Sometimes as we get older, we get caught up in our work and the day-to-day grind of being a responsible adult, and we forget how to be imaginative creative thinkers.  In Home Goods several months ago I saw a bowl that, on inspection, I knew I could make myself.  As in most crafts, what looks easy proves to be far more difficult and time-consuming than initially planned for.  Even though this took hours longer than anticipated, I am very pleased with the results.

Pretty Up-cycled Bowl

To make this bowl you will need direct mail ads, old magazines and old newspapers.  I tried to use nothing I paid for as much as possible.  I used the local free independent newspaper, an IKEA catalog, direct mail ads, and supplemented with a few pages from magazines that I already had.  You will also need several glue sticks, a glue gun, a knitting needle, and scissors.  To finish it off, you will need Mod Podge or some other sealer of your choice.

Implements of mass construction

Step 1: Cut your paper into strips as seen above.  You will need more than you think.  I wish I had counted, but I think I had about 200.

Step 2: Using the knitting needle roll a paper strip into a straw, and glue the edge to hold it together.

Rolling the straw to make the first coil.

Step 3: Flatten the straw by pressing it with the edge of the knitting needle.

Step 4: Begin to roll the first coil by wrapping it tightly around the needle.  You will need to glue parts of the straw and hold as you wrap or the coil will come undone.

Rolled Paper Coil

For the base, you will keep adding flattened straws to the coil until you have the size base that you want.  I like to make all different sizes of these little coils to give the bowl interest.  If you look at the bowl you can see where some of these are larger than the others.  Some of these bowls I have seen online are not wrapped as tightly.  It is much harder to get these coils to wrap neatly and tightly than letting them loosen up.  Several of my coils loosened up on me and those are the ones that have the larger holes in the middle.  Overall, I like the look, but my next one will be better executed.

Note the large coil at the base.

What I learned:

• I used newspaper at the base because it is easier to make a tight coil with thinner straws.  The thicker the paper, the harder it is to coil tightly.

• If the paper has a white border around a colorful image, trim the white off if you are looking for the color.  When you roll the paper into a straw, the white will be all that you can see.

Here are a couple more pictures of the finished bowl.

Dimensions are 6' in diameter

Upcycled paper bowl 4" high

A great place for keys

I am debating making a couple of these and selling them on Etsy.com.  I think the coils would make great beads and necklaces as well.  By changing the shape of the base, I can make different shapes and styles.  What do you think?

So tonight is the night!  My mother-in-law got here tonight signifying the end to the holiday decorating frenzy.  It was just so great to decorate a place that we aren’t having to constantly repair.  Here are some pictures of holiday cheer Tierney style.

Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Dining Table Center Piece

Ooooh Sparkly

The Little Man Says Merry Christmas

The challenge: Little Man’s room had next to nothing on the walls, and because most of the wall space is directly above his bed, we did not want anything with glass that could fall on him while he is  jumping up and down on his bed sleeping.

The solution: An art project that Little Man can utilize his brand new writing and spelling skills that is extremely budget friendly.

Living in Saint Petersburg has proven to be a scary, dangerous thing for me.  There is an IKEA less than 30 minutes away from my door!  So, of course I went to the Ikea website to get inspiration.  I found the fiskevik picture holder system for only $5.99.

These are all the tools you need...and two screws.

Ho hum...I need art!

The Little Man has really been working on his reading and writing skills lately (It’s almost like his mom was a reading teacher..oh wait).  He loves writing on his dry erase board and with the big sidewalk chalks on our driveway and front porch.  I wanted to capture this for the holidays, so I gathered together some of our art supplies and put him to work.

The Little Man and Our Craft Supplies

After cutting what felt like a million little white squares, we sounded out our Ho Ho Ho and he got to writing.  He could already spell Merry Christmas (to my complete shock) because he has been playing with the Christmas window clings his Granny got him.  Here are some gratuitous Little Man shots:

Little Man with Chosen Medium

We still have a long way until his room looks finished, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.  Now we a great place to hang all of his new art that he makes once he starts at his new school in January.

What do you think?

And here is George Jetson:

Well, maybe it can’t be seen from space, but definitely from down the block.  When we put up our single strand of lights, our neighbor rushed over to make sure we didn’t get offended by his display, since we were “only” putting up one strand.  The is the same neighbor who has invited the hubs over to feel what a nice lawn feels like.  I am sure he means well.  Bless his heart.

So here are a couple of the neighborhood displays:

Note the multiple strands of light here.

The Old North East, the beautiful historic neighborhood close to the bay front, really does it up for the holidays.  We plan to check it out next weekend with the J-man.  Until then, here is one more glamour shot of George Jetson:

George Jetson at night

I know you’ve seen them at Walgreen’s.  The replica leg lamps from the most beloved Christmas movie ever made have taunted me with their siren’s calls for the last three years.

It started in Cincinnati on Covedale Ave.  Every year, when I would visit for Christmas, I would look for the house with the full size replica leg lamp in the window.  I get ridiculously excited when I see it.  So, I knew that I would eventually have to have one.  I know this is not the pretty beachy look I am typically going for, but I just had to have this!  And here she is, in all of her fishnetted glory!

F-R-A-G-I-L-E

In case you haven’t seen the movie (in which case you should hang your head in shame), here is the clip.  I dare you not to say,”F-R-A-G-I-L-E–it must be Italian!”

So, it is officially the first day of the Christmas season.  This year, for the third time in my adult life, I get to have Christmas at my own house.  Can I get an amen?  Hallelujah!!!  No traveling for us! The thing is, my mom decorates her house from top to bottom.  Because they have lived their for over 20 years, she has established traditions (the creche goes here, the candles go there. . . etc.)  In this new house, I have not only a new space to decorate, but a whole new color scheme to think about.  Add to that the new South Florida climate, and we get a whole new Christmas look!

So today, after the post Thanksgiving potato pancake breakfast (yum, and thank you to my mother-in-law).  We went to buy a fresh tree.  Since we don’t have to travel, we get to have a fresh one this year, a first for my little man who has only ever had artificial trees.

We are keeping the beachy vibe going with our Christmas decorations.  At first I was torn between the beautiful tree that I wanted and the multi-colored, multi-styled ornaments that I had been collecting for years.  I used all of my old ornaments, but added the turquoise that I love all over the tree.  I also used cheapy plastic bulbs in turquoise, silver, and green in fishbowls.

Ornaments aren't just for the tree!

Keeping the color theme going without going overboard.

So the 8 foot fresh tree was a MAJOR steal at only $31.00.  I added a dozen super cheap turquoise glitter snowflakes for $2.50.  The silk poinsettias, silver coral, and turquoise and gold ribbon were a little more pricey, but I had left overs of to use elsewhere.  My mom bought the tree skirt for me for my birthday, so the whole thing (including tree stand, extra lights, and decorations) cost about $110.00.  In some cities, you can’t even get a tree for that, and I will have all of these decorations for years!  Take a look at this gorgeousness.

Our Beachy Christmas

Please disregard the boxes and bags that I had not moved around.  The lantern also moved to live on the buffet.

Turquoise Poinsettieas? Yes, please!

Note the peanut ornament that my parents purchased at the Carter Foundation.  They were there at an event to honor donors to Habitat for Humanity, and knowing I was eating my heart out, they bought me this ornament.  Now every year I can remember that I couldn’t go.

Margaret Furlong Shell Ornament

Twenty days after we moved in, we hosted Thanksgiving for our parents.  For those of you who want things to be “perfect” for the holidays, imagine 50+ boxes to unpack and make into a home in less than three weeks.  The last twenty days have been a whirlwind.  I have to say that I am truly thankful to be settled into our new home!

If you are moving here is how I was able to unpack and organize so quickly (Hint: the secret is in the packing and planning)

This was the beginning of the unpacking gauntlet.

1. Plan the layout for your space.  I actually made a scale diagram of our new home and played with the placement of the furniture.  It takes more time than you would think to rearrange a room once furniture is already placed, so take good measurements of the space and of your furniture.  Make sure to include door and hallway dimensions. Knowing where your larger items will go will save you time in the long run and the stress of trying to get a too large piece of furniture through a too small doorway.
2. Use moving boxes.  At most corporately owned Uhaul locations, they have a leave a box/take a box program.  We, did not find this out until we were getting rid of boxes.  This is important because the boxes will stack well in corners and be sturdy enough that you are not wasting time cleaning up damaged items.  After you unpack, you are going to need a place for these boxes to go.  All of our Uhaul boxes are going back to them, which will empty out our garage dramatically.

Label your boxes with the room and the items or even unique location  within the room.  For instance we had boxes labeled “Buffet Drawers Fragile” and “Items from Secretary” not only did we know what room they went in, but where in the room.

We unpacked all of this in 18 days.

1. Have help if you have children.  My mother-in-law stayed with us and took care of our son and pets while I unpacked like a possessed demon.  Had she not been here that first week, I would not have been ready for the holidays.
2. Set up donation pick up.  Even though we got rid of quite a bit of large furniture, prior to the move, we still had boxes of clothes, toys, and a mattress that needed to be donated.  Salvation Army and Amvets will come to your house and load up the donations themselves, saving you tremendous time and stress.
3. Lastly, set aside time.  I took a total of three days off to move and I knew that we had the week of Thanksgiving off from school.  I unpacked enough that during this week we concentrated on arrangement and cleaning.  While it may seem like too much time to take to set up your house, know that until you feel settled you will be unpacking every night after work.  I come home to a pretty, comfortable home and can relax after a hard day of work which makes me more productive the next day.
4. Have an area or room where you forgive yourself for your lack of unpacking/organization/attention.  For us, it is the garage.  We chip away at it small bits at a time–or not.  I am completely OK with this messy space.

Here is what we ended up with.  The pictures are dark, please forgive me.

More to come later!

Meet our new house!  It’s a rental and we don’t intend to be here forever, but we will be doing everything we can to embrace this place and make it a home.  Here is a break down of the strengths of this house:

• Garage-Hallelujah!!! Storage tops our list of needs when looking for a new place.
• Two full bathrooms, one of them an en-suite off the master.
• Plenty of electrical outlet
• Windows and light
• Large office for Greg
• Fenced in back yard
• Plentiful counter-space and cabinets in kitchen
• Tile through-out (the potential for scratches on hardwood with three dogs mean almost no chance of a returned deposit–same thing for carpet)

While there are challenges with The Spaceship House, the fact that we know we will ultimately be building our dream home, makes these issues minor.  In many ways we are using this move to develop better habits and improve the quality of our lives.  Here are some of our goals for our new life:

• Have less.  We have already started this by making some hard choices on what to keep and what to move.  As we were packing we were overwhelmed by how much junk we had accumulated.
• Cook dinner and eat at the table.  We have lighting in the dining room!  I am ashamed to say that we lived for six years with a dark space that we never used.
• Have a place for everything and put things away when  we are dine with them.
• Exercise.  We will have a nice little home gym, and Saint Petersburg is huge on parks and recreation.  There are so many great places to explore with Jack
• Go to community events, and participate in the community. I am joining a pirate krewe for Gasparilla (more on this later

Not huge goals, but their effects would change our lives.  Moving is such an opportunity for change.  Have you ever reinvented yourself in a new place?

I have lived in many, many places.  So many, in fact, that my family used to write my address in pencil.  Since I graduated from college in 1997, I have moved 13 times.  We lived in the last house for six years, getting married in the backyard and bringing our son home there, but it never felt right to either of us.

Sometimes a place is just not right for you.  So, we headed South to the Tampa Bay area.  We are going to be making our home in Saint Petersburg.  This blog will chronicle how we get to know our new city.  This blog will cover everything from making our rental house a home until we build the dream home to finding schools and making friends.  Please join me as we plant some new roots.