I've moved!

I never claimed to be a computer expert so while I am figuring out how to redirect you all to my new blog I'll just tell you myself: I've moved! Check out my new and improved blog here:

littlehousedesign.com

See you over there!

From What I'm Told, Patience is a Virtue

This past weekend was my much anticipated blog workshop to re-do my site. It was awesome! But I'm still not done with the redesign. Basically, I learned how to do a lot of new stuff so now I am working hard using my new skills. The beginnings of carpel tunnel aside, I'm trying to create as fast as I can, but I want the finished product to look awesome so it may be a few days before you hear from me again. There may even be a few days were my site appears broken (this will occur when I forward all the domains to the new one), but don't fear, I will be back some time this week. And it will be good! Not just a newly redesigned blog but the revealing of a special project I had done and other cool stuff.

Stay tuned!

Houseplant Fail, or How Yellow Houseplant Mushrooms Aren't Cute Miniatures

I've been working like a crazy dog at all of my day jobs (that plural isn't a mistake) so if it looks like I've been phoning it in here on the blog that would be correct. But I'm working on it. I really like doing this blog so I am attempting to streamline my life in order to make more time for doing the projects and writing the posts that keep this blog interesting.

But what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't occasionally share with you the big fails in my life? Okay, maybe I do that a lot (proof: here and here). Regardless, here is another weird/sort of my fault fail. Beware it's gross.

No that isn't a cute little mini-figurine of a yellow mushroom. Because that is definitely what I thought at first. I had this world class spiral moment where I was like, "OMG someone came into my house and left a little yellow mushroom figurine in my plant that is so sweet! Wait no, that is weird, what if it is like a murderer's calling card? And now he is hiding in my basement and he's going to murder me and this is the only clue and no one will ever know because it's adorable and it totally fits the style of my house and so my murder will be unsolved forever." I think I've been living alone for too long. 

So after I calmed myself down (deep breathing and Philip Glass) I googled 'yellow mushrooms in houseplant' and low and behold, it's a thing. Side note: Seriously, what did we do before the internet? I know this is an old thought, but it still blows my mind every time I think about it. I remember getting the internet when I was 12 I just didn't understand it. But if you had this mushroom problem back in the day what would you do? Look in an encyclopedia or ask an old wise person or something?.

Anyway, yellow mushrooms in houseplants is a thing, but not a good thing. It is important to note that I have had this plant for seven years now. I have somehow managed to keep this plant alive for seven years through six moves (two of those halfway across the country), but apparently these past few weeks I've done something to cause major fungus growth. According to this article I read (link: here), yellow houseplant mushrooms can develop overnight due to overwatering, bad soil, old soil, or no drainage. I think, in this case, it is a combination of overwatering and old soil. Lately I've been on a watering rampage which is silly since I've watered that plant once a week for seven years and it's stayed alive but now all of a sudden I'm like this plant needs watered once a week and sprayed twice a week!!! What is wrong with me? Ugh, it seems like my life motto is becoming 'live and learn' which is so lame.

But the good news is, I wasn't murdered by The Yellow Mushroom Murderer and my plant is still alive and de-mushroomed. 

Update: DIY Postcard Wall Art

It's been 10 months since I installed my DIY Postcard Wall Art so I thought an update was in order. If you haven't read the post where I installed it, it was a pretty easy process. But since I was doing something new-to-me I had no idea if it would actually have staying power.

The good news is that it still looks great and I really like it! And thankfully there is no real bad news. The only behind the scenes maintenance I've done is to stick back up a few that have fallen down. Almost all of them were originally stuck on with 3M stickers but I ran out of the stickers towards the end so the rest just got scotch tape. A few months later I added 3M stickers to those without them. The few that have fallen off since have been the ones that only had scotch tape or ones that are on bumpy or cracked parts of the wall (because my walls are plaster there are more imperfections than on drywall).

But a new phenomena occurred this week:

Wondering what that new little white box in the corner is?
It's a motion detector because I'm super fancy like that.

Oops, there are a few crooked ones, but oh well, it adds to the DIY charm.

It's been rainy and humid here the past few days so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it but several of the postcards are starting to curl away from the wall. Some of that has to do with the fact that on a lot of the post cards I only put one 3M sticker right in the middle (during installation when I realized I was running low on them I started to only put one on as opposed to two). So some of that would be cured by adding a new sticker. But also, I don't hate it.

Of course, if they all start falling down then it'll be an issue, but until then I sort of like the added texture. That was the whole reason I added foam core the the back of some of them in the first place. It seemed like it would give the look dimension but it ended up not make much of a difference. The curling postcards definitely do give the look more dimension though so I'm happy for now.

Overall, I highly recommend this project! It was extremely cheap to do ($15 for the postcards and around $20 for other materials) for the impact it has and it was very simple and fast (it only took me about two hours to do, way less if you skip the foam mounting part).

It's Friday and I Need a 'Scenic View Break'

I'm not athletic, by which I mean I am not in shape, by which I mean, well, you get it. My month in Switzerland was amazing (minus one incident involving the word 'sever') but there is one thing about Switzerland that I sort of forgot to prepare for. It's not a flat place, like anywhere. I was literally staying on the side of a mountain. So instead of going 'over there' it was always 'up there' or 'down there'. Since I was born and raised in Indiana my body has been calibrated from birth to be at sea level which made trekking up and down the mountain all day seriously hard work. So I invented the 'Scenic View Break'. It's basically, exactly what is sounds like. I stopped and enjoyed the view while I huffed and puffed. It is also served the purpose of giving me a moment to physic myself up for the rest of my climb.

All that to say is that sometimes in life (cue the Full House moral-moment music) it feels like an uphill climb and there are just days when you need to take a 'Scenic View Break.' That day is today for me. Maybe, like me, you can't take a literal 'Scenic View Break' but you can look at a few of my pictures from Switzerland and lose yourself for a few minutes. Enjoy!

Huemoz, Switzerland

Gruyères, Switzerland

Gruyères, Switzerland

Huemoz, Switzerland

Villars, Switzerland

La Barboleuse, Switzerland

Huemoz, Switzerland

Montreux, Switzerland

Huemoz, Switzerland

Montreux, Switzerland

See Scenic View Breaks totally work, right?

Re-Styling and Self-Regulation

I have a lot of stuff. I'm no hoarder or anything but I have significantly more than I need (I mean, don't we all?). The problem isn't that I can't get rid of stuff (I'm an excellent purger of things), but instead that I just don't want to get rid of my things. I have really great things. As a compromise (with myself; is that weird?), I decided I could keep all the things I love as long as they extra stuff fits in a small box in my closet. Yes, I have to rotate my toys decorative items out like a child.

This is embarrassing, but here is my secret stash:

It's not pretty but on the other side of the wrapping paper is a box full of frames, decorative objects, and other miscellaneous items that I love but don't have space for it right now.

Recently, I noticed that the shelf above my sink and the open shelving above my stove were getting a little cluttered. All my pretty things were getting a little out of hand so I did a little restyling and streamlining.

BEFORE

AFTER

 BEFORE

 AFTER

Most of this stuff just got shuffled, but if you ever see something where before there was something else, you can pretty much guarantee it is from my secret toy box.

Thrift Shop Find, Updated

Remember how I am a terrible painter? If you missed my last attempt at painting, here are the links Part 1 and Part 2. You should look at them if only to laugh at how bad of a painter I am. The thing that is ridiculous is not that I'm a bad painter because painting is hard, but that I keep trying when I know I'm not good. I've just always loved painting, so it's hard to give up the dream that I could be good too. There is always the hope that next time I'll be better.

So I tried again and my latest attempt was less of a 'major fail' and more of a 'eh' (which is how a lot of my DIY/craft projects turn out).

A few months ago I showed you guys this painting I found at a thrift shop (more about it here):

It was only $2.99! And it's pretty big at about 14" tall and 18" wide. I love a good deal and I also like things that are just slightly ugly. This scene, while quaint, isn't the best painting ever or anything. But when I saw it I really liked the frame and what the scene evoked. I also liked it because I've been wanting to do a 're-painting' project. I've seen a lot of projects lately that take old thrift shop paintings and update them by painting over or accenting the original (examples here, here, and here).

So I did it!

And it looks... eh. It's just so... 'eh'. Why do I keep attempting painting projects??? That is a question that I just can't answer, but swearing off of painting has done me no good in the past so I highly doubt it will make a difference now.

Not sure what I'll do with this painting. For the last few months it's been on my dresser leaning against my Scratch Map so it will probably remain there.

Have you attempted any re-painting projects? I'm a huge fan of them, but apparently they aren't quite as easy as they look.