China

It was a big week here at Cookie Cutter. It was the kind of week that forced me to stay indoors and not fight the fact that I had to do so. "Just go with the flow," I had to tell myself as I looked in the blue eyes of my goopy-nosed toddler.

Plus, there's plenty to do right here, right under my nose. Right in my basement, in fact.

Did I tell you that I had a flood in my basement this past Christmas Eve? It was the craziest December ever; it shouldn't have surprised me that it flooded. The hubs and I did the best we could to clean it up, salvage what we could and throw away what we should.

After a very weary Christmas Eve evening, we closed the door to the basement and, honestly, I hoped to never see it again. But... the silver lining to the flood is that it washed up some beautiful treasures that I had forgotten I had in my possession.

Such as?

Well, I found some china that some beautiful women in my life have given me.

Some belonged to my grandmother, some my great-grandmothers. I'm not a froo-froo sort of girl who collects china, but I'm a sentimental one and I refuse to let these pieces be forgotten. They remind me of very special women. I hope to put them in my dining room in some kind of funky cluster arrangement.

(Side note: I have no idea what the purpose was for these "hen and chicks" china... Hmmm.)

And this lavendar flowered one? My MOM painted that one.

Can I tell you why these women were special to me?

My great grandmother loved to do crafts with me and my sister. We would fill sachets with lavender and hand sew the edges. Sometimes we'd take her old unused church offering envelopes, fill them with seeds and seal them. Then we'd write "10¢" on them and hope to sell them.

My materal grandmother (as well as my mother) taught me to sew. I have fond memories of spending time during the summer in my grandmother's sewing room.

So when I found china that they used to own and probably used, I was reminded of them and their contribution to my life.

Ooo... What fun it will be to find a real home for them.

Put it on the Calendar

It's winter at the Cookie Cutter house. It's wonderfully busy but it's a bit difficult to continue the renovation of our laundry and mudroom.

Believe it or not, we actually scheduled the tiling of the floors for a weekend in February. I think it's funny how we are doing the work ourselves and we had to schedule the tiling as if we're contractors.

We all have a bit of cabin fever.

To keep sane on the more difficult weeks, I choose small projects.

My friend Jenni told me that a friend of hers who had small children used to sew every day. She said it was the one thing that she didn't have to undo and made her feel like she did something.

I *completely* understand.

I remembered an old pattern that my Grammy sent me in the mail.

And then I got to work with some really dreamy fabric. I wanted my baby girl to be ready when the warmth and sunshine came.

I had enough fabric so I made two. One for Eve and one for cousin in North Carolina.

I can hardly stand it. Flowers AND polka dots.

When I can't remodel my house at least I can decorate my children.

(I hope you're laughing because I am.)

Is it possible that somewhere under the frozen ground are flowers?

When Eve awoke from her nap, I was *crazy* to try to put her new smock on her. I wanted to see if it would fit.

"She won't have it," warned Dan.

But I was persistent. And fast.

I quickly put the smock on her and tried to imagine it without the undershirt. Holey cuteness.

The back is totally adorable. I love this pattern. I wore the same type of outfit when I was a toddler.

"Mom, please stop taking my picture. I'm serious."

"Okay," I said, "for now."

Box

Years ago, when Dan and I were having fun at a thrift store, I saw this old silverware box. The flatware was long gone and the price tag was an appealing $10.

I had no use for a silverware storage box. I did not need it whatsoever.

So I bought it.

(Huh?)

I know, I know. But wait, it gets better:

Then I brought it home and promptly put it in storage. For years.

Why did I buy this? I'm not entirely sure, but this font was so retro fun and, um, made me buy it.

I bought something I didn't need, didn't particularly want and wouldn't use and put it in my house to rot. It's a sad story of consumerism, but it has a happy ending.

Lately I've been challenging myself to really look within the walls of my own house and see if I have solutions for design right under my nose. I really dislike waste and I'm on a mission to gradually clear my house of excess stuff that takes up space and has no meaning or purpose.

I was swooning over some jewelry boxes recently at some stores and, upon realizing that I didn't want to spend $100-$200 on a box, I remembered this purchase.

"Look at the lovely drawers," I said to myself.

"What are those white clippy things on the inside?" my alter ego said.

Who cares? It has storage. And a pretty font. But mostly storage. Use it!

So I did. And then I smiled. Because something that was misused was now used well.

This took five minutes. Tops.

(Ba hahaaaa) *Ahem*

It wasn't difficult at all.

Cost: Ten bucks.

And my pride for storing random boxes in the first place.

I'd like to tell you that I let my daughters help me put my necklaces in the box. That would've been "very cool mom" of me. But I know my daughters. And I know that asking them to put my jewelry (which they couldn't have) and put it in a box (with which they were not allowed to play) would only invite envy. And tantrums.

But that's just my house. You'd probably do just fine having little fingers help you. It's certainly safe.

Medicine Cabinet, Part II: What I Did With the Kids

I'm no expert, but from my perspective, kids don't care squat about home remodeling projects. This is Eve's expression pretty much all the time when I tell her about the latest project. It's a good poker face, don't you think?

So when I knew I had to fill a couple hours with Morgan on our gray Saturday morning while Dan installed a cabinet, I knew it had to be enjoyable for all people involved.

"Let's make a pizza, Morgan!" I said in my most ecstatic voice.

"No thanks, Mom."

(She can smell a distraction from a mile away.)

"Well, I thought you and I could play restaurant. And make a pizza," I offered. It pays to be persistent. She loved the idea.

First, we made the sauce. Every time I make sauce I think the same thing: "Well that wasn't hard to make at all." It's, like, five ingredients.

And then I told her to smile. This is what she did.

Super cute, but not her everyday smile.

"Smile your NORMAL smile," I told her.

Serves me right:

She took my picture as well.

She measured ingredients. And we talked. She stirred the ingredients. And between steps of assembling our pizza, we would visit Dan (who was busy installing the medicine cabinet).

And then, after a good bit of cooking and stirring and blending, the sauce was made and added to our pizza. Doesn't it look yummy?

She even made a menu.

She name the restaurant "The Cookers"... Is that adorable or what?

Now if you're anything like me, you're probably thinking, "Wasn't this a decorating blog? How did we start talking about making pizza?" To which I will answer thusly: This is a blog about decorating and remodeling AND having young children. This is an example of Dan and I tag teaming on watching the kiddos.

And if you want to know what our next project will be, I can give you a clue:

It's not going to be glam.

"Excuse me, Mr. Home Depot... where is your childproofing section?"

Medicine Cabinet

For Christmas this year, I got Dan an unusual gift. It came in a big box and he probably thought it was more stuff to brew his own beer. *Poor guy.*

Now I don't usually buy Christmas gifts that result in work for the recipient, but this was different.

I bought Dan a medicine cabinet.

There's a good reason why: Dan keeps all his toiletries in a travel bag and it looks for all the world like he is ready to dash out the door at any minute. His job used to require him to travel more but his new position allows him to stay closer to home.

In fact, when he held his last position, I hated to see that travel bag because it meant a few days without Dan. It made me sad.

Sooooo... When I was meandering around Lowe's this past winter, I found a medicine cabinet and I immediately thought of how much happiness it would bring me him if he could put his stuff in it.

And then I could burn the travel bag. :)

Now before I tell you about the installation, let me show you this cabinet. Looks like a regular cabinet, right? (Here's the part where you humor me and say, "Yes, by jove, it DOES look like a regular old cabinet.")

Well, this cabinet has a secret... it is DOUBLE the depth of most cabinets. You know how some cabinets have that tiny shelf and you're supposed to perch a little tube of toothpaste on it in some precarious position and quickly shut the door before it falls out?

That ain't gonna happen with this one.

This cabinet LOOKS like a wall hanging one, but it has an additional FOUR INCHES behind it which fits nicely behind the drywall and between two studs.

Here's how the installation went: First, I took a pic of Dan. He's smiling but he's saying, "Honey, will you please stop taking so many pictures of me?" And I said no.

And then I took a pic of myself in the mirror while he was busy working.

Here's the before...

Here's the hubs cutting the drywall.

And once that drywall got the message about who was boss, Dan pushed the cabinet into the slot, secured it with some screws into the side studs and put the door on the cabinet.

And then we had this:

But when you opened it up, it was this:

Project: Medicine Cabinet Summary

The project took less than 2 hours to complete. It was relatively easy to complete on a Saturday morning.

The tools required for this job were relatively simple: A power drill and a saw. Dan will say that the cutting took longer than he thought-- took a bit of elbow grease.

The cost was relatively inexpensive (as home projects go).

There was the cost of the cabinet itself plus the screws to hold it into the studs. About $100.

This project was particularly dusty. I wouldn't want little hands getting into it. However, it was perfectly safe for the squirts to visit Daddy once in a while while he worked on the project.

Design Help

This is my fireplace room.
The hubs and I had the oak cabinets (which flank the fireplace) painted a mortar color. We love how it made the fireplace the center of attention but then...

the room got kind of dull.
So... I've been adding punches of yellow/gold color wherever I can. It's a work in progress.

So the other day when I was at the Home*Goods store, this pillow flirted with me.
"Oh, I couldn't," I said to myself as I locked my eyes on its yellow goodness and bright, bold pattern.

"I shouldn't," I said to myself.
But then I remembered that I have several rooms with yellow in them and that this pillow could inform me of other colors to put in the room.

That's right. I just gave my pillow a voice.
It informed me.
With green. And rust. And gray, of all things.

I use pillows to give me inspiration like that.
"What should I do with my overly green bedroom?" I asked this blue linen beauty.
"I'll show you," it said with its marvelous, harmonious colors.

This pillow just gave me permission to bring in some blues and reds if I want.

Pillows saved the day when I was tired of our red couch. Too much red. Too loud. I needed a break. So I found some pumpkin colored ones. And cream. And linen.

And now my siren colored couch is much quieter.