The Walkway

The fun never ends at the Roth House! My husband worked his butt off once again to put in a walkway connecting our kitchen to our deck and out to the new office in the garage. Love it!

New Project for the Nursery

Thanks to my friend Andrea who sold this bookcase to me for $10 at a yard sale, left over house paint, $3 Martha Stewart paint for the back and an electrical sander borrowed from my father in law, our little girl now has a another piece of furniture in her room! And I have an achy back.... well worth it!

The room is done!

It's been awhile since I've posted but the room is finally finished! There is still

some decorating that I would like to do but I thought I would lose my ego and just show you what we've done so far!
I can't believe this space was once a disgusting garage!

Mella James Party

Thank you to my dear friend Anna that hosted a party for me to sell my Mella James goodies! It was such a great turnout and so much fun! Check out my stuff at mellajames.etsy.com

We Have A Room!

Drywalled! Painted! A room! Yay! Just need floors and then we're set!

How To Get Rid of Stuff

Okay, so here is my tip for purging the crap from your home.... take everything you own and cram it all into your living room. I know, this sounds crazy but it works. We are painting our bedroom and the future nursery so out everything went.. from both rooms.. within 30 minutes.. talk about overwhelming.

As I started pulling things out, from on top of shelves and desks and under beds, I started thinking, "what is all this crap and why do I have it?!" (and I've got to say, I'm known as the organized one in my circle) The idea of loading all this stuff back into my freshly painted rooms does not sound appealing...sooo, let the purging begin!

We have walls and a Mess...

Well, the walls are finally going up today!!

I had NO idea how much went into building a room, how many little steps and things you would never think of that are (or aren't behind our walls). Nails, headers, electrical wires, cans.... oh my! I'm reminded of how Home Depot and Lowes quickly become your best friend/worst enemy and how you have to give up things for a while like Washing Machines and space to walk in your drive way.

I'm impressed daily by my Husband and his handiness! And I am thankful daily for my Father in Law who shows up with his tools and a smile to help us in our endeavour! Special thanks also to Corey who got wrangled to help by me and his wife, you're awesome Corey!!

We are truly blessed!

Paper Wreath Project

I've been seeing these paper book wreaths around in craft books and LOVE them, so I thought I would give it a try.

I found a great tutorial at the website, livingwithlindsay.com and made one of my own! I just used an old book that I didn't really enjoy.

I think these would be great gifts for the reader in your life! So different!

DAY 2 OF GARAGE RENOVATION!

Okay the door is in and the framing is going up! The weather has not been kind, yesterday at 80 degrees it started pouring rain on everything we had moved out of the garage and today it's up in the 90's! Adam is powering through like a champ!

Day 1 of Garage Renovation!

So we are on a new journey at our house, the Baby Journey!

Step 1, move our cluttered office out to the garage, which will be turned into a guest room/office space. In turn the cluttered office will be an adorable nursery. Cross your fingers for us.... really cross your fingers for my husband who is doing all the work himself!

Here's the before shot!

Sea Urchin

Find inspiration in the little things! I love shells! I have them in the base of a glass lamp, I have a couple in the bathroom, I have a vase filled with them that floats around my house but I wanted a new way to display them....

I got this idea from my cousin Erika. String together sea urchins (one of my favorites from the sea) and hang! I have one in the doorway between my living room and kitchen, it gives the eye something interesting to pause on in a room full of ordinary objects. This little pink one I made would be a great gift for my friend who is expecting (hopefully a girl) and is doing a beachy theme in her child's nursery.

I used some leather from an old necklace that I never wear anymore, but you could use any sort of ribbon or twine.

Happy Creating!

Grandma

My Grandmother used to sit in her chair and say the Rosary everyday, she would watch the A's play baseball, cook gigantic dinners for the people she loved, hang her clothes out on the line to dry, and sit with you for however long you needed and let you hold her hand. She would only allow you to tell "white lies", she owned a million house coats, she would laugh so hard that no sound would come out and you would wonder if she was breathing, and even when she was sick you never heard her complain.... unless you were beating the eggs too slowly to make a cake, then she would grab the bowl out of your hand, shake her head and do it herself.

She was strong and smart and I miss her.

Cute Pin Cushion

An easy gift for the crafty one in your life!

Take some fun scrap fabric, I chose different ones for the top and bottom.

Find something round to draw your circle size. I used a cereal bowl but you can do any size depending on how big you want it.

Cut your circle and sew 'right' sides facing each other, leave a small opening to stuff your cushion.
(I used on straight stitch and on zig zag to ensure no holes)

Turn inside out and stuff your cushion. I used supreme fiber fill. Stitch up opening.

Take embroidery thread and a large sewing needle to tuft your cushion. I used and old button in the center for an extra touch of cuteness.

And thats all!

Include in a little basket with some thread and push pins for a great gift for someone you know that loves to sew!

House Porn

In my house we call it "House Porn". Yes, it's kind of an addiction for me. I can get lost for hours looking through home decorating magazines. All the different ideas! All the pictures! I dream and imagine all the things I could do (Im also dreaming about money at the same time since not all the great ideas are free).

I think this addiction scares my husband a little since inevitably I put the magazine down and start talking about all these AMAZING things I just saw that we can buy... build... dream!

I have many favorites: Cottage Living, Country Living, Costal Living,(I know thats a lot of Living) Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Better Homes and Garden, Sunset and my old favorite that went out of print, Domino (that was a sad day for the world). All of these have different perks. Even when they are photographing million dollar homes with items you could never afford there is always some way you can tweak something to make it work for your life and I am a pro at tweaking!

So, I corral my "House Porn" in a cute container and try to pare down as much as I can so I don't become the next person on that show "Hoarders". Im pretty sure though that this addiction is one I wont ever be able to kick!

No problem too big that a little hammock time can't fix. Just add grapes on the vine and some twinkly lights and you can't help but sigh... relax.... repeat.

Another Year

A new year has begun for me. I turned 32 on Friday and I am filled with a whirlwind of thoughts. Is this where I thought I would be at this age? Is this what I thought I would be doing? Is this how I imagined my body looking? Am I as healthy as I thought I would be? Am I financially where I always thought I would be? Where the hell is that baby I always imagined I would have by now?
I am constantly reminding myself to do what my friend Jessica tells me... live in the moment, day by day. What can I handle today? What will I make of this one moment, not the thousands that might or might not come after it.
I will work on this starting with this moment... this second...

Update a boring bathroom door with some wall paper! This makes going to the powder room seem a little more fun! Definitely need two pairs of hands for this one if you don't want to go crazy!

Giant Cork Board

This was an interesting project... I found this frame at a designers "down sizing" yard sale about three years ago and loved it! I had no idea what I would do with it but brought it home anyway and it has been collecting dust in my garage until recently. Finally I set up an office in our spare room, I'm sure everyone has one of these, the room that just collects stuff and doesn't have much of a purpose? Well, I needed a vision board (thank you, "The Secret")

I went to home depot with my measurements and had the nice gentleman there cut me some picture frame backing to fit, went to the wholesale fabric district in downtown L.A. and got some quilting batting and some fabric and got out the staple gun. ... And Voila! Well, kind of. My husband actually had to come home and re-staple everything for me because I didn't push everything down hard enough and my dog wasn't very helpful when I was trying to cut things but other than that... Voila!

SOME OF MY POTTERY!

Im a fabric junky and one of my favorite things is getting a steal on fabric! I made all of these pillows with fabric that was $2-$5 a yard or free!

Favorite Places to shop fabric:

IKEA (kind of a pain in the ass commitment, I know... but just take all the short cuts to the textile dept and skip the rest) The linen pillows and the Blue and white starburst flower pillow are from IKEA fabric. The linen fabric at IKEA is the best, I've also made table cloths out of it. TIP: Buy 1/2 yard more than you need and wash and dry it on hot, it shrinks a bit but makes it super soft and shabby chic looking!

DOWNTOWN FABRIC DISTRICT: Located in Downtown L.A.- The coolest fabric at the lowest price!

YARD/ESTATE SALES: Look at Craigs List for sale's that are being held by interior designers, they toss bags of fabric swatches for just $2 a bag

THINK BEYOND SOMETHINGS INTENDED USE : The Blue and white pillow was made from a set of napkins I got as a gift but knew I would never use.

YOUR FAVORITE STORE : The super funky pillow with bright colors was from a duvet cover I got at Urban Outfitters for just $10! I got two pillows, two pot holders and still have some leftover from it!

The SLEEP pillow was also made with IKEA linen ($5 a yard) and I used fabric paint and stencils I made myself on my computer.... Very messy and difficult.... when I find a better way, I'll let you know...

Where to Buy the Best Dog Toys

The best Dog toys ever, yard sale stuffed animals! Your Dog gets to destroy and you don't have to worry because you only spent a quarter! Here is Bella with a donated dinosaur from her favorite kids Jack and Sky!

This project came from cleaning out and organizing my friend Christine's closet, (another passion I have, much to the dismay/joy of my friends and family, depending on the person).

Christine did a great job purging but there were a couple of t-shirts she couldn't bring herself to give up, t-shirts I couldn't even persuade her to get rid of even though I tried! So I pulled some wisdom from a man that I am mildly obsessed with, Peter Walsh (If you watch Oprah, you know who Im talking about). Peter always says that if there is something you can't bear to get rid of then it should be in a place of honor. If you love something soooo much that you can't part with it, then it shouldn't be in the back of a closet or shoved in drawer for years on end, you should be using it or seeing it every day!

So, I promised I would take these t-shirts and re purpose them into something useful.

-This bag comes in a pack of 3 at Michaels for just $7.00

-I used a heavy duty craft needle and embroidery thread to hand sew on the cut out t-shirt

-I used scrap fabric I had for the pillow and stuffed it. I sewed the right sides out with a zig zag stitch and then cut the edges with pinking shears to make them a little more fun

Did something a little different in place of the norm wrapping paper.

Take some cute fabric and cut in a rectangle (big enough to fit your gift in)

Fold over and stitch sides together, leaving open at one end (right sides out)

Take your pinking shears and trim close to seam so the edges look fun

Tie with ribbon or yarn

I made this gift tag from a stamp I bought at Michaels (the dollar bin at Michaels has fabulous finds!)

Four months ago I quit my job waiting tables and decided to try my hand at making money doing something that I truly enjoyed as opposed to just making money. I am an actress as well so luckily I had money saved up and a husband who is amazing, supportive and also "normal"... in L.A. that means, not involved in the Biz, an industry that is as far from stable as any could be.

So what would I do with all my time.....

My Grandmother taught me how to Knit and Crochet when I was in Junior High and through out the years I would call upon that skill to make gifts for people. I always had a love for a great gift, cute packaging a great card and something inside that the person receiving it would love. So I started my own Shop on Etsy! I sell my handmade goodies there, blankets, hats, towels barrettes and maybe one day my pottery ( I've been taking classes and am falling in love with it)!

So, what is the goal with this blog? Well, Im not quite sure yet. I love to design, I love to decorate, I love to create, I love to bring to life all the million little ideas that are running through my mind. I guess I thought it would be fun to share all this love with everyone else! Maybe my million little ideas will inspire someone else to do something with all the ones running through their heads!