Fabric Storage Bins

Now that my closets are in order, I can focus on "decorating" them. I've come across several tutorials on sewing fabric storage bins, including the few pictured below, with more styles and tutorials listed on this blog.

JCaroline Creative

Pink Penguin's fabric bin tutorial

I am deciding between some combination of Amy Butler's LOVE fabric and the numerous options from Echino. Any votes?

Amy Butler, LOVE

Echino "perch" in grape

A Closet Makeover

A laundry room should be a happy place, especially when you do roughly 17 loads a week! I reached a point a couple weeks ago where I couldn't take the mess any more and outfitted two closets with Elfa shelving (thanks, Norway). The professional installation was pricey, so I did it myself.

LAUNDRY CLOSET

There was one narrow shelf that just wasn't cutting it.

Laundry Closet (before - gasp!)

I removed the shelf and patched the walls.

I painted the walls.

Installed shelving! Ahhh...bring on the dirties.

STORAGE/PANTRY CLOSET

I tried to make due with a free-standing shelving unit, which clearly wasn't working. I was using the bar here for drying laundry which was a drag.

Pantry Closet (before - double gasp!)

I removed two old shelves (and bent my girlie hammer in the process), patched, painted and installed shelves and drawers! I look forward to opening the doors now.

Tie One On!

An apron, that is.

Several of my nieces are into American Girl dolls so I made them each an apron with a matching one for their doll. Inspired by Kit's apron, I used this vintage apron pattern and dug into my stash of fabric (the orange dots and pink lace are Amy Bulter, the pears are from Superbuzzy.com). Thanks to Mumsy who sent me oodles of bias tape and trimmings!

My oldest niece got an apron from this pattern.

Elijah's Doljabi

Elijah's traditional Korean first birthday celebration (doljabi, or dol for short) was a smashing success. One of the highlights was a game where the birthday boy chooses an object to predict his future. The typical objects are yarn (long life), rice (abundance), money (wealth) and books/pencil (scholar). We added a ball (athlete), microphone (musician) and rocket (astronaut). After much deliberation, he chose the rocket! I made his doljabi board, raffle tickets, and ballot jar labels.

I picked up these cardboard letters from the Paper Source and painted them for the cake table. I will eventually get around to putting them on a wall or shelf in his room!

The food was ridiculously good...as usual.

Onsie for My Onsie

I thought Elijah needed a special shirt to wear to school to celebrate his first birthday, so I cut a "1" out of fabric from Amy Butler's Lotus line and his name out of brown corduroy and sewed them to a plain onesie. Ta da!

Greeting Cards

This month's Martha Stewart featured a vintage bicycle layout with a photo spread of bicycle baskets. I liked the photos so I cut them out and glued them to some blank greeting cards. To make them glossy, I formed a paper frame to protect the paper and sprayed the photos with clear glaze.

Absinthe

During a weekend visit to Madison I made a stop at Vom Fass, a shop that specializes in spirits, liqueurs, flavored oils and vinegars. A table in the middle of the store featured a full set of absinthe accouterments, and I was immediately transfixed by the stunning absinthe spoons. I wonder how many of my culinary exploits are attributable solely to cool equipment...

The salesperson at Vom Fass spent some time with us explaining how to pour the absinthe. When I sampled their pour, I found it to be milder and tastier than those I've tried in the past - an herbal anise taste, to be sure, but not bitter and medicinal. I left the store with my own bottle and, of course, one of the charming spoons.

Here's the recipe as described by one salesman of fine spirits.

The ratio of absinthe to water should be 1:3. I don't have a special absinthe glass with a built-in divot for measurement. I started with one part absinthe in my own cocktail glass.

Position the spoon on top of the glass with a sugar cube and slowly drip ice water over the cube. The absinthe will become cloudy and chartreuse.

Continue to pour two parts ice water. Set spoon aside and drink. The aperitif was tasty with a radish & goat cheese sandwich, for example.

(Recipe: Slice of bread, slather of goat cheese, scallion slices, radish slices. Optional: Chives, basil or ground pepper. Eat open-face or as sandwich. Thanks to Rachel for this recipe!)

Patio Lights

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I've been admiring a neighbor's strung patio lights for some time. So I finally hung my own.

Target is selling patio lights for about $12 a string. I also purchased a 20' outdoor extension cord, some pond pebbles and an 8' pole at Home Depot. Martha Stewart helped me figure out how to anchor the pole. (She has some other nice outdoor lighting ideas as well).

First I salvaged a 5-gallon pail and drilled holes in the bottom to allow for water drainage.

I had someone hold the pole in the middle of the bucket while I poured the pond pebbles. The bag of pebbles was so heavy I could barely lift it, which seemed ideal for anchoring. But the pole still moved side to side, so I found some large rocks in the yard to buttress the pole.

I left several inches from the top of the bucket for potting soil, where I planted wheatgrass seeds. I like the idea of furry green grass springing from the base of my anchor.

I attached the outdoor extension cord outlet to the house using two screw eyes and plastic fastener strips. I screwed 3 small hooks into the house and used plastic fasteners to anchor the 3 strands apart from one another. I used the same technique to run the extension cord along the eaves to render it less noticeable.

We really enjoyed the lights during our Memorial Day cocktail party last night.

Amy Butler + Wallpaper = BLISS

My sources tell me that Amy Butler is introducing a wallpaper line! My powder room walls are very excited.

Dresser Dress-Up

I have two large bureaus in my bedroom that belonged to my grandparents in the 1960s. The drawer handles have become very worn and tarnished over the past 40 years, so I removed one and took it to the hardware store in hopes of getting advice about metal polish.

The hardware store employee showed me the dull, black backside of the handle and informed me that they were lacquered "pot metal," and could not be polished. I asked him for other ideas and he suggested spray paint. I removed all of the handles, sanded them down so the paint would take to the surface.

The paint worked beautifully. A nice facelift for my family heirloom.