Living Room

So, I can't even make it one week in before I miss a day. This has been a lazy weekend, involving lots of computer time, a book, and my couch. In my defense, this is the first lazy weekend I've had in over a month. I know, I know, how hard is it to write a blog post. I did do something yesterday worth blogging about. I am going to tell y'all about it some time this week in a make up post.

I spent my computer time split between playing Sims and catching up on my blog reading. Looking at other blogs is inspiring, and I wrote down (or copied to Evernote) some projects I'll do in the future. Still, it wasn't enough to get me up and moving. But, I made some new pins on Pinterest and tagged some photos on Houzz. And, I made a dream mid-century/modern/eclectic living room on Polyvore. Some of the pieces I already have, including the art above the couch (more on that to come this week).

Living Room by schizi on polyvore.com

I like the neutral couch and lamps with the bright colored art work and rug. The tripod lamp is the closest I could find to one I (sort of) have. And, I wouldn't be crazy plant lady without a couple of plants. The jade plant in the round planter isn't as cute as the one I have in the same pot.

My current living room is nice and cozy, but doesn't really look like this. I'll just have to move to a new place so that I can start decorating again on a clean palette.

Corcovado Rug, $798
Petrie Sofa in Sofas | Crate&Barrel, $1,699
Ikea Ikea Stockholm, $199
CB2 - acrylic drink table, $179
Midcentury modern lamp
Monochromatic Lamp, $130
20x200 - Print Information | Birch Forest No. 7, by Lisa Congdon, $20

Happy Table

I made my first crock pot meal today! To this point, I've only used my crock pot for keeping queso warm and serving broccoli cheese soup. But, tonight, I made Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili. I was looking forward to my soup all day, up until right before I left work. I had a bit of a headache, so that stole some of the anticipation of coming home to a yummy dinner. But, the chili was very good. I'm glad to add it to my repertoire of vegetarian dishes. Except, I may have to get a bigger crock pot before I make it again.

In honor of my much anticipated dinner, and also because I like their website, I have made a design over at Anthropologie's Table Top designer. Way too much fun to just make a place setting!

Take your treat to work day

Last week, while working crazy hours and developing an addiction to caffeine and Laffy Taffy's, I had a really yummy popcorn ball from the cute small-town grocery store. It's been years since I've had a popcorn ball. I always thought of them as shellacked with colored goo. This popcorn ball was more like a rice crispy treat, but with popcorn and candy corn! 

I was trying to come up with some way to thank the folks who came out to help with my project, and the yummy popcorn balls were on my mind. That might have been because I have tried to cut out as much sugar and processed carbs as possible since I've been back to detox from the bad habits picked up last week. But, I thought that these would be a simple, tasty treat.

I figured I could just make the marshmallows like I would for rice crispy treats, that is butter and marshmallows in a bowl in the microwave. I used unbuttered kettle corn. Since it's after Halloween (you'd think it was Christmas by looking at the stores, but that's a topic I'm not going into here), the candy corn was 50% off at World Market. And, what would a treat be without sprinkles.

I probably should list Pam as an ingredient because I had to keep spraying my hands. The first ball was so easy, the second got a bit sticky, but I pretty much has to wash the third one down the drain as I cleaned my hands. After that, I sprayed regularly and finished up. I hope everyone likes them.

Oh, and since I had taken off the afternoon to recover from my week long stretch of crazy work, I figured I'd have time to do all kinds of things, including work on blog posts before it got late (oops). One of the things I put on my list was to make chocolate chip cookies for a team meeting tomorrow. I've been talking a lot about bringing chocolate chip cookies but just haven't had the time at home, the energy or the ingredients to follow through on that promise. That is now remedied. One comment on the recipe - I used dark brown sugar since I had it and it looked like it might make more moist cookies. The cookies are pretty much like my normal choco chip cookies, but more brown. They aren't burnt but I swear they look darker than normal. We'll see how folks take to them tomorrow.

Last oh - I also cut up sweet potatoes so that I can make Slow Cooked Sweet Potato Chili tomorrow. I'll tell you all about it later

You, at the front

I told you that I would catch you up on what I've been doing (besides sleeping) for the past few months. I thought I'd start at the front (door). Welcome to my home!

I made this a while back, but I don't remember when. I got the tutorial from Mintage Home via Pinterest. If you haven't checked out Pinterest, you're missing out. Even the brother-in-law is on it! I'm going to save my gushing over Pinterest for another blog post (30 days=a lot of posts!).

My favorite little guy to babysit went with me to Home Depot to pick out paint chips. Well, he went with me. He didn't pick out the colors, as evident by the pink and purple scheme, but he did get a green Mickey Mouse paint sticker. Back to the colors. The pink and purple are pretty, but I should've gone with something with more blue to contrast with my orange rug. Other than that, I'm very happy with it. Even though hot glue played a major part, I don't remember getting any burns.

Okay, so the top right picture shows that maybe glue gun wasn't the best choice for styrofoam. BUt, it worked very well. That wreath has been hanging up at least a couple of months and still looks good. Nothing has fallen off of it yet!

I like the paint chip wreath so much, I don't want to switch to my stick wreath from last fall. Alas, it may get no hang time this year, what with Christmas right around the corner.

Stay tuned for more crafts!

My work ate my blog

The saying goes that it takes three times doing something to make it a habit. So, doing something every day for 30 days should stick, right? I hope so. Because, I'm promising right now to post something every day for the month of November. This is to make up for the neglect I've given NiftyTable and anyone who may have read the blog over the past few months. It is also to help me get back into the swing of things.

So, the teacher asked, why did you turn in your homework (a.k.a. your blog) ? Well, my work ate my blog.

Okay, that's an exageration. My work is not carnivorous, whatever I may think some days. But, I have found myself out on the road, or rather in the air, a lot more this past year. During that time, I have struggled to maintain any kind of hobby. I did momentarily nominate sleeping as a hobby, but realized that you shouldn't count something that is otherwise done to sustain life.

I started to come to the realization that I didn't have much of a life outside of work over the summer. Actually, it happened when my travel schedule was just a little bit clearer. It's taken this long to get to the point that I think I can commit to blogging regularly and, of course, doing interesting things outside of work that are worth blogging.

So, expect to see some catch up from the summer because I did more than just sleep. Christmas is right around the corner, and I'm signed up for the Freshly Blended 6th Annual Ornament Swap at Alisa Bobzien Design. And, I'm looking for something crafty/creative/pretty/relaxing/fun to do when I am on the road.

Whew.....one day down, 29 to go! See you tomorrow!

Recovery time

I'm still working my way back to Nifty Table. Its hard to be crafty on the road and, well, that's where I've been. With all of the travel and craziness that has been my work for the past few months, I was eligible for a couple of days of 'recovery' time. I could have spent the time cleaning my home (much needed) or catching up on a myriad of other things (including this blog). But, I spent that time with the fam (minus J) in Chicago. The main attraction - the Wright Plus home tour in Oak Park on Saturday. We saw a lot of houses! It was like being in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I loved seeing the architecture, but also how the different home owners brought out the homes' characters or merged their own personal style with the style of the house. Too bad we couldn't take pictures of the inside. If you're own of the home owners - your homes were all beautiful! If you are ever in Chicago whichever weekend (seems to be around the third weekend) the Wright Plus home tour is scheduled, you should buy a ticket. Actually, the tour sells out in advance, so you should buy your ticket and plan the trip, like we did. Every year, there are different homes, so I look forward to going back another year. At the left are some of the pictures from the trip. From the Friday morning drive down to Chicago to the end of the trip over Miller Lite and nachos in Milwaukee, these are some of my favorites. Oh, and the photo effect comes from the app Camera Bag. This part is actually travel friendly - I edited the pictures on an airplane. So, I'm hoping that the inspiration of the beautiful homes and the city views will be enough to get me back to the Table. I have a couple of ideas for new art work and projects inspired by this trip. I also bought a few things to turn into projects. Stay tuned!

Child'splay

I'm slowly making my way back after my 2 1/2 month hiatus. Not only have I not blogged, but I haven't even done anything crafty that would be good to blog about. But, that's going to change. And, for my first creative fun for April, I went back to that childhood medium of play-doh. 

While my favorite little man (yes, the play-doh was a babysitting tactic) made dino tracks and snakes with his green play-doh, I tried my hand a few different shapes with the purple. The purple dinosaur - a long neck for anyone who has seen Land Before Time lately - was a big hit, until the little pterodactyl attacked. 

It was fun, although my imagination was definitely more limited. I got tired of making shapes long before the dinosaurs. But, it was fun and relaxing, and we even kept most of the green play-doh off of the carpet.

Hiatus

It's a good thing I didn't make some kind of New Year's resolution to keep up with this blog! Don't worry it hasn't completely died. It's just that I've been on the road a lot, and that's not conducive to being creative. I'm hoping to pick everything back up again this summer. Just wanted to jump out there and let anyone who might stop by know why there's been nothing new for 2 months and counting.

It has been 3 1/2 years since the last time someone took a portrait of me. I've taken many pictures in that time, and I've been in lots of candids, but I haven't taken a new picture that BLady can put in her hallway with the other family pictures.

That's why I had to take a new one. Well, Megs took the picture. But, I needed a new picture because everyone in the family got an update. And, everyone's pictures were on nice metallic paper.

So, hours before I got on a plane to come back to WI, we loaded up and went into town to take this picture at one of my favorite places. We shot a couple poses, but Megs said this was the one as soon as she saw the preview.

I've ordered the picture from MPix. I really like the metallic paper from there.

Now, I'll look as good as everyone else!