2012 Week Five Goals

Reading: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. Page 400.

House: Finish organizing the office and designate a space to set up the light box.  

Creative: more stamp projects!

This week and more...

Well I didn't make it to any more thrift stores this week but for good reason, and after all there's always next week.  Yesterday I dropped by my parents' house before running my errands and ended up taking my Mom with me which made all the errands that much more enjoyable.

When we were done our friend Marilyn swung by since she was in the neighborhood and we had a nice visit before I had to run home to let Wicket out and spend a couple hours with Richard before he headed back to work to chaperone the middle school dance.  When Richard left for work I scooped up Wicket and the two of us spent the evening with my parents and their dog Daisy.  It was a lovely end to a busy week.

I'm only halfway to my page goal in my book this week, but I have to work this evening so I'm hoping to read a bit after I get the girls to bed.  And I certainly made good use of my new stamp pot for my project this week, and I can't wait to do more.

2012 Week Three Goals

Reading: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. No, really, just finish the book.

House: Pick up the things from my old room at my parents' house.  Hang up my print of Circe Invidiosa by John William Waterhouse.

Creative: It may not seem creative, but I really want to sort through at least one of my small boxes of found odds and ends, perhaps something with inspire me but mostly I'm hoping to rediscover some old treasures and rid myself of some old junk.

Sunday, Lazy Sunday

It's been a lazy Sunday in our house, visiting with friends Beth and Ben and making plans for the next week.

Even though the past week was busy I did manage to get to all of this week's projects but one - reading.  But right after I finish writing I plan to go curl up with Wicket and settle into my book.

On Wednesday a strange triangular package arrived at our house and Richard had me open it after I got home from work.  Inside was a "late Christmas present," a large Mucha poster of "Moon" which I cannot wait to build a frame for and put up in the Office.  We've already hung up two new pieces in the living room which is really helping to make the house look more like our own.

Thursday marked our first real snow of 2012, and Wicket enjoyed herself immensely running around the back yard and trying to catch the falling flakes.  Since we were stuck inside all day I busied myself making some olive tapenade and organizing the kitchen, but that evening Richard and I went to my first ever professional basketball game to see the Bucks play Detroit and had a wonderful time.

Tomorrow Richard has a day off of school for MLK day and we don't exactly have plans but I'm sure we'll do plenty of house projects.

2012 Week Two Goals

Reading: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin.  Currently page 790 and want to finish (page 969).

House: Put together the new printer table for the office.  Build the shoe holder for my closet.

Creative: Frame some art and photos to start really decorating our house.

DIY candle recycling

I started working on my creative project this week (a new jewelry holder) only to discover that at some point the paint I was planning to use had frozen so it was completely useless and because I didn't have time to get to the hardware store I just decided to do a different project that I had all the materials on hand for - a recycled candle.

In this house we love candles, especially the ones from (of all places) Bath and Body works which burn so cleanly and smell so lovely.  But they are pricey and I do get tired of the quarter to half inch of wax that is inevitablly left in the bottom when the wicks have burned down.

I combined three candle remnants of various apple scents into the smaller holder (I have other plans for the big one) and decided to layer them to see what sort of look I could achieve.  I can honestly say I've learned that I should wait for each layer to fully cool before pouring in the next, but otherwise it's a perfectly nice candle we have burning on the coffee table right now.

Read on for the how to...

Supplies

• Wicks
• Wick Clips
• Candles (on hand)
• holder (on hand)
• pot and water on the stove

The steps are easy

1) If the candles are in glass holders (as mine were) place them into a pot with about an inch of water on the stove and slowly turn up the heat to melt the wax.

2) Have an empty candle holder (or pretty vintage tin) to pour into, and after putting a sufficient length of wick through the holder crimp the nub to hold in place and put a small dab of hot wax on the back to "glue" it to the bottom of holder.

3) I jerry-rigged a pencil and rubberband to hold the wick upright while pouring in the wax, although I'm sure there's a more professional method I like mine just fine.

4) Pour in the wax and let cool at least a day before trimming the wick and lighting the candle.

5) That's it.

All in all a rather cheap project which only helps to prolong the use of something we already had.

2012 Week One Goals

As outlined in my general new years post I want to make three goals for myself each week (this is something I already do, but want to remember to blog about it this year) in the areas of Reading, household projects and creative projects.  So here we are, week one and technically already late, but my objective is to finish by Saturday and begin week two on Sunday.  So here goes.

Reading: Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin.  Currently on page 604 and want to get to at least page 800.

House: Crate organizers for kitchen cart.

Creative: Paint and assemble new jewelry holder.

Weekly goal update.

Well, it's Saturday, so I guess it's time to see how I've done on my weekly goals since I have just tomorrow left to finish them.

Make: The cupcakes are almost done, I have the pieces for four finished and they just need to be sewn together and filled but for now I'm still working on the pieces for the fifth.

Home: The office is just about done!  The floor is now clear (you can walk!) and I put the new duvet cover on the bed.  There are still small piles of paperwork that needs to be sorted (and most likely trashed) and a couple of boxes of things without homes, but it's so close and I feel rather accomplished.

Food: We made the Chicken Caesar Tetrazzini, and boy, was it good!

Photography: 1) I was able to scan three (3!) sets of slides this week, and hope to squeeze in one more tomorrow and 2) I plan on taking project photos tomorrow afternoon while Richard watches the football game.

Other: Turn in application to become a vendor at the October Maxwell Street Days in Cedarburg.... hasn't even been done.  The application is still sitting in my bag, so my goal is to fill it out this afternoon and stick it in the mailbox.

Monday Goals: 6 September - 13 September

So I'm going back to my weekly routine of setting a few achievable goals and to keep myself honest, and motivated, I'm going to be posting them here. They all fit into neat little categories, so this should go quick.

Make: crochet five cupcakes (ten cupcakes in the next two weeks)

Home: organize the office/spare bedroom. With all the furniture moving around lately it has become a bit of a disaster.

Food: Richard and I have the goal of making one new dish each week and this week that is Chicken Caesar Tetrazzini.

Photography: 1) scan one roll of film or one set of slides and 2) take photographs of two projects (this week: train case & crocheted cupcakes!)

Other: Turn in application to become a vendor at the October Maxwell Street Days in Cedarburg

***update: I've already crocheted one and a half frostings and one cupcake bottom, so if I keep up this pace this should be a breeze!

Weekly Goals - for today

#1 - set up and organize basement studio/office - this one is far from done, as I didn't even go down to the basement today!

#2 - spend 30 minutes advertising the etsy shop each day - done, and done. spent time over on twitter and facebook

#3 - list one new item to etsy and make one blog post each day
new item - Vintage Dynaware Ramekin (tiny soufflé/casserole dish)



#4 - spend one hour creating (anything) each day - Plarn! I managed to get about ten plastic grocery bags cut up and almost all of them strung together so I can have some great "creating" material during our many roadtrips for the holidays

#5 - spend one hour cleaning/organizing/decorating each day - did the kitchen, and dining room - our stove is so shiny now!