Best $1. Ever.

My husband is pretty amazing.

When we first got married I wanted to buy a fall wreath, but he was unsatisfied with the options available and wanted to make one instead (he's picky). So, he and my mom created a wonderful masterpiece.

The same has been true since. Today at Lowe's he was so very excited to see that fresh garland and wreaths were on clearance for only $1!

He looked at me with those eyes and a "please" expression on his face and we bought some. :) (How couldn't we, it was $1 and the garland was in great shape - still fresh!)

And, while I was at a baby shower for my cute neighbor, he and Adi put it up.
Gorgeous. I wish it had been there the day after Thanksgiving to have enjoyed it longer. But we'll make the most of it in the coming weeks!

Simply chic.

Oh, and the tin stars? 

We made those. 

Making Tin Stars

There was this one time that I used a left-over catering tin to make stars and I cut my finger on the sharp edge. I got the idea here (and she gives a better tutorial than I do, just fyi). 

We first fell in love with tin stars and lamps while visiting Mexico. 

One day, I'll make these, too. 

Until then, I'll be taking baby steps until I reach that point and this was a good way to start.

Step 1: Here's the tin in all her glory. We actually got this from our caterer at an office Christmas party.

Step 2: I cut off the edges. This is where it became dangerous. Those edges were sharp.

Step 3: Flatten it out. I had to cut it in half to do so. 

I bulldozed that sucker like a boss with the rolling pin.

Step 4: Print out some nautical stars. I printed out a couple of different sized stars. You can just find these by doing an image search on Google for "nautical stars." (Be prepared to see some gnarly tats while you're there.)

Step 5: Use a pen to trace the image on to the tin.

It will leave behind the indented image of the star, which you will cut out in step 6.

Step 6: Cut out the star, but leave about 1/4 of an inch around the edges. 

This is what it will look like after you have cut it out. Make cuts at the angles between arms.

Step 8: Fold the edges. You can use a ruler to do this, but I just re-traced the star edge and they folded easily (you can see that some of my lines were a litte crooked, which I fixed when folding). 

Fold away and you cut the extra from the points. 

Step 9: Fold along the middle lines - this will make it pop out. And you're done, unless you want to paint it. We didn't because we liked the reflection of the tin.

We put them in our tree for a little while, but then decided to use them to decorate some garland we bought for the banister. In the tree, we just had them sitting, but you can also poke a hole in one of the tips with a safety pin and add a hook to hang them. This is what we did with the garland.

I'll keep you posted on more progress towards making these:

Speaking of which, anyone have a tutorial (or Moravian star making artisan friend) to help me out?

Domesticity realized.

Ryan had a vision.

He was going to wire three sets of these to the railing. One right side up, the other upside down.

I wasn't quite sold. 

We have been seeing some pretty Christmas door sprays lately, but we wanted to do something unique. Something pretty. Plus, we like our door wreath, a lot (these actually match the wreath pretty well, too). 

So, while at Hobby Lobby, we bought a couple of these, used some wire to attach them to the railing, and voi la! 

Our own unique garland. 

Happy December! 

We might add a bow to the middle. What do you think?

Black Bats, Pink Cats.

Well, we finally managed to pull the Halloween decorations out of the attic. Our decorations consist of a box with a rubber spider that jumps out when you open it, and paper bats that my mom cri-cutted out for us last year. 

Binx now refers to our living room as the "spooky forest."

She has also decided that the chest at the foot of our bed is a great stage to entertain us at night.

Performances are now given nightly during the 8:30 - 9:30 pm hour.

Nightly performances include jumping and singing. Some of the time she faces us, but mostly she likes to see herself in the mirror. This performance is somewhat reminiscent of this from last year. 

It usually ends with an encore of jumping on our bed and then us tackling and tickling her.

(She's irresistibly tickle-able in her footed pjs.)

On a tangent regarding that performance last year, Adi is convinced she is going to be a cat for Halloween again this year. A pink one. She told a lady at the mall that on Saturday. Apparently, her cousins (both boys) are also going to be pink cats. I'm sure this will be news to them.

Home Ownership Defined

When we got our first power bill after purchasing our town house, I had a bit of sticker shock.

Heck, you would too going from an average of $30 a month to a $139 bill.

I chalked it up to a new house, more square feet, more exposed walls, etc. But, it was unsettling to be sure because we hadn't even run our A/C once during that time.

So, when the next bill came and it totaled $183.26 I about had a heart attack. That was more than double our cumulative utilities for the past two years.

Needless to say, I started to ask questions. A lot of questions.

After hours on the phone with Rocky Mountain trying to convince them that I don't run my A/C at 60 degrees every second of every day (among other ridiculous things--such as potentially having cats living in my ducts like the customer service rep?), Ryan and I performed a breaker test to no avail.

Finally, I asked my dad to come help us figure this thing out.

He went to the breaker and cut the main breaker to our house and our neighbors' A/C stopped short. We looked at each other... and when he flipped it back on, it started whirring.

It turns out the meters were mislabeled five years ago and it's only now that it's being discovered.

I called Rocky Mountain and they said that they would note that it's possible the meters are mislabeled.

Possible? I. don't. think. so. They are. Period.

To top it off they said that I didn't have to be there when they went to check... and then I get a phone call saying that because my doorbell doesn't light up, they need me there. Oh brother.

It turns out that the difference between my current bill and my actual bill is $117.26.

Ladies and gentleman I just saved $1,407.12 a year.

A electricity bill with a high of $66. Yes. Please.

---

Because Ryan and I had to leave work early to take care of that yesterday, we decided to run to Lowe's for a couple quick projects.

Ryan thinks I was a little two excited about the $23 and change that we spent but check these out!

That's right ladies and gentlemen! We have a new, lights-up doorbell and (drum roll please............) a peephole in our front door! I no longer have to be suspicious of when my doorbell rings! 

I may have been a tad too excited for the peephole, but seriously, best $23 ever! 

PS, I love my handy, hot husband with his awesome power tools!

My Girly-girl's Space

Two weekends ago, Ryan and I sent Adi to Seven Peaks with my brother and sister-in-law while we put her room together. We painted and decorated, and were so excited to show her her new surprise... 

When we bought the house... 

After the transformation (including a little reading corner with an Ikea spice rack, hacked, painted and hung as a children's bookshelf (although we will likely take it down and re-hand two instead), thank you to Jillian for the idea! 

We love decorating and are so excited to be able to make our little house a home! 

The Nasty Patch

We had this nasty patch of dirt in the backyard along the house. It was pretty much a litter box with wood chips. I had the dream (obsession) of covering it all up with garden boxes. So, the in-laws were kind enough to donate some old lumber to the cause and we made a Family Home Evening activity of it. (Actually, we had several FHEs on this subject. I think Binx has, "Faith is like a little seed. Plant it and it will grow." ingrained into her psyche sufficiently by now.)

We dug, cut the wood, and screwed everything together.

Laid and leveled the boxes.

And even though we threw out most of the top dirt, we decided a barrier might be good between the box dirt and the overhauled litter box.

After filling the boxes and cleaning up, pictures were necessary.

And planting eventually followed. 

It's pretty much a pizza garden, because we like pizza around here.

We had pizza (grilled, whole-wheat, thin crust, margharita) last night, and the night before. 

(And that's grilled cabbage ladened with Tony's.)

There's no shame in being a dinner repeater, right? 

The only problem is that our two potted herb gardens full of basil might not make it through the summer...

Favela Painting

Favela = shanty town. In Chile we called these areas "las tomas". 

If you have never had the privilege to visit, walk amongst the inhabitants, and talk with the people who live in these conditions, it is truly a human experience. Stripped of the audacity that comes with appearance and material possessions, you feel as if you are communicating soul to soul.

Abject poverty in shades of dirt: 

dirty animals

 and dirty kids. 

I can still almost recall the smells of dirty laundry water, urine, floor wax (like turpentine), wood, and dry dirt.

The expanse and masses that live in these conditions is breathtaking.

They surround major metropolitan areas in Latin America.

Stacked house upon house.

The higher you live (farther from the city), the poorer.

Laden with crime, gangs and drugs, the poverty is only part of what inhabitants face.

As an effort to lighten lives of those who live in favelas in Brazil, two Dutch painters have created masterpieces on cement and cinder block. 

It's favela painting.

Check out this river with koi fish, painted on a retaining wall.

Or making this

into this...

Whether or not it achieves a greater purpose in alleviating poverty by giving hope,

I think it's pretty cool.