Two things old and two things new

So I made a few minor additions to my apartment decor that I wanted to blog about, and then I decided I wanted to post a couple of my favorite things already in my apartment that I don't think I've posted on here before. So first the older things.

Most of my furniture was either stolen from my parents house or purchased from Kmart or Big Lots. I think I've accumulated some great pieces, and I don't think the things I bought look as cheap as they were. But last January I decided I wanted a chair for my apartment. I saw a couple I liked online, but wasn't finding much at my usual shopping places. And I had also decided I wanted something a little bit different to add some character.

I ended up at a furniture store in town and after much debate special ordered a chair to get the fabric I wanted. I felt like this was my first real piece of furniture because I didn't walk out the door with it that day and I didn't have to put it together. I agonized over this chair so much, but was so happy with how it turned out. I just hope I like it in my next home.

Onto another favorite piece of furniture. My maternal grandmother had a display case in her apartment that I remember seeing every time we visited. She kept various knick knacks, all breakable, in it. I don't think she ever changed anything in it, but I always loved to examine (with my eyes only!) what she had in it. When we moved her to an assisted living place when I was in high school, I asked that my parents keep the case until I could have it for my own apartment.

So several years later, I moved it to Georgia with me. In its original form, it was green, the kind of green that looks good in my grandmother's apartment with her other older, traditional furniture. But this green would have stood out against my white walls, beige carpet and dark wood furniture. Red was my "accent" color for the living room -- if your first apartment can have much of a decor, much less an "accent" color when you can't paint or even remove the wallpaper. But anyway, I picked out a red from Home Depot and started to work on this piece. I had to sand it and sand it some more before I could actually paint and then paint another coat. All of which took several months, fortunately I had a small porch where I could hide my project.

But I did finally finish and get to put it in my apartment. I didn't have a lot of knick knacks to display in it the way my grandmother did, but I had another gift from her. Every year for Christmas she would give my siblings and I a set of matching decorative plates. After she died three years ago, we split them up and all got one from each set. When I was younger, it was hard to act excited about getting a plate for Christmas. But now I love that I have all these plates to remind me of my grandmother and the way she loved beautiful things. The case is in my bedroom now, but it's still something you see when you come to my apartment.

OK, on to the new additions. When I was hosting people this fall for Bible study and other stuff, I wanted a way to have more seating. I thought floor pillows would be a good plan, but I couldn't find any I liked and I wasn't really willing to spend the money on the ones I kind of liked. But now I have a sewing machine, and I can make things like floor pillows. I found the fabric and the pillow forms on sale, and it was really quick to make them. I think they are going to hang out on my cedar chest when not in use to stop using that as my clutter-zone (of course now I'm in need of something to organize the clutter I moved). But I haven't decided if I like them flat or standing up. Thoughts?

Last thing (I didn't realize this post was going to become so long), my mom has a good friend who is an artist and every year paints scenes from our small town for a calendar. For Christmas, my mom got an original framed for each of us.

I had to show it to you before I could tell you about it. But if you look close, I'm the blonde-headed one with a bow and a blue dress. My mom's friend painted this from a picture taken at an annual craft fair in my hometown when I was much younger. It took me several weeks to actually put the nail in the wall to hang it, but I love it, especially that there is a story to it.

A book post

A few months ago, I asked for some book recommendations on Facebook, and I got some great ones. My sister, aka "The Lending Library," also provided some good reads. I like writing these posts so I actually remember what I've read, but feel free to skip if you don't need a book.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
I'm not actually sure who recommended this to me, but clearly, they know me because it was the perfect book for me. The book is about an English-language newspaper based in Rome. Each chapter is about one of the employees and then some of the history of the newspaper. The newspaper is struggling, but the book is more the employees' private lives. Anyway, it was a great read for me: it's set in Europe, at a newspaper and has some good characters.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow
OK, I didn't actually read this one, I listened to it in the car. This is the book by the professor who was dying of cancer and gave his "last lecture," which was recorded and went viral on YouTube. The book is an extension of his lecture, not a repeat. He shares about his preparation for it and describes the experience, but he also adds more of his life story and more life lessons he wanted to leave to his kids. I think it was even better to listen to it than read it, but either way works. It's inspiring and challenging.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
This is a new favorite for me. The story is told as the journal of the second daughter in a poor family living in a run-down castle in England in the 1930s. Her father wrote a book that did well but hasn't written since, which is a huge mystery. So the plan to bring them out of poverty is for the narrator's older sister to marry into wealth. The book ends up being a love story with lots of amusing antics in between.

I Still Dream of You by Fannie FlaggI shouldn't put this one on the list yet because I haven't finished it. But I have enjoyed it so far. It's set in Birmingham, where I lived for a summer, and I love being able to picture it all. It's been a while since I read Fannie Flagg, but I'm remembering why I've always loved her books.

I still have more books on my list, several I'm waiting on from the library, and my list seems to be getting longer. But I am open to more suggestions!

Sewing projects

I promised to show you the things I've made with my new sewing machine, and now that I have given out my gifts, I can show you.

The biggest thing was figuring out what to do with all these fabric books. I made two sets of reversible placemats for my mom and sister.

These were for my sister and were actually pre-sewing machine.
 

These were for my mom and were my first real project on the sewing machine.

For my sister and niece, I made a wipes holder and a diaper changing pad. See links for the directions. I also made these for a baby shower.

This weekend I completed a camera strap cover with some scraps, and I'm trying to finish another placemat project.


I've been pretty pleased with how things have turned out. I don't sew very straight, so inside-out seams are my friend, but I think I'm getting better. I've also learned you can find anything through Google and YouTube. I never would have figured out bias tape without this video (note: I did pin mine).

I'm already dreaming of making baby dresses and floor pillows. I'll let you know how it goes.

Looking back and forward

I got behind on blogging and just decided to enjoy my time with family instead of blogging last week, so this post about 2010 is late.

I have to say 2010 has been a really good year for me. Over the last year, I really settled into my current city and found some great friends. I challenged myself to cook more by subscribing to a co-op and discovered I enjoy cooking and blogging about it. I picked up some other hobbies along the way.

Not everything was perfect, and I have struggled with my own sin and certain circumstances. But God has met me where I am and showed me the freedom of the Gospel.

I had some cool experiences and stepped out of my box, even went camping twice. I've gotten to spend some great time with family and celebrated a new addition.

I'm a little sad this year is ending, but coming off a good year means hope that 2011 will be even better. I'm not really one for resolutions, but I have been thinking about some things I've wanted to do and feel a new year is a good time to start them.

Here's my quick list:
Memorize Scripture
Return to the gym
Monitor my spending and save more
Make better use of my time

Happy New Year to all of you and best wishes for 2011!

Hobbies

Apparently as I get older, I am taking on hobbies.

I've never been a hobby person. I always dread that question in any situation -- sorority rush, icebreaker games, a date, on my Facebook profile, etc. My default answer is always reading, but that always leads to the question, "What have you read lately?" And then I either can't remember or don't want to admit to the latest chick lit book I've read.

But 2010 is apparently the year for new hobbies, and I'm glad to finally have an answer to that annoying question. Cooking is the main one for the year, and I would say writing about it is a related hobby. And my newest hobby is sewing.

Due to some inspiration from the fabric book acquisition, I asked for a sewing machine for my birthday from my parents. My mom wanted me to pick it out, but I had no idea what I was even looking for. The last time I sewed was in home ec class in sixth grade (if it makes you feel better, after that year, home ec was replaced with computer class). But my mom, sister and grandmother are all very adept at sewing and knew what they were looking for.

And they picked out a pretty amazing sewing machine. 

I'm not sure I will use all the features, but when it measured my button and created a buttonhole the right size with me just pushing the pedal, I could only stand back in awe.

I feel like I can make anything with it, and it's so easy to Google and find patterns and tutorials, much like finding recipes. Over the last three weeks, I've been making things like crazy. Of course, I can't really show you anything because most of it is gifts. But I did make this bag for me:

And next on my hobby list: Photography. I bought a used DSLR camera from a friend a couple of months ago but it hasn't left my apartment yet, so I need to Google and find some tutorials on that.