Sell Your Television

It's been a slow death for our television.

First, it was the end of our cable. After our cable company(which shall remain nameless) tried to tempt us into upgrading to more channels by giving us tons more than originally planned and then mercilessly revoking them, we realized that we were spending way to much money, but more importantly, way too much time on cable television.
During Finn's newborn weeks, when we still had access to a plethora of channels, I spent the days plopped on the couch watching marathons of America's Next Top Model while trying to learn just how in the world I was supposed to breastfeed my son...something that I had always thought should come much more naturally than it really had. 
I'm irritated with myself when I think back to those days, with so. much. television. on all the time. Time that could've been spent in the quiet, alone with Finn, trying together to figure things out, without the distraction of noise, pointlessness, and the consistent escape of my heart from the reality in front of me
I'm embarrassed to admit, but during those days, I wanted to see who Tyra would kick off more than I wanted to work at trying to keep my newborn son from falling asleep during a feeding. I knew I couldn't defeat t.v. unless we got rid of it.
Then our cable company stopped giving us the extra channels, and it wasn't long before we realized how ridiculous it was to be paying $80.00 a month for local channels and internet. So, the decision to downgrade to just internet was made.


With internet and Netflix, we eventually came to the conclusion that there is no sense in allowing an object(our t.v.) to hold the most prominent spot in our living room....or maybe even, our whole house.
So we sold the television. And it felt wonderful.
I won't lie...there are going to be times that I wish we still had it. Like when a few girls are coming over and I'm tired and I'll think "man, I wish we still had that tv, then we could just put a movie in and I could zone out". But, I am hopeful, that the harder things, the things that take more heart and energy, are worth it, and full of blessing. And at the end of the night, could I ever regret moments sitting on couches, painting our nails, eating chocolate, and talking with one another for hours?


Don't get me wrong. I love movies, SO much! Steven and I go see a movie almost every week...and we watch lots of movies, documentaries and series on Netflix, but tonight, we are sitting on our new patio furniture in the backyard under the street lights, with crickets chirping and fireflies lighting up the darkness past the little rise in our yard...instead of watching television. 

We were able to purchase patio furniture with the money we got from selling our television.
Something that secludes the spirit within us for another that promotes communion with each other? Yes please!


Saturday morning we assembled our new investment...

And tidied up the patio...

We even spiffy-fied the grill

...though we still have quite a bit left to do....as you can see by the random pile of scrap odds and ends. Don't start thinking that just because we've got patio furniture that we've got it all figured out! It's easy to hide the ugly on the internet. My camera goes exactly where I tell it to. By the way, isn't that screen door super cute?! I saw it laying in the back of someone's apartment as I was walking through the neighborhood and when I took Steven back to look at it the owners just happened to be outside...Of course I asked them if they were planning on tossing it and they let me walk away with it! I've got some plans brewing...

If the slightest thought ever comes into your mind about selling your television...I dare you to do it! Just think of what you could do with the money that could be invested into the lasting things of your life. Now, I understand that it's possible to own a television, to enjoy it, and not be enslaved by it. That's wonderful! Keep it! I also know that there are plenty of times that television can actually bring people together. But for me, and my story, it was a divider more than anything else. It was beginning to be a deadly form of escape...I felt great pieces of my life being wasted by it.

Plus, now I get to decorate the fireplace mantle! Yes! It's always been full of a black flatscreen television and now I'll have a new place to create beauty.

Allison

Flower Garden Twig Fence

Today I finished my little garden fence! 
I originally saw this idea in Parents magazine and then had the idea to plant flower seeds and create this fence in a bed behind our house. I talk about my plans for this here.
I started off gathering sticks on one of my morning walks with Finn from a random pile of branches at the side of the road.
I tried to get around the same height and thickness.

Then I picked my paint colors and spread the painting project over numerous days and movies. I usually love multitasking while watching a movie.
I purchased some nylon twine from Lowe's in the diameter I thought would work best. Anything thicker and I think it would've made the twigs move too much.

The directions in the magazine said to use a rubber mallet to get the sticks in the ground, but I just pushed them down into the soil very gently. I broke two sticks overall, not bad!
I thread the twine through the twigs in a in front & behind tactic and switched each piece of twine so they'd be opposite.

This was a fun little project that wouldn't take long at all to accomplish, especially if you painted the twigs only one or two colors rather than a pattern with four.

Now, I hope I have some luck with the flowers growing and blooming! 

Here's some Zinnia sprouts, so we're getting somewhere!

Allison

Tablecloth turned curtain panels

On the second floor of an antique mall in downtown Jonesborough(the oldest town in Tennessee) is a booth full of old embroidered tablecloths & napkins, piles of doilies and other dainty knick-knacks. This is my favorite place to go to find sweet patterned fabrics...it almost never lets me down.
I found this tablecloth with a pattern I adore. The border is my favorite part, and the colors are perfect! 

I brought it home and cut it in half using my rotary cutter....

Notice the porch surface? This happened before we painted our porch....so glad we got that done!

The cut wasn't perfect, but I knew I'd be sewing the edges eventually because I had decided to turn this tablecloth into new curtains for our kitchen window!

I originally was looking for a quilt top, which is probably terribly hard to find, to use for curtains like in this lovely home...

Seriously, I love everything about this home. I think it's the reason my tastes have started to change.

I used the sewing machine and talent of my friend Jamie during one of our craft nights and started hemming the edges and leaving enough room across the top for the curtain rod.

During this process, I realized that I need to ease up when it comes to sewing....I had an awful experience with mine about a year ago and have sworn to never touch it again....anytime a sewing machine makes an odd sound or even the slightest jam and I get anxious. Jamie was a good encouragement and watching how fast she zips the fabric through was exactly what I needed. It was so simple! It took about 20 minutes from the time we started ironing the edges to completed curtains.

I got them hung up above the sink and I am so happy!

For holdbacks I found these beautiful knobs from Hobby Lobby and spray painted them Olive Green.

Then I added a little something extra to the center of the window.

I had this oval frame with no glass so I decided to string a strip of fabric through it and cut out some scrapbook paper, adding a few words I need to remember while washing the dishes.

Anytime I needed text on a project before I got the Silhouette, but didn't trust my own handwriting with a paintbrush(which is pretty much always) I would use these rub-on letters.

They are pretty amazing, and look almost exactly like they came right out of a typewriter.

Then I spray painted another hook I had at the house and hung it below the words for a dish rag or towel to hang.

Sorry about the picture quality, these were taken at night, since it's the only window in the kitchen, I just couldn't get the lighting right. But here's a peak at how they look during the day when the sun shines through...

For a pair of new curtains I paid $8.00 plus the cost of some white thread for Jamie's sewing machine. Win!

Before:

After:

If your response to this change is something like "wow that window looks a lot more old-ladyish" then we're on the right track. I'm going for more old-fashioned (old lady) charm.

PS. This is what happens when you take a pee-break and allow your crawling son to continue venturing on his own around the kitchen when you have the dishwasher door open....

He got stuck. Why is it called child-proof when we alter our homes in order to keep our kids safe? I think this photo is proof enough that we have a child! Just kidding mom, I'm working on it!

Allison

Landscaping, Finally!

Thursday after Steven got home I snapped some pictures from the curb of my guys rocking in the new(old) rocker and realized that I haven't shared any landscaping pictures yet!

Below is a picture of the yard in early autumn, when that shrub(formally known as the Beast) had to be hacked down again for the second time. Our yard has looked like this ever since we've lived in our house....so it really wasn't too surprising when we had multiple neighbors introduce themselves to us while we were working and treat us like we'd just moved in. Woopsies! 

"Welcome to the neighborhood!"

"Oh thanks! But actually we've been here almost three years..."

The Beast got all prettied up and we're letting him stay. We added Silver Dragon Liriope around the base and planted two shade-loving Box Honeysuckles called Lonicera Edmee Gold in the Beast's shadow.

Here's a picture from the day we cut the beds out in March...lots of hard work all in one day! Perfect unseasonably warm winter weather to start working outdoors.

I think it's important to note that Steven is wearing the exact same shirt in these pictures doing yard work as the one months ago slicing at The Beast.....I suppose I should mention that as I type this in the sun on our front porch, Steven is wearing the same shirt again..."It's my favorite shirt!" he says.

Here's one of my favorite pictures from that day:

So here we did an assortment of Mediterranean White Heather which blooms in winter and Azaleas called The Robe that have beautiful variegated(thanks for that new word Mom!)leaves.

In the corner we planted a Phantom Hydrangea that will bloom around mid-June and I've heard that the blooms can last almost until September!

I am so happy with our front yard and it was so worth it to get over my fear of putting plants in the ground and them dying on me! So far they're doing great!

We still have some work to do on the right side of the house. Three Holly bushes wait patiently to be planted in the ground! 

Now we're off to the Blue Plum Festival once Finner wakes up! Oh, and remember how I'm a sucker for big stories with impossible feats and when good fights to overcome evil? Snow White and The Huntsman is a great example of my favorite kind of story...if you're anything like me, go see it!

Allison