Ottoman

Oh Lordy, this thing is finally done. I told myself at the beginning of the year that I wasn’t going to start any new projects until I finished all of my in-process ones. This one officially took me just over 9 months, but I’m sure I’ve got plenty stashed around here that have marinated longer than that.

Just to jog your memory, here’s what it looked like before:

Isn’t it so cute?

I originally intended to use this as dress-up clothes storage for little Miss Browning, but yeah, it won’t all fit in there. But no worries, she’s already got it filled up with other stuff:

Please note that she did not even wait for her daddy to finish attaching the lid before she filled it to the brim. She heard the words “new toybox” and went straight to work. I’m pretty sure she likes it.

I think it turned out fairly well. I’m not showing you any close-ups or detailed instructions on how I did it for a reason. But I will say that this white trim stuff I got at Walmart hides a multitude of sins.

PS. The brown and white fabric I used is actually a shower curtain from Target. I was inspired to use it after I saw a nursery on Lay Baby Lay where they made curtains from it. So thanks, Joni and Steph!

PPS. And thanks to AZ for hooking me up with this sweet ottoman. I hope I did you proud!

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Have a great day!

Hope you have a Valentine as sweet as ours. ;)

PS. Cougar Town‘s back on tonight (2/14 @ 8:30pm on ABC). Please watch!! It’s my favorite show on TV, and I’d like to keep it that way! Picture me hunkering down in front of the TV with my bottle of wine…

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PS. to the previous post

One more thing I forgot to mention that happened in last month – my desk calendar was mentioned on Print & Pattern!

It’s a pretty big deal to me even though it didn’t result in any sales. But it was a honor just to be “nominated”!!!! ;)

PPS. Oh wait, here’s another thing. Remember that f-ing Annie wig I made Jane for Halloween? The little $h*t finally decided to wear it three months too late. Enjoy!

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Hello again!

Hi. That was a much needed break. The beauty of being the boss of your own blog is that you can take as much vacation time as you want. So I did!

Here’s a quick-and-dirty of what I was up to in the meantime:

* Sent out a Christmas card…

… and had a lovely Christmas and New Year’s, thankyouverymuch. I hope you all did as well!

* Met some Cougar Town people:

(The show’s back on February 14. Please watch!!!!)

* Attempted a Photo a Day Challenge on Instagram…

… but only made it to #11. Check out my Instagram feed here (there is also a link on my header menu).

* Watched some good movies:

The Muppets – *****     The Descendants – ****     Our Idiot Brother – ****

* Purged a lot of belongings from our house. Well, technically it’s all still sitting in our basement, but there are definitive piles for Goodwill and garage sale. Something about the beginning of a new year makes me want to get rid of everything.

* Thought about a lot of things. And here’s my conclusions:

  • I have to get more sleep during the week. So that means less blogging.
  • I want to add new things to my etsy shop. So that means less blogging.
  • I want to finish some of the 8,563 DIY projects that I’ve started. So that means less blogging.
  • I want to be a better wife and mother. So that means less blogging (and internet, computer, iPhone, TV, etc.).
  • I want to read more, exercise occasionally, and do laundry more frequently so that my daughter always has socks that match her outfit. If you guessed that this would require me to blog less, you guessed correctly.
  • I love my blog, but all of the above are more important (except for maybe laundry and exercise). So now I will only be blogging about once a week-ish.
  • I will find a way to make a living doing what I love, or I will die trying.
  • I WANT TO DO IT ALL.
  • We need to win the lottery.

That pretty much sums up my last month. I hope 2012 has been treating you well and that it’s your best year yet!

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FREE Christmas gift tag download!

Am I the only one who still has some presents to wrap? And does anyone else need some last minute gift tags? Look no further, I’ve got you covered! 

Just click this link to access the PDF file, and you can print them at home (for personal use only). Happy wrapping!!

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Our tree, she’s famous!

Many thanks to Natalie of Nat the Fat Rat for featuring our Christmas tree on her blog:

This month, in addition to her normal posts, she is featuring reader-submitted Christmas trees, and ours was one of the lucky ones she picked!! Please check out her blog; she is the cutest and funniest thing ever, and her little boy Huck is SO adorable.

Thanks again, Natalie, for sharing our tree with your readers! Have a wonderful holiday! :)

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Desk calendar!

They’re done, they’re here, they’re for sale in my etsy shop.

Hallelujah! Holy sh*t! Where’s the Tylenol…?

PS. The price went up because these are professionally printed. But trust me, it’s so worth it!

PPS. Here are the previous years in case you are curious…

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Rad ornament

Kate from Retro Ranch Revamp recently shared her newest creation, these adorable mini ranch house ornaments:

And now she is selling them on etsy! Take a wild guess who bought the first one… ;) Can’t wait until the silver one is gracing my Christmas tree.

Great work, Kate! Be sure to check out her blog and her lovely MCM home.

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FREE holiday postcard download!

Because I have not been posting much lately, I’d like to extend a peace offering to my readers in the form of a free holiday postcard download! Just click this link to access the PDF file; it is an 8.5×11 file containing two 4×6 postcards and trim marks. You can print this at home or have it printed professionally (for personal use only). Enjoy!

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We’re ready for Christmas

Christmas is in full force at the Browning house. Here’s some highlights of what we’ve got going on here…

All of our window clings hung at toddler-eye level:

Our “tree” centerpiece:

Our lovely tree:

My tree collection on top of the entertainment center:

Our “mantel”:

Wreath made out of Christmas cards:

Jane’s tree:

PS. Apparently I was in a funk the same time last year as well. Maybe it’s the calendar that puts me in a bad mood. (BTW, it’s at the printer and should be done by the end of the week.) This might be the last year for the calendar. We’ll see…

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Ho hum

I’m in a slump. There’s a lot of things swirling around in my head right now, none of which is making sense. This happens to me quite often, but the year-end brain swirly sucks the most. (What did you accomplish this year, Jill? Have you made any progress this year, Jill? You’re almost a year older, Jill… Whatever.)

This blog turned 3 this month, and I didn’t even notice. My last post was #300, and I didn’t notice that either.

2012 is going to be better.

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Busy bee

Unfortunately that moment for me has come and gone. I’ve hit snooze on a few projects too many times. This will be my only post for the week so I can cross a few things off of my to-do list and hopefully regroup a bit. Have a great week!

(quote found on Pinterest)

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Here fishy fishy

Remember this little guy (girl?) with the dangle-y eyeball?

I now own its gold-toned brother (sister?)!!

Yeah! And mine has a tail! And it was almost $20 cheaper!! Man, I love ebay! I think I’ll name her (him) Dorothy. We were meant to be together.

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Moved by the spirit

Yes, I have purchased my first holiday paraphernalia of the season (found at Wally World). I can’t help myself. I partly blame Mabel of Make Every Day Count because she has posted not once but twice about Christmas decorations in the past week. But really, I’ve been in the mood for Christmas for at least a month now. I may have to bust out Love Actually or The Family Stone this weekend while I have the house to myself.

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Bloomington Handmade Market

My sister-in-law Jami and I are going to check out the Bloomington Handmade Market this weekend. I hear it’s pretty good. I’m always a little leery of “craft shows”. I can’t tell you the last time I’ve been to one, but my memory is conjuring up images of painted saw blades and potpourri. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this one will be better. While we are there, we’re planning on stopping by the Bloomington Antique Mall (where I bought this ottoman from AZ Vintage). Regardless of what we find at either place, I’m just looking forward to being in Bloomington. That town’s got a cool vibe, mostly thanks to the thousands of college kids running around. It’s the kind of place that almost makes you forget you’re in Indiana. ;)

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Trina Turk jewelry

I pretty much want to marry whoever designs jewelry for Trina Turk. I mean, look at this stuff (in order of importance):

[on sale on TT's website]

[sold out on TT's website but available on Amazon]

[on sale on TT's website]

[via Bloomingdale's]

[via Amazon]

[on sale on TT's website but found better picture on Amazon]

[on sale on TT's website]

[via Amazon]

[via ebay]

I’m on board with all of it. Owning any of these pieces would make me a better person. I want to be the Liz Taylor of costume jewelry.

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Go check out Draw! Pilgrim

Head on over to the Draw! Pilgrim blog. You might see something you recognize:

I paid for an ad for the month of November. Best case scenario, it will bring a little bit more traffic my way. We’ll see how it goes! Baby steps…

PS. If Draw! Pilgrim looks familiar to you, it’s because she has the cutest header in all of blog land.

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Happy Halloween

This is what I did with my weekend:

It’s Little Orphan Annie’s wig. It took me about eleventy hours to make. But did she wear it? Of course not. Here’s the best picture I got of the little whirling dervish:

And her poor dad. I made him dress up like Daddy Warbucks:

He’s such a good sport, putting up with the two crazy women in his life…

Happy freakin’ Halloween. ;)

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Three prints I want to own

#1 – from Zoe Ingram

#2 – from Linda Ketelhut

#3 – from Veronica Diago

(and #4 which isn’t really a print but should be [found on Pinterest via Capree Kimball])

And someday when our spare room becomes my “studio”, they will all hang on the wall and be friends. Like this:

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Ahead of my time

Look how cute this little Rubik’s Cube chest of drawers is (found here):

Guess who had a similar brilliant idea back in college:

Yeah, that’s me, circa 1998 (check out the word processor box behind my chair!!). Yes, I have always been weird. No, it wasn’t Halloween. I had rollers in my hair because I was graduating from VU a few hours later. The pale face and tanned body is a combination of bad lighting, bad makeup, and bad decisions. I was 20, ok? What I didn’t know then could fill a warehouse.

So, the Rubik’s Cube table. The summer before my second year at VU, I had a dream that I was in some type of nerdy game store, like at the mall. From the ceiling hung a very large Rubik’s Cube, and I remember thinking to myself in the dream that it would make a cute table for my apartment at school. So (in real life) I had Dad build me one and I painted it. It was not nearly as sophisticated or well thought out as the one above, but I’m still pretty proud of it 13 years later. And where is it now? I’m pretty sure it’s in Mom and Dad’s basement covered in mold… :(

I apparently could have made some good money from the idea. This puppy‘s selling for $600:

Geez! Do these people not realize that a junior college “undergrad” can make one with her dad for like $20?

Can anyone guess what my TV stand was made out of?? I update you on that later. I gotta get some sleep so I can dream up my next brainchild.

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