The Tiny Homestead

When projects get out of control

2011-12-10T16:17:00.000-05:00

From what I hear, home ownership always involves lots of projects. Our tiny house is definitely what you could call a "fixer upper" so house projects have been the norm for us for as long as this house has been in our lives. Had we known then what we know now about our house both R and I would agree that we would have walked away from this house. Actually, run screaming is more like it. The whole house is one big project and we've both felt like we're in over our heads at times. With no time machine forthcoming, we've learned over time that we have to balance the need to get things done with the need to do things away from home sometimes too.

First, here are some signs that your project has gotten out of control:

You want to stay at work longer hours so that you don't have to face working on your project at home
The first question you hear from friends and family when they call you is, "how's the house coming along?"
You think of the cost of a dinner out in terms of how many sheets of drywall, cans of paint, or other supply that would purchase from the home improvement store
You can't remember the last time you didn't have the cordless drill charging on the kitchen counter
You no longer feel strange running errands or shopping at the grocery store wearing old clothes with paint stains on them

More seriously, if you are hating your house and feeling miserable about your situation or maybe even being short-tempered with others, it's time to re-evaluate the project and get things back in control.

Our most recent out-of-control project has been our living room.

Our living room has been looking approximately like this for a few months now. Yes, I said months. And yes that means I haven't sat in my sofa or walked sock-foot through the room since summertime.

At least the ceiling is up now, but we've still got some work to do. I'll be back with more updates on that and I can't wait - it's going to be an amazing transformation. And I'd like to post a bit on getting a project back on track and coping with construction disruption too.

My fabulous sewing room reveal!

2011-11-28T00:20:00.006-05:00

A long, long time ago my husband and I built a new room for me to use as my sewing/crafting/peaceful get-away space. I was blogging at the time and posted our progress and showed the room off just as it was almost done and ready for furniture.

My room has been a great little haven for me and I'm excited to finally be putting some pictures up here to document it.

Now lets get to the pictures...

BEFORE

eeek! I called this 'the dungeon'

AFTER lots of hard work, insulation, drywall and paint

NOW
come on in

desk and work table to move around for different tasks

I stash my upcoming projects and mending in this basket. The rest of the fabric is stored in the trunk on the other side of room.

thread and storage bins

some ribbon in the glass bin- LOVE these

Lane cedar chest from my Grandma where I'm storing most of my fabric. I made the pillows using a zig-zag tutorial from Make It Do.

Roo in the circle chair, which is temporarily out of the room as you can see in the next picture

sad my veg calendar year is coming to an end, the illustrations are so pretty. EDIT: I just found out the calendar, a printable from Cottage Industrialist is going to be offered again this year, so I can just do it all again!

another place for Roo to lay when he visits me in my room

my sweet cast iron "pin pan" that I got at a yard sale

the room in action- it is really little, but I feel lucky to have a dedicated crafting space at all

It feels great to finally get that posted. I hope to get back to blogging more regularly now. I have lots more to share just about this room as well as our other projects around the house.

Inspired by patchwork

2010-03-05T08:28:00.002-05:00

For some time now I've been adding patchwork quilts to my inspiration files. I love seeing the colors and shapes mashed together. Gradually it's become quite a collection of images. Here are a few of them. Enjoy the inspiration!

don't call me becky

Material Obsession blog

Moda Bakeshop

Material Obsession II

Anna Maria Horner

Material Obsession II

katie did

Sew Take a Hike

Moda Bakeshop

Quick Pantry Makeover

2010-03-04T12:14:00.008-05:00

I've been meaning to show the update I made to my country pantry for a while...so here it is!

BEFORE

AFTER

I simply painted the edges of each shelf with chalkboard paint using a foam brush. I did about three coats to really get a nice surface, especially since the wood is pretty rough and rustic.

After it cured I used chalk to label the shelves. I love the white/black and how much more charming it looks than having the printed labels.

At some point I will probably ask R to redo the writing for me because his handwriting is much, MUCH better than mine.

How we finished our basement

2010-02-21T23:09:00.001-05:00

In my last post I shared our finished basement room and now I'll share a little info of how we got from frightening cinderblock to smooth and lovely drywall.

First, the before:

Notice that our cinderblock had been previously painted. Also, the mortar joints between the cinderblocks were crumbling in lots of places. The problem with this was that water was able to seep into the basement during heavy rains. So first we addressed our water issue.

Step 1. Route downspouts away from the foundation
Step 2. Redo mortar joints
Step 3. Remove old flaking paint from walls
Step 4. Apply two heavy coats of Drylock paint

This was really a lot of work. We really wished that we had just started out with plain cinderblock walls that were in good shape. We could have skipped the first 3 steps!

Next up was laying a sub-floor over the concrete. There are a few different ways to do this. We chose to use a product called DRIcore. See how the subfloor has a plastic back with feet to keep the room dry. The pieces fit together with a tongue and groove.

With the subfloor in it was time to build the walls up.
Step 1. Line the ceiling and walls with thick (6 mil) plastic- again in case of water
Step2. Frame walls and ceilings with studs for the drywall
Step 3. Add foamboard insulation between studs.
Step 4. Bring in the electrition to wire the room for outlets and internet
Step 5. Install moisture resistant drywall
Step 6. Install "crown molding". Since the scale of this room is so small we actually used picture frame molding so it wouldn't overwhelm the space.

Now it's time for finishing!!

Step 1. Mud drywall joints with mesh joint tape and joint compound
Step 2. Sand joint compound smooth
Step 3. Prime walls and prime again...it took a lot to cover that green
Step 4. Paint walls and molding
Step 5. Install flooring
Step 6. Install baseboards and finish them

That should about do it. This project has been totally worth all the effort. Having the walls and floor finished make all the difference for comfort. I'm warm and dry and no sign of mold or spiders.

A basement room becomes REAL living space

2010-01-28T11:56:00.004-05:00

I'm so happy to be able to reveal that our mission of transforming the tiny, scary, damp, dungeon of a basement room is complete.

Let's begin with the before:

Here I am doing the first coat of Drylock waterproofing paint. That was after a lot of prep work already.

This is how I really felt about it. And oh my is that stuff stinky!

Eeek, here's the other side of the room.

Are you still there? ::crickets::

It gets better, I promise!

a wall length shelf painted the same color as the walls

laminate click flooring is IKEA Tundra (but we got it on Craigslist for less).

ahh, after all that construction and dust the flat, white walls are such a sigh of relief. The wall color is Behr's Moon Rise in flat finish.

I love passing my room on the way to do laundry and enjoy the transformation!

In these pictures we still needed to add some finishing details like the baseboards.

I plan to share more about how we executed this project in future posts and also start sharing how I decorated and furnished the room- my new CRAFT ROOM. woohoo!

Starting the New Year with a Splash

2010-01-03T18:52:00.011-05:00

Oh forgive me for the pun in the title. I just couldn't help it.

There are all sorts of interesting things that people do to greet the New Year. This year I joined several hundred other [idiots] to jump in the Monongahela River! The Pittsburgh Polar Bear Club takes the plunge into the Mon each year.

This year the outside temp was about 27 degrees (with flurries!) and the water temp was about 35 degrees.

The pictures tell the story of the madness...

It was actually really fun! Kind of like a roller coaster- during is really scary, but afterwards you want to do it again.

However you started your new year, I hope it's a great one. :)

Creating a diversion

2009-12-16T16:53:00.000-05:00

I was looking back at some photos from our Williamsburg vacation this fall. I thought I'd share a couple photos for a little pre-Christmas diversion.

The moss-covered shingles on these roofs add so much to the charm of the homes.

I am in love with the color of that wagon. One of the historical guides that we spoke with explained that lots of colors were used during this time. They were not drab at all, however since the pigments were natural the paints would fade a lot, unlike the synthetic paints we use today.

All of the wooden pickets were handcrafted on site. We got to see some being split down from larger lumber.

The colors of this house were ideal for fall. The tree's changing leaves blend right in with the color-scheme. This home definitely had me grumbling about having a brick home so I miss out on all the exterior color options.

Williamsburg was such a fun place to visit.

Christmas decorating- our tree 2009

2009-12-13T21:04:00.008-05:00

We got a new-to-us Christmas tree this year. It's truly unlike anything else either of us have ever decorated with. And here it is: the 7 foot Evergleam aluminium Christmas tree..

R found the tree in his grandmother's attic. She would always insist on a live Christmas tree, so this wasn't hers. It was left behind by someone else.

When R asked me if I wanted it, I think he assumed I would say no. I usually say no to taking on extra stuff. When I told him that yes, I did want the aluminium Christmas tree his face fell and then I had to spend a few minutes convincing him that I wasn't kidding. Haha.

Once we got it set up (which was really easy by the way). We both liked it a lot. Much more than we thought we would. Sure it looks pretty fake and tacky, but I say if you're going to have a fake tree why not go all the way.

My nieces came over to decorate and they arranged the ornaments all by themselves. The colors are silver, red and purple.

Here's a shot of the branches during the daytime. They are really silver.

Are Christmas Cards Still In?

2009-12-06T01:46:00.002-05:00

I'm hearing more and more people mention that they are cutting out doing Christmas cards as part of simplifying their busy holiday schedules. With all the ways that we can communicate with each other now, does that make sending Christmas cards pointless?

I really don't know. I just hope someone tells me that they're old fashioned before it gets to the point that people are laughing and pointing at me.

This year I decided to purchase my cards from an Etsy seller. I haven't been in the mood to hit the big stores, and all my Etsy transaction have gone so well I'm turning there more and more often.

I like the idea of reducing waste a bit so I opted for postcards instead of regular cards and envelopes.

photos bumblejack

These are the ones that I got. I love the hand drawn look. They are so sweet and simple.

A close runner up was this card with the adorable squirrels. I really wish that the squirrels in my neighborhood would wear hats. That would make me much more excited to see them. The cats should wear winter hats too. There are a lot of cats around here. Come to think of it, that's probably why I don't see that many squirrels.

photo Marmee Craft

Anyway, back to the topic. I got cute postcards and the seller was great to deal with. I would definitely order from her again, that is as long as mailing Christmas cards is still okay. :)

Quick Christmas Door Hanger

2009-12-04T11:16:00.001-05:00

I made this door hanger after seeing a similar one in a magazine. I like the extra touch that it adds in addition to the soft jingle from the bells when the door is opened and closed.

Here's what I used:

Small length of red faux suede
Remnants of green leather (I had these on hand, but more faux suede or felt would be good substitutions)
Small jingle bells in silver or gold
Thread in contrasting color for border (I used gold to match the bells)
Holiday ribbon for hanging

And here's how to put it together:

Using a cookie cutter or template printed off internet (or freehand!) draw and cut out 3 Christmas tree shapes. FYI, my trees are 4" tall.
Trim red fabric to approximately 6" x 36"
Fold or mark the mid-line of the red fabric length. Then arrange the 3 trees on one half.
Attach trees to fabric while also securing 5 bells per tree. I only attached the trees at this point since the leather is thick and difficult to sew. If you use a lighter weight material you could appliqué all the way around.
Now fold red fabric right sides together and stitch along the sides.
Turn door hanger right side out and press if necessary to get seams to lay flat.
Topstitch the side seams of the door hanger using your contrasting thread and a decorative stitch or even zig-zag would work.
At this point I just made 2 tiny slits for my ribbon, threaded it through, and knotted the ends in the back and called it done. You could add grommets or button holes for the ribbon instead.

I don't have a cost break down for this, but it's cheap and it's quick!

I'm thankful for....

2009-11-23T16:37:00.001-05:00

WOOL

With Fall and Winter weather settling in I'm loving pulling out wool sweaters, wool socks, wool blankets, wool leggings.... Well, you get the idea.

I just love everything about it from the slightly rough but soft texture to the way it wicks moisture away. Wool seems almost magical in it's ability to transform from those guys in the picture above into yarn, felt, and fabric in any color.

Here are some lovely wool clothing items I've been drooling over at Etsy.

felted wool knit sweater with pleated sleeve
from Sandmaiden

organic wool jersey wrap
from econica

vintage upcycled wool mittens
from Shady Side Farm

Victorian scroll skirt made from upcycled merino wool
from the devil made me do it

Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you a warm and thankful week. :)

New Look

2009-11-23T14:06:00.002-05:00

I changed my blog around a bit. I made a new header and changed the background. It just seemed more calm and more fall-like to me. Hope you like it better too.

Late Blooms

2009-11-02T23:09:00.005-05:00

Summer is over, like long over, but I just got around to downloading all my Summer gardening pictures.

I was looking forward to sharing pictures of my garden and my sunflowers in particular. This was the first year I planted sunflowers and they were awesome! But...it would appear that I never took any pictures of them.

I did however snap these pictures of my garden's last blooms and the mums in baskets along the side of the homestead.

I love the vibrant colors and they way they're holding out even as the weather gets colder and other plants are giving up.

I hate the cold weather and the return of Winter, but so far I think I'm like these flowers- I'm not letting it bring me down. So many projects are getting done at the tiny homestead and I'm feeling really good.

Happy Fall!

Studio Ideas

2009-10-19T01:07:00.001-04:00

My crafting room is nearing completion. Hooray! I'm so excited to be moving on to finishing and decorating my space. I made up a mood board with some of the items that will be included in my room.

I already purchased my new desk chair. I love that pleated skirt! (It's from Pier 1 fyi).

The board makes it look like everything will be birch colored- it won't. Everything will be painted but the table and floor. So they will be the only things that are that light color. I couldn't find any pictures like my vintage sewing desk. It's a walnut finish, so it will be dark like the blanket chest.

The floors are going to be cork, aren't they cool? Cork is perfect for a basement because they are resistant to water and mold. Also cork is always warm underfoot.

I want the walls to be a very, very soft pink. I think a pink, like the above one would be soothing and just girly enough to keep the boys out. :)

Front Porch Mini Makeover

2009-10-02T01:10:00.001-04:00

Sometimes it just takes the littlest detail to make a big impact. You know it's true, but I want to demonstrate my point.

I got this great little galvanized steel mop bucket. Well, actually R got it for me when he spotted it in the trash. Good eye darlin'!

Anyway, I took the little bucket and added a mum plant for instant charm for my front porch. And it looked like this....

Pretty cute. I wanted to try adding a little something extra though. So I went to Etsy and found that little something. So now it looks like this.

Even better, right? I was so excited that I made R come out and admire it from the street.

I was able to order a vinyl letter from an Etsy seller and choose the color and font that I wanted. It was easy to order and easy to put on. Now I'm hooked on vinyl decals and trying to think of some other uses around the house.

G-20

2009-09-26T16:05:00.000-04:00

Pittsburgh has been in the spotlight over the past few days with the G-20 summit. Our routines weren't affected much, but none the less it's been interesting to observe the transformation of our city as security went up and roads were blocked off.

Neither of us work downtown where the summit was held, but R did take off work just to avoid traffic since his commute does take him past downtown.

Friday evening as the summit wrapped up, R and I rode our bikes into downtown to see what was going on in person. We're so glad that we did!

Downtown was completely closed off to vehicles except for buses and security. Pedestrians and bicycles made up most of the traffic.

The most striking thing as we entered downtown (besides the military presence) was how quiet it was without car traffic.
It's not easy to see on this cell phone pic, but there are 3 military personal walking down the ramp from where they had blocked off the street. Just not something we're used to seeing.

Police motorcycles parked in a long line. There were police every few yards monitoring the bridges and river.

That's it for now. While I enjoyed riding around downtown car free, things returning to normal is great.

2009 Craftiest Bastard Contest

2009-09-25T22:33:00.006-04:00

My sister in law is the talent behind "Lumpkin". She crafts toys and knits sweaters and accessories. She's participating in the Crafty Bastard craft fair in Washington DC next week and if she gets lots of votes she could win a prize. So go on and check out these cute pics and give her a vote. Thanks!

(pictures via Lumpkin's Etsy shop)

Small Space Potting Shed

2009-07-19T22:53:00.007-04:00

Oh how great it would be to have a spacious potting shed. One of those sheds with space to store and organize everything and that just inspires creativity in the garden.

Well that won't be happening here at the Tiny Homestead. Tools like rakes and shovels live in the garage, but until recently I didn't have a storage solution for extra pots, potting soil, fertilizer and hand tools.

My problem was solved recently by my neighbor who throws out everything on trash day and my dog who demands late evening walks. Basically I found a great cart while out walking the dog the night before trash pickup and I dragged it on home with me.

It needed some work, but here's the before.

It's a Rubbermaid cart that was originally supposed to be for grilling we think. The previous owner spraypainted it (poorly) a silver color.

R sanded and preped it for me. We removed the top part which didn't seem useful to me. I then sprayed it with a matte finish green paint. I love, love, love how it turned out.

It's a great spot for those extras and it tucks away in a corner of the yard.

The cost for this project was only a can of spray paint at about $3.50. Can't really get much better than that!

Hair

2009-05-25T13:47:00.000-04:00

Oh hello. I'm just spending some time gardening on a sunny afternoon. R-dog is supervising to make sure none of the passers-by try to invade our property. Unless they want to pet him, in which case they may stay as long as they like.

But this post is mostly about hair- and fur. See those lighter colored patches of fur? It's that time of year: R-dog is blowing his coat. Even with daily brushing, little tufts appear.

They look like fluffy little puffs when I pull them off. I can get handfuls.

As for me, I have something going on with my hair. It appears to have decided to be wavy. I'm fascinated by this because I've always had very straight, straight hair. Now...

I had been noticing lately that my hair seemed to tangle more easily. I thought it had to do with my conditioner.

I don't like blow drying my hair when the weather gets warm, so the first time I let it air dry this year- this happend.

Sorry for the randomness of this post. For something homestead related, see my strawberries just starting to come in?

Rain Barrel (for real this time)

2009-05-21T14:07:00.001-04:00

Look what I have to show you!

We ordered this rain barrel from our local urban watershed association. They delivered and installed it for us, so for once we didn't have to do anything to get this project done! All I have to do is turn the valve at the bottom and I can fill up my watering can.

With the constant rain we've had the past couple weeks, I've had plenty of water from the barrel for my plants and seedlings.

I understand that in the winter with freezing and thawing it's easier to just bypass the barrel altogether. I don't know if we'll have to clean it out or any other upkeep issues. Seems pretty easy.

Of course there is one drawback...it's a giant black barrel (133 gallons to be exact) sitting right out in plan view by the sidewalk. Basically I'm just going to have to embrace it since there's no real disguising it. I did just order some Indian Grass seeds- I will plant those around the barrel (and get rid of the bush). They won't really hide the barrel, but at least they'll add some visual interest. Bonus: I chose a native grass instead of a non native ornamental.

Pedal Pale Ale: Keg Ride 2009

2009-05-16T23:00:00.014-04:00

R and I attended the annual "keg ride" on Friday held by Bike Pittsburgh and the East End Brewing Company. The concept for the ride is so ridiculous, but a ton of fun. Basically kegs of EEBC beer are strapped onto bicycle trailers and delivered from the brewery to a bar with all of us bike riders in tow. The bar is not disclosed beforehand, so it's a mystery ride. Another perk is that registration is free and we each received a ticket for one free beer upon arrival.

So that's the pedal pale ale keg ride. They've done it for a few years now, but this was the first time that R and I went. We're told the number of riders has doubled each year. This year there were 450 of us!

Here's R before the keg ride began. Showcasing some standard Pgh blight in the background.

It was the most bizarre and surreal experience to be riding in such a large pack. We took up the entire lane of traffic. I was somewhere in the middle most of the time and couldn't see the front or the back of the group- no end in sight!

People came out of their houses and businesses to gawk at the scene. At one intersection we crossed, there was a man who had gotten out of his car to watch. He wanted to cross the street and said he'd been waiting 15 minutes! Luckily some of the keg ride was on trails so we weren't tying up all the city traffic for tooo long.

It's too dark to see, but it was solid with bikes all the way accross the bridge.

The view of downtown going accross the bridge shown in above picture

Me after the ride. I was much happier than I look! I got quite a few complements on my yellow wire baskets.

Our destination was OTB Bicycle Cafe on the South Side. I grabbed this pic from their website since it was so crowded when we were there.
We ordered food with names that involved spokes and handle bars. The food was very good. We'll go back and we LOVED being out at the bar with no smoke! Being at a bar that crowded really made us appreciate the recent smoking ban.

Upholstery Class

2009-04-20T00:01:00.006-04:00

I signed up for a class on furniture upholstery with the community college. So this is what I've been up to Thursday evenings for the past few weeks.

I really enjoy getting to see all the insides of the different chairs. I had no idea what the construction of different furniture was before starting this class.

This is the seat cushion to my chair, and a classmate's wingchair in the background. My chair has lots and lots of button tufting.

Here's what the underside of the button tufting looks like. The buttons are attached with a very durable upholstery twine and knotted around a piece of "cotton" (it's actually synthetic but it's still called cotton) to keep it secured to the seat bottom.

Underneath the fabric is a high density foam with a layer of dacron over top. Holes for the buttons are drilled through both layers and the pattern is scored so the fabric can really settle into the creases.

Neat isn't it? I hope to make lots of progress on my chair and maybe even finish it this week. I can't wait to reveal the before/after!

Reflecting and Renewing

2009-04-02T17:44:00.006-04:00

I've been feeling a little out of balance the last couple weeks, so I've been taking some time to reflect. For me the changing seasons always seem to be a good time to re evaluate priorities.

I feel like a line was crossed and inspiration pics became burdens and project ideas became obligations.

Too many plans, too many things that I want done right now. No time to enjoy the process or feel good enough just to be taking small steps towards having the home I want.

My home can be a demanding mistress since she's an old fixer upper. I've had to step back a little bit and focus on other things that are important to me.

The most helpful thing for me to do when my house and all her needs gets to be too much is simply to get out- time to do other things, see friends, do something that doesn't involve a project having to get done.

I took my camera with me during my day last week to help me enjoy the moments during my day.

This experience really helped me appreciate the interesting places I go. Most importantly it helped me feel less stressed by the projects that need to be completed at the tiny homestead.

I'm already starting to feel a little excitement for a couple projects around the house. I'll be sure to take some time to get out of the house to do other things though. And I'm going to keep taking my camera with me- I keep capturing great little moments and places.

House for rent- must be tiny

2009-03-20T11:31:00.000-04:00

tee hee, I have a vacancy for a very specific tenant:

I had soo much fun making this little home. I imagine that it will be home to lumpkins or gnomes. I don't think it's suitable for fairies, but I could be wrong.

I plan to keep it on the back porch and all I have to do is keep the moss nice and moist. Even R admits that this little abode is adorable!

See the "flagstone" front porch?

This is where I got the shale for the "flagstone" porch. It's a trail at the park where R-dog and I walk a lot.

The breakdown:

1 unfinished birdhouse from Micheals (used 40% off coupon) = less than $2
paint already had = $0
planter already had = $0
moss from the yard = $0
small paint brush = $1
tiny terra cotta pots = $1.50 for set of 4
bag of mini gravel = $3
time = about 2 hours total

since I had most of the materials this project was ultra-super-cheap. My favorite kind!

steps:

paint birdhouse
fill planter with dirt
add house and moss
make path with mini stones
arrange stones on porch (I didn't even glue them, but I may get around to it eventually)
set up mini planters with twigs from bush in the yard- they'll stay green for a long time after being cut. fake would also be a good option.

Crates around the house

2009-03-13T03:10:00.004-04:00

My last post was about cornbread and taking a fresh batch of it to a pot luck tucked into a Clementine crate. But why stop there? I have lots of uses for my old crates.

A crate keeps things together in the laundry zone.

Pull back the pantry curtain and there's a Clementine crate of oils and vinegars.

Here among the paint cans Clementine crates store paint brushes and such.

Here's some more basement storage, but you can also see that one of the crates was painted and used as a gift basket before being used for storage.

There are lots of baskets available to buy, but I love using Clementine crates because it's recycling, they're free after eating the delicious fruit and they're stackable.

In fact, I'm hooked on them- stop by Julia's Hooked on Friday's to see what other people are hooked on this week.

Cornbread and Clementines

2009-03-10T07:51:00.000-04:00

How's that for a tasty combination? No really, I'm not talking about eating them together.

See? It's a clementine crate filled with........

cornbread!

Yes, I do have a cornbread mold the shape of ears of corn. :)

We had a get together to attend this weekend and my friend was making chili so of course I offered to make some cornbread to go with it. The clementine crate was the perfect size for a batch of cornbread. It's perfect for taking to a casual party too since it's nothing special or fragile.

The cornbread was a hit and there were no leftovers. Below is my recipe. It's a good basic recipe and a good starting point to experiment with adding cheddar cheese, dill or other extras.

Homestead Cornbread

2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups milk
2 cups all purpouse flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour (optional- use all purpose if no ww flour)
1 cup cornmeal
4 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Combine the eggs and milk.

In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to large mixing bowl and combine with wet ingredients.

Pour into greased muffin tins*. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Serve warm.

*I've always made this using cast iron muffin tins and they come out nice and moist. I strongly recommend them!

The one that got away

2009-03-03T20:45:00.002-05:00

Oh the torment of craigslist! I can't believe that I missed out on this:

You have to look past all the stuff on it, but it has great potential.

See the sides are glass too:

The cabinet is metal and was used in a nearby hospital about 100 years ago. Currently it was being used at a doctor's office.

I leave craigslist unattended for a few hours and this is what happens. Ugh, and they were only asking $100.

I can just imagine my fabric and yarn stacked neatly on the shelves. Scrapes and tools could be stowed away in the drawers and cabinet space.

Images: Pittsburgh craigslist and Anna French

Spring is coming after all

2009-03-02T12:29:00.011-05:00

So it's still 18 degrees out, but I just saw the The Inspired Room is doing a looking forward to Spring party today. So I decided to change my tune because I DO have something to look forward to! Last night I planted some seeds in those nifty Jiffy seed poufs.

And here's more of my seed stash.

I bought the seeds and the Jiffy pellets yesterday at KMart. Their seeds are on sale, so most of my packets were .95 cents. The organic ones were $1.25, I think. The pellets were 25 for $1.99. Love them.

Spring- please hurry!

2009-03-02T09:15:00.002-05:00

I keep begging with the tv weatherman that he will have good news for me. No such luck yet. Hurrumph!

Now, I like winter. I like snow. R-dog loves the cold, so I like seeing him enjoying himself. BUT I hate the short days and I'm just tired of being cold.

The good news is that my blueberry bush that I got last year is setting out some leaf buds. I'm hoping to also see signs of the crocus bulbs I planted last Fall coming up soon.

I need more evidence that it will in fact get warm again!

I'll just wait out the rest of winter here in this little Montana cabin. Perfect.

image: Papoose Creek Lodge (I think!)

Update: Kitchen Floor (still shiny)

2009-02-28T22:47:00.004-05:00

It's almost been one month since I painted and stenciled my kitchen floors. Original post is here. The good news is that they've been holding up really well!

I took this close up this morning. See? No scratches! I was cautiously optimistic about it at first, but now I'm quite confident that it will hold up fine. We were careful with it the first few days- I wanted to make sure the finish really had time to dry. But we aren't holding back anymore. R-dog is in and out the back door several times a day, and as you can see he's not a delicate dog.

I'm still loving my floor and finding it to be very user-friendly. It doesn't show dirt and is also easy to mop up (not like the old vinyl that dirt was ground into).

If I could do it over again, I don't think I would really change anything. The whole project took one weekend (for more info on the project check out the original post).

What I could have done to make the project easier:

Purchase a ready-made stencil since cutting out my own pattern took some patience.
Do a simpler pattern or just a border. The project would have been done much sooner.
Add more coats of poly for extra durability. While it wouldn't make the project easier upfront, cleaning and maintaining the floor would be easy for the months and years ahead.

Below are the bird images that I used to create my stencils. I just blew them up to the size that I thought fit my space best.

Like IKEA, Love Car-Moebel

2009-02-25T17:01:00.000-05:00

*Squeel* I just discovered a furniture store that excites me more than IKEA. See for yourself, isn't it amazing?

I was visiting Simply Natural's blog today and she featured Car-Moebel. She says everything comes flat packed like IKEA. Oh I hope they are planning to expand to the US! I've been exploring their website and learning a little bit of German as I go. :)

My Room

2009-02-20T17:58:00.003-05:00

I've got my sewing room on the brain. All I want to think about it getting it all finished off and prettified so that I can go sew, craft or just be in it.

I love this little crafting zone. The baskets and red accents add to the charm.

I like the idea of storing fabrics behind glass cabinets to keep them dust free but still visible.

Who wouldn't want a card catalog? I tried to get a wooden one that was listed on Craigslist once, but I was too late. There were tons of responses.

Do I want a pink sewing machine? No. No, I do not, but there will be pink in my room.

I love these shelves and their color.

This room really uses the walls. I'm going to need to use my walls too since my room is 7' x 10'.

This looks like a fun room.

I say yes to the peg board. Definitely.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T18:03:00.003-05:00

To mark our first Valentine's Day together since we've been married I finally hung up our framed wedding invitation.

This is our bedside stand. Our invitation was framed as a wedding gift and it looks great in our bedroom. I set up our V-day cards to each other too. Awww.

I just got this mirror glass cut to fit the top of the wash stand. I'm so proud of it! Though this wasn't a DIY project, I did have to carefully trace a template for the mirror glass people to cut from. I was sooo relieved when the glass fit!

Yum, look at that chippy goodness. This piece is hands down my favorite furniture item. So thanks to my SIL for selling it to me for $5 or was that $3?

A Tiny Update

2009-02-13T17:00:00.001-05:00

Two nights ago we had a storm roll in and push out the Spring weather we were having. It was really windy and as our over exuberant tv weather person said: the hurricane force winds left a path of devastation.

Knowing the warm weather was on it's way out I capitalized on the still 55 degree temps and opened several windows and applied paint stripper to the hardware on our dining room built-ins. They've been painted so many times that you couldn't even make out the screws much less remove the doors. But that project is for later.

Yesterday I found a pile of shingles on the front porch and this note:

I found these shingles in my yard today. I'm not sure if they are from your roof, but I thought you might want to know if they are.

This neighbor is two doors down from us and upon inspection the shingles were all from the side of the roof furthest away from her. So our shingles flew off over our house, over our neighbor's house and landed in the next yard. Great. How nice that she brought them all back. So we'll be having the roofer out for a patch ASAP. No new roof hopefully for a couple more years.

On to some good news!! It's been a very long time coming- R finally got his new garage doors. They are insulated and a bit larger than the 1940s rotted manual doors that didn't want to open anymore. And they are white instead of chocolate brown. The electrician will come over tomorrow to hook up the openers. Then all that's needed is some final trim work and seals. That's still a bit of work, but seeing the doors in place is very exciting for R.

Of course good news for R is good news for me because this means that the next major project is my sewing studio.

Enter Here

2009-02-09T17:45:00.001-05:00

I'm finally posting pictures of the side entry project. It's been done for a few weeks now, but I've been putting it off because I can't get pictures that do it justice. Or maybe it's just that no picture can convey how much work happened between the before and after pics. Either way here's a before picture of the plaster falling off the lathe. This is really a during picture because the ceiling in this picture has been drywalled.

The stairs to the basement, before painting. These required a lot of wood filler before painting, and actually I could have used more. I stopped after I finished an entire little tub of filler.

Here's the after with R-dog peeking around the corner. The stairs are a dark olive brown color and the walls are called "evening glow" they are a light orange color. There is one little piece of moulding we still need to add on top of the corner piece.

This picture is dark, but I wanted to show the pendant light fixture that I got. The shade is orange at the top and fades to a frosted white at the bottom and matches really nicely, I think. What pleases me the most is that I installed the light all-by-myself! I was nervous, but it really went well.

The basement steps now. Sure they're just basement steps, but I'm so much happier as I go up and down the stairs with laundry and such.

Shiny New Floor!

2009-02-03T17:21:00.011-05:00

My floor is plywood, what's yours? I have finished my kitchen floor project, and really couldn't be happier with it.

I need to take a better picture or two, but this gives a good idea of what I get to walk on now. Below is the scratched up and always dirty looking floor that I used to walk on. I couldn't bring myself to take a true before picture before ripping up the floor.

To recap:
I couldn't stand to live with my worn out vinyl floor any longer, but a new floor or kitchen renovation wasn't the plan at this time. My solution was to pull up the vinyl flooring, exposing the plywood subfloor.

The subfloor was in good shape and level, so not much prep work was needed. I did have to spend some time scraping off glue residue and give the plywood a thorough sanding.

After sanding I applied a thick coat of primer. I used the brown paint from the entryway as the base. Then I used two stencils to stencil the bird pattern on the floor in yellow- same as the kitchen cabinets.

Here's a picture of the stenciling process. I made the stencil myself by creating two images on my computer and then cutting it out on a stencil blank that I got from Micheal's.

The last step was to apply a coat of polyurethane over the top to hopefully prevent wear and tear on the painted surface.

UPDATE: I added an update post about how the floor is holding up (well) and included my bird stencil images. The update post is here.

I'm painting my kitchen floor!

2009-02-01T15:30:00.002-05:00

Oh yes I am. It was a pretty spontaneous idea when I realized that I have leftover paint from the entryway and kitchen cabinets that I could use on the floor without having to buy anything for the project. So, with vinyl kitchen floors that in my opinion couldn't be worse I'm diving in. I don't think I have anything to lose...besides the 2 hours that I just spent ripping up the old floor.

Since I'm just looking at plywood subfloor for now here's some painted floor inspiration.

Door

2009-01-28T22:37:00.002-05:00

I made this fun wreath for the front door a couple weeks ago to replace the very Christmas wreath that was there. This should get us through Valentine's Day and to Spring. I used mostly items that were left over from our wedding in June. Somehow our Summer wedding had lots of items that work for Winter. I used burlap to hang the wreath- that was leftover from the new curtain I sewed to cover the pantry shelving.

Faux No!

2009-01-25T17:42:00.004-05:00

My project of faux painting the bathroom vanity did NOT go according to plan. I was going to paint the vanity and use a wood graining tool to create a multi layered look that would be easier than refinishing. I really, really didn't want to get into stripping the finish, heavy sanding and oil based stains and urethanes. Mostly I wanted to avoid lots of labor because we only have one bathroom, so I can't exactly close it off. Secondly, I was tackling this project in the winter so ventilation was an issue too.

Before begining I did a little internet searching for faux painting techniques. I was looking for an easy technique to revive the vanity, not a high art technique. I found a nice tutorial on YouTube that was helpful.

To start, I hastily painted the vanity brown so that I could cover up that strong oak grain and honey color. I didn't want any of that to show through my final finish. Then, I began experimenting. I quickly discovered that I did not like what I was seeing. The faux graining tool that I purchased didn't seem to be able to stay level so it would leave uneven strokes as I went along.

I decided I wanted the actual wood grain back so sad to admit, but I decided to strip the vanity. Now I had paint in addition to the varnish to remove. This false start easily doubled the project time.

With the finish removed I first applied Minwax Red Mahogany stain. After allowing 24 hours to dry, I applied Minwax Jacobean. Both of these are liquid stains and go on great using cheese cloth because it's absorbent but lint free.

After the two coats of stain the vanity was looking good, but the color was still too pale and too red. I applied a second coat of Jacobean, but couldn't get the color to darken significantly. So, now I switched to Minwax Dark Walnut gel stain. Gel stain is much thicker than the liquid stains and allows for thicker coverage because it doesn't have to soak into the wood like the liquid stains. The liquid stains will never, ever fully dry if a too thick coat is put on, that's why I switched to gel stain to achieve the dark brown I wanted. Gel stain is easiest to apply using a paint brush. I did add a little paint thinner to make it easier to apply it evenly.

After allowing ample dry time I coated the vanity with a clear semi-gloss polyurethane. I will give it 1 or 2 more coats, but it will have to wait until Spring. I couldn't wait to get my bathroom back and the major cold front had temps so far below zero opening the window for ventilation would be no fun at all.

All in all I am thrilled with the bathroom transformation! Remember the bathroom before?
Lessons learned:

Practice first by testing finish in a small area like the back side of a door before diving into a project
Wear a respirator mask, especially if using products like paint stripper and wood stains indoors. I would wear one even outdoors too since these chemicals are so toxic.
If working indoors open windows for fresh airflow. Also consider using a fan in the window pointing out to exhaust the fumes.
If for some reason you overapply liquid wood stain it will remain tacky and not dry completely. This can be remedied by rubbing off the excess with a rag dipped in paint thinner. The paint thinner will not effect stain that has soaked into the wood. Never apply a polyurethane over wood stain that is still tacky. It will never dry and have to be stripped back to bare wood (this did not happen to me! whew)

First Family

2009-01-21T11:26:00.003-05:00

I just love our new First Family. What a swanky couple Barack and Michelle are.

Malia and Sasha are too cute in their little JCrew outfits. Love it!

27

2009-01-20T17:44:00.005-05:00

My birthday was on Sunday, so I made it to 27. It was more than a little challenging to meet this milestone for me. Of course, not much you can do about time marching on. My struggle has been with reaching age 27 and actually being older than my big brother who died at age 26 in 2004. So that does feel weird, but I made it and I'm okay.

My birthday turned out to be a very nice day and included a sushi lunch at my favourite place and a trip to IKEA. Some of the items I picked up at IKEA are:
I got this IKEA BAREN glass shelf for over the toilet in the bathroom.

I also got the matching BAREN towel bar.

I got 3 of these BYGEL containers to hang on the towel rail to organize small items like toothpaste and lotion. The bathroom is really looking nice since I finished the vanity- I just need to take pictures of it to post.

This TRATT candle snuffer was a fun surprise. I've been thinking that a candle snuffer would be cool to have so at $2 I couldn't resist putting this in my bag.

Last but not least I want to show off my most exciting birthday present. In addition to a necklace, R gave me this drill! I'm tired of waiting for R when I need something drilled/screwed and he's tired of feeling like a contractor with a list of things to do. I love having my own drill with my own little case so that it will be right where I need it when I need it.

House-Love

2009-01-08T12:54:00.007-05:00

Another blogger's post about moving got me thinking about loving your house. I've experienced attachment to places I've lived, but mostly it was the memories and the time spent there and I could move on. But real house love I've had just once. Sad to say I'm not in house-love with the Tiny Homestead.

My house-love is with the first place that I rented here. A darling little house that was just right for me and R-dog. I still can't go past it without getting misty. I LOVED that place.

I have surprisingly few pictures of it, but it was little place nestled into a hillside on a dead end street. The yard was sheltered by several hemlock trees. Inside all the rooms were cheerfully painted and a "window" above the kitchen sink looked into the living room.

I think a good house doesn't just shelter you and hold your memories of the time you spend there- it creates and enhances your experiences. Like the time I met a friend for a show at Mr Smalls and about 10 of us walked over to my place afterwards and managed to grill up an impromptu feast. My new friends gathered in the living room and spilled out into the side yard enjoying quiet conversation.

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever love our house like that. It's nearly twice the size, but the akward layout wouldn't allow for such effortless entertaining. I wonder if the renovations will make me love it or just be content. I fear it's the later and that house-love like other love must truly be unconditional. Can paint make me fall in love with my house? or is it the underlying architecture, floor plan and neighbourhood that cause the heart to skip?

Somehow a house that you love seems to love you back. That little place was a refuge for me, like a cave during a hard year of post grad work and the trauma my brother's sudden death. How comforting to have a place to just be. *Sniff* I'm getting teary again.

Maybe the challenges at the Tiny Homestead are just a call to raise the bar higher as we go about our renovations. The Tiny Homestead does have some lovely features- one of which is a dedicated craft/project space....coming soon! I'm feeling the love already.

Rain Barrel Deal

2009-01-05T09:03:00.001-05:00

We've decided to paint the steps in our side entry 'Rain Barrel' by PPG. Pictures of that project coming very soon- we're almost done.
This picture is during the project showing some of the new drywall that R installed.

But the real point of this post is actual rain barrels. The Nine Mile Run Watershed Association is an organization in our area that works to protect the Nine Mile Run, a stream that runs through one of the major parks and underground in the city.

The organization is promoting rain barrels to residents to reduce water runoff during storms as this causes the large inflow of water to erode the banks and more nastily it can cause sewer overflow and carry untreated water into the stream and later into the rivers. Eew! My dog loves to swim and play in the nine mine run, so I really want to keep it clean.

The Watershed Association is currently offering 25% off 1 rain barrel and 50% off a 2nd rain barrel. The deal is through March 1st and I hope to take advantage of it for at least one barrel. I'm a little nervous about it, but they come and install it and teach you how to use it and offer any tech support you might need.

Even if you don't live in a watershed area, water runoff can cause problems. I was shocked to realize just how much water comes off a roof during a rain storm...and a driveway...and the sidewalks...more that you'd think! Now I forget how to calculate it, but it's hundreds of gallons of water. Learn more about stormwater runoff here.

New Year

2009-01-03T08:48:00.007-05:00

Yea for a new year, I was getting tired of that old one. Here's a picture of the front of our house on New Year's eve. We ended up having a much more low key evening than planned because we didn't feel up to dealing with the snow. Lame. Oh well.

My favorite part is the compost bin peaking out behind the bush on the left. That and Santa waving to you from the porch railing.

Tomato Harvest

2008-11-09T22:45:00.002-05:00

That's it for tomatoes this year. I spent a little time over the weekend picking the last of the tomatoes and cleaning up the garden area. I added the tomato vines to the compost bin and found a new purpose for the tomato supports. I didn't think to take pictures of this part.

I had used the metal supports from yard signs (like the kind often used for campaign signs) instead of regular tomato cages for two reasons: 1- I didn't have any tomato cages and 2- my plants got so big that they needed extra support. I just bent the metal "wickets" as needed to frame in my plants. They held up very nicely. Today and bent them around even more to make a barrier around the Arborvitae that I planted this summer. R-dog has been peeing on it almost exclusively and the branches around the bottom are all turning brown. I hope that they will recover in the Spring!

Anyway, back to the tomatoes: They are sitting in the kitchen near the windows to finish ripening inside. I can't believe what a great yield we got. We had two tomato plants and that was plenty to keep me from having to purchase tomatoes from June-October. We had lots of caprese salad and a white bean salad that I LOVE. Here it is:

Tomato, Basil and White-Bean Salad

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 pound cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
3 small garlic cloves, minced

1) Combine beans, tomatoes, basil, and salt in a bowl, and season with pepper.
2) Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook stirring until fragrant but not browned, 1 1/2- 2 minutes. Pour over bean mixture, and gently toss. Let stand 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld. Salad can be covered and kept at room temperature up to 4 hours.

I've also made it by just combining all the ingredients- the garlic is just sharper that way, but still very good.

PS the recipe and photo are from Martha Stewart Living

The Tiny Bathroom

2008-11-03T13:09:00.007-05:00

Actually our bathroom is quite spacious. I love it, but we only have one bathroom here at the tiny homestead, so we have to make it count.

The vanity is not so attractive and the finish has seen better days. I had thought about refinishing it, but don't want to take that much time with it. I've decided to paint it instead. I'm hoping to be able to do a faux woodgrain in an espresso brown.

I'll post update pics as soon as I can. This would be a good project for the weekend. Now that the 'before' pics are up that will give me some extra motivation to get some 'after' pics.

Halloween

2008-10-31T23:22:00.004-04:00

We had our first Halloween together in our house this year. It was a gorgeous evening and in the 60s! About half of our neighbors where home for trick-or-treating and most of the couples sat out on their porch to hand out candy. I was so glad that R joined R-dog and I on the porch when he got home from work after trick-or-treat started.

Here's a picture of one of our two very cool jackolanterns. My friend L carved both of them for us. Thanks L, they looked awesome!

The Best Meatloaf

2008-10-28T21:57:00.005-04:00

I'd love to come up with a creative name for this meatloaf recipe, but I just can't think of anything besides, "this was the best meatloaf I've ever had!" R agrees that it was the best, so that's always nice too. R-dog would have loved to rate the recipe, but we didn't have any leftovers to share. Sorry R-dog!

This recipe was inspired by at least three other recipes. I think I combined everything in my own way enough to call it my own.

The Best Meatloaf Recipe

Ingredients

2 lbs. ground beef
1 small-medium onion, diced
2 ribs celery from heart, diced
1 package Stove Top type stuffing mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp BBQ sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Sauce

4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp ketchup
3 Tbsp BBQ sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Saute onion and celery with a little oil.
In a bowl add the eggs, milk, sugar, Worcestershire and BBQ sauce and blend well. Add stuffing mix and stir. Add the onion, celery and meat to the bowl and blend everything together with your hands. Wash up.

Make the sauce by stirring together the ingredients. Lightly brush two loaf pans with the sauce.

Add half the loaf mixture to each pan. Spoon the sauce over the top of each loaf.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 1 hour.

An Honor

2008-10-13T01:21:00.004-04:00

My Uncle was selected to receive an award this Fall for his contributions to automotive history. Because of his poor health, he requested that R go in his place to accept the award on his behalf. R and I were happy to go and to be able to help. Though it's my Uncle, R has the car interest in common with him and has always respected him a lot. It was kind of a hard thing to do for both of us, but we gave it our best effort.

The award weekend coincides with an annual car antique car show, so R and I went to that the following day. Here's a pic of some muscle cars.

It was an unseasonably warm day- it's usually pretty cold and miserable by now. By the end of the day R-dog was more than happy to dive into this pile of ice from the concession stand
to cool off.

Beginnings

2008-08-31T00:56:00.001-04:00

We had the best wedding, if I do say so myself. I loved it, but of course it went so fast and we missed some key pictures and I didn't get to eat. It was fantastic, but I wouldn't want to go through it again so good thing we only have to do it once.

The Ceremony
We had our wedding ceremony at Trinity Lutheran Church. This was my church growing up. We were married in the Rengier Chapel instead of the main sanctuary because it better suited our small wedding. I loved how cozy the ceremony was in there. It's such a darling space and my Aunt did a lovely job of decorating the ends of the pews to add a special touch. My cousin played the music for us from a CD. It was a recording of guitar music that reminded me of my Mom's guitar playing and was exactly what I wanted.

The Reception
We had our reception at The Rock Ford Plantation. The Plantation is the fantastic home/barn of General Edward Hand who served under General George Washington. Besides the history, everything about it is gorgeous and charming. It is also inside the County Central Park, so the setting seems even more private.

The Music
Our music decision was a real last minute one. R had no opinions on anything wedding related, including music. I thought maybe we'd be fine setting up an i-pod to DJ our own reception since the venue was pretty small for much of a band or DJ. At the last minute I got too worried about song selections and sound logistics so I started looking for a band. I stumbled upon some bluegrass bands, one of which was The Blue Roots. They were excellent, available AND reasonably priced. I absolutely hit the jackpot with these guys. Their music was just right for our small wedding and everyone seemed to enjoy the music.

The Activities
I know that people hate weddings because they're often boring and stuffy so I tried to avoid in planning our wedding. At the Rock Ford Plantation we had the historic house open for tours during the beginning part of the reception. The actual reception was held in the very nice barn. So this gave people something to do, especially since so many people were from out of town it was a tourist type of thing.

Outside we had lawn games that my cousin and her husband set up in the morning. We had croquet and boccie ball available.

We also had an Amish scooter that ended up being a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I knew I wanted to use it for some pictures, but it ended up being the thing to do for all the guests to take a spin on the scooter outside. So fun and luckily no one fell off it!