall so that I can tie some sort of string across to hang Autumn's artwork from.



Now to figure out dinner...

Fall

The weather has been amazing lately, and I have figured out that if I lived in a nicer climate I might be more productive. Either that or Fall is my Spring. Because if I look back at the spring, I'd see that I really didn't have any interested in spring cleaning. Of course, I had just been diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy and just wasn't interested in much. On Monday, when the temp didn't get above 80 I opened most of the windows in the house and vacuumed. And after that I straightened stuff, and found odd projects around the house that needed fixing. Like the picture of the iguana that had fallen inside the frame. I took it apart and fixed it. I lined the drawers in Autumn's bathroom (13 months after moving in, but we don't use the drawers). I cleaned off my dresser and dusted my nightstand. On Tuesday the temps rose a tad, but I still kept the windows open and got to work. I vacuumed and steam cleaned our bathroom. With 17 year old carpet it is sort of pointless, because it is so worn and spotted from the previous owner. And it doesn't really look as good as I hoped after cleaning, but at least I can see the dirty water going down the sink.

On Wednesday I sorted and put away two big bags of Autumn's clothes from the past year. So many little outfits. They ended up in three large vacuum bags. I have a few pieces that I want Autumn to try on that might fit from last winter before I put them all away, but so far she isn't in the mood for dress up.

Today we went to story time at a bookstore. It wasn't as great as I hoped. I was really looking forward to this since it was Curious George, but I was disappointed. She wasn't interested in the story and she kept asking to go play. At one point she said she needed to go to the bathroom (and she did, though I was suspecting it was just to do something else). The most fun was had afterward when she got to play with Anna. I'm thinking that this might be her first friend that she has gravitated to (that hasn't been in school where I can't see how she interacts without me). At playgroups she never really played with the other kids until Anna showed up. They played with books separately and then towards the end they were running around the shelves chasing each other. Which did get out of hand, so we had to reign them in. Michelle and I had already set up for the kids to play at the park after school on Monday, so when they got upset that we had to leave we could at least console them with that. Also, they held hands while walking out of the store and into the parking lot. Autumn talked about that for awhile once we had said goodbye.

I'm not sure why I am writing all this down, but I feel like I am so far behind in Autumn's blog that I don't have the day to day ramblings of what really went on and only the pictures. So maybe I can capture things here, but probably not...

Bricks Quilt, Part 5

And here is my finished top!









Hello, little snails.

Bricks Quilt, Part 4

I am a fanatic about pinning my seams down. I go through and pin each side of the seams that butt together and I also pin down the seams that don't, just so everything lays flat. I pinned three rows together at a time, sewed them, and then sewed those sections together.

Bricks Quilt, Part 3

Then I spent awhile rearranging my strips to appear random without being too heavy in one color or pattern in any one place. I also sort of shot myself in the foot with my snail fabric, as it was the only one that had to be upright so no snails were crawling upside down (it would have bothered me, even if it doesn't bother others). Also, for some reason I had about 4 strips where I had "randomly" sewn the snails to the same block of dark green-blue fabric. It took some time, but I finally got to a point where it didn't matter that some of the same fabrics were next to each other in some areas, as long as it was some diversity and the snails were crawling on their merry ways, feet firmly planted on the ground.







After I got everything situated I cut pieces of paper and numbered them and then pinned them on in order. It makes it much easier when sewing together to not get out of order.

Bricks Quilt, Part 2

Here are my sewn pieces. I chain stitched one square to each rectangle. Over and over and over until I ended up with this pile.







After that I sorted out the different piles and then randomly chose 5 pieces and put those in stacks. I then sewed up all the pieces into strips.

Bricks Quilt Part 1

I am doing a quilt along with Unhistoric Acts. Here are her pictures of her fabrics and the first set of cuts she made.

Here are my fabrics. This set is one of the rejected collections from back when I was deciding how to decorate Autumn's room. I loved the little snails, but it just wasn't the perfect fit, so it has stayed in my fabric stash since late 2007.



Here are my cut stacks, ready to be sewn.