Lakeation Projects #s 2-5

We're still in catch up mode so I haven't had as much share time as I'd hoped for this week.

I feel like there's so much to talk about so naturally I can't think of anything to say.

I will however finish showing our little projects at the lake.

Do you have a place where work doesn't feel like work?

At the cabin menial tasks such as baking bread, sweeping the floor, even doing the dishes feel more relaxing than taxing.

So even though we kept ourselves fairly busy I promise it didn't feel that way.

Project #2

Clean up this catch all kitchen shelf.

We have a tiny kitchen with only enough storage for our dishes.

I bought this shelf on the cheap as a pantry of sorts years ago.

And it has been annoying me ever since.

I spent $35 on one butter box and one wine box from Rocky Mountain again.

They cleaned it up just enough to give me peace.

Project #2

Living Room wall art.

This really ended up being a non project.

I found this print of the plan for the development of our lake community rolled up on a shelf.

 I loved it immediately.

It reminded me of these arial shots that my Gram and Grandad have displayed at their cottage.

It's a little worse for wear but that almost adds to the charm.

I had great plans to construct or buy a frame but wanted to make sure it would look right in that spot.

So I nailed it to the wall.

And you know what? I love it.

It feels right this way and I feel like a frame would take something away.

Plus, it was the easiest project all week.

Project #4

Firewood.

This is Jeff's department.

For some reason {I'm sure I've said this before} the acquiring and burning of wood is an obsession of his.

We hauled some harder wood out for indoor burning but wouldn't want to use that for firepit fires.

Luckily we had 2 downed trees {mostly lucky that they fell without hitting a power line}.

Jeff spent hours with the chainsaw cutting them up and bringing them down the hill.

Project #5 {in progress}

The boat.

Oh the poor boat.

This thing is older than us and deserves much more respect than we give it.

When we finally inspected it this year we found it filled with water.

As I said, we had the boat on dry land then the water came up.

And we thought we were being so smart leaving the plug out so that any rain that got past the cover would just drain out.

Well, Jeff fired up the old '72 shortbox and drug it right up to safety.

We now have a dry boat with a motor desperately in need of maintenance.

Hence the in progress.

As far as we're concerned, in progress keeps it interesting.

Lakeation Project #1: Big Girl Bed

We scored big time when we bought our cabin in our previous life{style}.

The previous owners took such amazing care of their property and belongings and left every last one for us.

We, on the other hand, are still learning how to be good lake property owners.

I wouldn't say we're irresponsible but we do things like leave the boat out for the winter without a trailer or proper cover.

Ok, that's pretty irresponsible but I promise we're working on it and getting much better.

{I'm happy to report that we got the boat to safety and have a plan in place for it.}

That wasn't my big project though.

Fiona has finally graduated to a big girl bed at the cabin.

Up until now she's been sleeping with me since the bed we had in mind for her is pretty high.

These built in bunks were in the guest/kids room when we took ownership and I love them.

I just wasn't a big fan of how dark it felt.

The blue and flower decals were a pretty scheme but I wanted something a little more fresh.

I also hated looking at the vacuum and bassinet under the bed.

So I armed myself with a can of soft white paint and the perfect piece of fabric and went to work.

{I still haven't told you about the amazing fabric samples I scored from a friend of mine.}

A piece of beautiful pleated white linen made a bed skirt {which I staple-gunned right to the underside of the edge of the bed} and curtains.

For the curtains I just finished the edge with a zigzag stitch since I was without serger and I actually loved the raw looking edge.

I moved a rug that was previously hanging in the living room to above the dresser.

The finishing touches were a couple of Rocky Mountain Antique Mall finds.

I especially loved this "farm basket" to hold Fiona's books and such.

The floral comforter was a hand me down and the blue comforter and sheets were all ours already.

The paint was even a leftover can from the house.

The final cost for this project was $23 for the metal bucket and farm basket.

Now it feels perfect for the princess.

Pinterest: Keep it and Kill it {Take 3}

Bridal showers.

Am I right?

They have become a whole different ball game now thanks to Pinterest.

There are so many good ideas at your fingertips.

We decided to throw a "Pinterest" shower for Jenna a while back.

We would peruse her boards and take ideas from them for the decorations, drinks and food.

 {Except the wedding board of course that would have been cruel.}

The funny part was that Jenna didn't remember pinning many of these things.

That's my issue with Pinterest.

I pin away and rarely go back to look at said pins.

{Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy pinning.}

These are a couple of projects I did for the shower.

 Keep it:

This was an idea for house numbers.

                                                                 Source: ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com via Jenna on Pinterest

Jenna has actually done this and it turned out great.

I decided to take an old piece of baseboard (6") and twine and do one with her wedding date.

I was really happy with it and she now has it in her home.

 Kill it:

I'm really not being fair to these poor doily lamps.

                                                                               Source: shexists.com via Jenna on Pinterest

The actual pin looks great.  My adaptation, not so much.

I didn't have a stash of crochet doilies and with no rummage sale in my near future didn't know how to acquire any.

I used paper and these are the pathetic results.

I put them up anyways and wish I hadn't because they looked even more pathetic hanging at the party.

The Green Thing

A couple of weeks ago I told you about the SEESA Rummage Sale.

On my second trip, one of the lovely volunteers packaged my items.

{By the way, this was done with more care for my $2.50 purchase than is usually done for purchases I've made for hundreds of dollars.}

She picked out a shoebox that was in really good shape.

"This would be a good box for wrapping gifts" she said.

I replied "perfect with Christmas coming".

Her eyes seemed to light up that I was on board.

"We call that recycling" she told me with a smile.

If it had been anyone else I would have thought she was mocking me.

She was, however, completely sincere.

It reminded me of a story I read {on Facebook I think}.

I searched for the story and couldn't find an original but did find this adaptation.

We do "the green thing".

We put our recyclables in the blue bag.

We started composting {and are horrible at it}.

We do cloth diapers.

I consider myself relatively "green".

The truth is though, there is so much more I can do.

Lately, I have been paying attention to how much we waste.

How much we buy on a whim that isn't needed.

How much we have that we don't use.

I am now making a conscious effort to reduce and reuse more.

Starting with:

Burps cloths to face cloths.

I have a ton of burp cloths.

My amazing friend Kim gave them to us when Fiona was born.

Thankfully we are now through the spitting up phase.

{Cedric was never really much of a spitter-upper.}

I do however need face cloths and lots of 'em.

We go through multiple each day for after meals and snacks.

I started using burp cloths to wipe faces and found they were too big.

This meant they stayed wet for a long time and started to smell.

I decided to take advantage of the serger I am returning today and went to work.

Each burp cloth yielded 4-6 face cloths.

Now we're all stocked up.

Cost $0.