Kitchen Knobs

This kitchen has never had pulls on any of the cabinetry.  I thought that pulls would dress up the cabinets, plus give me something to grip instead of the edge of the cabinet or drawer.

I've only received the knobs so far, and the pulls are on their way, so here's what I have to show so far.

 

I think it dresses things up in a subtle way.  Now I just have to get used to grabbing the pull instead of the cabinet door when I want to open one!

Cookies with the Cousins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several weeks ago my Mom brought cousins Ivy and Ruby over the river and through the woods to visit.  Among other things, we frosted and decorated sugar cookies.  It was an intense 20 minutes and the cookie creations were as varied as their creators.

Homemade Fire Starters

 

 

 

 

One day for work a couple weeks ago, Lucy and I made homemade fire starters from pinecones and old candles.  We melted the candles down with a homemade double-boiler on the stove, tied string around the cones for "wicks" and then dipped them in the melted wax and let them cool on egg cartons.  It was alot of fun. 

Office Christmas Party

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's an excerpt from my weekly letter to my family about Travis' office party dinner:

It was so fun for me to decorate the house with fresh greens, berries and lights.  I stockpiled plates, candles, glass hurricanes and a tablecloth at the Goodwill in Redmond in preparation.  I even found treasures at the thrift store in gold chargers, ornamental berries and pine cones, and more pillar candles.  Each guest got a little gold sparkly take-out box with homemade toffee inside, wrapped in a red ribbon.  I was in my element.  Taking a clue from last year's party where I was over-stressing about the charred chicken cordon-bleu and Travis almost ran to the store for rotisserie chickens, I kept the main dish easy in a spiral-cut ham, then we had mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, Ruth Wilson's rolls, green salad with assorted dressings, green beans with bacon and onion.  The desserts were chocolate cake, carrot cake, and Costco cheesecake with cherry topping.  With the rented table and chairs, we tightly fit 16 people in the kitchen and dining room.  Travis works with a good group of women and we had a good time chatting with them and their dates.  The kids ate quickly and then disappeared downstairs.  And as much fun as it was to anticipate, it was nice when the last dish had been washed and placed on the stack, the lights were turned out, and I went to bed for some much-needed shut-eye. 

Valances: Third Time's the Charm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's pictures of the new valances.  Sorry the pictures didn't upload very well for the previous post.

First Attempt at Kitchen Valances: Not So Hot

I wanted to soften the look and dampen the sound in the kitchen, so I made these valances.  Honestly, I'm still not sure if I love them, so I wanted to post them and see what you blog-readers had to say.
The pictures don't show it very well, but the walls are grey and the valances are a beige linen.  They don't look very contrast-y in the photos, but they are more-so in real life.

This one isn't a great picture (above) but it gives you the idea.

 What do you think?  Thumbs up, down, sideways?

New Kitchen Color + Four-Eyed Henry

This is the third time I've painted my kitchen and I think I've finally found a keeper.  First I had the beige color that is throughout the rest of the house.  That didn't go with the cabinets.  So I tried a darker beige that looked too pink.  This time I chose a greyish-beige and I think it works well.  It makes the cabinets pop and lends coolness in contrast with the warmth of the wood cabinets and floor.

 

 

 

 

And here is my little four-eyed busy-body.  After trying on his dad's glasses, he ended up breaking them.  That's the name of his current favorite game: get into anything and everything, especially the fragile stuff.

Craft-tastic

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's that time of year again...check out the shop for what I've been working on, plus a darling quilt made by my sister Whitney.

Halloween 2012 a la Spooky Schullers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again my kids manage to dress up for Halloween looking mostly like they do on an average day (minus the facepaint).  Good times, good times.