creative little daisy

A little sheet talk

Am I the only one who gets cross-eyed in the bedding isle trying to sift through all the buying options when it comes to sheets?

Egyptian cotton, luxury sateen, pima, hotel quality, five million thread count... OK so that last one is stretching it a bit, but just a tiny bit. Does higher thread count really mean better sheets? Is Egyptian better than organic when it comes to cotton. Do I want Estate or Hotel Quality? I guess it depends on the hotel, eh?

Years ago, I remember my granny telling me not to buy less than 200 thread count. I have always kept that in mind in my quest for the sheets of my childhood. Anyone else long for the sheets of your childhood? For years it was like the holy grail for me and I always fell short.

Until one day, my friend Kelli shared one word with me that her mom had passed along to her. Folks, this one word was life changing. My nights have been better because of it and I'm going to let you in on the secret. Dramatic much?  Well sort of, but seriously, this bit of info was the missing link. I now have all the knowledge I need to confidently purchase sheets. Sheets that will not pill. Sheets that feel smooth yet crisp against my skin. Not crunchy or rough, but crisp. And the good news is, this is one of those occasions that more expensive doesn't mean better.

What's the word? Percale. Remember hearing that word? It refers not to the number of threads but the way in which the threads are woven. In this case, very tightly. For every horizontal thread, there is a vertical thread. Sateen weave is much looser and results in a soft feel with a sheen, but in my experience those sheets pill terribly. It took me a while to learn this. Thread count still matters, but not nearly as much as the weave. No matter how high the thread count, if it is loosely woven, it will still pill and not be as durable.

I'm sure, like most things, this is a matter of personal preference. Some people won't love the feel of these sheets as much as me. Maybe it's just because, like I said earlier, they feel like the sheets of my childhood. If I were to sing my own version of these are a few of my favorite things, crisp, cool sheets that have been line dried would make the list. If you like the softness of flannel sheets, a percale weave probably isn't for you. If you are prone to hot flashes and like something cool against your skin, percale is definitely for you. They get softer the more they are washed but never, ever pill.

I have had no luck stumbling upon a great deal on some percale sheets at TJ Maxx or Target (I'm sure they have them at times, I just haven't come across them)  but they are easy to find online. I've purchased several sets from Overstock and been thrilled with the quality every time.  I just googled percale sheets and there were plenty of options at several price points. I always read the reviews when shopping for something I would normally prefer to see and touch before buying.

Here is an article that describes some of the other terms you will come across when shopping for sheets.

I hope this has helped to clear a little confusion if sheet buying leaves you crossed-eyed and confused, like I once was.

Go forth and confidently buy sheets.

And empty nester, once again

This is going to be a hard post to write. I know it will leave me in tears and I will struggle with how to best put this tangled mix of emotions I'm having into words. For that reason, I've been putting it off. Sometimes waiting is good.

As a side note, I read a list of blog pet peeves recently and apparently some folks don't like it when a blogger shares personal stories. If you are one of those folks, I will not mind if you want to click away now. This is going to be all about me. 

Several years ago I was watching Desperate Housewives and one particular scene struck a personal cord and seemed to touch my very soul. I felt the pain of the actress like it was my own. I can't tell you any other part of the show, just once scene that lasted a minute or two. In that scene, Bree opened a kitchen drawer and noticed a sippy cup. She melted into an emotional puddle of sadness. For some reason I felt her pain and wanted to turn away because somehow I knew I would one day feel that same pain.

My story plays out much differently than Bree's but I know the pain of noticing a sippy cup when the child no longer lives with you.

I don't know how much backstory I need to go into. I blab about Bayleigh enough that surely it's evident she's the light of my life. 

As I've said before the story of Alyssa's marriage isn't mine to tell. She married Bayleigh's father young and tried very hard to make it work. Very hard. When she felt like she had given it all she could I let her know that she should not stay out of fear for how she would care for herself and her child alone. But even before that, she and Bayleigh spent a great deal of time here. I cared for Bayleigh while Alyssa finished nursing school and then when she started working. So, from the time she was born, we've had a bond. I think because I had such a special bond with my granny, it gave me a full circle kind of feeling. Like I was giving back something special that was given to me.

When they moved into the room upstairs, it was never intended to be permanent. It was just our way of giving Alyssa a soft place to land and to provide as much support as we could for both her and Bayleigh.

Well the time has come for her to move on, to be out of her parent's house. She is in a relationship with a very nice man. A man who is responsible and kind and is good to both she and Bayleigh. A couple of weeks ago Bayleigh started pre-K and started staying full time in their new apartment about 45 minutes away. I'm not going to lie, it breaks my heart to type those words. Not because I have any worries about her care, but just because I have been joined at the hip with that little peanut for the past four and a half years.  It is such a mixed up bunch of feelings I have. On one hand, I have so much free time now. Plenty of time for sewing and building and painting, and most days, I am fine. Maybe better than I thought I would be. But there are those moments. Those Bree sippy cup moments when I feel like I could cry a river. It wasn't easy on Bayleigh at first either. She missed her nana and papa as much as we missed her, but every day has been easier for her than the previous day. She went to school this morning without any tears. I'm learning how to live as an empty nester once again.

So there you have it, that's where things are with me. I'm a little fragile, but very proud. I'm proud of Bayleigh for being such a big girl and I'm proud of her mama for being such a good mama. I'm proud that they are fluffing their own little nest. A nest a little closer to nana's would have been nice, but still, I'm proud.

I have a new love

And man, I have I fallen hard.

Yes, I'm a fickle lover. One week I'm all a flutter about fabric and sewing, the next I've been wooed by a can of paint.

This week my heart belongs to lumber and power tools. I've had a flirtation going for a while and finally took the leap.  I've stalked the Ana White site for months, building pieces in my mind. It was over a year ago that I asked for a Kreg Jig for my birthday. I used it to join some boards together and made my own headboard. I love my headboard and am proud that I made it,  but it wasn't until this past week, I really built a piece of furniture. I went to Lowes by myself, purchased the wood, and with very minimal assistance, I built a coffee table.

Because of the wonderfully generous Ana White and her clearly written plans, I was able to build something I think is pretty cool.

Those X's are the one area I had to suck it up and ask for help with. They are cut at 60 degrees, an angle I can not reach with my miter saw. My cousin cut the ends at the proper angle and I was able to finish the rest.

I followed the plans exactly and finished it with the same vinegar/steel wool oxidizing solution used and explained in the example built by Hilary of The Friendly Home.  I was unsure of how to finish it, but in the end went with a wax finish. I used one coat of clear wax mixed with a little dark wax, followed by a coat of liming wax and finished off with a final coat of clear.

It produces a silky finish that feels so good.

Is it wrong to say I kind of love it? I do.

It isn't staying though. I built it as a gift for my bff Kelli's son. He is graduating from Flight School and will be returning home as a helicopter pilot for the National Guard, so the table is a graduation/house warming gift.

It cost around sixty dollars for the wood, the other materials I already had. I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to be ale to give a gift that came from the heart, is useful, and was within my budget.

 

In case you are wondering about the waxes I used, they were all different brands.

I purchased the SC Johnson (clear) wax at Lowe's or Home Depot, don't remember which. The Liming Wax by Briwax was from Amazon and the Fiddes and Sons (dark wax)  was ordered online as well.  They are a little pricey but a little goes a long, long way.

Thank you for those who have kindly checked in on me. I am good, just not feeling the blog vibe lately. My house has had some pretty major changes since I last checked in here. I'll be back soon to share. Pinky promise.

I saw this on Pinterest

I'm sure those words come out of my mouth daily. At least once.  I was looking through pictures on my computer and came across some I took a while back and never posted of a Pinterest inspired project.

Before continuing, you must agree, cross your heart and pinky swear not to laugh, make fun, of or otherwise judge my fingers, fingernails, or any other part of my very non pampered hands. Agreed? OK, carry on.

Above is a photo of the Pin (Original Source).

And below is my copycat version.

They were super easy to make and didn't cost a thing, since I used leftover tissue paper from my sewing room pompoms.

To make these you need tissue paper and wire. I used bread ties.

Cut circles from stacks of tissue paper. I think my circles were about 3 inches in diameter with 8 layers of paper. Don't worry about perfection.

Fold the stack of circles in half, then in half again.

Round off the edges so that you have what looks like ice cream on a cone.

Stop judging my fingers. You can't get lotion in this part of North Carolina. We're very remote. Yea, that's my story.

Unfold and you magically have flower petals. Arrange the layers so that the petals alternate.

Remove the plastic coating from one end of a bread tie and stick it through the center of your stack of petals. Make a small loop so that it doesn't slide back through.

Starting at the top, separate the layers and begin to pinch them toward the center.

Continue pinching and separating until you have what looks like a flower.

 Pinch and fluff until you are happy with your flower,

then twist the plastic end of your bread tie into a... twisted bread tie.  It's very technical, pay close attention and be sure you get it right.

Repeat the above steps as many times as you like.

And when you are finished you can put them in a wooden dough bowl with a candle.

Why?

Just to prove you can recreate a Pin. That's why I did it.

 

So much pinspiration!

Have you joined the Pinterest Challenge? I wrote earlier this week about my most recent Pinterest inspired project, my headboard. And I guess it is probably the one I am most proud of.

I love walking in there and actually seeing a headboard. I actually pinned a few headboard ideas, but this was my favorite, with the dark rustic wood and curvy lines. Yes please!

(The Feminist Housewife blog)

On the Feminist House Wife Blog, there were detailed instructions on how they made the bed, as well as a link to Ana White's plans.

I mentioned in the last post that I had to modify Ana's plans because I needed a king size headboard and I wasn't making the bed frame.

As suggested in the plans I used pocket holes to join my boards (1 x 8" pine). I also used wood glue between each board. I don't know if it is because I don't quite know what the heck I'm doing or if it was because a few of my boards were warped a little, but I had some trouble with screws coming through the face of the board I was screwing into. At first I thought maybe I was using the wrong length screw, but that wasn't it. I'm still not sure, but there was some taking apart and putting back together involved. When I attemped to lift the beast up, it was really wobbly feeling. There was a little more play between the boards than should have been, so I just used a scrap 1x2 across the boards at the bottom and top. That did the trick. I'm delighted with my latest pinspired creation.

Writing this post had me thinking, Pinterest has truly changed my life. It is my go-to place now for design inspiration, recipe ideas, cleaning tips. I snapped some pics of just a few things that came about all because of pinterest.

This is one of my favorite pieces in my whole house, and it was inpsired by this

(Flower Patch Farmgirl blog)

All inspired by pinterest. Some directly, like the art above the mantel. That is a shameless copy of Layla Palmer's mantel art. 

(The Lettered Cottage)

The little table and chairs just satisfied my need to paint something yellow after I pinned this beauty.

(Three on Grove blog)

Yummy, right?

I've made my own laundry soap, thanks to pinterest.

I made the mason jar soap dispenser after seeing it numerous time on pinterest and that spray bottle contains my new miracle cleaner, dawn, vinegar and water. Works like a charm.

I could go on and on, but I'll spare you. If you want to see more of what inspires me and probably get an idea of the next project I'm contemplating, check out my pintrest boards.

To see what others have been pinspired to do and share your own, check out the Pinterst Challenge Link Party going on at Young House of Love, Ten June, Centsational Girl, and Bower Power.

I have a new headboard

And guess what?

I built it myself.

My inspiration was the Gustavian Bed from Vivaterra.

I've seen several DIY versions around the web, so I knew I could have my own for much, much less than the $2000 Vivaterra price tag.

Now, mine is not complete bed, only a headboard, but at some time in the future I may also make the wooden frame.

I found a great deal of help from the Ana White Fancy Arched Bed plans.

Her plans are for a queen sized bed and my bed is a king, so I had to make some changes.

At Lowes, when looking for wood, I found some great looking rough cut pine boards that I knew would give me that reclaimed wood look I was going for. 11 1x8 boards joined using my kreg jig gave me a finished width of almost 80".

Now that it is in place, I am not sure I'm in love with the finished shape. I think the center arch is a bit high and reminds me of a pregnant belly. I may have to drag the beast back out to the garage and take a few inches off the center portion.

I'm happy with the finished look of the wood. I stained the boards before putting them together so there wouldn't be any unfinished wood peeking through gaps. Before staining I coated each board with a prestain conditioner. Pine tends to take stain differently in different places, giving a streaky finsihed look. The conditioner helps eliminate streaking.

When I laid my boards out on the garage floor, I took care to alternate the grain. Why? because Ana White says to and she's the expert. If you look at the ends of the boards notice the rings. I lined them up alternating the direction of the rings.

I drew the arch pattern on my boards with chalk and Mitch used my chalk lines to make a pattern on half of the headboard. He then turned the pattern over and traced it onto the other half.

A jig saw was used to cut the arch design out.

I sanded the raw edges and applied stain.

For a finish coat, I used Waterlox in satin finish, just because I had some in the cabinet.

I'm happy to finally have a headboard, after being without one for several years and I'm even happier that I did it myself for less than $100.

Riding the wave

Recently, out of nowhere, I was hit by a purge and organize wave. Slapped right in the face. And I like it.

I continually have an inner struggle going on. You know, good vs. evil kind of struggle. In my case it's the part of me that wants to be all OCD and and have a spotlessly clean house that is at odds with the part of me who just wants to look at pinterest all day.  The pinterst Autum has been winning for a while and the OCD Autum has been out of sorts and grumpy. Even though she pouted and begged for attention, I managed to ignore her most days. It had reached a point where she seemed but only a distant memory, just someone that I used to know.

Then without calling first, without warning, OCD Autum was back. Wohoo! Welcome home girl. My house has missed you. Terribly.

All joking aside, I've never been truely OCD about cleaning, I'm much too lazy. But I do prefer to live in an orderly house. I like things to be easy to find, I don't like to look at clutter covering every surface. But for the past year or even two, my standards had lowered for what I could live with. I was living with it, but not content. My house was not a pigsty, but definitely more cluttered than I preferred. It didn't bother me enough that the floor needed sweeping to prevent me from reading blogs or watching tv. I let it go, but din't feel good about it, about myself.

Back in May, Mitch and I rented a house at Ocean Isle Beach for our Anniversary. It was so nice to be able to relax and just hang out in such a clean and uncluttered house. I was stuck by the fact that I cleaned while I was there, I did our laundry, and I cooked, but I never felt like it was a chore or that I had to make myself do it. I think the difference was that number one, it never took long, and number two, there was a sence of accomplishment when I was done. Why, because the house just had what we needed. It didn't have all the extra piles of stuff everywhere. A lighbulb went off. Yes, it should have been a duh moment not an aha moment, but for me something clicked. I have not wanted to clean, because there is no feeling of accomplishment when I'm finished, because I have let too much stuff acumulate. I'm by no means a hoarder, but when the bathroom cabinet is full of half empty bottles of lotion and shampoo, the once clean counters are now cluttered with brushes and bottles.  When it's a fight to get a clean shirt to fit in the drawer, laundry is more likely to pile up because it's just so darn annoying to put things away. A domino effect that can be traced back to too much stuff.

Goodness gracious, this is turning into a wordy post, isn't it? I'm getting all philosophical about cleaning out my drawers.

Really, why did I put it off so long. I love purging, but even more that that, the results. I cleaned out my underwear drawer a couplle weeks ago, and for days, I would open it just to look at how nice it looked.

The day before yesterday, I got brutal with the bathroom cabinets and drawers. I tossed so much stuff and it felt so good. Ten year old bottles of perfume, yes it may have been expensive perfume, but if I haven't used it in five plus years, I'm probably not going to start using it next week. I feel like a weight is falling off my shoulders. It's not gone yet, but the eviction notice has been delivered.

Yesterday I tackled the utensil drawers in the kitchen. I have a box to take to goodwill of knives and gadgets that never get used. Besides steak knives,  I use the same two or three knives for all my cooking, why do I need ten different knives? I don't, they're outa here.

I hot glued a strip of magnet to the inside of the drawer to keep the knives from sliding around. I'm pretty sure I saw that on pinterest. 

I used little dollar store baskets too keep the gadgets corralled, I washed those and edited out what wasn't being used.

Much better, but then I remembered some poplar strips I had in the garage. I knew I could kick it up a notch by adding some custom dividers.

Bam!

This is one of the quickest, easiest most satisfying projects you will ever do.

I first saw this done at Under The Table and Dreaming and I organized my junk drawer. I was amazed by how easy it was to get  customized drawer dividers. Thank you Stephanie Lynn.

The wood is easy to cut, I used a miter saw, but I have cut it using a miter box and hand saw. I just cut the lengths I wanted and glued them in place with wood glue. Easy as that.

Next up is the dreaded space beneath the kitchen sink. I want to add some shelving, not sure how, just going to fly by the seat of my pants. I'm going to take on one closet and cabinet at a time, like eating and elephant, you have to do it one bite at a time. Although, I don't know why you would want to eat an elephant.

Please don't laugh at my goal, it sounds silly, but what I aspire to achieve is a state of orderliness so that if I were ever in an accident and had to send someone to my house to get something for me, I would not be mortified. Silly right? Kind of like when your mom tells you to always wear clean underwear in case you are ever in an accident. I don't foresee being in the hospital and sending someone to go through my drawers, but I want to feel like if I had to, it would not be a traumatic even. It's good to have aspirations, right?

Since April 14th

My last real blog post, and embarrassingly enough, it was about not blogging regularly and how I was going to change that. Nothing like being a woman of your word, right? Yikes.

Since then, I have

• celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary
• celebrated Bayleigh's fourth birthday
• gone to the beach, twice... oh yea!
• painted my front door yellow (jury's still out)
• missed my son every minute of every day
• been quite healthy
• cut my hair short again
• tried a few pinterest recipes, all good
• pushed a little one on her swing, too many times to count
• cleaned out my underwear drawer... organization has to start somewhere, right?
• missed this blog

 

It's going to take a while to catch up

If anyone is still out there reading my blog, I am so sorry I seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth. I have no good reason, but I have thought about this little space every day. It's always with me in the back of my mind, but after a while it gets kind of like that mystery tupperware in the back of the fridge. You know it's back there, but have forgotten what's inside and are afraid to open it.

The blog has been on my mind, but where do I pick up after such an absence. I guess, like the mystery dish, you just take a deep breath and go for it. Get out whatever has been closed up in the dark recesses, wash it out, and start fresh.

Don't worry, there isn't anything gross and moldy lurking in my dark recesses that I'm going to spring on you guys, just the routine boring stuff I usually babble on about.

I've been up to a lot of this and that, you know,  just living. Being a nana mostly, my favorite thing in the world to do. 

My plan is to go through the many unedited photos I've taken since my last post and share some of what I've been up to. I've missed you my friends!

I have recently taken a liking to instagram. My very original name there is autumhall, if you'd like to follow along.

Be back real soon, I promise!  Maybe even later today.

Long time no blog

Where to begin? When I go for long stretches without posting, it's always difficult to know where to pick up. Do I try to play catch-up and explain what I've been up to, and if so should I write one long rambling post, put it in bullet form or just break it into a few short posts? How about a little of each. I'll ramble a bit on some things, maybe throw in a bullet list or two, then follow up with some short posts. How's that?

Well, the most important thing that happened in our lives in the past month, was that our Marine got on a great big boat and sailed across the Atlantic ocean.

(source)

He's been in the Marines for more than three years, and this is his first deployment. We've been lucky having him just two hours away, but he didn't join so he could see the sights of Jacksonville, NC.

It wasn't easy to watch him get on a bus and know I wouldn't see him again for at least eight months. I thought 13 weeks of boot camp was hard. We have been able to communicate a bit, a line or two here and there, via email. I had some sense of comfort, excitement even, knowing he was taking part in training exercises and humanitarian missions. Then something horrible happened. There was a crash and two young men lost their lives. Two others severely wounded. They were part of the VMM261, the same squadron as Casey. Like Casey, the young men who died were Corporals. All I have been able to find out is that they had just dropped a group off a group of troops and there were four aboard at the time of the crash.  I don't know if Casey was among those that had been dropped off, I do know that sense of comfort has been shaken. I mourn for the families of those young men and I pray that the injured will recover.

I had other things I was going to say, but they seem so insignificant at the moment. Some how the mundane things of my day to day don't belong in this post. So I'll stop here for now, but not before asking that you say a prayer for those injured young Marines and for the families of Cpl. Kerns and Cpl. Reyes.