Unfocused.

We've been lucky enough to avoid this year's influenza outbreak so far,

but now's the time of year when cabin fever strikes.

One of my many unfinished projects.

We're headed into a deep freeze.  The kind of cold that makes my drive to work

feel like I'm driving a car with square tires and no heat.  As for evenings and weekends?

I'm not even bothering to go out unless it's a chocolate emergency!

Frost pattern on one of our old windows this morning.

In an older house like ours with lots of drafty windows  fresh air, I spend most of

my winter evenings in the living room in front of the fireplace working on knitting or

sewing projects or perusing blogs and Pinterest on my laptop.  I get so many ideas
from the blogs I follow and Pinterest that I'm never at a loss for a new project.

Over the holidays, Kelly at The Essence of Home showed us her cute

Anthropologie snowball garland and it inspired me to make my own.

I found wool roving on sale for $5.24 a skein at JoAnn Fabrics
 and one skein was enough to make 10 pom poms and a 72 inch I-cord.

I knit the I-cord with 3 stitches on size 10 needles.

My garland doesn't have metallic gold thread in the yarn like the original garland,
 but not to worry, we've already got plenty of sparkle on our ceilings.
(A strand of metallic gold thread could be intertwined with the yarn.)

The garland will keep Miss M company over the cold spell.

I bought these candle holders at IKEA to use during the holidays,

but they were a bit much with all of the other color in the room, so I 

packaged them up to return on our next trip to Minneapolis.

After I undecorated our mantel I thought I'd give them one more try,

and Hey Mikey, I like them!

I think they warm up our stodgy old fireplace with a fun pop of color.

Speaking of  stodgy old fireplaces.........

 Oh Joy!

Whilst perusing Pinterest, I happened upon this tutorial by Carla
 of Hammers and High Heels.  She and her husband transformed the fireplace

in their 1924 Dutch Colonial and the tutorial and accompanying photos make it look
  so simple that I think even the Rangers 911 will be able to follow them.
  Woo hoo!

I have so many plans for the new year my head is spinning!

(Or it could be the last of the sugary treats I've gobbled up.)

Here's what's on the docket for 2015:

 I'm ordering curtains (I can return them if they don't work out) for the bedroom

 because I  cannot live with the unruly polyester curtains I made.
I'm now gun shy about purchasing that much fabric again and not liking the curtains.

Also, I vow to finish painting the four windows before summer rolls around.

Open shelving in the kitchen.
 

I didn't think I could install open shelving under our kitchen soffits.....

 .....but Kris at Junk Chic Cottage proved me wrong.

Perfection!

I'd like to remove the upper cabinet in the far right corner
 that houses our dishes and replace it with two shelves *deep breath*
and install beadboard above the tile backsplash.
  Crown molding where the soffit meets the ceiling?

I don't know when (aka what year) this will all get done, but it's on my wish list.

There are also a few projects that need to be attended to
 before the next holiday.


Number 1 & 2

Do you remember what happened to Goldilocks when she
sat on Baby Bear's chair?  If my mother had not been paying
attention, she may have been sitting on a pile of chair spindles
during Christmas dinner!  Yikes!  I will be gluing all the joints
in both of the chairs with my dependable Gorilla Glue.


This next project will be a true test of our carpentry skills or lack thereof.

 Build a new house!!!!
Yes, you read that right, this is not a typo.








he he he  Just havin' a little fun.
When I saw that Danielle (Blessed Serendipity) owned the exact same
dollhouse that we found for our oldest granddaughter (below),
 I started searching online for old dollhouse patterns.

Low and behold, lookie what I found on Etsy.....

Can you believe it?
I honestly thought the dollhouse was much older, but the pattern
is dated 1981.   I'm hoping that we have the skills to put together the dollhouse before
Maggie's 3rd birthday.  The house is solidly constructed to last a lifetime....
the one we already bought, that is.  We've ordered the pattern
 and we've got just under a year to get it done.

Whew!

*I'm beginning to see why Bill says I have
trouble staying focused.

Emma Kate at Paint and Style posted this on her blog and I pinned it because
 it sums up what's going on in my head most of the time....

   I think most of you reading this post can relate.  :o)


Many thanks to all of you for the inspiration you provide throughout the year,
and here's to a constructive  2015!
Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
 Have a Daily Cup of Mrs.Olson Share Your Cup Thursday