Yellow Cane Chair (Revisited)

It's been a while since I've participated in The CSI Project. When I saw this week's theme (Slipcovers and Upholstery), I knew I wanted to share my sweet little yellow cane chair. If you've been around my blog for a while, you probably saw the original photos and tutorial for the chair back in September. If you're new here and would like more details about the project, check it out here.

This is where I started:

And what I ended up with:
I still love this chair, and we've enjoyed having the extra seat in our family room.

For more upholstery inspiration, be sure to stop by CSI this week!

A Substitute

On Sunday I told you about a little spring cleaning challenge going on over at Simple Mom. Wouldn't you know this week's project happens to be one area of my house that I have actually tackled lately! I cleaned out my closet just a couple weeks ago. A sizable load went to Goodwill and a few nicer things got passed along to a friend. I finally parted with several pairs of favorite shoes that haven't fit since before Maren was born. Ugh...my feet grew an entire size with my first pregnancy. I'm hoping that won't be the case with baby #2! Anyhow, I actually have room in my closet now for all my 'normal' clothes as well as my pregnancy wardrobe. One perk of being a SAHM is that my clothing is quite simple. I have a few special things for wearing 'out' and a few things appropriate for church. The rest of the time I live in jeans. I'm also learning that it takes much less time to maintain my wardrobe if I keep things simple, as is the case with most areas of life!

SO, I decided to share another little area of my home that got a recent face-lift.

This picture is so embarrassing! I have another desk in my craft room that I use for sewing, and everything else happens right here. The space gets cluttered and messy very quickly depending on what sorts of projects I've been working on.


A couple of weeks ago I picked up this tiered garden stand at Pottery Barn. I normally wouldn't have spent so much on something like this, but I had a gift card, and this was what I wanted to get! It was on sale, which was nice. The trays are quite spacious, and I knew it would work perfectly as a storage solution on my desk. I already had a lazy-Susan on hand so I just set the 3-tiered stand on top and it fit perfectly.


I was able to fit all my tools on the stand...yeah! The little tray in the middle of the desk holds a few in-process projects and things that need to be fixed. I even had an extra spot for something decorative. I just need to find a picture for the frame. Hmmm...I wonder what it would take for Brett to paint the table for me? I've been imagining a nice, fresh green color. What do you think?


See how nicely everything fits on the stand? I love having easy access to things I use often without the clutter all over my workspace.

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Simplify

As you may know by now, I'm just a few short months away from welcoming baby BOY into our family. My pregnancy nesting instincts combined with my usual spring cleaning urges are creating the perfect storm of clutter-busting around here these days. You can probably understand my excitement when I read about Simple Mom's Project Simplify.

If you haven't already done so, stop by Simple Mom for a little visit to see what the buzz is about. The first week of the project begins tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to finding out what this week's area will be.

On a different note, I've been doing a lot of sewing lately. I made Maren a darling little top, and on Friday I spent the day working on my first quilting project. I'm so excited to share both of those projects with you. I have found myself enjoying sewing projects recently. They seem to have a bit more longevity than some of my other crafty endeavors.

What's been your favorite creative outlet lately? Do you find yourself in 'seasons' of projects? Right now is definitely a sewing season for me!

Happy Sunday...I'll be back soon with pictures of Maren's new top!

Where to begin...

Hi friends.

I hardly know where to start...it's been so long! I've spent way too many days recently formulating posts in my head, and I finally just decided to take the plunge. I feel a little as I did many months ago when I first started this blog. The only difference is now I feel like a bit of a let-down after my l-o-n-g break. If you're still out there, and you happen to be checking back in, thank you! I sincerely hope to never have an absence quite so long again...but no promises!

If you write a blog, you've probably dealt with the sense of urgency to keep up with posting on a regular basis. If your blog is more family-focused the pressure might come in the form of capturing and sharing every significant moment of your life in a timely fashion. If you write a crafty or decorating blog, you probably feel more as if you must keep ahead of trends, constantly be thinking of revolutionary wonderful ideas, and producing content faster than your two little hands can complete the projects. I love to blog, and I have loved the community of friends I've made here at Oh Write. BUT, I love my family more, which is why I've been absent for so long. I needed a break to focus my best energy on my family, on my relationship with Jesus, and on my relationships and commitments I have in 'real-life'.

During my time away, I've done some thinking about the direction in which I'd like to take things here at Oh Write. I'm excited to be back, and I have several new projects in the works. I also want to be a little more candid about my life as a wife and mom. Some of my favorite blogs in my reader are those combining fabulous creative ideas and decorating inspiration with reflection and tips on day-to-day living. I really do love to write, and up until now I feel as though I've let the pressure to write great tutorials and to share awe-inspiring before and after projects overshadow the real me. I am not perfect, my house is not perfect, and sometimes I have projects that fail. I have found the blogging community to be an incredible, inspiring resource. But, it can also promote feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, and jealousy. Unfortunately, I'm guilty of being overtaken by all those and more. I want to do my best to avoid stirring up those ugly responses here on my blog, which is why I have a new-found desire for a more candid approach.

Wow...if you've made it this far through my 'ramblings' I thank you! I do want to share a few 'lighter' things with you all!

My pregnancy is going great, and thankfully I've been feeling fabulous since Christmas. I am 20 weeks along, and we are looking forward to finding out if our little one is a boy or a girl bright and early tomorrow morning!

Maren is successfully potty-trained! I'm thinking of sharing more about our experience with you all...interested?

I joined a local quilt guild, but was unable to make it to the first meeting due to a snow-storm. I've got a pattern and the fabric for my first little quilting project, so stay tuned for my progress!

Our list of pre-baby house projects is quite impressive. We'll see how much actually gets accomplished! I do plan to paint and 'face-lift' a few rooms in the next couple of months, so hopefully there will be some fun pictures to come. (And when I say, "I plan to paint", I actually mean, "I plan to pick out the colors and organize a closet or two while my sweet husband paints a few rooms." Ha! I actually hate painting...thankfully Brett doesn't mind the work!)

My first creative projects since the holidays were some new notecards for my Etsy shop. I'm so excited with how these 'layered' cards are turning out. The Valentine's ones are so fun, and I'm hoping to have more listed soon!

What do you think?

Just for fun, here's a little peak at some pictures we had taken at Christmas. I can't believe how much my little lady is growing up!





Thanks again for sticking around! I look forward to spending more 'virtual' time with you in the weeks and months to come!

A good excuse for being a bad blogger...

Well...hello there, strangers! Thank you so much for your emails and inquiries as to my whereabouts. I appreciate your thoughts...and I have a good explanation!

But first...Maren wants to wish you a Happy Halloween! We're honestly not huge Halloween fans around here, but we do go trick-or-treating, and I did put a bit of effort into M's costume this year. The cheerleader outfit was a hand-me-down from a wonderful cousin, and I made the pom-poms out of an orange plastic tablecloth. They didn't turn out how I'd had them pictured in my mind, but Maren was so excited about them, which was all that mattered!

When does time ever start slowing down? It really feels like yesterday this girl was born...oh my, now look at her! She's turned into a little girl!
So...onto my other piece of business...I haven't been blogging {at all} because I've been incredibly sick...you know...tired, nauseated...

Yup! Baby #2 is on the way, and we've had a rough start. All of my energy, creativity, thoughts, and time have gone towards keeping my family fed, clothed, and clean {to some extent!}. I do have great intentions for some Christmas projects...I LOVE Christmas, and I'm hoping that I'll feel up to working on something other than laundry in the weeks to come.

In the meantime...please don't abandon ship! I do miss visiting with you all, and sharing bits of my life with you. For the time being, those bits might just be a little less-inspiring! {Unless you find yourself in my same situation, in which case, there's nothing better than empathy, right?}

Sunday Giveaway

I have a terrible cold right now, and it is just about knocking me out of commission. No. Fun. Especially with a busy 2-year-old running circles around me. I hope it's short-lived!

Have you been to Kim's blog?



She's having some fabulous giveaways to celebrate her blogiversary...the giveaways will close later tonight.

If you want another chance at winning something from my Etsy store, you can go here.

Good luck!

And the Winners Are...

Thank you all for your kind words as I celebrated reaching 100 followers! It's nice to know that you enjoy what I write...and it makes me want to keep working at putting out new ideas and tutorials. YOU are what makes blogging worth it for me!

I chose the winners tonight via random.org. It's late, though, and I'm having trouble getting the little pictures of the actual integer-thing to upload, so you'll have to trust me that I didn't rig this...ha!

Are you ready?

The grand prize $20 credit to my Etsy store goes to......

Tony and Heather

*I actually know Heather in real life! She's got twins...I'm glad you won, Heather!

And, the 4 runners-up (you get to pick a set of notecards!) are...

Liz
Amber
Laura
and Heather

If you were a winner...email me to claim your prize!

Congrats!